The design of add-on sleeping accommodation for a rigid inflatable boat.
There is a gap in today’s market in the Rigid Inflatable Boat industry for an add-on sleeping accommodation to bridge the gap between Open Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) and Cabin RIBs. As the leisure market in the RIB industry is expanding continuously people want to take their boats further a field, but can not afford the price increase to a Cabin RIB therefore an interim method is required. Research data for popular sized RIBs, anthropometrics and ergonomics was collected and analysed to determine an ideal boat to base the accommodation on which fulfilled the design brief. Add-on accommodation was designed to fit a Gemini Waverider 730. The accommodation consists of a semi permanent fibreglass, 3-section structure, a fold down canvass shelter and an inner tent with built in groundsheet to sleep in. The canvass folds down from the roof section on the structure when stationary and the inner tent is then clipped in place. The design had to conform to towing regulations and the Recreational Craft Directives (RCD). The effect the accommodation has on the RIB was evaluated. As the accommodation was estimated to weigh 80kg, the trim and performance of the RIB would not be affected. The maximum stress on the structure was calculated to be 2.43MPa and the lifting force 1236N.