Pacific Rowboat

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Eric Sponberg, Oct 8, 2015.

  1. JosephT
    Joined: Jun 2009
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    Location: Roaring Forties

    JosephT Senior Member

    Way cool! Yes the boat is coming along nice. Thanks for the update! I'll be tracking him on his journey across the pacific.
     
  2. JosephT
    Joined: Jun 2009
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    Location: Roaring Forties

    JosephT Senior Member

    Nice thin blades on the oars will ease the muscle strain & offer good cruising speed.
     
  3. RHP
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    RHP Senior Member

  4. RHP
    Joined: Nov 2005
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    Location: Singapore

    RHP Senior Member

  5. chinaseapirate

    chinaseapirate Previous Member

    Talk about a forced diet exercise program...why don't you rowers learn what a sail is? Both rowboats monohull and the tri will make the trip in one piece...99.97% fact. :D
     
  6. Eric Sponberg
    Joined: Dec 2001
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    Location: On board Corroboree

    Eric Sponberg Senior Member

    Hi All: This is an old thread, but I thought you'd like to see an update. Jacob Hendrickson finished his Pacific row two days ago aboard his boat, Emerson, that I designed for him. On his 336th day at sea, Jacob hit shore at Trinity Beach about 10 miles north of Cairns, Australia. My wife and I were there taking these photos. We had arrived in Bundaberg, Australia, just 16 days prior on our sailboat, Corroboree. We know that he has set a record for the longest time at sea on a non-stop, solo ocean passage, and he may have set the record for the longest distance solo, non-stop, for a north Pacific crossing--7,145 nautical miles as the gull flies, longer if we take into account that he did not travel in a straight line! Jacob tried to come into two different marinas in the Cairns area, but was beset by adverse winds, hence the landing on the beach. The Australian Volunteer Coast Guard did a superb job escorting Emerson for the last few miles, but could not render direct assistance until after he landed so as to protect the integrity of his record achievements. Then they were able to pull Emerson off the beach and tow it back to Yorkey's Knob Marina for Jacob's celebrations with his family, friends, the press, and well-wishers. Here are some photos:
     

    Attached Files:

  7. DCockey
    Joined: Oct 2009
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    DCockey Senior Member

    Thanks for the report. Good to hear the journey was a success.
     
  8. bajansailor
    Joined: Oct 2007
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    Location: Barbados

    bajansailor Marine Surveyor

    Brilliant!
    That is truly a remarkable achievement, in every possible sense - not just distance rowed, or time taken, but to be able to cope with spending 336 days at sea singlehanded, in a tiny composite row boat and to maintain a cheerful outlook the whole way.

    I have been receiving Jacob's email updates, and I also look in occasionally on Eric's wife's excellent Blog - the last time I looked they had arrived in Bundaberg just in time to wander up to Cairns to welcome Jacob to Oz.

    And here is her latest entry today describing his arrival -
    Waiting for Jacob – Arliss Ryan https://www.arlissryan.com/waiting-for-jacob/

    She refers to the article in Professional Boatbuilder by Eric describing the very detailed design brief for this fine vessel -
    https://www.ericwsponberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Design-Brief-Ocean-Rowboat-PBB161.pdf

    Emerson (the row boat) is also described on Eric's website -
    Pacific Rowboat https://www.ericwsponberg.com/boat-designs/pacific-rowboat/

    And here is a reminder re Jacob's excellent Blog -
    Jacob Adoram https://www.jacobadoram.com/
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2019
  9. Eric Sponberg
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    Location: On board Corroboree

    Eric Sponberg Senior Member

    Thanks, DC and Bajansailor!
     
  10. Mr Efficiency
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    Did the boat stay upright throughout ?
     
  11. Eric Sponberg
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    Location: On board Corroboree

    Eric Sponberg Senior Member

    Hi Mr. E: Yes, remarkably, Emerson had only one 90-deg knockdown on the entire voyage. It never capsized more than that one time, nor any further over. Even just after launch, the builder and Jacob tried to do a 360-deg rollover test, and they could never get the boat to heel past 90-deg. In that one instance on the voyage, the cockpit flooded with one gunwale underwater, and Jacob had to stand on the opposite gunwale to get the boat upright enough to bail it out. He succeeded, a bit of tough work. But the down-flood protection on the ventilation openings worked as designed.
     
  12. Mr Efficiency
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    Some worrying moments there, by the sounds of it, but it seems to have been well up to the task, as was the rower. A satisfying result for all concerned.
     
  13. Earl Boebert
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    Earl Boebert Senior Member

    Congratulations to all involved.

    Cheers,

    Earl
     
  14. sharpii2
    Joined: May 2004
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    Location: Michigan, USA

    sharpii2 Senior Member

    This design looks like a nice sailboat with a covered cockpit which has been dissmasted. I sometimes wonder about the verity of ocean-crossing rowboats. The hp loading is so low that it seems the boat is more driven by the winds and currents than by the the most industrious rower (0.25 hp rower/1.6 mt boat = 0.156 hp/ton). I have thought about what would happen if a 65 sf Sunfish(r) sail were added. This would give the boat an S/D of just over 4.0, close to what Sven Yrvin had on his first Ex Lex. The sail would be of little use alone (as the first Ex Lex adventure seemed to show), as it is so small in comparison to the displacement, but along with the rower, it might prove an excellent team mate. The boat would be far less helpless than with either alone.

    I also wonder if strategically placed chines (see sketch below) with chine runners could take the place of the keel. The hull would have more whetted area than this one, but could perhaps dispense with the long keel and its considerable whetted area. I also wonder why the Cp seems so high. I would think a lower one might give better performance. A lower Cp might allow a longer LWL too.

    Will this boat be equipped with a water maker (powered by the solar panels)? I would think that all this rowing would not only consume a lot of calories, but would consume a considerable amount of fresh water as well.

    Best of luck with this project.

    DebPo520.png
     

  15. Angélique
    Joined: Feb 2009
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    The very best of talented and well trained top athletes double that power output for very long time efforts like in crossing an ocean, which is still little power to propel an ocean going rowboat.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2019
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