If you want top-flight performance for mid-range money, this Swedish 50-knot thoroughbred is a boat you need to see…
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Swedish brothers, Lars and Henrik Peterson, own and run one of the world’s most prolific RIB businesses. They shift a lot of boats and they talk to a lot of boaters so they understand what their RIB customers want. And perversely, what they appear to want is not a RIB at all. It’s a stable, high-volume open sports boat with outstanding sea manners and a confidence-inspiring wraparound fender to take the stress out of close-quarters work. So the Peterson brothers set about building it. Under development since 2016, in close collaboration with the alchemic minds at Mannerfelt Design, their solution has now landed in the UK.
THE IRON BOATS USP
The basic idea is simple. You take a hard sports boat with a high-performance hull and wrap it in a thick rubber fender that lends it the style of a RIB while providing a more spacious cockpit and uprated impact resistance. The fender itself is of course key to the success of that approach – and while it took a long time to source a manufacturer who could build it, the result looks good. Measuring 30cm in depth, it wraps around the boat’s periphery about halfway up the hull sides, keeping the weight usefully low and putting the point of impact in exactly the right place for nestling against a pontoon.
The rubber used in its construction is UV-resistant and non-marking so you can raft up alongside shiny white yachts without scuffing the gelcoat. And while it doesn’t provide the buoyancy of a regular inflatable RIB collar, this boat still has the ability to carry nine people, as well as a very purposeful aesthetic that both RIB and hard boat fans are likely to appreciate. If Iron Boats could just find a way to extend the fender further aft and taper it so that it wraps around the exposed edge of the aft swim platform for approaching astern, that would be even better.
Having said that, the way Lars and Henrik have kept the price low by spending the budget on those elements of the boat that are most critical to the owner’s enjoyment is to be applauded. The cleats are standard off-the-shelf units, the cupholders are plastic rather than stainless steel, the lids are relatively lightweight, the catches are simple rubber clips, the hardtop is nothing more than a piece of elevated fibreglass, and the finish inside the storage spaces is workmanlike rather than polished. That of course means that the general fit-out on the 827 feels practical rather than premium, but the more you get to know the boat, the more sense that begins to make.
For instance, in spite of the fact that there are four boats in the fleet (the 647, 707, 767 and 827), Iron Boats has designed each with an identical 2.44m beam. That means you can use the same deck furniture
