Gearhead stuff

It's amazing how much gear we accumulate for each new participant activity. Offshore sailing, dinghy sailing, ski-ing, hill walking, cycling are just a few before we get to ball sports. And, I have 26 sails stored in my garden shed. Part of the "fun" of going round Britain in a rib is planning how you can equip yourself to cope best with what you might have to face. Needless to say it means buying a whole lot of new stuff!

Clothing. People whose advice we respect have said you must do it in dry suits. I even have one in the wardrobe for board sailing. We have decided to go the summer comfort route and after some discussions with Henri Lloyd have gone for their TP2 Shadow smock and salopettes without the collar.

The smock as a neoprene waistband and a soft collar which tightens round your neck. June should be sunny and warm, but with a permanent headwind of circa 50 to 60 mph, different rules apply.

Gloves. You do get knocked about a bit in a rib contrary to what it says in the brochure. I don't suffer from cold hands but on a two hour run found I'd got a blister somehow from the Italian suede covered steering wheel. We will have thin sailing type gloves in the future.

Footwear. We are using toe straps with the Ullman seats so we need shoes that are smooth on top. Roger has a preference for boots so we may go that way although I hope we don't get too much water in the boat.

Helmets. We first talked to Gecko who provide the RNLI. Unfortunately their helmets aren't approved for the race and we have to have motor cycle ones. I have heard of the bucket effect if you fall out going fast with a full-face helmet so we have gone for open-face helmets with visors and separate sun shades.

Intercoms. Driving a Caterham 7, you realise how communication could be improved with an intercom system. I had looked at the ones on the lifeboats which are industrial quality. We are going for a battery-powered system which reduces hole drilling in the boat and which was developed for rally cars but which will have to live in a polythene bag.

Life jackets. We race with 13 on our sail boat. We have eight life jackets for cruising on the rib. But for the race, we need another design. We have gone for Austrian Grabner jackets which look okay and have a lot of power boat followers. The main difference for power boating is that you need foam rather than air.

Camera. We hope to take a Panasonic video camera but after just a couple of trips, my Nikon Coolpix compact has given up and I have ordered an Olympus 850 SW. The S stands for shock and the W stands for water down to 3 metres. It's great to have a camera at hand and I hope the Olympus doesn't go the same way as the Nikon! I'll still have my D200 Nikon SLR in its padded bag with me, but it's not at all easy to use under way.

Back Support. On our first runs, I used a ski back brace which has an articulated support right up the spine. This is less than perfect in the rib as it tends to push you forward in the seats.

Roger experimented with an industrial type of garment which has plenty of elastic and Velcro and can be tightened in use. I am getting the same now. Of course, you never know whether these really help, but we both recognise that a back injury could take us out of the event and once a back goes slightly wrong, ribbing is not a lot of fun!

Underwear. Last but certainly not least, early rides have demonstrated the need for getting this right. The Ullman jockey seats have a narrower part at the front which you grip with your thighs. After a couple of hours, it gets uncomfortable so I plan to use undershorts with chamois running down both legs.


We will keep you updated as we discover new needs. Gavin 21.4.08