Caribe vs AB

[fliti]

Having trawled through various threads on choices of tender, Caribe and AB are both highly rated. We are cruising in the Caribbean and need to choose an 8-9 footer between the two, prices being more or less equal. Outside choice might be Walker Bay RIB. For tropical waters, has anyone a strong view on which is best? Caribe is hypalon while AB and Walker Bay are in Orca CSM, whatever that is.

 

[KellysEye]

Caribe was the dinghy of choice of cruisers in the Caribbean until AB came up with a better quality dinghy, we bought one. The fabric looks like Hypalon and it's certainly tough and UV resistant.

 

[fliti]

Kellyseye,
Did you use a dinghy cover with your AB?

 

[TQA]

Both are good and I believe use the same material which is hypalon type. Similar build quality now.

I have an AB 9ft fg RIB with the double bottom and am very happy with it.

I do not currently use a cover. There are lots of 10+ year old Caribes and ABs around not covered.

































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[Monique]

FWIW, I considered both Caribe and AB and purchased a 3D XPRO ALU UL290. Rated for 15 HP, it is lighter than either of the other two and is made of Hypalon.

FYI only.

 

[geem]

We looked at Caribe and AB 9 yrs ago. Went for Caribe. the rib has een excellent. its just been stolen in Northern Spain. We will replace with exactly the same set up when we arrive in Caribbean later this year. go for tohatsu 9.8 2 stroke. ours was bullet proof, 26kg (lightest 10hp on the market). it will plain at 17 knots with two and 20 knots one up. ours was a Caribe 9L