The RIB: The Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Lifeboat
In
just three weeks two Atlantic College Dutch students built Psychedelic Surfer,
the rigid-hulled inflatable that defied the sceptics to finish 19th in Britain's
first ever Round Britain Powerboat Race in 1969 - the achievement that launched
the rigid-hulled inflatable into the consciousness of the life-saving community
across the world.
When Occidental Petroleum's oil platform Piper Alpha exploded on 6th July 1988, k167 men lost their lives. Nearby support ships launched rescue craft... the only ones able to go right inside the jacket structure were two Atlantic 21s. One was caught in the main explosion 22 minutes after the initial outbreak of fire and her crew perished. The other saved several men. No other rescue craft had been able to follow them.
With modern materials and technologies the original Atlantic boats have been developed into sophisticated variations now used in their hundreds of thousands worldwide by life-saving organisations, the offshore energy industry, the military, the marine racing world and the leisure market.
265 x 198mm; hardback and paperback versions; 160 pages in full colour plus full colour cover/jacket with 150 images
Click here to see a double page spread from the book
| Ships
Monthly said of the RIB: This well-produced book tells the story of the development of the rigid-hulled inflatable boat, which was originally intended for operation as a rescue craft in the dangerous waters of the Bristol Channel off the South Wales coast. The design was the brainchild of staff and students at Atlantic College in South Wales, led by Desmond Hoare. Adding a rubber tube to a rigid hull was first undertaken at Atlantic College, and this book explains how this idea was then developed and taken on by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to develop its highly successful Atlantic Class lifeboats. The rigid hull design is now used throughout the world in many different spheres, including by naval and customs authorities. |
Author: David Sutcliffe
Date published: June 2010
ISBN (paperback):
978-1-85757-103-5
Price: £15.00 plus postage and packing
ISBN (hardback):
978-1-85757-101-1
Price: £25.00 plus postage and packing
For availability and enquiries please contact:
Vicky Phillips
Atlantic College
St Donats Castle
Llantwit Major
Vale of Glamorgan
CF61 1WF
Tel: +44(0)1446 799147
Fax: +44(0)1446 799105
vicky.phillips@atlanticcollege.org
