Hi Bill, that's me with the yellow jacket.
We did not sail on the Open 60, but I did do a Halifax to Bermuda trip on
the Open 60 with Derek in 2012.
The boat was a Volvo 60, formerly Amer Sport One, now Spirit of Adventure.
We sailed from Lunenburg to Antigua leaving Sat November 16th, arriving
Monday Nov 25th.
9 days, 1700 nm, average speed was 8 knots. Max speed was 23 knots - quite
amazing. Max speed I got to when driving was 18 knots, still amazingly fast.
A number of folks have asked how it went and the best way I can describe it
is - fantastic, difficult, fun, miserable, challenging and exhilarating all
rolled together.
Weather was generally agreeable except for the strong low which came out of
Canada on Tues the 19th and whacked us for a day and half.
We had a close to beam to broad reach in 20-25 knots of wind for about 1200
nm, about 6 days of the 9.
Typically making 10-11 knots SOG, sometimes more, sometimes less.
The joke aboard was -- 6 years of sailing experience - one tack.
I appreciate all the great tips and advice from the listgroup beforehand, a
lot of it was right on the mark.
Staying dry was a challenge. I had two sets of foulies, a few folks brought
3, a few brought only 1.
But 1, 2 or 3 didn't really matter, it was all wet after a while. 3 hour
shifts on and 3 off for 9 days took some getting used to but wasn't too bad.
We also had the pleasure of sailing with Chris Stanmore-Major, a former
Clipper skipper who also completed the last Velux 5 oceans solo race.
The boat is fast and safe, but wet. After many hours of surfing down big
waves in 20-25 knots of wind, occasionally 30 to 35 knots, you get used to
it, and when the wind drops below 25 knots it becomes a little dull and
boring . . .
Accommodations on the boat were sparse - I don't know how the VOR crews
lived on the boat for as long as they did. 9 days was enough.
A definite highlight of the trip - anyone ever seen a moonbow? It was
amazing and contrary to what it says on Wikipedia you could see the colours
in it.
Would I do it again? Not any time soon, but eventually - yes. Just have to
figure out how to tell my wife . . .
Cheers,
Steve Hood
S/V Diamond Girl
CC 34
Lions Head ON
--
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 12:29:36 -0500
From: Bill Coleman colt...@verizon.net
To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com
Subject: Stus-List Derek's Open 60
Message-ID: 19cf01cef04d$3e2e1ac0$ba8a5040$@net
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Who was it on the list that was sailing From NS to the Caribbean, and which
person on this picture?
Any good stories? Did you sail on the Open 60, or another boat?
https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f45b4eaf1242b41fcf6c5934b/images/IMG_147844559
d.JPG
?On November 16th, Derek and Chris departed Lunenburg on Spirit of Adventure
with a full complement of aspiring offshore sailors. After 8 days and 20
hours, the exhausted but satisfied crew
arrived in Antigua with a real sense of accomplishment having sailed 1700nm
offshore on a very challenging grand prix sailboat. During the trip, the
group encountered the Gulf Stream complete with 40 knot squalls, cold and
extreme conditions.?
Bill Coleman
CC 39
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