Monte Carlo or bust - Page 2

biffer · 11 November 2013, 18:27

Will you jump on one of the legs

Andre · 11 November 2013, 18:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by biffer

Will you jump on one of the legs

To early for such plans but for sure will assist in the planning and be out mid channel giving support say a wave cos for sure would not be able to keep up with them

. It would be a good idea to follow them to the Channel Islands

Callum Stewart · 13 November 2013, 21:21

Taking all joking, wilily waving & my boat make is better that yours aside!!!

Hats off to any of the race boats & crews that have the balls to take on this Venture!

I very much doubt there will be a Team Redbay Racing. Last racing I did in a Redbay was ten years ago Ballycastle/ round Rathiln then into McCuaigs bar only to be informed that my new boats warranty was now invalid!!! (the boss at RBB does have a dry sense of humour)

I would love to cruise down at the back of the race fleet as we have done previously. My current RIB 30 knots 2500+ miles @ 2.2L/h north of £8k of fuel at £1.50ltr. This would be a trip of a lifetime but why 15 days with 7 Lay Days? That means 3 weeks off work, just not possible!

Could it not have been - 4 days racing - Lay Day - 4 days racing- Lay Day then 4 days racing to the finish. This would have given 12 days racing/ cruising of 200 miles and visiting a lot more places/ports. It's always a great feeling arriving in a new port when boating all in two weeks .
Trying to race boats over 480 miles is just a recipe for disaster as the quickest of the boats average time in the warm up event was 50kn. That's nine hours, not taking into account fuel stops & comfort breaks. My boat cruising at 30kn - 16 hours, that's just plan nuts but would love to see a passage plan for that distance!

What happens after a Lay Day if the weather is blowing F8? Is it the case that the boats go onto trailers & go by road to the next port for yet another Lay Day??? Will any boat actually carry out the complete 2400 miles and all 8 legs? If I remember rightly in the 2008 race there was only two boats that completed the race. A Botnia Targa & a RIB and that was the race missing out going round the top and instead taking the easy option of going through the canal.

Andre, Please spill the beans on the Parker Baltic 1000:
Top speed? Cruising speed when racing? Fuel capacity & range? Contingency/Spares Engine(s) Gear boxes(s)? How do you think those 350hp outboard motors will handle the 2500 miles because just the twin engine OB motor boats in 2008 had a lot of gearbox trouble?

All the best Callum.

Andre · 13 November 2013, 22:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callum Stewart

Andre, Please spill the beans on the Parker Baltic 1000:
Top speed? Cruising speed when racing? Fuel capacity & range? Contingency/Spares Engine(s) Gear boxes(s)? How do you think those 350hp outboard motors will handle the 2500 miles because just the twin engine OB motor boats in 2008 had a lot of gearbox trouble?

All the best Callum.

Hi Callum

I cannot say too much as this is still in the planning stage. However for sure we will have our own land team of engineers with a service van full of spares and gearboxes etc following the race. Our engineers are fully Mercury Verado authorized so it makes this easier for us. The Verado 350 is a racing engine and has a special gear box . We have fitted many of these engines to 10 and 12 mtr ribs so we do know them well. Sadly that is all I have to say

biffer · 14 November 2013, 06:18

Our boat GEE185 finished the race in 2008 and didn't miss any legs

Cookee · 14 November 2013, 08:41

Callum - You're spot on with your observations, I think that the legs are so long that the only way to get everyone to the end is have the lay days - the legs are so long because there aren't that many places that can take 30+ race boats and have the infrastructure to support the event.

You have to remember that to finance this sort of event the organisers need sponsors and the sponsors need exposure, with bigger venues and two nights in each that will give them the exposure they need, of course the bigger legs will make it more worthy of PR and the bigger the challenge the more there is to write about!

I think that after going round Britain in June last year and having to put the boat on the trailer so much to keep to the schedule I also worry about the amount of the race that will take part on the water - of course if we all worried about that too much no-one would ever put any big race on! The two boats that went all of the way round RB08 did it against instructions and took some risks! As I understand it the boats will arrive at each venue on time by whatever method is necessary and every team will need road transport as a back up - that will require commercial vehicles and two drivers to cope with the distances and the driving hours - it all adds up!

Alan Priddy · 14 November 2013, 09:04

Callum. I agree with you. Although this event is an amazing challenge it appears it is set up more for the land than the water. There is only a handful of people that have done London - Monaco. We did it in 1998 in the 7.4 metre RIBTEC in a time of 99hrs 14 mins and 12 seconds. As with everything we have done we declared a start date and time months before and the weather was not as good as it could have been. Others have waited on the quayside for weeks for the right weather and knocked a day off our time. To run the best part of 2000 miles over three weeks is more than possible but bloody boring. The best way for this event to happen and to make it more time affordable is to declare the start date and if the weather is ok just go for it on a free -for-all with a finish point 100 miles from Monaco where the boats can be timed in. Once they are all in the clock can start again and they can all race to the finish line. If the weather is bad on the start day, race to an agreed location, Ramsgate? stop the clock and then restart it when the time is right. Just my thoughts Alan P

biffer · 14 November 2013, 09:19

I need that lay day to do the miles as I would think some of the others might. It's going to be a lot of driving, luckily we have auto pilot so just throttles, a little less fatiguing

Cookee · 15 November 2013, 08:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Priddy

Callum. I agree with you. Although this event is an amazing challenge it appears it is set up more for the land than the water. There is only a handful of people that have done London - Monaco. We did it in 1998 in the 7.4 metre RIBTEC in a time of 99hrs 14 mins and 12 seconds. As with everything we have done we declared a start date and time months before and the weather was not as good as it could have been. Others have waited on the quayside for weeks for the right weather and knocked a day off our time. To run the best part of 2000 miles over three weeks is more than possible but bloody boring. The best way for this event to happen and to make it more time affordable is to declare the start date and if the weather is ok just go for it on a free -for-all with a finish point 100 miles from Monaco where the boats can be timed in. Once they are all in the clock can start again and they can all race to the finish line. If the weather is bad on the start day, race to an agreed location, Ramsgate? stop the clock and then restart it when the time is right. Just my thoughts Alan P

But from a sponsors and a commercial point of view that wouldn't be so good - now if you could put all of that to one side .............

biffer · 15 November 2013, 09:15

Well I'm looking forward to whatever happens and I don't really care about all the politics, I'm just going to go boating, I've already done London to Monte Carlo in a race car a few years back, now I get to do it in a boat, happy days

black mafia · 26 November 2013, 08:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by biffer

Well I'm looking forward to whatever happens and I don't really care about all the politics, I'm just going to go boating, I've already done London to Monte Carlo in a race car a few years back, now I get to do it in a boat, happy days

couldn't agree more Biff if only people would leave out the politics racing might once again thrive in this country and best of luck to you and Cookie whatever safe racing.

Callum Stewart · 08 May 2014, 20:04

Very Sad News !!! ( Raceboat International )

The proposed Venture Cup - London to Monte Carlo race has been turned down by the RYA.

We understand that the RYA continued to extend deadlines for information from the event organisers but finally felt there was far too much outstanding at this late stage.

Lord Beaverbrook whose father, Sir Max Aitken brought long distance offshore powerboat racing to Britain in 1961 said,"Once again Offshore Powerboat racing is damaged by a last minute cancellation of an event that was clearly not viable, and probably impractical, from its inception.

Mike Lloyd had come to this conclusion almost two years ago. At that time the organisers who then picked up the pieces knew exactly what the RYA required to be able to authorise the Race.

John Puddifoot of the RYA had made those requirements crystal clear in a letter to Mike Lloyd dated 31st August 2012, a letter copied to Aidan Foley, Peter Dredge and Simon Wood- Power.

The fact that these requirements were not met even at this late stage has resulted in Teams, Sponsors and Crews wasting time, effort and precious money. The RYA will hopefully in future ascertain the financial strength and organisational competence of proposed Powerboat events before they are allowed to be adopted on to the Calendar".
"Once again Offshore Powerboat racing is damaged by a last minute cancellation of an event that was clearly not viable, and probably impractical, from its inception.
Mike Lloyd had come to this conclusion almost two years ago. At that time the organisers who then picked up the pieces knew exactly what the RYA required to be able to authorise the Race.
John Puddifoot of the RYA had made those requirements crystal clear in a letter to Mike Lloyd dated 31st August 2012, a letter copied to Aidan Foley, Peter Dredge and Simon Wood- Power.
The fact that these requirements were not met even at this late stage has resulted in Teams, Sponsors and Crews wasting time, effort and precious money. The RYA will hopefully in future ascertain the financial strength and organisational competence of proposed Powerboat events before they are allowed to be adopted on to the Calendar"

RYA Press Release 08/05/2014

London to Monte Carlo Venture Cup Race 7th – 21st June 2014

It is with extreme disappointment that the RYA has found itself in the unfortunate position of having to inform the organisers of the Venture Offshore Cup Ltd and the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) that, as the appointed National Authority for this event, we are no longer in a position to approve or host this event and formally return the ‘World Cup’ title to the UIM.

Despite the huge efforts of the RYA, its committees and the organisers of the Venture Cup London – Monte Carlo race, the remaining information that is outstanding or partially outstanding has proven far too great to fully secure at this late stage in the event planning.

As the National Authority responsible for this event, all of the required permissions, UIM / RYA Rules and various other aspects must be in place and fully approved before the event can move forward and unfortunately, it has not been possible on this occasion.

We are aware of the disappointment that this news may bring to those who were hoping to compete and to those who have dedicated their time into trying to make the event happen. However, despite the current disappointment we hope that all parties involved remain respectful of our position and responsibility towards everyone involved.

This current decision was not by any means, an easy position for the RYA to take, but it was a necessary one. We would like to extend our thanks to the Venture Cup team and all of the committees for the time and dedication they have shown in trying to finalise this event and we hope that work can continue by the organisers to possibly reschedule the race for a future date.

We will now turn our attention to a full calendar of Powerboat Racing that includes all disciplines, with World & European Championships in addition to the RYA British National Championships.

Jeni Jelf

RYA Powerboat Racing Manager

CJL · 08 May 2014, 20:07

Shocker!!

biffer · 08 May 2014, 20:16

It is my understanding that it was the RYA recent list of new requirements that was the final nail in the coffin, so to speak. Having just come back from the south of France the talk over there is of a list of requirements from the RYA which was produced only a couple of week ago, I will agree this is hearsay and as you seem better informed than me, could you shed any light on this

biffer · 08 May 2014, 20:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJL

Shocker!!

Not really

Cookee · 09 May 2014, 08:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by biffer

It is my understanding that it was the RYA recent list of new requirements that was the final nail in the coffin, so to speak. Having just come back from the south of France the talk over there is of a list of requirements from the RYA which was produced only a couple of week ago, I will agree this is hearsay and as you seem better informed than me, could you shed any light on this

I don't think they were new requirements it was just that the requirements hadn't been met, one of them was a fully proven tracking system and I can understand how that would impact on the safety of the race for instance.

biffer · 09 May 2014, 10:59

im all for a bit of safety but not at the expense of my pastime and pleasure, most of us know that the powers that are are run by insurance and that in turn is run by the HSE.
ive said it before, to most of us powerboaters its a passion, to what I call the Klingons its a business, it is sad though that no one can get it to work.
just in case any of you are interested, GEE is alive and well and in monte carlo for the classic car racing

biffer · 09 May 2014, 11:02

Pic of her just before I put her in the water in Cannes

blimp · 09 May 2014, 11:19

As one of the organisers of the Venture Cup, I think it may be worth noting that we haven't, as yet, officially cancelled the Venture Cup. What has been announced is that the RYA were unable to approve the race and have handed back their element to the UIM. At this time it's not appropriate to comment any further for fear of jeopardising any work which is currently being done.

biffer · 09 May 2014, 12:44

Well I must say that it's not installing much confidence with sponsors. The owner of our boat pulled out because he couldn't get any firm answers. While you lot pussy foot around the boat owner have to either commit or not to moving there boats from all over the place at vast expense. In not saying it's all your fault. But it's about time you guys see the wood through the trees. Without us lot willing to race you lot would have nothing and what you need to realise is that we will still race in some format with or without you