# Seabright inflatables



## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

Does anyone have anything positive or negative to say about Seabright hypalon inflatables, sold in Canada?
I am only interested in the alloy RIBs in the 10' range. Seems odd that they can only take a 10 hp motor while my 10' Zodiac (non-RIB) can take a 25.


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## wauchope (Mar 10, 2007)

My wife bought me a Seabright inflatable for a retirement gift in 2008. I was quite concerned about quality at first when I found that they are made in China. After eight years and being dragged behind us for more than 2,000 miles it still looks new and we have had no problems with it. Ours is a 10’6” pvc inflatable with the four piece aluminum floor. It’s rated for a 15 hp motor, we have an 8 hp which moves it pretty quick and I don’t think I would want to have a 15 on it. There are quite a few Seabright inflatable here, I have only heard of two that had problems with a leaky air valve that Seabright replaced right away. No doubt the construction of the Zodiac is much better for the difference in motor size but so is the price.


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## Bruce204 (Jul 22, 2017)

We bought a Seabright last year and used it eight times before the season ended. We stored it indoors all winter, then when we took it out this spring, the glue had failed on the underside, leaving a huge hole due to separation of the flooring layers! I called Seabright, and the customer support was non-existent. I took it to a shop for repairs and the technician showed me how poorly glued it had been in the original factory. I would suggest you steer clear of Seabright!
Bruce


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

A 10ft RIB that won't accept more than a 10hp motor sounds like a warning.


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## boatpoker (Jul 21, 2008)

If buying a PVC RIB make sure the seams are welded not glued.


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## seabrightmarine (Oct 10, 2018)

Bruce204 said:


> We bought a Seabright last year and used it eight times before the season ended. We stored it indoors all winter, then when we took it out this spring, the glue had failed on the underside, leaving a huge hole due to separation of the flooring layers! I called Seabright, and the customer support was non-existent. I took it to a shop for repairs and the technician showed me how poorly glued it had been in the original factory. I would suggest you steer clear of Seabright!
> Bruce


It is very unfortunate that a person can have such a detrimental affect on a "family run" company that strives to offer high quality products and high quality "after sales" service. We care deeply about the happiness and satisfaction of our customers and the vast majority of our customers are just that.

It is also unfortunate that these sites don't have a "truth" filter. Anyone can say anything here and folks will believe the comments.

In actuality this gentleman has vastly stretched the truth when he says the boat was purchased the previous year. At the time we had a 2 year warranty on seams (3 now) and when he contacted us his seams were a full year out of warranty. When I explained to him that unfortunately the warranty was expire he went "balistic".

I agree that this was a premature failure but from a warranty angle there was simply nothing I could do to help. So I advised him to have the boat repaired locally and then we paid half of the invoice in an attempt to have another happy and satisfied customer. Since our manufacturer would not look at it because of the expired warranty I believed that this was a good solution. But this gentleman couldn't be happy and so he posted these negative comments on several boating forums. These comments cannot retracted and we have had to live with challenges from potential customers who find them.

We (I) spend a huge amount of time trying to make sure that our products are exemplary and that our customers are happy, but the old saying "you can't please all of the people all of the time" is true.

So ..... who is telling the truth? Is it him, or is it me? I guess you need to decide who you believe. Thank you for reading my rant. Daniel Avis ... SeaBright Marine


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

seabrightmarine said:


> It is very unfortunate that a person can have such a detrimental affect on a "family run" company that strives to offer high quality products and high quality "after sales" service. We care deeply about the happiness and satisfaction of our customers and the vast majority of our customers are just that.
> 
> It is also unfortunate that these sites don't have a "truth" filter. Anyone can say anything here and folks will believe the comments.
> 
> ...


As it has taken you over two *years* to respond to *my* original request for information and well over a year to respond to Bruce's post, I'm not sure that lends any credibility to your case. 
However, all that aside I don't know anyone that would wait more than a month or two for feedback on a product like an inflatable or RIB, before coming to the conclusion that there aren't very many of those products out there and there might be a very good reason for that.
As for price, your SeaBright 320 - 10' 6" of Hypalon is but a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Zodiac Mark II Classic (a foot longer) and comes with a 5 *year* warranty!
I'm not trying to be mean or disrespectful here, but I did make an effort to get some feedback on your product and it might have been in your best interests to have come on this site at that time and responded directly to my post rather than to *one* disgruntled customer a year or so later.
Just like you, I am in business, and just like you, my business relies on those who supply what I need to make my business successful, be it glue and fabric in your case or a dinghy in mine. For that, the net is invaluable and though it doesn't help us please everybody, it does behoove us to be a bit more flexible in our policies, if we want to expand our customer base.
I wish you luck with your business, but unfortunately, your post did nothing to reassure me that a SeaBright inflatable would be the right choice for my charter boat business in the Caribbean. Chartering is indeed a rigorous test of a dinghy's reliability and construction, and should you ever have a product you feel would stand up to those rigors for 8 years or more (like the Zodiac does), please do not hesitate to contact me.


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## colemj (Jul 10, 2003)

Capta, you are being harsh. You didn't ask Seabright themselves your questions - you posted your questions on a single one of many boating forums on the internet. A sailing forum at that.

You can't expect all manufacturers of marine products to be active on, or even know about, every boating forum on the internet. Most likely, sailboats are a minority of customers for RIB manufacturers, and Sailnet is not a large site even for the sailboat subgroup. 

It was his first post here, and he joined Sailnet just today. I'm sure this site just happened to eventually bubble up through the search criteria that a good manufacturer regularly looks for in researching their products reviews and customers.

Give him a break - and a chance.

Mark


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## outbound (Dec 3, 2012)

When I saw seabright I thought of the skiffs whose design originated in NJ. Oh well.... they were and are excellent motor boats.


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## seabrightmarine (Oct 10, 2018)

Hello Capta

The fact is that I am "old school" (60 years old), and am only now realizing how important these online forums are when trying to conduct a business. 

We (SeaBright Marine) have been in business here in Canada for 15 years and although I am very active with email it is only recently that I have been trying to use social media and online methods. 

I do apologize for not responding who your query 2 years ago when you originally posted however truth be told I was not aware of this particular forum until yesterday when a potential customer pointed out this negative post to me. If I had known you were inquiring I most certainly would have replied and in fact we make a point replying to all email inquiries within 24 hours of receiving them. I will try to be more diligent in the future. 

With regards to your comment that there "aren't very many of those products out there and there might be a very good reason for that", in fact we have sold over 3,000 inflatable boats to customers all over Canada since our Inception in 2004. 

Our warranty claim rate is less than 1.5 percent and we are extremely proud of our products, our reputation, and our after sales service. 

The vast majority of our customers believe (as do we) that their SeaBright boats are every bit as high in quality as the much more expensive brand name Zodiac. 

Our PVC boats feature thermo-welded seams, fiberglass (FRP) transoms, German made Mehler-Valmex PVC, extra bottom protection, safety relief valves, and a myriad of other features that result in a high quality PVC boat. 

Our hypalon boats also have these same features except that it is impossible to thermo-weld hypalon. Our hypalon is Pennel-ORCA hypalon from France. 

Again, I appreciate all of your comments and will most certainly treat this as a learning experience. Thank you ...... Dan at SeaBright Marine


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## seabrightmarine (Oct 10, 2018)

Thank you Mark, for your comment ... and you have described the situation perfectly.
Dan at SeaBright Marine


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

seabrightmarine said:


> Hello Capta
> 
> The fact is that I am "old school" (60 years old), and am only now realizing how important these online forums are when trying to conduct a business.
> 
> ...


I can appreciate your difficulties navigating the web as I am also in business, as I said, and I am a bit older than you. 
It seems few of your 3000 boat owners frequent this site or are cruising the Caribbean, therefore I did not receive much feedback, but that was all I had to go on at the time.
However, let me be perfectly clear about one thing, our last Zodiac Mark II Classic lasted around 8 years without a single puncture or problem of any kind with the integrity of the boat. It was used very heavily, 12 months a year, in the tropical sun and other than the occasional washing we took no special care to protect it from the sun, salt water, fuel or sand. It had a 15 hp Johnson 4 stroke powering it and we did not idle about very much, as there are very few 'no wake zones' down here in the Caribbean!
Considering I replaced it with a new boat, one foot longer and with a 3 year longer warranty, somewhere around September 2016, for us$2800 and change, I would hesitate to call a much more expensive brand name boat.
However, if you feel that your product will give us equal service, I will contact you when the time comes and we can speak again.
Thank you for your response and again my comments were not meant to sound as harsh as they apparently came out. Perhaps it is old age (beware!) and a poorly phrased post.


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## seabrightmarine (Oct 10, 2018)

Thanks Capta ....

You are correct that not many of our boats are in your area. We normally sell to Canadians but also send a hand full to the States each season. Haven't sent a single boat south of the border though since your President decided to increase the duty from 2.4% to 25% .... Hopefully that policy will be short lived.

If/when you are ready for your next boat please feel free to contact us. I think you will be happy with what you see. Dan at SeaBright Marine


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## MastUndSchotbruch (Nov 26, 2010)

seabrightmarine said:


> In actuality this gentleman has vastly stretched the truth when he says the boat was purchased the previous year. At the time we had a 2 year warranty on seams (3 now) and when he contacted us his seams were a full year out of warranty. When I explained to him that unfortunately the warranty was expire he went "balistic".


Maybe I am spoilt by customer service from other companies but if I were told that a boat is toast after 3 years, having been used 8 times and properly treated all the time, I would go ballistic, too. The fact that you are so rigid about the warranty period, even though other companies give much longer warranty as a matter of course, does not impress me.


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## br3nt (Mar 28, 2009)

Rigid? The company offered to pay half the cost of the out of warranty repair. Sounds more than reasonable to me.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Some advice for SeaBright, as they are obviously trying to defend their brand and are new to social media.

First, you're doing the right thing by monitoring social media for any mention of your company. In the case above, you took a punch and should know. 

The trick is what to do about it. Nothing is sometimes best, if it burns out. However, when you feel compelled to set the record straight, I suggest you avoid a he said she said debate. Always stay on the high road and tell yourself, it's still more engagement that having said nothing. Saying there is materially more to the story and that you partially honored the warranty, even after it had expired, or something like that, just cements the idea that the offending post was one sided. Most here know that will always be the case anyway. Publicly offer to have the client contact you to further discuss their dissatisfaction. If they've made up the story, they're not going to do it anyway. Don't offer more that can be picked on, or start a new debate, which I think was accidentally done this time.

Good luck. I'm unfamiliar with your product.


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## seabrightmarine (Oct 10, 2018)

Thanks Minnewaska

You are correct that I am new to social media and I'm surprised at this flurry of comments after trying to explain my side of this story. 

We do 99% of our business in Canada and that is why most of you folks on this forum are not familiar with us. In actuality we have a very good reputation or high quality products and "after sales" service with a warranty claim rate of less than 1.5%. I am not used to feeling so defensive. 

When this incident occurred I truly felt that offering to pay for half of the repair was fair and acceptable. Hindsight being what it is I now wish I had simply paid the entire invoice and put this behind me. 

This was a very minor issue involving gluing about 12 inches of the bottom hull skin back on to the tube. Invoice was about $100. 

Thank you all for your "education" is social media. It is obviously very powerful and I need to learn more about it. 

Daniel Avis -- SeaBright Marine


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## rickcbenson (7 mo ago)

I bought a seabright 11 ft pvc - aluminum floor and put a 15 hp yamaha on it. I think around 2007. The teenage kids took it through her paces - towing knee boards ( including me at 210 lbs) for 8-10 years. We used it alot. It owed us nothing - I reglued the transom after all the towing, I gave it away to a new boat owner and he used it for two more years I bought a smaller hapalon aluminum floor- using a more reasonable 9 hp. Ive had it for five years - no issues I’ve moved up to a larger sailboat 42 Catalina which came with a very very tired caribe - I will buy a new RIB Seabright next spring. Yes I believe in this product. We probably have about 15 or more seabrights in our Yacht Club. I have never met the Seabright owners, nor received any special deals, they and their products have been excellent. Rick Benson


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