I would like to start a poll of sorts. Can you supply a best days run and your average miles per day based on upwind and off wind. I have not done any passages with Shanti yet. But I did get to take her out finally after 3 years for a shakedown crusie up to St John. This was with new sails (FB main), new engine and feather 3 blade. Plus new bronze chainplates. And I moved my staysail fair lead down on deck closer to the bulwarks.
Where I sailed up wind at 4-4.5, I was now doing 5-5.5kts. Broad reaching we hit 7, where my max was 6kts.
Here is what I did when I had Angelsea (FCC w/no engine or aperture).
Upwind day average ~95km
Off wind average ~110km
Best days run 134km (noon sight - noon sight)
If you have made any passages and can supply distance and time, that would be great.
I think Puffin averaged 140nm/day between Dana Point, CA and the Marquesas. That’s just under 6 knots! Someone told me that Doug put the pedal to the metal and that it was a very wet trip. I think he was singlehanding, which makes it even more exceptional. On the other hand, he didn’t have to consider his wife’s desire to slow down a bit so she could cook/sleep!
Shaula departed Bora Bora for Hilo, HA on 17 Oct 89. There’s a picture of us in the gallery. The SE trades were blowing from the ENE about 15-20k. So for the first 5 days or so the wind and seas were forward of the beam although the apparent wind was almost abeam. Then we had a week or so in the ITCZ with light winds from a variety of directions. The last few days we were in the NE trades, 15-20k, on a beam reach, no doubt with some favorable current, and heading for the barn. I’ve attached a pic of a page from our log.
So BCC’s can easily average between 5k and 6k, day after day, even when fully loaded, and reefed down for comfort’s sake.
Dan Shaula BCC 59, 1981
Here’s an excerpt from a posting by Tom Unruh on January 13, 2008;
“PS–I can’t resist adding that Galatea just set a personal record day’s run. On our passage from Richard’s Bay to East London in the Agulhas Current, we covered 204 miles in the last 22.5 hours! Unfortunately, we don’t have an early log to document the 1.5 hours before that to get the full 24, but if we just use the hourly average, we could estimate a 213 mile day!!! It was a great place to have all that speed, given the short weather windows. On the other hand, we now to relearn our patience as we get back to more normal speeds.”
Though this type of performance may be the exception and not the norm, it certainly proves that BCC’s can hold their own and then some as evidenced by Galatea’s phenomenal sailing performance in the Agulhas Current!
For some reason I have been reading a number of discussion an different forums re average distance made.
For example, a quote from a discussion about the ARC for 2013.
“I did a circumnav 35 years ago and averaged 4.15 knots for the 31000 miles I sailed in a westerley Sirus 23 footer. A friend did almost the same trip in a Vancouver 28 5 years ago and his average speed was 4.11 knots. I have spoken to many world navigators and they all say the same daily average is 100-115 miles a day and that encludes boats up to 40 ft”
I remember on my final voyage with my Falmouth Cutter an encounter with a Mason 43. We were headed north towards Bermuda from St Thomas. Wind was 8-10E and we were flying the chute. The Mason was motoring. He asked if we were motor sailing as he was in the light winds. He was amazed at our speed. The question of average speed came up. He said he did 100/day average under sail, that’s why he was motoring at that point. And this was for a 43.
After sailing Angelsea for 16 years I figured 100/day average. I know the Pardeys mentioned 100/day for Seraffyn. Anybody hear what kind of average they claim for Taleisen?
Tough to tell how fast Galatea was sailing. The were going with the Agulhas current. It runs an average of .5 to 1.5 knots, with a top speed of 5.8 knots depending on location.
Why am I asking all these questions? Just bored. Waiting for the Xmas winds to subside.
John Churchill on BCC Bucephalus recored two days of 175 miles/day runs on one of his route legs from the U.S. to Ireland. These were exceptional runs. Based on our experience with IDUNA, I would expect a BCC on an ocean passage to routinely make 100 to 125 runs per day.
Gee Gary , not enough maintaince work to keep you out of boredom ?
I agree with Rod , as per miles / day , made good , in 20 k windy days, at sea , without a heap of current assisting .
AS you know , Doug Schmuck was a surfer as well , he liked a fast ride , during the Maharangi New Years Day regatta N Z (1999) , he on BCC Puffin , with L&L crew , passed me like I was standing still, but he drove Puffin heeled over so much , I now know why Helen chooses not to sail with him anymore . How he was able to handle the weather helm , I don’t know , but must have been sheer strength with the hope the tiller didn’t break .
Lang , my wife just informed me that her blog at www.funvinyldecals.wordpress.com , recorded a mileage history per day , on our voyage from Singapore to Japan , but because of light air , we motored most of the way , but you have to scroll way down to find daily mileage figures on the trip , most days just over 100 km / day .
Gary,
Congratulations on finishing the long refit! You’re many efforts to improve Shanti’s performance have certainly succeeded. Your new jib and full battened main sound great. I’m envious of your new chain plates and your feathering 3-bladed prop. I think you probably have the fastest BCC and sail in one of the best sailing locals in the world–we’re envious!
Have I missed the story of your new engine? Last I read you were hauling out for the refit and wondering if the engine had been damaged?
Dan
Doug, thanks for the great info. I agree that it has much more to do with the weather than the boat. I also agree with a constant 20kts on your quarter the BCC will average a good 125-150/day. Depending on how comfortable one wants to be.
Dan, sorry you missed the article I wrote re: engine. Go to http://www.garyfelton.com/shanti/?p=359 and read 2 Dimples and $8000 if you haven’t already. That was a couple of years ago. Finally just gave up and bought a new engine. Installed a Beta 25 and love it. Have set a new world record for oil changes on a small boat.
As far as being fast, I’m sure there is someone faster. But you can make that claim for me if you wish. I do think I will have a bronze plaque with the following and mount it somewhere on Shanti.
I wish to have no connection with any ship
that does not sail fast;
For I intend to go in harm?s way.
~John Paul Jones, 1779
Thanks Gary. I saw the reference to Part III and thought I had missed something. When I tried to link to the oil analysis report, I got your blog home page. I guess the report caused you to re-engine. I also had to re-engine due to an oil starvation problem, and went from a Volvo MD11C to a Yanmar 3GM30F. Thanks for sharing the detailed story of the missing dimples.
Dan Shaula
Hey Dan,
No idea where the PDF of the oil analysis went to. And yes it was the deciding factor in getting engine fixed/replaced. Have just had no extra time to sit down and write more. But now that all the big projects are done, I will.
Now, back to speed
Average speed is obviously dependent on the weather one is operating in. The attached wind graph is from today, the winter solstice. We are waiting for it to die down for a little trip over the holidays. We have to beat directly into it to get up to the nice anchorages. Our average speed would probably be 4knts. But if we were broad reaching in this stuff I bet we could put in a run like Doug did.
Just started reading the Pardeys bio “As long as it’s fun”. I’m only few chapters in and already spell bound!
During their initial cruise down the Mexican coast into Cabo San Lucas they did runs of 125, 151 and 130 after departing Guadalupe Island.
We just did a short cruise over New Years into the BVI. Winds had been quite sporty. On our return we were running downwind with 2nd reef and the staysail. We were getting 5-6 knots in 22-26 knot trade winds, and we weren’t even pushing it. It was a great sail.
All this continues to remind me of what great vessel a BCC is!
