Which Liferaft?

[webcraft]

4-man, double floor. To be used initially mainly in coastal waters but with a view to an ocean passage in the not too distant future.

SOLAS pack not important - probably easier to make up your own grab bag for this.

Problem is, very few of you will ever have tested one in earnest . . . but many of you will have purchased liferafts - on what basis did you make your choice?

<font color=blue>Nick</font color=blue>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com>

</A>

 

[nicho]

Just bought a Zodiac RORC/ORC Racing Super liferaft from Nationwide Marine Hire (tel: 01925 245788). It's a 4-man unit with double-insulated floor, really strong construction and lots of equipment as standard. Not cheap at £1,000 but a great bit of kit. Bought on the recommendation of Piers Du Pre. Hopefully we'll never have to test it!!

 

[Mirelle]

Just bought an Avon. Reasons -

1. The track record - 25 years and the most used yacht liferaft. It obviously works.

2. Hypalon. If it is anything like as bullet proof as my ancient Redstart, it's got to be good.

3. The detail design improvements they have made in the light of experience - in particular, the ladder rack entry system and the ballast pockets.

4. The vacuum pack sealing.

I hope I never find out if I am right or not!

 

[kgi]

Once you have your liferaft you might think about doing a sea survival course, or maybe the RNLI or some such body could help you out/point you in the right direction, i say this as quite a few rafts when they inflate will inflate inverted, needless to say you then have to right it, learning how could definitely save your life,i have a sea survival manual on the boat, i'll get hold of it and see if theres an ISBN on it......hope this is of some use.....keith

 

[webcraft]

Hi Keith,

Been there, done that and got the t-shirt . . . 8 years working offshore in the North Sea and Norway means I've done five separate sea survival courses with full abandonment procedures in the environmental tank at Robert Gordons, Aberdeen.

I totally agree though - a proper sea survival course can give you a taste of what an abandonment in bad weather at night might be like, and even in a controlled situation it's a bit scary. The RGIT tank produces 1m waves, with simulated thunder and lightning and torrential rain (aka fire hoses). I've righted a 20 man liferaft, so would hope to manage a four-man, although of course a real abandonment might be a hundred times worse.

<font color=blue>Nick</font color=blue>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com>

</A>

 

[Piers]

Call John Strickland-Baker of Nationwide. A great enthusiast, and knows exactly what to advise. Good contact, and offers good deals. 01925 245 788 or 07885 631 066.

Piers du Pré
www.playdeau.com

 

[jonjo]

Re: Where on deck

Been thinking about the best place to locate a life raft on board a typical yacht.

Seems to me, having read various force 10 epics, that just when a skipper first starts to think about using the life raft along comes a giant wave and the on-deck canister gets rips away and washed overboard.

Personally I favour a valise tucked under a bridge deck in the cockpit.

 

[Mirelle]

Re: Where on deck

Well, I spent a couple of years canvassing opinion from people with more experience than I before splashing out to buy one, and the consensus, for my type of boat, an old fashioned cruiser with a small cockpit and a counter stern, was 100% in favour of a canister, mounted on the aft deck immediately aft of the rudder head, strapped onto a deck mounted rack with two lines in a V shape coming to a hydrostatic release.

The hydrostatic release on a liferaft triggers at about 8 feet water head, unlike that on a lifejacket.

The point of this location is that a weak or injured crew member can get the raft over from the security of the cockpit, but should that be impossible, eg in a collision or explosion, the hydrostatic release is a back up.

This is only what I have been told; I have not tried it.

 

[Magic_Sailor]

Hi Nick

I've just purchased a Plastimo/XM 4 man offshore job. Basis was

1. Smallest I could get (I'll never have more than 4 - almost always 2)
2. Good name (I think)
3. Insulated floor.
4. Right price (£800).

Hope this is helpful.

Magic

 

[Chris_Stannard]

I am reminded of Colonel John Glenn, who was asked what the thought uppermost in his mind was when he was about to become the first American in space. He said it was the thought that every thing underneath him had been built by the guy that put in the lowest tender. I do not want to feel like that if, god forbid, i should ever have to get into mine.

SHMBO dictated that we have an Avon, having done all the research into that you can think of. The reason was the quality of the construction.

If you read the Fatal Storm (Sidney Hobart race disaster) the liferaft used by some people fell in half. This resulted in three of them being lost.

I also feel that the emergency pack is important as you just might not have time to grab the grab bag!


Chris Stannard

 

[bedouin]

In the Sydney-Hobart the liferaft didn't fall apart, it was deliberately cut with a knife.

My inexpert opinion is that all the liferafts on the market are likely to be adequate in terms of basic construction / material quality. From what I gather the most critical aspect is entering the liferaft from the water - and in that case those models with an inflatable step/ramp in front of the door seem much better than those without.

 

[jaysin]

We also have just bought a Zodiac RORC/ORC Racing Super liferaft. We looked at all the offerings at LBS.

Avon - Good build quality, but expensive, about 1,500
Zodiac - Good build quality, price about 1,000
XM/Plastimo - Build quality appeared much lower than Avon/Zodiac, Good price, about 800
Forties - Build quality appeared to be the same as XM, expensive, I think 1,200 (I could be wrong on this one)

The Zodiac also had a good review in Sailing Today which is worth reading. As many of the suggested improvements in the review are now standard on the liferaft.

However, we were sold on the Zodiac after the lady on the Forties stand mentioned how long lasting her old Zodiac liferaft was.

One final point. If you buy a valise Zodiac it requires a visual inspection for the first two years, then full service every year. A canister model only requires full services after 2 years. Which makes the canister model a little cheaper in the first two years of ownership.

Cheers !

J.

 

[kgi]

In a lot of ways when you buy a raft it should come with a course on how to use it, like you say, practical course, people don't realise how difficult things can be, especially if your first to the raft you have to experience it to appreciate how difficult it is to get into a raft, with waterlogged clothes, inflated lifejacket, its freezing cold etc. IMHO a raft is probably 50% more effective if you have had some training in its use.........like you say been there done that, and glad for it.....keith

 

[cp99]

A Service Agent´s Advice

Can I repeat the advice given to me by a commercial agent when doing research for my purchase?

1. Don´t buy on price, unless you´re skint and very optimistic. Remember, liferaft manufacture is a fantastic business to be in, as customers with complaints can´t come back and hassle you...
2. If you want a decent raft get one of Hypalon or natural rubber. AVOID PVC LIKE THE PLAGUE if you ever expect to use your raft and live.
3. The only raft we ever tested and failed to inflate was a Plastimo. Take note.
4. One make which I will never, ever, allow through the door again is EV (EuroVinyl). They are just beach toys, made of PVC (like Plastimos) with heat-welded seams, not glued. The first one we serviced, which was new (one year old) just deflated immediately we had inflated it. They are the cheapest available - of course. Don´t touch with a barge pole.
5. We are Viking agents. Here is one inflated that is twenty years old. I would like to condemn it as it doesn´t earn me anything, but I can´t - there´s nothing wrong with it (and here he showed me this old raft, which looked maybe a couple of years old).

I saw rafts inflated there of 12 and 20 years age that were obviously perfect. Viking are made from natural rubber. PVC rafts are automatically condemned at 12 years - if they last that long. I listened to his advice and chose accordingly. No regrets about the cost as I was just setting off on a 6,000 mile single-handed passage between ports.

That´s the man´s advice - take it or leave it.


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by cp99 on 30/01/2003 20:55 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[LadyInBed]

I've just looked at and <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.lalizas.com/> Lalizas websites and neither specify what material their rafts are made of.