The Perfect Boat

[scotdomergue]

Given the posts about small sailing/rowing mono-hulls, I feel a need to mention my Marsh Duck, 18' long, 42" beam (hull, not counting wings for hiking out and outriggers for rowing), 6'4" long aft cabin comfortable for sleeping (sit up only with hatch open), about 185 lbs including all sailing and rowing gear and a 20 watt solar power system for running electronics - plans available from Duckworks Magazine on-line; lots of information on http://www.scotdomergueblog.wordpress.com.

She'll easily handle a 2-man crew with one sleeping/navigating/preparing food, etc. while the other rows or sails. She'd handle 2 people and all gear and supplies for the whole race, but would be a little slower until some of the food and water were consumed.

Summer of 2013 I cruised the southern third of the R2AK course area for 3 months, sleeping aboard all but 3 nights. Toward the end of that period I was consistently rowing about 4 knots (sliding seat) when I'd check the GPS (ranging from 3.7 to 4.4, depending on where in the stroke - at age 66, and always more sailor than rower). The year before I'd generally rowed 3 to 3.5 knots as a beginning rower. With 107 square feet of sail, 3 reefs down to under 25, she sails quite well in a wide range of wind conditions (including upwind in light winds). She's very seaworthy (fully decked and quite dry sailing) and quick and easy to right after capsize - less than 2 minutes from mast hitting the water to being up and sailing again the one time I've capsized unintentionally (during the 3-month cruise).

by Klaas, Montague Harbor, sailing, cropped.jpg

[ofmountainsandsea]

Olson 30!

Add some oars... be good to go! She's got room to sleep/cook/be warm, etc.

Light. Fast. That's the boat I'd choose.

[Landrith]

I have been thinking about small monohulls, but this Olson 30 pic reminds me of what kind of solar cell array or deck foot print will be needed to run the contest required communications and the minimum navigation lights over such a long voyage. Some of the small craft I have been looking at would take some planning for even a small solar panel and storage battery.

[scotdomergue]

I used a 20 watt solar panel and 14 amp-hour battery for the electrical system on the Marsh Duck. It was more than adequate to run mini-netbook computer, VHS/GPS, phone, GoPro, etc. 10 watts would probably have been adequate. Admittedly I was not sailing/rowing all night long, usually only reading for an hour or so by electric light. I think that 20 watts would be ample as long as running lights are LED. The 20 watt panel is about 19"x20". Depending on the boat it could be awkward to find a place for it. You can see pictures of the Marsh Duck's electrical system at www.scotdomergueblog.wordpress.com - go to "Categories", "Electrical System". There's also an article about it in an older issue of SCA, might have been spring of 2013?

[Tsunamichaser]

Why does it need to be about winning or the 10K. Why can't it be about the pizza in Port Hardy? http://www.mopizza.ca/en/

[Rapscallion]

There is a 80' maxi looking for partners. You need to pony up 27K to win 10K split 30 ways. But, hey, at least you can say you were there!

http://sailinganarchy.com/classifieds/show-ad/?id=1397

[Dirk Visser 166]

I am no stranger to these waters and at this time of year calm is not unusual.
It is common to do more paddling, rowing, and motoring in the San Juan's and Georgia and Johnstone Strait at the height of summer, than sailing.
This knowledge put me in a curious mood about the human power aspect of this challenge. Sliding seat rowing of a fast light multihull or monohull in the calms, yes, most certainly valuable...
But the thought occurred to me of the advantage of sustained involvement of the larger muscle groups of the upper and lower legs.
There are now pedal propeller units with 2 blade 16inch propellers that claim top speeds of 13 knots and sustained 8 to 10 knot performance in a solo catamaran configuration . One of these craft has made a Seattle to Juneau voyage.
Doing the math, assuming a stretched boat with dual props and 4 hour watches two crewmen could generate 24/7 thrust in calm water you have a 75 hour trip at 10 knots!
Of course we know the sea...this will not happen, but interesting food for thought, nonetheless...

[JollyRoger]

Hello, I just wanted to add my experience of the human powered pedal powered craft that was mentioned, sounds to me like the seacycle. If it is, I own one and can say from my experience that the speed claims are not what I have found normal. In my experience I can cruise at 3.5 - 4 mph in calm no wind conditions and my top speed has been as high as 8-9 mph in a sprint. I find the seacycle drive unit a good option for human powered craft and about the same performance as a mirage fin drive but not quite as good as a bent shaft pedal drive unit which is currently the fastest human powered setup that I know of and can push a very lightweight, narrow boat up around 6 mph cruise.
So as you mentioned it is very interesting and I certainly do not want to tell a company that their speed claims are "off" but I did want to share my personal experience with you on this type of craft. If it is not the SeaCycle then my apologies. BTW, although I found the claims of speed well off the mark I still enjoy my seacycle.
Roger

[Dirk Visser 166]

Hi JR, Yes. Seacycle was the unit I was referencing, and I have a hunch it could be re-engineered for greater high-end thrust.
I had not seen other references to pedal-screw propulsion on the message board, and knowing the sustained wattage output capabilities of serious cyclists, I became interested enough to look around.
Back in the '80's a pioneering French cyclist put a standard style road bike on two narrow 18ft hulls and pedaled nonstop across both the English Channel and the Florida Straits. ( YvonLecaer.com/Aquacycle ) Solo, in 10 hour stints he averaged around 6.5 knots, not too different from the performance you report. He had a smaller bronze three blade prop I noticed, probably not optimal... though the tower shaft and bevel gear outdrive unit put your chain-drive SeaCycle to shame when it comes to custom machining. Those fancy bevel gears must have absorbed some power though, more than the simple twisted chain on your drive unit...Undoubtably the best combinations are yet to be evolved I think it is safe to say. Even the light duty, fishing kayaks with pedal propeller drive units show the potential efficiency.
Then the next thought, assuming adequate speed: What about foils?
Of course none of these musings negate the need for some kind of sail rig in case of that welcome summer breeze!

[Dirk Visser 166]

I find myself drifting and dreaming in the relatively uncharted waters of human powered screw propulsion... Here's one of the recent ones....

Think "Miss Budweiser" maybe 1/3 size and super lightwieght. A stepped 3 point hydro, or maybe a foil supported bow. Instead of the Allison engine you have six conditioned cyclists recumbent, facing each other athwartship, cranking on cog belts or chain, directly to a longitudinal prop shaft extension running the length of the propulsion cockpit. Maybe it uses a V- drive to manage wight distribution. The seventh crewman is the rotating helmsman in a feeding, hydrating, daybunk, navigation station, forward.

The prop is serious, maybe variable pitch. The image in my dream shows a rooster tail, but a 15- 20 knot cruise would be incredible enough. The human component might not prove that hard providing performance in this ballpark is possible.. Everybody loves to be on the up side of innovation... Look at UffaFox with his International 14, blowing by everyone with that planing hull in the 1930's....We are talking a 2 day trip, from Victoria, weather permitting..?

There's only one first time, and this is it for R2AK!