Yesterday I had the great pleasure of meeting the Mother and Son team who plan to set an important new world record of rounding Britain in an E Rib.
Mum Jacqui is the Project manager and Land Support and Son Harry will be on the water.
At the moment Harry is 16 years old and this project was one of the few positive things that came out of covid. An outdoors lad and very at home on the water Harry had too much time to think and out popped the plan.
Nobody this age ever does anything without a little help and someone to believe in them.
Thinking about young sailing round the world records, Robin Lee Graham, Tania Aebi, Brian Caldwell (my old friend and Sydney to Hobart crew mate), David Dicks, Jesse Martin etc. wouldn’t have achieved anything with their parents.
I was there to give them £1000 from the EBA (special and heart felt thanks for the extra donations) to help with the journey. This money also secures Silver Sponsorship for the EBA and if we use it correctly we’ll be able to attract some young blood to the organisation. Ironically ‘silver’ is an apt word to describe the membership – those of us with hair anyway.
So what’s the plan.
They have a boat in build at this moment in time – She is a 6.8M Rib and will be powered by a 63kWh liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery and 120Hp equivalent electric motor.
On board is a 6.6kW AC charger and 44kW DC charger. One these will be used in each of the stop-offs shown on the map. We already know the pros and cons of electric boating. Range anxiety being the main con. Take this thought offshore around this island in its strong and ever changing tidal flows. Add the unpredictable weather and the knowledge that our coastal waters reach little more than nine degrees centigrade even in summer and the fact that hypothermia sets in fast as the body temperature drops from its normal 37 degrees and you’ll begin to understand the enormity of this challenge.
But someone has to be first – so why not Harry!
It’s important for us too – we want charging points. The marine industry, the conservative types that rule in the yacht clubs and marina boardrooms plus the ostriches that inhabit the EA are all too happy with maintaining the status quo. They need to be shown what is possible.
On his journey Harry will be doing what young people do – Instagramming and YouTubing. Please point the younger members of your family to RoundBritain-ERib.org.
There will be regular special insider stories and more technical updates in the Virtual Club House too.
And a final reminder for the Lechlade Rally this coming Thursday, there are still places. Final details will be released on Tuesday as we check water levels in the river.
Here’s to the summer,
Tim
