Speeding Fine

Wight Skipper · 11 November 2006, 13:17

Precis of a short article in today's Lymington Times:

A RIB owner has been fined £600 for going at more than five times the speed limit of 4 knots in Christchurch Harbour. He was stopped by the council's marine patrol boat on August 30th. When asked if he knew how fast he was going he said his GPS was turned off.

The prosecution in the Magistrates Court said that there were several other vessels using the channel at the time. "It goes without saying that driving a boat at this speed could have caused a terrible accident"

After the case a council representative said that "It goes without saying that our marine patrol scheme is working"

Brian · 11 November 2006, 13:51

Now let's see;
4 knots times 5 times the speed limit = 20 knots.

The Prosecutor said "It goes without saying that driving a boat at this speed could have caused a terrible accident"

Hmm. A terrible accident? As I remember it Chichester Harbour is a massive wide open space. Is the Prosecutor exagerating?

vince · 11 November 2006, 14:09

Has this world gone mad?! You can kill a child with a car and get the same sort of fine! Up north we dont have fines for speeding in harbours, all they do is radio you and tell you to cut your speed. And everybody knows you`ve just been told off! A bit of embarrasment works wonders. But 600 quid? Slightly out of balance imho.

Andy Moore · 11 November 2006, 14:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wight Skipper

When asked if he knew how fast he was going he said his GPS was turned off.

What a d**khead! I am glad they are dishing out fines. I cannot stand it when boats break the speed limit. There is no need.

Powerboats · 11 November 2006, 15:16

Anybody who uses Christchurch Harbour regularly (which I have for the past 25 years) will know that the Christchurch Borough Council "Marine Patrol" boat has got nothing to do with maintaining safety, but is another tool in their armoury to extract as much revenue as possible from the harbour and its surrounding environment.

wavecrosschris · 11 November 2006, 15:57

Same scenario as road traffic speeding tickets - just another way of making money. Although I'd never consider doing 20knots through a harbour like christchurch (its hard enough not running aground!), getting caught and then saying, Ooops my gps wasn't on?!

At the Southampton boatshow this year they had speed guns and were fining the exhibitors when on demo for exeeding the 25knot speed limit on the course they had set out in the middle of southampton water. I was having a demo on a ribeye and the bloke driving was too scared just incase they caught him - shame, couldn't really showoff what the rib was capable of at half its maximum speed.

Foxgloveboy · 11 November 2006, 18:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian

Now let's see;
4 knots times 5 times the speed limit = 20 knots.

The Prosecutor said "It goes without saying that driving a boat at this speed could have caused a terrible accident"

Hmm. A terrible accident? As I remember it Chichester Harbour is a massive wide open space. Is the Prosecutor exagerating?

Christchurch, not Chichester.

It is a small place. I see no need for excessive speed in such a place ( save in the event of trying to come to someones asssitance, and there is no mention of extenuating circs ). I therefore fully support the outcome.

With regard to the comparison to road speeding, this was the equivalent of doing 150mph in a 30 mph limit!

All IMHO.

wavecrosschris · 11 November 2006, 22:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Foxgloveboy

With regard to the comparison to road speeding, this was the equivalent of doing 150mph in a 30 mph limit!

All IMHO.

execpt it wasn't 150 mph it was 20knots and things happen a whole lot more differently, as I'm sure Richard Hammond would agree when you go seriously quick, so you can't compare road speeds to 20 odd mph in a boat. besides a rib would bounce a fair bit before it came to a complete stop, lessening the imapct a bit, i'm sure.

My comparrison with the roads is that they're nicking everyone just to make money - not that i'd ever support going through somewhere as beautiful as christchurch that quick - its far to pretty and you'd miss it!

codprawn · 11 November 2006, 22:41

A lot depends on the conditions - time of year etc. A load of rowing boats around and plenty of yachts fair enough - a deserted stretch of water with no other traffic is a totally different matter!!!

Jimbob · 12 November 2006, 14:42

It seems he broke the rules and paid the price

Rule 1, in effect that the rules apply to all vessels, so if the speed is...then thats what we do.

Also, safe speed (rule 6 i thing), as cowpauwn points out it will depend, even 4 knots maybe too fast if there are lots of kid swimming/dinghy sailing for example.

i have to admit i have been tempted in Chichester once or twice to go over the limit, until i realise that it is my hobby and not mu job so why rush

Tideway · 12 November 2006, 15:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavecrosschris

execpt it wasn't 150 mph it was 20knots and things happen a whole lot more differently, as I'm sure Richard Hammond would agree when you go seriously quick, so you can't compare road speeds to 20 odd mph in a boat. besides a rib would bounce a fair bit before it came to a complete stop, lessening the imapct a bit, i'm sure.

My comparrison with the roads is that they're nicking everyone just to make money - not that i'd ever support going through somewhere as beautiful as christchurch that quick - its far to pretty and you'd miss it!

The trouble with the road analogy is that, unlike the land based situation, I bet that the council did not get a penny of the £600 fine. They probably asked for their costs to be awarded, which were probably far more than £600...

I'd agree that you can't compare speeds, as at least in a car you have brakes! So unless you are in a jet boat or in have plenty of room for evasive manoevures the bloke should have kept to the limit. x5 times the stated speed is more than taking the piss and the council/harbourmaster would have been remiss if they hadn't taken action. My experience is that it normally takes some pretty serious misbehaviour to stir a harbour authority or council into taking enforcement action (it costs them money..!). If they can deal with things via a quiet word, they tend to prefer that course of action.

IMHO

t

codprawn · 12 November 2006, 16:05

Just to add another point - 4kts is fast walking pace - way too slow!!! In fact some boats will do 8kts on tickover. My RIB now does 6kts on tickover - who will pay for the the knackered gearboxes or clutches?

Jimbob · 12 November 2006, 16:19

Take it out of gear then, then it will do zero

Noddy · 12 November 2006, 17:18

Just as a matter of interest what powers do these people have?
If your boat has no name and you refuse to give yours what can they do about it?
I do not condone speeding on the water as, besides the obvious dangers, there are environmental issues to consider, but I do hate "Jobsworths"
Martyn

Robox · 12 November 2006, 18:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powerboats

Anybody who uses Christchurch Harbour regularly (which I have for the past 25 years) will know that the Christchurch Borough Council "Marine Patrol" boat has got nothing to do with maintaining safety, but is another tool in their armoury to extract as much revenue as possible from the harbour and its surrounding environment.

Sorry,
Totally disagree with you on this.I use Christchurch all the time and I have only seen the harbour patrol go for the ones taking the piss.If you use the harbour then you know that the channel is frequently crossed by windsurfers and inexperienced kids in dinghys . So stopping arseholes , of which there are a few in Christchurch, doing 20Knots in a 4 knot limit IS all about safety. If it was out of peak time then it is unlikely the patrol would have been there.

Rob C

codprawn · 12 November 2006, 19:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbob

Take it out of gear then, then it will do zero

So how do you maintain a steady 4kts then?

Limey Linda · 12 November 2006, 19:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

So how do you maintain a steady 4kts then?

Cod
May I suggest that you look into one of those new medical procedures. They install a small switch, battery and electrodes in the back of your head. Momentarily operating the switch will engage your brain before touching the keyboard. I believe it is called an idiotectomy. The counceling approach obviously has not worked; so perhaps this is worth a try. Maybe it is free from the NHS for serious cases such as yours.

Foxgloveboy · 12 November 2006, 19:43

I'm by no means an expet in such matters, but if you trimmed up the engine a reasonable amount, would that not do the trick?

Tideway · 12 November 2006, 20:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

So how do you maintain a steady 4kts then?

Hi Codprawn,

Big pitch prop on your boat? Just try kicking it in at out of gear as is necessary to keep to the limit. The caveat to this is that it can be tricky if the tide/flow is up yer chuff, as you could lose steerage, but the essential thing is to operate the boat without inconvienicing other water users. So as long as you slow down, easing your wash, I think that it'd be a very pushy officer from any agency that nicked you for doing 5 or 6 kts in those circumstances.

Numerous RYA trainers and other boaty types have frequently spouted "anyone can drive a boat fast, it is the slow speed work that counts" type statements at me, and I do agree. I didn't, but I do now.

When I started boating I found it very difficult to keep a steady course at low speeds and wandered all over the shop. Stemming the tide, ferry gliding, picking up a buoy or getting in and out a tight berth, and all those other essential skills were much harder to acquire than a few fast 's' or 'j' turns and the MOB stuff. But I think that enjoyment of operating a RiB or any other boat is being able to operate it throughout its capabilities, slow and fast...

I'm more crap at the fast stuff now, as I rarely get into any big stuff to practise...

Personally, I feel that RIB's enjoy a better public perception and image than most other powerboats, it may be the old rescue/professional boat image and the rest, but they don't seem to get tarred with the "Dagenham Navy" image that some of the small plastic speedboats seem to have. Be a real shame to lose that...

t

Nos4r2 · 12 November 2006, 20:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

So how do you maintain a steady 4kts then?

If you think you've got a problem you should see some of the racing boats coming out of Poole trying to keep to 10 knots. They trim in/out constantly til the prop is spraying water up in the air to keep the speed down. It sounds pretty good but I bet they go through a fair few impellers.

It's a damn good argument for having an auxiliary really-apart from the safety aspect of it.