Why I'm Following Sven Yrvind

Maybe Sven would be better off with a boat more like this one in the video - she is only 4 metres long, but he crossed the Atlantic in her in 29 days.

 

Oh, there are two new pics posted on Sven's website, the latter one shows the balance seems pretty good now:


https://www.yrvind.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_2037.jpeg

Speed though, not so much.

 

I find out this interesting thread, also on the micro blue water yacht issue :
MacNaughton Farthing questions... https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/macnaughton-farthing-questions.51315/

 

It's hard to see how the pic shows Exlax to be balanced; it seems basically stopped in so little wind that the rigs are flopping around.

 

By looking balanced I mean that the painted waterline pretty much aligns with the actual wl. Exlex Minor is not draggin its ar... transom.

 

It is somewhat interesting on how much this 13 ft boat resembles Ex Lex. The hull planform and profile are very similar.

The difference is that the 13 ft boat is most likely much lighter (even when the difference in length is accounted for), and has a proportionately much greater sail plan.

I suppose it's skipper uses a watermaker to get his drinking water. Perhaps that is the device on a shelf he pointed at.

It has an odd sheeting arrangement for its single roll-up sail. I suppose the multiple sheet-lines are attached to different points on it, so one would always be available for optimum sail trim, so the skipper never has to move a sheet-line to another attachment point. Extremely clever.

I am very impressed with this boat and would like to know more about it.

I wonder how far he actually sailed in one go.

 

Yan Quenet is a small boat builder with a yard in Brittany, the Baluchon is said 400 h for the construction with a budget of 4000 Euros. He is doing a round the world, he started last year from Lisboa and is now (26 of June) at Papeete (French Polynesia). He has a small electric autohelm /low consumption. He can sustain ~ 2 liters of fresh water per day in average, no mention of a water maker ?
In this video :
Under sail : 0:30 to 1:00 and > 16:30
Views of the boat : 7:40 to 8:20. 8:50 to 12:25

In this video the 3D views of the boat structure :

 

What also separates Baluchon from the Exlex and Exlex Minor, is that is has a proper ballast keel.

 

Sven should arrive in Porto Santo in a few hours. It looks like he got a little bit more speed and at least a little upwind ability out of ExLex in this leg.

But regardless - Great if he is happy with his boat , but it will hardly inspire others to design and build something similar. -Being so cramped and restricted in onboard movement that you can't walk when you reach your destination is a scary proposition. If no engine - At the very least then the ability to sail upwind need to be very good. But why not add an electrical engine system at least. He has plenty of other electronics onboard. And sure - two oars or a single sculling oar as backup.

I do like the "Baluchon" introduced above. But even that is a too small and slow for 99.9(9?)% of sailors with aspirations of longer passages across oceans.

Something like the Haber 800 Cutter would be in the lower spectrum for me - And it can still be trailered, beached, sail management is easy, the mast can quickly be lowered for passing under bridges and going through canals. A very versatile boat. (I've test-sailed the Haber 660, it is a high quality brand)

 

For the next design, I would start with this hull shape:



Instead of rocks as ballast, use canned goods and water jugs.

 

Beatiful lines.

Well, the water jugs could work, because you could refill them with sea water as you used them up, but what happens towards the end of your trip when the canned goods are gone? Maybe you have a holding tank for your head, then you don't lose your ballast, you just "move" it from cans to tank.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

Ewwww

 

What? Doesn't your head have a holding tank?


-Will (Dragonfly)

 

I was kinda imagining a head, holding tank etc. In a boat the size of the Exlexes

 

Meanwhile Sven has made it to Porto Santo, and, once again, Youtube: