In a first for the Irish marine industry, MarineServices.ie is proud to present the first all-electric powered rigid inflatable boat (RIB). Arriving in early February, RS Electric Boats’ Pulse 63 is a 6.3-metre-long RIB designed from the ground up to be 100% electric.

After a design, development, and testing period of over three years, this craft is now entering mass production. It's set to be a real game-changer in the marine industry. MarineServices aims to revolutionise both the commercial and leisure RIB markets with this groundbreaking boat.

Pulse 63 is a 6.3-metre-long RIB

The Pulse 63 is no longer a prototype; it delivers real-world performance and range with its high-performance electric setup. Expect a range of up to 100 nautical miles and top speeds of over 20 knots. Similar to electric cars, the power is instantaneous, providing swift acceleration and unrivalled manoeuvrability.

"Pulse 63 is a 6.3-metre-long RIB designed from the ground up to be 100% electric"

Constructed with shock-absorbing materials and designed for excellent stability, the Pulse 63 ensures a smooth ride. Its unique hull form creates an air cushion effect, resulting in a drier cockpit even when the seas get rough. Without the need for engine mounts, the cockpit is very spacious for its size, and the engine is virtually silent.

Pulse 63 - Expect a range of up to 100 nautical miles and top speeds of over 20 knots

Sustainability is key in the construction of the Pulse 63. RS Electric Boats have undertaken extensive research into the applications of alternative materials, and, building upon their successes in RS Sailing’s production, have developed an optimised laminate for the Pulse 63, which includes a PET core made from recycled post-consumer plastics. This innovative material is lightweight, durable, and incredibly strong.

Designed as an electric RIB from the outset, the Pulse 63 features some of the most advanced electric propulsion technology

Designed as an electric RIB from the outset, the Pulse 63 features some of the most advanced electric propulsion technology. The Electric Drive offers instant acceleration, featherlight control, and hydrodynamic performance. It also means less noise, reduced vibration, lighter weight, and lower maintenance.

This unique boat will be in Ireland from the 9^th-12^th of February. The RS Electric Boats and MarineServices.ie team would be delighted to demonstrate this masterpiece to both commercial and private users.

To book your timeslot and experience the future of marine travel, please email [email protected]

Dublin City Centre looks magical at night!

The INSS.ie RIB Rides and Winter Lights has had a cracking first weekend exploring the river Liffey and Christmas lights.

Over 40 participants of all ages joined the crew on passage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour to Dublin Port and past O’Connell Bridge before returning to the harbour.

The programme is running as part of the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School's contribution to the Failte Ireland Winter In Dublin campaign.

INSS RIB Trip passing Sir John Rogerson's Quay on Dublin's River Liffey

Crews witnessed the operations of the busy Dublin Port in the twilight, including car transporters, ferries and bulk transporters all at work.

After heading under the East Link Bridge, the vista of Silicon Docks comes into view – this part of the city has really transformed over the last ten years, and the view is unforgettable.

Dublin City Council have gone to great lengths to have an excellent lights display on the Samuel Beckett Bridge.

The Samuel Beckett Bridge as seen from an INSS RIB

One participant remarked that the Christmas lights seem to have been set up with the best view from the river itself – and it certainly looks so, the highlight being the fantastic lights display on the Customs house.

CUSTOM HOUSE VIDEO

Keen to make the trip all that more memorable, the crews stopped each day upriver of O’Connell Bridge for a hot chocolate pit stop.

The trips are running over the next two weekends – Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 3-6 pm and there are still a few places remaining onboard.

All are very welcome.

Full details and booking is available here

The Lough Corrib RIB Run is set to take place this weekend, organised by Powerboat West's Aaron O'Reilly of County Galway.

This year’s RIB cruise is jointly presented by ‘PowerBoats in the West’ and ‘Corrib Rowing and Yachting Club’ in aid of RNLI Galway.

The day will kick off from Galway's Corrib and Yachting Club, to cover 70 nautical miles.

Participants will set off on a 10 am start on Saturday morning with the following schedule.

• Access to CRYC slipway from 7 am for launching
• Drivers briefing at 9.30 am at CRYC Clubhouse.
• Departing CRYC at 10 am Sharp!
• Arriving Inchogill c. 11.30 am.
• Pack a picnic and take a walk around the island - guided historic tours provided by Niall O’Flaherty.
• Depart Inchogill 1pm.
• Arrive Maam bridge 2.30 pm.
• Refreshments and sandwiches are available at Keane’s pub.
• Depart Maam at 4.00 pm.
• Return to Galway City via Ashford Castle.
• Arrive CRYC at 6.00 pm.

More details here

Leinster Boats offers a Redbay Stormforce 7.4m RIB for sale.

The 'complete package' includes a 250 hp Suzuki outboard engine, a Rollercoaster trailer, and full instrumentation.

As regular Afloat readers know, this RIB range is Irish-built in the Glens of Antrim at Cushendall under master builder Tom McLoughlin and his team. The range is well known for its sea-keeping abilities.

Yacht Broker Ronan Beirne of Leinster Boats says this example is an 'all weather' RIB that is well cared for and recently serviced.

"The Redbay 7.4 is a true open sea adventure rib with many having circumnavigated Ireland," he says.

"This rib is meticulously maintained by a caring owner, with everything in full service. The perfect family rib is available now and ready to go", he adds.

See the full advert here

The Kenmare River where Kerry verges into Cork is one of Ireland’s cruising gems – it’s pure gold and then some. But we weren’t exactly cruising when the Nixon Tribe descended on the area precisely a year ago for a significant anniversary. The anniversary had been delayed because of the lockdown restrictions, and so the Tribe were in the mode of a genie let out of a bottle. Rather a lot of bottles, as it happens. But our host John Brennan, hotelier of that parish, was so tolerant of this invasion of the barbarians that he took us all out for the afternoon in his pride-and-joy, his then-new Redbay Stormforce 1450 super-rib Dromquinna, with a real red-carpet champagne and super-nibbles treatment in a secluded anchorage in Kilmakilloge for the anniversarians and their associated brood.

We don’t get together that often in significant numbers for various good reasons, including the fact that when the next generation are on their own with each other in more compact groups, it can be fairly civilized, but when the parents are introduced into the total equation, that old demon of sibling rivalry is always bubbling under the surface.

John Brennan in his happy place – aboard the boat and headed somewhere interesting. Photo: W M Nixon

Thus if we were together this weekend, I reckon that the annual review of combined family fleet activities since that special gathering in Kenmare would include two dismastings. This in turn brings the revelation that the Seventeen Footers in Howth are rather better organized as a class in coming up with an immediate mast replacement than are the Devon Yawls at Bosham on Chichester Harbour. The Howth 17s can have you up and sailing again within a day, whereas the new mast for the Devon Yawl takes six weeks. And that is precisely the kind of thing that makes for a good row in a sailing family

Yet despite those various spars coming down around people’s ears, sailing trophies have been won for both family fortresses through 2022. Perhaps the most notable is the annual Bognor Bogbrush, in which the grandson Magnus skippered the winning under-9 team racing Opties for Chichester Harbour at Bognor Regis. The young sailor is named after the first and last Viking Saint. You can visit St Magnus’ cathedral at Kirkwall if cruising the Orkneys, but his mission to deter Vikings from violence was only successful after his aggressive people martyred him, which gives his name a special sanctity.

Thus in the family home of thatched Quay Cottage in Bosham, the Bognor Bogbrush is referred to as “the special trophy”, for they share the quay with the still active though very ancient church which was founded by King Canute’s wife, and with this double sanctity the successful young team captain’s mother cannot allow it to be publicly known that her lovely son is the current holder of the Bognor Bogbrush.

Kitted out for serious sailing – Magnus Nixon, the winning team captain in the U9s in the annual Bognor Bogbrush championship. Photo: Brian Nixon 

Be that as it may, having seen how calmly and thoughtfully John Brennan dealt with our mob of Viking successors, we’ve taken a special interest in his doings with the Stormforce 1450, for he and his son Adam – a naval architect in the making – made a significant input into the design. And as well, since we were with him his book about how he turned the problem of severe dyslexia into an opportunity and encouragement – it’s called My Name Is Jhon and is one of the best reads I’ve had during the past year – has been published to deserved acclaim.

It turns out that he and his wife Gwen have been very successful in combining business with pleasure. John is a hotelier to his finger-tips, totally engrossed 24/7 in his job when he’s on duty. So how does a guy like this take a holiday? Does he saunter off to some distant specialist Seven Star-plus-plus hotel and allow others to cater for a while for his every need?

The ports in South Brittany visited by Dromquinna in June.

Not so, it seems. During June, thanks to his skills in delegation and his ability to rely on the many talents of his famous brother Francis to keep an eye on their three hotels, John and Gwen headed off for Brittany in the Dromquinna in the hope of a few days relaxation, but also with plans to meet up with others who are putting together the Adventure Nautique Atlantique Sauvage.

Some time ago before Brexit, the Cool Route cruising concept from Cork Harbour eventually to Norway was being developed, but this enlargement acknowledges the ancient sea routes between Ireland, Brittany and Iberia (think Song of Amergin, where the main man departs from A Coruna in northwest Spain), yet also deals with post-Brexit reality by utilising British-flagged Gibraltar – which has a special relation with the EU – as a start point.

National and regional flags aloft to celebrate the Adventure Nautique Atlantic Sauvage meeting at Port Haliguen in Quiberon. Photo: John Brennan

At Port Haliguen - when you’re proposing a cruise route along Europe’s Atlantic seaboard, it’s a good idea to have the rescue services on side from the start…….Photo: John Brennan

Thus thanks to the presence of John & Gwen with Dromquinna at a meeting in Port Haliguen, the Irish tricolour was flying with the array from other nations exploring the possibilities of this nautical Wild Atlantic Way. And by that time they’d discovered that this style of cruising was suiting them very well indeed. For the fact is that Gwen had mixed feelings about boat life beforehand, yet it emerges that this dyed-in-the-wool hospitality couple spent every single night in board while in Brittany.

This is home for now - settling in for the night at Camaret after a seven hour passage from the Isles of Scilly, with the yellow Q flag flying for the customs. Photo: John Brennan

Of course they went ashore for knowledgeable enjoyment of local cuisine. And like all boaties, they spent time around harbours large (sometimes very large) and small, talking boat talk. But their expectation that every so often they’d book into a good hotel for two or three nights simply didn’t happen.

Usually with just the two of them, there was space to spare, they knew how everything worked and being John, everything did work. They were having a ball. Seeing ports as entertaining places to visit, and knowing that they had all the comforts of their familiar home-from-home within walking distance, proved to be totally relaxing – they were so well organised on board that they didn’t even have a shower off the boat.

Perfect cruising evening in Brittany – yet though John & Gwen Brennan might have an interesting meal ashore, they returned to the familiar comfort of the boat every night. Photo: John Brennan 

For there’s no doubting that John is in his happy place when he’s aboard Dromquinna. But being the man he is, lolling about is not an option, and a year ago we had the experience of being at better than 35 knots with him in the Kenmare River, which shows the kind of performance he can call on for short periods, while a solid cruising speed means that no passages are required at night – on the outward voyage, they did Cork to the Isles of Scilly in five hours.

Dromquinna’s speed potential – even with a party on board – is shown top left in knots on the Kenmare River September 2021. A cruising speed of 23 knots is much more economical, but it’s good to have this performance in reserve. Photo: W M Nixon

In fact, while Brittany was marvellous in its variety and unique pace of life while being confident in its own identity, it was the freedom of being able to visit the Isles of Scilly in their own boat which was one of the cruise highlights. So much so, that they lingered longer than expected while heading south, and took a chunk out of the homeward passage for a further stay among those enchanted islands.

Dawn departure from France – to ensure there were no night passages, early starts for the longer legs were always useful. Photo: John Brennan

The need to anchor and use the outboard tender in Scillonia rather than having access to a marina berth was seen as an added attraction rather than an irksome chore, for most RIB owners are new to the experience of a cruising boat comfortably lying for a few peaceful days to her own anchor.

Well worth the effort…..heading ashore for dinner at Tresco in the Isle of Scilly, while Dromquinna lies sweetly to anchor in New Grimsby Sound. Photo: Gwen Brennan

That said, in big marinas you can sometimes find yourself berthed conveniently near to boats of special interest. It takes some doing in the general drone image of Port Haliguen to find Dromquinna, but when you do, it’s to discover that she’s berthed just across the pontoon from the veteran Dick Newick trimaran that may be the former Downtown Flyer, built by Brian Law and Dickie Gomes of Strangford Lough at Lisburn in 1982, and a mighty racer in her day forty years ago.

Contrasting styles. In Port Haliguen, Dromquinna is berthed next to a vintage Newick trimaran which may well be the 1982 Downtown Flyer. Photo: John Brennan

And there is of course an extraordinary story about what happened when Downtown Flyer first made her home in France after “Lawsie and Gomesie” had done everything they wished with her on the international racing circuit, and thought they’d sold her. But we may need advice from m’learned friends before recounting it………

Chaos outside Paris’ Stade de France at the Champions League final is leading this morning’s headlines — and among the fans in the city were a group of resourceful Liverpool supporters who travelled part of the way by speedboat.

As the Liverpool ECHO reports, Paddy O’Toole said friends’ original travel plans appeared to have been scuppered by the cancellation of their EasyJet flight to Paris for the crunch football final.

After dashing from Liverpool to London, the group managed to get on a flight from Heathrow to Jersey in the Channel Islands, where Paddy lives, but that still left them hundreds more kilometres short of the French capital.

Boss way to get to Paris @LFC pic.twitter.com/1YKGFRelDx

— Paddy OToole (@morefootie) May 27, 2022

Enter Paddy’s friend Garry Brennan, whose local business has a fleet of motor vessels including the 12-person RIB that carried the intrepid group to the French mainland on Friday (27 May) in plenty of time to join thousands of other Liverpool away fans.

The Liverpool ECHO has more on the story HERE.

The 'mystery' to local observers of just who was behind the impressive 15-boat strong RIB raid fleet powering across Dublin Bay last Sunday morning was answered this week on social media when it emerged the boats, ranging from 5 to 8 metres in length, were freshwater visitors from the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI) Powerboat Branch.

The River Shannon ribbers, which included three jet skis, took in a River Liffey spin via Grand Canal Dock in the city centre as well as heading out into the Bay to Dun Laoghaire Harbour, followed by a 12km run in some bumpy southerly conditions down to Greystones Harbour in County Wicklow.

"We waited so long to do our first RIB run with the IWAI Powerboat Branch, and it was FANTASTIC! After seeing Dun Laoghaire, Greystones and Dublin city from these new perspectives, I wouldn't wish to live anywhere else but beautiful Éire", said one of the RIB crews online.

Dublin Bay-based yacht broker Ronan Beirne of Leinster Boats is listing a Redbay Stormforce 7.4S RIB on his current boats for sale brokerage listings.

Described by Beirne as 'the perfect family rib', the open sea adventure vessel is available now and priced at €53,000.

The all-weather rib comes as a complete package with a Suzuki DF 250, Rollercoaster trailer, full instrumentation.

The boat is very well cared for and recently serviced.  "This rib is meticulously maintained with everything in full service," Beirne says. 

"Hesitate and you will be ashore this Summer, " Beirne adds. 

See the full advert on Afloat here.

Captain Sergio Davì, the Italian seafarer who first made headlines when he travelled from Palermo, Italy to New York in 2019 (via Ireland) in his 11-metre (36-foot) rigid inflatable boat (RIB), is ready for his next adventure across three continents, two oceans and covering over 10,000 nautical miles.

Davì is expected to depart in the next best weather window for his solo trip from Palermo to Los Angeles, crossing the Atlantic, passing through the Panama Canal and heading north along Mexico and California’s coast in his Nuova Jolly RIB before arriving in Los Angeles in late February.

Captain Sergio Davì in his ocean crossing RIB

Davì has named the bid the OCEAN TO OCEAN RIB ADVENTURE and his voyage will be dedicated to issues around ocean health. During the crossing, he will collect seawater samples to assess the presence of microplastics and carry out the analysis of metal traces, focusing in particular on under-researched or specific geographical points of reference.

For this trip, Davì has partnered with the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institutes of Piedmont, Liguria & Valle d'Aosta and Sicily to examine the dangers of ocean pollution on human health.

“They are giving me the opportunity to make my trip and experience of study and research as well as a warning for the protection of our seas and oceans,” said Davi.

OCEAN TO OCEAN RIB ADVENTURE Route

OCEAN TO OCEAN RIB ADVENTURE – SCHEDULE (Expected Departures)

• Leg 1 PALERMO-MALLORCA (LATE NOVEMBER)
• Leg 2 MALLORCA-GIBRALTAR
• Leg 3 GIBRALTAR-LANZAROTE
• Leg 4 LANZAROTE-GRAN CANARIA
• Leg 5 GRAN CANARIA-MINDELO
• Leg 6 MINDELO-KOUROU
• Leg 7 KOUROU-PORT OF SPAIN
• Leg 8 PORT OF SPAIN-CURACAO
• Leg 9 CURACAO-SANTA MARTA
• Leg 10 SANTA MARTA-CARTAGENA
• Leg 11 CARTAGENA-FUERTE SHERMAN
• Leg 12 FUERTE SHERMAN-SAN CARLOS
• Leg 13 SAN CARLOS-BOCA BRAVA
• Leg 14 BOCA BRAVA-PUERTO QUETZAL
• Leg 15 PUERTO QUETZAL-PUERTO DE SAN BENITO
• Leg 16 PUERTO DE SAN BENITO-ACAPULCO
• Leg 17 ACAPULCO-IXTAPA
• Leg 18 IXTAPA-MANZANILLO
• Leg 19 MANZANILLO-CABO SAN LUCAS
• Leg 20 CABO SAN LUCAS-ISLA CEDROS
• Leg 21 ISLA CEDROS-ENSENADA
• Leg 22 ENSENADA-SAN DIEGO
• Leg 23 SAN DIEGO-LOS ANGELES LATE FEBRUARY

Way back in the dim and distant OtherTime, back in the vaguely-remembered May of last year when we still hadn't really grasped how our lives had been totally pandemically changed, we ran a story about how super-host John Brennan of Kenmare and his son Adam were working with Redbay Boats of the Glens of Antrim to create the ultimate personalised variant of the northern firm's Stormforce 1450.

Well, despite everything that has been done or imposed or thought up to foul up cross-border trade and the exchange of ideas, the new machine is now cutting a dash on the Kenmare River and the ocean beyond, and doing so to such good effect that the Brennan hotel group can offer you a handy jaunt out to the Skelligs before stopping off somewhere agreeable for lunch.

The constraints of using the giant RIB configuration will sometimes result in a rather unsightly super-structure. But as our header pic of a sister-ship indicates, the design team at Cushendall have come up with something uniquely attractive in itself, while the fact that it does the business is shown in this vid of the Skelligs voyage experience by Nick Burnham of Aquaholic

And if you fancy the complete guided tour of the boat, try this for size: 

An alternative layout for the Stormforce 1450