going out in the rough stuff

[Daniel TD5]

me being very new to the boat and ribs went down to herne bay saturday
to take the kids out when i got to the car park i should have gone home not one boat out. me being mad and my mate on his jet bike mad two i said to the wife i will go out and see what its like got to the end of the harbor
and BANG waves a meter high coming full speed at me put the trim right in but that did not stop the boat reaching for the ski each time i went round the harbor wall i dont think it was going to tip back over on me but i lost my bottiel and came back in my mate broke his seat mounts jumping waves. so i
want to know is my boat a fare weather craft due to the set up or is just me

most of the weight is at the back on my boat fat me and fuel plus engine
the bow will lift high when coming onto the plane what do you lot think
as you can see from the pic this was just before planing speed note how
high the bow is

ps went home and spent a hour out on the thames by the dome so its not all bad

[Rogue Wave]

Small boats do get nose happy in the waves but you get used to it. Your boats ( presume its the grey one) does seem to be riding nose high.

When I used to go out in the Rough in my Avon 4.7 ( god I loved that boat).
I used to carry a couple of empy 25 litres plastic cans with me. If the nose was being a bit too frisky then I'd fill (or part fill ) the water cans and leave them in the nose.

I've done a bit of wave jumping myself and breaking a seat mounting in a 1 metre wave seems like Tough luck. How old is his boat

[Daniel TD5]

rogue wave
my mate was out on his jet bike which he broke
my boat has a rear bench seat most craft i have seen have jockey
seats nearer the bow which would level the boat out when its up on the plane it levels out fine and as you say its only a 4.5m

[Alan G]

Daniel,
Not too long ago (when I still had the Valiant) I used go out in rough weather the whole time, hitting waves bigger than 2m... It's a rough ride but the Valiant was more than able for it! Like yours while getting up on the plane it was a bit bow happy but most small ribs react in the same way! I wouldn't worry about it too much... Drive On!

Al

[robin]

Daniel...some boats can tend to have a natural bow up attitude, particularly with the kind of stern-biased set up that you have.
I have used a similar boat in rough weather and found it quite heavy going until up on the plane. Difficult to see where you are going and that had jockey seats too.
If you have trimmed the bow down (leg down) as far as you can and it still rides bow up then I would go along with Rogue Wave and try some ballast to counter balance the set up......
A boat similar to this one fine with six passengers on board in the front seats but a different kettle of parsnips with just me at the helm and a lot of boat up in front of me to peer over.

[Daniel TD5]

found a use for the kids then allso may need a auto bilge pump on the back

[robin]

They make good fenders too.
Fnarr

[Daniel TD5]

would use the wife for that

[Rogue Wave]

Originally Posted by Daniel TD5

would use the wife for that

sems reasonable course of Action to me

[Louise]

[Ribald]

You're obviously feeling a little better now Louise

[matiboy]

With the med style bench seat at the rear weight distribution is not ideal , had a 5 Metre Arimar with this style set up which used to point skywards when getting on the plane , makes life very awkward if you have to slow down off the plane either because of wave conditions or speed limits.

This boat also had a lovely stainless steel A frame at the rear but must have weighed a ton making distribution even worse

Found that fitting a set of hydrofoils helped enormously , also instead of having fuel tank under the seat strap it down up front.

The Valiant range of boats are this sort of length are not very deep vees and are quite light , first Rib was a Valiant 520 which really slammed hard in the Solent chop.

[Louise]

Originally Posted by Ribald

You're obviously feeling a little better now Louise

Yes, much better now thanks. It's amazing what a day without Richard B can do!!

[simmons0]

Mine never really flew the bow, but you can see how different the weight distribution was. Console and 62 litre fuel talk right at the front and a light 3cyl engine on the transom.

[Bilge Rat]

Daniel

On Saturday i pressume you went out as the tide was comming in ! if you did you would have been going wind against tide and that creates small steep waves at Herne bay !! i know this as its a common thing in the area due to the shallow beds...... Dont worry about the bow riding high its a fact of small boat handling in rough sea's ask Phil you do however need to play around a bit with your trim on a flat day and practice getting it right for the sea state and conditions then you shouldn't have a problem. I had a look out on Saturday too and decided not to go out.

[Daniel TD5]

thanks all its not the boat just me if i go out when the sea are a bit rough i
will take some 25L jerry can fill with water and put in the front

[Tim M]

Daniel, I went out three weeks ago at Southwold - same conditions as yours. I too retunred home as I thought the boat might tip over.

How likely is one to tip a small RIB over in the rough?

[mike]

Hello Daniel,
most boats have some difficulty when it comes to rounding a sheltered harbour to meet the waves head on, add to this you trying to get her on the plane and hey presto its a frisbee!!

Don't worry though its quite normal and if you slap a bit of ballast up front etc and play with the trim you will be fine. All the stuff like anchors and fuel tank (spare) can go up there but I promise once out of the harbour things do improve. I can sell you some ballast (only joking) but would be happy to come aboard for a trip and sit mid boat to assist!
Down here in rural/yokal Hernia Bay we have renowned annoying short steppy waves and they are guaranteed to annoy but as you saw a week earlier sometimes brilliant.
regards
Mike

[Bilge Rat]

Daniel your going to have trouble putting anything up front because thats where the beer cooler is isn't it
If you want someone to sit on it and take care of the contents give either me or Phil a shout

[Daniel TD5]

that a why i only put lunch in it due to the fact if its full of amber nector i would have lots of ballast up front with a little party going on with you and
phil and his brother and i would be the named driver