Motor Boat & Yachting – May 2018

YOURMBY

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Volcanic eruption
Greetings from Belgium. I have
been a happy reader of MBY
for more than 20 years so I hope you don’t
mind me pointing out that the volcano in the
background of the Riva Rivale photograph on
p9 of the April issue is Stromboli, not Etna.
It’s unlikely to affect whether anyone buys
the Riva or not but... Pierre de Preter
I have to own up to that mistake myself,
even though I’ve visited Mount Etna
in person a few years back. Clearly
my error was not spending
nearly enough time viewing
either volcano from the sea.
Perhaps I should give Riva
a call and borrow a boat
for a proper inspection
of both! Hugo

Holiday blues
I am hoping you may be
able to help me with some
information on an old boat. In
December, I bought a Fairline Holiday
MkII. It has a Volvo Penta AQ130 engine and
a 270 outdrive. In the paperwork I received
with it, there was only one sheet about the
engine but
there was
nothing about
what the normal
cruising or

The shots the MBY team

would rather you didn’t see

BEHIND

THE

SCENES

maximum rpm should be. All I can tell you

is that the maximum speed of the boat is

stated as 20 knots. Also, can I use normal

unleaded petrol as when it was built, it

would have been running on leaded. It has

a 50 gallon tank but there is no info on what

sort off range it can do. I’ve tried all sorts of

websites with no luck. Can

you advise me? Dave Farrell

I posted your query on our

ever-helpful forum and was

told that the max revs for this engine and

drive is 5100rpm while 4200-4600rpm

is the regular cruising range. What speed

and range this gives you will depend on the

condition of your boat’s hull and engines,

the prop size and how fast you cruise. As

for what petrol to use, the consensus is that

you will need to add a lead replacement

additive such as Millers VSP or Castrol

Valvemaster to unleaded petrol to avoid

damage to valves and valve seats. Hugo

Warming to a theme

I was interested to read David

Morrison’s letter regarding people

leaving their engines running for

an excessive length of time to warm

them up. I agree with his comments

entirely but in my experience, they

should be directed not to powerboat

users but to sailors, who seem to

delight in leaving engines running,

creating unnecessary noise and

pollution. Richard Bond

Oh dear, just when I thought

relations between power and sail

were beginning to thaw, you go and lob

another hand grenade into the mix! I’d

better go and put my tin hat on. Hugo

No more leaway

On Sunday February 11, the River Lea saw

its worst – but by no means only – incident

of waste crime in recent history when used

engine oil entered the river at Pymmes

Brook. The slow emergency response by

both the Environment Agency and the Canal

Edited by Hugo Andreae

Holy smoke – proof that

Hugo slept through his

geography lessons

STAR

LETTER

WINS A BOTTLE OF

PLYMOUTH GIN

The choice of seafaring

pioneers since 1793

and now the

official partner of

Princess Yachts

Are you sure it’s not

a sunlounger? Jack

inspects a SEAir foil

Snapper Paul gets

arty on the Galeon’s

folding balconies

Jack fails to win a medal

in the Maldives open

diving championship

Trust Levi Boats to use

a classic Riva Bertram

as its photo boat

Hands up if your

lifejacket crotch

strap is too tight