West Coast Circumnavigator Boats

[vancouver25]

More as an exercise to try to teach myself some basic spreadsheet tricks, but also in light of some of the recent discussions of so-called "bluewater boats" and liners and cores, I've pulled some data from the "West Coast Circumnavigators' List" on the boats and put it in a format that is, to me at least, mildly interesting.

To be fair, I left off some boats I considered "unobtainable" (either highly custom or just too big and/or expensive for my lifetime).

I'm interested in 1) what conclusions others draw from the data and 2) any clever ways to shorten or condense or "clean-up" the formulas.

The 243 boats and some highlights listed on Sheet1:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

[vancouver25]

One more post to see if anyone else might find this info useful or at least mildly interesting?

Clearly, as the list is for voyages originating from the West Coast, it would favor locally built models more than East Coast or European (many Asian boats on the list). And, there is a preponderance of more traditional, full or modified keel "heavy" displacement types...specifically Bob Perry designs.

Also of significant note, however, older so-called "coastal" production boats like Cal, Columbia, Ericson, and Islander almost outnumber the "bluewater" boats if counting sheer numbers. So I guess spade rudders and liners (albeit solid hull layups) are quite capable?

[mstrebe]

I'm surprised that the average length is just 42 feet. I know people do circumnavigations in smaller boats, but I didn't realize that so many of them did.

You've got a bit of a mathematical flaw in your lists: Because your lists of models and builders is a _ranked list_, they should be numbered by rank rather than merely element numbered 1 to 10. element number listing makes elements of equal value seem as though they're lower in rank, in this case merely because they're alphabetically sorted.

So, for example, your models list should be numbered thus:

1 Valiant 40 9
2 Peterson 44 6
3 LaFitte 44 4
3 Tayana 37 4
3 Westsail 32 4
4 Cal 3-46 3
4 Cal 35 3
4 Farr 58 3
4 Freya 39 3
4 Slocum 43 3
4 Swan 65 3

[vancouver25]

I changed it from an "element" to "ranked" list...thanks. I wonder if the "smaller" 42-ft. boats (although 42 sounds palatial to me) are because the list goes back so many years?

Maybe I should have included the year(s) of the voyage which might reveal the current trend towards larger boats, but I'm not sure a boat, or design criteria (like length, for example), that was viable and suitable "back then" for so many wouldn't be equally as up to the challenge today?

*(edited to add new screenshot with "ranking" instead of "element" listing.)

[zeehag]

west coast circumnav booats shoul dinclus-de a lil 27 catalina named my sweet lord.
so now wha tye gonna do. dove was small, many boats that have gone rtw are small.
as has been stated repeatedly it is not the boat it is the sailor of that boat. good luck. get out and practice

[zeehag]

west coast circumnav booats should include a lil 27 catalina named my sweet lord.
so now what ye gonna do. dove was small, many boats that have gone rtw are small.
as has been stated repeatedly it is not the boat it is the sailor of that boat. good luck. get out and practice

[vancouver25]

Again, more for my personal curiosity it appears, but also for some comparison, I put the Singlehanded Transpac Results into the same spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SN0qJw2dbiKzPtxjZqPCJvSOYv2r6XyCVzRQI8znRw0/edit?usp=sharing

Screenshots of results side-by-side:

[vancouver25]

Thanks for response Zee. I never thought it was a complete list, as the original publisher and maintainer (Latitude 38) acknowledge, but rather thought of it more as indicative of what worked for many sailors...tried and true, I guess you would say. And, to be honest, it has reshaped my thinking enough that I wish I would have gone through the exercise before I bought and refurbished a smaller (yet well-founded and capable) boat.

In short, I just thought it might be insightful for some fellow dreamers still in the planning stages.

But, what I think you're saying between the lines is less time playing with numbers and more time sailing. Been doing quite a bit of that but you're right...off to the boat!

[s/v Beth]

Van- I think the number of spade rudder types show that many circumnavigators just take off with what they have, and do not buy a "ocean going" boat. I'm glad that my Valiant is one of the circumnavigators, but if I had do to, I would be sailing the same in a Cal.

[Stu Jackson]

One of the things that struck me is there are no dates.

IIRC, reading Latitude 38 for the past 20+ years, they worked up this list that includes, first of all, only those that responded or their friends who provided the info, and secondly, they were done in wildly varying decades.

Still an interesting analysis and comparing the two different spreadsheet summaries was enlightening.

Thanks for the work, ya done good.

Enjoy the sailing.

Originally Posted by vancouver25

Thanks for response Zee. I never thought it was a complete list, as the original publisher and maintainer (Latitude 38) acknowledge, but rather thought of it more as indicative of what worked for many sailors...tried and true, I guess you would say. And, to be honest, it has reshaped my thinking enough that I wish I would have gone through the exercise before I bought and refurbished a smaller (yet well-founded and capable) boat.

In short, I just thought it might be insightful for some fellow dreamers still in the planning stages.

But, what I think you're saying between the lines is less time playing with numbers and more time sailing. Been doing quite a bit of that but you're right...off to the boat!

[Stu Jackson]

PS

You changed from "element" to "ranked" list. I'm dumb, what's that mean? Thanks.

[vancouver25]

Thanks for the nice words Stu! Light winds today but still a great day on the water!

To your question, the original sheet listed the top boats 1-10, which mstrebe pointed out in post #3 was misleading, as boats that were really equal in "rank" might appear lower on the list simply because it was alphabetized. He said it better:

Because your lists of models and builders is a _ranked list_, they should be numbered by rank rather than merely element numbered 1 to 10. element number listing makes elements of equal value seem as though they're lower in rank, in this case merely because they're alphabetically sorted.

So originally, for example, the list read:

1 Valiant 40 9
2 Peterson 44 6
3 LaFitte 44 4
4 Tayana 37 4
5 Westsail 32 4

This makes it appear that a LaFitte is ranked higher than a Tayana or Westsail, when they are really all tied for 3rd.

[hoppy]

All you can really conclude from the list is that a large proportion of sailors from the North American west coast choose boats with designs or design features that were around when they were kids.

Why is this so?

The rest of the world seems to happily circumnavigate in more modern design boats.


The best thing is to get out of the spreadsheet and sail.

When it comes to choosing the "next boat" try looking for boats that appeal to you and then see if it can suit your dreams rather than being a teenaged girl and worrying about what everyone else is wearing