On the water at last

roywebster · 26 April 2004, 21:14

last week I took my Humber Extreme to Andy Cox at St Mawes for the electronics to be fitted and on Friday night launched at Fowey. On the water at last. Spent most of Saturday out as well. Very pleased with the boat and the Suzuki 140 on the back. Here are a couple of pictures one of Andy finishing off and the other of me at the wheel.

Pete7 · 26 April 2004, 21:15

Wow, nice console !

Pete

batfalcon · 28 April 2004, 05:36

Seams to be a very nice rib. I have a remark though. The throtle lever is on your left hand ? I thought that we all have the lever on our right

Alan · 28 April 2004, 07:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by batfalcon

Seams to be a very nice rib. I have a remark though. The throtle lever is on your left hand ? I thought that we all have the lever on our right

Most RIBS do seem to have the throttle on the right but IMHO thats wrong! If you are right handed then to me its better to have right hand on the wheel and left on the throttle. (When the going gets tough then you drive with both throttle and wheel dont you.) The other benefits of a throttle mounted to the left of the wheel are that you can take control of the throttle as a front seat passenger if you are teaching an experienced driver - e.g. concentrate on steering and I'll handle throttle incl. emergency stop if it all goes wrong

Blue Ice has her throttle on the left hand side and I much preferred that to my previous RIB where it was on the outside of the console on the right hand side. This is of course the default position cos its cheaper and allows use of the std side mount gear and throttle as opposed to the more expensive top mount.

Roy. Nice Looking RIB and well done for using Andy as he's a top bloke!

One thing you might want to consider is putting some padding around the top of your windscreen. Looks like an awfully hard edge for you to headbutt if you stuff the rib badly at speed!

Pete7 · 28 April 2004, 07:48

Absolutely, throttles of the left, makes driving much easier for us left handers

On a more serious note the top mount throttles are much better quality and enable the driver to finely adjust the revs whilst those awful side mount boxes that each manufacturer supplies are at best crude. Spending that little bit extra is well worth it.

Pete

whitingiom · 28 April 2004, 07:52

Much easier when you haven't got all the fingers on your left hand!

Hold on to the wheel with the right, grasp throttle with left in my case

batfalcon · 28 April 2004, 08:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete7

Absolutely, throttles of the left, makes driving much easier for us left handers

On a more serious note the top mount throttles ...
Pete

If you have the space to put it on. In most cases at mid sized (5 - 6 m) iit's rather difficult to find a location on top of the console.

John Kennett · 28 April 2004, 08:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan

Most RIBS do seem to have the throttle on the right but IMHO thats wrong!

IMHO it's right (no pun intended!).

When you're driving fast, or in the rough, then the throttle is your primary control -- not the wheel -- so it should be in your dominant hand.

All this proves is that there isn't a right or a wrong, but a personal preference

John

tim griffin · 28 April 2004, 08:54

i'm a lefty! and have my throttle on the right from a teaching point of view
i like them as you hear a nice clunk when going into neutral, which is heaven to an instructor, agree with John dominant hand for throttle control the only problem with topmount throttles is,one no neutral lock and two where to put them, i dont like them on teaching boats as first timers have a habit of crashing the gears, but they are good for leisure users but a bugger when they go wrong.
regards tim
www.griffmarineservices.co.uk

batfalcon · 28 April 2004, 12:33

Didn't know that they haven't got neutrlal lock

Pete7 · 28 April 2004, 22:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by tim griffin

i like them as you hear a nice clunk when going into neutral, which is heaven to an instructor, agree with John dominant hand for throttle control the only problem with topmount throttles is,one no neutral lock and two where to put them, i dont like them on teaching boats as first timers have a habit of crashing the gears, but they are good for leisure users but a bugger when they go wrong.
regards tim
www.griffmarineservices.co.uk

Oh yes they do, the detente is definately there on my Vetus top mount as was on the Quicksilver commander throttle. Neutral is normally selected by pressing a button in to dis-engage the gears enabling the revs to be raised for stating for example.

"but a bugger when they go wrong" My top mount can be fully accessed from inside the console without undoing any bolts, can't think of anything simplier.

If there isn't room on a jockey console for top mount then put a side mount on it. Its when I drive other ribs I suddenly realise how much better a decent quality throttle can be.

Agree that in big seas the throttle is more important than the steering and yes nice when a novice crashes through your gearbox or doesn't use enough force and you hear the dog clutches grinding against each other.

still all part of the fun being an instructor.

Latest incident by the way was whilst giving the "airline type brief" on lifejackets and "if you pull this toggle the jacket will inflate" a student did just that! any funnily enough it did, much to the amusement of everyone on the jetty! one way of inspiring student confidence in your kit I suppose.

Pete

tim griffin · 29 April 2004, 06:46

oops sorry Pete
im talking purely from my experience on the different boats i have taught on
i still don,t like em, some dont have a neutral lock like the side mounts and they are a bugger
on one rib i used to drive you could never get the neutral spot ( mind you it was an old rib )and we had to keep sending it back to Power plus bloody night mare re the dog clutch
find it don't grind it after a couple of goes and they are shown what to do
i dont find it a problem, i am a fan of EDS though on bigger boats finger tip control
great for manouvering , re the lifekackets you always get one don't you i think it happened twice last year the look on their faces when it goes off
always makes me laugh
regards tim
www.griffmarineservices.co.uk

Pete7 · 29 April 2004, 09:09

Tim, yes the detente on my Pacific was worn out (22 years of service) when we bought her so replaced the control box after Wave went from fwd to reverse in one go

but the new control box is so much better.

What is EDS ?

Pete

tim griffin · 29 April 2004, 09:34

Hi Pete
its for that reason that i am not a fan ,no real warning as to when they are on the way out, we got rid of the rib in the end, its all about choice really
as to what you have and where you put things, side mounts with the neutral
lock in my opinion are great for teaching.EDS electronic drive system you will see them on the FAIRLINE NIMBUS, CRANCHI, WINDY and so, on basicaly its computerised throttle control( one of the engineers on here could explain it better)
regards tim
www.griffmarineservices/co.uk

jwalker · 29 April 2004, 10:45

If the the boat has side by side seating, especially if the dash is fairly vertical, throttle on the opposite side to the passenger. It is easy to catch the lever with clothing or an awkward movement. I did this whilst on an unfamiliar boat. Luckily everyone was hanging on because my sleeve caught and applied full throttle.
Now, if you want dominant hand, which I agree with, and freedom from accidental throttle application, this will set the side of the boat on which you sit as a driver. An early decision has to be made when ordering a boat.
All you folk who sit in line have more freedom, but you'll need to make sure you know if you've lost your passenger.