Hello! Feet First Enquiry!

[LESCCPR123]

Hi everyone,

I'm the PR lady at my local Sea Cadet Unit. I am not a sea faring woman but I seem to of signed myself up to a huge challenge .

The staff team (including me) are looking at circumnavigating the coast of the UK in a RIB in 9 days, 9 hours and 9 minutes or less. For this the only thing we are struggling to get hold of is that actual RIB!

I have contacted all the large firms but they either haven't replied or can't help . This is where I hope some of you nautical lovelies can help! We are looking for a RIB that is;
-Between 7 and 9 meters
-Has the Jockey seats
-Runs Deisel
-Has SatNav
-Has Sonar

Now even if you can point me at someone with the body of a RIB that will withstand these specs or whether you have the whole package, it's important I tell you that we are just looking at it on a borrowing basis, with all the PR attached, (newsletters, news articles, appropriate advertising on route).

I know this is a huge ask but forums is an avenue I have not yet explored. Any help, even just a healthy shove in the right direction is much appreciated.

I should probably tell you why we want to do this epic challenge! It isn't just because we're thrill seeking maniacs! it's because we want to raise money for our unit (and the Air Ambulance) as we are on the verge of poverty and if that happens we'll be shut down. Home - Long Eaton There's a link to our site if you require further information.

Again even a healthy shove is better than nothing!

Many Thanks in advance everyone!
Be good to get my jelly legs on the water!
Thanks
LESCCPR123

[HDAV]

Wow can't offer you a boat but if my fag packet calcs are correct 11000 miles of coast (from tinterweb), in under 226 hours (from head) you need to run 24/7 and average 48 mph!!!!!

Good luck and let me know when you'll be passing South Wales!

[Iron Dials]

Hang on! Hang on!
I don't think you need to religiously follow every curve of every mile of coast.

The record is less than 32 hours (in a boat- not a fighter jet!) so a well resourced 9 day trip should be possible.
Google "Hot Lemon" Scorpion rib.

Ambitious plan, best of luck.

[LESCCPR123]

It is a huge challenge and don't worry there will be loads of publicity! There will be one at every stop!

Thanks!

[LESCCPR123]

No we do have to do it in straight lines or it'd take forever! Ahah

[BIRPT]

Very rough calculations I'd say more like 1,700nm tops

Still very ambitious for a non seafarer

I can't help with a boat, but good luck!!

[HDAV]

Originally Posted by LESCCPR123

No we do have to do it in straight lines or it'd take forever! Ahah

Be interested in the route distance, hopefully one of the trade members will be able to point you in the right direction.

[willk]

Looks like 1999 Miles

http://www.rib.net/forum/f8/999-roun...4-a-60803.html

[9D280]

Round the top or paying Nessie a visit ?

[Tim M]

Without wishing to sound at all negative, are you sure your team has thought about this enough; is this event the best way of raising the funds to secure your group's future or is part of it motivated by the desire to want to go on an all expenses paid jolly?

I suspect you'll struggle to find someone or an organisation out of the blue willing to lend an unknown group a RIB worth ten of thousands of pounds.

What sort of experience / training do other members of the group have? Around Britain isn't for the faint hearted!

How is the fuel going to be paid for? This on it's own is going to run into thousands.

What happens when you break something on the borrowed RIB? A long offshore trip like that is going to put a toll on any boat and some sort of failure or breakage along the way is likely to occur. What happens if you damage something more major - who ends up paying for it?

You'll probably need a land support team to provide support - another cost to factor in in terms of fuel, accommodation etc.

Publicity is likely to be reasonably insignificant for any potential sponsor; people go around Britain on a reasonably regular basis. You're going to have to do something out of the ordinary to get significant publicity which might interest a company when it comes to supplying a boat.

Not trying to be negative, but I've been involved in various charity events in the past and an event which involved going around the UK in a RIB. It's a nice idea but these kind of challenges are often more problematic than people first think.

What kind of figure are you trying to raise?

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by Tim M

Without wishing to sound at all negative, are you sure your team has thought about this enough; is this event the best way of raising the funds to secure your group's future or is part of it motivated by the desire to want to go on an all expenses paid jolly?

I suspect you'll struggle to find someone or an organisation out of the blue willing to lend an unknown group a RIB worth ten of thousands of pounds.

What sort of experience / training do other members of the group have? Around Britain isn't for the faint hearted!

How is the fuel going to be paid for? This on it's own is going to run into thousands.

What happens when you break something on the borrowed RIB? A long offshore trip like that is going to put a toll on any boat and some sort of failure or breakage along the way is likely to occur. What happens if you damage something more major - who ends up paying for it?

You'll probably need a land support team to provide support - another cost to factor in in terms of fuel, accommodation etc.

Publicity is likely to be reasonably insignificant for any potential sponsor; people go around Britain on a reasonably regular basis. You're going to have to do something out of the ordinary to get significant publicity which might interest a company when it comes to supplying a boat.

Not trying to be negative, but I've been involved in various charity events in the past and an event which involved going around the UK in a RIB. It's a nice idea but these kind of challenges are often more problematic than people first think.

What kind of figure are you trying to raise?

All good points!..
The Major obstacle is getting someone to "donate" /"loan"of a suitable/capable craft for what CAN be an arduous..and expensive (potentially very much so!)...undertaking!..
IMO it's a bit of a Pipe dream to reckon on some one giving you Cart-blanche with a complet RIG...especially in these economically challengeing times...Whatever the training/experience of the Crew you have in mind may,or indeed may NOT be.

It may a better and more realistic prospect to go for some form a of sponsorship on pre organised event with a Craft and Crew that are already involved...and have sorted all the logistics! (in a Round Britain or Irland... Or whatever) it might well be possible in that case,for your members to do various legs as Crew hands to enhance thier/your organisations involvement.
In any event Good luck.

[Brian]

LESCCPR123

On a more positive note.....
Nobody will lend you their pride and joy which probably cost them somewhere between £80-150k. Even if your crew were 5-star rated.
Your best bet is to find someone who is thinking of doing it anyway and becoming their crew.

[LESCCPR123]

Hi everyone,

Yes we are aware of the epicness of the journey. All the staff doing the challenge are either ex Navy or 100% trained to deal with this.

We are in the early planning stages but we have a support team in place already and we know what money we need to just be able to support it (£2500).

I am fully aware I won't get a full rig drop out of the sky, but even if someone could push me towards a company that could just lend us the body of it I can look at everything else, elsewhere.

The fuel is already managed as we have a number of donations from various companies.

Yes its a huge task. Yes its going to be hard. Yes its daunting. But we have it down.

And im just gonna put it out there that the sea cadets are known everywhere, thats literally my job ahah.

It may not happen and it may well go down a treat. But right now I'm working on the when and whether we can. Thank you all for your help

[Brian]

If you want to read a little about it, here is Keith Harts story of one of our Round Britain stories.

http://www.rib.net/forum/f39/sib-exp...st-2665-2.html

[jeffstevens763@g]

OMO but i dont see the sums adding up at all if you did get a boat, you will lay out a shed load of dosh from your sponsership to do the trip whats going to be left at the end for your cause? sorry

[Tim M]

Originally Posted by LESCCPR123

Hi everyone,

Yes we are aware of the epicness of the journey. All the staff doing the challenge are either ex Navy or 100% trained to deal with this.

We are in the early planning stages but we have a support team in place already and we know what money we need to just be able to support it (£2500).

I am fully aware I won't get a full rig drop out of the sky, but even if someone could push me towards a company that could just lend us the body of it I can look at everything else, elsewhere.

The fuel is already managed as we have a number of donations from various companies.

Yes its a huge task. Yes its going to be hard. Yes its daunting. But we have it down.

And im just gonna put it out there that the sea cadets are known everywhere, thats literally my job ahah.

It may not happen and it may well go down a treat. But right now I'm working on the when and whether we can. Thank you all for your help

When you mention "lend you the body" do you mean a bare hull which you guys will fit out?

And roughly what do you expect your £2500 to cover?

[Poly]

I'd support pretty much everything Tim M said. IMHO the only way you will find someone willing to lend you a boat, will be if they have some personal very strong association with the Sea Cadets; and probably with people in your group. You might want to chat to Andre, on here to get the boat builders perspective. He supported a similar venture that he clearly felt very passionately about the cause for. I think everyone who followed that adventure felt his frustration that it didn't attract more public (or commercial) sponsorship, and the publicity and attention that was perhaps less than originally expected. Im not suggesting he would be willing to support your activity but he might be willing to take a brief phone call and explain the issues you need to address to convince others. Realistically there are only a handful of boat builders making diesel ribs that size.

What's your fundraising target though?

[LESCCPR123]

Yes the bare hull and we can get the engine and equipment elsewhere.

The £2500 is strictly for food and accommodation, the rest is done through fundraising and donations. But where I come from, if you don't ask you don't get, hence my original post

[LESCCPR123]

If Andre is who I think he is, I have spoke to him and since we spoke a lot of things have changed. The team that did it last and were supported by Andre, I have spoken to their team leader and he is helping us with our epic task. They managed to raise around £40,000 which is huge, but we want to either meet or completely surpass that

[Poly]

Originally Posted by LESCCPR123

Yes the bare hull and we can get the engine and equipment elsewhere.

I can see how that might work on an outboard powered boat (although as for the boat unless you can find someone with a lot of buy in, you'll really be struggling), but with a diesel you will really struggle.

What's the biggest PR stunt and fundraising activity you've done before?