J-105-Offshore sailing modifications
Regular readers will know I have spent some time on a J 105 doing distance races. This post discusses some of the issues that pertain to a J 105 (or any boat frankly) when contemplating going offshore. The fact that we are going double handed makes the ideas used even more important to the average cruising couple I reckon.
J-105 in the O.S.T.A.R, Oscar Mead interview
18 Year old British sailor Oscar Mead posted an excellent first showing in a major long distance solo race with his 2nd in class/6th in fleet in the 2009 O.S.T.A.R, arriving in Newport RI earlier this week at the conclusion of the quadrennial Transatlantic race.
J-105 in the O.S.T.A.R: Oscar Mead’s 3000 miles in a one design day racer
The J-105 is a popular one design keel boat both in the US and Europe but perhaps not one’s first choice to race single-handed across the Atlantic. Despite this slight disconnect, a very capable and engaging 18 year old Brit, named Oscar Mead just completed a 3000 mile race across the Atlantic in the O.S.T.A.R, in a J-105 named for his sponsor, razor manufacturer, King Of Shaves.
Short-handed sailing: The Solent stay and sail, in practice, for offshore use
The Solent stay is described elsewhere on this site http://www.practicallysailing.com/blog/hankon-jibs-and-the-solent-stay as a sail set on a separate stay that is roughly parallel with the head stay and perhaps 12-15 inches aft of same. This article discusses some details of attaching the stay and the boat and the process of installing a reef in the sail for use offshore
Bermuda 1-2 And O.S.T.A.R: Offshore sailing, Heavy weather sails & rigging
Even thought the Bermuda 1-2 and the O.S.T.A.R are billed as races, the main common underlying theme is a short-handed offshore passage, one of 650-700 miles the other of something closer to 3500.
Short-handed sailing: The Solent stay and sail, in practice, for offshore use
The Solent stay is described elsewhere on this site http://www.practicallysailing.com/blog/hankon-jibs-and-the-solent-stay as a sail set on a separate stay that is roughly parallel with the headstay and perhaps 12-15 inches aft of same. This article discusses some details of attaching the stay and the boat and the process of installing a reef in the sail for use offshore
Short handed in the ocean: How heavy is your cockpit?
One of the bigger issues most folks don't realize is just how much water, read weight, their cockpit holds when full of ocean. In the Offshore Regs Book, right after the section on companionway hatches being watertight, comes the section on cockpit security, volume and drainage.
Short handed in the ocean: Safety, first!
Anyone voyaging in the ocean naturally wishes this adventure to be not THAT adventurous. In this case one of the early phases of planning, for either a passage to Bermuda, such as the Mini guys (and the rest of the Bermuda 1-2 fleet) are planning, or the O.S.T.A.R., is to contemplate the appropriate and required safety equipment one ought to have along.
O.S.T.A.R. Preparation for a great adventure: 3,000 miles across the Atlantic, solo.
When Jack and I set up this web-site one of the things we both wanted to accomplish was to provide information to sailors so that they would be more confident in preparing their boats and might be more capable of venturing further to sea and making longer voyages in safety. After all it is not uncommon for a sailor to harbor, deep in the recesses of his psyche, the secret goal of that perfect land fall on one's own yacht. The literature of voyaging if full of such desires, fulfilled and otherwise.