After almost 10,000 miles of navigation aboard a Nuova Jolly Prince 38CC RIB, powered by twin DF300B outboards, Italian Skipper Sergio Davì recently completed his Ocean-to-Ocean RIB adventure, which has taken him 519 hours and 32 minutes from Marina Arenella in Palermo to San Pedro in Los Angeles.

 

The adventure started on the 15 December 2021 and finished on the 23 May 2022, taking in a number of stages which were used for refuelling, refreshing, resting and servicing the engines. There were 21 legs in total from Palermo to Los Angeles, 13 of which included night navigation. From the shortest leg of 49.5 miles, between Fuerte Sherman and Panama, to the longest between Mindelo and Kourou, it was a crossing of 1,770 miles of uninterrupted navigation and over 6 days of non-stop ocean.

 

“The engines have always been running perfectly; I never turned them off during navigation of each leg and especially during the 6-day Atlantic crossing from Cape Verde to French Guiana. I am pleased to say that the two Suzuki DF300B outboards didn't miss a beat!”, said Sergio Davì.

 

The DF300B is part of Suzuki’s ‘GEKI’ series of dual-propeller outboards. It has a maximum output of 300hp and features many of Suzuki’s world-renowned advanced technologies, which include:

 

•  Suzuki’s unique Dual Prop System, which efficiently converts engine output into forward thrust by combining two contra-rotating propellers.
• 2-Stage Gear Reduction, in which the gear ratio is first reduced in between the crankshaft and the driveshaft (1st stage reduction), and then reduced again within the gear case (2nd stage reduction), to deliver powerful propulsion by rotating large diameter propellers that have high thrust efficiency.
• Compact, 4,390cm³ four-stroke V6 engine with Lean Burn Fuel Technology that predicts fuel needs according to operating conditions, then delivers the optimum fuel/air mixture to the engine resulting in greater fuel economy.

 

The main benefit of combining the highly-efficient contra-rotating propellers and a compact 2-Stage Gear Reduction, is that it is able to deliver high propulsion power, meaning the DF300B can be rigged onto heavier boats. With the use of regular (91 RON) petrol as its fuel, it can be offered for business and leisure use.

 

And it is precisely these ultimate technologies that led Sergio Davì to choose the Suzuki DF300B to power his boat in such a long and complex adventure. The average fuel consumption recorded at the end of the trip, after 9,202 miles, was 1.7 litres per mile per engine, which is an extraordinary result considering some of the conditions and a fully loaded RIB.

 

Whilst undertaking this voyage, Sergio Davi has also been raising awareness of the importance of protecting and respecting the ocean environment. The project was completed alongside scientific collaborations with the IZS Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d'Aosta and Sicily and the ATeN Center of the University of Palermo, with the aim of conducting research on relationship between anthropic impact and health of the marine ecosystem, measuring the presence microplastics and heavy metals, and the state of well-being of marine and terrestrial fauna through video-photographic material collected throughout the itinerary.

 

Mark Beeley, Head of Marine & ATV for Suzuki GB said, “We whole-heartedly congratulate Sergio on this amazing achievement. I have been lucky enough to undertake a number of RIB raids and expeditions, but nothing quite as long as this one. However, we both have one thing in common, and that is that we both have first-hand experience of just how well Suzuki outboards are suited to this type of serious offshore boating.”