250mm freeboard

[channel]

Notice a couple of comments about under 6m RIB's being coded for Cat 4 . . . . I know of 2 Ribcraft 5.85's that are coded for Cat 3.

Regards
Chris

[Doug Stormforce]

We used to have an Atlantic 6.7m (open transom) coded for Cat 4, 8 pax. Although iN reality we did not run with 8 on board.

When she was inspected I asked the surveyrer what the deal was with the open transom re coding, he said no problem and I obviously did not argue.

It seams to me like m,ay things its open to different interpretation or discresion by different surveyors.

[ALANT]

I run a 7.3 it has a second transom to get over the problem of the 250mm rule as yet the water has never come over.
Static flooding it would have to be pretty bad for this to happen, remember I operate in the north sea, if the sea is looks bad I stay in the harbour- more than can be said for someone with a plus 8.5 metre boat who can't because of large overheads! In this case it come down to money not seaman ship.
Before the large operator arrived people had sensible sized boats.

[DGR]

Originally Posted by channel

Notice a couple of comments about under 6m RIB's being coded for Cat 4 . . . . I know of 2 Ribcraft 5.85's that are coded for Cat 3.

Regards
Chris

I don't know how they get through the coding checks/survey - Cat 3 needs a substantial enclosure to protect against the elements - not sure how you'd do that with anything but a cabin RIB. It does happen though - I've seen several adverts for Cat 3 RIBs that don't have any cover on them, unless they are using some sort of pullover cover, which I (personally) don't believe is good enough.

I thought the harmonised codes would sort out these issues - I think it's quite clear what is expected - but there still seems to be lots of room for interpretation!!

D...

[channel]

It did come as a suprise to me. I'm currently coding my Ribcraft 585 and came across 3 other 585's that have cat 3. 2 have no restriction and one is restricted to 3 miles in dark. There are quite a lot of discrepancies with larger boats too, I often work steel tugs/workboats and come across quite a few things that don't add up!!

I'm currently trying to sort the transom height without loosing the well for the water from the deck to drain into. Did speak to Ribcraft about this but they didn't seem very interested in helping which is a shame as I will be looking for a 6-7m RIB next year . . .

Soon to come we have the job of finding somewhere for all the other safety gear to go! I wouldn't want to code anything much smaller, although I do know of a Ribcraft 4.8 that is coded for Cat 4.

I think a lot depends on the surveyor you have, each one seems to have a different take on the rules.

Chris

[DGR]

Originally Posted by channel

I'm currently trying to sort the transom height without loosing the well for the water from the deck to drain into. Did speak to Ribcraft about this but they didn't seem very interested in helping which is a shame as I will be looking for a 6-7m RIB next year . . .

That's strange - they were really helpful when I was doing mine. They run a type certification scheme for some of their boats through MECAL - who are also very helpful - which basically made it quite a bit less expensive (was going to say cheaper - but no... ...).

Thinking about it, I thought that transom height referred to the height from the waterline up to the top of the transom (i.e. outside the boat), so the well inside the boat shouldn't make any difference.

[channel]

From what I have been told you are allowed to allow water to enter a transom well and providing it doesn't enter the boat it is acceptable. Again it depends how each surveyor reads into it from what I can gather. I know of a Ribcraft 5.85 that has the same transom as mine and it wasn't even noted to be a problem by their surveyor.

Some boats have got around the problem with a hypalon skirt I understand ?

Personally I'd rather leave all alone with the transom set up, I see no real problem with the way it is. The best RIB I have ever worked was a ex RNLI Atlantic 21 with the open stern. Yes it flooded when you went astern but it didn't half empty quickly when you gave her a kick ahead!! However to et the coding through I'm going to have to alter it :-(