Spx Rib 24: a new kind of inflatable boat

spx rib italia

boat at nauticsudThe SPXRIB 24, just seen at 2019 NauticSud in Naples, is born from an idea of the three partners of Spx Rib Italia, Paolo Savoca, technical director, Danilo Ciulla, sales director, and Calogero Pellitteri, administrative director. Designed to be an end product of high-level with a competitive price, this boat respect the company’s purpose to produce a new range of boats with technical and stylistic characteristics different from those offered by inflatables of the same size currently on the market.

The project

The lines of the Spx Rib 24 were designed by architect Paolo Savoca, who had also had the idea of creating the company. The team launched the project rapidly, presenting it at the most important national events as quickly as possible. The Spx Rib 24 is the result of about two years of careful and meticulous study, supported by the prospect of combining as well as possible style, function and practicality. In particular, the layout of the 24 footer has a deck designed in the smallest detail for a better and more careful layout of space: the space is designed to offer the maximum possible comfort and give the sensation of being on a vessel of a higher category. Particular attention was also paid to the layout of the lockers, which are large and easy to access. To take a quick overall look, starting from the stern there are two large platforms that conceal the bathing ladders, then a widened functional side passage leads to the cockpit without the need to walk over the cushions of the sunbed. In the largest configurations the sunbed measures 2.3 x 1.5 m, ideal for two people, but with enough room even for three guests. The side passage leads beyond the sunbed to the cockpit, where there is the central command station with a seat and deckhouse with integrated helm. The seat hides in its interior a handy bar with fridge and wash basin, and on it is hinged a folding table. A little forward of the seat is the control console, designed to offer a comfortable driving position. Inside the console is a large dressing room which, if needed, can also be used for storage.

Construction and finish

The Spx Rib 24 inflatable is constructed with top-quality materials, such as vinylester resins and neopentilic gelcoat. The yard personnel work at a rigid structure, reinforcements and couplings to guarantee the maximum safety and structural performance of the boat in all conditions.
A strong point of this project is the possibility of infinite customisation of the basic project: each customer, for example, can choose the colour of the tubes, even in two colours or with a carbon effect pattern. The possibility of customisation extends also to the finish of the teak, the cushions and stitching, but also the fibreglass of the keel and the deck and those of such components as the console, the nose, the seat and the stern platforms.

Technical characteristics

The boat ways 950 kg and is approved in category B; it can carry up to 14 passengers. Engines start from 150 hp as a minimum to a maximum of 300, which is perhaps excessive when you consider that with 250 hp the top speed is close to 50 kn. The Spx Rib 24 planes at 12.5 kn and has a cruising speed of about 28 kn; with a four stroke, 250 hp engine it consumes about 26 L an hour. The fuel tank contains 260 L. The diameter of the tubes varies between 53 and 43 cm.
The interest the public showed in this 24 footer led the three partners to continue with their growth projects for the yard, with the construction of a new model of 9.5 m, the Spx Rib 36, which seems from the initial sketches to offer truly innovative characteristics, above all in the layout, safety and the sleek sporting lines. Future projects also include two models of 18 and 42 feet.