Atlantic crossing yacht catgories

For me, the "Jester" has come to signify what this sort of event should be all about. Of course there will be those who will disagree, but I feel that anything is possible (well almost) if you chuck enough money at it.

Big bucks big boats, celebrity sailors, and corporate bandwagons just don't float me boat, but the likes of Peter Hill sailing across the pond in a little junk rigged Kingfisher 20+ now that gets my attention!
 
Re: Raggles

Hello Silkie, please say Hi to Ian and Grace from me next time you see them - I was crewing for an American couple on a CSY 44 called Peter Rabbit, who wanted an extra hand for the crossing. We took 25 days (last in our class!) and many smaller boats beat us - even a singlehanded Elizabethan 29 (Andani) managed to hammer us..... and Raggles nearly beat us as well....
Do you know where Raggles is now?
I have always had a soft spot for Hurley 22's (well, for most 'small' sailing craft really) - there used to be one here in Barbados called Aquarius (think she now lives in Trinidad).
And 30 years ago we met a singlehanded English lad called Ron (or Tom?) Potter here on his Hurley 22 after he sailed across the pond (sorry, cant remember the boat's name).

Re Andani mentioned above, her singlehanded skipper was none other than Tim Wright of Photo Action fame (have a look at his photos on www.photoaction.com) in the days before he took up marine photography.
 
I believe that the smallest yacht to cross tha Atlantic is more like 5'4" or something of this ilk.

ARC now only accept entrants 27ft or over, so gone are the days you will see the like of the Vertue on it, unfortunately. Great shame. Accept that the average cruiser has got bigger, but there a great deal of seaworthy 26 footers around.
 
In your profile it says "wee yots" I was wondering how wee? I have a bit of a soft spot for wee boats myself, those mini transats look pretty exciting?

By the way, that look to be a bit of a nasty skin condition you have there? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Hello Duncan - I would agree re Mithril, she was (and I am sure still is) just gorgeous!
I met Rob and Kathy after they arrived in Barbados, and they attended a yachty party at my parent's home here that my Mum (Trudi, 8P6QM, who has been running the transatlantic maritime mobile net for hams for the last 20+ years) put on - I have a photo somewhere of them opening coconuts in the garden.....

I heard later on the grapevine that Mithril sailed back to Britain without incident the following summer - do you know where she is now?
 
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don't know but the Frances26 I helped build went without me in '86 or '87 - Mithril.

proper little yacht!

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I love them boats, they must be one of the most expensive secondhand 26' production boats ever tho, was she cutter?
 
Re: Mithril

Yes, she was / is a cutter rig with a small bowsprit, and the trademark short coachroof (rather than flush deck, as per Mr. Paine's original Frances).

I suppose they are relatively expensive second hand, but if I had a choice I think I would prefer an older Frances to a newer lightweight mass production yacht any day.
 
I met a chap in Barbados shortly after my first crossing (in a Tradewind 33) who had singlehanded it in a 19' Caprice, no engine, no electrics, sextant, home made self-steering gear...boy was he chuffed!
 
Re: Bajan Caprice

Hi Robin, am just being nosy re who that Caprice was, and when you were here?
(And what was the name of your Tradewind 33 - a very fine vessel for sure).
I remember once almost 30 years ago (long before the days of sat navs) paddling around in Carlisle Bay in my little dinghy, and seeing a visiting yacht come in. Singlehanded, about 25', slightly scruffy....... chap hails me after he anchored "Hello, is this Tobago?"
'Ummm not quite, Tobago is 100+ miles thataway' says me, pointing south'ish.
'Oh!' OK, close enough!'

Those were the days...... and very few yachts came to grief then - more seem to hit the bricks these days despite having GPS's, chart plotters, everything interfaced and talking to everything else.....

PS - One of the first 'customers' on the ham radio transatlantic maritime mobile net about 28 years ago was a very laid back Canadian lad on an old wooden boat - he could take sunsights, but was not too good at working them out - so he would take his sights and times, pass on the info to Bill in Morrocco who was running the Net then, and Bill would work them out, and tell this lad where he was...... and he made a safe landfall in Barbados using this method of navigation after about 30 days on passage from the Canaries.
 
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