Sunboy and her crew take on the A.R.C
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Forum Name: Cruising
Forum Description: Chat about Cruising
URL: https://www.myhanse.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=5077
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Topic: Sunboy and her crew take on the A.R.C
Posted By: SparxSea
Subject: Sunboy and her crew take on the A.R.C
Date Posted: 04 May 2011 at 03:14
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Just posted a slide show video of our boat and crew undertaking the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (A.R.C) on You Tube. If you ever get the chance to participate in this famous Rally, jump at it. This was our first ocean crossing and the help, assistance and confidence we gained from doing the A.R.C was irreplaceable. The link to the video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOoqakbx1pM -
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Replies:
Posted By: Hiram
Date Posted: 05 May 2011 at 10:38
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Al, It's people like you that get people like me to "get out there"!
I just bought a Hanse 470E and hope to do the ARC in 2013. Please share with us whatever info, technical and hints, about the crossing. Thanks Hiram ------------- "Tanit" Hanse 470e Beirut It's much better to be in the Bahamas dreaming of a hot shower than to be in a hot shower dreaming of the Bahamas. |
Posted By: SparxSea
Date Posted: 09 May 2011 at 16:02
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Hi Hiram, congratulations on buying your boat and your intentions of doing the A.R.C. in 2013. In a nutshell, I would firstly get a list of all of the safety equipment that you are required to carry by the A.R.C officials and try and have everything on board before you get to the Canary Islands. Whilst there is a vast amount of equipment available for purchase in Las Palmas, the key, I would respectfully suggest is to have your boat pretty well ready for the crossing before you arrive there. The two weeks prior to the departure of the A.R.C is pretty hectic and the social calender is simply fantastic. If your boat is already to go, you can take a whole lot more time enjoying yourself than running around trying to prepare the boat. The following link is a great resource that you might wish to have a look at; http://www.yachtingworld.com/arc-09/30-arc-tips/430956/30-tips-for-crossing-the-atlantic-1-5 - http://www.yachtingworld.com/arc-09/30-arc-tips/430956/30-tips-for-crossing-the-atlantic-1-5 Once you open that page,there are other links on the page for the next 25 tips. The web has a vast amount of information about the A.R.C as far as hints and tips are concerned and I would really recommend you research as much as possible. There have been a lot of Hanse owners who have done the trip and, again, if you research the forums, you will get a lot of valuable advice. I am sure if you sent a P.M to the relevant owners they would be more than happy to help out. As far as all the 'bells and whistles' you may want to carry, that is a bit of personal choice in regard to watermakers, solar panels, gensets, windgens etc etc. We did not have a watermaker, nor did we have solar panels. As their is a good chance that most of the time you will be sailing off the wind, I would recommend a really good downwind sail wardrobe and a very, very strong spinnaker /whisker pole to carry your headsail if you are going to be goosewinged. We had a reaching headsail and it was a great benefit to us. A lot of boats used the Parasailor and if we had the money we would have loved to have had one. Chaff is a major issue as you will no doubt be advised by everyone you are in touch with and it is so important you cover your spreaders and relevant parts of your rig to prevent chaff on your sails and your sheets. Get as much expert advice as you can in regard to the best way to do this, the same applies to the spares you should carry and the running rigging you should replace. As you are a couple of years away from doing the A.R.C get your rigged checked thoroughly before you head out from home and again when you get to Las Palmas. Its your choice how you want to make your passage, whether you want to 'race' across or 'rally' across. Lots and lots of boats make the rally a race without being in the racing division. As this was our first ocean crossing and we had my wife and children on board, our aim was to get across as safetly as possible and arrive with the boat and crew intact. Whilst that meant we didnt sail as fast as we could have, we arrived in a positive frame of mind and our boat needing very few repairs and everyone on board willing to do the trip again. There are far more experienced members of the forum than I am who are better placed to advise you but I am willing to try and help in any way I can. Again, we wish you every happiness and pleasure with your boat. ------------- 'Sunboy' Hanse 470e Crusing to infinity and beyond!! |
Posted By: CharlesP
Date Posted: 09 May 2011 at 17:10
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Thank you for your posts, Al. Enjoyed watching your video, and Hiram is correct - it makes us feel that we want to get out there and do it.
The information in your last post is very helpful and it is great to get the views of a first timer. Did you encounter any rough conditions by night or day? Charles ------------- 'MERIDIAN LADY' 320 Nr 536 2010 Medway |
Posted By: SparxSea
Date Posted: 10 May 2011 at 12:48
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Hi Charles, thanks for your comments, must say it is very nostalgic putting the videos together, really brings the trip back to the front of the brain again and we, as a family, miss it so much. I am having a great time putting them together, sorry they are not in any particular order, just seems to be the folder that I open at the time. In answer to your question, we did not encounter what I would call rough conditions, either by day or night. The Atlantic is renowned for having quite large swells and we did not miss out on that experience. The good part about the swells we encountered, whilst quite large at times, were that they were well spaced apart and there were few breaking swells. We did see a lot of squalls on the radar and only had one that caught up with us and we had a brief spell of 40 knots. I think the capability of the weather routers that are available to you these days is quite fantastic and are of great benefit. We have friends who have sailed from Norway and they are now here in Australia and the router they have been using all the way has been absolutely brilliant. With the combination of the technology that is available today and the capabilities of the weather routers, you can minimise the risk of running in to bad weather, not only on the Atlantic crossing but any passage you are undertaking. There can be just as many, if not more, potentially troublesome passages getting to the Canaries from Europe than crossing the Atlantic. Best regards, Al
------------- 'Sunboy' Hanse 470e Crusing to infinity and beyond!! |
Posted By: SparxSea
Date Posted: 09 June 2011 at 12:21
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The A.R.C guys must have liked our little video slide show, it has made it to one of the front pages of the A.R.C website!! http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/event_info.aspx
Good plug for Hanse yachts me thinks. ------------- 'Sunboy' Hanse 470e Crusing to infinity and beyond!! |
Posted By: holby
Date Posted: 09 June 2011 at 20:15
Not surprised, it is a great advert for the ARC, I am still thinking, but will have to get a slightly bigger boat.  Dave ------------- Hanse 301, tiller steering, Volvo 2010 (10hp) 
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Posted By: nickfabbri
Date Posted: 10 June 2011 at 06:48
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After reading your post last night, my girlfriend and I sat and watched most of your youtube videos as well as finding your blog entries and reading those.
We were both blown away and totally inspired by what you have done, even more so that you have done it with your family. Our plan has always been to upscale our Hanse and do the same thing in a couple of years. Watching what you have done has just added fuel to our fires, and added a huge slice of envy that we are limited at the moment to weekend sailing only.Thank you and please keep the posts coming. ------------- Nick71 Hanse 320 |
Posted By: SparxSea
Date Posted: 11 June 2011 at 04:23
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Hi Nik, thanks for your positive comments. Cannot recommend your plans highly enough,happy to help in anyway we can.
Cheers Al ------------- 'Sunboy' Hanse 470e Crusing to infinity and beyond!! |