What nav lights do I need on a 5m RIB?

[Beardylong]

I have a 5m Zodiac RIB. We've been caught out a couple of times with fading light and I don't like the idea of cruising without any lights.

What are the UK requirements for a 5m private leisure craft?

Can I just have a single 'all round' light or do I need separate red, green & white?

I have a stainless steel 'A' frame at the stern so I could mount something on that.

Your advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

[BIRPT]

Yes, you need all three...

White : all round white light is fine (separate mast/stern not usually practical/possible)

Red & Green : can be combined or separate

[Ribochet]

Originally Posted by Beardylong

What are the UK requirements for a 5m private leisure craft?

They are exactly the same anywhere in the world as all vessels upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels (including leisure) must comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.
The answer to your question is covered in Rule 23
Power-driven vessels underway
(a) A power-driven vessel underway shall exhibit;
(i) a masthead light forward;
(ii) a second masthead light abaft and higher than the forward one; except that a vessel of less than 50m in length shall not be obliged to exhibit such light but may do so;
(iii) sidelights;
(iv) a sternlight.
(b) An air-cushion vessel operating in the non-displacement mode shall, in addition to the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule, exhibit an all-round flashing yellow light.
(c) A WIG craft only when taking off, landing and in flight near the surface shall, in addition to the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule, exhibit a high-intensity all-round flashing red light.
(d)
(i) A power-driven vessel of less that 12 metres in length may in lieu of the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule exhibit an all-round white light and sidelights;
(ii) a power-driven vessel of less than 7 metres in length whose maximum speed does not exceed 7 knots may in lieu of the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule exhibit an all-round white light and shall, if practicable, also exhibit sidelights;
(iii) the masthead light or all-round white light on a power-driven vessel of less than 12 metres in length may be displaced from the fore and aft centreline of the vessel if centreline fitting is not practicable, provided that the sidelights are combined in one lantern which shall be carried on the fore and aft centreline of the vessel or located as nearly as practicable in the same fore and aft line as the masthead light or the all-round white light.

Originally Posted by Beardylong

Can I just have a single 'all round' light

No - this is only allowed if the maximum "specified" speed of a vessel less than 7m does not exceed 7 knots - which would not be the case for your RIB.

[Poly]

Beardylong, it's also important you understand other people's lights in order that you know what to avoid.

[Dirk Diggler]

The difficult bit is getting the "all round" or masthead light the required minimum of 1 metre above the red and greens!

[Festinghouse]

Originally Posted by Dirk Diggler

The difficult bit is getting the "all round" or masthead light the required minimum of 1 metre above the red and greens!

yep, though is always possible one way or another. its a real bug-bear of mine that most of the manufacturers seem either unaware of this rule, or simply ignore it.

[kerny]

Originally Posted by Festinghouse

yep, though is always possible one way or another. its a real bug-bear of mine that most of the manufacturers seem either unaware of this rule, or simply ignore it.

Agree......you see a lot of nav lights on well known rib A frames that are below the meter distance.

[BIRPT]

Yep, agree that it's very rare to see the 1m gap. The most common time I see it (still not very often) is when one of these Echomax's are installed

[Festinghouse]

even so, the radar reflector is normally on top of the frame, and so often the lights could easily be mounted lower. one alternative is to mount red and green onto the sides of console

[Starovich]

I fitted one of these to my 5.1. Great little light LED low power draw, all sealed,and an easy fit.

NASA Light

[9D280]

Just be aware if you mount the lights on the console or the lower end of the A-frame they may end up being obscured by the bow for a "head on" view - most ribs cruise with the bow "up" compared to at rest.....

I've also fitted a 2-way switch so I can switch to the ARW only - either as an anchor light or if I'm running on Aux where I'm definitely sub 7 knots and also have no battery charging, so reduced power consumption is a good thing......

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Festinghouse

even so, the radar reflector is normally on top of the frame, and so often the lights could easily be mounted lower. one alternative is to mount red and green onto the sides of console

Have to be careful about passengers obscuring lights if they're mounted there. Pretty common though, in all honesty.

jky

[lakelandterrier]

Originally Posted by Dirk Diggler

The difficult bit is getting the "all round" or masthead light the required minimum of 1 metre above the red and greens!

I agree, but in reality, surely better to have port & starboard visible, and the all round as near as you can get it to 1m higher, than have nothing.

Just checked the height difference on Lunasea - all round white only 70cm above the port / starboard lights Should have had the Echomax not the tri-lens radar reflector after all

Maybe I should return the boat under warranty to make the lights compliant

On a practical note who would actually stop you and measure the height difference in any case - has this happened to anyone, and what would be the penalty? More likely to be picked up by MAIB after an incident, and innthatcase probably other things to worry about.

The debate's similar to the requirement to mount a radar reflector on any craft "where practicable".