ROUND
BRITAIN
ELECTRIC RIB
In Summer 2024, 18 year old Harry Besley made an attempt to travel around the UK on a Rigid Inflatable Boat, a RIB; but not with a traditional outboard engine – with an electric one!
And..... he did it, setting a World Record for the first and fastest circumnavigation of Britain by electric boat!
Climate Emergency
Electric propulsion systems have been around for a while and are developing all the time. Power boat users can now seriously consider transitioning to zero emission propulsion and our Challenge will allow anyone interested to come along and have a look at an electric RIB at over 40 locations around the UK and Northern Ireland.
​
Zero emission propulsion reduces the use of fossil fuels but also reduces water and noise pollution.
​
Check out our STOP Locations!
​
Shore Power and Charging
We charged using a wide variety of shore power connections. The larger the connection the faster the charge.
​
Standard marina facilities provide an AC supply but as with electric cars, a faster charge can be delivered from a DC fast charger. Where we could, we charged at DC chargers which had already been installed at some marinas in the UK.
​
To speed up our charging time at others where only an AC supply was available we took a mobile DC charger with us. This connects to a standard 3 phase shore power socket and charged at rates of up to 40kW.
Follow the Adventure
Once we set off we reported our progress via the Live Tracker to show where and when we stopped. Check out the Live Tracker and the Trip Details page as well as the Gallery of photos.
To explore the topic of zero emission propulsion in more detail please look at our Resources page to download FREE Key Stage 2 Educational Activity Packs courtesy of Jordan Wiley at Expedition STEM and our videos on an Introduction to Zero Emission Propulsion courtesy of Bournemouth and Poole College.