Liferaft protection

[Ali]

When i put my boat through the licence I obviously need to put on liferafts. After some discussion it would seem best to put one in the bow and one on the engine hatch.
Does anybody have any suggestions about how to protect the liferaft in the bow whilst still allowing the ability for it to float free if it all goes badly wrong.
Any suggestions please.

Thanks for the help.

Ali.

[Nick Reid]

The American company Winslow Liferafts packs their rafts in a very heavy duty case called a Pelican Case, which is a generic product, and could be used, I suspect with other rafts in the same size range. Mine is a 6 man raft in a Pelican case. The case can be fastened to a deck surface with a hydrostatic release mechanism that will release the raft if the mother vessel sinks. The releases are sold through most life raft packing stations. One nice thing about the Pelican case, is it has rollers and a telescoping handle, like airline carry on suitcases, and can be used as a dock cart when not being used for the raft.

Good luck

Nick

[Alan Priddy]

Ali

The panthercat (BWM / Rapier/Revenger) has a bad habit of stuffing it's nose into the back of waves and doing damage. I would advise AGAINST putting a life raft the bow on this model boat. The last thing this hull needs is weight up front. I would suggest that you put both liferafts side by side towards the rear. A lot of owners have modifications made to the A Frame to mount them either side.

Alan P

[Brambles]

I read the life raft thread with interest. Last weekend we hired a life raft for a trip from Poole to France. Our primary safety concern was fire so we stowed it in the bow locker of the Scorpion 8.1m rather than in the open on the deck or the transom. Weight distribution was not a problem as the outboard powered Scorpions tend to be a little bow light in our experience.

On the way from Aldeny to Cherbourg we encountered some pretty rough seas with waves falling on our heads from all directions. Whilst we share the belief that a decent RIB is pretty much unsinkable - and I am sure we were nowhere near the boats limitations - we asked ourselves two questions when we got into port.

What it would take to turn a RIB over?

And - What angle it would float at?

The reasoning is that if the life raft was secured on the transom maybe it would be easier to get to as there are no tubes at the back. Or, would she float at an angle with the stern down in which case it would be easier to get to a life raft that was secured to the deck on the bow.

I realise that a hydrostatic release would solve this dilema, but I am interested to know peoples opinions/experiences.

Sorry if this question has been asked already. If it has perhaps someone could point me to the thread.

Thanks!