Do Small Yachts Go Far These Days?

[Chattcatdaddy]

Originally Posted by BruceC

Hi

I own a Hurley 22 which my wife and I port hop along the Cornish coast (logged 625nm this season)
I am interested, do any small yacht go far these days?

I know Hurleys 22s in the past have crossed the the Atlantic and the Pacific, yachts get bigger and bigger but do they get better and better?

Only time stops me from going farther (nine days at a time max)

Good sailing

Bruce

Head on over and take a look at www.sailfar.net which is geared to the sub 30`boating community. In particular read the post referring to The Scoot.

[David_Old_Jersey]

The Scoot

[barnakiel]

Met a guy in a 23 footer half way around the world. If you can stand the discomfort and do not care for safety (as much as most people) then why not.

b.

[BruceC]

Just because a yacht is small dose not mean its unsafe, I know a yachtmaster who sailed a Hurley 22 around Portland Bill in near gale conditions and said after a lot of bigger yachts would not put up with that!

[s/v 'Faith']

BruceC,

Did not post this earlier, as there were problems with the pictures not showing up. Here is the trip my wife and I made from NC to the Abacos, Out Islands, and Exumas and back up to Pensacola. We were aboard s/v 'Faith' our 1964 Pearson Ariel.

Lots of folks still out there doing it aboard smaller boats.

[waverider]

I would think that 28 feet and above is a good size for couple. The Miss's and I are planning a trip for the winter south. We just sold our Mirage 27 for an Oday 30, the 27 was big enough but had no Hot water, refridgeration or inboard engine. Although the livable space isn't alot different, the simple things sometimes make it more enjoyable.

[boatman61]

Hi Bruce... I sailed a Hurley 22 from the EXE to Portugal in Dec 08 non stop across the Biscay.... and then made the same trip from Poole in July last year in a Corribee 21... handles like a dinghy with a lid..
The Hurley was roomier and sailed much better... took 8m+ waves and 40+kt winds in her stride... the only real danger was from Shipping, which could not see me on their radar because of the high sea's. Great single hander tho' and with a water maker you could do some long passages as the main snag is water storage....
Good Saling
Phil

[Roaring Girl]

Met a Danish guy in Cadiz who'd sailed his 24' down from Denmark and after that went to the Caribbean and are now in the S Pacific - see Prins Henrik on the WWW and the seven seas - extremely cool in a very small and outboard only boat.

[Mule]

The King, (queen?) of all small seagoing sailing boats is the Bristol Channel Cutter, big enough not to be ridiclous, small enough to be, well, small. A real hoss in a gale.

bristol channel cutter Boats For Sale

[Chattcatdaddy]

Originally Posted by Mule

The King, (queen?) of all small seagoing sailing boats is the Bristol Channel Cutter, big enough not to be ridiclous, small enough to be, well, small. A real hoss in a gale.

bristol channel cutter Boats For Sale

The big obstacle with a BCC is price! Its little sister the Falmouth Cutter is a great boat. Flicka 20`s are great boats also. Plenty of capable pocket cruisers out there for a reasonable price.

[BruceC]

Hi Boatman61

I would like to hear more about your passage from the Exe to Portugal across the The Bay of Biscay in a Hurley 22. How long did the passage take?

Bruce

[boatman61]

Hi Bruce... its not a time of year I would recommend to anyone.... I'd been watching the weather courtesy of Meto Marine and Magicseaweed and spotted a forecast trend of a 6 day window with winds N/NW 3-4 across the Bay so headed out 36hrs later I was off Ushant tacking back and forth in a SW5-6 trying to get round the corner. 18hrs later the wind died so I started the Honda 5hp and headed for the Channel got there towards the 2nd half of the ebb and shot through with a scarey exit at the other end getting over the standing waves... phew... good old Honda's. Anyway motored another 30 miles in calm as I did not want to be caught in any flood currents and lee shore if the SWly came back then drifted for another day and half before a Nthly 4 came along.
30 hrs of great sailing and was passed by a Dutch 3master heading for Porto.
After that it picked up to a 6 and I was reefed right down and bowling along..
12hrs later and it was 8 gusting 9 and I was lying hove to under reefed main only, drinking coffee and sleeping for the next 3 days. Eased to a 6 so headed of again.. exciting sailing, tiller pilot working a treat. 2nd day of this mid afternoon heard a 'WOOSH' noise behind me, looked round and a young whale about 35-40ft was surfing two waves behind me, guess he figured I was having fun so thought he'd join in, played around me for a while then headed off. Wind then shifted WNW and got up to 8-9 again so back below where I stayed for the 5 days. Day 15 I saw the Galician coast through the haze about 20 miles away, winds still strong, seas very high and I was worried about being driven onto the Costa del Morte... its an evil coastline. Hoisted main with 2 reefs in and tied tiller so I was headed into wind and retired below. for the next day I continued drifting inshore but had slowed the drift to 1kt but realised I had do do something soon, La Coruna was no longer a possiblity I been blown to far east, lighter winds and seas no problem but as was no chance. As darkness fell I saw a ship heading straight at me so fired of a flare as I felt he could not see me, 2 miles away I fired another as he had not changed course, 500m away a third no response as he passed close enough for me to have speared him throwing my boathook... I don't think anyone was on the bridge.
Anyway my GPS position put me 14 miles NW of Viviero so I kicked the engine into life and headed that way.... Seas got higher and steeper as I closed shore eventually getting into the Ria around 4-30am. Swamped a couple of times and evrything drenched below, tobacco unsmokeable and me wet cold and desperate for a smoke... Funny thing every time a wave swamped us I was grateful as the seawater warmed me up for a few minutes... engine died a couple of times but thank the gods it always fired up again after a few pulls.
After tying up at the fish dock I found a cafe/bar open at the fish factory and enjoyed a succession of Marlboro's and coffee's with Soberano brandy.
Ended up stuck in Viviero for a month due to the wind and sea's.
Also learnt that during my last 36 hrs out there 11 lives were lost and one Portuguese fishing boat sank in the area... good old Hurley/Honda...
Bruce do it in the summer mate...
The Corribee trip was the opposite to little wind nearly as long to cross...lol

[bastonjock]

Hi Bruce

Have you heard of the Jester Challenge? it takes off this year from Plymouth to The USA,the rules are that all boats must be less than 30ft.The smallest one thats going for it this year is a 21ft Corribee.

Its not a race just a challenge without the health and safety brigade telling you how to run your own boat.

all skippers are expected to be able to decide for themselves if they and their boats are up to it.

[bastonjock]

Originally Posted by Solitude

Ahhh the dream of an Albin 27 accross the Atlantic from sweden.

Theres an Ablin ballad and a Vega that have been entered into this years Jester Challenge.

http://www.jesterinfo.org/

Doing this really does appeal to me,im looking at sellingy mac and buying a vega to do this

[boatman61]

Having done the Biscay in December in a Hurly 22 fin keel and then the same trip in a Corribee fin the following June I'd definitly pick the Hurley... that vital bit heavier, roomier with more storage space and most importantly an engine well for the outboard..... the Corribee has it mounted on the transom... not the best place in a lumpy sea as it lifts out of the water too often... usually when needed most as a following wave lift you..
But there ya go... one mans opinion ......