Long Distance

[Big Fish]

I am thinking about going on a long distance sailing adventure at some stage. Looking at Boat reviews in YM to help with Boat choice, what is the difference between "offshore passage making" and "trade wind voyaging". Surely they are very similar types of sailing? If a Boat is rated 4 out of 5 for one it must be very much the same for the other? Thanks
Losssa.

 

[oldvarnish]

what is the difference between "offshore passage making" and "trade wind voyaging"

These are phrases made up by advertising people and so they have no real meaning. They used to like 'world-girdler' but that fell out of fashion. There'll be another along soon.

Ignore adverts if you want to choose a boat for a long voyage. Talk to people who have done it, ask them what they looked for, and if it all makes sense go and find something similar.

In the end, you'll get the boat you can afford and then you'll decide what you can do with it.

 

[macd]

I am thinking about going on a long distance sailing adventure at some stage. Looking at Boat reviews in YM to help with Boat choice, what is the difference between "offshore passage making" and "trade wind voyaging". Surely they are very similar types of sailing? If a Boat is rated 4 out of 5 for one it must be very much the same for the other? Thanks
Losssa.

I'm !largely with oldvarnish, but if there is a real difference it might be that a boat described as 'trade wind' might be set up for downwind sailing. Of course it might also be that both are synonyms for slow and/or heavy. As OV uggests, the only meaningful distinctions that can be made are on the basis of experience and detail.
Best wishes with the dream (which will probably also defy simplistic description).

 

[tri39]

It could be inferred that "offshore passage making" requires a stronger boat ( eg Mr Cornell's latest beast) than a mass produced cruiser in which so many have "crossed the pond as in trade wind voyaging". But as OV says (and so ably did), it's what you can afford combined with will power. Many sailors have vast over equipped boats in which they sail from one marina to another. Others do amazing things in very modest boats.

 

[sailorman]

It could be inferred that "offshore passage making" requires a stronger boat ( eg Mr Cornell's latest beast) than a mass produced cruiser in which so many have "crossed the pond as in trade wind voyaging". But as OV says (and so ably did), it's what you can afford combined with will power. Many sailors have vast over equipped boats in which they sail from one marina to another. Others do amazing things in very modest boats.

One only has to look here in our midst

http://www.ybw.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?71-Jester-Challenge

 

[Tranona]

Also with OV on this. The terms you have cited are used by YM to help readers assess the likely use of the boats they test. As with all one word descriptive terms they are generalisations and mean only what the users think they mean. However, it is quite easy to then look at how they have been used to describe a selection of boats to correlate the scores to the dominant characteristics of the different boats. So you will probably find the "passage maker" will be a heavier boat that is good at plugging away in any kind of weather compared with a "trade wind" boat that may be better in light airs and downwind.

Of course, not everybody agrees with these distinctions and when you look at boats used for long distance sailing you will find a huge variety - and that owners will (usually) defend their choice on the basis that the boat meets their requirements and has achieved what they want to achieve. However most will admit that at times they would wish for a different kind of boat.

It is reasonable to say that there has been a significant change in the preferred types of boat, particularly in the last 15-20 years. For a long time the classic long keel heavy displacement types ruled, partly because those were the boats that were available, most having been designed and built for use in N European waters. This does not necessarily make them the best for warm weather usage and progressively modern designs of lighter displacement and better sailing efficiency have become more popular. Along with this, sizes of boats have increased and it is now much easier to design a boat which is better cross a wider range of uses and conditions.

At the same time long distance sailing has become much easier with faster boats meaning shorter passage times, better weather forecasting and communications reducing the chance of meeting adverse conditions and better equipment reducing the physical demands of sailing. So the days of the rufty tufty boats and old salt skipper disappearing from Falmouth and not being seen for weeks or even months have long gone (unless of course you choose to do that!).

So, when you come to choose your boat the starting point is the budget. If you have only, say £50k or under your choice is fairly limited to older style boats, but as many have shown it is perfectly possible to buy and equip a reasonable boat for that money. Double the boat buying budget and the choice gets much bigger - larger boat, newer perhaps, more modern designs etc. Double it again and you can seriously consider buying a new boat rather than somebody's cast off.

Draw up you list of desirable characteristics for the type of sailing you want to do and you will very quickly eliminate large numbers of boats. Accept there is no such thing as a perfect boat, then choose the one that you like best and work with it.

BTW not a good idea to post on two forums as it gets confusing to follow.

 

[KellysEye]

There was another thread in Scuttlebutt about this, this is what I posted:

>Offshore passage making" to me implies "tough" in a way that "trade winds" doesn't.

They are the same thing as most offshore passage use the trade wind for down wind passages. Our Atlantic crossing was in light winds and we were praying for squalls to get the speed up. Two years later we were on the ARC finish line and the boats had 30 knots gusting to 50, the damage included broken booms, booms torn off, spinnaker poles torn off the mast, broken carbon spinnaker poles, damaged rigs, damaged rudders and torn sails and spinnakers.

Bavarias have crossed with no problems but I would recommend a heavier boat in case you come across heavy weather. Across Biscay we had winds gusting to 50 knots, a Cat hove to using both engines, a Moody ketch ran off with drogues and a local fishing boat was lost with all hands (very sad). We kept sailing in a heavy displacement steel ketch.

 

[tcm]

KE er your blog said you were scared stiff and were taken across by the previous owner of the boat "they call it the Milk Run - it isn't" is a typical quote ...and from your previous posts you were doing the opposite of "praying for squalls" and instead recording every minute of wind over "force 8" (about 30minutes irrc)