The three-day course was culminating with a competition. Three-man boat crews would have to run to the boat, fire it up, race out to and negotiate a slalom course, find and recover a person in the water, race back through the slalom to the dock and run a short distance to the finish line. The competition was comprised of nine teams of state, county and local police, marine and emergency service units; firemen; swiftwater rescue men, one US Navy EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) man and me���the only civilian in the group.

The competition was the end of a Zodiac Maritime Training Academy���s (ZMA) Rescue/Tactical RHI Boat Operator Course.The company set up ZMA to teach first responders, fire departments,US Coast Guard, police SWAT teams, the military and others about the proper deployment and use of its inflatables and RIBs. Trevor Jenkins, a charter captain and former Coast Guard chief bosuns mate, heads the school and was one of our instructors. Another of the instructors was John Rogers, a Marine reservist attached to Marine Recon. We were also fortunate to have Jerry Weisberger as one of the instructors. Jerry is one of the fathers of the entire RIB concept, as well as Zodiac���s RIB program, and now travels the world teaching for Zodiac.

Weather conditions had been less than ideal. The forecast called for temps in the 50s and sun, but we ended up with 30s, winds to 30- plus knots and rain on the first day; a nearly day-long hail/sleet/snow spring storm on the second. On the school���s last day, the skies cleared and the wind moderated.Water temps in the low 40s gave us���as several of the participants noted to a local newspaper reporter��� conditions that were ���most realistic��� for the course work.

AHEM, ATTENTION CLASS

Each day, the academy starts off at 8:30 a.m. with some classroom work, and the first day���s class set the tone. A video of the surf rescue of a diver by three Canadian Coastguardsmen in a 21-foot RIB ended with the RIB pearling at the bottom of a large wave and the three Coastguardsmen (and the diver) dead. Everyone looked at each other with that ���hmmm, they���re serious��� look. And these were the faces of guys who do this for a living. ���We���re showing you this to illustrate a point,��� said Jenkins. ���The coxswain on that boat had five years experience, but it all went wrong.���

After analyzing the accident in detail, we were told to suit up and get ready for our first look at the RIBs with which we���d be working. Mustang is a sponsor of the school, so those who���d neglected to bring their own gear���or had immersion and work suits that weren���t meant for man-inthe- water practicing���had a variety of Mustang drysuits at their disposal. PFDs were also required.

I planted myself firmly at the dock���s edge where the Zodiac CZ7 was tied up. This boat is a civilian version of Zodiac���s H-733 special-ops model RIB, and the boat we had���built for a customer���had it all.Twin 175 hp Mercury OptiMax motors, full electronics (mostly Raymarine), saddle- shaped suspension seats (at $7,000 a pop) and just about everything else anybody who wanted to play beach assault might possibly need. Naturally, the boat was black, but the metal light towers, motor cages, grab rails, seat backs, etc., were a bright indigo. A very neat-looking, very fast, extremely agile boat. Other boats available included a luxury civilian version of the CZ7, and two other stripped-down RIBs in the same size class.

Anyone who labors under the impression that RIBs are ���simple��� boats hasn���t seen the latest versions.They have as many systems for a pre-go-out check as any hard boat. Interior gas tanks, engine extension platforms, electrical systems, safety equipment and, most importantly, the pressure in the tubes, require a prego check. The tubes on the CZ7 have five chambers���five separate tubes joined together. The tubes, besides providing up to nearly four times the payload capacity of a similar hard boat, also mitigate the pounding you take. And since these boats are meant to be driven hard, this is key.

���I���d say the single biggest problem in inflatable ops is proper inflation,��� said Weisberger, who noted that it was as big a concern with the military as with civilian owners. Since the stiffness of the boat is dependent on the tubes��� rigidity, the proper inflation��� on the order of two to three psi���is crucial. Improper inflation results in degraded handling, ride and safety, so it was an important facet of our pre-flights.

HARD RUNNING

Okay, before you hear it anywhere else, I spun the CZ7 at about 45 mph when I went into a lock-to-lock turn with the engines trimmed high. I somehow managed to stay in the boat, as did everyone else, and the boat was none the worse for wear. I also thought it was a good demonstration of how far you can take a RIB.

Running at 50-plus (we did see 60 mph on the GPS running downwind, with eight aboard) the boat popped onto plane almost instantly with no noticeable nose up, and seemed to skim the surface. Upwind there was some bounce, but it was by no means vicious (shock-resistant flooring helps), and while I wouldn���t say it helps bad knees, RIBs are much better than hard boats in rough conditions. There is virtually no lateral motion as well, so you have a tremendously stable platform.Yes, the boats are wet, but less than you���d expect, and more so in the midrange speeds than when running full out. The tubes knock down spray coming off the V-hull and push the spray outwards when slamming into waves.

MAN OVERBOARD

MOB retrievals are simpler with a RIB or inflatable, due to the lower freeboard, but as we all found out, a 200-pounder is still a 200-pounder. It���s still difficult for a single person to pull in a disabled man overboard from the water (see sidebar). The three days were well spent and the variety of skills learned were sophisticated and made me lust for a CZ7 with which to patrol my local waters.

All the men all agreed that the course surpassed their expectations and what they were used to, and all credited the instructors. As for maintaining the skill, it���s a practice makes perfect situation. ���We call it [boat handling] a perishable skill,��� said Rogers. Oh. And the last day���s competition?

Sean, Adam and I won it by four seconds with no penalties. Hey, sometimes even an old dog can learn new tricks.

GETTING BACK ABOARD

Getting a man overboard into a boat with a high freeboard; i.e., a regular boat, is problematic in the best of conditions. An inflatable makes it easier. The school taught three methods. The first two are variations on the same theme, while the third is one I never encountered before, and it works like a charm. I believe it is practical for a hard boat with a higher freeboard, as long as there are two people to pull.

The first two require a length of line that can be threaded under the arm, across the front of the chest, and under the other arm, forming a loop with the MOB in the center. If there are two people, each holds a loose end and pulls. If only one person is pulling, he pull both ends. Brace with your knees and pull with your legs to prevent injuring your back.

Doing it from the height of the gunwale on a hard boat is pretty much out of the question unless you and the second person in the boat are very strong.

The school taught us a method that isn���t covered in Chapman���s or anything else I���ve read. It���s called parbuckling and is worth describing���and practicing���whether you own a hard or soft boat. Hold the person���s head up as they lie prone in the water (we used this with the assumption that the MOB was unconscious and unable to assist). Loop the forward line around the chest area with the arms inside the line. The aft line is looped around the legs at approximately thigh level. The line starts at a fixed point, is wrapped around the MOB, then back up to the rescuer.

With the person nearest the MOB���s head controlling the lift, both rescuers pull. What happens? The MOB simply rolls up onto and into the boat. The rescuer at the head controls the speed of the pull (the MOB���s head will go into the water if the leg area is pulled faster than the chest area), but this works remarkably well. I can visualize working up a rope-and-pole affair so this can be done by one person, but whether or not it���s workable is anybody���s guess.