Revenger, the famous and much-loved British RIB builder, has launched its biggest ever boat in the form of the 32-footer. Mike Pullen heads for Southampton to get the official UK exclusive.

In recent times, there has been a trend towards larger and larger RIBs, with ever more complex layouts. Many RIB builders are even beginning to incorporate larger ‘tube-top’ cabins, but Revenger has remained true to its roots and produced yet another performance RIB with the familiar layout of the tried and tested Revenger open boat.

I already feel quite honoured that Sports Boat and RIB is the only magazine to have been given access to this boat, due to her being delivered to her new owner just a few days after our sea trials. Despite some fairly grotty weather then, we were always going to jump at the chance to take a look at this craft. But on arrival, we had an additional treat in store. Not only did we have the new 32 with a pair of Yamaha ME422 High Output sterndrive engines, but we were also greeted by the outboard version of this RIB, resplendent in teak and looking eminently purposeful with a pair of Verado 300s on the transom. It was most definitely time for a play . . .

First impressions

The new Revenger 32 is immediately recognisable as a craft of inherited bloodline. You get that traditional Revenger shape, with a sleek, angular profile and radically tapering tubes giving a knife-like outline. However, the hull has been treated to some serious performance-enhancing modifications, including two steps to reduce the wetted area and aerate the water on either side of the keel line.

This all sounds pretty high-tech, but let me assure you that stepped hulls go back to the very beginnings of planing boats. Even the flying boats during the war years had stepped hulls to help free them from the surface tension of the water, so the efficacy of a stepped hull on a fast performance craft remains just as valid today as it has always been.

For more, see the August 2010 issue of Sports Boat and RIB magazine . . .