Psychedelic Surfer RB 69

[billy no boat]

Evening,

Bit of a long shot but i am trying to find information on the above boat which went round britian in 1969.

Believe it was John Caulcutt's ride but thats about all i know. I have seen the MBY articles on the race but any further information on the boat, crew and performance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Billy

[Delta28]

Designed, then built from scratch in three weeks, at Atlantic College in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, she became the mascot and "people's favourite" of the 1969 Round Britain. One of the earliest, certainly the most famous, of the RHIBs.

And I don't think I'll contribute any more than that...! What you need is a copy of Crab Searle's book "The Daily Telegraph - BP Round Britain Powerboat Race" published in 1970 by Robert Hale & Company, price 35/- (shillings!). I got a copy fairly recently and they do crop-up from time-to-time... try Amazon, Ebay, Abebooks or a maritime book specialist.

More importantly, you also need to talk to the Flying Fish!!

[Delta28]

Are you out there, Graham?



...or don't you do rubber boats?!

[Big Dutch]

There is a Cosmic Surfer over here a right weird looking Hull too
I wonder if its related-groovy name though.
I cant recogniose it will try to get a photo to ID it,White and yellow
Q E 2 marina

[FLYING FISH]

Spot on Ian,am I that predictable.I`m having a run of digging into the archives for people at present, so I backed off this one,hoping some others would fill in the blanks,but then again most were in short trousers when all that happened.

[Delta28]

Sorry Graham, I didn't mean to impose... but I would not presume to know nearly enough!

I'll do some digging and see what I've got ( i was 12 at the time and only just out of short trousers..) then I suppose we could always resort to asking John himself....

[billy no boat]

Originally Posted by FLYING FISH

Spot on Ian,am I that predictable.I`m having a run of digging into the archives for people at present, so I backed off this one,hoping some others would fill in the blanks,but then again most were in short trousers when all that happened.

Evening, dont want to put anyone out so only if you get the chance.

trying to get any information possinble on the boat, the crew and its performance. also, what has happened to it since.

i was talking with someone last week who suggested they were "involved" with the boat but information from them was limited!

[FLYING FISH]

Back in the 1960`s when the RNLI fleet of inflatable rescue boats was suffering from high levels of wear and tear on the fabric bottom,when they were dragged across beaches,a solution was attempted by simply cutting out the rear part of the fabric floor and replacing it with a piece of plywood.This heralded the start of the rigid inflatable.It did not solve the wear problem,what it actually achieved was to move it further forward.Later prototypes replaced the entire bottom of the boat with shaped plywood.

From this unpromising start,develpment of the concept continued at Atlantic College in South Wales,and finally after 10 prototypes,the Atlantic 21 design was developed and became the basis of the modern rigid inflatable.

Psychedelic Surfer particulars are as follows

20ft 9 inches - 2 x 50hp mercs -designed by Admiral Desmond Hoare (Principal of Atlantic College) - 2 19yr old dutch students built it - crewed by John Caulcutt 22 from Yarmouth,Graeme Dillon 21 from Yarmouth and Lt.Simon De`Ath (Royal Marines) 21 from Liss.

Typical av speed 28.6 mph on a calm leg (boats were never using max power anyway)

[billy no boat]

Many thanks!!

This is just what i am after!!

[Delta28]

Great stuff, Graham.

My thanks too...

ian