Is this really the longest Non-stop 2-man Dinghy Passage?

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ShinyShoe

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So according to: http://www.ybw.com/news-from-yachting-boating-world/record-breaking-dinghy-attempt-22230 2 Navy boys are going to take their Bowsun Dinghy from 1 naval base on the South Coast to another, To make the distance big enough to "break the record" they are going via France. Call me a sceptic but going via Wick would have been better!

Anyway - I'm somewhat surprised by the record claim. They claim the longest distance sailed without stopping in a double handed sailing dinghy is 300nm, and they are going to do 320nm. Frank Dye sailed from Scotland to Iceland, Faroes and Norway. A Wayfarer is a 2 man dinghy in my book. Wikipaedia claims those journey's by Frank were 600 and 650nm.

Its been a while since I read Frank's books, but I can't see why these guys think doing half the distance will break a record... what have I missed?
 
I admire their plan to rely on a robust little old boat and fairly primitive kit. Not so sure about their projected journey-time though; here's a quote from the YBW report:

"Depending on the weather, they believe this will take them 64 hours at 5 knots."

I last sailed a Bosun in the eighties, and admittedly it was loaded with German jung frau crew, but I doubt these guys will top five knots often enough to average that speed.
 
Dan,

agreed; I think Frank & Margaret Dye might have had a few replies to that claim.

I sailed on Bosuns at Cobnor as a schoolboy, as I recall they were designed to require a heavy crew just to give a warship's crew something to do - robust, but two of us in an Otter could easily outpace them in light winds; the great trick was to sneak up on girl crews - they couldn't see us from leeward as they'd been taught to keep the boat heeled and fill the sails - then nip round and throw seaweed into the main, so it dropped on them with rewarding squeals... :)
 
I did too...it was a day in the late 'eighties, and jeepers, I would have enjoyed a bit of seaweed-throwing with giggling girlies!

My crew were more on the lines of the serene temptresses of the Lorelei. Just the same, it was a delightful change from business as usual.

But I never forgot the Bosun. Nice little boat, I might have looked to buy one if I hadn't been led astray...led Osprey, I mean. ;)
 
I nose-dived my Topper at Chichester in those days. Quite instructive, shoving a flat bow through the back of a wave.

Of course in the same spirit as the chaps in this thread, I eventually tired of the harbour and sailed the Topper clean across the Solent to Seaview, from Bosham. Only eight or nine miles of open sea, but it was adventurous to me. I've never advanced much since. This'll be the year... :rolleyes:
 
To Seaview in a Topper sounds jolly good going to me ! When we did the same trip in a Scorpion we went past TS Royalist at anchor and they lined up to give us a cheer.

Talking of nose-dives, I saw a 420 do that at Tilgate Lake near Crawley, it went in quite spectacularly up to the mast - I think the centreboard was locked down and hit the bottom while running - I'd assumed this was the lack of buoyancy in fresh rather than salt water which I'd encountered on Windermere in my Caricraft 10, but reading these reports maybe not.
 
Seajet said:
To Seaview in a Topper sounds jolly good going to me ! When we did the same trip in a Scorpion we went past TS Royalist at anchor and they lined up to give us a cheer.
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Thanks, but how did the Royalist crew know how far you'd come?

The trouble (if it can be called trouble) with ambitious trips by very small boats, is getting one's adventurousness recognised.

If a dinghy sails into a beach or harbour and lands, it will usually be assumed to have launched from there too.

Although, off Bembridge in the Topper, a yacht steered close enough for the skipper to ask where we'd come from. He nearly laughed his lunch up when we said Bosham.
 
I think the Royalist lot had seen where we'd been & gone off the beach at Seaview - and we had a trapeze on the Scorpion as an experimental home made idea of mine, my crew John jauntily doffed his cap to them; just as well it wasn't a few hours use later when my amateur schoolboy swaging parted and uncermiouslmonly dunked him ! :)
 
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Wayfarer. :sleeping: Could try harder.

Seajet said:
...a few hours later when my amateur schoolboy swaging parted and unceremoniously dunked him ! :)
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That, I would have paid to see.

I hope these MOD chaps film their progress in the Bosun. Might be quite entertaining if the wind pipes up offshore.

I'm keen to get a GoPro or something myself for this season, and a forward-facing mounting above the transom, complete with some simple gimballing.

Out in the Solent (or occasionally on a big wake) there's often enough wave-action to make enjoyable footage...but whilst in sole charge of the boat, one is rarely able to film it!
 
I doubt Frank Dye would care about "official" records, not least because these guys are trailed by an observer yacht and, for their recent attempt to sail to Scotland, they are resupplied at sea. For information, on my chart Kinlochbervie to Haimaey in Iceland's Vestmannaeyjar is 534nm; plotting Frank's route from his books looks like he sailed at least 600nm. No Gortex, no GPS. Huge respect for Dye's legacy.
 
Wayfarer Hafren said:
I doubt Frank Dye would care about "official" records, not least because these guys are trailed by an observer yacht and, for their recent attempt to sail to Scotland, they are resupplied at sea. For information, on my chart Kinlochbervie to Haimaey in Iceland's Vestmannaeyjar is 534nm; plotting Frank's route from his books looks like he sailed at least 600nm. No Gortex, no GPS. Huge respect for Dye's legacy.
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Without an observer yacht, we can't be sure whether Frank Dye might have cheated and taken a short cut to Faroes and Norway!;)
 
LittleSister said:
Without an observer yacht, we can't be sure whether Frank Dye might have cheated and taken a short cut to Faroes and Norway!;)
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Or, perhaps aliens picked him up and dropped him at the far end? Anything is possible....

Blokes like Dye and Hasler just got on with what they thought was fun. Nowadays, it often seems to involve sponsership and media coverage. Corinthian, not.
 
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Not sure if this is apocryphal but I was told by an instructor at HMS Caledonia that the design of the Bosun was tested by being dropped 25' from a helicopter into the sea. Not the sort of dink that will often reach 5knts, never mind average.
 
For his Norwegian trip, Frank Dye's crew was Bill Brockbank, ex of Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club and now based down South in London. We have heard Bill's talk a couple of times describing how he spent ages persuading Frank that he was the ideal crew for that sort of trip!!

You can see a short film of the "Summer Cruise" on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ9Qh9hv8eQ


It is well worth a watch as it is better than lots of the TV.
 
Martin&Rene said:
For his Norwegian trip, Frank Dye's crew was Bill Brockbank, ex of Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club and now based down South in London. We have heard Bill's talk a couple of times describing how he spent ages persuading Frank that he was the ideal crew for that sort of trip!!

You can see a short film of the "Summer Cruise" on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ9Qh9hv8eQ


It is well worth a watch as it is better than lots of the TV.
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Thank you, from a wimp.
 
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