Heavy Weather Powerboating
Hugh Montgomery-Swan

This book has been written as the Powerboat version of the classic sailing reference book, Heavy Weather Sailing. Like Heavy Weather Sailing, it draws heavily on anecdotal accounts about powerboats facing difficult conditions. Edited by Hugo Montgomery-Swan and endorsed by Bear Grylls, contributors include experienced powerboaters, from world champions and endurance record breakers to designers, instructors and RNLI coxswains, or simply ordinary powerboaters who found themselves unexpectedly faced with extreme weather, and survived.

A hopeful sailor who bought an elderly boat on Ebay had to be rescued by the RNLI yesterday after running out of fuel having circled the Isle of Sheppy thinking he was sailing to Southampton. According to the BBC, he had run aground after setting off from Gillingham on a boat he had owned for less than a day, with only an outboard engine and a small amount of fuel. Neville Crane, of the Isle of Sheppey HM coastguard rescue team, said that the man seemed very surprised that its fuel consumption was greater than his car. He added: "He was very short on expertise, even shorter on safety equipment and had no navigational equipment whatsoever on board.

"He was absolutely aghast that he had used three tanks of fuel to get from Gillingham to Elmley, which was only the very first part of his journey to Southampton... when he could do the whole journey by car in less than one tank. "He had no idea of the magnitude of the journey he was undertaking." Mr Crane said: "We did tell him where places to refuel his boat will be situated but we did impart the invaluable advice that in our opinion he'd be better off making the journey by train."