FRIB Folding Hull RIBs

A FRIB folding RIB can be stored or transported where you thought it was impossible: on the deck of a yacht, or in the back of a car, for example. It may also mean you can choose one a size or two larger than you otherwise would; that means great carrying capacity, comfort and speed.

The FRIB hull sections have interlocking tabs and slots, held together by the pressure in the tubes and bolts. Once assembled it’s difficult to tell they fold.

F-RIB 275 folded on deck

This photo shows that even the FRIB 275 has a V shape bottom at the bow, much better than a flat hull if you wish to push on in choppy waters.

Sailing Today also point out that most sizes of foldable RIB will fit in the back of a car or motorhome etc – impossible with a conventional hard-bottomed RIB.

Assembly of the hull is very simple, once you have the technique… just make sure the lugs are engaged with the slots before fully opening. Here you can watch a video showing how to fold the FRIB 275.

A review in the January 2017 edition of YACHTING WORLD rated the FRIB “one of the best bits of kit we’ve bought”
see: YW FRIB article

Sailing Today tested the 275 and gave it a 5 star rating:

“Handles just like a standard RIB… more stable than a simple inflatable boat… can carry a greater payload and take a bigger outboard… with a 5hp motor we were making 8 knots with two on board and planing at 14 knots with one”

SAILING TODAY Magazine, May 2014

If you are used to a floppy-bottomed inflatable, changing to a hard-bottomed folding RIB will be something of a revolution. At the most basic level, it’s very reassuring to “stand on something solid”. The F-RIB design (ignoring the fact it folds) seems to be unusually stable. And having a solid hull with a defined underwater shape – not dependent on where people sit etc – also makes them better to row.

However the biggest difference of all will come under power, when you’ll tend to find small engines achieve higher speeds, whilst with larger engines you’ll be able to push along at higher speeds even when conditions are a bit choppy. The only way you’ll really get better performance from small motors is by going longer and narrower, as we have with our SpearFish efficient inflatables.

Yachting Monthly tested the FRIB 275 and found that a Suzuki 2.5 “gave six knots with two adult crew on board, and eight with just one… with a 5hp we made 8 knots two-up and planed at 14 knots with one.” We’ve also tested, ourselves, the 275 with a 9.8hp and, one-up, still had throttle to spare (let’s be honest, chickened out!) at 20 knots. She zipped straight up on the plane and was very smooth and dry at speed, with no sign of movement between the hull sections.

With a Torqeedo 1003 (1kW) electric outboard on a 275 we got 5 knots flat out and 4 at half power, giving a realistic range of 8-10 nautical miles (on the 915Wh battery).

A note on weight

At first glance, most people assume a hard-bottomed glassfibre RIB will be very heavy compared to one with a rubber fabric bottom, but with the F-RIBs the difference isn’t crazy. Rubber is surprisingly heavy, particularly when you use thick rubber (which is advisable for the bottom of inflatable boats!).

Size-for-size, in comparison to the FRIB 275 (at 36kg):

– a typical rubber-bottomed dinghy with tube keel underneath inner floor (to give it some V-shape) is 30-35kg. Even our own SpearFish 310, which saves weight by integrating a V-shaped high-pressure floor into the hull, is still about 25kg.

– also bear in mind that the weight of a tender, as far as handling/lifting goes, generally includes a motor. FRIB hulls are more efficient than many all-rubber boats so will either be faster or can take a smaller, lighter engine to achieve the same speed (total weight may therefore be less). A typical 6hp outboard (eg Tohatsu/Mercury/Mariner) weighs 26kg, whereas the “next size up” (8-10hp) weigh 37-40kg.

– whilst even aluminium-hulled (and non-folding) RIBs, specifically marketed as lightweight, are somewhere between 28 and 45kg.

THEY’RE ALL WITHIN A FEW PERCENT.

The only way you can really make an inflatable boat much lighter (there are 2.7m dinghies weighing under 20kg) is to reduce the thickness of the fabric, and then you have to question the durability. Or buy a smaller dinghy – but that has other implications on factors such as stability, load carrying and performance.

About the FRIB 430

The F-RIB 275, 330, and 360 all have three part hulls.

The newer 430 pictured here is similar but with a slightly deeper V (better in waves), and the hull is in four pieces rather than three, so it actually folds up to not much bigger than a 360! As a 4.3m rigid hull boat it’s really a very capable piece of kit, able to carry up to 6 adults (max 800kg), yet it still fits in the back of an estate car. The only real downside, unless you are extremely strong (and even then…), is the weight – at 68kg it is not, for most people, a one person job to assemble/fold.

We really consider the 360 to be the largest of the range that’s possible to launch/retrieve on your own, and even that size is only really possible with the aid of transom wheels (available as an option).

Nestaway Boats & FRIB

We got hold of our first F-RIB 275 in June 2014 and immediately took it on a week’s trial, as tender to a cruising yacht on the West Coast of Scotland. We were deeply impressed, so we decided to add them to our carefully-selected, specialist range of folding boats.

Some of our feedback was incorporated into the production models and we co-launched the FRIB range at Southampton Boat Show 2014. We know for a fact that we have sold more FRIBs than anyone else in the UK and as you may have noticed many of our photographs are unique to us, because we’ve actually used the boats ourselves (and took a camera!). We still talk to FRIB (which is a UK company) regularly about the forthcoming new UK production (they used to be made in Russia) and will be the first to get the new stock when it’s available.

BACK INTO PRODUCTION DATE – unfortunately we, and our patient customers who have placed deposits, have now seen several deadlines go whooshing by… we do remain confident that it will happen, and we know progress has been made, but it now seems unlikely for the 2024 season.