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Chinese RIBBYs / ever heard of these?

9K views 53 replies 19 participants last post by  PaulinVictoria 
#1 ·
I recently heard of this company: Qingdao Binhai Marina Co., Ltd. - Trailer, Boat (Sport Boat, RIB Boat
and have an email request into them for more information on their RIBBY models: RIB360B or the RIB390C, about their costs with the console / steering wheel accessory they sell.

Has anyone heard of these boats? Are they good?

I got one quote back from them:

Hello Doug
Thanks for your kindly interesting of our boats.
RIB360 (no console) price is USD910
If you have other problem,please email me ,i will send you reply as soon as possible
Best regards
julia

Which is an excellent price for a 11.5 foot RIBBy!
 
#2 ·
If you use your dinghy as we do, as our only transportation from the boat to shore, I would be most cautious about getting something with no dealer support on this side of the world. One usually gets what one pays for and as far as inflatables are concerned, it goes double. Our Zodiac Classic Mk1 is seven years old and still fine. Gets cheaper every year!
 
#3 ·
I would not buy direct. Here are my reasons:

1. Too many mom and pa operations in China. The central government cant handle the huge economic growth. Therefore many Regulations and manufacture processs are not defined and followed.
2. You are basically importing yourself. You don't have the know how to ensure the product meets all US regulation.

Too much risk.
 
#4 ·
Oh thank God, for a minute there I thought we were talking about prophylactics. :)

I too am of the belief that you get what you pay for. Shop around for deals.
I found a very good buy on very slightly used 10-1/2 foot Zodiac, with 15HP Mercury, and trailer for not a whole lot more than what you are looking at spending.
 
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#5 ·
friend of mine works for a company that does a lot of manufactoring in china. He says that if you "stay ontop of them" they do good work.. but if you just let them build without oversight.. they cut a LOT of corners to save money on their end
 
#18 ·
I'm one of those guys. I spend a lot of time in Chinese factories over many years and know how it works. Also, most of the brand name inflatable boats are now made in China.

Chinese are very economical. They hate to throw away things. If your name is Defender, West Marine, or something like that, you'll get a great sample boat. If they screw up, and they often do, they will never throw out their mistakes. They hold them and wait until some no-name customer shows up and wants to buy one. Maybe he's got a story about how he's going to buy thousands, but they have ways of knowing who the real customers are. They know how to search out people on the net. If you're a nobody, then you're the guy they are going to dump their junk boat on. You'll get a really good price, but you'll get junk.

Shipping of a full container these days is about $7000. A short contain, 20', is around $5000. Shipping just one boat will go LCL (Less than Container Load), which means it gets dumped in with a bunch of other stuff, probably beat up pretty good, and will cost $1500 for shipping. LCL containers are prone to inspection and other delays. Your cheap boat would be an expensive and painful adventure.

GJ
 
#7 ·
why it so cheap, maybe just because their cheaper labor. I bought a aquamarine boat 3 years ago, which made in China, it still works well now. well, i agree with the thing about regulation, ensure the product meets all US regulation before buying it. BTW, asking them about the shipping charge, it's always causing some problems.

Good luck
 
#8 ·
An off-brand Chinese RIB?
Made from PVC fabric?
Seriously?

Hell, I'd sooner take my chances with a Chinese anchor shackle... (grin)

I agree with sailorjk1, I think you'd be far better off in the long run with a used Hypalon boat in decent condition, a PVC inflatable is gonna be false economy when subject to the rigors of liveaboard/full-time cruising...

Here's a pretty good overview of current inflatables from Stephan Lance of Defender... He'll be offering some good deals during their Miami Boat Show, and Spring Warehouse Sale at the end of March, probably the best prices you'll find on new boats already in the States...

Hi Rick. Happy to help
 
#10 ·
Their catalogue says that they are made from Hypolon, though I did ask specifically what either of the 2 models I am interested in are made of.

If they are of PVC, I would not buy one.

I was hoping someone had some / any actual first hand knowledge of this manufacturer in order to respond to the "default" reasoning, i.e., "too good to be true", "Chinese manufacturing is questionable", etc.

Someone must have used some of these?
 
#11 ·
The top of their webpage says "Qingdao Binhai Marina Co., Ltd. is a leading inflatable boat manufacturer in Qingdao City in China. Our company uses high quality PVC materials imported from South Korea."

Brand name appears to be BINSEA.

Their product list says the 360 is available in PVC or Hypalon, but also says pricing is US $600 - $2,400. Hmmm. Big difference.
 
#12 ·
Ahhh! Excellent "catch" Minnewaska!

So, they are available in either material, at appropriately different prices.

$2400 for a bran new Hypolon RIB would still be an excellent price.
I am looking forward to their response on the 390C with the console / steering.
 
#14 ·
Apparently you are absolutely correct!

"Dupont, the inventor of Hypalon, is no longer producing the raw material used to make Hypalon fabric. Hypalon, which is a synthetic rubber, is now available in generic form and found in synthetic rubber coated fabrics called CSM (short for Chlorosulfonated Material)."

I saw Zodiacs calling their latest Hypolon, "Hypolon 260".
 
#15 ·
So maybe the expensive Zodiacs are using the last of the Hypolion fabric? That would explain why they are so expensive. They should probably number them and sell them as (very) limited editions
 
#21 ·
dupont sold it more than one year ago, sorry, was more like 10 yrs ago. since then , hypalon has become a different item. is not same stuff dupont made.
now there is no lifetime warrantee and the material bubbles and separates within 6 yrs. good luck. at least it glues back together better than pvc ever will.
but it does bubble and separate. and that was caribe, and they have a good reputation, in general.....

i am still looking for a nice older used avon roll up.....
 
#26 ·
If a merchant can't figure out how to answer the phone, answer the email, open the front door, the bottom line is that they are inept businessmen and that means they will be failing to deal with other simple business matters. Like making sure the glue is fresh and the guy putting the stuff together doesn't have a killer hangover.

Sometimes it is a matter of "Oh, that's a national holiday here" or as in France, they might simply be closed on vacation for the whole month of August. Which is why email always has an "out of office" autoreply function.

But all in all, when a merchant you've never heard of isn't taking care of business? It means they can't take care of business and you're gambling to use them. It could just be they're new and learning but do you want to be the guy they learn on, considering what the cost could be?
 
#27 ·
Well there are some inexpensive Chinese inflatables brought in by a few companies, including New Found Metals (the port people) among others. I would have no issue getting an expensive PVC one from them, but if I needed Hypolion I would go with a mainstream maker that will support it. So if all you need is one for your two week cruise every summer, I am sure you will be served well by an inexpensive PVC, but if you are a full time cruiser, go for the name brand.
 
#28 ·
Well, as with most of us, I wanted a Hypolon one. And I would also really like a NEW one with a console / steering configuration! So, when I ran into this company with their prices being a fraction of the customary costs of that sort of boat, I was quite enticed.

Now I am depressed, because it is a lot harder to talk Evelyn into the thousands $$$ that what I ideally want will cost, then it would have been per the prices I was seeing from these Chinese people.

So, I am sure I am back to the slightly used market, and, or, I might trudge along with the inflatable bottom one we have which came with the Triumph.

:-(
 
#31 ·
I think I had missed that they were center console at that price. I was surprised that you were willing to go to all that trouble for just an inflatable. I would love to have a center console and something big enough perhaps to pull a skier, but on the other hand I would not want something I could not pull up onto the foredeck. So I think I want 2 different tenders. Not sure if the X-Wife would like me storing it at here place!
 
#32 ·
I hate most center consoles, as they are on a pedestal that just gets in the way of your legs. We have a unihelm console, which fixes that. The wheel is on a bar that goes over your legs. If you must have one, this is the one to have.



However, the bloody contraption is heavy, as any console would be. We coastal cruise with the dink on the davits, but I would never ever consider a serious passage like that.
 
#35 ·
I have a 11' Mercury marine with a 5 hp. It does seam rather big for a 30' sailboat tender. However, it's a more stable and dry ride. Since I'm mainly a weekender on a mooring, lots of stuff goes on and comes off every few days. My mooring is 1/2 mile out and it makes for less trips.

are we off topic yet...lol
 
#37 ·
I've half-jokingly thought about pulling my 50 hp 15' Trophy as a tender behind my C250 (see profile pics below). It would be nice to drop anchor and then be able to waterski. ;)
 
#39 ·
I am tempted to grab an 11' inflatable because an 8' just seems too small. I have a feeling that if I tow that behind my 27' it will drag too much though.
 
#46 ·
You are absolutely correct. That is what they said was why they had not replied earlier.

Nevertheless, I bought a new 12 foot Ribby with steering console and a 25 HP fuel injected Tohatsu this past weekend at the Boston Boat Show, for $9500.

While there, the vendors were telling me that their RIBS were all made in China now.

Had I bought the one from BinSea I was interested in, all together, I would have saved about $1000.00
 
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