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10 RIBS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD PSYCHEDELIC
An early version of the RNLI’s Atlantic 21
SURFER After 15 failed prototypes, the team at Atlantic College hit upon a design that worked. Remarkably, powerboat racer John Caulcutt commissioned one of the RIBs just six weeks before the start of the 1969 Round Britain Race. At 21ft in length it was the largest RIB yet built but it was the smallest and lowest-powered competitor in the race, competing in the Open Pleasure class. At the time the race commentators said they could not see much ‘pleasure’ in driving this small boat on the tough racecourse but Caulcutt and his crew fi nished the race in 19th place to a hero’s welcome. Psychedelic Surfer was the
fi rst twin-engined RIB with a pair of 50hp Mercury outboards. Although a private venture, it helped convince the RNLI that the RIB was a viable proposition and it went on to become the template on which the Atlantic 21 was designed.
THE ATLANTIC 21 The success of Psychedelic Surfer won over the RNLI and the organisation decided that the RIB concept was the way ahead for inshore rescue boat design. The Atlantic 21, launched in 1972,
was a refi nement of the raceboat – it retained the same length and beam but the hull design was tweaked. The hardy RIBs could withstand rough seas and were easy to launch – key factors in rescue scenarios. Instead of a straightforward deep vee with a 20° deadrise, the RNLI design had the bottom of the vee cut off to make a fl at. This was done to reduce the draught when bringing the boat back on to a beach but it made the steering less precise. The initial Atlantic 21 models had the rigid section constructed from plywood but this was later changed to GRP. Saddle seating was also fi tted after
students at Atlantic College found that jockey seats gave passengers much better control of the boat and better security. This basic rescue boat design remained virtually the same for the next 30 years and was the backbone of the RNLI’s inshore rescue fl eet.
Dag Pike takes the helm of the fi rst RIB ever built
FLATACRAFT The RNLI was not the only organisation looking closely at the developing RIB concepts. As RIB rescue boats became more prevalent, the leisure market began to take notice. Boatbuilders were starting to see the attraction of these lightweight, high-performance and sturdy vessels. Tony Lee Elliot and his brother
Edward began building their fi rst RIB in the autumn of 1966. It was based on the design of a Tinker Tramp sailing infl atable that they had rented on the South Coast. Their fi rst RIB was 11.5ft long with parallel tubes and a spray cuddy. It was powered by a 33hp Evinrude outboard. The brothers went on to build a 14.5ft RIB powered by a 50hp Evinrude in 1969. This RIB was the fi rst to circumnavigate the British Isles when the Royal Marines borrowed it to evaluate RIBs in 1972. The brothers founded their RIB
manufacturing company, Flatacraft, that same year and went on to produce thousands of RIBs over almost four decades from its base in Poole. Flatacraft was one of the fi rst fi rms to produce RIBs for leisure boaters and produced many entry-level models.
A Flatacraft Force 4: the fi rm brought RIBs to recreational waters
AUGUST2013 35
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