How is this possible?!!!!

[RobF]

... and his channel seems to be devoid of

1. clickbait thumbnails (usually of a scantily clad female)
2. countless requests to like and subscribe
3. redirects to merchandise

I also like him and his style.

 

[cherod]

... and his channel seems to be devoid of

1. clickbait thumbnails (usually of a scantily clad female)
2. countless requests to like and subscribe
3. redirects to merchandise

I also like him and his style.

36 k subs,, he obv knows his audience / market .

 

[roaringgirl]

I'm glad someone posted his video - I watched it the other day. Love the fact that he is always chuckling to himself and as other's said, his trip back from the Caribbean last year was pretty epic. I nearly posted it on the raging thread about new / old earlier today as an example of what these apparently unsuitable boats get upto ;-)

That his 34 is a bit overloaded (generator, coffee machine etc) it's a pretty good advert for the brand / model. All his passages seem to go pretty smoothly and he makes light work of them. Inspiring stuff

Of course these unsuitable boats manage to do these things, most of the time they're fine. It's just the times when they're not that you have to avoid! Of course he lived to tell the tale - which is why you could watch his video - so there's a big success-bias there!

 

[Stemar]

No, no, no! He's doing everything wrong and he's clearly going to die. That isn't a blue water cruiser, it isn't fit to be let out of the Solent. Bolt on keel , spade rudder, too much form stability and not enough ballast and it's impossible to get a decent sail shape from in mast furling, even if it doesn't jam on him!
(according to a few threads on here)

Good luck to him. I'm not young enough or adventurous enough to do it myself, but I am just a teeny bit jealous

 

[Tranona]

Of course these unsuitable boats manage to do these things, most of the time they're fine. It's just the times when they're not that you have to avoid! Of course he lived to tell the tale - which is why you could watch his video - so there's a big success-bias there!

Why is it "unsuitable"? All of the time he has sailed it he and the boat have been fine - just like many others of similar types that have sailed the world's ocean safely and to the satisfaction of their owners. Where is there any evidence that people have not lived to tell the tale of their voyages with what you consider "unsuitable" boats?

 

[cherod]

Why is it "unsuitable"? All of the time he has sailed it he and the boat have been fine - just like many others of similar types that have sailed the world's ocean safely and to the satisfaction of their owners. Where is there any evidence that people have not lived to tell the tale of their voyages with what you consider "unsuitable" boats?

 

[roaringgirl]

Why is it "unsuitable"? All of the time he has sailed it he and the boat have been fine - just like many others of similar types that have sailed the world's ocean safely and to the satisfaction of their owners. Where is there any evidence that people have not lived to tell the tale of their voyages with what you consider "unsuitable" boats?

"Unsuitable" was the word used by matt1 before me in this thread. I used it because I knew everyone would know what I meant.


Over a decade ago, my wife and I were crew on an old Benetau. Between Tonga and Fiji the rudder came off.

The "Cheeky Raffiki's" keel fell off and all on board died.

When I came to buying the boat for my family's circumnavigation I chose an encapsulated keel and a skeg-hung rudder.

Many circumnavigations are successfully completed in boats with bolt on keels and spade rudders and everyone is free to make their own choices. You can't possibly argue that keels don't sometimes fall off; or that my encapsulated keel is as likely to fall off as a bolt-on one. When things go wrong that would be trivial in the Solent, but you are thousands of miles from the nearest help, they can be life-threatening. The fact that most of the time, everything's fine wasn't enough for me and my responsibility for my young family. Risk is the chance of the bad thing happening, multiplied by the consequence of it happening.

 

[Tranona]

"Unsuitable" was the word used by matt1 before me in this thread. I used it because I knew everyone would know what I meant.


Over a decade ago, my wife and I were crew on an old Benetau. Between Tonga and Fiji the rudder came off.

The "Cheeky Raffiki's" keel fell off and all on board died.

When I came to buying the boat for my family's circumnavigation I chose an encapsulated keel and a skeg-hung rudder.

Many circumnavigations are successfully completed in boats with bolt on keels and spade rudders and everyone is free to make their own choices. You can't possibly argue that keels don't sometimes fall off; or that my encapsulated keel is as likely to fall off as a bolt-on one. When things go wrong that would be trivial in the Solent, but you are thousands of miles from the nearest help, they can be life-threatening. The fact that most of the time, everything's fine wasn't enough for me and my responsibility for my young family. Risk is the chance of the bad thing happening, multiplied by the consequence of it happening.

Well in the recent round the world for old "suitable" boats, more failed to finish than finished. Why quote a one off like Cheeky Rafiki as if it is typical? Keels don't "fall off" - they get knocked of primarily from grounding. Equally plenty of examples of encapsulated keels experiencing damage from grounding as do long bolt on keels and skeg hung rudders. Nobody talks about those exceptional incidents being typical - just bad luck or poor seamanship

No, everybody does not know what you mean. The number of modern boats of what you call "unsuitable" that have successfully carried the crews across oceans far outweighs boats with encapsulated keels and skeg hung rudders and yet one off incidents are picked out and suggested as typical - they are not, Just like any type of boat such failures are exceptional.

 

[Habebty]

Very enjoyable video, and will look at a few more of his exploits.

My insurance doesn‘t cover me for more than 16 hours singlehanded, so has anyone ever obtained insurance covering this sort of trip?

 

[KeelsonGraham]

Martin’s double Atlantic crossing raises interesting issues. Nowhere in the several hours of video did I see him sailing in conditions for which his boat was ‘unsuitable’. On his way back he did a wide avoidance route around a mesoscale storm. He could do this because he had excellent met info. Nowadays, GRIB files arriving by sat phone do allow yachts to mitigate some of the risk. Admittedly not all.

If you choose your season and latitudes carefully, then the risk of encountering a storm en route is statistically less than 3%. If you can reduce that percentage a tad more because you may be able to see and avoid some developing storms, then the risk, for some people, becomes acceptable.

If you are unlucky enough to encounter a serious storm in an AWB, then you’re in trouble. There are two types of boat: those that look after you in a storm and those that you have to look after. Jambo is most definitely in the latter category.

So, yes, an AWB like Jambo is definitely unsuitable and Martin is calculating (hopefully) that he’ll never encounter a storm serious enough to compromise his little boat. If he does, let’s hope he has storm covers, a drogue or para anchor, a trysail, heavy duty secured washboards, and ample reserves of resilience.

For us mere mortals who can never afford a true blue water cruiser we have simple choices. Live the dream and take our AWBs across oceans (equipped as well as possible) or confine ourselves to weekends across the channel.

Fully recognising the small but significant risk involved, I’m planning to do the former.

 

[roaringgirl]

Well in the recent round the world for old "suitable" boats, more failed to finish than finished.

I guess that's an indicator of how challenging it can be.

Why quote a one off like Cheeky Rafiki as if it is typical? Keels don't "fall off" - they get knocked of primarily from grounding. Equally plenty of examples of encapsulated keels experiencing damage from grounding as do long bolt on keels and skeg hung rudders. Nobody talks about those exceptional incidents being typical - just bad luck or poor seamanship

I didn't quote it as typical, I used it as an example of a keel failure, as requested.

No, everybody does not know what you mean. The number of modern boats of what you call "unsuitable" that have successfully carried the crews across oceans far outweighs boats with encapsulated keels and skeg hung rudders and yet one off incidents are picked out and suggested as typical - they are not, Just like any type of boat such failures are exceptional.

Again, I didn't say it was typical, I was asked for an example and I provided one.

The fact that more AWBs have done ocean crossings (in recent times) than blue water boats, only demonstrates what people buy and sail in, not the risks involved. A more useful statistic would be the number of lost keels per offshore mile travelled for AWB vs. blue water. I don't have that statistic, but we both know that encapsulated keels don't fall off.

 

[roaringgirl]

Martin’s double Atlantic crossing raises interesting issues. Nowhere in the several hours of video did I see him sailing in conditions for which his boat was ‘unsuitable’. On his way back he did a wide avoidance route around a mesoscale storm. He could do this because he had excellent met info. Nowadays, GRIB files arriving by sat phone do allow yachts to mitigate some of the risk. Admittedly not all.

If you choose your season and latitudes carefully, then the risk of encountering a storm en route is statistically less than 3%. if you reduce that percentage a tad for the storms you see developing and can avoid, then the risk, for some people, becomes acceptable.

If you are unlucky enough to encounter a serious storm in an AWB, then you’re in trouble. There are two types of boat: those that look after you in a storm and those that you have to look after.

So, yes, an AWB like Jambo is definitely unsuitable and Martin is taking a risk that he’ll never encounter a storm serious enough to compromise his little boat. If he does, let’s hope he has storm covers, a drogue or para anchor, a trysail, heavy duty secured washboards, and ample reserves of resilience.

For us mere mortals who can never afford a true blue water cruiser we have simple choices. Live the dream and take our AWBs across oceans (equipped as well as possible) or confine ourselves to weekends across the channel.

Fully recognising the small but significant risk involved, I’m planning to do the former.

3% is not acceptable for me, and even with all the modern forecasting tools available, we got caught in a very big squall on our last Atlantic crossing (December 2020), which effortlessly bent our spinnaker pole in half.

It appears that I am more risk-averse than most posting here, yet I'm writing from our chart-table in Bonaire as I arrange our clearance to the Galapagos for Feb next year.

 

[KeelsonGraham]

3% is not acceptable for me, and even with all the modern forecasting tools available, we got caught in a very big squall on our last Atlantic crossing (December 2020), which effortlessly bent our spinnaker pole in half.

It appears that I am more risk-averse than most posting here, yet I'm writing from our chart-table in Bonaire as I arrange our clearance to the Galapagos for Feb next year.

Less than 3% is acceptable for me. (In fact, for the middle latitudes of the Atlantic it’s between 0 and 1% during the normal crossing months). On the other hand, sailing a Wayfarer dinghy to Iceland wouldn’t be. We all have different perceptions of acceptable risk.

No doubt, your chart table is inside a solid blue water cruiser that many of us AWB owners would love to have. Great for you. It’s not a counter argument. It sounds like smugness. My point stands.

Flying a spinnaker in a squall must have been interesting.

Anyway, this is developing into that tired old argument about blue water boats. We all know the relevant points. Of course they’re safer and better in all respects than an AWB. For me, I still very much admire Martin for what he has done. Who knows, you might even meet up with him in the Galapagos.

 

[pandos]

Very enjoyable video, and will look at a few more of his exploits.

My insurance doesn‘t cover me for more than 16 hours singlehanded, so has anyone ever obtained insurance covering this sort of trip?

My insurance covers me for unlimited singlehanded, in commission 365 in waters from the Elbe to la Rochelle including the British isles... I expect the area covered could be increased for more dineros ??

 

[roaringgirl]

Less than 3% is acceptable for me. (In fact, for the middle latitudes of the Atlantic it’s between 0 and 1% during the normal crossing months). On the other hand, sailing a Wayfarer dinghy to Iceland wouldn’t be. We all have different perceptions of acceptable risk.

No doubt, your chart table is inside a solid blue water cruiser that many of us AWB owners would love to have. Great for you. It’s not a counter argument. It sounds like smugness. My point stands.

Flying a spinnaker in a squall must have been interesting.

Anyway, this is developing into that tired old argument about blue water boats. We all know the relevant points. Of course they’re safer and better in all respects than an AWB. For me, I still very much admire Martin for what he has done. Who knows, you might even meet up with him in the Galapagos.

 

[roaringgirl]

My blue water cruiser is 44 years old, had already completed a circumnavigation when we bought her 7 years ago, for £35k. We had the genoa poled out when the squall hit.

 

[KeelsonGraham]

My blue water cruiser is 44 years old, had already completed a circumnavigation when we bought her 7 years ago, for £35k. We had the genoa poled out when the squall hit.

Lovely. I’m sure she’ll take good care of you.

Squalls are a different kettle of fish to the type of storm which threatens the safety of an AWB. An F9 squall is damn uncomfortable in an AWB but not life threatening because it doesn’t last long enough to build up really dangerous seas. Squalls, one must expect to encounter!

I’ve had the misfortune to experience three F11 squalls in Croatia on a Jenneau 36. Luckily we were secured to a strong buoy at the time. Even so - not something I’d like to repeat.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

My blue water cruiser is 44 years old, had already completed a circumnavigation when we bought her 7 years ago, for £35k. We had the genoa poled out when the squall hit.

Can we assume you chose to pole out the Genoa and sail so deep to avoid land? If not then why risk it when squalls are a risk? Faster progress sailing VMG which probably wouldn't require poling out your sail.

 

[roaringgirl]

Can we assume you chose to pole out the Genoa and sail so deep to avoid land? If not then why risk it when squalls are a risk? Faster progress sailing VMG which probably wouldn't require poling out your sail.

She's fine in 40kts+ wing on wing with the genoa poled out, in fact it's by far the best way for her and she's much faster through the water that way. I also find it easier to head straight down the sea than taking it on a quarter - otherwise as the waves get bigger, they tend to kick the stern sideways and upset the hydrovane.

We had been steering a bit south for 3 days to avoid a massive lightening storm to the north, but eventually it surrounded us. It was fine when blowing at 40, but we got a massive gust of 55 from the port side which snapped our pole.