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TEXT ONLY | CREDITS | APPLY FOR SCRAPHEAP 2005 | |||||||||||||
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| DON'T MISS SCRAPHEAP ON CHANNEL 4 EVERY SUNDAY, 6.30PM |  |
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Jet Boats | |
Result | |
Hogs' diary | |
Team Ragbo's diary | |
Science | |
Related links | |
All challenges | |
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Team Ragbo's diary
Bank Holiday Monday and Team Ragbo (Glynn, Nick and Colin) arrived at the motel and were all eagerly awaiting the visit to the Scrapheap set. Naomi (the RDF researcher) stuffed us all into a car and flew across to the set. We started with a tour of wardrobe and sound before going on to do safety training. Everything fitted snugly into a portakabin in true Scrapheap style, with no expense spared. We fought our way into our kit and stood suited and booted in the latest Scrapheap fashion … radioactive puke-green boiler suits! This was also our first encounter with the other team, the Hairy Hogs! Three top lads from the Emerald Isle or, to be more accurate, three and a half top lads Alistair, Darrell and Captain Conn, who is to say the very least a big man with an even bigger smile. Thanks guys for helping to make the challenge top-shelf fun and a true experience – and for showing us the way home. We all thank you and wish you luck with your next round. Later that evening, we all went to dinner, meeting up with our expert, Alex, who jumped on-board Team Ragbo 100%, throwing all to the wind to help build the project (including his crushed fingers later on). At this moment in time, we didn't know what lay ahead for us. The following morning we found out. We had to build a giant jet-boat ski! Build day The weather was grim, starting with rain followed by heavy rain moving on to thunder and lightning and finishing with lots more rain. Damp as an otter's pouch, cold and muddy, the conditions on the day made life hard work for everyone. Our donor car was sunk in mud deep up to its axles and it took forever to work it free. The pump we so desperately needed to power our machine was rooted in mud underneath barbed wire and junk. This big lump of metal had to be moved up to the build area the old-fashioned way with blood, sweat and tears. Back at the build area, we finally had everything we needed. The only thing left was to make it all fit together and work! The hull gave us a problem and we had to pick which one to use out of a collection of three: a pedal boat, duck boat or power boat. In the end, the larger power-boat hull won the day. The maths said the duck boat should float but when the weight of a man was added and we attempted to turn the thing, it was not looking good, so we chose the larger hull. This boat had to cope with a heavy load, the four-cylinder diesel and monster pump, plus all the kit needed. It would be a test for any hull. Hammering, banging, cutting, grinding, spanners flying. It was all going on full-tilt. We were trying to get the sub-frame and powerplant into the hull as quickly as possible so we could then fit the steering and plumb up the jet. The clock was ticking as Robert called out the time left (trust me, the clock ticks quickly when the pressure is on). The weld plant failed and Colin blew a fuse, throwing a tinsel-town tantrum! He spat his dummy (and a good few 'F' words) out. 'Flaming Fudge', he cried and then melted down, pressing on the reset button located behind his left ear. Once rebooted, Colin was back on it big time. Making brackets, fixing the small bits and bats, sorting the high-pressure plumbing and thinking about the silly things that really don't apply to the project all use up valuable time – and it was running out fast. Build day was hard work, very hard work, the challenge was big and we knew from the beginning we were up against it, trying to get the boat as close as possible and not leaving too much for tinker time on race day. Finally, Robert called out 'teams, your time is up' and it was all over. We all smiled lamely and shook hands, battered by the elements and the job at hand … everybody was well and truly numb and totally fudged! Safety day This is the day when the engineers check that the thing you've bodged together out of a load of old scrap isn't going to kill someone or explode, sorting things like kill switches and the like. Nobody on Team Ragbo gave 'how to stop the boat in an emergency' a second thought – all we wanted to do was make it go as fast as possible, never thinking about stopping or how to kill the engine if something went wrong (as it later did!). Without the kill switch, who knows, we might have been telling a different story. Big Thanks to the engineers for sorting the job out. Race day The weather was perfect with a blue sky and a light breeze. With only tinker time left, we set about the finishing touches, praying everything would come together and work first time. We only had one chance in each event, the speed trial and slalom. Did we mention that to turn our boat left you had to steer right, just like a rudder on a small boat? This proved to be quite confusing, especially in the slalom event, but was mostly amusing because Nicky had to fight with the monster. Show time and the only thing left to decide was who went first … then we had to get the boat into the water. To settle who goes first we decided on an arm wrestle! Why not? It was a beautiful day, spirits were high and we didn't want to miss the chance of watching Glynn get demolished by a man who looked like he could snap telegraph poles across his knee. Bring it on! Getting our boat into the water took 20 or more people … this monstrous oddity was very heavy and a true Scrapheap craft. The moment it hit the water, there was a huge cheer and round of applause from all the crew and teams, simply because it floated! Nicky fired up the motor and meandered to the start line. We were all clapping and whistling, it was a truly precious moment. The air horn blasted out, the clock was ticking, Nicky took the craft to full revs and max power, he was flying up the straight at speeds only a canal narrow boat can dream of, effortlessly overtaking a Duck, turning right to go left round the marker buoy and back to the finish line, Magnificent! The Hairy Hogs had already been – and we'd lost by 2 seconds. It was all down to the second race. The slalom Nick's route through the course will puzzle us all till our final breath. Who knows where was he going. Disaster struck as the bottom radiator hose blew putting us out of the game for good. Well that was that, as the fat lady sang, the Hairy Hogs powered to victory. Disappointed? Let Down? Not at all, we had the time of our lives building the Flying Hippy, and competing with the Hogs was a very entertaining experience. Big Thanks to all the crew, for all your support and insight into the magic of television. You guys are a top team, and fortunately you don't have to wear snot-green boiler suits! All the best, Team Ragbo (Glynn, Nick, Colin, Alex) |
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