999 Round Britain Coastal Challenge 2014

[Andre]

999 Round Britain Coastal Challenge 2014

In June of this year ten operational team members of Watersafe UK
Search & Rescue Team (WUKSART) will be attempting to circumnavigate the
entire coastline of Britain in a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) to raise
funds for both WUKSART and the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI).
This unique challenge will be a great test to all involved as they aim to circumnavigate 1,999 miles of British coastline in just 9 days, 9 hours and 9 minutes. The event will start at Poole in Dorset which is the Headquarters of the RNLI and in a clockwise direction will stop off at certain RNLI lifeboat stations situated at strategic points along the British coastline with the event eventually finishing again at Poole lifeboat
station.
Please look upon this challenge favourably and please donate whatever you can. MANY THANKS!

Round Britain 999 Coastal Challenge - WUKSART
https://www.facebook.com/wuksart

The rib which will be used for this challenge is my current demo model a Parker 750 Baltic. The engine is a Mercruiser 4.2 (320HP) with a Bravo 1 drive. The rib is more than capable in doing this challenge. She is equipped with a Simrad NSS 12 GPS, 4 G broadband radar , StructureScan and SonicHub for on board entertainment . The current radio is the Simrad RS25 but this will be replaced shortly by the RS35 which has built in AIS

[SPR]

Are you going All the way round or sneaking through the Calley Canal

S.

[Andre]

Originally Posted by SPR

Are you going All the way round or sneaking through the Calley Canal

S.

They are going all the way round . The Challenge is Round Britain - not cross country

PS. I have already been all the way round. No need to go again

[SPR]

Originally Posted by Andre

They are going all the way round . The Challenge is Round Britain - not cross country PS. I have already been all the way round. No need to go again

refreshing to hear - always thought going through canal a bit ....erm....

S.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Andre

They are going all the way round . The Challenge is Round Britain - not cross country

Good on yer A.! No "swanning" around in the Caledonian Shortcut. Lot's of RB types "duck" through there....

[MustRib]

Didnt this same event/team/charity - run last year as well?
In a much smaller Zodiac?

[Brian]

Allowing 9+ days is certainly enough time with a couple of days to spare I would have thought.
I think this teams main problem will be being able to run the next day after "will stop off at certain RNLI lifeboat stations situated at strategic points along the British coastline ".
Which I suspect is in code

[Boats&Outboards]

Originally Posted by MustRib

Didnt this same event/team/charity - run last year as well? In a much smaller Zodiac?

I know it did 2 years ago, on a Humber I think. They had some of the New York firefighters over on it too, I knew one of the UK team, they had to tow it on a few days due to weather

[Boatnomad]

Originally Posted by MustRib

Didnt this same event/team/charity - run last year as well?
In a much smaller Zodiac?

Thought it rang a bell........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jikyco1qkNc

[Andre]

Originally Posted by Boatnomad

Thought it rang a bell........

You guys are talking of two different events. Boatnomad is correct they did try in September last year but unfortunately the aluminium hull on their AB rib cracked during the first or second hour of the second day. They had to cancel the attempt and postpone till this year.
I was contacted some 10 days ago and I believe I was not the only one to be contacted. It did not take me too long to offer them my demo rib. She is a solid craft with excellent sea-keeping qualities and the radio and navigation equipment is spot on. I have had the engine replaced in September last year so hopefully no worries here.

We had a run in the Solent and the weather was spot on. It was very rough so the guys could properly evaluate the suitability of the rib for the challenge. I was pleased with their driving skills

Hopefully they will complete the challenge in the time given and raise loads of cash as that is what this is all about.


Can I please ask all not to high jack this thread only stick to the current challenge. Cheers.

[Andre]

The New Coastal 999 Challenge Route 2014 is as follows!

DAY 1 - START
Thursday 12th June 2014
RNLI Headquarters / Town Quay in Poole to Penzance

DAY 2
Friday 13th
June 2014
Penzance to Fishguard

DAY 3
Saturday 14th
June 2014
Fishguard to Port Erin, Isle of Man

DAY 4
Sunday 15th
June 2014
Port Erin to Oban

DAY 5
Monday 16th
June 2014
Oban to Lochinver

DAY 6
Tuesday 17th
June 2014
Lochinver to Fraserburgh

DAY 7
Wednesday 18th
June 2014
Fraserburgh to Whitby

DAY 8
Thursday 19th
June 2014
Whitby to Harwich

DAY 9
Friday 20th
June 2014
Harwich to Littlehampton

DAY 10 - FINISH
Saturday 21st
June 2014
Littlehampton to the RNLI Headquarters in
Poole.

Five members of the Team will be coming down to Southampton 10-11 April to get to know the Parker 750 Baltic Rib and have some fun in the Solent.

[Andre]

Here are some updated pages

https://www.facebook.com/999CoastalChallenge


999coastalchallenge - Home

We are out in the Solent tomorrow with two Parker ribs . The weather looks to be good so hope to take some good shots of the Team crewing the Parker 750 Baltic.

[Andre]

Two days on the water. I just love my job

The 999 Challenge Team came down to Southampton for a two day "getting to know the Parker 750 Baltic" I understand love from "first sight"

The weather was just right so they could play with the radio & navigation equipment not to mention the Sonic hub which provided them with lots of on board entertainment

here are a few shots taken today and one yesterday by Steve "250knots" who joined us for the first day

[jumpinjack]

No wonder you love your job Andre........... Boats look great

[hamster]

I trained some of the guys a few weeks ago on PB instructor course in Southampton. Great guys and really jealous of what they are doing. Good luck to them and great to hear they are going in a fantastic boat after hearing the tales of the last attempt.

[Andre]

The 999 Round Britain Coastal Challenge web page has been updated and includes also a short video clip taken in the Solent

999coastalchallenge - Home

[SeaSkills]

Look forward to seeing them at the Oban stopover

[Andre]

Originally Posted by SeaSkills

Look forward to seeing them at the Oban stopover

Cheers. Please also post some photos . Hopefully other fellow members from around the UK will do the same.

I have just had the Simrad RS35 VHF/AIS radio installed and hopefully by the end of next week the NAIS-400 and NSPL-400 antenna splitter and a couple of other parts will be added so AIS can be also transmitted. This will no doubt give all interested the opportunity to follow the 999 Challenge on their PC / iPad from the comfort of their home.

[Andre]

I need to keep this thread close to the top

Here is a link to a new video taken a couple of weeks in the Solent

WUKSART 999 Round Britain Coastal Challenge 2014 - YouTube

RibNet members are known for their generosity so I hope many of you will support this Challenge

[Andre]

A BIG thank you to fellow forum member poulner6 is going to provide FOC a RibNet sticker for the rib. This will no doubt highlight RibNet's support for the Challenge.

Please donate whatever you can afford. as every penny will count.

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