Parker 660 Pilothouse
Practical Boat Owner|November 2021
Peter Poland test drives the Parker 660 Pilothouse
Peter Poland
Parker 660 Pilothouse

Before the introduction of its range of sports fishing boats and fast cruisers in the early 2000s, Parker Poland (parkerpoland.eu) had been one of the leading suppliers of RIBs since the early 1970s. To this day, the company still has one of the biggest and most successful RIB brands built in Europe.

Over the years, the Parker RIB range (both open and cabin versions) has evolved to include numerous models spanning from 5.1m right up to the 15.5m Parker 1600 Interceptor capable of carrying four crew and 26 passengers. That’s a big RIB!

Parker’s many RIB clients include leisure buyers as well as police, rescue and military users. And then there are the commercial operators specialising in the fast growing business of running ‘sea safaris’ around the world’s finest coastlines. Indeed, the most exciting high-speed RIB trial I have ever enjoyed was along the Jurassic Coast of Dorset in a Parker 900 (9m) Baltic RIB used for Sea Safaris operating out of Poole harbour.

Sports fishers

Parker remains a prominent player in the RIB market. However, it also used its extensive experience to branch out in the early 2000s into the market for GRP sport, leisure and fast fishing boats.

The ‘sports fishing boat’ has gained great popularity over the last decades. Indeed in some harbours it has almost taken over from what we used to call ‘speed boats’ or ‘sports boats’. In many ways this is easy to understand.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2021 من Practical Boat Owner.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2021 من Practical Boat Owner.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من PRACTICAL BOAT OWNER مشاهدة الكل
Orca sink yacht in Strait of Gibraltar
Practical Boat Owner

Orca sink yacht in Strait of Gibraltar

Spain's maritime rescue service, Salvamento Maritimo, has reported that a 15m (49ft) yacht sank in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar following interaction with a pod of orca.

time-read
1 min  |
Summer 2024
No kill cord or lifejackets were worn during fatal powerboat crash
Practical Boat Owner

No kill cord or lifejackets were worn during fatal powerboat crash

A kill cord and lifejacket are useless unless worn-that's the warning from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), following its investigation into a powerboat crash that killed a 32-year-old woman and five-year-old girl on 2 October 2022.

time-read
2 mins  |
Summer 2024
Multihull sail work
Practical Boat Owner

Multihull sail work

Brush up on multihull sailing skills before heading off on charter with Gavin Le Sueur's guide to spinnaker handling, tacking and gybing

time-read
4 mins  |
Summer 2024
Five top causes of engine failure and how to prevent them
Practical Boat Owner

Five top causes of engine failure and how to prevent them

Jake Kavanagh talks to Sea Start marine engineer Nick Eales about how to avoid the five major causes of an engine breakdown at sea

time-read
10+ mins  |
Summer 2024
Sail the Atlantic with strangers
Practical Boat Owner

Sail the Atlantic with strangers

Would you sail across the Atlantic with someone you've just met? Ali Wood meets the cruising crews who've done just that

time-read
10 mins  |
Summer 2024
IZIBoat: simple sailing
Practical Boat Owner

IZIBoat: simple sailing

Rupert Holmes sails an innovative catamaran design intended to widen participation in sailing among those with little time to get on the water in more conventional craft

time-read
7 mins  |
Summer 2024
30 WAYS TO GET AFLOAT
Practical Boat Owner

30 WAYS TO GET AFLOAT

From tall ships to small dinghies, you needn't own a boat to sail. Ali Wood looks at the options, and how skippers can also find crew

time-read
10+ mins  |
Summer 2024
Boats for restoring under £20,000
Practical Boat Owner

Boats for restoring under £20,000

Duncan Kent picks the best sub-35ft sail and power boats to look for when aiming to undertake a restoration on a budget

time-read
10+ mins  |
Summer 2024
Seaworthy dinghies for less than £500
Practical Boat Owner

Seaworthy dinghies for less than £500

For low cost traditionally-styled GRP trailer-sailers, consider the Foreland and the Otter available at bargain basement prices

time-read
5 mins  |
Summer 2024
Playing with coloured sails
Practical Boat Owner

Playing with coloured sails

Maintaining an hourglass-shaped balloon and ratcheting up the log numbers

time-read
3 mins  |
Summer 2024