Stormforce Range

The Stormforce range continues to grow and we thank you for taking the time to review.
Having studied range details below, should you have any questions whatsoever please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Description

Hullform

The Stormforce 9.1 by necessity is a deep V hull form, which is one of the reasons that this RIB has such fantastic abilities in rough offshore conditions. The Deep-V hull is combined with sprayrails to produce additional lift and improve the hydrodynamics of the hull. The tube is designed to sit firmly in contact with the water surface while at rest; this ensures that the RIB has maximum stability.

One of the major design features is the Hard Nose. This was developed due to several reasons, and has proven itself one of the most successful features on this design after many years in testing. The Hard Nose is primarily a safety feature. When a RIB such as this is driven hard in a large sea state, there is a real risk that detubing could occur. Thus, the nose is designed to offer complete protection to the tubes when operating in these conditions. Furthermore, there are actually two independent tubes on each side of the hull, offering even greater safety.

The other features of the hard nose are mainly from a practicality need. The GRP nose offers a much more suitable platform from which to anchor or moor, without any problems with damaging the tubes. It also offers much more internal space; this was incorporated into a large dry storage locker, and in some models facilitates twin berths.

Other Design Features

Safety was top of the list, the boat had to have twin diesel engines, capable of 15-20 knots on one engine
Independent electrical and fuel system
Large storage areas
Well protected seating area
The engine bay lids have been built above the tubes to prevent flooding. The bay has been designed to give access all around the twin engines.
We built GRP tube carriers to run the length of the bay, this protects the tube in the bay and enables us to stick the tube on the outside.
Additional storage areas within the engine bay.

Propulsion

This RIB is ideal with either single or twin diesel sterndrives, which offer a good turn of speed with excellent fuel efficiency. The RIB can also be fitted with twin outboards or waterjets/inboards.

Layouts

The 9.1 is available in the standard layouts. As an offshore cruiser, the RIB is normally built with the Wrap Around Console, complete with Canopy. This is a very practical and seaworthy design, offering plenty of dry storage and protection to the crew. Another popular version is the forward cabin layout, this is ideal for smaller crews who wish to utilise the full of the deck space on such a hull.

The RIB can accommodate the side by side open console, with additional POD seating if required

Background

The Stormforce 9.1 was designed and developed inhouse, to meet the needs of our customers who required bigger and safer RIBs. The main instigator of the 9.1 design was longstanding customer Julian Cooke, he had worked his way up through the range ofsmaller Ribs. For improved reliability and safety, one of the main design criteria of the new RIB was that it must have twin engines. It was almost a year in the planning and development but it was worth the wait.

Our 9.1 RIB was a natural progression from our range of smaller single diesel RIBs. One of the main instigators was a long-standing customer, Julian Cooke. Julian originally bought a 6.1 Redbay fitted with a 100hp Suzuki. He used this for one season and moved to a twin outboard 6.1. Next move was to a 7.4 fitted with a single Mercruiser 180 diesel engine. With the Scottish Islands on our doorstep, Julian was discovering the delight of many of these Islands. With longer weekend trips and the need for more reliability, we began discussing a twin inboard engined RIB.

All Julian’s cruising experience and recommendations were recorded and a new design was built around these. Safety was top of the list, the boat had to have twin diesel engines, capable of 15-20 knots on one engine, independent electrical and fuel system, large storage areas, well protected seating area etc. We decided on a hard nose boat due to a number of reasons. From our cruising experiences, we recognised that the bow of the RIB was only used to strap down luggage and as an anchor locker/platform. Mooring or Anchoring is difficult with a conventional high bow. Furthermore, a diesel RIB driven with its weight being driven into a bad following sea would run the risk of detubing if stuffed into the back of a wave.

Our hard nose overcomes all these problems. It provides a mounting area for three cleats and bow roller, anchor and anchor winch. The hard nose is entered through a fibre glass door, inside it houses an anchor locker, space for an inflatable tender and masses of dry storage. The last and most important feature of the highly flared nose is that it gives total protection to the tubes and in the event of a big sea, the buoyancy provided by the flare pushes the bow up immediately.

Shortly after the 9.1 entered production, Puffin Dive Centre in Scotland approached Redbay with the need for a longer version of the 9.1. Subsequently, we lengthened the mould, with the intention of returning it to the original length after the two Ribs were built for Puffin. However, the mould was never shortened, and the 11 metre has proven to be one of the main success stories of Redbay Boats.

Specification

Stormforce 9.1

Technical Data:

Length Overall: 9.50 meters

Beam Overall: 3.30 metres

Length Waterline: 7.52 metres

Beam Waterline: 2.70

Draft: 0.50 metres

Displacement: 3-4 tonnes

Design Category: B