Long distance sailing in small yachts

[sanibel sailor]

Originally Posted by thomm225

In the end though, I'm thinking the Bristol 35.5 fixed keel might be the best "small" boat for cruising. PHRF 150 Disp 15,000/ Ballast 6,500 SA/Disp 15.89

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/bristol-355

Wrong!
Bristol 35.5 with CB is best

I am frequently first to weather mark when racing in. Admittedly not very fierce competition, including against some 45 footers.

[sanibel sailor]

I was lusting after an (relatively!) inexpensive Sundeer 60 on Yachtworld. Great I imagine once underway, but docking might be tough. Great sailing once main is up. Pulling the full batten main or big genny off my 35 is hard, moving it once down is harder. A big boat becomes a multi person job.

Some things are fixed size for all boats which creates a bit of a minimum workable size. A Redcrest took up a lot of space on my Cape Dory 26. Add a life raft and the cabin is pretty full. While anchor rode diameter will be less, length will not and there is a minimal diameter to account for potential chafe and handling. All chain rode is a crushing load for a small boat. Others will argue, but a diesel is near mandatory rather than an outboard and takes up proportionally more space on a little boat. Crew minimum water requirements don't diminish with boat size.

My Cape Dory was too small- and by that I mean displacement- offshore and my Bristol Channel Cutter was about perfect. My Bristol 35.5 has about the same displacement and a bit more room to stretch out on the same overall length if you include the bowsprit.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sanibel sailor

Wrong!
Bristol 35.5 with CB is best

I am frequently first to weather mark when racing in. Admittedly not very fierce competition, including against some 45 footers.

That's nice but I'm not interested in who gets to the weather mark first these days. If I was, I wouldn't buy a slow boat like the Bristol 35.5.

I'd probably go for an Olson 30 with it's 102 rating of a J27 with it's rating in the 120's

These days though, I'm more interested in a keel that works when being abused which is why I'd go for the fixed keel Bristol 35.5 for cruising should I ever buy one

[sanibel sailor]

I had an Olson. I suspect her performance might suffer when loaded down for long distance sailing, the topic of this thread. I know they’ve done TransPacs, etc but living aboard would be a quite cramped long term. Balsa core hull had moisture issues on mine.

[jmh2002]

Most fast boats are of course slower when loaded down for cruising, but are still mostly faster than a boat that was just plain slow to start with...

[boatman61]

Well I am picking up a Sigma 33 here in Bangor, N Wales (just waiting for owner to show), supposed to be a fast strong boat so will let you know what I think when I get to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands..
Thats if you think 1700nm qualifies as long distance.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sanibel sailor

I had an Olson. I suspect her performance might suffer when loaded down for long distance sailing, the topic of this thread. I know they’ve done TransPacs, etc but living aboard would be a quite cramped long term. Balsa core hull had moisture issues on mine.

Yeah, I wouldn't choose an Olson 30 for cruising but you mentioned being first around the weather mark which is what an Olson 30 excels at.

I like the Cape Dory 33, Contessa 32, and Bristol 35.5 for cruising but am not a big fan of the wheel placement on the Bristol.

For cruising the bay here or within say 150 miles of home, the Bristol 29.9 looks good

[nhschneider]

Some very close friends of ours recently completed a circumnavigation in a Pacific Seacraft Mariah 31, including a non-stop passage from Richards Bay, South Africa, to the US Virgin Islands, almost 6,000 miles. However, when we decided to go cruising with our 3 children, we chose a 48’ boat, we felt was ideal for us. My wife and I just completed our circumnavigation in that boat which was very comfortable and gave us a lot of confidence, especially in heavy weather. That being said, we feel a smaller boat would have been more economical, less maintenance and easier to sail.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Le Freak]

It is certainly more comfortable to cut through the waves than bouncing all over the place. I have done with a 26' Westerly as well as a 40' Mariner built to Lloyds specs.
I really enjoyed the extremely seaworthy Westerly, a Van de Stadt 32 Aluminum and finally the Mariner for thousands of miles

[cezaryw112]

Did 6000 miles north Atlantic crossing on 1975 Dufour 35 in 2012 (48 hrs in Chris hurricane)
www.rejspodlasia.pl

[bouncycastle]

Even a 30 foot boat can be a handful to control when it goes pear shaped .

Even if you are two to the crew often one is sleeping while the other is up on deck.
I prefer to own a 24 foot with head room like the seamaster 23 at a good price but couldnt get one so opted to get 1972 Sabre 27 foot . My preference is that as I sail if i need to go away to mayby Thialand by air for some period like winter time in the med the cost to park that size of boat isnt so high . The odd time when i need to stay in marina the cost are not so high compared to the 35 and 40 foot boats . I expect to mostly sail solo so will often coastal hug in the med and do sails to canaries in the winter . I hope to fit in Norway Iceland Greenland in the summer periods . I suspect I wont cross the pond to the USA or carabeen as too expensive to get flights back to my base in Ireland . With Europ and Iceland and Norway cheap flights exist . Greenland is tad pricy have to go via Denmark . I have used small to meduim sized cars to live in for months in the summer time to travel through Europe just brought along a small tent .It was very cheap compared to camper vans . Same for boats My last boat a 33 foot catermeran ranger cost too much to run and was crazy for marina to leave it sit for few months in places like Canaries or Spain while i went away to get some work to continue the journeys and that had no head room in main cabin .



I would not be trying to be the category of round the world sailing non stop but more of a 9 months sailing with some long sails like canaries to Iceland thrown in . The costs to leave that eastern middle northern Atlantic and Mediterranean sections are too high on any boat i cant in this time see that I can afford that . That suggest I will just have to use cheap flight aircraft to go other parts of the planet like Cambodia or Thailand or similar and look for cheap beach huts to live in while there

[scareygary]

The increase in size of boats is something I've been noticing for decades, though I'm not a world cruiser. Except for some ocean racing up the WA coast that lasts overnight for a couple of days, I've kept my cruising to weeks at a time in the San Juans and Gulf Islands. I started on an 18' Windrose, back in the day, moved to a Catalina 25, up to 30' Tartan and Yankee and down downsized to an Albin 7.9 meter. I've noticed mostly that the DOCK space in the islands has not increased, and, at parks, some docks are gone and not replaced. What used to be able to accommodate a large number of smaller boats (say less than 30'), can now only serve a fraction of that as boats (both power and sail) have become longer and longer..... It certainly adds a bit of frustration to my situation, as, as I've got gotten older, anchoring out is not as much fun as it used to be, and it's a lot more work
!

[daveball]

When In Darwin in 2002 met a Russian Eugenie)who was on an around the world trip with his home-built boat (Said). Talk about small, it was no more than 12' in length with a beam of 5' at most, weighing 365 kg (730 lbs). He'd built it on the balcony of his apartment and had photos of it being lowered to the ground. He gave a presentation while in Darwin, raising funds to assist him in his travels, we heard that he eventually completed his circumnavigation. This was his second such trip. On completion of the first the Russian gov't took his boat and put it on display in a museum. At the time we were cruising on a 40' (Windy Lady) which was HUGE in comparison.

[Sailon1]

Interesting--I have a 30' Pearson, 4 tons, and also a bit tender. Downwind can be rolly, feels like a cork bouncing around--but a good coastal cruiser so I've read. Back in the day, the P-30s were sometimes sailed for delivery from Rhode Island to Bermuda.

Anyway, I slowly prepping for some longer voyages and leaving Lake Erie for points south.

[wryanddry]

We haven't done any long distance in our 37 footer but as a family of four, with two girls, 8 & 11 we lived aboard for a year with no issues, apart from mold caused by condensation while we overwintered in a marina. I would not hesitate to do long distance passages in our boat, the only concern being water tankage, 250 ltrs and no watermaker, oh and an inadequate autopilot (wheel pilot) and no self steering vane. Throw on a Monitor windvane or similar or a full AP and shes ready to travel anywhere IMO. 37 footer has plenty of living space for two, and with a tight family like ours plenty of space for us!!