I had the opportunity to speak with Daryl Wilbur of Tiverton, RI who
has designed and built a 20 foot center console fishing machine - the
North Rip 20.

http://www.northrip.net/

The boat caught my eye as I walked out of the Eastern Outdoors Expo
held at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. I have a thing about
Carolina styled hulls and this one just jumped out at me.

What is unique about this boat is the tumblehome - yes, I said
tumblehome. With the high bow flare flowing to the stern and the very
gentle inward slope of the stern makes for very pleasing lines - at
least to me. Daryl told me it took almost two years to develop a two
piece mold that allows for easy removal of the hull once it's set up -
the tumble home disallowed a straight pop out like most boats.

The hull shape, evident in the trailer picture, shows the long and
rather sharp forefoot very similar to the early Mako center consoles
and the famous Master Marine "Moonie" center consoles used for chasing
tuna. It draws roughly a foot of water with the engine up.

The workmanship is flawless - I mean flawless. I am very picky about
form, fit and function and a lot of that is how well the boats are
built. The only thing I saw that I didn't like was the open stern.
Daryl struggled with keeping the stern relatively open, using a "dam"
setup or setting the engine back on a bracket making the choice to
keep the open stern for esthetic reasons. I think he made the right
choice although I would opt for a dam just because.

Daryl is taking the time to do this right and his first production
boat, the one in the pictures, is very appealing to the guy who is
looking for a smaller, towable boat that can sneak outside the bays on
a decent day and not worry about the ride back. I can see a couple of
potential problems, but when I was talking to Daryl, he was right up
front with a self-critique of his boat and some of the changes he will
make in future production boats.

The North Rip 20, and it's future sibling the 27, are actually aimed
more towards the custom market. Daryl is willing to work with the
customer to design a custom North Rip working well within design and
capacity limitations.

I have been offered the chance to take a demo ride when the weather
breaks a little. I plan on taking the ride and reporting back.

Later,

Tom