Info needed for WILDCAT RIBs

[crazyhorse]

Dont know me old matee,Sorry for sounding a bit sarki as I was in a rush and it was not intended. There is a crossover at the moment and the Sea areas are mesured by the expected wave height beleived to be encountered eg cat c 2mtr cat B 4 mtr.
As most larger ribs are in my oppinion great sea boats then it is my oppinion that there should be no restrictions placed on a individual, as to what he can use his boat for,as it is taking the responsibility away from me and assumes that somebody is better placed to make those decisions. I object to someone else believing they can make decisions for me or my family on my behalf with regardes to safty issues. The point I am trying to make is if you want to use your boat offshore in conditions that may encounter waves of more than 2 mtrs then buy a cat B boat.If you dont want to go offshore and believe you will not encounter waves more than 2mtrs height the a cat C boat will be fine.I reality you will hopefully be ok in a cat C well prepared rib in larger waves than cat C conditions dictate as most ribs are so versatile and have such good built in saftey characteristics. What will be on interest is what areas are deemed cat C areas and what areas are deemed cat B areas according to the weather man/MCA/insurance people.As I dont know.

On the Cabin rib thing then its doughtfull you will find a cat C cabin rib unless you are realy unlucky,as most people who want to use a cabin rib will also want to go offshore in it.We are based in Blackpool and for us to get to irland/isle of man we have to cross the irish sea which is renowned for larger wave than 2 mtrs so,if you want to go offshore from here then its Cat B for easy ins cover without worrying about are you coverd properly or what happens if the condition change half way over IMHO. I dont know the answere to the question on what happens if you want ins cover and you dont have a RCD cat B catergorised boat at present for this sort off Sea area.I will enquire on Monday.

Maybe somebody could tell us have they had any problems insuring a RIB for leisure use this yr for offshore Sea conditions eg waves bigger than 2 mtrs?.And can they recomend an insurer who will insure a cat C boat with no restrictions/ limitations as to its use or its sea area being defined in the small print.
Hope this helps.

[Manos]

Very comprehenssive reply. Cheers mate.
I think is all very complicated any way.
On the Cabin RIB front I think that there are some Italian as well as one or two Greek manufacturers that make Cat C boats. I'll check it out in a few days.
For the UK and Irish Sea I would agree with you that you would be needing a Cat B boat to cross it.
However, not a toy boat but something like yours where you can feel safe in it.
Any way hopefully this mistery of Cat B and C may be solved in the near future.

[Phill]

The big problem that I still see is that people often buy a boat and read it's CAT. letter, "yeh, it's suitable over 2m high waves, currently it's 0.9m - I'm safe". Up here we rarely get waves at 2m high - but we often get waves at 1m, or even 0.5m, with such a short wavelength that a 6m boat is on three of them simultaneously. That becomes (with monotenous regularity) a different kettle of fish.

[jwalker]

Yes, as Phill says. The big ones are easy enough. It's the short b***ers that rattle your teeth out. If (when) you get two short wave trains crossing, the sea's full of holes and the boat falls into them. Can give very hard landings. The classification by category means F all in this situation. It can still break your equipment - the boat's as well.
JW.

[Jonny Fuller]

Originally posted by jwalker
Yes, as Phill says. The big ones are easy enough. It's the short b***ers that rattle your teeth out. If (when) you get two short wave trains crossing, the sea's full of holes and the boat falls into them. Can give very hard landings. The classification by category means F all in this situation. It can still break your equipment - the boat's as well.
JW.

Strangely, these short steep sea's are the easiest and most comfortable to cross in a boat like mine as you can run quickly accross em, good and level, it's more like gentle glancing blows! where as the long swell type of sea can be a pig, as my boat is much less happy trying to run at 20-30knts it tends to fall into those longer troughs

[jwalker]

You know how, occasionally, there are trips you remember above all others, well, talking about waves has brought back a memory of big waves. We were out in the North Sea returning home to the Outer Hebrides. It was evening time, the sun was low in the sky and pink/orange. The water was smooth and flat blue grey and any disturbance glistened red by the sun. It looked like molten lead. But, the swell was enormous. Driving up the back of the waves was really driving up hill. At the crest we were on top of the world, scooting down the face of the wave the world was out of sight. We did this for an hour and a half. Absolutely magical.

J (I hope you are envious) W.

[Phill]

Played that game off the Farnes in Northumberland, 'tis brilliant.

[crazyhorse]

Ever been on a yacht and everything is silent and there is no wind then up you come and everything screams and you can see for miles then everything goes quiet again and your sails flag around with no wind cos your in the bottom of the swell,and your mast is 35ft long and stands 6ft off the fordeck. And when you set a course for Fleetwood from Ramsey and the weather changes and your fully reefed down yet your boom end continualy trails in the water and a continual plum of sea comes off the tipp, like a rooster tail as your spilling wind and you dont pull it in,and its 3am,Thats the irish Sea me old sea dogs.

[Manos]

Rough staff then!! but must be nice.
Never experienced that on a RIB or a yacht, only on cargo ships unfortunately where is nopt the same.
Swell in the Aegean (if there is any that is) is never higher than 1 mtr max 1.5 mtrs and is very rare.