Pettal & his XS-700 on the Solent

[Andy]

Guess who I saw today on the Solent. I was running in our new Club dive boat an XS-600 and saw Pettal with his new XS-700 also running it in. Tomorrow he heads home across the English Channel.

Here are some pics.

[Louise]

Looks very smart. I think Pettal may start a new trend - the skipper dressed to match the boat!

[qcamel]

Do hope not, my boat is called Tickled Pink!!!!!!!!!

[Louise]

[robin]

Originally Posted by Louise

Looks very smart. I think Pettal may start a new trend - the skipper dressed to match the boat!

Thankfully no-one has caught me wearing my bright yellow oilies while out on mine!!! (I think)


Great looking boat Pettal

[pettal]

Nice pics!

We got back finally all safe and well.

The trip was a little hairy to say the least. We left Lymington at 10am this morning in the drizzle but this soon cleared up and we did the first 60% in an hour. Then the wind changed direction and we had it right on the nose for the next 20% which we did in about 30-40mins.

The weather deteriorated drastically and what was just 1-2ft slop changed to 12-14ft breaking rollers as we passed Alderney. The last 30 miles took us four hours!!!!

I would have retreated into Alderney but we had chosen a route past the Casquettes and would have meant us having to backtrack up the Swinge with wind over tide and may have been much worse than we were already in. So we plodded on, sometimes making 20 knots speed other times down to 4-5 knots.

The boat performed perfectly and never missed a beat which is more than can be said for the two of us!!

Anyway, all back safe and sound and about to be full of food and booze!!

My back is killing me!!!

I'll post piccies once I get it together again! Brain a bit numb now!

[Louise]

Glad to hear you're back safe after your 'interesting' maiden voyage - what a good test of the boat! I bet you're delighted that she handled it so well! A good advert for XS-Ribs. Really looking forward to seeing the piccies.

[swginn]

Pettal, just seen this. She looks very smart!! Noticed LL has put some pics of your boat on www.xs-ribs.co.uk

Sounds like you had a fun journey.

Let us all know what you think of the boat/engine when you get the chance??

Have you got the prop out of the water yet??

[The Jackeens]

You're brave Pettal!
Sounds like the boat did a brill job.


Glad you made it safely.

Us

[pettal]

Hi all,

I thought I'd put together a few words on what I thought of the RIB now that my nerves are back in check even if my back isn't!

The XS-700 appears to be a very well made rib and the attention to detail on the fixtures and fittings are superb and couldn't want for anything more.

A point to note that all wiring is labelled clearly and very impressed to see that all the fuses are blades (i.e. the same as car fuses) which makes those crappy in-line fuses albut redundant.......a good thing in my book!

As I said our crossing wasn't the most enjoyable I've ever been on and at times just plain scary, however at no time did I ever worry about the boat, it felt rock solid and performed as it should have done. The ride was incredibly dry......for me, my morale support co-passenger might argue that one as he copped a nice big green wave in his face twice in 30 secs!! (oops!!)

Whilst not intending to leave the water for great lengths of time the first 12ft wave I hit, I was possibly a tad enthusiastic about it and left the water for a good couple of seconds before gently (i wish) landing back into the trough.

Needless to say I took it easy after that!!

I went out for an hour yesterday with six people on board and 85ltrs of fuel and managed a quite respectible 49 knots with the engine slightly trimmed. A couple of the passengers are long time RIB owners and gave each of them a turn at the helm.

They all remarked how light the steering was, how responsive the boat is and how the cornering is second to none that they had ever experienced before. I have to admit I tried several times on the solent to try and disappear up my own arse in ever decreasing circles and was suprised at the speed you can go in a very tight circle without the boat even flinching or skipping once.

All in all a top new toy! I'm not sure if it's up to the likes of a big delta but then that's not what the XS-Rib is all about. She can handle the rough stuff and gets a decent turn of speed with a decent sized engine.

If you are looking for a new rib, have a limited budget but want value for money then I can't think of any other rib (for the money) I'd rather have.

Whilst I'm on a rant......the optimax and smartcraft gauges are top-tastic and the fuel economy is unbelievable. I've been blasting it around the solent all day on Friday and it's chucking an average of 1.1nm per litre!

Right all done......time for a ciggy!

[swginn]

Pettal, glad the boat lived up to your expectations. Nice to have another person to back up what I have said about these RIBs already.

Yep, labelled wiring, switches and fuses are all great!! I also liked the fact that I couldn't find one self-tapper on the whole boat. Everything bolted like it should be

Must have been some huge waves to say soaked your passenger?? or was that something to do with your driving

I have to agree with you on the cornering, my buddy rallies a Super 1600 Ford Puma but still gets a better buzz out of whipping the RIB around than cornering in the Puma. It just doesn't give up, I can't get the bloody thing to skip out. Thinking of fitting a gauge to measure Gs and see what I can pull

You're sure to break 50 running a light boat

Any chance the sore back is from the Opti snapping you back into the seat?

[pettal]

Big old, green nasty, sh*t ya pants, bl**dy great rolling b*strd big waves!

The back is better today.......my arms still ache from holding on for dear life, but the back has sorted itself out.....caused mainly by falling off the back of the said waves above. When you have 12 miles of them every six seconds it can get a bit monotonous to say the least especially after standing up for 4 hours!

I'm not the nipper I used to be.......I make noises and stuff when I lean over to get something!

The opti is superb though and my mates thought it was 4 stroke (without looking at it of course) by the sound at idle and full throttle. I also seem to have found a sweet patch at around 3750rpm where the noise drops enough to be able to chat without raising my voice and pulling a good 38knts.

Around 30-35knts you'd be forgiven for thinking you were trundling along at 15knts.......it's very deceptive. Anyway the boss is looking at me funny, which in itself is not highly unusual......normally means he's got work for me and I'd like to be away from my desk when that happens!!!

TTFN

[Jono]

Originally Posted by swginn

....Yep, labelled wiring, switches and fuses are all great!! I also liked the fact that I couldn't find one self-tapper on the whole boat. Everything bolted like it should be

Nice to see other people appreciate quality work, so much of what we get "offered" is less than satisfactory and not just RIBs.. looked around a large (read expensive) cruiser under build the other day. Automotive wiring, not marine grade and sticky fixings for wiring looms.. nice...

So how is the deck furniture fixed on these RIBs, by the way ?
Cheers, Jono

[thorper]

Originally Posted by Jono

So how is the deck furniture fixed on these RIBs, by the way ?
Cheers, Jono

Tornados and XS's both have the furniture glassed on to the deck

Ricky

[The Jackeens]

Originally Posted by pettal

Big old, green nasty, sh*t ya pants, bl**dy great rolling b*strd big waves!

You have a way with words
That's an excellent description...

missus

[pettal]

Originally Posted by The Jackeens

You have a way with words
That's an excellent description...

missus

All the benefits of a classical education!