Littlehampton Cruise 2006 May 27th-28th

[Andre]

I suggest we meet in the Arun View say 6:30 7PM onwards
our tables are the first on the right and left as you enter the conservatory from the bar area just say Rib Cruise

Andre

[benc]

Had a few issues with the boat today, but thankfully they have now been sorted.

Me and Gray will be leaving from Drivers Wharf just before 10, to aim to be at Calshot for 10:30.

See you guys there.

[timboli]

Glad you got it sorted,see you there,forecast does seem slightly improved.

[Andre]

Well the Littlehampton Cruise as I see it was a great success The weather on Saturday was not the best and those coming from the Solent did not have an easy ride. Out of 5 ribs 4 made it as unfortunately for technical reasons The Warners on Myles Aweigh had to head back to port. This technical hitch did not however put them off and promply Rosie & Iain jumped in their car and headed for Littlehampton arriving in time for din din at the Arun View and of course the party which lasted till the early hours of the morning

The weather today was just great and we all had a fantatic time. I took many photos and over the next few days will post them in the Gallary

Today most of us decided to play around and drive each others rib only Charlie C would have nothing of that as he & Nina were determined to go up the river Arun and they did, getting as far as Amberley. They were joined by The Warners and no doubt we shall be hearing about their trip

Many thanks again to those who joined the cruise (JK including < yes the man himself honoured us with his presence) and to those who could not decide whether or not to go all I can say . - You have missed a good weekend. The powerboat race was cancelled on Saturday but today it went ahead and we had a first class view from the water. Cookee and Kitten
were racing in their Bananashark rib and will post some pictures later

Andre

[grahamf]

andre - thanks for arranging another excellent event. It was good to meet some new faces, and of course the familiar ones too !

[benc]

A big thank you to Andre for organising the event - much appreciated!

Another big thankyou to Bruce/Paul - thanks for leading the convoy to and from littlehampton - a great job done!

And thank you to Gray for being such great crew - Was nice for someone to be driving my boat in the rough so that I can enjoy the view

-

On the way up to littlehampton we had a rough ride, we had too much weight in the front of the boat which brought the nose down quite quickly over every wave which gave us a lot of splash and the strong winds blowing it straight into our faces. I managed to semi-stuff the boat a couple of times however, didnt fill the boat with water - which was a bonus!

The evening meal was great, was good to catch up with people and the food was spectacular!


The trip back was a hell of a lot nicer, the water was a dream and the wind wasnt too strong either. We had a couple of very small splashes, but other than that we were dry A complete contrast to the trip up!


I managed to break the depth sounder off my boat on the way back again, just like I did last year... might be time to get a "through deck" depth sounder!


Can't wait to see all the pictures!

Thanks again to everyone who came and took part, was a great weekend - can't wait for next year!

[bogib]

Look forward to see some pictures and I am very sorry to miss out this venue, just back from Akureyri after very cold but successful weekend.

Bogi

[timboli]

Good write up Ben,brilliant weekend,thanks to Andre and the Littlehampton Ribsters for the hospitality and to Andre for letting me drive his excellent Parker.
The trip to Worthing and back was great with a lot of boatswapping going on giving people the chance to try boats they may not normally drive.
I know Bruce is keen to get feed back on the Prime so please let him know what you think,watching it on the trip there and back it seemed to "eat the waves"
We came back via the inner passage,seemed a lot quicker to me and only a few rougher bits.
I look forward to seeing the pictures

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by Andre

Cookee and Kitten
were racing in their Bananashark rib and will post some pictures later

Andre

Kitten is far too intelligent to get in the back of the race boat for a race ............ that's Graham Lawton - brilliant navigator who is also racing (Driving) OCR this season!

[Andre]

Originally Posted by Cookee

Kitten is far too intelligent to get in the back of the race boat for a race ............ that's Graham Lawton - brilliant navigator who is also racing (Driving) OCR this season!

John

sorry, had no idea just assumed wrongly , anyway thanks for the correction. Will post some pictures of you racing later

I don't think I would have wanted a seat on any boat taking part

photos to follow on the gallery

[Andre]

Originally Posted by bogib

Look forward to see some pictures and I am very sorry to miss out this venue, just back from Akureyri after very cold but successful weekend.

Bogi

Bogi

yes you missed a good event but one cannot be in two places at the same time

[Andre]

Originally Posted by grahamf

andre - thanks for arranging another excellent event. It was good to meet some new faces, and of course the familiar ones too !

Graham

not forgetting the Polish & Spanish
(will post the photos later)

[Andre]

Originally Posted by timboli

Good write up Ben,brilliant weekend,thanks to Andre and the Littlehampton Ribsters for the hospitality and to Andre for letting me drive his excellent Parker.
The trip to Worthing and back was great with a lot of boatswapping going on giving people the chance to try boats they may not normally drive.
I know Bruce is keen to get feed back on the Prime so please let him know what you think,watching it on the trip there and back it seemed to "eat the waves"
We came back via the inner passage,seemed a lot quicker to me and only a few rougher bits.
I look forward to seeing the pictures

It was a very good idea to drive other ribs cos not aways one has such an opportunity. I think I most enjoyed driving Fujimo belonging to The Edges a Ribcraft 5.3 with a 90 HP Mariner. Now that is a fun rib. Ideal as a starter rib which gives great pleasure and satisfaction. Would do better with 2 additional jockeys seats in the back instead of the bench seat. However that provides nice storage space

Also had the opportunity to drive ! Prime Rib and Farfetched the Solent 6.5 belonging to Brucehawsker. Both ribs are of a similar size to my Seahawk 3 only petrol and not diesel so it took a while to getting used to the instant engine response and rapid accelaration . Both ribs performed very well although more enjoyed the ride on 1 Prime Rib when Kiran was at the helm and not I. As for my negative points then did not like the seats on 1 Prime Rib . In a standing position I like to support my back on the backrest and in that position the shape of the seat was biting into the side of my knee causing some pain. This was due to not enough space for the right foot between the pod and tube. Kiran said it was ok for him and in that respect I can agree as he was standing very close to the helm and not leaning against the backrest so more foot space. Bruce I suggest you address this issue cos if I was testing to buy then that would put me off
As for Bruce's Farfetched then this was my very first opportunity to not only being on a Solent rib but even to drive one. Firstly I must stress that I am very uneasy driving other people's ribs. However enjoyed the ride and the Optimax 150 is just the right engine for that rib .
What I did not like was that the jockey seats did not give much back support. But perhaps that is just me .

[Gray]

Originally Posted by benc

A big thank you to Andre for organising the event - much appreciated!

Another big thankyou to Bruce/Paul - thanks for leading the convoy to and from littlehampton - a great job done!

Ill 2nd that!

Originally Posted by benc

And thank you to Gray for being such great crew - Was nice for someone to be driving my boat in the rough so that I can enjoy the view

Thanks Ben, it was a pleasure to drive your boat!

-

Originally Posted by benc

On the way up to littlehampton we had a rough ride, we had too much weight in the front of the boat which brought the nose down quite quickly over every wave which gave us a lot of splash and the strong winds blowing it straight into our faces. I managed to semi-stuff the boat a couple of times however, didnt fill the boat with water - which was a bonus!

Ye was a bit bouncy but there was only the one noticable semi-stuff. Boat recovered well (as did Ben) with no problems.

As my first Ribnet event I really enjoyed myself, was a bit worried i would feel like a spare part but everyone was really friendly!

The food at the Arun View was delicious, made better by good company. I was sitting next to JK but he seemed more interested in the hand held games console than anything else! The Party later on was fun, hopefully Kieran and his Mrs have forgiven me for the Sambuca shots!!

All in all an excellent weekend! Hope to be there next year!

[John Kennett]

I just want to add my thanks to Andre for a great day out on Saturday, and a really excellent meal in the evening. The Arun View really did us proud! It's always good to put some more faces to names, I'm sorry I didn't get to speak to everyone though.

Originally Posted by Andre

It was a very good idea to drive other ribs cos not aways one has such an opportunity. I think I most enjoyed driving Fujimo belonging to The Edges a Ribcraft 5.3 with a 90 HP Mariner.

That Ribcraft is a great little boat. I took it for a spin on Saturday afternoon (thanks Andy!) when the weather was horrible, and had so much fun we were almost out of sight of land before I even thought about turning back!

As fuel prices keep on rising, I wonder if we'll be seeing more people chosing smaller RIBs like these?

Oh, and I also drove Andre's latest Parker 6.3 diesel, and I'm happy to say that I didn't manage to stuff it this time. After the last time I drove a Parker they modified the bow design to make it higher and less stuffable. Seems to have done the trick.

John

[The Edges]

Originally Posted by John Kennett

I just want to add my thanks to Andre for a great day out on Saturday, and a really excellent meal in the evening. The Arun View really did us proud! It's always good to put some more faces to names, I'm sorry I didn't get to speak to everyone though.
That Ribcraft is a great little boat. I took it for a spin on Saturday afternoon (thanks Andy!) when the weather was horrible, and had so much fun we were almost out of sight of land before I even thought about turning back!

As fuel prices keep on rising, I wonder if we'll be seeing more people chosing smaller RIBs like these?

Oh, and I also drove Andre's latest Parker 6.3 diesel, and I'm happy to say that I didn't manage to stuff it this time. After the last time I drove a Parker they modified the bow design to make it higher and less stuffable. Seems to have done the trick.

John

It was sad to say goodbye to Fujimo on Sunday night. Handed over to the new owner in Poole. Alex and James fell asleep as we left Littlehampton and didnt really wake until we arrived home just before 10pm
Fantastic hospitality from Andre and Wesia
It was good to meet you all
Andrew

[brucehawsker]

Thank you Andre for organisation, a great time, and your help and comments.

I drove the 6.5M Ballistic with a small (115?) E tec on the back and found it a bit of a 'large American car' expereince. Four seater. A little dead to my taste, both in acceleration, and in the feedback as you drove her. Quite hard ride (my driving?) and some uncertainty on landings, but I would need to gain expereince before really forming a view. Felt a bit 'bulky'. Did not like the cosmetics of the safety line on the tubes, nor the slightly overpowering console.

Drove the Prime to compare it to Farfetched. Same configuration - 6.5M, six jockeys. Prime with 140 suzuki, I have a 150 opti.

As my son summed it up, Farfetched is a brute and we love her. She screams at you, it very certain in her ride, very secure, no surprises on landing, softer than the Ballisitic. The Prime is a softer ride again, more comfortable, you can sit on the seats in sea conditions which make standing on Farfetched essential! She is more jittery on the sea - slighlty shorter effective hull length - so the ride is a tad less smooth, but all the big bumps seem to be ironed out entirely. Thus it is a more restful, and comfortable sitting down ride in 'normal conditions' - with the high windscreen proving very effective. Farfetched needs to be driven hard, and trimmed well, and is superb. Prime can be driven less hard, and is less sensitive to trim, running flatter, it seems. An ideal 'first time' rib - as she was designed to be.

The cost - about 5 knots with Prime averaging WOT 38.5 knots with three adults and a half tank. And she really needs to be trimmed right down for accelleration from a standing start. Very safe on turns, when trimmed down.

Farfetched feels a more bulky boat - possibly the console being a bit further back and the longer nose makes her feel bigger. Prime feels snug and comfortable - a sportif family saloon and less the long nosed beast.

Farfetched WOT in these conditions is about 43.5Knots.

Consumption - Prime about 1.0l/nm, Farfetched 1.1l/nm.

Would love other's views?

Bruce

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by brucehawsker

I drove the 6.5M Ballistic with a small (115?) E tec on the back and found it a bit of a 'large American car' expereince. Four seater. A little dead to my taste, both in acceleration, and in the feedback as you drove her. Quite hard ride (my driving?)

It's not your driving, it's the hull design.

The scalloped chines have a lot of flat area which gives loads of lift (good for load carrying, speed and economical use of power) but slaps down hard (not so good for comfort).

I used to own a 5.7m Crompton which has a similar hull design, and have driven a 6.8 Crompton and a few Ballistics. It's the same story for all of them. Horses for courses!

John

[Charlie C]

Hi Andre,

Just a few words to say ‘Many thanks’ for organising a great weekend.

Ride over from Southampton was surprisingly smooth given we had a good F5 on the quarter. At times wet and wild but always great fun. We never once slammed and found we could sit comfortably for the whole trip – much to my surprise.

On Sunday whilst the rest of the team went and played at sea, Nina & I had the company of Rosie & Ian for a trip up the Arun. Have always wanted to do that trip and we were not disappointed. Arundel by river is very imposing, with the river winding its way round the town allowing us several different views. Ended up at Amberly for a drink and lunch.

As the forcast for Monday was Westerly 5 to 6 we decided it was time to learn the art of trailing. Am sure the boat would have been up to it but did not relish the thought of all that spray in the eyes again! Must get some goggles.

Whole weekend toped off by great company who all made a ‘newboy’ very welcomed. Am looking forward to meeting up again in the near future.

Once again many thanks…………..Charlie & Nina (Shrek)

[Andre]

Hi Charlie & Nina

Great you had a wonderful time cos that is what cruising is all about.

ie;

* Interesting destination,
* if possible acceptable weather,
* good sleeping accomodation,
* good food
* most of all good company

I would say we managed the lot