When it comes to storage, our flexible valises or high gloss fibreglass containers wont interfere with your boating experience as both solutions fit easily and elegantly on board yachts of any type and size. He is looking forward to orders across the board to pick up by the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October. All AB boats are constructed with Pennel Orca fabric (Hypalon). The Sea Wise Davit System was designed and engineered with two basic goals in mind. Currency controls and a fixed bolivar-dollar exchange rate have led to massive currency devaluations, contributed to inflation - more than 30 percent in 2008 - and created two different foreign exchange markets: the official one and a legal parallel market. Elsewhere we noted the transom on the AB Inflatables Mares 11 was properly reinforced with plastic (outside) and alloy (inside) engine mounting plates. The first container of AB inflatables shipped from Barranquilla in March 2008. The result is a full line of inflatable boats designed and built to please a wide array of customers with the exceptional quality they have come to expect from AB. Drawing from the region's pool of skilled craftsmen - welders, engineers, maintenance workers and electricians - he trained a new work force of 200 in aluminum and fiberglass boatbuilding, though their number was down to about half that in June because of the economic slowdown. Making a ChoiceWe faced two significant constraints in choosing a new dinghy. In the tropics, Hypalon is the only way to go. We did the same thing, and heres what we came up with. This cost only about $50 extra, and, we hope, will make the dinghy less appealing to potential thieves (contributor Bill Seifert says never to put your boats name on the tender, because thieves ashore will steal your dinghy and take it out to your boat to loot, knowing youre not aboard!). Alongside the side console helm station, there is provision to mount a port side seat for a single passenger. During our first two years of cruising, we relied on an older Achilles inflatable, a hand-me-down gift from a friend who had upgraded to a newer model. The Atlantic College in Wales combined the inherent buoyancy and stability of the inflatable boat with the speed of modern planing hulls, so that rescue services such as the RNLI could increase the speed of their inflatable craft to get to those in need quickly, and the first rigid inflatable boat or RIB was born. 2022 Boat Specialists. Since both AB and Caribe are manufactured in Caracas, Venezuela, a large percentage of cruising boats stopping in Venezuelan ports go dinghy shopping. He's also making inroads in the high-performance market, having just built a 28-foot inflatable powered by twin 300-hp XS Mercury engines. On the way south last fall, a large RIB carried upright in chocks was ripped off the foredeck of a 150 ketch. The oarlocks of the Caribe are placed so far outboard on the hull tubes that their metal inserts can chafe against a boats topsides. Offshore Log:Choosing a RIB Dinghy AB vs. Caribe, Mailport: X-yachts, Soverel 33, tropical storms, Designing a Dump Line for the Multihull Mainsheet, Test Driving Furunos Cutting Edge Compass, Green Boating From a Practical Perspective, PS Advisor: Belaying Safety for Mast Climbing. We have all the essential supplies you need to keep your boat well-maintained. Centred on the helm console is a stainless steel steering wheel that would not look out of place on a 10m sports cruiser. Our certified mechanics, technicians, riggers, and outfitters are ready to get you out on the water. Heyer investigated moves to Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic, but an opportunity to move into a 100,000-square-foot facility in Barranquilla's free trade zone shifted his attention closer to home. The business climate is worsening, as well, Heyer says. To raise and lower your dinghy in the safest and easiest manner. "Labor-wise, it's much less expensive to do all that here.". They are built to last and they do! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); You have entered an incorrect email address! Resettled, the refugee from the Bolivarian Revolution is confident AB will be ready to rock when the world economy turns. When Practical Sailor tested RIBs for the April 1, 1998 issue, we found that an 8-hp. SimilaritiesThere are many similarities between the AB and the Caribe lines of RIBs. "It was difficult to import materials to Venezuela," Heyer says. "And we have room now to think of new projects, develop new things." Foreign exchange was hard to get, and completing foreign exchange transactions on a timely basis was almost impossible, Heyer says. As Budget Marines founder, Robbie Ferron, says: If you can go around Cape Horn in an AB then it should be good enough to go around anchorages in the Caribbean! For more info:https://www.powerboatandrib.com/2016/06/21/voyage-to-the-end-of-the-world-rounding-cape-horn-by-rib/, In South Africa, where inflatable boats are often called rubber ducks, the sport of racing inflatable boats has led to the development of inflatable catamarans such as the Thundercats, seen recently at the USVI Poker Run in St Thomas. 2022 Active Interest Media All Rights Reserved, Annual Branded-Content Special Advertising Sections. After the World War 2 inflatable boat development took a leap forward when new synthetic materials, neoprene and Hypalon were coated onto nylon fabrics and with the new generation of glues being made, inflatable boats were now able to cope with the harsh natural elements without becoming brittle, as natural rubber does, and impervious to salt, UV and petrochemicals. Available in over 38 countries, Highfield Boats has become the top choice world wide for families, yacht clubs, even international mariners. In this area, both brands are sold directly by the factory to dealers, reducing the costs of distribution. With the guard removed, the dinghy fits neatly behind the inner forestay. A RIB that will not plane is essentially useless as a cruising tender, when you may have to make trips of a mile or more to shore and return with a big load of groceries. It would plane with our 8-hp. He has started "adding value" to the boats by prerigging them at the plant with steering, navigation gear, bilge pumps, water pumps, water tanks, console panels, switches and battery charging features. Today, AB builds 35 rigid-hull inflatables from 8 to 28 feet - with hand-laid fiberglass or welded aluminum hulls and Hypalon tubes - for recreational, commercial and military use. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form. The hull of the Caribe has more deadrise-that is, its hull has a deeper V-shape. This versatile rigid inflatable boat (RIB) also doubles as a sports runabout, topping 30 knots when paired with a 40hp Mercury four-stroke outboard engine. Caracas, Venezuela's capital, has the highest murder rate of any city in the world, at 130 per 100,000 residents, according to Foreign Policy magazine. Yamaha, and was significantly larger than either of the Caribes we could use. The two lines of boats are similar in weight. Otherwise, well assume youre OK to continue. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. "Things here work better," he says. Caribe uses more gluing seam overlap in their tube construction. One of the major brands in the Caribbean is AB Inflatables, distributed by Budget Marine. In addition, we use a pair of external transom U-bolts-standard on the AB-to lash down the stern. "We have never built a boat even in our best years in Venezuela with the quality we're doing today," Heyer says. The bow compartment holds an anchor and rode, pump, running lights and miscellaneous small bits. AB meets standards of the American Boat and Yacht Council and various European certification bodies. Both use Hypalon fabric. Nevertheless, the advantages of a RIB are so great-primarily a drier, faster, more stable ride in all conditions, but particularly in rough water-that we decided to make a space on our already-crowded deck for a new dinghy. This works surprisingly well. Moving from Venezuela to Colombia has the RIB builder poised for the economic recovery. In the Caribbean, the cost of the two lines of boats is very similar, although the actual prices here are meaningless to the North American consumer. This allows the boat to cut through wakes and chop, virtually eliminating spray. Having such a top-quality wheel fitted to a small tender like the Mares 11 is more evidence of the attention to detail in these craft. outboard could not get the Caribe C10x on a plane with two aboard, while the slightly smaller AB 2.90 planed easily with 8-hp. Caribe Inflatables USA, 14372 SW 139th Court #7, Miami, FL 33186; 305/253-4822; caribe@wwtelco.com; www.wwtelco.com/~caribe. The future for RIBs, inflatable boats and inflatable marine structures is promising and the level of support for the owner and operator is now excellent. Its one hull patch resulted from a losing encounter with a tough Florida oyster. For five decades, AB Inflatables has continued to redefine the RIB market through its constant search for innovation, building each AB rigid inflatable boat with exceptional standards. It was only going to get worse. The move - shipping the molds, remodeling the facility, training the workers, buying new equipment - took nine months, required a plant shutdown of four months, and cost more than $1 million, Heyer says. At speed it feels solid and sure-footed. You can use this tool to change your cookie settings. Ten years later, import duties had risen so high that Starcraft let the Heyer family build the boats from scratch in Venezuela. This dinghy has two major flaws, however. Proudly created with. Far from jumping from the frying pan into the fire, he says the move positions him to hit the ground running with better-built boats, more timely deliveries and greater production capacity when the recession eases and consumers buy again. Lanchas and Battelli merged in 1996 as AB Marine Group, a Heyer-owned company, and stopped building aluminum runabouts in 2007. We concentrate on details that improve visibility, make boarding and evacuation easier and reduce possible discomforts. AB Inflatables' hull tubes also have three separate baffled air chambers, while the tube seams are overlapped by 25mm and reinforced by taping on the inside. MFDs need to be bracket-mounted overhead - as was the Garmin unit on our test boat. The seat in the bow caters for a second person, while the aft, full-width bench seat accommodates the skipper and a passenger. The subject of this boat test, however, is a new fibreglass-hulled tender called the Mares 11 VSX. Offshore StorageRIBs tow substantially better than traditional inflatables, but for offshore passage-making, the only solution is to carry the dinghy on deck. To further help with weight distribution, the 23-litre portable fuel tank is housed beneath the seat at the bow. By July, it expects to be certified to the international ISO 9000 standard. Heyer is frankly bullish about his new home. For the serious cruising boat, a good dinghy is more than a matter of convenience-it is an essential. Tohatsu, Japan's oldest outboard manufacturer, has been producing high quality, durable outboard motors since 1956. The time- and cost-savings of being in a free trade zone adjacent to the port were compelling, Heyer says. If you're looking for a bit of fun you can also throw the boat about as it carves tight turns with ease and authority. Heyer's Colombian operations manager, Hermes Garcia, an energetic 31-year-old who he describes as "young, proactive, intelligent with new ideas and a new vision," is university-trained and experienced in setting up and overseeing manufacturing processes. Security is worse. Tohatsu outboards were originally developed for commercial Japanese fishermen who needed a motor that could run for days on end, no matter what the weather. AB inflatables are popular in the Caribbean among both cruisers and in the charter fleets. Increasingly bureaucratic, costly and prohibitive customs regulations drove up costs, held up imports of parts and exports of boats for weeks and even months at a time, and discouraged use of imported parts to build the boats. They are teachable. or 15-hp. Heyer has just developed a kind of hybrid RIB/personal watercraft that seats two on a jockey-style console. U.S. builder Starcraft supplied the technology and parts, and the Venezuelan company assembled the boats and sold them under the trade names Lanven and Lancraft, Heyer says. For over 20 years, Walker Bay has been designing and building the most innovative, versatile and enjoyableboatsand watersports products on the market. No other boat dinghy davit compares. Heyer is a "perfectionist," Garcia says, "a pain in the ass. The top half of the console folds forward on hinges to reveal the starting battery underneath, secured and sheltered from the weather. Either of the small Caribes would fit in this space, as would the 8 6 AB 2.60 VS. A dinghy less than 9 in length, however, is quite small even for two people, much less two people and a bunch of extra stuff. AB Inflatables produces inflatable boats with both fiberglass and aluminum hulls for the recreational and professional markets. A fender, however, does only one job-cushion the blow between the hull and something hard-and then it swallows up valuable lazarette or anchor locker space when that one job is not required. Each vessel is handcrafted in house, including hull, tubes, rigging, and inboard engine installations. We have yet to see the lifting handle of a Caribe torn off. French airship manufacturer Societe Zodiac then used their skills in 1934 to manufacture a 2-seater inflatable kayak and then an inflatable catamaran; it didnt take long to attach a floor between the buoyancy tubes and the modern day Zodiac inflatable boat was born. "We were seeing more demand for our boats. Too many login attempts. At the bow the vee is even sharper and carries well forward to meet the waves as they come at you when travelling into a headsea. Some of the cookies we useopens in a new tab/window are essential for the site to work. "We'll get through this," he says. And it's worse today than when we left.". Similar to its siblings, the AB Inflatables Mares 11 VSX has a deep vee fibreglass hull and deck surrounded by tough Orca (CSM) fabric inflatable tubes. "Everyone's concerned about details, about the reliability of our product.". We use it as a work dinghy for nasty jobs like varnishing our railcap. "Ninety-eight percent of the aluminum boats on our rivers in Venezuela were made by us," he says. The solution was to sacrifice the Dorade guard. Kidnappings rose 52 percent - to 537 - in 2008, according to Interior Ministry statistics reported in the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional. Steering, throttle and fuel cables are all routed underfloor aft to the engine - so the fibreglass deck remains clean and uncluttered. But would the AB fit on deck? In profile, both lines of boats are very similar, with sharply turned-up bows to give better spray protection. Please try again, register or reset password. It handles, rides and performs very well, making it ideal as a lightweight (around 235kg with engine) sports tender for moderate-sized yachts and power cruisers. HighfieldBoats is the worlds leading manufacturer of aluminium RIBs & tenders. Other console features include a cup holder and grab rail, but no glovebox for keys, phones, etc. With a history of unrivaled experience, Zodiac Nautics origin is closely tied to all major innovations in the sector of inflatable boats. Although both companies make full lines of conventional inflatables as well as RIBs, the rigid-bottom inflatable is by far the most popular dinghy for cruising boats because of its dry and stable ride. Login failed. My main problem with boat fenders is that they appear to violate the cardinal rule of cruising: any object you bring aboard should serve at least two purposes (the way your crewmate's favorite yellow shirt makes a great Q flag). The new plant is 200 yards from Barranquilla's commercial port, so he can import parts and materials from the United States and Europe duty-free, bring them in at the port next door, move them to the plant, build the boats, pack them in containers, do the obligatory customs inspections and drug container searches at the plant, close and seal the containers, and truck them back to the port for shipment. Our small outboard meant that we could only get the tiny Caribe C8 or the slightly larger C 9x up on a plane with two aboard. Contacts- AB, Poba International #1-200319330 NW, PO box 02-5255, Miami, FL 33102-5255; 800/229-2446; abinflat@sa.omnes.net, www.abinflatables.com. The change had to be made.". Our Achilles weighs about 75 lbs. They are educated. The hinged, opening console also makes it relatively easy to install and to service the throttle box, engine gauges, and multifunction displays. The first major step forward in modern inflatable boat construction came with the development of rubber coated fabrics for the airship industry. A bill proposes that OSHA issue a standard to protect workers from heat-related injuries and illnesses. The dinghy is heavy to lift on deck and maneuver into its storage position, but Maryann can crank it up using one of our big two-speed halyard winches while I fend the dinghy off the varnish and lifelines. There is only about 10 between our mast and the inner forestaythe only place we can realistically carry a rigid dinghy. The AB 2.90 VS has a South American list price of $1,800. With its tubes deflated, the AB still takes up a chunk of deck space 7 long, 3-1/2 wide, and almost a foot high. Honda introduced the first 4-stroke outboard engine in America more than 40 years ago.
Sitemap 18