TOP TIPS FROM THE ARC
1
GO FISH
Fishing on passage
can be a great way
to supplement
refrigerated or frozen
foods. But learn how to
kill, gut and fillet before
you leave!2
STAY IN
RANGE
For yachts with
limited motoring
range, effective forecasting is crucial to
capitalise on the wind available to best effect.3
COOK UP A STORM
A thermal slow cooker is the
most efficient way to reduce
gas consumption.Hallberg-Rassy 372
Mark Henley commissioned his
new 37 ft Hallberg-Rassy with
occasional ocean crossings in
mind. Having sailed to Las
Palmas and completed the
ARC, he’s now signed up for
the ARC Europe rally to bring
her home. A dinghy sailor all
his life, his latest-generation
HR 372 Mutley is tiller steered
and proved comfortable for
him and his two crew.
However, there were some
challenges to overcome
relating to the size of the boat.
‘We found much of the
weather information provided by the rally to be
too general for a boat with a short motoring
range. In hindsight, we’d have used our own
weather-routing software to minimise use of
fuel and avoid stopping at Mindelo. We only
carried 20 litres extra in addition to the boat
diesel tank. We actually ended up having to
chase the wind down to the trades and
refuelling at Mindelo in Cape Verde.’
With only the standard-sized fridge on
board, Mark and crew were strategic in their
approach to food and drink.‘Food that stayed fresh well without
refrigeration included onions, apples, eggs and
garlic. Fresh meat deep-frozen in blocks was
eaten it in order that it would go off – chicken,
pork, lamb, beef. Doing this meant our fresh
meat lasted three weeks. Our best bit of kit
was our Mr D’s Thermal Cooker. You could
make a hot meal at lunch and it would slow
cook until we were ready for dinner. Meals
were supplemented with fish we caught – tuna,
mackerel and mahi-mahi. It’s worth learning
how to kill, clean and fillet before you leave.’Bavaria 32 Cruiser
Jarmo Koskivuori from
Finland made the trip on a
similarly sized but modern
cruiser, a new-generation
Bavaria 3 2.
‘Our first boat was only
18ft, so it’s a big trade up
for us,’ he explains. The
32 Cruiser didn’t come
equipped with all of the
kit necessary for an ocean
passage, but Jarmo and
his wife have perhaps
thought more carefully
than most about how to
adapt her for ocean passagemaking.
‘We’ve mounted a proper ocean-grade liferaft
on the coachroof, and, as we’re sailing as a
couple, we’ve also installed a simple MOB ladder
that drops down the side of the yacht. We know
it will work if we need to recover each other from
the water. In terms of the yacht design, there are
a couple of aspects that we had to consider. We
decided to install an extra handrail in the saloon
as that’s where the boat has the most internal
width. There are other smaller things that
we’ve adapted. Bavarias don’t come with red
lights to preserve night vision, so we painted a
battery lamp in the cockpit with red nail varnish
for watches and put red stockings over the
headlining lights. People might laugh, but itThe ARC
organiser
Jeremy Wyatt,
communications
director at the World
Cruising Club, has
seen the types of
small yachts taking
part in the world’s
biggest sailing rally
broaden over the
past few years.
‘We see a mix of
smaller cruising boats in the ARC, from
modern boats such as Beneteau Oceanis
3 8s and Hallberg-Rassy 37 2s, both very
conventional types, plus a few very traditional
types such as Rival 3 8As.
‘One interesting recent trend has been
towards the concept of small fast cruisers.
The ARC this year had a Pogo 30 as its
smallest entrant. By sailing faster, the boat
can be lighter since less food, fuel and water
are needed for crossing an ocean. In addition
to the Pogos, the plywood/epoxy RM 1050
was also in the fleet this year, designed to
a similar theory.’Above: an inventive
nightlight solution - a
battery lamp painted
with red nail varnishworks brilliantly and we can just remove them
when we’re island hopping in the Caribbean.’
Jarmo and his wife are planning to cross
back to Europe under sail later in the year.
They are going to take in Bermuda and the
Azores on the way. ‘We’ll pick our weather
window carefully, but we’ve always planned a
full circuit.’EXPERT ON BOARDJarmo Koskivuori on
his Bavaria 32 CruiserMark Henley and crew suggest
growing beards to save water!Jeremy Wyatt from the
World Cruising Club