Without having all those elements that are found in a purely offshore Rib, her hull is seaworthy and is characterized by the presence of a small chine height that has a negative inclination on the transom and two spray rails on each side that run along its entire length. In the area of the transom and between the two lowest spray rails, a particularly wide pad is formed that reaches 33cm wide, which gradually fades to the height of the console, significantly contributing to direct planning, fast accelerations and fuel economy. On the contrary, of course, the possibility of mounting the engine high is limited, while the degree of absolutely soft damping is reduced.

On deck

The design of the deck and the elements that make it up, which also characterizes all the models in this series, follow the path of simplicity and ensure comfortable passageways for the movement of passengers and large sunbathing areas in proportion to the size of the boat.

Further aft, and slightly higher than the polyester superstructure of the bow, is a little locker which ensures the necessary space for placing the anchor and a long length of anchor rope.

Next is the large bow compartment, the hatch of which is tilted from back to front ensuring very easy access, able to accommodate all kinds of equipment and of course our luggage. With the proper addition, the bow sundeck can be converted into a large sunbed with a length of 1.83m and a maximum width of 1.32m in the leg area.

The console is centrally located and completely perpendicular to the deck, while it is narrower at its base to ensure comfortable passageways to its right and left, 33 cm wide.

It has the right size to allow the installation of a fairly large navigation screen, engine instruments, electrical switches, VHF and audio unit.

The helm seat is quite limited and hardly accommodates two people thus ensuring great freedom of movement for the crew. It is 70 cm wide and tilts back, accommodating a very easily accessible small storage space. The polyester base on which it rests is 44 cm wide and leaves large passageways to the port and starboard of it, 38 cm wide, while the little hatch on the front gives access to another small and useful storage space.

Behind the steering seat, a large free deck space is formed with a maximum width of 1.25 cm, ensuring our comfortable movements especially when we want to access the stern storage space of the boat.

The aft settee is particularly large, having a useful width of 1.27cm and a length of 48cm, providing the necessary space for three adults to sit, while its backrest falls back to create a large sunbed. To the right and left of it there are very useful wide gunwales which give easy access to the swim platform, the telescopic ladder and the engine area.

At Sea  

The Predator 599 TS of our sea trial was equipped with the Mercury Pro XS 150hp four-stroke, the lower unit of which was turning a 3-blade 14.25΄΄x 17΄΄ Rapture propeller. As we expected, the engine showed us excellent performance, boasting the largest displacement and the lighter weight in its class as some of its key advantages.

In fact, the combination of the Pro XS engine with the Rapture propeller made the Rib to behave like a little rocket so we had to be very careful every time we touched the throttle.

The acceleration was explosive throughout the whole rpm range, with the Rib jumping on plane in less than 2 seconds while we held on tight to the stainless console rail.

We were up to 30 knots in 5.5 seconds and over 40 in 8 seconds.

The Predator 599 TS was standing on plane at 2200 rpm where she was cruising at just 8 knots, a very important fact that will be greatly appreciated when traveling in heavy weather conditions.

With 50 liters of fuel, a crew of two and the basic equipment, the Rib was maintaining a speed of 20 knots at 3000 rpm where we also recorded the most economical cruise burning just 0.65 liters per nautical mile.

At 3500 rpm our speed was 24 knots with a fuel consumption of 0.7 liters per nautical mile and the boat maintaining a very good riding angle, traveling lightly over the short waves.

At 4000 rpm our speed was 27 knots, while at 4500 rpm we were running at 31.5 knots consuming 0.8 and 0.9 liters respectively for each mile.

At W.O.T., the engine easily exceeded the manufacturer’s recommended maximum rpm and the boat reached a top speed of 41 knots.

The detailed numbers we recorded can be seen in the table below:

This particular engine-propeller-boat set-up showed an extremely aggressive behaviour, with explosive accelerations and instant throttle response, to such an extent that we even consider it would be dangerous to install a 175hp engine recommended by the manufacturer as a max horsepower.

Of course, it was the first time we tested this particular boat-engine combination, while the choice of this particular propeller was also by chance.

It is obvious that a longer pitch propeller should be applied so that the engine would not exceed the upper limit of its rpm while it is worth taking a close look at our table of measurements where we will notice the negative slip numbers that the Rapture propeller gave us in almost all speed range, which is of course due to the tall cup of its blades giving us thus the room to experiment more in order to get even better performance.

It would be very interesting to test the Predator 599 TS with a 19 inch of pitch High Five propeller, which will almost certainly improve the performance in terms of cruise speed and top speed while also optimizing her stability and handling in bad weather conditions.

…keep Ribbing!       

Manufacturer:
Italboats s.l.r.
Main factory & Head office
Zona Industriale SP 79 Presicce – Alessano
73054 Presicce (LE)
ITALY 
Phone: +39 (0)833 722 553
www.italboats.com