Round ireland 2013

[TomLinley]

The two ribeye 600's will look good together

[longjohn]

Originally Posted by Trevor G

You might have room - but we don't on the 4.7 Searider!

Just take Blue Ray then!

[Trevor G]

Originally Posted by TomLinley

Our team has been up until the early hours for a few nights now and dealing with many small issues, but it always the same when taking on such a distance in a boat.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's been spending a few long nights getting the "small jobs" done to prep the boat - they take forever!

Still - all done now and just finished packing, so off tomorrow morning to head to Wales for a last shake down on Baby Blue on Thursday before Friday's start.

The extra fuel charge has been a bit of a pain - but I've put too many hours (and £'s) into getting ready for this to drop out now.

See you all in a day or so!

Trev

[whisper]

Originally Posted by Trevor G

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's been spending a few long nights getting the "small jobs" done to prep the boat - they take forever!

Still - all done now and just finished packing, so off tomorrow morning to head to Wales for a last shake down on Baby Blue on Thursday before Friday's start.

The extra fuel charge has been a bit of a pain - but I've put too many hours (and £'s) into getting ready for this to drop out now.

See you all in a day or so!

Trev

Good luck Trev & Rick! Take good care of baby blue

[MustRib]

so am here in Riga with work, rueing the "little jobs" that still need doing on the Rib
and envying all of you who had a more relaxed pre event schedule.
On Thursday I must take two flights to get back to Newcastle (arriving 12.30 pm),
pick up stuff from my house, drive to the boat storage,
spend an hour housekeeping and attempting to stow what I need on a boat with little stowage.
I have the few niggling jobs I must finish on the boat, and then hook up,
and set off on the 422 mile drive to Milford Haven !
I think if I am lucky and dont hit too much traffic, I can get in by 11.30 pm.
I know our Belgian and German friends are looking at even further to drive,
but they have set off already!
I was planning on launching around 9.00 am the next day,
and was hoping some fellow competitior could drop me back at the slipway
to collect my car and trailer after I bring the Rib over to the marina.

[wiLlfish]

Originally Posted by pjenks

Forced labour, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude: all of these forms of human trafficking exist in Northern Ireland.

wel stopp werkin forr macdonulds yew nobbur

[Cetus]

Could someone please post Hugo's latest bulletin in full text. For some reason it hasn't reached us yet. Not the first time this has happened. We will be starting our 600 mile drive from Germany to Pembrokeshire tomorrow morning at 06:00 CET regardless. C u all in Wales on Friday. Joachim.Team 15.

[MustRib]

Joachim
here it is....

To all teams,

We have been working with the Donegal Fuel Company over the past several weeks to come to a solution on the cost of the service they are providing for the challenge teams.

In order to comply with the wishes of the authorities who will not permit mass fuel movement and mass boat refueling by cans etc, we have had no alternative but to employ a qualified provider to supply fuel throughout the event. The refueling service provided the Donegal Fuel Company includes the provision of an articulated fuel tanker, 3 tonne pump truck, complete with additional means of fuel transfer, oil spillage equipment, including booms etc, plus a dedicated fully trained 2-man motorsport refueling team.

There is an upside and downside. The Upside is that without securing this service, the event could not take place, and that the fuel litre price will be current pump price, not inflated marina fuel prices. The Downside is that the refueling service costs £11,500 + vat, this may seem costly but in reality this is immensely good value per team. Firstly the DFC were the only fuel company who were even prepared to provide this service to the remote stops, and the only company to possess the expertise required to fuel at the quayside, they are providing a Gold Star service which will not only meet all Health & Safety requirements imposed upon us by the harbour authorities, but will also be an effective means of refueling the boats quickly and efficiently.

The DFC have looked at two options of charging for their fee, 1) adding a surcharge to every litre bought to cover the surcharge, or 2) divide the service charge equally between all teams.

Whilst Option 1) may seem a good option, it is rife with potential problems where the litreage usage may exceed the estimate which would result in an overpayment of service charge which would then need to be proportionately refunded to teams which would be a very complicated task to ensure the correct refunds were given, conversely if less fuel was used, it may result in a shortfall.

Therefore in discussion with DFC, the agreement has been made that the fuel supplied is at current Ireland pump price including VAT:
1.63 Euro per litre = £1.33 per litre (currently here in UK pump price is between £1.37 - £1.39)
0.93 Euro per litre = £0.80 per litre (currently here in UK pump price is between £1.35 - £1.55)

So teams will not be paying for inflated marina fuel prices and will be paying less than in the UK.

Option 2) divides the service charge equally between all teams. We have had a couple teams drop out in the last couple of weeks due to work commitments, a back injury and boat problems, so the total firm entries are 27 boats, making the fee per team £425+vat.

We are sorry that this fee is unavoidable and notification of it is late in the day, but we have been working all this time to find the best solution. Also please bear in mind that the means by which this service charge is covered has been dependent on how many final entries we have for the event and the quantities required.

Arthur McMahon of DFC will today be contacting all teams, and replying to your emails, he requires settlement of the service fee and pre-authorisation of team’s cards prior to supply of fuel.

If you have any questions regarding this please call Hugo on 01884 266100 or email hms@powerboatandrib.com

All the very best
Michaela

[MustRib]

I have been giving it some thought, too far down the line to
miss out for the sake of £500.00 so will be there on Friday morning
as planned. I just adjusted my thinking to say this represents an increase in the fuel price on what I will need from the tanker, to approx £2.13 per litre (the way fuel prices are going we will be paying this at the pump in 3 years time!!)
and this service charge just represents a "deposit" on the fuel I will need.
Mentally thats easier for me to process.
I appreciate HMS wanting to make this an "everyman" event, hand in hand with that go brave souls with everyman budgets, organising camping (in Ireland) because thats what they can afford, and where this service charge represents a significant outlay. Its a blow to find out about it this late in the day, but am sure we would have been told earlier
if it had been possible, and am sure this is the only realistic way to replenish the 27 boats taking part.
Time to move forward, no point in whingeing now, life's about choices, I choose to be there and start on Friday.

[MadTubes]

Originally Posted by MustRib

I have been giving it some thought, too far down the line to
miss out for the sake of £500.00 so will be there on Friday morning
as planned. I just adjusted my thinking to say this represents an increase in the fuel price on what I will need from the tanker, to approx £2.13 per litre (the way fuel prices are going we will be paying this at the pump in 3 years time!!)
and this service charge just represents a "deposit" on the fuel I will need.
Mentally thats easier for me to process.
I appreciate HMS wanting to make this an "everyman" event, hand in hand with that go brave souls with everyman budgets, organising camping (in Ireland) because thats what they can afford, and where this service charge represents a significant outlay. Its a blow to find out about it this late in the day, but am sure we would have been told earlier
if it had been possible, and am sure this is the only realistic way to replenish the 27 boats taking part.
Time to move forward, no point in whingeing now, life's about choices, I choose to be there and start on Friday.

Yep - us too, we (MadTubes) are in!
Too much time and dosh already invested at this stage (a great wee night doing a final sea trial last night helped), plus almost £500 already raised to date for our charity. We do recognise the issues and the effort put into resolve them, and whilst it might eat slightly into the 'Guinness' budget, we will pay today, move on and join you all on Friday for the experience of a lifetime. Bring on the craic!

[MadTubes]

Originally Posted by TomLinley

The two ribeye 600's will look good together

Aye - the swan and the ugly duckling!!

[MustRib]

see Peter - you professional teams have a "Guinness budget".
could you organise a Guinness tanker to come round to every stop etc ...

[TomLinley]

Really looking forward to seeing the gemini run. I will be towing to Ireland so I have my trucks there. See you on Friday. Have a safe crossing.

Best

Tom

[two stroke mick]

The cost of the fuel tanker.
While I can understand the fustration regarding the additional charge for the use of a fuel tanker. With that amount of boats there was no other real option. The sin in this case is not that there is a charge or the size of the charge but the late stage that this charge was made known. However I recommend that you just get on with the event and enjoy it. I know that I would gladly pay this charge to ensure that I had an adequate fuel supply which would allow me to take part in the RI 2013.

[Gilles]

We ll see with Hugo, moving now from milford to neyland and will talk with him
For any issue there s a solution. But i really understand that 400gbp extra costs coming few days before challenge
And maybe not all of us but for my case i didnt found any sponsors and but all accessoires that we had for this challenge i.e. An epirb to sail in A1 zone ... Must Be insurrance request !
Hope to see u soon
Cheers
Gil

[MustRib]

I had enough people asking to sponsor me for a charity donation for this trip,
that I set up a Just Giving page.

On this forum I am preaching to the converted with regard to donating to the RNLI, but I will put the link up anyway.

Andy Proudfoot is fundraising for RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution

[Poly]

Originally Posted by TomLinley

It is worth noting that diesel is also only 0.80p a litre.

have they clarified if 'non resident' boats should be paying duty?

Originally Posted by TomLinley

At some locations the petrol stations are miles away or close early at 8 or 10pm. We would be well passed this time when refuelling 30 boats. Recently the authorities stated they would not allow refuelling by jerry can and the event in that manner.

I think that the complaint is that a competent event organiser might expect to have spotted and dealt with the fuel issue early on in the planning. At one point there were apparently 100 expressions of interest - it was hardly going to be easier! Entries closed in January so there should have been a good understanding of the scale of the issue six monhts not six days before.

Originally Posted by TomLinley

A smaller fleet could have been planned but then it wouldn't be a great sceptical and the largest fleet of mainly ribs in Europe.

Freudian ! however the largest fleet of ribs in Europe , its even clearer that maths is not the strong point in the M.S. household.

Originally Posted by TomLinley

You can get the same if not more enjoyment from boating on a more humble budget

Indeed.

[Chris Caton]

after being diagnosed with bowel cancer early last year, followed by radio and chemo therapy, an operation to remove the remaining tumour, then six more months of chemo therapy, I took the decision early on that I would not be fit enough to take this trip on. In no way am I qualified to comment on the organisation of the event, I have some experience of organising motorsport events and fully understand the frustrations involved. But one thing I do feel qualified to say is that after the last 18 months or so of diagnosis and treatment, I wish I was fit enough to be able to go, any extra fuel charges etc, although possibly annoying at the time, will soon be forgotten and the experience will last a lifetime. I hope everyone involved enjoys the trip, I will be waiting to see the photos, video clips and comments, good luck to you all

[TomLinley]

Productive comments.


Although yes 100 did register their interest this is very different to confirmed and real entries such as now the 27. Just look at racing, there were "thousands" of interested parties from all over the world for the venture cup when the idea was born, the real story was only 9 boats, 8 finishing. Comments around fuel have been addressed.

If you look at organised, professional expeditions or races in Europe then this is the largest concentration of ribs this year. I know, as I am also entered and competing in the other large scale events, venture cup, torquay classic, cowes torquay and the Sepa poker run, non of these other than Sepa offer such an experience for the fees involved and certainly not over so many days. It is also an event thats not elitist and accommodates for all as best possible, put on by people passionate about RIBs and boating.

Looking forward to seeing the 27 teams tomorrow! Have a safe crossing guys We are towing so will see you there in the evening.

[TomLinley]

Originally Posted by Chris Caton

after being diagnosed with bowel cancer early last year, followed by radio and chemo therapy, an operation to remove the remaining tumour, then six more months of chemo therapy, I took the decision early on that I would not be fit enough to take this trip on. In no way am I qualified to comment on the organisation of the event, I have some experience of organising motorsport events and fully understand the frustrations involved. But one thing I do feel qualified to say is that after the last 18 months or so of diagnosis and treatment, I wish I was fit enough to be able to go, any extra fuel charges etc, although possibly annoying at the time, will soon be forgotten and the experience will last a lifetime. I hope everyone involved enjoys the trip, I will be waiting to see the photos, video clips and comments, good luck to you all

It's a real shame you can't make it. I will have live TV on my boat. Links will go up on my Facebook tomorrow www.facebook.com/linleyswansocial