“Production boat” for ARC

[geem]

Totally agree. It’s a very long way. After 3 days we hardly got anywhere due to light winds and the computer said it was going to take us 3 months! We had a large swell coming down from the North for a long time causing a big roll in the boat for days on end. At very least you need a robust mental attitude and practical problem solving skills

Weather forecasting for the next 3 days is pretty accurate. How come you had no wind for a whole 3 days? I also think you start a long passages with a great forecast if possible. It allows crew to settle in to a passage. Thr only weather you can choose is the weather you leave on

 

[bitbaltic]

Maybe a coincidence but yesterday I was reading a 2010 article in Sailing Today about a Bav 46 doing the ARC. This was in the day when it was possible to do it as a charter boat and Sailionian did it more than once in their Bav which was one of their Levkas charter boats. 7 paying crew. No real issues with the boat and about £10k of extra gear but no big mods.

Almost all production boats have aluminium stocks and the Hanse failures were very specific and not systemic. The early 2000s Bav 42 is an excellent boat. It is common now to replace the rudder bearings with roler bearings from Jefa. Not a big job in the scheme of things. Challenge will be finding one in the UK with hot weather gear. Plenty in the eastern Med.

Edit Decent looking one for sale here yachts.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/bavaria-yachts-42-cruiser-for-sale/792754 4 cabin and good gear

I’ve just completely replaced the rudder on my Hanse (admittedly not a world girdling boat) with an off the shelf from Jefa.

1) the older Hanses had lots of rudder problems related to deterioration not sudden failure. But failure seems to have followed the marque, becoming more critical (instantaneous) in the younger models (bigger boats being asked to do more). Hopefully it is no longer an issue, but I’d always take a good look at the rudder of any used Hanse.

2) if buying a big, modern, but used Hanse, a new rudder from Jefa is probably a relatively small cost versus the cost of the boat. I’d just factor it in. Unlike competing marques, there’s only one rudder to think about.

Did a lot of miles a decade ago on a Bav 46 and it’s an excellent boat.

 

[john_morris_uk]

6 times each way. Had all sorts and I never relied in stats. Planned for most eventualities though.

Nice variety of yachts, mono and multi. Even pants weather didn't stop the joy of being out there.....

Agree 100%

The problem with the ARC (one of several) is that the tradewinds haven’t always settled in properly by their planned start date.

The OP could save himself a couple of £k on ARC fees by waiting and going in early January. (Assuming he doesn’t want to spend Christmas at sea?)

Regarding age of the boat. Our 39 year old Westerly is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. Our crossing in January 2023 was fast and safe as far as I’m concerned. It’s all about the preparation. Whatever boat you sail there WILL be issues and there WILL be problems you have to overcome at some stage. Hopefully they’ll all be minor and easily solved.

Regarding charters. There does appear to be a market at the cheaper end. I met several people running older boats. Advertising in the right places is key I guess.

 

[Halo]

Weather forecasting for the next 3 days is pretty accurate. How come you had no wind for a whole 3 days? I also think you start a long passages with a great forecast if possible. It allows crew to settle in to a passage. Thr only weather you can choose is the weather you leave on

We are in the ARC race and didn’t want to set off late!

 

[john_morris_uk]

We are in the ARC race and didn’t want to set off late!

And there’s one problem with the ARC. It forces people into making poor decisions sometimes.

 

[PhillM]

We are in the ARC race and didn’t want to set off late!

I was that this year. Left 36 hours late and still came third. Lots of breakages and some injuries. One death. All because of a notional race between a handful of boats who are using the “racing” to avoid proper coding.

I’d love to do it again but next time won’t be a pay to play on a “race” boat.

 

[CrossedThreads]

Well the Bavaria 42 the OP was looking at is under offer so maybe he’s going down that route. It would be brilliant to get an update as this is something we are looking to do in coming years and in a very similar boat.

 

[Sea Change]

Agree with John about the ARC being too early for reliable trade winds.
We crossed in an older production boat... 1978 Moody 39, with two adults and a 6yr old, January 2023.
The one thing I wish we had been able to do differently is to fly twin headsails. I felt like I spent most of my time looking over my shoulder and guessing whether or not to round up and put another reef in the main. It's very hard to look at an approaching squall and correctly estimate whether it's going to be 25kt or 40kt. If we hadn't been using the mainsail, we could have waited until it hit and then just reduced sail as necessary. No guessing required.

 

[CrossedThreads]

Slight thread drift but… my Genoa foil (Furlex 200s) has two Genoa tracks. What is the thinking behind running two sails up the same forestay? One in each track?

I’m guessing a little more challenging to get set up but it’s not something I’ve ever really thought about when pottering around the east coast.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Slight thread drift but… my Genoa foil (Furlex 200s) has two Genoa tracks. What is the thinking behind running two sails up the same forestay? One in each track?

I’m guessing a little more challenging to get set up but it’s not something I’ve ever really thought about when pottering around the east coast.

It’s been done but as I understand it, there’s an advantage to having a gap between the forestay and the inner forestay to allow air to escape between the two head sails. I’ve read reports of extra or increased rolling with the two headsails set on the same stay. That’s pretty hard to quantify as one thing is guaranteed. You’re going to roll.

 

[justanothersailboat]

Slight thread drift but… my Genoa foil (Furlex 200s) has two Genoa tracks. What is the thinking behind running two sails up the same forestay? One in each track?

I’m guessing a little more challenging to get set up but it’s not something I’ve ever really thought about when pottering around the east coast.

I think people who are racing but not terribly serious about it use the double groove to shorten the time taken to change sails. (serious racers seem to have luff track rather than furlers). Being able to use it to set twin headsails seems more of a bonus than a design objective. People clearly do manage it. I'm intrigued but, like you, this is just something that doesn't come up for me.

 

[Lucky Duck]

The manual states the choice of which groove to hoist is set by whether the furling line is to port or starboard which suggests it is part of the design of the furling mechanism

 

[justanothersailboat]

Also that.