{"id":132396,"date":"2021-06-24T08:31:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T07:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?p=132396"},"modified":"2023-11-28T08:37:35","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T08:37:35","slug":"water-for-sailing-we-survey-the-arc-fleet-to-find-popular-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/cruising\/water-for-sailing-we-survey-the-arc-fleet-to-find-popular-options-132396","title":{"rendered":"Water for sailing: We survey the ARC fleet to find popular options"},"content":"Something big has happened in ocean sailing. It could be the tipping point in the 34-year history of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers<\/a>, when multihulls<\/a> move from minority element to ruling party.\r\n\r\nWhen a cruising catamaran sailed by four people in their sixties can beat a larger one-design round-the-world racer with a crew of 15, and many even bigger, you realise something has changed \u2013 maybe for good.\r\n\r\nJust after midnight on 7 December 2019, R\u00e9gis Guillemot, his partner V\u00e9ronique, and two friends fizzed across the finish line in St Lucia in Guillemot\u2019s 55ft cruising catamaran, Hallucine<\/em>. It had taken them just 11 days and 16 hours.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126759\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"catamaran-sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-Hallucine-Marsaudon-TS5-credit-Tim-Wright-PhotoAction\" Celebrations as the four crew of Hallucine<\/em>, a Marsaudon TS5 catamaran, crosses the finish line at Rodney Bay, St Lucia. Photo: Tim Wright \/ PhotoAction[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\u201cOur boat is very quick, very simple and fast, and we are optimised for light weight,\u201d explains the quietly spoken French sailor. His other half just laughs. \u201cFor him, there is full speed ahead, or nothing!\"\r\n\r\nHallucine<\/em> had sailed from Gran Canaria at an average of 12.5 knots, while the crew did Pilates on the aft deck each day, baked bread and shot GoPro videos.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hz5qw9lZP1g\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAround 10 hours later came Sisi<\/em>, a VO65 from the Austrian Ocean Race Project crewed by 12 Slovenian charter sailors and three professionals.\r\n\r\nWhat a different experience: faster sailing but a course of long gybes, on a diet of freeze-dried food, no showers and hot-bunking in the round-the-world racer\u2019s dark carbon recesses.\r\n\r\nAstern of them both was top French solo sailor Jean-Pierre Dick\u2019s The Kid<\/em>, a 54ft carbon composite canting keel yacht designed as a performance cruising interpretation of IMOCA 60 principles.\r\n\r\nArticle continues below...<\/em>\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n[collection]\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nHallucine<\/em> would also have beaten Ulisse<\/em>, Patrizio Bertelli\u2019s 105ft Frers superyacht<\/a>, had it not diverted to another island on the final approach following a crew injury.\r\n\r\nIn the ARC+ rally, too, the route that goes via a pitstop in the Cape Verde Islands, the first to arrive in St Lucia was also a multihull, the Neel 47 trimaran Minimole<\/em>.\r\n\r\nCruising multihulls numbers have been growing quickly. Of the 280-strong fleet in 2019, 60 were multis. But the most telling statistic is that they make up 50% of all the new boats.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126762\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"catamaran-sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-Neel-47-credit-Tim-Wright-PhotoAction\" The crew of Neel 47 trimaran Minimole<\/em> celebrate arrival in St Lucia 12 days after leaving Mindelo, Cape Verde. Photo: Tim Wright \/ PhotoAction[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe crossing times are incontrovertible evidence that performance cruising multihulls and cruising catamarans designed foremost for spacious living can, if sailed well, be faster downwind than a monohull with a longer LOA.\r\n\r\nOf course, what makes the ideal yacht for an upwind passage (for example, the return crossing to Europe) is quite a different matter, but more and more cruisers are planning only a one-way voyage and intend to ship their boats back, or are planning to sail onwards into the Pacific<\/a> along the tradewinds<\/a> route. This is a trend that is only going to continue.\r\n

Fast, light, simple<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nIn one way, the line honours winner\u2019s story is exceptional. For many years skipper R\u00e9gis Guillemot ran a charter business in Martinique.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126760\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"320\"]\"catamaran-sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-hallucine-winches\" Hallucine<\/em>\u2019s anti-capsize system: Two cam cleats flip up to release genoa and spinnaker sheets if settings are exceeded[\/caption]\r\n\r\nHe is also an experienced racer, cousin of the French round the world sailor Marc Guillemot, and a three-times Route du Rhum competitor.\r\n\r\nHis Marsaudon TS5 is a lightweight cruiser with a carbon mast and deck, It displaces just 8.6 tonnes, and Guillemot keeps it light.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s not too complicated,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have a small 27lt per hour watermaker, solar panels, no generator and we don\u2019t carry too much fuel or water. We set off with only 30lt of water per side, plus emergency water in bottles, and made water every day.\r\n\r\n\u201cI want to go fast. We can be sailing at 17 knots and sitting there comfortably having our coffee. And in the Caribbean<\/a> the size [of the boat] is no problem: there\u2019s more space, it\u2019s cooler and less rolly in anchorages.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnd although the boat is light, it does carry scuba gear and a kitesurfer that they plan to use in the Caribbean and as they make their way across the South Pacific next year.\r\n\r\nGuillemot ran single watches and sailed almost all the way with a full main and heavy A2 spinnaker. \u201cWe took it down at Pigeon Island after 11 days just to tack to the finish,\u201d he says. They were able to gybe through 145-150\u00b0 and were making 17-20 knots \u2013 \u201cusually 17-18 knots steady\u201d\u2013 as soon as they reached the tradewinds.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126758\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"catamaran-sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-hallucine-kill-cord\" The kill cord in Hallucine<\/em>'s saloon[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn the few squalls they encountered, the wind never topped 17 knots apparent and they felt comfortable enough to keep the full main up and soak down by 10\u00b0 until a squall passed. To help make sure they never pressed the boat so hard they risked capsize, Guillemot has an automatic sheet release system similar to those used on the huge Ultime<\/a> trimarans.\r\n\r\nMade by ACR, this monitors pitch and heel angle and is set to release the main and spinnaker sheet from a panel of cam cleats once certain settings are reached, and also set off an audible alarm. There is also a kill cord in the saloon. It\u2019s a very simple system.\r\n\r\nThe yacht\u2019s autopilot can, he says, handle speeds up to 24 knots, but for the last five days the crew hand steered all day. The boat is steered from the aft quarters with tillers, and the video above shows some of the speeds they were enjoying.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126757\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"catamaran-sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-hallucine-acr-unit\" The ACR unit senses pitch and heel angle[\/caption]\r\n\r\nBut although Hallucine<\/em>\u2019s crossing was super-fast, another Marsaudon catamaran provided a second benchmark. Fifth over the line was a TS42, Elektra<\/em>, a 42ft smaller sister from the same French builders, which made the crossing in just under 13 days. They, too, left bigger boats astern \u2013 10 hours behind her was a Swan 80.\r\n\r\nElektra<\/em>\u2019s crew had sometimes reefed during the night and may represent a more typical example of sensible catamaran cruising because, as even R\u00e9gis Guillemot admits: \u201cThey are like sportscars \u2013 when they go, they go,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s a limit and if you don\u2019t know what you are doing, you can quickly go into the red zone.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe crossing times of these big multis is a clear sign of an evolution in performance and speed. \u201cI think you can\u2019t necessarily judge all boats by Hallucine<\/em>\u2019s performance, but what is interesting is how they are holding pace with larger monohulls,\u201d says World Cruising Club (WCC) communications director Jeremy Wyatt.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126763\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"320\"]\"catamaran-sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-outremer-4x-mast-view\" View from aloft on Pierre Caouette\u2019s and Lisa McKerracher\u2019s Outremer 5X Biotrek<\/em>[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\u201cA 55ft Bali was holding up with an X-61, which is a fast monohull, and if you pick out comparable elapsed times and distances sailed you can see that a Lagoon 42 is going the same speed as a 46ft Bavaria and significantly faster than a Discovery 55, if you\u2019re sailing them well and getting the best out of them.\r\n\r\n\u201cMultihulls are more expensive to buy, more expensive to run and you have to remember that if the beam is over 8m you could be restricting yourself as to where in the world you can be lifted out.\r\n\r\n\"But for tradewinds sailing there\u2019s a strong argument that they are the right choice and the ability to live your life without any sense of camping is the biggest win-win\r\n\r\n\u201cBut,\u201d he adds, \u201cgo on a performance sailing course first, would be my advice.\"\r\n

South til the butter melts<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nKevin Horne and his partner, Diane, are steadfast monohull sailors. The Australian skipper has a distinguished background in offshore racing<\/a> with the well-known Aussie yacht Wild Thing<\/em>, and was sailing in a crew with several professionals including round the world Clipper Race winner Wendy Tuck<\/a>.\r\n\r\nHe bought his Jeanneau 51 Wild Spirit<\/em> in 2018 and had been cruising in the Mediterranean<\/a>, but is now sailing his way back home.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126767\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-jeanneau-51-Wild-Spirit\" The crew of Wild Spirit<\/em> (L-R): Kevin Horne, Diane Rogers and Russell Finch[\/caption]\r\n\r\nHorne was taking part in the ARC+ rally \u2013 he liked the idea of a stop on the way across and was hugely enthusiastic about the visit to Cape Verde.\r\n\r\nHe too had an uncomplicated sailplan in action for the crossing: full main and asymmetric, and between Mindelo and St Lucia made \u201cone gybe to the north and one down\u201d to go as deep downwind as possible. They had daily runs of 160-180 miles, with one day over 200, hand-steered \u201c80-85% of the time\u201d.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe boat was outstanding,\u201d he says. \u201cOur water tanks and fuel tanks were full at the start and we had two weeks of food, so a lot of weight, but the boat helmed beautifully and tracked along. We took the tender and outboard off, and the anchor and chain were stowed over the keel to centralise weight. The boat was stunning and it really was brochure sailing.\"\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126769\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-oyster-625-aft-deck\" Seas in the wake of Yolo<\/em>, Gottfried Boehringer\u2019s Oyster 625[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThis was a year for heading south until the butter melts, avoiding light winds along the rhumb line by following the classic route south towards Cape Verde where early tradewinds begin and turning right for St Lucia.\r\n\r\nThis is typical a VMG running course, and those yachts such as the VO65 that were running down hot angles had to sail many hundreds more miles that cost them dearly.\r\n\r\nSisi<\/em>, the VO65, for example, logged 3,950 miles (one of the highest I\u2019ve heard of in years of ARC coverage). For added context, Bouwe Bekking was also sailing a VO65 in the RORC Transatlantic Race between Lanzarote to Grenada, and he too reported sailing around 4,000 miles.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126772\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-vo65-sisi-winch-credit-Austrian-Ocean-Race-Project-Michael-Muck-Kremtz\" Fast, wet downwind sailing on the VO65 Sisi<\/em>. Photo: Austrian Ocean Race Project \/ Michael Muck Kremtz[\/caption]\r\n\r\nYachts able to sail deeper downwind at angles up to 170\u00b0 are much better set up for this route. The old racing adage that \u2018the shortest distance is invariably the fastest\u2019 holds true on the transatlantic.\r\n\r\nThe southerly route adds around 300 miles compared to the rhumb line distance of 2,700 miles. That can be made back if avoiding light winds on the direct route, but reaching machines with no angles to play are not going to break any records.\r\n\r\nThis year the trades began gently and built steadily until yachts were seeing 20-25 knots and positively barrelling down westwards.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126771\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-vo65-sisi-crew-credit-Austrian-Ocean-Race-Project-Michael-Muck-Kremtz\" Exhausted crew at the stern of the VO65 Sisi<\/em>. The crossing was a full-on racing exercise, and hard, intensive work. Photo: Austrian Ocean Race Project \/ Michael Muck Kremtz[\/caption]\r\n\r\nA common complaint was that life on board was very rolly. Many crews found the motion of building seas and fast sailing an unpleasant surprise, making daily tasks and sleeping quite hard work.\r\n\r\nThese conditions put boats under strain, and cause breakages. \u201cBut it\u2019s really what we would expect, given the strength of the wind,\u201d comments WCC\u2019s Wyatt. \u201cWear and tear on steering cables, broken goosenecks\u2026 That is par for the course.\u201d\r\n\r\nTwo crews reported bone fractures on board: one person broke an arm during a gybe that went wrong. This was likely because of the strong tradewinds, which made boats roll more.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126766\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"320\"]\"sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-hydrovane-jury-rig-tiller\" Szabi Mohai and his Hydrovane[\/caption]\r\n\r\nSzabi Mohai, sailing on a Dutch entry, a Bavaria 49 named Wilson<\/em>, entered the finish at Rodney Bay steering gingerly with an emergency tiller. The boat\u2019s rudder blade had broken four days earlier.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt was the middle of the night and very dark when we had a crash and heard a loud bang, and when we looked back we could see [the remains of] the blade in the water.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe boat momentarily came to a halt; Mohai realised they had hit something. The collision left only a little of the foam filling around the web structure from the stock and they were unable to steer with it.\r\n\r\nHappily, Mohai has a Hydrovane, which operates with its own rudder blade and is equipped with a stub handle for a tiller, so the crew was able to use this to control the boat. \u201cThat really was our best friend,\u201d he says.\r\n\r\nThe crew had also broken the bowsprit in rough weather at the start of the rally, when the bow buried in a wave and a fitting holding the anchor failed.\r\n\r\nThe anchor shot up and sheared off the aluminium prodder. The crew lashed the remaining part back in place with a cat\u2019s cradle of lines, as shown below.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126764\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-bavaria-49-broken-bowsprit\" Repairs to his broken bowsprit[\/caption]\r\n\r\nA few boats had encounters with so-called \u2018ghost\u2019 fishing nets. One yacht had part of a net entangled on the keel. Another reported passing a very large ghost net that they estimated to be around 50m x 20m in size.\r\n\r\nSome of the crews we spoke to were disappointed they had seen very little marine life. Yet others photographed pods of dolphins, reported catching mahi mahi or seeing longtails, so perhaps these sightings were more common on boats where people were handsteering or on yachts without large biminis and sprayhoods?\r\n\r\nAt least three crews from the ARC+ reported nighttime encounters with other yachts that were unlit. These were not rally boats and did not appear on AIS.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126768\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"320\"]\"sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-Jeanneau-64-foredeck-credit-Paul-Laurie-Point-Photography\" Dolphins play at the bow of Jeanneau 64 Layla<\/em>. Photo: Paul Laurie \/ Point Photography[\/caption]\r\n\r\nWith lower energy LED nav lights available and modern solar panels able to provide a steady supply of energy, it is hard to understand or excuse.\r\n\r\nWhile the inexorable rise of the cruising catamaran is a very visible trend in bluewater sailing, it is not the only sea change. Another fast-growing movement is the business of vlogging.\r\n\r\nDozens of ARC crews, at least, are dabbling in video diaries and mini documentaries for a wider audience and a handful have followings large enough to monetise through YouTube and provide useful income.\r\n\r\nCanadian sailor Lisa McKerracher, who is living on board their new Outremer 5X Biotrek with her partner Pierre Caouette and their labradoodle dog Tiller, is new to the game and began making video diaries for family to follow.\r\n\r\nShe is seeing an increasing following for her insights into the boat and life on board (the channel is called Biotrek-sailing<\/a>). Access to fast 4G\/LTE wifi in Europe and through most of the Caribbean islands, and Wi-Fi in most cafes and restaurants has changed how people share their experiences and is giving a huge new audience with less or no sailing experience an enticing glimpse into what life on board entails.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_126770\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"sailing-across-the-atlantic-arc-2019-report-scarlet-oyster-crew-credit-Clare-Pengelly-World-Cruising\" Ross Applebey (centre) and crew of Scarlet Oyster<\/em> celebrate Ross\u2019s fourth racing division win, the third consecutively. Photo: Clare Pengelly \/ World Cruising[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn reality, life on passage is testing. Says skipper Szabi Mohai, \u201cthere is something happening every day\u201d \u2013 by which he means something to fix or add to the jobs list.\r\n\r\nBut it is a very different pace than on land, and with an Atlantic crossing<\/a> comes the satisfaction of knowing that, with every mile covered, the hard part is receding.\r\n\r\nFirst published in the February 2020 edition of Yachting World.<\/em>","excerpt":{"rendered":"

Water is the source of all life. For any sailor considering extended cruising or an ocean crossing, the ability to carry or produce sufficient fresh water for sailing is a top priority. But how do you decide how much water to ship or how best to generate your own? Our survey of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) fleet last year focused on water. We asked the skippers how much water they carried for sailing, in what form, how it was used and, for the majority with watermakers, detailed questions about the generation of water and how the equipment performed at sea. Since we last ran a survey on this topic in 2014 our collective attitude towards waste has arguably changed for the better. That fleet of 193 yachts carried over 28 tonnes of bottled water with them across to the Caribbean. All sailors today should consider how every consumable item they carry aboard will be disposed of when they reach their destination. The main decision ocean sailors face with water stowage is whether to fit a watermaker, which is both a practical and a financial decision. Generating your own water is one of the best investments cruising sailors can make towards comfort and true independence. ARC skippers over the past two decades have consistently described watermakers as one of their most vital pieces of equipment. \u201cTo us, a watermaker is the single best thing you can have for cruising by a fair margin and fully changes the game,\u201d thinks Rush\u2019s Ian Baylis. Three-quarters of the skippers who replied to our survey had watermakers aboard. The seven yachts listed as not carrying one were all smaller entries between 35ft and 45ft and typically over 20-year-old models. They carried extra water in bottles and jerrycans and used it sparingly. Usage and conservation of water for sailing Being frugal with water becomes second nature to most cruisers. The majority of respondents said their crew only showered every three days, 12 every two days and 13 daily. One of the most common pieces of advice from skippers concerning water conservation is to fit a saltwater tap and to use seawater whenever you can. \u201cCook with salt water when possible,\u201d advises the crew of Montana, a Swan 48 S&S from 1973. Yet over half of the respondents did not have a saltwater tap fitted in their galley, nor even a manual freshwater pump in the galley or the heads. \u201cThe saltwater tap in the galley is essential,\u201d thinks Tobias Gr\u00f6pper on his Sunbeam 44 Pivot. \u201cWe still have 50% of our tank capacity on arrival although we took showers etc.\u201d Jorn Aalefj\u00e6r, the Norwegian skipper of Ticora III, and Dane Martin Nielsen aboard his Jeanneau 53 also both stressed the benefit of fitting a saltwater tap. Suffisant, one of the smallest entrants, a Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 331 from 1990, has only small tanks, but uses a Katadyn Power Survivor 40E watermaker. They used salt water to wash with and had manual taps fitted in …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":450,"featured_media":132401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,972],"tags":[826,24,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/450"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132396"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132420,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132396\/revisions\/132420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132396"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=132396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}