Yrvind

Yep, you both make valid points. I just think Yrvind and those who sponsor him can benefit from videos of the adventure. Yrvind can show those videos when he talks about his adventure, which will be beneficial for him and his sponsors.

 

....And this adventure is a great stuff for a very interesting documentary film.

 

fascinating thread well done to all. have recently discovered Svens work and he has instantly become a hero to me. im so excited that this is happening now!

i live in landlocked leicester but am drawn to the sea and i sail a hurley 18' in wales. people say im mad to have sailed across to ireland in a small boat but i agree with Sven that you have more control over a small boat and the forces exerted on it are lesser.

i am of the opinion that a world circumnavigation should mean crossing the antipodes, (from europe to new zealand and back) but the quest to circle the southern ocean is noble enough anyhow and a record in itself for a 10' boat.

cant quite get my head round the flat bottom hull and centre board. wouldnt a bilge keel satisfy the need to beach the boat? a swivelling centre board seems like a weak point that would make me feel uncomfortable in the cruel southern ocean!

i will be watching Svens progress closely and rooting for him all the way =) it appears he has been earning some cash but is now back working on the boat...

 

Sven on WSJ!

Nice new Article on Wall Street Journal about Sven with video as well:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444799904578053023649693516.html?mod=ITP_AHED

Seems like the plan now is to start from Ireland as last time.

 

Nice video thanks for posting the link.

Must say Sven is already thinking forward - great stuff

way to go man - think ahead - fantastic

 

love the fact that sven has now decided to do a nonstop crossing antipodes circumnavigation, very exciting. if he pulls this off at 73 he should be made honourary demi-god or something!

 

I hope that he plans to do Ireland to Ireland
I hope it was not a mistake by the reporters.

Sven please confirm your intended route on your own website
just for more clarity for your supporters - thanks

 

Interesting interview: Serge Testa

http://www.furledsails.com/article.php3?article=759

 

just for info - I cannot find anything on Youtube on Serge Testa?

 

Manie, seems your question is pretty much answered. -"600" days post. Altough I wouldn't be surprised if he change starting point and route again before departure.

He really takes the time to think things through, properly. E.g those cleats.. Always aiming for perfection, not just good enough. Altough, I suppose that if every detail is done "perfect" as in very strong and thus heavy, the total weight of the boat might again be heavier than planned, affecting performance negatively?

Myself, I'm using the late autumn for planning various improvements and upgrades for the 2nd season on my 70's StorTriss 17.5" boat, on a budget of around $2000.. Hoping that she'll get good enough to handle "extended trips" in the sheltered waters of the Stockholm & Åland archipelago of 2-4 weeks at a time.. A summer of sailing rather than just weekends. I think it's possible. Very rewarding I think , even fixing up an old boat on a tight budget. Going through the outboard right now, learned how to change transmission oil and next up is impeller, filters and spark plug.. New sails, sprayhood, refurbished interior, swimming ladder, new cabin door, scrub and paint the bottom.. long list of "to do's" . I won't get much of these "investments" back when I sell this boat further on, but will still be useful experience i think when I buy bigger boats or build my own from scratch some time in the future..

BTW; Would be good if Yrvind had a PayPal account on his website for simple, private donations.

All the best from Stockholm Sweden - Where kayaks are used as icebreakers:
http://jarladventures.blogspot.se/

 

all this experimenting with rudder angles can easily be solved if somebody will do it for him in "Solidworks" my knowledge of turbo CAD3d is too limited to do it - anybody out there willing to spend the time?
maybe a nice animation - once you have the basics its easy to change dimensions.
but I must add I am not taken by these designs, I personally prefer "tried and tested" most new ideas are not new at all but simply a newer version of re-inventing the wheel
folks that surf and read a lot have seen many of these ideas - Just read BD.net regularly and you will see what I mean.
BD.net gets the "new" ideas on a daily basis - if only they would surf a bit more and READ

 

Well I don't think he wants anyone else to solve his problems, he obviously greatly enjoys experimentation. Seem quite inspired as well. What he wrote about wave powered boats got my attention and led me to this fellow, kind of fascinating, I've never thought of that as a real option for propulsion. http://www.environmentalgraffiti.co...crosses-the-pacific-in-wave-powered-boat/1387

But I don't quite understand the value of having the rudder axis leaning inward and forward. Giving this extra control complexity. Main value of twin rudders on this boat seems to be redunandcy and ability to work as breaks, right? And ability to handle grounding can be done with the kickup and rudder shape, right?

Now, with the current angles, I suppose that in full breaking mode, the rudders will also push down the stern? But perhaps that's desireble under harsh down-wind conditions? I don't know, so it's interesting to me.

 

Serge Testa
500 Days – Around the world on a 12 foot yacht.

The book should be called “How lucky can you get – my luck never ran out”

Hi guys, I have just finished reading Serge’s book which is about the voyage that stands as the world record for the smallest sailboat and singlehanded circumnavigation. There is no doubt that it was a remarkable feat, especially considering that it was 1984. He launched the 12 foot aluminium boat “Acrohc Australis” on the 9th June 1984 on the Brisbane River. Acrohc means “thing” in Italian. He spent 500 days at sea over a 3 year period which basically meant roughly half of the 3 years were at sea.

The reason why I am writing this is too compare the differences between Sven Yrvind and Serge Testa.
No one can take away from Serge what he did, but by his own admission he made some crazy mistakes. What I find intriguing is the fact that he was 35 years old at the time and had worked at building and repairing boats. As a 35 year old it becomes quite clear that his understanding of the “mathematics” of yacht design was poor. He could not calculate LEAD. The boat had dangerous weather helm which was corrected at a later stage with the addition of a bowsprit. He was so focused on winning the “smallest prize” that the boat was not tested properly. The shake down cruise was the start of the journey – head first into the deep end. As he went along he realised that his ventilation system was hopelessly inadequate and this resulted in sores all over his body that plagued him for most of the trip. Nowhere is there any mention of a sea anchor or a drogue. As a result there is also no mention of ever heaving-to. He apparently reduced sail and closed the hatches?

Many of the problems could have been corrected if he had only taken a bit of time and tested the boat properly. If he delayed the trip by one month he would have enjoyed the trip more and still arrived back home on the same date, if not sooner. He learned how to navigate as he went along. Serge was not clever, obviously not experienced; he was just in a mad hurry to get away. That is why, when you read the book - the conclusion that you will come to is that his luck just did not run out. The aluminium hull was strong, but a hull does not make a boat. And I would have expected a lot more from a 35 year old man. The book is a good read and points out many of the “what you shouldn’t do” items.

But my conclusion for Serge is simply - his luck did not run out. Read the book and see for yourself.
Nothing wrong with going around the world in a 12 foot boat – but test the boat properly first and sort out the little things. The devil is in the detail. Serge is obviously a very likeable and social guy, you can read between the lines that there was many a good party around a bottle of Vodka.

Sven Yrvind is in a very different category all together. At the age of 35 his understanding of boats was way beyond that of Serge Testa. To draw any comparisons between these two men would be foolhardy.
This new attempt by Sven Yrvind to circumnavigate the southern ocean in a 10 foot boat is well planned, by a VERY experienced 72 year old veteran of the high seas. This journey of Sven is not based on “Will my luck hold” Sven knows what will work and what not, I just hope that he does not spend too much time with things like his rudders – which is simply re-inventing the wheel.

Based on what I have read you just feel that a well planned and executed trip is the goal.
The idea is not to dash around in a mad scramble, when something goes wrong it must not be because of poor preparation, it should be the totally unforeseen and the complete unexpected, it should be bad luck. We know what it means when we say stuff happens.

In this day and age Sven is the right man for the job. The boat he is building will do the trip.
That is what we want to see – an expert at work – not somebody that ignorantly is pushing his luck.
“Around in Ten” was a first class example of many crazy people with even crazier ideas.
A 10 foot boat can do the job – most definitely Sven’s 10 footer.

Serge Testa proved that against all odds it could be done. We as small boat enthusiasts will be indebted to him forever. But don’t push your luck that far in 2013 and beyond. The sea is a very busy place and most certainly for the worse since 1984.

Small boats rule. - Build a trailer sailer and see the world.

 

Nice pic

 

This is all fantastic! I wanna buy the T-shirt! Thanks again for this thread Manie B.