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Just got off the satphone with Matt Rutherford. He is the young fellow who went around Americas alone. ( 300 day solo, 27,000 miles ) He is currently sailing non-stop from SF to Japan surveying water pollution ( OceanResearchProject.org ) He has about 60,000 blue water miles under his legs.

We had a little sidebar discussion on motion comfort at sea. Last summer he sailed 70 days non-stop in the Atlantic on a über heavy displacement old style boat. This summer he has been sailing a Über light modern style boat in the pacific now going on 38 days.

Matt thought that the lighter boat had better motion comfort because she didn't pound through waves. Instead of pounding, the light modern boat moves smoothly over the water.

This is contrary to docktalk everywhere. Docktalk consensus is a heavier boat has better motion comfort than a light boat because the heavier boat moves up and down slower.

What does the SN community think ?

 

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Jon,

Matt did mention something about the deep keel increasing motion comfort, but we had other more pressing subjects to review( ie balancing dragging the net for science for the next 2,000 miles versus a rapidly approaching Typhoon season ) , so the comfort subject was passed over.

He did spend a few days in 30-40 knots nose on in some serious seas off the coast of California on the boat.

What I understand from your comment is that stability is a key variable rather than pure displacement.

Certainly agree that those extreme wide flat bottom sterns are likely horrid upwind, but just considering moderate form hulls.

 

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Cap't,

Great description of racing a skimming dish across the ocean. Wondering what the motion comfort would be if he only plodded along at 5 Knts like most blue water cruisers ?

 

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Shoal,

I reckon only 40,000 are single handed. 20,000 are double handed, but whose counting ?

 

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Jeff,

Fascinating - definitely agreed that LOA is a misleading measure of size of a boat.

A good example of this might be the Columbia 50 which is in today's terms really a 38 ftr.

And your comments on heave illuminate what Matt was describing

 

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LOL is right. The guy is Crazy Hardcore about doing The Science. He sailed within 100 Miles of The Big Island of Hawaii and blew right by without stopping.
Said it would waste a week and he'd a better use of his Time would be to be doing The Science.

He is now about 100 Miles from Wale Island

 

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Thinking faster has bigger impact than slower

 

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Colin Archer 42


speaking of 42 - Matt and Nicole just posted their weekly report 42 days at sea

oceanresearchproject.org