I was onboard Walter’s s/v Madness (Hull #1) along with Alan for this trip
from New Bedford. Mass. to Bermuda. Since my boat is still on the hard, this
was my first time offshore on a 424. Overall, the trip was fantastic. We
sailed 720 nm in 4.5 days, averaging 160 miles per day. We covered 180 nm
during one 24 hour run. We had everything from 30+ knots winds to half a day
under spinnaker and a day of motoring. On my last shift between 11PM and 8
AM as we arrived in Bermuda, we averaged 7.3-7.4 nm every hour, with the
wind ahead of the beam. We had 3 turns in the Genoa and a reefed mizzen. I
found having the mizzen sail very useful. I would say almost half of the
trip was done the main under cover. It was easy to keep the helm fairly
balanced.
As far as things we learnt:
You definitely want to have a spare halyard or stairs for the mizzen after
you lose your halyard to the top of the mast. Nothing a little ingenuity and
3 fishing poles taped together to a boat hook didn’t fix 🙂
If you haven’t replaced your main traveler yet, you should look at adding
nuts and washers to the bolts that are tapped into the risers. While that
has held together fine for 30 years, it only made it one day offshore. Of
course, you can just bring a 4 inch hole saw and a drill and repair it
underway, as you saw Walt doing in the video. It is a simple 30 minute fix
to do onshore, but it could be difficult on a dark and stormy night.
You can’t have too many spare nuts and bolts on hand!!
Sleeping in the aft bunk was the most comfortable, so it is worthwhile to
add lee cloth’s or boards down the middle of the double bunk. Sleeping on
the main salon settees, while comfortable, did cause me to have a bit more
air time than my stomach really wanted when running in confused seas the
first night.
If you walk into the private Royal Bermuda Yacht Club without shaving for 5
days, and tell the Manager you just sailed down from Boston, he may just buy
you a “Dark and Stormy” at the bar”!!!
Looking forward to taking my own 424 on the same trip in a few years.
Paul
Boundless #28
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