Atlantic circuit in a Hurley 18ft

[geem]

Congratulations to your new German friend @geem it’s a great achievement.

An acquaintance of mine sailed a Caprice 18 single handed across the Atlantic. He lives in Macclesfield and this is his book

An Ocean Away: Small Boat, Big Dream: Amazon.co.uk: Clarke, Dave, Holloway, John: 9780955512407: Books

A few years later he rowed across, also single handed.

He used to be my next door neighbour

 

[Stemar]

I feel weirdly drawn to this kind of thing although I'm not about to embark on it myself. I really like the Globe Mini 580s too. There's something very appealing about a small, simple boat.

Have you seen this channel?

https://www.youtube.com/@oceancapablesmallsailboat2774

 

[westernman]

What about a single-handed mini-transat in a mini 650? Lots of entries. For instance this guy:-

 

[Frogmogman]

We are currently anchored in Nonsuch Bay, Antigua. We met a young German guy yesterday with a Hurley 18. He sailed from Greece to Antigua single handed in his Hurley 18. He is sailing back to Europe in May. The boat is super tiny.
He crossed from Lanzarote to Antigua in February this year in 30 days. Quite amazing for such a small boat. He has a Windpilot wind self steering system and a 4hp outboard. He carries a JSD and a conventional drogue. He also carriess a liferaft. He also has a kite board and 3 kites. Not sure where he puts everything.
He says he crossed the Atlantic using twin headsails. He seems to live off noodles!
It's amazing what you can achive on a limited budget if you really want to.
I think his trip back to Europe may be a somewhat bigger challenge than getting here.

He may only have a small boat, but there is no doubting the size of his cojones.

Kudos.

 

[Scillypete]

He did a little series of videos of his crossing
This one is the last and his arrival

 

[ridgy]

He did a little series of videos of his crossing
This one is the last and his arrival

Crossing the atlantic with loose deck hatches...I guess that's the mentality but you would at least try and put the odds in your favour.

 

[Supertramp]

Yes, I agree and some £2 foam would probably do it. But once you start worrying about the possibilities and risks you won't be doing it in an 18 ft boat and without lifelines etc etc. A bit like motorbikes. He impresses me with his resourcefulness and his boat looks well sorted and organised. And most important of all he is having fun.

 

[geem]

Yes, I agree and some £2 foam would probably do it. But once you start worrying about the possibilities and risks you won't be doing it in an 18 ft boat and without lifelines etc etc. A bit like motorbikes. He impresses me with his resourcefulness and his boat looks well sorted and organised. And most important of all he is having fun.

He is definitely having fun. He is anchored about 30 metres from me. We are chilling his beers for him?

 

[Bajansailor]

I sailed in the first ARC in 1986, in the days before there were any restrictions re minimum length.
And there were quite a few boats that year which would not qualify for the ARC now re length.
The smallest was a Hurley 22 called 'Raggles' with a young couple and a dog on board - I remember watching them leave the marina in Las Palmas, and their painted waterline was so far underwater.... and Hurleys do not have a lot of freeboard in the first place.
But they had an uneventful passage across and arrived safely, and they got a special prize at the prize giving for being the smallest yacht taking part.

 

[Skysail]

I sailed in the first ARC in 1986, in the days before there were any restrictions re minimum length.
And there were quite a few boats that year which would not qualify for the ARC now re length.
The smallest was a Hurley 22 called 'Raggles' with a young couple and a dog on board - I remember watching them leave the marina in Las Palmas, and their painted waterline was so far underwater.... and Hurleys do not have a lot of freeboard in the first place.
But they had an uneventful passage across and arrived safely, and they got a special prize at the prize giving for being the smallest yacht taking part.

And of course there was Sopranino in1951, though there two crew, Patrick Ellam and Colin Mudie - on a 19 ft boat. Though Ellam sailed home solo via New York, about 10,000 miles in all.

1953 Patrick Ellam In Yacht Sopranino Atlantic Voyage | eBay

a very good book.

 

[fisherman]

I sometimes think a tiny boat can be very tough, rather like an insect, you beat it and stamp on it and it scuttles away. Big boats have a lot more to go wrong, in exchange for more comfort.
RNLI boats aren't very big, on a celestial scale.

 

[Daydream believer]

Like the insanity of those who take on major wooden boat refurbishments, I'm glad in equal measures that it exists, and that I don't suffer from it

Well I stripped a Stella down to just a bare hull, then rebuilt it, decks & all & I am not completely mad all the time -yet

 

[Stemar]

Yes you are, your rebuilding a Stella proves it, but more power to you

 

[john_morris_uk]

The chap in the LP chandlers told me that the week before the ARC set out was their best business week. Excitement and anxiety drove people to suddenly want that extra bit of kit.

I was buying a top of the range safety harness!!!

Also, I was told that my relatively small Rival 32 would have been a large boat 30 years before.

We decided to not join the ARC for a number of reasons. One of them was that at 39’ we would have been the fifth smallest boat out of the fleet. All power to the OP’s new friend. We’re anchored in Carlisle Bay, Barbados atm and there are several 30’ boats here that have obviously crossed on a budget. Good luck to them all. At least they’re doing it and not tied up in a Marina for 99% of the time like so many boats are.

edited -wrong island!

 

[veshengro]

Still feeling quite smug because I had crossed single handed in my 32 foot steel Gaff Cutter a few years ago, I woke up one morning in Freemans Bay, Antigua, and saw a small, self built ..Midget! ( 20 foot Marine ply) anchored ahead of me...
A good 'ol Sussex boy out of Shoreham by Sea. Like me he had been in the Med for a year or two and then sailed to the Canaries for stores. We had both waited until late December after the Arc was well clear, then across to the Caribbean, although I had not seen him in Las Palmas.
With his sun panels and wind Genny's he was making more power than I could with one panel and an Aerogen. He had a fancy radio set up and did some sort of regular long range broadcasts and needed the power he told me
We had a couple of good runs ashore together before he left bound for Barbados, I seem to remember.

 

[dgadee]

We are currently anchored in Nonsuch Bay, Antigua. We met a young German guy yesterday with a Hurley 18. He sailed from Greece to Antigua single handed in his Hurley 18. He is sailing back to Europe in May. The boat is super tiny.
He crossed from Lanzarote to Antigua in February this year in 30 days. Quite amazing for such a small boat. He has a Windpilot wind self steering system and a 4hp outboard. He carries a JSD and a conventional drogue. He also carriess a liferaft. He also has a kite board and 3 kites. Not sure where he puts everything.
He says he crossed the Atlantic using twin headsails. He seems to live off noodles!
It's amazing what you can achive on a limited budget if you really want to.
I think his trip back to Europe may be a somewhat bigger challenge than getting here.

How old is he?

 

[geem]

How old is he?

In his 20s. Boat is called 1/4 life crisis?

 

[dgadee]

In his 20s. Boat is called 1/4 life crisis?

Great to see reckless youth in a pastime filled with people with artificial joints.

 

[geem]

Well, Nico set off back across the Atlantic, destination Horta in the Azores. He is 12 days in to the trip doing 3.5kts. Quite a passage for a Hurley 18. To think that plenty of people ship their modern 45 footers back as they don't fancy the trip

 

[byanyothername]

Inspiring.