AB aluminum hulled RIB

[speciald]

Does anyone have experience with aluminum hulled RIBs? I am considering buying a 13 ft AB Alumina. I have heard that when aluminum RIBs first were built, the hulls got so hot in the tropical sun that the glue was failing and the tubes were falling off.

[noelex77]

Aluminium hulled RIB tenders are very popular for the charter fleets in Northern Australia. Often Niyad (spelling?) brand. They stand up to the abuse of pulling up on a coral beach (and charterers) much better than the alternatives.
I have never seen a heat issue with them and it gets reasonably hot in those waters.

[danielgoldberg]

I just went through the process of looking for a new dink and was very VERY close to buying an aluminum AB. By all accounts they are great boats and you will be very happy with it. I've never heard or read anything about the deck or hull getting "too" hot.

By the way, the only reason we didn't get the AB aluminum was price. In the end, for us, I couldn't justify spending literally twice as much for the dink.