Avon seasport 400dl jet or outboard

[zt260]

Im quite fancying a 4mtr rib to use on the river mainly but also would like to use at the coast,
i like the look of the avon seasport,but i would be leaving it in the water on the river,
so should i look at the outboard rather than the jet and has anybody got any experiance with iether of these models and what are there pros and cons
thanks in advance
sorry if this has been asked before,but i cant find any reviews anywhere?
ash

 

[Sundays_Child]

Friends who have owned jet ribs and other owners on this forum seem to have moved on. The jet sounds great, but in reality they underwhelm. Reliability, tracking, noise etc are below what an outboard provides.

Biggest thing going for them from my point of view is safety, particularly if you have children in the water, but even then, I'd just use a prop guard.

 

[mjf]

Re: Avon seasport 400dl jet or outboard

Hi

I had exactly the same 'fancy'.

I ended up with a new Avon Seasport 400DL with outboard that sits on a Versadock secured to a pontoon of the tidal Thames in W.London.

You are asking for trouble with a jet in a river IMHO, as these are designed as blue water tenders really. If you pick up some rubblish, bits of wood etc how do you think you are going to clear same unless you have a hoist/derricks?; and you have to get there first too!

i am delighted with my choice as its fab for low speed hops to Richmond etc and 40kn+ down to Thames barrier (after wandsworth bridge)if you want this.

The tidal Thames by Parliament to say Greenwich can we very lumpy with high speed ferries, wind over tide etc etc but my boat just laps this up once over 20knots.

Excellent stability and wonderful 'grip' at all speeds.


The DL bits are nice as good seats - you need the back cushion on the front of helm bench seat, good lockable storage, good size 50 lt tank, built in nav and deck lights etc.

SWMBO would like a 'head' but thats a girly thing.........


Go for it!

 

[zt260]

Re: Avon seasport 400dl jet or outboard

Thanks for the replies i was leaning towards the outboard for the reasons you have stated, the jet does have that sort of glamour to it but not really practical for what i want to do,so i will concentrate on looking for the outboard version,
thanks again
ash

 

[mjf]

Re: Avon seasport 400dl jet or outboard

There is another good design bit that I forgot to mention and i discovered by accident.

The seasport O/B has its engine mounting quite a way aft of the mounded hull transom. Thus a well or self draining cofferdam is introduced.

When i launch my boat by doing astern at 3/4 Knots off the Vesadock, this sitation is then made worse by 'driving' astern into a fast flood tide in my case, thus the effect is the boat is effectively going astern throu the water at 6/8knots and the bow is high as the stern dips into the water. Thus waater pours in past the engine mounting bit not into the boat as it would with other RIBs - once off the dock and clear the water simplydrains off and the inside of the baot remains completely dry at all times.

Try doing astern at that speed in a 'normal' RIB and the water will flood over the tansom and soak the floor......

 

[jfm]

Definitely outboard for river. jet will choke on debris and needs crane-out to clear. it also wont steer straight at low speed. The 2 stroke jet (secondhand) is smokey but easy to maintain, whereas the 4 stroke is clean but nightmare to maintain (I've had both). Finally, in the 4m boats the jets are a bit underpowered. They are ok, but only just, in the 3.2m hulls. A nice 70hp outboard might be faster. also outboards are cheaper!

 

[zt260]

Thanks again
ash

 

[speedking]

Hi,

I own an avon seajet 400 dl rib, yamaha inboard engine 2 stroke, year 2002, I experience a problem of engine misfire when I run between 4 and 10 knots, after 12 knots speed, it goes ok, as well if I go full blast, the engine stops after 10 sec, both carburators had been serviced and cleaned, piston compression is good, the engine had only 240 hours working life, I had been told that it may be electronic problem. I wonder if someone has any ideas of what this problem can be. thanks.