For those of us in the throws of winter, thought these pictures of people using their RIBs during warmer months or in warmer climates would be a nice reprieve from the cold temperatures. I'm always looking for photos of RIBs "in action" so please feel free to share your pics with us!

Posted by ribcraftusa at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Though it’s the dead of winter for those of us in the northern climates, January is a busy month for RIBCRAFT.

We start the month off at the National Sailing Programs Symposium (NSPS) in St. Petersburg, Florida on January 9th-13th. Hosted by US SAILING, this four day event is the pre-eminent sailing education conference in the country. The NSPS provides an excellent opportunity for sailing progams and industry to communicate, share ideas, and learn about pertinent issues in the sport. Having long recognized the needs of sailing programs and yacht clubs for commercial grade safety, coach, and mark boats, RIBCRAFT and US SAILING partnered in February of 2007 to create the US SAILING RIBCRAFT 15. This 15’ RIB, designed exclusively for yacht clubs, sailing programs and sailors alike, will be exhibited at the NSPS and available for demos. This boat is the only boat designed specifically as a coach and support boat.

Changing gears. For those of you looking to see the latest offerings in the RIBCRAFT line of Professional Grade RIBs, we invite you to visit us at The New England Boat Show January 12th-20th at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. This is a great indoor show that provides us with a excellent opportunity to show off several of our most popular models.

Continuing on in our support of the sport of sailing, RIBCRAFT is a proud sponsor of the 2008 Rolex Miami OCR in Miami, Florida on January 27th- February 2nd. This regatta will host over 600 sailors in more than a dozen different classes. This has turned into one of the top regattas in the world.

Posted by ribcraftusa at 08:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've been asked countless times how the tubes on our boats are made and though I've explained it verbally, I think you would all agree a picture and video is far better than a thousand words. I found these three videos showing how a tube is made on YouTube and thought you'd all enjoy. Though not a RIBCRAFT tube, the process is very similar.

You'll notice that the video is sped up in places which makes watching it a little easier. Too bad it doesn't take 27 minutes in real life to make a tube.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions.

Part 1:
Selecting and cutting the fabric, sanding all pieces, attaching the sections, installing the fill and pressure relief valves.

Part 2:
Preparing and forming the baffles, adding the bow section, beginning to form the tube

Part 3:
Forming the tube, installing the baffles, and beginning to attach to the hull

Posted by ribcraftusa at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)