Solo Sail English Channel Crossing: Fast boat Slow Sailor JPK 39FC

[@davidi4306]

Greetings from South Australia. Really enjoyed this video! We are heading to Sydney at Christmas and hope to see JPK 11.80 boats racing in the Sydney to Hobart. Our boat is slightly more sedate - a Jeanneau 39DS. Cheers.

[@fastcruising.yachts]

Love your video's. We have been on your 39 on the JPK shipyard. Ours will be launched next week. Exiting times.

[@svcyclops]

That is so exciting that the boat is coming next week. What features did you opt for on your boat? Get the sails from Technique Voile? You own a few boats, correct? I wonder how this will compare?

[@svcyclops]

I found your blog. Cool electrical set up. My next video is a long intro into mastervolt.

[@albertofourie3294]

Congrats on your solo crossing! You made it look like a breeze! 😜 Btw, one of your best videos yet.👏

[@svcyclops]

Albert, thanks for watching! It was easy but next season I have bigger challenges!

[@patricklaine6958]

Nicely filmed, nicely sailed. Congrats on first solo crossing. I remember mine well. I like to leave out the genny while launching and retrieving the Code 0 / Asy spi, to prevent any possibility of the sail wrapping around the furled sail. I may be too conservative. It will be interesting to see how you feel about that after another season of experience. I'm still very much in the 'test and learn' phase with my Code sails. I may switch to your techinque.

[@patricklaine6958]

Also, very minor niggle. I think (but am not 100% sure), that your course to steer methodology has a slight flaw. You applied the set and drift to the destination and then obtained a very small CTS of 5°. I think the usual method is to apply the net set and drift to the START position and then draw an arc for the total distance (rhumb line) you are planning to travel. The line between your set and drift arrow and the interception of arc with rhumb line is the CTS. At any rate, for relatively fast sailboats, it's usually not big deal. (I once asked a Class 40 skipper how he calculated CTS and he just laughed.)

[@svcyclops]

You are right that the preferred method they taught me was to apply the tide to the start. I will in the future. But I think it comes out with the same answer since the two solutions form a rectangle. Clearly the angle would be the wrong sign.

[@svcyclops]

I will definitely try the Genoa out strategy and the lazy sheet is a great way to control the code during hoist and douse. Great vids from you as well! So poetic and well read. Some day we will cross paths. Heading to vigo this year.

[@patricklaine6958]

@@svcyclops Yeah, close enough for government work. :-) I think the reason that your approach worked (+/-) is that we make the assumption that the current is East-West, and our heading is more or less North South. In that case, applying the set/drift to the end won't give much of a difference than applying it to the start. If, however, either the heading or the set/drift were significantly different from N/S and E/W, placing the set and drift at the end rather than the start will make a significant difference in Course to Steer. Sounds probably more complicated than it really is. Hope we do cross wakes in the near future.

[@edmockridge7331]

Top tip for the code is to hoist it on the windward side of the forestay. That prevents it from fouling the leeward spreaders. It's also a lot easier to do this when you progress to hoisting it with the jib still out as you haven't got to feed it out under the jib.

[@svcyclops]

Love this idea. Thanks so much this is really helpful. So eager to try it out. Thanks for following Cyclops

[@nowickijustin]

@@svcyclopsI also recommend the windward hoist, I find it much easier and usually hoist with my jib still flying.

[@mikethrower742]

Well done………ps…. Try the 1 in 60 rule for tides ie 5nm west over your 60 nm distance is 5 degrees heading correction and you can use that 1:60 to calculate over any distance…love the boat, shame JPK won’t sell me one !!

[@svcyclops]

Why won’t they sell you one?

[@mikethrower742]

@@svcyclops haha….. I think because in 2017 , I narrowed down my choice of new boat to a JPK45 and a Boreal 44. It was very close but I thought that I’d try a different type of yacht to which I was used to and plumped for the B44. Unfortunately, COVID struck and I couldn’t go ice busting with the aluminium boat, I wasn’t using her for it’s intended purpose and then I had a good offer for her which I decided to take. For my type of sailing, I had probably made an error so went back to see JPK last year and very interested in the 39FC, they offered me a cancelled order there and then but I’d tied the cash up in a slightly longer term interest account and so not in position to accept . Now he won’t respond to me…………….!! C’est la vie……ou guerre !!

[@mikethrower742]

PS I like the look of your Vesper Cortex….how would you review that equipment ?

[@svcyclops]

@@mikethrower742 I might do an episode next season on the Cortex. I like it but unless you are a tech nerd it might be overkill. Pros: easy interface, collision avoidance app, great fog horn control (I don’t have a horn), great squelch, easy nmea data distribution, barometer cons: not cheap.

[@26N80W]

If you know you will stay on one tack, hoist the code with only the sheet you plan to use. If you do have to jibe the code. Furl it move the sheet across and then unfurl on the new jibe.

[@svcyclops]

I put both on because I use the lazy sheet to keep the furled sail on the boat when dropping. Thanks for participating in my channel.

[@SailingSula]

well done, great video 👍

[@svcyclops]

Very kind of you to say. I am not a pro sailor nor pro you tuber. Just enjoy sharing and hearing from others.

[@MrsB781]

Great video! Solo sailing on the busy English Channel is quite an adventure! Our JPK 39 will be ready in a few weeks. We also hope to cross the English Channel this summer. You mentioned also insuring the boat in the video. May I ask which insurance company you have chosen for Cyclops?

[@svcyclops]

My boat is US flagged so I am forced to use a US insurance company. I assume you live in Europe? If so you can avoid my overpriced solution. Have you joined the owners whatsapp group?

[@svcyclops]

also congrats on the boat. great news!

[@MrsB781]

@@svcyclops thanks for the suggestion! And as fast as your boat 😉And indeed we live in Europe. We didn't know there was a whatsapp group. Do you know who the administrator is /how we can join the group?

[@svcyclops]

@@MrsB781 reply with an email address and I will send you process. I would not use a primary email as this is very public.

[@MrsB781]

@@svcyclops I tried twice to answer with an e-mail adress, but i think it's against YT-policy.

[@conorohiggins1962]

Dawn Treader was another JPK - an 11.80.

[@svcyclops]

Fast one!

[@135stiletto]

Great video. I have a question! What is the apparent wind angle with the code zero?

[@svcyclops]

The sail maker says 75 to 125. As the wind builds I would put her away earlier when sailing on the tightest angles. Thank for watching my vids!

[@BobbyArrow]

"And when there is a lot of wind, you can just reduce your sail area and be like one of the slow boats, only faster."

[@svcyclops]

Robert, well said. I am not sure where my lines come from. All ad lib. Thanks for following my channel and great to hear from you.

[@BobbyArrow]

@@svcyclops I saw the JPK 39 FC at the La Rochelle boat show last year. Great boat. Love to see that it performs as advertised.

[@svcyclops]

Sounds like you are in the market for a boat? Fun!

[@BobbyArrow]

@@svcyclops I'm looking at the great boats now, hoping to find one used in 4-6 years when I will (hopefully) be in the market🙂

[@BobbyArrow]

@@svcyclops And I just love boats.

[@Panoramix0874]

Cargo ship outside the TSS should give way to a sailboat, they tend to wait to see if the sailing boat is going to move... So the trick is to call them over VHF and ask politely "What are their intentions" and they will oblige!

[@svcyclops]

I had a close call this season. I usually adjust course way early to be polite. When it is closer I then follow Colregs. In my incident I was stand on with spinnaker flying. Called ship twice. No answer. Was about to do emergency spin drop and turn. But he then adjusted course. I do like the vhf but also don’t want to crowd the radio in places like the English channel.

[@Panoramix0874]

@@svcyclops Sometimes CROSS Jobourg call a ship that isn't responding through DSC, may be this is what happened or simply they waited before taking action. From the perspective of a cargo ship, a sailing boat is erratic so it doesn't make sense for them to react too early.

[@humaidalqubaisi9194]

All this knowledge, a fully equipped boat, not counting the birds.... still solo ?

[@svcyclops]

I am not solo like the Vendée skipper for sure. But for me it is challenging enough