The Greek participation in the RED SEA RIB RALLY

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by Jono

So, Cookee, how come yer only building boats for flat water use and not "rough water"...?

I am happy to admit that if I went back I wouldn't race in anything less than 10 metres - our boat felt very very small at times! It wasn't the size of the waves but the steepness and the distance between them, a lot of the time we were zigzagging across the waves just to stay on the plane ....... Think of doing 120 NM in conditions similar to the area around the Needles in a force 6 to 7 wind over tide, offshore with nobody in sight for 2 hours at a time!

At least the constant spray wasn't as cold as the English Channel!

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by Manos

As far I know from people who raced the bladerunner on the last leg it wasn't doing that brilliant speed wise. Similar (if not slower) to the Greek boat and it was stuffing a lot. This is what I was told.

If you had seen the props they had you would understand why it was stuffing a lot - they retired on the last leg because the engine bolts had become very loose - they couldn't remember when they checked them last .........

[Manos]

Originally Posted by Cookee

Actually he was penalised for disapearing off over the horizon when we were all meant to be in a convoy for each others safety and security - not very helpfull to his fellow competitors really, and as was pointed out in the briefing he could have stopped occasionally and caught everyone else up or just gone in a circle occasionally if the speed was too slow for him - it's what we did!

You've got a point and as far as I know the recommendations from the judges was taken on board by the Greek crew for next year.

[Manos]

Originally Posted by Cookee

If you had seen the props they had you would understand why it was stuffing a lot - they retired on the last leg because the engine bolts had become very loose - they couldn't remember when they checked them last .........

OK that may be. However, (and I just make these comments for discussion only and not to antagonise any one) the story of the blade runner, to me at least, sounds a little strange. You get a super duper, very expenssive (apparently) boat. You only have it for one day and then you go to race it to a place you've never been before?

Sounds logical?

[protaris]

Originally Posted by Cookee

Well I must have been walking around with my eyes shut because I never saw Hot Lemon there at all - were you there?

We were not in the same class as the Greek RIB, I believe it was the biggest boat as well and certainly much better suited to the conditions than any other boat - it would have been nice to have some calmer weather to see which would have been the quickest then .........

Cookee,
Many thx for your reply. At last somebody replies to the point instead of insulting the Greeks.
1st of all please accept my sympathy for a week that did not go as wished for your participation in the Red Sea Rib Rally. These things happen. I'm sure you will do better next time.
To answer your question, No, I was not there and I was obviously misinformed about the Hot Lemon being there. I guess it would have been more interesting if the HOT LEMON was there. The same thing is true if more Greek made boats were there. Having said that some of the very best british ribs were there though. Even so the rally proved to be a piece of cake for the Greek participation, which initialy came as a surprise to many of us.

I much appreciate your honest explanation that your RIB requires calmer weather to perform.
For most of the Greek Ribsters perfomance in rough conditions is very important since the Greek seas very often become 'nasty'. The perfomance of the TOPLINE RIB in the red sea rib rally is indeed a strong indication of how well the Greek-made boats can handle rough conditions.

Once more thx for your reply and good luck next year

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by Manos

OK that may be. However, (and I just make these comments for discussion only and not to antagonise any one) the story of the blade runner, to me at least, sounds a little strange. You get a super duper, very expenssive (apparently) boat. You only have it for one day and then you go to race it to a place you've never been before?

Sounds logical?

They're English ...................



And they have already sold it!

[Matt]

Hamilton Mk II

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by protaris

Cookee,
Many thx for your reply. At last somebody replies to the point instead of insulting the Greeks.
1st of all please accept my sympathy for a week that did not go as wished for your participation in the Red Sea Rib Rally. These things happen. I'm sure you will do better next time.
To answer your question, No, I was not there and I was obviously misinformed about the Hot Lemon being there. I guess it would have been more interesting if the HOT LEMON was there. The same thing is true if more Greek made boats were there. Having said that some of the very best british ribs were there though. Even so the rally proved to be a piece of cake for the Greek participation, which initialy came as a surprise to many of us.

I much appreciate your honest explanation that your RIB requires calmer weather to perform.
For most of the Greek Ribsters perfomance in rough conditions is very important since the Greek seas very often become 'nasty'. The perfomance of the TOPLINE RIB in the red sea rib rally is indeed a strong indication of how well the Greek-made boats can handle rough conditions.

Once more thx for your reply and good luck next year

If you had been there you would know that anything under 10 metres is a little small - even Gordon's inboard deisel, which is a heavy boat struggled!

It wasn't the fact that it was rough it was the steepness and the distance between the waves that gave everyone the problems and the longest boats had an enourmous advantage ....

I would estimate that 3 metre high waves not much more than 10 metres apart was what it seemed - it was impossible for us to get on the plane at times - we were getting big air at 15 mph just dropping off the crests of waves!

[Matt]

And Cookee's boat is known for being particularly good in the rough, for a single OB boat RIB.

People mentioned on a previous poker run that the solent was a bit rough in their Phantom 21's. I couldn't see what they were complaining about, in my 29' 3 tonne boat it seemed like perfect weather.

[Manos]

Originally Posted by Cookee

I would estimate that 3 metre high waves not much more than 10 metres apart was what it seemed

In day two (El Gouna to Masha Alam) I was told 7 mtr waves that came in the sequence five small in hight together not more than 6-7 mtrs all together in legth and a large one at the end about 7 mtrs plus with a smaller wave on top of it. This is where most (all) boats were staffing.

[Manos]

Originally Posted by Cookee

They're English ................... And they have already sold it!

Good luck to the new owner. He'll need it

[aphro]

I was very happy to c ricoh2 in 2 position.
the boat needs some reinforcements and would be a great boat for next year

[protaris]

Originally Posted by aphro

I was very happy to c ricoh2 in 2 position.
the boat needs some reinforcements and would be a great boat for next year

Well done and good luck for next year.
I would like your opinion (if you have any) for the Greek RIB that participated especially in comparison with the other RIBs of similar length that participated in F1 and F2 (9.9m is the length of the TOPLINE which was in F2 class).

[Manos]

aphro the Egyptian built RIBs wre very string. Specially Rico 2 with the mad Dutch man in the driver's seat.
Realy impressive performance and VERY WELL DONE

[Manos]

I believe that somewhere it was mentioned that you needed a longer bopat (10 mtrs length) to do this race.

Well this is the TORNADO 6.5 mtrs made underlicense in Egypt by afrodity marine that came forth in F3 and without any problems either


RICO 2 on the out side and the Corsair 33 on the outside catching up on Bladerunner at the strat of the final leg


Corsair 33


And finally I believe that these guys deserve a lot of praise

[Manos]

This guy needed a helping hand



Upss was that a rock?

[protaris]

Originally Posted by Manos

...I believe that somewhere it was mentioned that you needed a longer bopat (10 mtrs length) to do this race...

@MANOS - Interesting photos and comments ;-).
Obviously there is nothing new in saying that longer boats can handle rough seas better, but I also believe this explanation is oversimplifying things.
After all the Greek TOPLINE Rib dominated all 4 legs of the race not only against smaller boats but also against boats of similar length such as the SR9 some of which were in F1 whereas the Greek was in F2 class. I believe that the combination of excellent boat (interesting hull design with 2 * 2 steps) good preparation and excellent effort from the Greek crew more likely explains what happened.
Once again many congratulations to the Egyptian participation - WELL DONE

[Manos]

Dispite fuel problems (a lot of water in the diesel) finished third.


Nurcing the wounds

[Manos]

A few boats had their tubes torn by the force of the waves


After .... thoughts


In hot pursuit

[aphro]

We are prepairing the routes for RIB Rally 2007

would you have suggestions