Subject to confirmation, souped-up RIB Hot Lemon has beaten two Round Britain records, including the outright record
Hot Lemon, a standard 29ft (8.75m) 1999 Scorpion RIB, has broken two Round Britain records: the circumnavigation record for boats up to 30ft, and the outright Round Britain record, so claiming the Norman Mackinnon trophy.
Both records are on courses around the British Isles, not including Ireland, and run in three stages: from Lymington to Bangor, Bangor to Peterhead, then back to Lymington. Hot Lemon started on Wednesday evening and completed the 1,500nm course at an average speed of 35 knots.
The previous 30ft record was held by Team Brownridge in a 28ft RIB and powered by a single 240hp unit. Their time of 63h 32m 25s was blown apart as Hot Lemon legged it round in 42h 54m, 25s.
The second, outright record was held by Drambuie Tantalusi, a 50ft carab monohull with 4x650hp Catarpillar powerplant. Hot Lemon claimed this record by 1h 9m 5s.
The feat is made all the more remarkable because the project is entirely corinthian – there was no sponsorship, no shore support and no publicity. Hot Lemon’s three crew are:Mike Deacon, 54, Skipper, Residential Letting AgentDr Jan Falkowski, 40, Consultant PsychiatristChris Strickland, 56, Electrical EngineerMechanical and other detail:The diesel fuel capacity was 120 gals plus a deck tank of 70 galsWeight of Hot Lemon for the Record run was approx 3600kgIn order to reduce loadings caused by the weight of extra fuel, the crew used smaller 24 in propellers rather than the usual 26 in ones (this restricted the average speed over the Record run to 35 knots with a top speed of 42 knots)The engine was a single, standard production Yanmar marine diesel (model 6LYM-STZE) of 4,200cc developing 300hp and 700Nm torque, from the UK importers EP BarrusThe drive train was a standard Mercury Bravo 3X twin propeller outdrive leg using a set of 24 in Quicksilver propellers balanced and prepared by Propeller Revolutions, PooleNavigation equipment:A single Lowrance Global Map 2000 GPS plus a handheld backup, magnetic compass, Raytheon radar and reflector, Icom VHF radio with twin high impedance long range antennae. A full set of Admiralty charts was also carried together with an approved liferaftSafety:Prior to the Record run, Hot Lemon was inspected by a scrutineer from the Royal Yachting Association, the amateur crew have extensive offshore experience and radio contact was maintained with each successive Coastguard area throughout the run. Each crew member had a personal locator beacon and flares, a main EPIRB and flares were also carried
