THE rigid inflatable Psychedelic Surfer gained a certain amount of publicity in the Round Britain Power Boat race and was, I hear, looked at by some of our IRB crews at the various stopping points around the coast.

When I was asked over the telephone by Mr. John Caulcutt on 20th June, 1969, to build him a rigid inflatable for completion in four weeks for the Round Britain Power Boat race, I was a little dubious. The idea of using an inshore rescue boat, especially designed as such, for the entirely different function of long distance racing was unattractive.

However, he, a very persuasive man, came down and talked me into it. A couple of our Dutch students, Willem de Vogel and Otto von Voorst, built the IRB, with invaluable assistance from our excellent carpenter, Mr. Roy Thomas.

Fortunately we had an Avon built tube of our own design available and it was only necessary to cut it on each side and insert an extra length in order to comply with the minimum overall boat length requirement for the race. The boat was launched in the presence of Commander Andrew Forbes and Lieutenant David Stogdon, who happened to be visiting on llth July, three weeks after the date of ordering.

SMALLEST IN RACE Psychedelic Surfer was the smallest and lowest powered boat in the race and finished 19th out of the 24 which completed the course. Total running time was 62 hours. It was the only inflatable to get successfully even to the starting line.

Psychedelic Surfer is a slightly enlarged version of the class of prototype * Admiral Hoare, who is a member of the Committee of Management of the R.N.L.I., is Head- master of the United World College of the Atlantic, St. Donat's Castle, Glamorganshire. Admiral Hoare was a specialist engineer in the Royal Navy.IRBs which we have been developing for ourselves in the Bristol Channel and for the Institution over the last six years. It is 18 inches longer and a few inches wider than our X9 illustrated on this page.

It was necessary grossly to overload the boat with petrol for the long stages of the Round Britain Power Boat race and in order to comply with all the rules about carrying life rafts, radios and other 'Christmas tree' fittings not required in the inshore rescue function, including especially the canopy—in my opinion, before and after the race, a flapping unnecessary nuisance! There was not a clear square foot of floor space left in the boat after everything was in.

In terms of weight the boat has been operating as though it had a crew of 13 instead of the proper crew of three. The fact that she got round Britain speaks well for the boat's strength, but the overloading made it rather wet and nose heavy.

NEW FLOOR DESIGN So far as we are aware, the hollow rigid floor inflatable represents a new design concept in that it is the only 100 per cent, buoyancy power boat which has yet been produced. All water that enters the boat must immediately leave over the stern since the floor is above the water-line and there is no transom. This advantage does not exist, so far as I know, in any existing inflatable or in any existing conventional rigid structure power boat. Yachts with self-draining cockpits are in our category provided their cabins are watertight.

Instant self-draining is an important factor when operating in surf. The first over-large breaking wave will fill up a boat. Unless one has instant and complete self-draining one cannot accelerate and the next breaking wave capsizes the boat.

I am a very firm believer in the inflatable tube as the best basis for an IRB but one should not be dependent on the air pressure in the tubes for immediate readiness for call-out on service. With a rigid hollow floor it makes no difference if the tubes are a little soft.

At the other end of the scale from X9 are the mini rescue boats to the same design but for single-handed use by beach guards on holiday beaches. The smallest is 10 feet 6 inches in length. One of these has been operating at Dawlish for the last two summers..