Jet Tender Recommendations?

Does anyone have a Ribjet? Was looking at one of the gas models. Seems like they have a good hull design and with the Rotax engine would be good as well.

I have a Ribjet 10 2017 Model. I own a Sunseeker Predator 68 and I went for it because it easily fit in the tender garage.

Biggest problem with the Ribjet is taking it into a marina. I spent 20 mins answering questions about it last week at Offatts Bayou in Galveston. My craft has the optional Bimini and we cruise the Texas coast. Everyone wants to know more about it.

Had it 2 years and so far haven’t done anything except change the oil. The Rotax engine is bullet proof. Also, parts and service are easy to find since this engine powers 10,0000 jet skis in Texas.

I use it as a tender to get from my boat to shore or a friends boat, but I’ve made trip up to 10 miles in it.

Warning - The “10” is a 2-3 person craft. You can carry 4 (or 5 illegally) but you better be on a short trip between boat in the anchorage.

Finally, it “very, very” fast. With a jet ski motor and 2-3 people, it’s an honest 30kt boat.

Nice to hear from a Ribjet owner. Williams has gone to Rotax on their gas powered tenders too so I was especially interested in that part. Ribjet also has the smallest, lightest diesel.

Jet tenders are very popular with European builders using garages on boats in your size range. Riva did use Avon rebranded to their name and may still although I've seen some with Williams recently. I've seen several Sunseekers with Williams. Not surprising with two UK companies.

After Nautica closing, the US had a bit of a void and while a couple tried to step up,, they were largely unsuccessful. I hope Ribjet is successful, although haven't seen many signs and can't even find their website now, so I wonder if they've even survived.

That's the problem. It's very hard to do on a yacht in the 50-75' range and almost impossible. I know 2 owners that put 11' whalers on new 62' Princess as they'll hold 4 adults comfortable, again 5 if "illegal" but the boat still sleeps 6+2 crew. But the whaler is more versatile in what it will carry because you're not losing 40% of it's beam to rubber tubes.....it's a square box so to speak. Plus it's great for throwing the fenders in when traveling. Can throw plenty of snorkeling gear in it and people and have leg room. You just can't get a tender to carry all of the boat's occupants until you get to a 75' MY or bigger or tow.

I can't speak as to the Ribjet but on our 63' Riva, we have a Williams 325. It seats 4 comfortably (5 legally). Top speed is around 40 knots and it cruises nicely at 25-30. We do wear PFD's and do have a kill switch. However, the comment about glassy calm underestimates it's ability. It will handle rough conditions considerably better than a small Whaler. We use it mainly to explore, so to carry people, not supplies or such, so the capacity of space isn't an issue plus it will carry more than you might think with it's storage and floor space.

As mentioned, it will not carry everyone the boat will hold. We typically will use it in shifts, half of us exploring during the morning and the other half afternoon or half for a couple of hours, then the other half. If we need all to go, we rent something.

On our Sunseeker Manhattan 65, we carried a 385 which was rated for 6 and would be fine if you were just shuttling passengers to and from shore, but for exploring at speed we still only carried 4 or occasionally 5 mostly small and very friendly people.

Most cruising with both has been at 15-20 knots with some at 25-30. We run a very small percentage of the time at over 30 knots.

Williams 285, 9'6", is rated for 3+1 and top speed is close to 40 knots. It will actually seat 4 comfortably. I can see him very happy with his Ribjet 10. It would be great for 2 people, ok for 3 at slower speeds.

On 60-80' sport boats, a tender generally can't match the passengers on the boat. That may seem inconvenient, but you become use to it and work around it. We have used them to go to restaurants nearby and shuttled passengers then. Not the most convenient but added less than 15 minutes to the process of getting there.

Williams Jet Tenders are high quality production boats with a long option list and nicely designed.

I have 3 Williams Diesel Jet Tenders on my present displacement boat. Two Dieseljet 625 as main tenders with stern launing in the aft lower deck space and one Williams 445 Dieseljet as SOLAS recue boat concealed on the foredeck with stored power davit launching system.

- All tenders have Yanmar diesel engines and the tubes are made of neopren
- They do not like to sit in the sun (wear and tear by sun rays and salty air)
- We do not have anti fouling under water paint, therefore the tender will only hit the water, when needed
- Engines and Jets have to be fresh water flushed after each use (by SOP and maintenance manual)
- Pretty high useful load
- Great performance under high power settings
- The Yanmar inline engines will not last very long, when used constantly with high power settings
(very high pleasure boat rating)
- Pretty expensive boats with even more expensive spare parts (like most things from GB ).
- Definately no toy for kids to drive around with
- the 625 are great for towing water skis and launching divers from
- the 445 is in reality a little toy but it came equipped as a SOLAS rescue boat and was the only diesel jet fitting
in the rather small tender bay in the bow area behind the crash bulkhead.

Would I buy them again, Yes, without any doubt. Especially with the tender bays and the launching systems are being designed for and around them.



On the Sail Boat we have 2 Zodiac Medline 500 with 50 HP Yanmar DTorque Diesel Outboards. Great Combination. As the normal life span of a RIB tender is not very long anyhow, I concider a very expensive full custom RIB tender for my class and size of boats to be far to expensive. IMHO Rib tenders like all inflatable boats are consumables when constantly used.

For my grand children to play with, we have fully inflatable Honda boats with Torqueedo electric outboards. Safe, easy to use and children proof.

We have gas and diesel jet tenders. I don't worry about the gas, but then I had boats from the age of 13 to the age of 42 and all those were gas inboards. In recreational boats, gas still far exceeds diesel in number of boats. As a former inland boater, I'm often surprised by how anti-gas those who have always been on the coast often are.

The liability a captain assumes in loading 11 passengers into a Walker Bay rated at 8 is extremely high.

Speed is important to us in that we use them to explore and many days we'll cover more than 100 nm in one. However, we are not the typical user. We put more hours and miles on our tenders than most do.

The problem I have with a gas tender is the limited range compared to diesel, and I don't mind the built in inboard. My issue is carrying spare gas in gas cans, that's the issue. I really dislike carrying gas in gas cans, but for an exumas trip, if you're anchoring for a few days, you need extra gas.

Quite honestly on yachts I manage under 75', if the owners don't anchor and stay in marinas, I simply rent a real center console for a few days as a tender. For what you spend just to maintain a rib, run it monthly or so, and etc. You can rent a nice Contender for a week and it's the same outlay and you're not tripping over a tender on the swim platform.

Had 3 jet tenders, a little Williams, a Zodiac and a big diesel Novurania thug.

Oh, I can't tell the hate I have for those bloody things. Just buy an outboard.

Having just spent the weekend on RIB with twin Merc 400's, forgetaboutit.

I agree with You Fish. Also the new Weber and Rotax gasoline engines are much more reliable than their predecessors, they still use dangerous patrol fuel. And the performance of the little 4-cylinder Yanmar inboard diesel engines will be to the detriment of their lifespan. Next time we plan a tender, it will have outboard (diesel) engine(s). Except for water skiing, who really needs a 30 kts+ ship to shore or crew shuttle.

A Zodiac 660 Medline RIB Tender with twin Yanmar DTorque Diesel Outboards or a Medline 500 with single Diesel Outboard will be pretty agile tools anyhow.

The DTorque Diesel Outboard is a great engine. Lower noise, lower fuel consumption. Their nominal HP value is of minor importance, as they have a much higher torque than an equivalent gasoline outboard. And they last longer. This engine will survive two RIB boats. And the engine is SOLAS certified for the use on mandatory rescue boats.

Just my 2(Euro) Cents