Around the World from West coast?

[jamottep]

Apparently there is no location on the US West Coast that makes the trip long enough for an "official" round the world distance, according to the WSSRC. So I will have to keep Hawaii to port on the way out. Not that I'm complaining, but it's weird how "they" came up with the rules.

Just wondering ... Is there an optimal place to leave from for your record setting course? Considering speed, distance, safety, etc. Mr Chan left from Qingdao. The French leave from France. Joe Harris left from the East Coast. Is it somewhere up the West Coast? How about leaving from the South hemisphere and going North now that there is a passage (I'm probably showing my ignorance here).

 

[jamottep]

Here's a free Class 40, if it could be found. Might be a bit waterlogged if still afloat..Last seen in vicinity of Malaysian Air 370 disappearance in Indian Ocean.

Is Abby's book worth a read? If so in what way?

 

[AlanH]

Step #1 is decide exactly what you want to do.

Sail around the world?
Sail around the world non-stop?
Sail around the world "really fast", relatively speaking?
Sail around the world and break some sort of record? What record do you want to break?
Not necessarily sail around the world but do a very long-distance ocean race, like one of the numerous Atlantic-crossing races?
Do the Vendee?

You need to pin down a goal, which is what I think you're doing..

However, imagining that someone is going to give you a Class 40 to sail, for free, is a pipe dream. If you want to try your goal in a boat like that, and you don't have the financial resources to afford it, personally, then you have to convince someone else to come up with the money...meaning a corporate sponsorship or two or three.

There are a couple of C 40's in North America, and you *might* be able to charter one for $100K to do a RTW sail. Maybe. It can't hurt to ask the owners, right?

Or you could buy a high performance 39-41 footer that's really built for crewed racing, modify it bigtime, and go. It'll still probably cost you $100K.

Like this: https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2006/Naval-Force--3--3093241/HI/United-States

 

[Philpott]

To be more specific, something like this:

 

[AlanH]

You know, I'm still of the generation where if you wanted something, you worked for it...earned the money for it yourself, and so on. It's become clear that the world has changed, though I haven't. This is a world of YouTube channels, Patreon accounts, GoFundMe sites and so on. So IN FACT, Philippe, it might be that if you find a cute girlfriend who looks good in a bikini, start up all those things I just mentioned, post weekly sailing videos which prominently feature the bikini, interspersed with "He-Man at Sea" footage, and pitch your proposal hard in just the right way, you might in fact be able to get people to give you enough money to do this. What "just the right way" is, I have no idea.

How to go about this, I have no idea, nor interest. However, if a young couple who know nothing can sink their "forever home and around the world" boat on a Florida sandbar, the third day they're out sailing, and still get people to buy them a whole new boat, pay for disposing of the old one, pay the fines and put something like $20K in their cruising kitty, then there must be something to this brave new world of internet fantasy-marketing.

 

[brianb]

where to leave from

It is my understanding that to meet the "requirements" of rounding the planet officially leaving from SF or north of SF. LA is a bit too far south.
This is why Mr. Stokes is planning to depart from SF.

If you are planning a figure 8 voyage likely it doesn't really matter where the departure point is.

Brian

Just wondering ... Is there an optimal place to leave from for your record setting course? Considering speed, distance, safety, etc. Mr Chan left from Qingdao. The French leave from France. Joe Harris left from the East Coast. Is it somewhere up the West Coast? How about leaving from the South hemisphere and going North now that there is a passage (I'm probably showing my ignorance here).

 

[jamottep]

So far ... All avenues I've tried have come up dry

 

[jamottep]

Reading Michel Desjoyeaux' book brings home how much experience he built over the years, including the early years and the folks he learned from. That's true for the sailing and the technical preparation of the boat. How do you make up for that?!?

 

[solosailor]

10,000 hrs. I started competitive sailing in my mid-20s which was very "late" compared to many...... you just have to put in the time. You might look for another Olson 30 or such before seeking a larger boat.

 

[pogen]

So starting racing in your late 40's is literally a non-starter?

 

[solosailor]

Of course not..... but nothing replaces seat time or experience. Many do great things late in life, starting late in life. Also he is not talking about racing in this thread.

 

[solosailor]

Did someone say books??

Here are a few on my shelf - available to loan to any SSS member.

117 Days Adrift - Bailey
500 Days - Serge Testa (post voyage served a stint as live-in manager at Berkeley YC)
A Voyage for Madmen - Peter Nichols
A World of My Own - Know-Johnston
Alone Through the Roaring Forties - Raban
Classic Sailing Stories - McCarthy
Close to the Wind - Pete Goss
Desperate Voyage - Caldwell
Fatal Storn - Mundle
Fastnet, Force 10 - Rousmaniere
Gipsy Moth Circles the World - Chichester
Godforesaken Sea - Lundy
In the Heart of the Sea - Philbrick
Mine's Bigger - Kaplan
My Old Man and the Sea - Hays
N by E - Kent
North to the Night - Simon
Rough Water - Chris Willis
Saved - Tony Bullimore
Sailing Alone Around the World - Slocum
South - Ernest Shackleton
Taking on the World - Ellen McArthur
The Hungry Ocean - Greenlaw
The Loneliest Race - Gelder
The Long Way - Bernard Moitessier
The Proving Ground - Knecht
Two Years Before the Mast - Dana (cool 1st edition I found in Portland - I have a 2nd copy to loan)

I left out anything Tristan Jones - cause I wanted to keep it to non-fiction

Selling the Dream - Guy Kawasaki (couldn't hurt)

 

[jamottep]

Here are a few on my shelf - available to loan to any SSS member.

117 Days Adrift - Bailey
500 Days - Serge Testa (post voyage served a stint as live-in manager at Berkeley YC)
A Voyage for Madmen - Peter Nichols
A World of My Own - Know-Johnston
Alone Through the Roaring Forties - Raban
Classic Sailing Stories - McCarthy
Close to the Wind - Pete Goss
Desperate Voyage - Caldwell
Fatal Storn - Mundle
Fastnet, Force 10 - Rousmaniere
Gipsy Moth Circles the World - Chichester
In the Heart of the Sea - Philbrick
Mine's Bigger - Kaplan
My Old Man and the Sea - Hays
N by E - Kent
North to the Night - Simon
Rough Water - Chris Willis
Saved - Tony Bullimore
South - Ernest Shackleton
Taking on the World - Ellen McArthur
The Hungry Ocean - Greenlaw
The Loneliest Race - Gelder
The Proving Ground - Knecht
Two Years Before the Mast - Dana (cool 1st edition I found in Portland - I have a 2nd copy to loan)
Selling the Dream - Guy Kawasaki (couldn't hurt)

Of all these ... which 3 do you suggest to start with for a circumnavigation. I like books that speak of the pragmatic aspects of the preparation and sailing, with a fast boat. I fee like I've read enough books about boats going slow in storms, but maybe not ...

Also I recall you saying Anasazi Girl wasn't worth the $100,000 with the smaller alloy mast. Why? What's it worth then?

 

[jamottep]

One more thing ... None of these VG guys are doing these races alone ... It's teams of 10-20, all pros in their field.

Unlike my preparation for the SHTP I think I will go silent on this stuff. There doesn't seem to be a point in documenting my trials. Thanks for the few encouraging words and coconut ice cream incentive.

Best to contact me on my email going forward, which is my forum handle at Hotmail dot com. Not that I anticipate a need for this.

Out ...

 

[Ragnar]

Hi, sorry I just ran across this thread as I thought it went dormant a while back. Feels like it has taken somewhat of a difficult turn.

As I think about the journey and prepare Sparrow, it really is an entirely different deal than the SHTP & Return. Boat preparation is much more than I had originally anticipated, and you have to know the systems deeply because most marine technicians don't have to for the coastal boats they typically work on. And there is no one else to fix things along the way. As was pointed out earlier, knowledge of all these systems does indeed take interest, a certain type of mind, and time to acquire.

I will say that having a boat fast enough that can at least position itself to avoid the worst of the weather systems is a faster and more comfortable way to go. But for this money from somewhere is needed. Money is an issue in this game. Everything is expensive. I've had to wait until quite late in life to be able to get serious about this.

Having a full keel, slower boat that just gets rolled by weather systems seems inelegant, and I wish the GGR boats fair winds.

I will be leaving from SF & head for the island of Hawaii to gain the miles for an "official" circumnavigation. This allows for at least some comparison of my efforts to those in 50 footers that leave from the North Atlantic, both historically and in the future.

When I was 12, I marked my RTW route in a Rand-McNally World Atlas. I fully intended to go, then life happened. Life is good, but now I must live that dream through others like you.

BobJ - I hope it's OK to say, but this makes me sad.

 

[jamottep]

I will be leaving from SF & head for the island of Hawaii to gain the miles for an "official" circumnavigation. This allows for at least some comparison of my efforts to those in 50 footers that leave from the North Atlantic, both historically and in the future.

Did you come to this conclusion on your own or did you verify with the WSSRC that Hawaii is a must?
Will you round a windward buoy off Big Island?

 

[Ragnar]

The WSSRC confirmed that there is no location on the US West Coast that makes the distance long enough if you go straight to Cape Horn. I made the suggestion that if I kept the island of Hawaii to Port outbound would it be long enough and they confirmed that it was. It's not a bad sail to Hawaii, obviously and if a problem occurs early on there is a clear bail-out point. Downside is the serious wind shadow behind Hawaii's big volcanoes.

 

[sleddog]

The WSSRC confirmed that there is no location on the US West Coast that makes the distance long enough if you go straight to Cape Horn. I made the suggestion that if I kept the island of Hawaii to Port outbound would it be long enough and they confirmed that it was.

I smell a rat. Jeanne Socrates intends to depart Oct.1 for solo RTW, apparently believing Victoria to Victoria is sufficient miles to comply with WSSRC requirement of 21,600 nm.

In a recent e-mail to John Reed, Secretary of the WSSRC, inquiring as to possible ports of departure for RTW attempts, his reply was "No, I afraid that I cannot help. Our remit is to verify record claims under sail and our workings are confidential." I'm surprised you were able to glean that rounding the Big Island of Hawaii suffices for increased distance.

By WSSRC's interpretation of RTW distance, by my measurement, the GC mileage from SF to Cape Horn direct is 7216 nm. The required mileage around Antarctica at 63 degrees is 27.24 nm x 360 = 9806 nm.
And the return distance to SF is again 7216 nm. That totals 24,238 nm, more than sufficient without going to Hawaii first...

If going to Hawaii is felt necessary to give the required distance, a perhaps faster and more direct alternative would be to round Hawaii on the return rather than outbound. Just my 2 cents. Good Sailing!

 

[Ragnar]

I smell a rat. Jeanne Socrates intends to depart Oct.1 for solo RTW, apparently believing Victoria to Victoria is sufficient miles to comply with WSSRC requirement of 21,600 nm.

In a recent e-mail to John Reed, Secretary of the WSSRC, inquiring as to possible ports of departure for RTW attempts, his reply was "No, I afraid that I cannot help. Our remit is to verify record claims under sail and our workings are confidential." I'm surprised you were able to glean that rounding the Big Island of Hawaii suffices for increased distance.

By WSSRC's interpretation of RTW distance, by my measurement, the GC mileage from SF to Cape Horn direct is 7216 nm. The required mileage around Antarctica at 63 degrees is 27.24 nm x 360 = 9806 nm.
And the return distance to SF is again 7216 nm. That totals 24,238 nm, more than sufficient without going to Hawaii first...

If going to Hawaii is felt necessary to give the required distance, a perhaps faster and more direct alternative would be to round Hawaii on the return rather than outbound. Just my 2 cents. Good Sailing!

Hmmm.
First, it could be that leaving from/returning to Victoria provides enough distance, I don't know. I don't have interest in leaving from Canada as I'm unware that anyone has left the USA and made it non-stop, unassisted, so I'm hoping to be the first.

Second, Mr. Reed confirmed my proposed route meets their distance requirements. He was gracious enough to calculate it at 21,734 miles. It only makes sense that he would do this as I found the language in the rules insufficient for me to accurately calculate the distances, especially when it's just a few hundred miles that may disqualify the trip. You are right it would be faster to round on the return, but I don't think the distance requirement would be met, and I'm not going to quibble over 134 miles.

Third, you may be calculating the rule distance incorrectly? You multiplied the 63 degree latitude number, 27.24nm x 360 degrees. I think it should be something like 240 degrees (Cape Horn to South Island, NZ) or 6,538nm.

 

[jamottep]

The WSSRC confirmed that there is no location on the US West Coast that makes the distance long enough if you go straight to Cape Horn. I made the suggestion that if I kept the island of Hawaii to Port outbound would it be long enough and they confirmed that it was. It's not a bad sail to Hawaii, obviously and if a problem occurs early on there is a clear bail-out point. Downside is the serious wind shadow behind Hawaii's big volcanoes.

Rule:
A vessel starting from any point where the direct orthodromic distance is too short shall pass one single island or other fixed point on a required side so as to lengthen his orthodromic track to the minimum distance.

Why not round one of the windward buoy instead?