Please help me understand ISAF Special Reg 3.09.7 'Cockpit Volume'

[GeorgeB]

Pac Cup is a great race. I did it this last year on Music, a Nordic 44. At just about the half way point we passed Le Flying Fish, a Moore 24 doing it double handed. Kind of bizarre passing such a little boat 1,200 NM from land. We’re over on Alameda, what is the name and make of your boat? I was involved on Music’s campaign from the ground up and it took quite some work to bring her from Cat 2 to 1 (she is a veteran of the Van Isle 360 and several Swiftsure races). Rework your cockpit measurements – has any boats of your model done the race before? My advice is start early – We didn’t have any deal breakers, but man, there was a thousand and one items on our punch list, all of them time consuming. The inspections process is quite thorough and no grey areas so, you need to have any waivers in hand before the inspections. We did have to go the extra mile to prove the emergency rudder from Scanmar was effective with the Nordic’s skeg hung rudder. (Apparently it failed on a Passport 40). Insurance was also tough and we had to have the boat inspected by a surveyor with an additional set of requirements. Keep this dialog going.

[sailingdog]

Joe-

One guy did a Transpac in a Cal 20. As for the bridgedeck, this is what the cockpit looked like to start with:



Notice the companionway has only about a 3" high lip to it.

This is the mockup I did:



This is the finished project:



The inside is still open to the cabin, and the bridgedeck provides about 4.5 cubic feet of storage right next to the galley and companionway. Putting the fresh water deck fill on the angled part of the bridgedeck makes it far less likely to have salt water pooling around it.

The one thing I haven't done is made a new set of companionway steps/ladder for the boat. Still working on making a design that I like.

I hope this helps.

Originally Posted by jgsteven

Hey George,



I haven't entered anything yet. I would really like to do the Pacific Cup in 2010, however right now I am just trying to understand the regulations and evaluate my boat for 'offshore cruising ability'.

It seems the 2008 Pacific Cup was done by a number of people in what I would consider a very small boat to cross the pacific in (ie: Moore 24, Express 27). I am very interested in going to Hawaii at some point (whether in 2010, or in some future year and future boat) and have been looking into the regs as a good starting place to understand how to make my boat safe offshore.

SailingDog-> I would love to see the pics of your bridgedeck install, if you could post them.

Regards,

Joe

[jgsteven]

Saildog-> your bridgedeck looks great. Thanks! I am going to have to figure out a way to do something like that to get my volume down to something acceptable...

Originally Posted by GeorgeB

We’re over on Alameda, what is the name and make of your boat?

Its s/v Flip, a 1969 Discovery 32. I guess you would call it a 'semi-custom' boat -- two were made down here in CA, and several more up in BC Canada. The boat lived up in the Berkeley Marina before I bought it, now she is down in Redwood City Yacht harbor in the South bay.

Originally Posted by GeorgeB

My advice is start early – We didn’t have any deal breakers, but man, there was a thousand and one items on our punch list, all of them time consuming.

I am sure!! Thats why I am already thinking about 2010?

--
Joe

[hellosailor]

Chuckles-
The ISAF has separate rules for multihulls. There are separate "Mo#" and Mu#" categories, and MUltihulls only have to comply with the Mu# ones.

JG, I'm not sure but would expect that the volume contained in your lazarettes is NOT defined as part of the open cockpit volume, as long as you can secure them closed, as they should be at all times offshore. Ditto for any pockets in the coaming. You might want to check with USAA or the ISAF or someone to confirm that.

One of the best ideas I've seen is cockpit design is a bridge deck that is actually yet another storage compartment--designed for stowing the life raft. Which makes a perfect place for it, secured, convenient, and above deck.

If you are only going offshore once in a while and want to temproarily reduce cockpit volume for safety, I know some folks will simply take an igloo cooler and lash it securely in the cockpit. For a temporary measure--that will work.