Boat Ideas for the Singlehanded Transpac

[iliohale]

I am thinking of purchasing a boat this year to prep for the 2020 Singlehanded Transpac. Something in the 34' to 40' range, cruiser/racer, more comfort than speed trade offs. I would race it to Hawaii in 2020, spend a few months in the islands and then sail it back to SF Bay via the PNW and sell it.

Thoughts on potential boats to consider for this 2 year adventure?

Anyone not familiar with this race can check this out: SHTP 2018 | Singlehanded Sailing Society

Gary

[RobTryon]

Gary, Please give more info. I have done this race and was race chair two times.

How old are you? What is your sailing history? how are you financing this adventure? Where do you live? How much of the work on the boat can you do yourself?

I have helped three people get to the starting line, one in this years race. If you look at all the race results you will see every thing from a Cal 20 to an Open 60 have finished this race. So give us somethings to go on and lets find you a boat. I saw your post on the SSS you might fill in them as well.

[iliohale]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the reply. Here are my responses:
65
45 years and have owned 5 boats. Sailed up and down the West coast. Chartered in the Med. Much single and double handed experience. One singlehanded farrollons race. Many off shore races.
Plan to retire in April and will be paying cash for the adventure.
Want an easy to sail/manage boat that will not require a lot of work or $$ to set up for the trip and be reasonable to sell when I get back.
Live in Marin County

Hope that helps.

Gary

[thomm225]

Here are some examples. The 2018 SHTP Race boats:

And don't forget the classes you have to take.

Racers – Singlehanded Transpac 2018

More examples from their archives of past races

http://sfbaysss.net/archive-shtp-web...tsThru2012.pdf

A Bristol 27 completed the Race, so sometimes your present boat will work. Point is, you can buy a boat you may want to cruise afterward and use that in the race.

Several Westsail 32's have recently been involved also

It's PHRF anyway.

[iliohale]

Thanks Thomas for the reply. I know the history and many of the boats that have raced. My thought here is to get feed back on potential boat options based on everyones experience. Regarding the process to qualify for the race, looking forward to it, part of the adventure.

Gary

[Suijin]

Cal 40

[Adelie]

Cal 20

[Adelie]

Best bang for the buck is probably a Cal 34.2.

[fxykty]

Cal 20 has to be a joke - that would be seriously, ridiculously and heart-breakingly slow.

However, a Moore 24 is a classic pocket rocket for that race, but a bit small and likely sparse for the OP.

How about a Hobie 33? Just past the OP’s lower limit, but it is a lovely sailing boat and has just enough space inside to cruise solo or as a couple. Faster during the race and passage means more time to enjoy.

[Adelie]

They are joke in so far as being well outside the OPs states size range.

Otherwise they can be serious cruisers: 2 have been to Hawai’i (1 most recently as part of the SHTP) and 1 has been across the Atlantic.

As far as being slower, well true but not heartbreakingly so. Hull speed goes as the square root of the LWL so a boat with twice the length is only going to have 1/3 or less more average speed. SA/D plays a big part in this too and smaller boats tend to have much larger SA/d ratios.

I would say the Hobie 33 is out too because the OP indicated a priority of comfort over speed. The Hobie has plenty of speed but no comfort at all.

[Freedom45]

Freedom 45

[RobTryon]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Cal 20 has to be a joke - that would be seriously, ridiculously and heart-breakingly slow.

However, a Moore 24 is a classic pocket rocket for that race, but a bit small and likely sparse for the OP.

How about a Hobie 33? Just past the OP’s lower limit, but it is a lovely sailing boat and has just enough space inside to cruise solo or as a couple. Faster during the race and passage means more time to enjoy.

The Moore 24 is a study on how fast a Cal 20 rig and ballast could be. The Cal 20 beat a Folkboat and a Bristol 34.

[RobTryon]

Originally Posted by iliohale

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the reply. Here are my responses:
65
45 years and have owned 5 boats. Sailed up and down the West coast. Chartered in the Med. Much single and double handed experience. One singlehanded farrollons race. Many off shore races.
Plan to retire in April and will be paying cash for the adventure.
Want an easy to sail/manage boat that will not require a lot of work or $$ to set up for the trip and be reasonable to sell when I get back.
Live in Marin County

Hope that helps.

Gary

Thanks Gary, I bought a boat just for the race and sold it right before and the kid that got it sailed home with me, was a lot of fun. The group is very diverse and there is most every boat type represented. I like old CCA type boats like PS-37 Bristol 40 Cal 40, type. Also really like some modern boats too. Olsen 40 Santa Cruz 40, Some of the older Wiley designs like the 39 could be had in your area.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Cal 20 has to be a joke - that would be seriously, ridiculously and heart-breakingly slow.

However, a Moore 24 is a classic pocket rocket for that race, but a bit small and likely sparse for the OP.

How about a Hobie 33? Just past the OP’s lower limit, but it is a lovely sailing boat and has just enough space inside to cruise solo or as a couple. Faster during the race and passage means more time to enjoy.

It's a PHRF race.

The Cal 20 has a rating like all the rest.

It may do quite well under spinnaker as this race is usually a broad reach which should help point the OP in the right direction

[Spyderpig]

Pogo 12.50 - brilliant single handed boat, comfortable inside and great second-hand value,