Advice: boat for singlehanded UK circumnavigation

[AngusMcDoon]

Umm, that is rubbish. Get a Rival 34, with reasonable sails and cleanish hull into a groove, and she will sit in the slot as close as you wish.

(ex Rival 34 sailer)

When I set off on my round UK trip in 2001 I left from Poofelly straight into persistent Northerlies that lasted all the way to Cape Wrath, so it was uphill for 300 miles. As the X Yachts X99 I was on had the windward ability of a walrus compared to an A22 it took me 3 weeks of discomfort and wetness. I expect an A22 would have done it in a couple of days or something in complete comfort.

 

[Seajet]

Umm, that is rubbish. Get a Rival 34, with reasonable sails and cleanish hull into a groove, and she will sit in the slot as close as you wish.

(ex Rival 34 sailer)

Sarabande,

not rubbish, though your comment is.

If by 'slot' - a term referring to sails - you actually mean ' the groove ', referring to steering and directional stability, yes but she'll hobby horse with the bow pitching too, a noticeable trait recognisable from a distance.

I have sailed alongside - then drew well ahead of - a Rival 34 when punching into a good solid F6+, have you ?

The Rival in question was new, immaculate, and sailed by an ex National dinghy racing champion.

Rival 34's are nice boats for looking after their crews on long passages, but not great to windward.

Any boat, sail or power, will need to get to windward off a lee shore some time, for most of us nowadays it's just something planned well in advance.

 

[Seajet]

When I set off on my round UK trip in 2001 I left from Poofelly straight into persistent Northerlies that lasted all the way to Cape Wrath, so it was uphill for 300 miles. As the X Yachts X99 I was on had the windward ability of a walrus compared to an A22 it took me 3 weeks of discomfort and wetness. I expect an A22 would have done it in a couple of days or something in complete comfort.

Angus,

just for once get off your horse and stop being upset that I mentioned the limited safety parameters of your tri'.

Of course a Rival will be more comfortable offshore ( apart from the pitching, a well known trait ) but I mentioned a real life direct sail-off with clean hulls and experienced crews.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Oh, dear Andy, your confusion continues unabated. I don't own, nor have ever owned, a catamaran. Neither do I own a horse. You must be muddling me with someone else. I also know nothing about Rivals and have never commented on one. However, I have sailed round the UK, which is what this thread is about.

But surely you agree that my former X99 would be no match for your A22, either in comfort or upwind ability. I'm sure you will also agree that it was a totally unsuitable boat for a round UK trip, but with perseverance and a great deal of wet underpants I completed the trip eventually.

 

[BruceDanforth]

I'm not really familiar with the A22. Would it be pulling clear of the X99 in a similar way to the Rival?

Angus,

just for once get off your horse and stop being upset that I mentioned the limited safety parameters of your tri'.

Of course a Rival will be more comfortable offshore ( apart from the pitching, a well known trait ) but I mentioned a real life direct sail-off with clean hulls and experienced crews.

 

[Seajet]

I'm not really familiar with the A22. Would it be pulling clear of the X99 in a similar way to the Rival?

Only when the lightly built Cockleshell Hero X-Craft caved in, imploded and returned to its' natural undersea environment.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Only when the lightly built Cockleshell Hero X-Craft caved in, imploded and returned to its' natural undersea environment.

I think you are confused again. An X99 is a fairly standard boat from a fairly standard builder. Nearly 1000 made now and been in production nearly 30 years. Apart from giving me wet underpants because of no sprayhood, and a blown head gasket, it did the round UK journey without problem. Have any A22's been round the UK?

 

[Seajet]

Angus,

sorry to hear about the wet underpants, maybe a coat of tar and antifouling on the bottom might help ?

Otherwise you'll have to do something to the boat.

Not particularly confused any more than normal;

as far as I know no A22 has gone right round the UK for the sake of it,- 3 managed the Atlantic and various people have managed long trips, the boats are all around Britain - but give me the time, health and money and you're on; do you mean singlehanded or crewed ? As I know someone daft enough to come along...

Andy

 

[Wave22]

I have to say this thread has now got **** all to do with what I wanted to talk about, but it is very entertaining. Maybe that's better

 

[BruceDanforth]

One of your main issues will be whether the boat has been used much in recent years - everything will knacker if it hasn't.

 

[mattlad]

The smaller the boat the bigger the adventure.......

 

[Wave22]

SUMMARY

OK, lots of replies - thank you. Some helpful, some amusing, and some others...

Here is what I've learned:

1 - You should not attempt to sail around Britain unless you have a comprehensive knowledge of old boats. Unless you know a Rival from a Sadler and can argue their relative merits/demerits and can back this up by having personally overtaken them all in your own boat you lack the experience to undertake this trip.

2 - Rivals are very good boats as long as you don't mind being overtaken by Anderson 22s all the time (although an Anderson 22 also appears to be some sort of winch).

3 - The ability to dry out is not necessarily that important, and maybe the choice of boat isn't actually that important either but it should be something that you feel comfortable with and think is beautiful (* See, there are some very helpful, wise and supportive people on this forum who do quietly give you some useful stuff).

5 - Take plenty of food because this trip can take over 5 years. Presumably that's if you go in a Rival, not an Anderson 22.

6 - Somebody once saw somebody else (a lady) going the other way. It must be true because somebody else saw her too.

7 - Boarders are harder than day boys and they like getting wet and cold. Don't watch their cookery videos though - it's not exactly MasterChef.

8 - A groove is not a slot (only a Rival sailor would make this mistake - in an Anderson 22 it is called a rut) and an X99 is some kind of catamaran for horses.
​

So as you can see I have learned a lot of stuff, some of which was to do with my question and most of which wasn't but it was entertaining anyway so thank you.

Anyway, I've made my mind up now - I'm off to buy a Bavaria...

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Hilarious!
I see you are going to get on very well here.

 

[Rossynant]

See You got it right!

For boat choice - as everyone advertise his - I can offer two possibilities. Cheaper than Bavaria, I guess. Made for cruising UK waters gentleman's way. No hot shower originally, but there's place for it and huge watertanks, just insert the plumbing if not done already.

For small draft, not going to windward that is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJPtgnDb-cI

For deep keel http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...nits=Feet&access=Public&listing_id=40904&url=

 

[Wave22]

Now we see how Alex Thomson did so well...



...Anderson 22

 

[mattlad]

Good one!

View attachment 27823

OK, lots of replies - thank you. Some helpful, some amusing, and some others...



Anyway, I've made my mind up now - I'm off to buy a Bavaria...

Just make it a small Bavaria!

 

[Wave22]

This thread dropped off the bottom of the forum before anybody got a chance to admire Alex Thomson's beautiful boat...

 

[jac]

Wave22

Classic response to this thread.

Can I suggest using a pedalo for your trip, just make sure it is one with the slide on it.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

.... Anyway, I've made my mind up now - I'm off to buy a Bavaria...

What anchor will you be using?

 

[jac]

What anchor will you be using?

And I hope it will be a blue ensign!!!!