List: passagemaking@lists.trawlering.com
From: Ross Anderson
Re: [PUP] Any suggestion - or PPM should die
Fri, Dec 12, 2008 4:41 PM
gmail.com> wrote:
> I think you missed the point of Dashew's discussion on speed... it has
> nothing to do with waiting for the right forecast and enjoying the
> passage. The atmosphere can simply change enough during a very long
> passage to render any initial forecast useless.
>
> The weather crystal-ball reduces accuracy with lead time, and while a
> 3 or 4 day forecast is pretty good, a 7 to 10 way one isn't so great.
> Not to mention the 20 to 30 days it will take a slow boat to make the
> longest passages. This isn't fixable with improved forecasting.
>
> He's found that if you get the best possible daily weather updates
> underway, you can still get in situations where you can't avoid severe
> weather with a 7 or 8 knot boat, but at 11 to 12 knots, you can always
> get out of the way. Also, you have to have the excess range to make a
> huge detour. His conclusion comes from vast experience, given he's
> been passagemaking for something like 30 years.
>
> That speed requirement is the single most difficult requirement of his
> designs. To have much greater range than the passage requires
> (something like 4000 miles at 11 or 12 knots, given the longest
> passages have a great-circle distance approaching 3000 miles) means a
> very long, skinny boat... you can't get efficient hull speeds like
> that on anything we could envision building. He wound up at 83 feet.
>
> The alternative that sail boats have used to deal with this
> uncertainty is hoving-to when you are exhausted and using a parachute
> drogue or sea-anchor when conditions overwhelm you. No crew can keep
> going when the weather gets too bad. The first technique doesn't work
> for a power boat, but the second can, albeit with a lot of pre-
> planning and setup. But the issue of sea-anchors along would fill a
> book.
>
> Anyway, while Dashew was prepared for the later, his design goal was
> to have a power passagemaker that took the entire issue out of
> consideration. That meant lots of speed.
>
> John
>
> On Dec 12, 2008, at 5:47 AM, Ross Anderson wrote:
>
>> I'm sure there have been times when we all wish we could have outrun
>> some weather but with the availability of good reports these days and
>> a willingness to take it easy speed is not critical. To me the passage
>> is as important as the goal. God Bless - Ross 10&2
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 1:19 AM, Peter Sheppard
>>
wrote:
>>> I agree with John Marshall that we should look at Steve Dashew's
>>> "Windhorse" which has to be the only breakthrough in passagemakers
>>> that
>>> I have heard of, and we should have a go at debating his
>>> innovations. I
>>> cannot see anything on his boat that I don't admire when I put into
>>> context of what he and his wife were trying to achieve.
>>>
>>> Waffling on about the good old days is just negative ramblings from
>>> some
>>> old codger's trying to justify a time out there sailing with the bare
>>> basics, when the guys with the spas on board these days were
>>> landlocked
>>> and had their heads down and butts up scrounging for a dollar for
>>> their
>>> dream retirement.
>>>
>>> A perfect passagemaker is a boat that will take you safely and
>>> comfortably over a long distance, keeping the water on the outside,
>>> and
>>> giving you a deep sense of satisfaction when you wrap up your lines
>>> at
>>> the end.
>>>
>>> Question: What do people thing about Dashews need for speed on his
>>> FPB,
>>> and is it worth it?
>>>
>>> Peter
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