Best boat to cross the Atlantic on

[jamie N]

Queen Mary 1965.
Queen Elizabeth 1967.
QM2 2005.

 

[Dino]

Nope-Cannot go up forward unless you are a dwarf, or want backache. So the boat is immediately half the size that you started with

Must be a big dwarf, the ad says there is 1.88m headroom in the bow cabin. She’s 64ft so the perspective might be off

 

[Major_Clanger]

I've been across a few times in a variety of boats, though only ever east to west. Best boat, in terms of all-round ability, was a Bowman 40. Not quick but safe, comfortable and easily managed by 3 of us. I'm lined-up to take a 2003 Oyster 66 across in November - it's a boat I've moved before and I think will take the crown. A fantastic 200nm per day passage yacht.

 

[Daydream believer]

I've been across a few times in a variety of boats, though only ever east to west. Best boat, in terms of all-round ability, was a Bowman 40. Not quick but safe, comfortable and easily managed by 3 of us.

I crewed in a Holman designed Bowman 45 & it is the last thing that I would want to sail down wind for days on end. In fact lots of Holman boats must be murder down wind
The famous "Holman Roll" must drive crew to near suicide, long before they reach their destination

 

[Sea Change]

Isn't the Bowman 40 a Chuck Paine design?

 

[Major_Clanger]

I crewed in a Holman designed Bowman 45 & it is the last thing that I would want to sail down wind for days on end. In fact lots of Holman boats must be murder down wind
The famous "Holman Roll" must drive crew to near suicide, long before they reach their destination

She was a joy downwind; balanced with twin head's, easy motion even in a biggish swell. The 40 is a Chuck Paine design.

 

[davethedog]

Having just done the West To East crossing Antigua to Azores, I wouldn't swap my Trintella 44 for anything else. 15 days 2 hours. Not found a boat that did it faster. Just me, the Mrs and the dog

Thats a bloody quick time! took us 18 days on our 47fter....though have met up with a 3 male crew here on a 45 foot pogo type boatand they did st maarten to Ponta Delgada in 13 days!

 

[geem]

Thats a bloody quick time! took us 18 days on our 47fter....though have met up with a 3 male crew here on a 45 foot pogo type boatand they did st maarten to Ponta Delgada in 13 days!

We found a Gibsea 51 that did it in 14 days. Still very happy that a 44 year old Trintella 44 ketch with just me and the Mrs can do a good time without pushing the boat at all. We just sailed her. 5 hour night watches each. The dog refused to stand a watch!

 

[Bajansailor]

We took 10 days from Barbados to Horta 12 years ago on a delivery - but this was on an 80' Maxi that weighed all of about 15 tonnes.
We blew out 3 kites along the way, and were averaging around 300 miles a day.

 

[Seven Spades]

I just looked at the ARC results pages. An dince 2007 Discovery 55's have done it between 16 days and 26 so it reeally depends upon the weather/route and how much you push the boat. I noticed that even Dufour 40's had done it in 16 days.

 

[geem]

I just looked at the ARC results pages. An dince 2007 Discovery 55's have done it between 16 days and 26 so it reeally depends upon the weather/route and how much you push the boat. I noticed that even Dufour 40's had done it in 16 days.

They are going the other way compared to the west to .east rout we have just donw. There isn't an ARC route direct from the Caribbean to the Azores. They go to Bermuda first. The easy route is trade wind sailing and rarely impacted by low pressure systems so quite a different experience

 

[Goldie]

I crewed in a Holman designed Bowman 45 & it is the last thing that I would want to sail down wind for days on end. In fact lots of Holman boats must be murder down wind
The famous "Holman Roll" must drive crew to near suicide, long before they reach their destination

The Bowman 45 is a Chuck Paine design, like the 40, 42 and 48.

Edit: If you crossed on a Holman design, I’m guessing maybe a 44 or 46 a.k.a. ‘Corsair’? Different boats entirely to the 45.

 

[Daydream believer]

The Bowman 45 is a Chuck Paine design, like the 40, 42 and 48.

The Bowman 45 I was on, was a Holman. The moulds were financed by the owner & leased to Bowmans per build. That way he was able to work part of his his boat cost as a tax deduction. (this was in the early 80s) His next boat, Red Dragon, was an Andrew Stewart Design based on the Limbos, but I do not know if Bowman built that

 

[Major_Clanger]

The Bowman 45 I was on, was a Holman. The moulds were financed by the owner & leased to Bowmans per build. That way he was able to work part of his his boat cost as a tax deduction. (this was in the early 80s) His next boat, Red Dragon, was an Andrew Stewart Design based on the Limbos, but I do not know if Bowman built that

Going into full thread drift mode, tell me about Red Dragon. She sounds interesting!

 

[geem]

The Bowman 45 I was on, was a Holman. The moulds were financed by the owner & leased to Bowmans per build. That way he was able to work part of his his boat cost as a tax deduction. (this was in the early 80s) His next boat, Red Dragon, was an Andrew Stewart Design based on the Limbos, but I do not know if Bowman built that

Not a production Bowman then. Friends also had a 45 hull built by Bowman in the 70s. You can find no evidence of it in the history of Bowman yachts.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

My dad and his friends often had this conversation in the early 80s and as a small child I was fascinated by any conversations about boats so I remember it all vividly.

The list of boats they would come up with would be laughed at today. Pretty much everything made in the last 10-15 years with an RCD A rating would be better than the list of boats in the early 80s - and most of them would be excluded from the ARC due to size.

Yet here we are, still having the same conversation about the same journey but in a world with GPS, Satellite comms and the Internet, where a starter-boat is 40ft compared to the 20ft of yesteryear .... makes me smile.

Incidentally my Dad was convinced his Albin Vega would be more than suitable - today it would be mad IMO given the choice now available.

... so the answer is the boat you hanker after, it's a personal choice.

You can waste your time analysing what boat might fair slightly better in a collision with a ship, whale, container .... or what might be better for heavy seas and gale force winds .... but the crew, the skipper and their resourcefulness, resilience, and experience will have orders of magnitude more influence on the outcome than the physical boat itself.

 

[Daydream believer]

Going into full thread drift mode, tell me about Red Dragon. She sounds interesting!

I never had the chance to sail on her . But imagine a bright red 40 ft Limbo with the same transom shape cut away at the deck etc. She was used for EAORA racing. I have no idea if she was successful or not.
there must be forumites here that can remember her as she was moored off Priors at Burnham.

 

[Daydream believer]

Not a production Bowman then. Friends also had a 45 hull built by Bowman in the 70s. You can find no evidence of it in the history of Bowman yachts.

I recall it very clearly. The boat was Muscadet of Harty. (Perhapsit was not a 45 But i thought it was). The moulds were definately leased to the builders. I sat with the owner & his wife at the helm, whilst he explained the deal. We had just been doing the "Holman roll" at the time. It was him that introduced me to the term.

 

[geem]

I recall it very clearly. The boat was Muscadet of Harty. (Perhapsit was not a 45 But i thought it was). The moulds were definately leased to the builders. I sat with the owner & his wife at the helm, whilst he explained the deal. We had just been doing the "Holman roll" at the time. It was him that introduced me to the term.

It seems that back in those days Bowman would build anything. Not necessarily particularly well put together. Our friends have now sold their Bowman 45 from the 70s. Some aspects were nicely built. Some not so good

 

[Bajansailor]

and most of them would be excluded from the ARC due to size.

I sailed in the first ARC in 1986, and I dont think there was a minimum length requirement then - there was a very strong representation of small yachts, including a Hurley 22, an Achilles 24, a Trapper 300, a Frances 26, a Sadler 26, an Elizabethan 29 and a few others that I can't remember now.

I noticed that even Dufour 40's had done it in 16 days.

Some pals crossed in their 40' aluminium Maracuja (with a swing keel, a bit like a Southerly) in 1989 from the Canaries to Barbados in 14 days - the winds were strong, and they surfed the whole way under poled out twin genoas.
And there was a locally designed and built 32' Bajan entry in the 1987 ARC called Bruggadung - she had been shipped from here to the Canaries via England. They did remarkably well, taking about 15 or 16 days (edit - it was actually 17 days, but still very good going), flying spinnakers the whole way across and winning their class with ease, and beating many bigger boats across the line. But they sailed her the whole way with 8 (!) crew as if they were racing around the cans, with 4 crew on watch the whole way, doing 4 hours on and 4 off - they all looked pretty beat when they arrived here to a heroes welcome.