[RTB]

Anyone following Dr. Stanley Paris? Cool boat! Dr. Stanley Paris ? Kiwi Spirit, a custom designed 63-foot yacht

I wish him luck.

Ralph

 

[krisscross]

Very big, very complicated boat. I remember another old timer recently trying to do the same thing, in another big and complicated boat, only to turn around and go back due to various failures and injuries. But I wish him all the best!
If I had his money I would go on a simple, well made boat, like a Morris 36 Justine. Simplicity and conservative design just can't be beat.

 

[miatapaul]

I have to agree, why such a big boat? Seems to me to just be asking for trouble. If it were me I would go no larger than something I could single hand without the assistance of electronic devices. Perhaps not as simple as the Morris Justine. What does a guy need with that much boat alone?

Guess he is buying it for "stage three" time with his family.

 

[RTB]

Yes, but he is trying to beat "the existing 150 day 6 hour record set by Dodge Morgan in 1986".

Ralph

 

[RTB]

Very big, very complicated boat. I remember another old timer recently trying to do the same thing, in another big and complicated boat, only to turn around and go back due to various failures and injuries. But I wish him all the best!
If I had his money I would go on a simple, well made boat, like a Morris 36 Justine. Simplicity and conservative design just can't be beat.

You mean like Jessica Watson on her S&S 34 Vs Abby Sunderland on her Open 40?

Yeah, I hear you.

Ralph

 

[StormBay]

I didn't realize that he was going for a second attempt after he abandoned the first one. I think he is the guy crisscross is talking about. Circumnavigation Abandoned, but Kiwi Spirit Endures | Maine
I watched him leave from the city docks here in St Augustine the first time around and had seen kiwi spirit at his home dock recently. Complicated boat doesn't even begin to describe it. Hopefully he will have better luck this time.

 

[JonEisberg]

Very big, very complicated boat. I remember another old timer recently trying to do the same thing, in another big and complicated boat, only to turn around and go back due to various failures and injuries. But I wish him all the best!

You're probably thinking of Paris' failed first attempt, last year...

Hope he rigs a preventer, and has a lighter touch on the electric winch control buttons, this time around...

Hope he makes it this time, but takes one day longer than Dodge Morgan did...

And I'm sorry, but the notion that an epoxy boat costing close to $3 million represents a "COMPLETELY GREEN" endeavor - simply because he's not burning any fuel underway - is laughable...

 

[Omatako]

Why do people living in Washington State drive Ferraris that can go from 0 to 200mph in 8.5 seconds in a speed limit of 70mph?

Why does Queen Elizabeth live in a house with over 700 rooms?

Why would one pay $630000 for a bottle of single malt?

Why would an African leader in Zaire charter an Air France Concorde to fetch him from his home and take him to a dentist in Paris?

Why would someone pay Kylie Minogue US$4.4m for a 60-minute musical performance? (I mean, Kylie Minogue ferkrisake???)

Because they can.

The more important question to me: Why the heck would anyone want to sail 27000nm non-stop? I just don't get that.

 

[krisscross]

Oh yes, it IS the same old dude...
He has grit, I give him that, but he does not seem to be learning from his lessons. He has another grossly over-contraptionalized boat that is definitely going to be a handful for him to handle in a blow. And again, no shake-down sea trial for his boat.

 

[RTB]

Hope he makes it this time, but takes one day longer than Dodge Morgan did...

And I'm sorry, but the notion that an epoxy boat costing close to $3 million represents a "COMPLETELY GREEN" endeavor - simply because he's not burning any fuel underway - is laughable...

Not sure what your point is about the Green endeavor? BTW, it's not like Dodge Morgan was on a tight budget...

From Dodge Morgan, first American to circumnavigate globe alone, dies at 78 -

"He commissioned renowned naval architect Ted Hood to design American Promise, a rugged, $1.5 million vessel made virtually unsinkable with watertight compartments and submarine-esque doors. Mr. Morgan armed his single-masted sailboat with the latest in high-tech gear, and he avoided the need for repairs by outfitting it with two of everything: two sets of sails, two rudders, two satellite navigational systems and two machines to convert salt water into fresh water. "

Hey, racing around the world ain't cheap.

Anyway, records are made to be broken, so let's wish the new challenger all the best.

Ralph

 

[RTB]

Oh yes, it IS the same old dude...
He has grit, I give him that, but he does not seem to be learning from his lessons. He has another grossly over-contraptionalized boat that is definitely going to be a handful for him to handle in a blow. And again, no shake-down sea trial for his boat.

He is well on his way, so no problems yet.

 

[JonEisberg]

Not sure what your point is about the Green endeavor? BTW, it's not like Dodge Morgan was on a tight budget...

From Dodge Morgan, first American to circumnavigate globe alone, dies at 78 -

"He commissioned renowned naval architect Ted Hood to design American Promise, a rugged, $1.5 million vessel made virtually unsinkable with watertight compartments and submarine-esque doors. Mr. Morgan armed his single-masted sailboat with the latest in high-tech gear, and he avoided the need for repairs by outfitting it with two of everything: two sets of sails, two rudders, two satellite navigational systems and two machines to convert salt water into fresh water. "

Hey, racing around the world ain't cheap.

Anyway, records are made to be broken, so let's wish the new challenger all the best.

Ralph

The budget has little to do with it, I just think given the amount of petro-chemicals involved, and hydrocarbons burned in the construction of a 58-foot epoxy and carbon fiber yacht, high tech laminate sails, etc, projects like this are far from being truly "Green"...

I think he's also seriously handicapping himself by trying to avoid the use of propane for cooking, or any other type of fuel... It certainly proved to be a problem on his first attempt, having to generate electricity to prepare hot meals or drinks... He had to average 9 knots for his hydrogenerators to keep up with the electrical demands of the boat, anything less than that for any prolonged period of time, and he couldn't cook... Seems pretty dumb, to me...

Paris is a very impressive guy who has accomplished a great deal in his life, no question... But some who have followed this project closely question his tendency to have left so much of the prep of the boat in the hands of others, quite the opposite of the approach taken by Dodge Morgan (his book AMERICAN PROMISE is a surprisingly good read, btw) Some of his problems on his first attempt seem to have revealed a lack of familiarity with certain aspects of the boat and how she needed to be sailed, hopefully he's a bit more acquainted with her by now...

 

[JonEisberg]

Oh yes, it IS the same old dude...
He has grit, I give him that, but he does not seem to be learning from his lessons. He has another grossly over-contraptionalized boat that is definitely going to be a handful for him to handle in a blow. And again, no shake-down sea trial for his boat.

I think the 1,200 mile trip from New England down to St Augustine was his shake-down...

2 of his very expensive Watt & Sea hydrogenerators bit the dust on that trip... Hopefully their replacements will make it a bit deeper into the next 27,000 miles...

 

[TQA]

I wish him well but like others have said the boat is just too big too new and too complicated.

I followed Jeanne Socrates on her engineless circumnavigation. She had a near stock 38 footer and sailed it fairly conservatively. Even so she was pushed at times to stay in front of her breakages. The windvane helped her out more than once.

 

[joyinPNW]

We were in Florida just a week before he departed and went out of our way to travel to St. Augustine to get a glimpse of the boat, which, as it turns out, was not at a public dock. We had to do some interesting walks to get near enough to see it. I'm excited for his attempt and wish him all the best--I think he's raised quite a bit of money for the Foundation for Physical Therapy. His abilities are unquestionable but the boat, well, let's hope she's as strong as he is!

 

[capta]

Very big, very complicated boat. I remember another old timer recently trying to do the same thing, in another big and complicated boat, only to turn around and go back due to various failures and injuries. But I wish him all the best!
If I had his money I would go on a simple, well made boat, like a Morris 36 Justine. Simplicity and conservative design just can't be beat.

I think you'd be hard pressed to carry the stores and spares needed for a non-stop circumnavigation on a 36 foot boat. Sir Francis Chichester's gin alone would have required more space than any 36 footer could offer.

 

[JonEisberg]

I think you'd be hard pressed to carry the stores and spares needed for a non-stop circumnavigation on a 36 foot boat. Sir Francis Chichester's gin alone would have required more space than any 36 footer could offer.

Well, people like Jon Sanders and Jessica Watson have managed to do so on their 34-footers... Main issue for a guy like Paris, is that a Morris Justine ain't gonna beat Dodge Morgan's "Record"...

 

[JonEisberg]

We were in Florida just a week before he departed and went out of our way to travel to St. Augustine to get a glimpse of the boat, which, as it turns out, was not at a public dock. We had to do some interesting walks to get near enough to see it. I'm excited for his attempt and wish him all the best--I think he's raised quite a bit of money for the Foundation for Physical Therapy. His abilities are unquestionable but the boat, well, let's hope she's as strong as he is!

I don't know, that boat beat him up pretty good last time out...

The original intent was to have only one electric winch on KIWI SPIRIT, primarily for the main halyard... After the initial sea trials, however, they deemed it necessary to add electric primaries and others for him to be able to handle the sail plan... Seems an example of how the complexity of the boat increased, as the project progressed...

I'm quite a bit younger than Mr Paris, and consider myself to be reasonably fit and strong, and have a fair bit of experience singlehanding... However, I cannot begin to imagine sailing such a powerful boat RTW non-stop, thru the Southern Ocean...

I'm no Robin Knox-Johnston, that's for sure... ) Nothing against Mr Paris, but I'm not sure he is, either...

 

[Omatako]

The budget has little to do with it, I just think given the amount of petro-chemicals involved, and hydrocarbons burned in the construction of a 58-foot epoxy and carbon fiber yacht, high tech laminate sails, etc, projects like this are far from being truly "Green"...

I guess when the criteria becomes "How much hydrocarbon material was used/burned/consumed in the manufacture, etc." then there is not a single thing left in the world that is truly green. Unless it's the veggies one grows in the back yard at home. . . . . except that the trowel you use to dig the garden was made in a factory and probably has a plastic handle on it. Even if he takes a hybrid-powered taxi from his home to the marina to leave, he's using a heap of hydrocarbons.

I think the fact that he's going to try the voyage without burning any fossil fuels is perhaps laudable albeit a little bit silly. If he stayed at home and did nothing, he'd have a carbon footprint - why do a voyage like this whilst being (dangerously) carbon neutral?

 

[davidpm]

The way I see it is that these first attempts are primarily to show dramatically that something can be done so effort and funding will be attracted so that eventually it might make sense.

In no case did the first attempt of anything make sense economically compared to the tried and true alternative.

The first airplane across the Atlantic.
The first motor car trip across the US
The first motor trip across the Atlantic.

They could all be easily classified as stunts compared to the then current tried and true.
They were all costly and dangerous.
Required a slightly crazy person to do it.

Someone will try however. Their will be failures and hopefully a first then a second etc.

Lessons will be learned.
They serve as a benchmark that that more commercial thinking people can use to eventually create a business and product ... or not.