Two-pronged Assault
RIBS are becoming increasingly popular in New Zealand for a range of recreational pursuits. Boating looks at two new Assault models with quite different applications.
Fun and hot-performers, these RIBS are powered by new-generation Yamaha outboards.
Exclusive to Family Boats in Auckland, Assault RIBS are manufactured in Eastern Europe with GRP hulls and topquality, seam-welded PVC tubes. They are well-priced and strongly-built.
Both models featured here are new. The larger 610 Adventure is more of a sports boat, an allrounder suitable for general family boating and ideal for a seaside holiday home.
The Vesta 380 is a more basic craft, supplied on a simple, easy-to-tow road trailer. It would suit inshore fishing and diving, family fun boating and tender duties. With its generous proportions and solid hull, it’s too heavy to manhandle aboard, but fine if your vessel has davits, a crane system or a suitably-sized dinghy garage.
We launched both RIBS at Half Moon Bay before heading out into the inner Hauraki Gulf on a spectacular warm, sunny autumn afternoon. Confession time: when we slipped the 610 into the water we left out a couple of bungs, filling the hull with water deep enough to slosh around on the deck. It was a foolish mistake but easy enough to make with an unfamiliar boat.
As a result, our first order of business was to rid the boat of excess seawater…
The Assault 610 has a fully moulded deck liner featuring integral seat bases which provide internal dry storage, a folding centre console with an acrylic screen and a stainless-steel grab rail, an anchor locker in the bows that doubles as a bow seat and a moulded fairlead with a roller and cleat fixed to the tube.
There’s ample seating, including a dual helm seat with a folding backrest, a bench-style full-width rear seat, a forwardfacing seat in front of the console and a bow seat. Non-slip is moulded into the deck and the tubes feature textured black nonslip PVC on their upper surfaces, as well as substantial rubbing strips around the perimeter and plenty of grab handles.
Power for the Assault 610 Adventure is a new model Yamaha F90 four-stroke outboard. While reasonably lightweight, the
Assault is quite a large, solidly-built vessel, so I was interested to see how it went with just a 90hp outboard.
In short, the new Yamaha coped admirably with the load. Hole shots were not startling – I suspect there was still some water in the hull – but once up on the plane the boat performed very well. Later in the afternoon we loaded five people on board and the 610 still got along very nicely.
The new Yamaha 90hp features a large capacity 1.8-litre block, which helps explain why it copes so well with five passengers, and its power delivery is very strong across the rev range. The best combination of fuel efficiency and speed was between 3,500rpm and 4,000rpm where the 610 loped along at 18-20 knots. Top speed was a little over 30 knots. The PVC fuel tank inside the aft locker holds 100 litres and there’s provision for another 60-litre tank under the seat in front of the console.
The Assault 610 Adventure rides softly and it’s quiet too, especially since the F90 is such a quiet engine. It holds tight in the turns, only leaning over until the tubes come into contact with the water. There’s not a lot of freeboard at the transom, but any water sloshing into the moulded well drains easily enough via the scupper.
The rigging is nice and tidy and the steering is
The Assault 610 Adventure rides softly and it’s quiet too, especially since the F90 is such a quiet engine.
light, which is not always the case with a centre-console. There’s space on the dash for flush-mounted electronics, in this case a 10-inch Garmin MFD, a VHF radio and a switch panel.
The integral helm seat is quite close to the console – fine when sitting down, though the seat base is quite low, but a bit cramped if you like to drive standing up. I found myself with one knee on the seat a lot of the time.
Rear seats are comfortable and easily accommodate three abreast, while the seat in front of the console is the plum position on a nice day like we enjoyed.
The Assault 610 Adventure is supplied on a DMW single-axle, multi-roller trailer. All up, towing weight is around 900kg.
TFor a small boat the Assault Vesta 380 rides and handles very well.
he Assault Vesta 380 impressed as a fun, capable little boat that gets along very well indeed with the new Yamaha F25 on the back. The layout is basic: essentially the 380 is a dinghy, but with a nicely moulded flat-floored hull liner complete with non- slip, and a moulded anchor locker in the bows. The PVC fairlead on the bows has an integrated jam- cleat – simple but effective.
The hull is moulded GRP and the Vesta’s tubes are the same high-quality German PVC material as the larger Adventure 610. Like the bigger boat, all the seams are welded not glued – even the handles are welded on.
Seating is courtesy of a pair of vinyl- covered plywood thwart seats, or you can perch on the tubes which are well supplied with the grab handles and ropes most small RIBS are furnished with.
This RIB is a lot of fun to tool around in. The new F25 has plenty of poke to get the 380 up and running, whether driving solo or with one or more passengers in the boat. This was a tiller-steer version of the F25 with a nicely-positioned gear change lever near the end of the tiller handle, adjustable throttle resistance and the handy troll switch function close at hand.
The troll switch alters the engine speed in small increments from idle down to 750rpm and up to 1,000rpm, for optimum lure action when slow trolling, say for trout.
Yamaha’s simple stainless-steel friction control adjusts how much effort is needed to steer the boat; stiffening it up made it less tiring to helm the 380 for long stretches, especially since it’s not set up to helm while sitting on the tube. The manual tilt function is simple to use, though the lever is a bit fiddly to reach, and offer shallow water drive and fully down settings, with lock or kick up options.
While the F25 doesn’t need a battery to start or run, you’ll be happy to know there’s a really beefy alternator – 16 amps at full throttle and a healthy 12 amps at 1,000rpm. With fish finders, GPS units and other high-powered electronics making demands on the battery even in small boats, a decent alternator is a real plus.
For a small boat the Assault Vesta 380 rides and handles very well. It’s pretty quick: we estimated we were scooting along at around 25 knots with a bit of throttle left over, a figure confirmed by the chase boat. It’s a blast to throw around and nice and dry, too.