Dear readers,
CS has been placed in an extremely favorable situation, as our good friends from Danish Space Challenge have offered to donate one of their RIB boats to us. It is a Norsafe Mako 655, a 7-meter-long lifeboat – Fast Rescue Craft – with onboard diesel engine and jet drive. It has a 190 HP Yanmar engine and is SOLAS approved as a Fast Rescue Boat. Specifications as well as several « sexy » images of the model can be seen here: https://norsafe.com/lifesaving-systems/rescue-boats/mako-655/
Jeppe from DSC writes:
« DSC has to move to smaller premises and is therefore downsizing. In that context, we have decided that one of our RIB boats could become yours. We have decided to offer it to you as a gift because it will be more beneficial to you than to us in storage. »
Illustration: Danish Space Challenge
CS does not own any RIB boats but has always been able to use either members’ private boats or boats that could be made available by external partners. DSC participated in the launch of Nexø I in 2016 with another one of their boats.
Illustration: Carsten Olsen
We’ve chosen to accept the generous offer. CS will greatly benefit from having access to its own fast-moving RIB boat, and this model is particularly suitable because:
1) It is useful for ESD139 (our launch area), as well as for deployments
2) It can carry a suitably high radio antenna (stability and hardpoints)
3) It can accommodate enough people for all RIB tasks on launch day
4) It can achieve sufficient speed.
5) It can be transported on a trailer <= 3500kg total weight.
It will never be cheap regarding fuel consumption. Especially not when you want to go far and fast, but an inboard diesel engine is in the economic end of the scale.
There’s only one downside to this and that is that DSC would like a little money for the trailer on which the boat is transported. So therefore, we need to find 20,000 DKK which we didn’t exactly plan for in our budget.
We’ve started an internal fundraising amongst the CS members and several members have offered both loans and donations, but the more people that get involved the cheaper it will be for all. We’re therefore asking for your help.
Are there anyone who wants to help us? The money goes 100% for rocket-related purposes, CS gets a nice RIB boat on a trailer, and DSC gets funds to support their activities.
I think that an appropriate reward might be that the happy donors wearing life jackets and safety equipment will get one or more trips in Øresund when the RIB boat has arrived in Copenhagen.
We have already decided that the boat should be called « DSC RIB » – as a gesture to the happy donor 🙂
Who wants to join? Please send an email to contact@copsub.com
