Challenge: Interesting Calculations for W. Coast RtW Boats

[Amgine]

I was wandering about on Latitude 38 and ran across their West Coast Circumnavigator's List, which raised a number of interesting questions for me: what kind of boats have been used on such a cruise? How big were they?

So I did a few quick calculations on the raw numbers - like the average length was just under 46' LOD. And every kind of boat you might imagine has made it 'round. But there was a surprising number of Open 60s, Volvo boats, and other race craft. Plus several boats longer than 100' LOD. Nothing against megayachts, but it seems commercial craft like the Picton Castle, or the record-breaking G-Cat Team Adventure should probably be excluded, as well as the boats which were clearly engaged in a round-the-globe race. That brought the average LOD down only to about 44', still longer than I had expected.

I guess I was expecting the average would be closer to 38-40. It seemed to me there were an awful lot of gold-platers in the list, and a dearth of Vegas and Contessas and their ilk. Even a couple of boats I personally know of were missing. Maybe the amount of money thrown into such a project determines how likely you are to be successful, or at least to be reported to the magazine.

[svquest2]

I would have thought your original guess was on too. I suspect that those 44 foot average were suitably crewed and might not have reflected the mom & pop cruisers too well. But then what do I know about it. I've known circumnavigators but I'm not or ever plan to be one.

Have fun

Joe S

[Rhosyn Mor]

I would also think that if the list was primarily US based that the average size vessel would be larger. Americans seem to view 30/32 footers as being "small", perhaps because of the sheer numbers of boats, and their realtive cheapness. in the USA.

[RainDog]

I think it would be more accurate to look at the median than the average for a list like this. Don't suppose you know what the Median was?

If you have 4 circumnavigators on 30 foot boats, and one on a 60 foot boat, the average would be 36 feet, but that does not mean most people are going in 36 foot boats.

[Amgine]

• Median LOD is 41
• Top 5 largest number of a single size: 40' (21), 42' (17), 44' (16), 50' (15), and 46' (14)
• Numbers by ranges:
  • < 21' LOD: 1
  • 21' to 30' LOD: 26
  • 31' to 40' LOD: 101
  • 41' to 50' LOD: 89
  • 51' to 60' LOD: 23
  • 61' to 70' LOD: 10
  • > 70' LOD: 10
    • > 100' LOD: 3

[RainDog]

Thanks for crunching the numbers. Glad I was not on the <21' boat!

[anusmth]

Its really very interesting. I liked it very much. I would like to know more about it.