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Endurance |
Cruising |
Racing |
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Hot Lemon grabs the World Record for Poole to Cherbourg |
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We were in Cowes in 2010 when Dave first noticed that there was no World Record for the Poole to Cherbourg run. This rattled around in our heads for a year or so until Mike’s wife Maggie said ‘ for goodness sake guys, stop dreaming, either do it or forget it’. That rather focussed our minds so the planning started…..
And, in September 2011, Mike, Dave and Dave’s wife Wendy ran Hot Lemon from Poole to Cherbourg in 67 minutes 12 secondsto set the first World Record for this course.
See the complete article here >>>
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Hot Lemon shreds the time for the Southern Islands World Record |
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A few years ago, Dave noticed that the time for the Southern Islands Record stood unofficially at approx 20 hours. This equated to a speed of about 26 knots for the course which has a distance of 535 nautical miles ( 616 statute miles). The course comprises a loop which must include the Isle of Wight, Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isles of Scilly.
As Hot Lemon can run at 60 knots we thought we’d give this a go so we added one of our deck fuel tanks so as to give a total fuel load of 1450 litres ( 320 gallons) and then waited for the correct weather… and waited…and waited and… on the 5th November 2006 we got lucky with a cold, frosty, misty but calm day and we set to sea at 06.30.
We had a few problems along the way including a near calamity at the Isles of Scilly but fortune smiled on us and we finished as darkness fell in a time of 9 hours 57 minutes 36 seconds, less than half the previous time … job done.
Click on the pdf for the full article >>
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Hot Lemon 5 with Mike & Dave reclaim a Round Britain Record. |
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In 2001 Hot Lemon 3 had set a new Outright Fastest Round Britain Record at 42hrs 54mins 25secs and then, in 2002, Hot Lemon 4 with Mike, Dave & two friends set an even shorter time in 37hrs 49mins 50secs.
But...this wasn't quick enough for Hot Lemon and on 11th-12th August 2005, Mike & Dave set a new time for the under 30' Round Britain Record of 31 hours 22 minutes 46 seconds in Hot Lemon 5, a 10m Scorpion Sports Cruiser with twin standard spec Yanmar 320hp diesel engines.
Hot Lemon 5 has a twin-stepped hull, a deflector instead of a windscreen and an aerofoil section support for the radar, nav lights, twin vhf aerials and masses of navigation gear.
At 3900 RPM the Yanmar engines each used 60 LPH (54kts) but only 45LPH at 3500RPM (48kts); to carry the extra fuel weight, we used 5 blade 28'' pitch props. (Our usual 32'' 5 blade props give us 60 kts when light. hot lemon has twin 100 gall underdeck tanks and we added a 190 gallon deck tank for the Round Britain run.
For more info click on the PDF below
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COWES-TORQUAY-COWES 2009 |
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This internationally famous race was just the ticket for Hot Lemon… ROUGH!
The balance of her stepped hull and the torque of her twin diesel engines enabled her to power ahead of ALL other craft in the 20 boat fleet and she led the race for more than 100 miles.
Her racing bolster seats and special ‘shock mitigation flooring’ enabled Mike and Dave to concentrate on the job in hand and driver Dave took full advantage of Hot Lemon’s rough water strengths whilst navigator Mike ensured they found all the race marks and kept HL properly trimmed for the conditions. On YouTube there is some fantastic video of Hot Lemon passing Portland Bill in this event ; however, there was to be a sting in the tail, read on …
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Life Jacket Checks |
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We all spend a great amount of time cleaning, checking and servicing the RIB, but how much attention do we pay to that important piece of equipment that we hope we’ll never need to use? If you have an air inflation life jacket, you not only expect it to inflate on demand, but to hold the air as well. Yet the life jacket cover could be abraded, or even punctured, as it’s probably been stowed in a console or under a seat when it’s not worn.
So, when did you last test your life jacket? You don’t have to activate the compressed air canister to check that it will hold air, the test is completely nondestructive!
Click Here to download the PDF
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