Caribbean 1500 Rally Average Speeds

[sneuman]

Catamarans bolded:

Rally Class 1:
Pacer 42 - 6.7kts
MacGregor 65 - 5.8kts

Rally Class 2:
Leopard 46 - 6.6kts
J/46 - 6.5kts
Hylas 70 - 5.7kts
J/46 - 5.5kts

Rally Class 3:
Jeanneau 54DS - 6.2kts
Hylas 54 - 6.2kts
Taswell AS58 - 6.1kts
J/44 - 6.0kts
Farr 50 - 5.7kts
Oyster 56 3.9kts

Rally Class 4:
Seguin 46 - 6.6kts
FP 48 - 6.2kts
Jeanneau 45.2 - 6.0kts
IP 486 - 5.8kts
Stevens 47 - 5.4kts
Aeorodyne 47 - 2.8kts

Rally Class 5:
Gemini 105mc - 7.4kts
Pearson 424 - 6.4kts
Halberg Rassy 43 - 5.9kts
Lagoon 380 - 5.7kts
Morgan IO41 - 5.1kts
Bristol 47.7 - 5.0kts
Halberg Rassy 40 - 2.7kts

[speciald@ocens.]

Note that the "average speed" on many boats included time when they were not moving. On my boat - the Taswell 58 - we raely dropped below 8 kts SOG but did not sail the direct line to Tortola and had zero speed incorporated into our average speed. A better comparison is to look at the uncorrected time with engine hours removed. For example - the Gemini that averaged a knot more than me finished a day later than we did.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by speciald@ocens.

Note that the "average speed" on many boats included time when they were not moving. On my boat - the Taswell 58 - we raely dropped below 8 kts SOG but did not sail the direct line to Tortola and had zero speed incorporated into our average speed. A better comparison is to look at the uncorrected time with engine hours removed. For example - the Gemini that averaged a knot more than me finished a day later than we did.

So, in short, this is a meaningless bunch of numbers... but will likely be quoted widely to support a variety of arguments!

Cheers,

Jim

[RTB]

LOL, it's racing. Not cruising, Jim. Bragging rights are important....

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by speciald@ocens.

Note that the "average speed" on many boats included time when they were not moving. On my boat - the Taswell 58 - we raely dropped below 8 kts SOG but did not sail the direct line to Tortola and had zero speed incorporated into our average speed. A better comparison is to look at the uncorrected time with engine hours removed. For example - the Gemini that averaged a knot more than me finished a day later than we did.

Fair enough. The website doesn't give the corrected times you mention, though.

[PamlicoTraveler]

The transponders on some of the boats were on a day or two before departure. The segment speed was accurate, because it was based on the prior 4 hour segment, but I think the overall average included the 4 hour segments when the boats were at the dock. The speed for the segment would be less than actual because of tacks etc. It's really more of a VMG measurement, with the end of each segment being the "destination".

[SuenosAzules]

I might also add it depends on how well you can sail and trim your sails properly into the wind (given the same set of wind and sea conditions for each boat).

[Hud3]

In my experience, it's been mostly off the wind sailing, although one year we spent several days on a close reach in Force 8 & 9 conditions. The seas tend to present a challenge that time of the year, with the wind-driven swells being crossed by one or two sets of waves from different directions. So a significant part of the boatspeed actually achieved depends on the boat's inherent "comfort level" in those conditions, and how hard the crew chooses to push. Our Island Packet tended to perform pretty well in those conditions, and we beat a number of "faster" boats that slowed down somewhat to avoid the pounding, wet ride, strain on the autopilot, etc.

[Windara]

The posted average speeds are not accurate. Do not know how data posted was compiled, but we were one of the J46's and our elapsed time was 178.1 hours to sail 1487 nautical miles per our log. This is an average speed of 8.349 knots. All the transponderw were on when given to the participants and were not turned off at the finish. They continued to report for many days after the finish, as many transponders were not turned in for several days after finishing.