Rigid-hulled inflatable boat

A rigid-hulled inflatable boat, (RHIB) or rigid-inflatable boat (RIB) is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The design is stable and seaworthy. The inflatable collar allows the vessel to maintain buoyancy if a large quantity of water is shipped aboard due to bad sea conditions. The RIB is a development of the inflatable boat.

Uses include work boats (supporting shore facilities or larger ships) in trades that operate on the water, military craft, where they are used in patrol roles and to transport troops between vessels or ashore, and lifeboats.

The combination of rigid hull and large inflatable buoyancy tubes was first developed by an RNLI team working under Inspector of Lifeboats Dag Pike in 1964 as a means of reducing the wear and tear of the fabric bottoms of the existing inflatable inshore lifeboats. Although working versions were built, the plywood rigid hulls were not strong enough and broke up in waves. Development was then transferred to Atlantic College in South Wales where the rigid section was formed as a deep vee hull to add strength and that worked. The first commercial RIB was introduced in 1967 by Tony and Edward Lee-Elliott of Flatacraft, and patented by Admiral Desmond Hoare in 1969 after research and development at Atlantic College.

In 1964, Rear-Admiral Hoare and his students at Atlantic College replaced the torn bottom of their 12-foot-long (3.7 m) sailing club rescue inflatable boat with a plywood sheet glued to the inflatable tubes. This proved a successful modification but was rather uncomfortable at speed offshore, and so the floor was rebuilt with a deep-vee bow blending to a nearly flat section stern. This boat was named Atlanta and later that year an Atlantic College RIB was displayed at the London Boat Show.

By 1966 the students had built a further five rigid inflatable boats – Aphrodite (15 ft), Triton (16 ft) and X1–X3. Aphrodite and Triton were for the College’s own use. X1 (16 ft) and X2 (22 ft) were launched in 1965 by Queen Elizabeth II and made under a development agreement with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). They were taken by the RNLI for trials at Gorleston (X1) and Great Yarmouth (X2) from which they returned to Atlantic College in spring 1967. X3 was an experimental vortex-lift hull funded by a private developer and was not greatly successful.

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