Around the World from West coast?

[sleddog]

There are 2 Freya 39's for sale in the area.
Keep the wheels on the bus and complete the course.

I second the Freya 39. This historical design ticks a lot of boxes. With fair lines, long waterline, and great stability, a Freya is fast (capable of 200 mile days), stiff and able to carry sail in a breeze, and built like a brick shithouse.



In addition, it's displacement hull can carry a ton of supplies without hindering performance, has full headroom for a person your height, and is readily adaptable for a windvane, as many have done.

Also, the Freya's underbody, keel and rudder, won't snag detritus, weed, plastic, and nets.



Recommend giving a Freya a look. http://bluewaterboats.org/freya-39/

 

[jamottep]

Taking note of the recommendation for the Freya 39 and all the good points mentioned above. Seeing the price they go for and the need for complete refit I see little improvement on the budget. It would hold it's resale value better. I don't know about fast though.

First day in Lorient. We looked around the base, quite empty with lots of the boats in the Route du Rhum. Several imoca 60, some Open 50, Class40. Then we got aboard Moon Palace, a Pogo 40S3. Good wind: 15-20 kts! In terms of sailing we did two runs (upwind, downwind), tacked a few times, gybed with no spinnaker, flew the shy assym (which can be reefed), then came back. Lots of lines everywhere, but less than anticipated. There's no jib track, only a floating ring controlled by 3 lines. We used a sock when hoisting but were not able to bring it back down so we dropped the kite on the deck. They tried to fix it; we'll see tomorrow.
One thing that's interesting is that the boat doesn't fall off when it gets in the no sail zone. It stops and then the big square main keeps the boat there, with the boat going backward.
With the kite we were averaging >10kts, upwind 7.5-8.5, full main & solent. The boat pounds upwind.
There are backstays, which are mostly there to tune the mast/main, as the spreaders are angles aft. The boat is in great shape. I haven't helmed yet.
Because of the big main I learned that most solo racers chicken gybe >35-40kts.
Learning sailing terms in French takes time. We're 3 on the boat: the skipper and his friend, planning to sail the Transat Jacques Vabre 2019. I plan to sleep on the boat tonight. A little tired ...

 

[jamottep]

Second day ... Ok conditions, lightening in the afternoon. Things got a little tense today. To keep it short I opened up a clutch holding the gennaker halyard (it was on the winch too) and the halyard cover ripped. It took a while to recover. Today we took out the solent, staysail, gennaker and larger assym, and spoke a lot about trimming, a weak point of mine (one of the many). Skipper is a sailing instructor, but the boat and Class40 is new to him and I am his first "student". Things could be improved, considering I'm apaying customer. There was no safety brief nor any specific instructions on how to handle equipment. I like that we're diving right in though. I did helm today. They're fixing odd jobs as well in the morning. Tired again, especially after sleeping on the boat. I'm very uncertain. I find that I find assurance by practicing and getting in trouble ...

 

[sleddog]

Second day ... Things got a little tense today. To keep it short I opened up a clutch holding the gennaker halyard (it was on the winch too) and the halyard cover ripped. It took a while to recover.

Good lesson for all: on a loaded line, halyard, sheet, reef line, etc, not opening a rope clutch until strain is relieved on the clutch by first taking strain, an inch or two, on a winch.

 

[jamottep]

Well, the halyard had been on both the clutch and the winch. But after a few hours there had been some stretch. That combined with the facts that the clutch is of a quite aggressive type, the lines were technical (cover doesn't slip much on core), and the cover had been stressed in that area for multiple years. Lesson learned = must manage clutches on bigger boats.

Colder today 7-17 kts, series of tacks, then gybes with assym. We got an hourglass, mostly caused by lack of preparation. We moved to La Base. We saw the Ultim of Josse come into port and mini 6.50s going out to train. Several boats are lying dismasted.
Three more days ...
On a side note the WSSRC is not very collaborative and is asking for a payment before confirming distance on a course. That's £1715!

 

[jamottep]

Eye candy?


Broken ...

 

[sleddog]

Because of the big main I learned that most solo racers chicken gybe >35-40kts.Learning sailing terms in French takes time.

"Chicken gybe" usually means tacking...But it may mean something else to French soloists, i.e. deep reefing the main (2nd or 3rd reef) before gybing. Tacking any boat in 35 to 40 knots is not always going to happen.

 

[jamottep]

Fourth day.
Only two of us on the boat, but really half a day. We don't do a lot of evolutions (sail changes). It's a lot of work on a powerful boat like a Pogo 40S3. I put a reef in (10 minutes), rigged the trinquette (staysail?), which was about 30 minutes. We also hoisted the A3 and dropped it.
I managed to break one more halyard (to my defense it was a very thin line). The trinquette is on a hoek (upper swivel?). Luff tension is applied by pulling the tack down, not the head. Skipper went up the mast, fixed that halyard, took the gennaker halyard down, and we dropped it for repair.
In the morning I met with Christian Dumard, who was a.o. the router for Joyon's Route du Rhum. We discussed options.
I came across random boatyard prices. It seems that things are much more affordable here!
It's been good to learn sailing terms in French.
Still tired, still sleeping on the boat.

 

[jamottep]

He did mean tacking. I thought like you too. I suspect there may be a range where one or the other is used. From my conversations nothing is done last minute. A reef is put in, headsails are changed, etc. long before the heavy weather is due.
That said this is from one person ...

 

[jamottep]

Two of us today in a thick fog. We started by sailing around a small island, getting a few tacks and one gybe in each, without using the backstays. Then we continued to open sea, still thick fog. I went through several tacks under autopilot. Prepare everything. Ease the active sheet, trim the new sheet by hand, release leeward backstay, grind on windward backstay, trim.
I put the staysail and am pleased to report that I didn't break that halyard. We did a few more gybes, hoisted the A2, gybed once, dropped it, a few more tacks to go home and call it a day. I'm starting to feel comfortable. Although it is really weird that when a tack goes wrong you really can't stop the boat from staying in irons. It glides sideways or goes backward. It's work to get it going again.

 

[Philpott]

....am pleased to report that I didn't break that halyard.

very proud of you

 

[jamottep]

I confirmed with Joe Harris that the WSSRC confirmed that leaving from Newport didn't require rounding an island.
There's also this boat at La Base.

Sad for Thomson but a painful reminder that land = trouble.

 

[jamottep]

About the assyms ... We use a sock. We did have some troubles but they were simple to fix. On boats like these they are a must. Hoist the spi in the sock, preset the sheet, go deep, hoist the sock, and voilà, head up and trim. Dropping the spi is also easy. Go deep, release the sheet, bring the sock down, release the tack, let the halyard down and voilà. There's no fear about hoisting the spi, which is so much different from DE. Things can still go wrong and we had an hourglass a couple days ago, which required dropping the spi on deck (and a bit in the water too). Really cool.

 

[jamottep]

 

[jamottep]

There's like 20 of these around here, and about 8 going out training daily.

 

[jamottep]

And voilà ... It's over. Six days of Class40 discovery. In the end we had great weather, a few sunny days, a foggy day, and a couple coldish days, and no rain. Today we were two again; we rounded Ile de Groix, and when that was over, we did a second spi run. 10-20 kts, with a stint at 25 kts under A1, pushing us to 15 kts. The boat is very stable. Remembering to manage ballasts takes practice! I am starting to build reflexes.
These boats are demanding. Everything takes energy. Getting the A1 bag on deck, routing the sheets, setting the tack, all the while beating upwind, hoisting the spi in the sock, furling in the solent, hoisting the sock, it's a lot of work, so planning is essential. Instead of gybing we tried dousing and re-hoisting, which is much slower. It was good practice. Good fun and a great learning experience. Now imagine doing all this while tethered!
I'll ride the TGV to Paris tomorrow to spend a couple days with my mom and then flying home Tuesday, back to work Wednesday.
So what's next? I don't know yet ... A doublehanded Transat would be great.

 

[jamottep]

Here's an update on my progress, or lack thereof.

I've decided to stop teaching sailing. It takes time, which I don't have much of, and the return on investment is minimal. I also discovered that some students can be nasty when their sailing skills are put in question and they decide to retaliate. I'll just say this: I have experienced the sense of entitlement of millennials. All combined it's not worth it for me anymore. It was stressful, low reward and demanding.

I was put in touch with the US based Class40 contingent with my request to double-hand a transat of some sort. No bite yet ...

I've continued to evaluate the possibility to get the Open 40 Anasazi Girl over here. Transport by road is out of the question with the keel being so deep. Delivery by skipper is very expensive (I got a quote for $30,000 without fees). All sea transport I found will go to the East Coast, which is not helpful. Unless someone knows of someone who wants to have fun sailing this boat to here for T&E then I think I'm just going to drop it of the list of potential boats, which will then be empty now.

Money wise I have a buyer for my tiny studio in Belgium, which will fund the 1/3 of an optimistic budget.

I'm without a boat and without a place to sail "for free" ... I will have to charter sailboats now, if I want to keep my skills fresh or simply enjoy a fresh breeze.

No dinghy sailing yet ...

Basically ... I am where I started 6 years ago, only with a bit of hardware taking dust on shelves.

It's Christmas time so maybe I should pretend that I still believe in good old Santa and send him a letter. I'd probably talk about a <40 foot boat (to keep budget in check), with twin rudders (for stability and redundancy; if they pop out even better); it'd be fast (as in 240 miles/day are achievable, singlehanded, under auto-pilot); safe (sturdy construction, possibly "unsinkable", certainly with multiple watertight bulkheads; a protected cockpit). And of course it would have been prepared recently for offshore short handed racing. Oh well ...

 

[jamottep]

Still searching ... There just doesn't seem to be something between good old boats and modern racers.

Any suggestions for boat loans? I'm concerned they would require insurance, which with my trip in mind, would be cost prohibitive.

 

[solosailor]

I don't believe there would be any way to get singlehanded around the world insurance, it's not just cost prohibitive, it''s not available Most insurance policies have limitations, even a singlehanded trip to Hawaii is a no go. I think there are plenty of good boats to do this trip at a much better price than a race boat..... which you don't need as you're not racing anyone.

 

[jamottep]

I don't believe there would be any way to get singlehanded around the world insurance, it's not just cost prohibitive, it''s not available Most insurance policies have limitations, even a singlehanded trip to Hawaii is a no go. I think there are plenty of good boats to do this trip at a much better price than a race boat..... which you don't need as you're not racing anyone.

Hi Greg, would you be open to meet for a chat?