To and around the Isle of White?

[James]

Hi

I saw earlier this year there was an Isle of white Charity event.
Do you think the F-Rib 360 with a 15HP would make that trip?

Sure it won't be comfy, but it sure would be an awesome adventure.

James

[Martin]

This is something that keeps popping up in conversation
Myself and Paul suggested some time ago that we fancied circumnavigating the IOW , It really needs planning well in the sibs/f-ribs. The waters around the needles can get a little hairy, I've seen horrendous waves at freshwater that would pick up a rib and throw it ashore.
Chris gave us some pointers on another thread where the run got mentioned. He's done the IOW in an SR4.

If you can hang on til' next year, lets see if we can make it a group event and possibly raise some money for charity too ???

[chris moody]

I've never been out in an f-rib, but with the right conditions there is no reason that a hard hulled rib, or a decent air floor (with a V hull, like a bombard) could not do round the Isle of Wight. You will need an engine with plenty of power (so I would have thought 15hp absolute minimum) and you need to pick the weather carefully (wind with tide round the back of the IOW, The Needles channel at slack water, low sea state so smooth or slight. It would be wise to have some larger craft as escorts in case of any issues, and to carry additional fuel for the small boats. It's 55NM all the way round so you would need to make sure you are comfortable with that distance in a small tiller steer boat first (maybe do bembridge to The Needles and back first as a trial run). I believe a Zapcat did it on the official charity run this year.