[maxcontax]

I came across the data from 1898 to 1988 on solo sailing circumnavigations and would like to share the following condensed information regarding boat lengths:

Smallest: 13'' ( an Aussie)Biggest: 76'' Catamaran (France) Grouping by 5 foot samples, the most popular length was 26-30'' by a factor of 2 or 3 compared to other sample intervals.

The boat lengths did form a symmetrical Bell Curve around this group. The single most popular length seems to have been 26 feet.

Looking at the data from a lognormal vs. occurrence view, the Median boat lenght (50/50 longer/shorter) was 31.4 feet, and the Statistical Mean length was exactly 10 meters, or 32.8 feet.

This information does not include the last 15 years. I will try dig that up.

As far as frequency of solo circumnavigations, of course, the ''80''s were the highest, due to good fibreglas construction and availability of good boats. While many large boats did it then, curiously, so did the full gamut of lengths:

conclusion?? perhaps it is that boats are getting better, not necessarily longer?