Highfield’s Sport 760


Highfield’s Sport 760


The RIB business was booming in Europe in the 2000s when more advancements began to supercharge the style and functionality of this design for consumers worldwide. An increasing number of builders started to offer larger RIBs with creature comforts that, previously, had only been available aboard boats like center consoles and express cruisers.


“If you join that with the quality of outboards — they’re quiet, they don’t smell anymore, they can have a joystick — now you have a boat that looks great, that projects a good image, that has amenities and that has a good engine,” says Christophe Lavigne, president of Highfield USA. “The package, all together, makes a lot of sense.”


Today, that package is becoming increasingly popular in the United States, where builders and dealers of dayboat-style RIBs say they’re seeing more interest than ever in this style of boat. Younger boaters like the fact


that the RIB’s inflatable collar is more forgiving when docking or rafting up. “You have built-in fenders and built-in seating all around. You’re everyone’s favorite,” says Matthew Velutto, vice president of sales and marketing at Ribcraft.


Younger boaters also enjoy having a style of boat that looks nothing like what their parents and grandparents had, builders say. And customers of all ages, with concerns about inflation and high fuel prices, are deciding that lower-priced, lighter-weight (and thus more fuel-efficient) RIBs can be a smart alternative to boats that are pricier to buy and operate.


“It’s been a trend in Europe for many years, and it’s starting to make its way over to the U.S,” says Daniel Parker, U.S. marketing manager for Zodiac Nautic. “The larger RIBs have always been considered working boats, rescue boats, diving boats, but with features added in, they’re great family boats.”


Chris Keenan, who owns Essex Marine Group in Essex, Connecticut, says last year was his best-ever year for sales because of booming demand for feature-packed RIBs, particularly for customers who want to cruise around Long Island Sound.


“A lot of the people that contacted me about buying one had seen one pull up at a waterfront restaurant, or a friend had one and took them for a ride,” Keenan says. “One of the other big markets for these boats are the 35-, 40-year-olds with kids who are actively in a sailing program. They’re buying these to go watch their kids race. The kids can tie up to them with the Optimists and grab a bottle of water. Yacht clubs are using them for that reason too. They’re becoming race committee boats.”


Sean Burke of ZAR New England also says that “in New England, the growth and use of the inflatable has been tremendous.” Two of his customers, a couple, bought a


The Report • June 2023 • Issue 104 | 109


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144