Why I'm Following Sven Yrvind

[A II]

As long as not near a lee shore he's safe, when strapped down on the bottom, even in a hurricane, so the Caribbean wouldn't be a problem I'll guess, as it's harder to miss land there.

 

[A II]

Re Tumblehome:

It came up here in some of the posts from #172 to #198, I just came across an example which I've posted on the ‘‘Random Chip Thread’’ in post #23.

 

[JPE]

I really hope Sven makes landfall at Azores. It's about 2800nm to caribbea, that would take about 55 days at Exlex Minor's speed. He would also be very har to reach by SAR most of the way, should something go wrong.

 

[MoeJoe]

An update from Sven today. 70 days at sea..

"Hi friends

Today September is day 70 at sea. There is still plenty of food and water and I am in good shape. My plan is to float around here fore a while. Bet it is now September in the North Atlantic. The gale frequency is increasing. In fact bad weather is on its way, a thing I disapprove of. But being a Stoiker it has to be. Pilot chart also show hurricanetracks passing my position. I will see how long I stay here before heading for Horta Fayal Azorena . All sail are now down. I have trailing from the stern a kind of drogue consisting of a SPADE-anchor, trailing from the anchor a chain attached to a rope with plywood rondells, a kind of homemade Jordan series drogue. In the end of the rope with the roundels is a piece of chain to sink it. The strong winds are not here yet. The daggerboard is up.

Exlex behaves fine for the moment. However I have a transom stern not suitable to this strategi. Next boat will be a double ender, a canoe cruiser. But it is a long way to my workshop. "

I've followed him for probably 15 years now, but still I often forget that he is a very different kind of person and sailor than the rest of us..
-Has he written anywhere what kind of weather updates he has access to out at sea? Maybe only over text messages from a satellite phone or messaging device? I mean, we here behind our laptops and phones perhaps have much better information about the weather he will have next few days than he does.. Even more reason for him to be extra careful on how he approaches land with the limited performance of his boat if he has only text message updates and pilot chart.. I'll try not to worry for a few weeks, he is happy, doing what he wants to do..

 

[Will Gilmore]

I have trailing from the stern a kind of drogue consisting of a SPADE-anchor, trailing from the anchor a chain attached to a rope with plywood rondells, a kind of homemade Jordan series drogue.

As long as a large Humbolt Squid doesn't decide to see what it tastes like, he should be fine.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[upchurchmr]

How could you name your boat Exlax? Oh, sorry, wrong spelling!
But more appropriate, IMHO.

 

[A II]

Re post #215:

Better use a multipurpose device for a drogue . . .

Also note Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's note at the bottom of page 10 of the below PDF

Golden Globe Race 2018/19 Investigation into causes of dismastings PDF

‘‘ Research has shown that knots, such as bowline, reduce the strength of a hawser by as much as 70%. A splice reduces the strength by around 30%, but , with modern rope, it needs to be tapered at its end to avoid a hard point, and should be inserted within its standing part by 50 diameters to achieve sufficient strength. ’’

Susie Goodall lost her boat because she lost her drogue by a broken rope, but I also think drogues shouldn't be too powerful, as then always something will break when the shit hits the fan . .

See the thread: Dismasted! Susie Goodall

Susie shouldn't have set off her bucket full of EPIRBs for just being dismasted though, but should have jury rigged the damn boat and sail it to a port, like Maud Fontenoy did in 2007...

Maud Fontenoy struggles to jury rig dismasted Oreal Paris

Maud Fontenoy finishes solo global challenge under Jury Rig

Fontenoy Finishes Westabout Circumnavigation Under Jury Rig

P.S.​

There's more about this on the thread: Mast and boom: Matching set for emergency dismasting → in post #36 and beyond

 

[A II]

How could you name your boat Exlax? Oh, sorry, wrong spelling!
But more appropriate, IMHO.

Best take some inspiration from your own post #48 on the thread ‘‘The square wheel syndrome’’.

 

[JPE]

Is there a guidance for sizing a drogue? As you pointed out A II, they should not be to powerful, as this subjects the drogued boat to heavy bombardment of waves from behind, adding the risk of rope or fixture failure, among others.

 

[A II]

Is there a guidance for sizing a drogue? . . . .

Depends on displacement, Jordan Series Drogue gives some guidelines on their web page Design Loads and Attachments, # means lbs there.

P.S. - Some more drogue sizing guidelines of Jordan Series Drogue at their web page Monohulls: Based on loaded displacement.

 

[upchurchmr]

A II

Are you a PHD, or an English major?
Interesting your method of referencing previous content.
What are you hiding by limiting who can see your profile?

 

[A II]

Re post #221: See reply in post #34 on the ‘‘Random Chip Thread’’

 

[JPE]

Sven now has a window of several days with favourable winds.

2020-09-08T05:47:17Z:

According to forecast of Windy (don't know their source) the wind direction and force will remain pretty much as depicted above till the end of the week. This will give Sven plenty of time to reach horta, which currently lies some 150 nautical miles north of his position.

P.S. regarding the offtopic of limiting display of personal data on sites such as this, where use of aliases is common, I think it is simply common sense to reveal as little as possible of oneself.

 

[MoeJoe]

He is definitely going for it. I'll assume that he at the very least get text messages with wind forecast. With an average speed of 2 knots, maybe by Saturday noon? Hopefully some people in Horta are notified and can give him a tow if needed.

 

[MoeJoe]

Looks so crazy when seeing this on AIS haha..

With dozens of boats with AIS in Horta harbour , it's hard to imagine that many have not noted him..

We should be able to see if anyone comes out to meet him. Go Sven!!