F-RIB 275 - My experience, the company that ignores feedback & concerns, and the global publication that won’t amend their reviews.

Let’s start at the beginning.  The most important part of this blog, in my opinion, is the failure for the company to engage with me even if just to acknowledge that they’ve received my feedback.  To assuage any doubt of these recent emails going to spam, when I initially experienced concerning break downs in my first F-RIB I was met with resistance but met all the same. Also, when I reached out to Yachting World in efforts to encourage them to amend or update their reviews to include my personal experience they were unwilling.  This is quite unfortunate considering that I imagine their readers who live in warm climates would appreciate the information.

Here’s the story:

In December 2018 I excitedly invested in my first F-RIB.  The F-RIB 275 seemed like the perfect companion for my sailboat as we set off for cruising.  Small enough to easily setup for a single handed sailor like myself yet big enough and stable enough for the task of getting myself. and my crew when I had them, to and from shore. 

Arriving at my home port on the Columbia River I got my new rib set up and ready to take out for a test drive. The first thing I noticed was a weird color change of the hull as soon as some water got in to the sole of the boat. Being a brand new, just out of the package dingy that I spent a nice chunk of change on, AND another $400 on top to have it shipped from the nearest dealer across the country in Florida, I was quite bummer. I reached out to the company. At first I heard nothing so I contacted the dealer I purchased my F-RIB from. He was helpful. The solution that was suggested - a refund of a tiny portion in order for me to either get someone to paint the sole, or to buy paint & do it myself.

Now, let me be clear, I generally like the tie-dye look and found the new mottled look kinda fun. This wasn’t about esthetics. This was about something potentially being wrong in the lay up of the plastic hull. The company assured me there was no structural issues and I accepted the refund.

In March 2020 I was out zipping about in my dingy when I hit a tiny wake. Of course I had slowed down and weighing only 190 lbs I was quite shocked when the light bump of my rump on the seat resulted in the plastic seat splitting at the seam. A little more than one year into ownership and another thing was broken. Again, I tried to contact the company directly. No response. Again it took me calling in the company in Florida I initially bought the rib from to get a response from the F-RIB people. In the end I did get my new seat.

During my stay on the Columbia River I kept my F-RIB tucked away in the little storage bag that it comes in and lashed to my bow. This was how the dingy would ride onboard my boat during passages. After one summer exposed to the not so strong sun found in Oregon the flimsy bag was falling to dust. Yikes! Good to know this now.

Okay, I get that sometimes you have to buy more durable accessories to fit your needs so I said nothing, ordered a custom ‘bullet proof’ bag built out of UV resistant materials with plenty of tie down points and kept moving forward. This set me back roughly $500. Just about one quarter the price of the dingy!!! After all my little F-RIB was worth it!

In July 2020 I sailed out of Oregon headed for warmer waters. I had settled in nicely to my dingy. I loved the easy set up and it was proving to be quite a nice, stable ride. Unfortunately our first night out at anchor in front of Cabo San Lucas found me off guard and, in the morning, no longer in possession of my F-RIB 275. Oh what f*#cking luck!!! Here I was out at anchor with only one paddle board to get a crew of three to and from shore.

Luckily, if there was any good luck to be had, there was an open spot in the very expensive marina downtown Cabo. We took it & began looking for a replacement launch.

Remember that stupid expensive bag I mentioned? Well, that was all the motivation I needed to look for a replacement F-RIB that would fit inside that luxury bag. Once I arrive to La Paz, Mexico I took up the search and found one already in Mexico. No, it wasn’t the stolen one but rather a new one in Cancun. That would save me a good amount of import taxes! I took a deep breath and placed my order.

My new F-RIB arrived to the marina in La Paz in February 2021. My fingers were crossed that the bad juju I had experienced surrounding this particular brand of boat had passed and that there would only be smooth boating from here on out. I had certainly learned my lesson with securing the dingy and was ready with a nice stout locking system in place.

April 2021 I sailed north into the Sea of Cortez, towing my dingy behind me for the day hops. By mid-June I was on the hard, dingy stowed in her bag & under more shade while I traveled for 7 months in the US. Feb 2022 I put my sailboat back in the water and headed back to La Paz. All was right in the world.

Here I want to sum some things up. This second F-RIB I had out & in use for 5 months. I couldn’t find chaps at this point and was determined to get some built to lessen any premature breakdown from the sun. In the meantime I kept her hull clean and kept her maintained to the best of my ability. What I noticed during my 400+ nm sail north in the Mexican springtime was that the rub rails were getting gooey. Literally you could scratch a finger nail across the rails and get gross stuff under said nail. During her initial 5 months of a cruising life this F-RIB that is literally advertised as “High density, UV resistant PVC” was proving differently. I took this in stride and vowed to get chaps ASAP.

Following being stowed for 7 months I launched the dingy for our sail south. It took only 3 more months for me to discover micro tears in her hull after removing growth that had built up. While scraping off this growth with a plastic tool it seemed the material tore so easily. After 5 minutes of firm scraping there were 8 holes leaking air!!! Holy HELL! You gotta know that by now I am quite flustered.

I patched up those holes and quickly installed a lifting apparatus. A friend of mine who had helped me with the repairs noted how thin the PVC tubes were. He also shared with me how long he has had his own rigid bottom inflatable and what a beating it’s taken over his 8 years of ownership. He has a rib made with Hypalon.

Within one night my dingy deflated again. I was sure it was due to a faulty repair job. That seemed like the most reasonable cause. I aired up my dingy only to find that the inner seam along the tube was coming unglued and leaking. At this point I feel I am coming unglued! SERIOUSLY!

I decide to send my little “deflateable” out for professional help.

Now, I am pretty pissed. I reach out to Steve Bruce, the creator & owner of F-RIB, directly. Seeing as though he and I have been in contact before I fully expect him to get my email. No going to spam. I even send the same email to the information email found on the website. I get nothing in return.

At that point I look for reviews online. Maybe I am not the only one with concerns and bad luck with these boats. What I find is reviews mostly from people in the cool waters and climates England & surrounding areas is known for, the same weather and water temps found in the Pacific Northwest where I started. I also found a couple of professional reviews, one written 3 years after the creation of the F-RIB, and seemingly done on boat right out of the box, in cooler climates & with no real exposure to cruising conditions. So, what exactly are they reviewing???

Yes, just about any item can be magical and awesome the moment you open it. Generally those don’t cost $2,000. What I hoped for, and expected, from this purchase was something durable, reliable & safe. What I found was none of those features in the F-RIB, and a company not willing to stand behind their product.

Okay, back to the story… Once I get the dingy back, happy to see she is holding air and all of my patches did, in fact, hold up, I lift her out of the water again. This time it took 3 days for her to begin leaking air again. Another section of the inner seam had let go. At this point I am pretty numb to this situation. I send her off again &, again, she comes back okay. For me, it’s the uncertainty. I no longer have any faith in the durability of this rib. I will certainly be on the lookout for a replacement.

Here are the reviews I found on the F-RIB.

Yachting World’s: https://www.yachtingworld.com/reviews/gear-reviews/tender-test-f-rib-foldable-rib

I reached out to offer them an updated experience so they might give their readers another perspective and this was their response:

“Thank you for your email and I'm sorry to hear about your issues with your dinghy. 

The review we published is over five years old and was done by a skipper whose opinion and experience we value, respect and trust, so we are not in the position to change that review at this stage I'm afraid. But I have taken note of the problems you experienced and will be looking out to see if others have had similar issues, particularly for warm weather sailors.”

I found Toby Hodge’s reply to pretty dismissive.

From Yachting Monthly I at least found someone willing to contact F-RIB on my behalf. The review they published: https://www.yachtingmonthly.com/gear/folding-boats-test-f-rib-31548

When I reached out here Katy asked if I had heard anything from Steve Bruce or the company. My answer was no. She came back and said, “I will certainly be raising this with them and we will see what they come back with.”

As of Nov 7th, 2022 neither of us have received a response from Steve Bruce or the F-RIB company. In her last email to me Katy says, “I've repeatedly emailed them but not had any response at all yet. I will continue chasing.”

This play by play recount is to bring light to both my unfortunate experience with the F-RIB 275 & how the company responds, or doesn’t, when faced with product quality issues.

Buyer be warned!