Solo Circumnavigation - Hanse 630 or Hanse 540

[clockwork orange]

Even though this is an old thread these are always fun reading,i see the original poster was predicting a very realistic 200 - 250 days for the trip,just about anything in the 40 - 50ft range will do that, while the S&S 34 that steve1734 mentions possibly could,(we will soon see how Jesse does) so far they have not,David Dicks took 265 days, Jesse Martin 327 days, but Peter Freeman did it in a similar boat, a Hartley RORC 32 Ferro Cement boat he built himself, did it in 1985 in 236 days so it is possible in that size boat in under 250 days.The S&S34s have so far averaged 4 - 5 knots , not 6 - 7 as suggested,remember they are pretty loaded down,the same amount of gear and supplies to support i person simply makes less of an impact on a bigger boat. Almost any production boat being prepared for a trip of this type would require a lot of structual reinforcing and modifications unless it was built for it like the Dashew boats etc.
Steve.

[mpc7002]

Since this is an old post, does anyone know if oceanbluesail09 actually did this? I would have to agree with Jim Cate... If your asking this forum which boat, then you don't have enough experience.

[sneuman]

My experience is that this thread is fairly typical of those that start out "Hey, folks, I'm new, I want a 45-60 footer to solo circumnavigate, blah blah. Which boat should I take? Oh, btw, I'm leaving in six months."

7 posts by the OP later and the dilitante is on to something new. Like BASE jumping.

Sorry, if that sounds harsh, but we've our share of these threads.

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by sneuman

My experience is that this thread is fairly typical of those that start out "Hey, folks, I'm new, I want a 45-60 footer to solo circumnavigate, blah blah. Which boat should I take? Oh, btw, I'm leaving in six months."

7 posts by the OP later and the dilitante is on to something new. Like BASE jumping.

Sorry, if that sounds harsh, but we've our share of these threads.

Thats about right, but as clockwork orange says sometimes they are fun to read....

Although i do wonder where this big hole is that swallows up posters like this, all forums have them.....

[barnakiel]

Fool me !

Funny, still we had a good ride!

b.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Thats about right, but as clockwork orange says sometimes they are fun to read....

Although i do wonder where this big hole is that swallows up posters like this, all forums have them.....

Maybe it's when they realize the trip south to the Carribean will put them through the "Bermuda Triangle"

[dana-tenacity]

If you are considering the southern route, and feel you need to ask this question, you probably aren't ready.
Sorry.

[MehmetCan]

First and foremost, sorry to miss the whole progress of this thread but happy to finally see it!

I'd like to quote from Jay Leno for starters : "For men, racing is like sex; we all think that we're great at it!" That's what came to my mind at first when I read about the Open60 suggestion. For all the people who suggest that, I need to ask the following questions :
1. Did you start sailing at the age of 5-6 with opti's then move to bigger centerboards and sailed as a professional racer for your whole life?
2. Have you ever sailed an Open60?
3. Let's forget open60, have you ever sailed a production boat's race version alone?
4. Ever tried to walk on the deck while storming at 20 knots in a storm with wind speeds around 60?
5. Do you suggest F1 cars for daily motoring?

As you can guess, I'm from the side that finds this suggestion crazy. If you're planning to suicide, there're thousands of less scary and less painful ways.

Let me make one thing clear, I've sailed for almost my whole life, 6'4" tall and I can bench my own weight without any problems and I'm 30 at the moment. But when it comes to the real thing, you will be working your ass off -sometimes- 24 hours for almost a year and that calls for every bit of effort to keep things simple.

60-70 foot boats are great, I agree. Best thing is that I can fit inside! But please keep in mind -as an example- a Swan 68's even single genoa line weights around 70 kg's -DRY!!! And if you're counting on electrical winches and etc, my tip for you as an engineer; they break! And they break more frequently than you think!

For production boats, it's obvious that it would be unfeasible for any boatyard to produce a full on south ocean ready blue water cruiser racer, since it would drastically increase the production costs for an option 99% of the owners even think of. On the other hand, my rule of thumb is go for the manufacturers with factories at higher latitudes. If people are ready to pay a 15 year old Swan more than a brand new french production boat, that's because of a reason. My choices would be completely custom, Swan, Oyster, Hallberg Rassy and Najad. Size would be between 45-60 foot, sorry I just feel claustrophobic in 35 footers and I'm ready to do the extra work to avoid that.

Last but not least, I want to finish with the -almost- proverb that somehow everyone failed to remember : There're no rules above 40, there's no god over 50... Open 60? Yeah, right!!!

[hummingway]

I've been rereading 'sailing alone around the world' and am really struck by how Slocum's design differed so much from modern conception of what a blue water boat should be. The edition I'm reading is the 1956 Dover and in it's forward the publisher states 'exhaustive analysis of her lines and cunstruction by a naval architect brought about the verdict that her design was the most perfect, for her purposes, ever concieved.' unfortunately the architect isn't named.

LOA 36'9" 11,2 m
Beam 14'2" 4.3 m
Draft 4'2" 1,27 m
tonnage 12,7 t
Sailarea 1161 sq ft 108 qm

were her dimensions. It started the trip as a gaf rigged sloop and finished a yawl. He shortened the masts and bowsprit before entering the southern oceans. I've often heard narrow and deep for blue water and yet here we have beamy and shallow.

I admire the lighter rigging and lower masts of old wooden boats. It would seem to make them more manageble and easier to repair. Of course Slocum was a master seamen.

In one of our other discussions the subject of rogue waves is discussed. Slocum mentions longer boats not surviving the forces of the sea and he in fact meets with what sounds like a rogue wave but is able to survive. Again seamanship helps, he is able to get his rig down before it engulfs him.

I'm also struck by the speeds he manages. Certainly the rig he used was very able.

Food for thought.

[jghaft]

considering buying a used Hanse 630 or a Bordeaux 60 for cruising the Med and ultimately, bringing across to the Caribbean. Wonder if anyone had any thoughts on these boats in terms of quality, sail handling characteristics, etc

Thanks