This year ARC will be interesting to measure the performance of old bluewater designs with modern ones.
No, there is not any true full keel boat among the 200 boats
but there are some boats from the next generation, fin modified keel, I mean that keel that is in between a true narrow fin and a full keel.
Well, it is better than nothing for comparative purposes in what regards performance and those boats have already a better performance than full keel boats.
Of course, the way the boats are sailed also counts but in so many boats we can easily discover a pattern and see if the claim that modern performance cruisers when loaded are as slow or not much faster than those boats. Almost all boats that are making the ARC, are in fact going to the Caribbean to pass the European winter there and are loaded accordingly.
We have there some that are great boats of an older design, like the Shanon 37, a Nauticat 42, a Gozzard 41, a Trintella 45, two Island Packet 380, a Island Packet 45, a Pacific Seacraft 40, a Rustler 36.
In what regards performance cruisers of the same size on we have on the cruising division:
A Sabre 386, a Grand Soleil 43 OT, 2 Beneteau First 47.7, a Pogo 40. There are more performance cruisers but they are on the racing division taking the opportunity to have some fun. It would not be fair to compare boats cruising with boats racing even if nobody likes to be left behind so we will only compare boats cruising, not racing.
We can also compare the performance of those old designs with the performance of modern cruisers, I mean modern but not performance boats:
We have a 2 XC45, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 43, a Hanse 445, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49, a Dehler 32, a Delphia 33, a Beneteau Oceanis473, a Allures 39.9, a Hallberg Rassy 372 and a Southerly 42.
I kept only on the list of modern boats recent designs and excluded older boats even if with a fin keel.The subject here is the comparison of old designs with contemporary designs, fully loaded an on an Atlantic crossing.
It will be fun
The ARC will start in some days.
ARC