stuffing

[Jonny Fuller]

Originally Posted by Chris Murray

That depends what RIB you are in!

Chris.

Not really, the biggest problem/reason is that the only topsides, and subsequent protection from the direct elements, is a small round toob.

Obviously a cabin rib, or enclosed wheelhouse rib is different, but i'm talking about 'generic' open ribs of the type 'you lot' like.

Also, in most cases, ribbers go for the 'bustin through it' approach, as apposed to the 'get on top' (if you can) approach used by the performance boating type.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Jonny Fuller

I thought a 'Broach' was a tech term for a Hook!

C'mon Pete you oul sea dog, get ya terms right

Err, you have lost me, what I was thinking of was the wave picks the back of the boat up and turns it side ways because the bow digs in. Choppywaters said when the wave takes control of the boat, well as I am sure you have experienced the next thing that will happen if not corrected is the boat could easily hook and broach.

Pete

[Chopppywaters]

fuller we get it...ur nice and fat and dont like RIBs ok so stop talking

[Kernow Buoy]

Throttle with bottle

I bottled out going down the wave and stuffed fairly big style because I throttled off, I remember seeing the creases form in the bow tube with the pressure and then this big green thing hit me - hard

but you can't say I didn't learn from the experience, cause 5 minutes later I did exactly the same again - just to prove that you shouldn't throttle off

Fortunately I had an RYA instructor with me at the time, his comment was
"If this was a hardboat we would now be swimming" (not good in February)

[Chopppywaters]

Originally Posted by Kernow

"If this was a hardboat we would now be swimming" (not good in February)

hahahaha this is true

[Stuart M]

what was the wave height?

[boatbuoy]

Ok so I'm confused now...

In a following sea:
I power up the wave.
Put on enough power to get over the wave.
As you start to fall down the other side, you'll accellerate, as you have the wave pushing you and gravity helping.
So I ease off a shade. Not so much that the wave is faster. You can feel the boat having a tendency to surf then, but still making progress. This stops you belting down the wave into the trough, giving the bow time to rise as it gets to the trough. Then quickly power back on.

I will say that if you power off too much the wave will catch you up and give you grief.

Can someone explain (with reasons) what they feel/know is the right way please... especially if there is a powerboat trainer kicking about?

Cheers,
Keef.

[Simon Hawkins]

Hope this clears it up for you.

1. Power up the wave then gently ease over the top of the crest and as you fall down the other side power on to keep you ahead of the following sea.
2. Keep power on until you arrive on the back of the next wave and apply power to gently puch you up the back of the wave.

If the following wave catches you especially a breaking wave then this will make you lose control and push the back of the boat sideways which in turn could roll you over.

Does that clear it up for you.

Simon

[Kernow Buoy]

what was the wave height?

Not that big, I was actually on a river with the wind gusting to a force 6 pushing the tide out with it, the waves were steep vicious little critters which the boat was coping very well with and we were having a good exciting ride, suddenly there's a ruddy great trough in front of me and splash, throttle off and in I go! I would guess the wave I hit was about 1.5 metres max, but very steep.

[Nick Hearne]

Originally Posted by Kernow

Not that big, I was actually on a river with the wind gusting to a force 6 pushing the tide out with it, the waves were steep vicious little critters which the boat was coping very well with and we were having a good exciting ride, suddenly there's a ruddy great trough in front of me and splash, throttle off and in I go! I would guess the wave I hit was about 1.5 metres max, but very steep.

Did the same going under tower bridge! The waves there can be horrible, did not do anything more than give the guy sitting up front a wet bum

[boatbuoy]

Well you learn something new everyday I'll try that next time I go out.

Two last questions, how much power do you put on going down the wave, (I know this is how long is a ball of string type question), but if you put too much power on do you smash into the trough and get wet?

Cheers guys.

[Chopppywaters]

i think u havta put enough power for the bow to get up? im not sure either! lol

[Stuart M]

Originally Posted by Kernow

Not that big, I was actually on a river with the wind gusting to a force 6 pushing the tide out with it, the waves were steep vicious little critters which the boat was coping very well with and we were having a good exciting ride, suddenly there's a ruddy great trough in front of me and splash, throttle off and in I go! I would guess the wave I hit was about 1.5 metres max, but very steep.

We were out yesterday eve in the solent and we went through the wash of a large containers ship off porstmouth - wow it was like a thorpe park ride. It managed to shut up three grown blokes! (until we were over it ) - You could see the wash a mile away coming towards us. I wonder how other smaller boats handled it - it looked like a tsunami (or maybe we were just a bunch of woosies!) - Whats the best way of handling oncoming wash? They were steep breaking waves seemed like good 8 foot from trough to crest.

[Simon Hawkins]

Apply the power to raise the bow as you approach the wave then decrease power at the top of the wave to prevent the boat from going airborne otherwise when the boat lands water can be forced up the exhaust and therefore stalling the engine.

[tcwozere]

Originally Posted by Stuart M

Whats the best way of handling oncoming wash?

Leg it at top speed to pompey harbour..

We did think of you guys as we sat a safe distance away..

Or buy a pac.. Having seen Pete keep the throttle open whilst we slowed down coming back from Priory Bay one day, as we crossed the wake 150m behind a huge container ship.. When we asked him afterwards, he just replied, "What wake?"

[Jackwabbit]

I’m a little surprised to see no one has mentioned trimming the engine out to lift the bow, in our Humber assault with its fairly shallow V hull & a full load of divers hitting wash of less than a metre high can turn it into a submarine.
With it being a club RIB lots of different people drive it & the reaction of most people when seeing the wash from another boat coming towards them is to shut the throttle down, each time it has ended up with the same result (a boat full of water & people almost thrown out).
What I have done in these situations is to trim the engine out, which has raised the bow & reduced the speed a little. This has worked well so far with wash, but with following seas I usually try to keep the boat travelling just a little faster than the swell, powering up the back then easing off at the top to surf down the other side again trying to keep the bow as high as possible without coming off the plane.

Typical in the time it took me to type this, Simon mentions raising the bow!

[Stuart M]

Originally Posted by tcwozere

Leg it at top speed to pompey harbour..

We did think of you guys as we sat a safe distance away..

Or buy a pac.. Having seen Pete keep the throttle open whilst we slowed down coming back from Priory Bay one day, as we crossed the wake 150m behind a huge container ship.. When we asked him afterwards, he just replied, "What wake?"

Is that the worst (or best) wash that you'll find in the solent?

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Stuart M

Is that the worst (or best) wash that you'll find in the solent?

Probably, its normally an uncomftable chop caused by the waves reflecting back off the many shore lines and the huge volume of traffic moving about.

In very strong winds, watch Calshot, Lanstone and Chi harbour entrances which can build into big waves.

Pete

[gtflash]

Originally Posted by Jackwabbit

I’m a little surprised to see no one has mentioned trimming the engine out to lift the bow!

exactly, this is probably one of the most important aspects of driving in a big following sea!!

imho i also think everyone is generalising a bit too, maybe im misunderstanding u guys, in long rollers maybe you can throttle down the back of the wave but if you get caught in that snotty short following sea between lepe and lymington gasing down the wave will just propell ur nose downwards in to the dip due to ur potential energy and momentum! its simple physics!!

imho (and im not a big sea driver just learnt from my mistakes) i think you do need to maintain a speed faster than the waves to eliminate broaching but not accelerate anymore until nearing the bottom of the trough so ur nose is lifted and presents its fat buoyancy to lift the boat up...

[Phil]

if you feel the back end twitching in the trough power up fast