couture@jaws.DEC (04/03/85)
Many sailors have attempted voyages in daysailors. Some of them are still alive. Webb Chiles falls into that category. He tried to circumnavigate but gave up in the Red Sea or someplace around there. His 18' Drascombe Lugger was very seaworthy for an open boat. Even then he experienced multiple capsizes with the loss of his rig. I think he's working at a taco stand now. I too would like to do the distance. However, my 25' pocket cruiser limits my horizons. Practical Sailor has given some ratings to boats capable of offshore voyaging. I believe the smallest was a 20' Flicka, but only if you're really into claustrophobia. The production boat market seems to start off at the Sabre 28. Even that would have to be modified considerably for a Newport-Bermuda cruise. Now if you're really into ocean crossings, you can buy a Nicholsen 31 in England for about what a 27' Catalina would cost you here. No doubt about the Nicholsen . . . she's a blue water sailor. Still have to pay the import duty when you reach the U.S., but think of all that freight you'd save. Kind of like a nautical U-Haul. More thoughts later. Jaws::couture
shor@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Melinda Shore) (04/05/85)
[] About 10-15 years ago two men did a trans-Atlantic crossing in a Cal 20 (!). The hull on the Cal feels a little flimsy, so they beefed it up a bit before they left the U.S. After the voyage was over they said that they really didn't need the hull reinforcements that they had added, and could have done without the extra weight. -- Melinda Shore University of Chicago Computation Center uucp: ..!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!shor Mailnet: staff.melinda@uchicago.mailnet Bitnet: shor%sphinx@uchicago.bitnet ARPA: staff.melinda%uchicago.mailnet@mit-multics.arpa
ec120bgt@sdcc3.UUCP (ANDREW VARE) (04/07/85)
> [] > > About 10-15 years ago two men did a trans-Atlantic crossing in a Cal 20 > (!). The hull on the Cal feels a little flimsy, so they beefed it up a bit > before they left the U.S. After the voyage was over they said that they > really didn't need the hull reinforcements that they had added, and could > have done without the extra weight. > >I've raced Cal 20s before and they're built like brick sh_thouses, so you're probably right about the reinforcement. Sailing a 20-footer on a trans-Atlantic crossing is not as insane as it first sounds, though, since circumnavigations have occured in much smaller boats, and it depends in large part on the confidence of the skipper in his ability to continue sailing in adverse conditions. There is a biannual race called the solo minitransAT which is an unlimited competition for boats under 20 feet of any design, the only restriction being that the craft are sail driven and length 21 ft or<. A lot of Frenchmen enter the race with radical designs with wings and water-transfer ballast systems that make them far lighter or about as heavy as a Cal, depending on the water in the system. You could probably argue their sanity, although the race has a perfect safety record, and for a singlehanded race that's pretty good. > -- > > Melinda Shore > University of Chicago Computation Center > > uucp: ..!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!shor > Mailnet: staff.melinda@uchicago.mailnet > Bitnet: shor%sphinx@uchicago.bitnet > ARPA: staff.melinda%uchicago.mailnet@mit-multics.arpa *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***