1 person life raft

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Along with 50 days supplies. It all counts.
Regulations? The sea? Oxymoron.

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The ISAF regulations that I quoted are applied to offshore events and deal mainly with the safety aspects on a boat. IMO anyone venturing offshore - say, more than 20 miles from the nearest port - would be well advised to heed the ISAF Offshore Special Regulations, even if not actually racing. They contain a wealth of sound advice that is based on real-life situations and help to protect people from themselves. No oxymoron there.
 
If you are assuming that you have access to a grab bag at the point that you need a life raft then presumably you have access to the cabin. Which suggests you also have access to a life raft in the cabin given how big the cabin is on an Achilles 24?

It doesn't make sense to say that the liferaft should be outside, then say that you will rely on a grab bag for supplies.

A Seago 4 man valise is only 24kg, not sure what you're trying to achieve.
Sounds like moveable ballast to me, one quarter berth to the other.
 
I agree. Earlier on in this thread I suggested that is probably what I would do. At the end of this thread I am pretty well convinced that positive buoyancy is the way to go with such a light boat.
Thanks you all for the valuable input. It is much appreciated.
 
Having discovered that I need two grab bags to hold just a fraction of the things advised to go into grab bags (all that water) and that they take up about the same space as one person (given that the grab bag needs to float, more or less) - a four person life raft appears necessary (then I can take the galley sink too).
 
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I am pretty well convinced that positive buoyancy is the way to go with such a light boat.

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Works for most sinking emergencies, but not in the case of fire.
 
How about a 4 man valise, kept in the cockpit well, forward against the bridge deck, and covered with an easily removable board?

Advantages: weight lower down, and towards the centre of the boat compared with coachroof or taffrail mounting. Easy to deploy. Reduces volume of cockpit well if pooped. Easy to put back to standard config, after transat.

Disadvantages: smaller cockpit (but does that matter for solo sailing)
 
That is no bad idea. It will really depend on how wide the cockpit is and I don't yet know as I only pick the boat up next month. I have absolutely no objection to a smaller cockpit. It is possible a valise would fit? I will hire one from Norwest marine for this year anyway.
 
No problem.

You mention supplies for 'fifty days'. I presume from that, a trans ocean passage. Think about the time it would take for an SAR operation to effect a rescue. IMO one-person rafts, as used in aviation, rely heavily on a full fledged recovery organisation that is ready to be deployed at the command "Scramble!" Recovery is within a matter of hours. Sadly - but realistically - not so for the solitary long-distance cruiser.

No matter how difficult to arrange or how awkward to stow, a four-person raft would be the way to go. Personally, on a slightly larger boat, I would prefer a small but rigid, unsinkable dinghy with all my fenders tied in it as added buoyancy. Unlike an inflatable, it does not deteriorate when afloat. I carry such a dinghy on davits over my transom. Should I ever consider a trans-Atlantic I would stow her upside down over the coachroof.

Bottom line is always the same: "It's not the ships; it's the men who sail in them".

May you never need to use your raft.
 
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