L'Eau Commotion Westabout
An (other) attempt to sail non stop Westabout around the world
| Vessel Name: | L'Eau Commotion |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Northshore 38 |
| Hailing Port: | Brisbane Australia |
| Crew: | Bill Hatfield |
25 February 2020 | Scarborough Marina, Brisbane
21 February 2020
21 February 2020 | 59 Miles To Go
20 February 2020 | 114 Miles East Of Australia
19 February 2020 | 220 Miles East Of Gold Coast Seaway
19 February 2020 | 262 Miles To Gold Coast Seaway
18 February 2020 | 304 Miles East Of Gold Coast Seaway
18 February 2020 | 328 Miles To Go
17 February 2020 | 423 Miles To Go
17 February 2020 | 423 Miles To Go
16 February 2020 | 505 Miles East Of The Gold Coast
15 February 2020 | 617 Miles To Go
14 February 2020 | 755 Miles To Go
13 February 2020 | 888 Miles To The Gold Coast
12 February 2020 | 1032 Miles To The Gold Coast
11 February 2020 | 580 Miles North Of The Waikato
11 February 2020 | 1167 Miles To Home
10 February 2020 | 1300 Miles To Home
10 February 2020 | 1309 Miles To The Gold Coast
09 February 2020 | 1460 Miles To The Gold Coast Seaway
Recent Blog Posts
20 February 2020 | 114 Miles East Of Australia
ETA Looking Likely
Day 258 6am Friday 21st February 2020
19 February 2020 | 220 Miles East Of Gold Coast Seaway
Amended ETA
Day 257 6am Thursday 20th February 2020
19 February 2020 | 262 Miles To Gold Coast Seaway
Amended ETA
Day 256 10:30pm Wednesday 19th February 2020 ( UTC+10 )
Sail Setting
18 July 2019 | 1160 Miles East of Rodriguez
Day 41 8pm Thursday 18th July 2019 ( UTC+6 )
On my previous circumnavigation in L'Eau Commotion to maintain balance with the Windpilot I often found I was taking in the first reef in the mainsail in the relatively light winds over 14 knots. Accordingly when it was decided to retire the rather tired main which had some 40,000 miles on her, in consultation with my sailmakers Jesse and Adrian of Switch sails we decided the new main should be 500mm shorter on the boom and 330mm shorter on the luff ( because David Lambourne had cut that much off the top of the mast ).Further the roach is straight and two very deep reef points were put in so that the sail area can be much reduced. Now separately but relevant I now have a hydraulic ram operating in conjunction with the Raymarine 200 autopilot and of course the Watt & Sea to pump out the Amps so that I can use the autopilot at any or all times, so the steering is no longer a problem whatever the sail balance. Now I mentioned yesterday that I was reducing the jib area and using the staysail as well. Well as the winds from the Port quarter gradually increased during the day I fully furled the jib and then the staysail so now I am using the double reefed main alone which because of the imbalance the Windpilot could not handle. The yacht would either round up or fall away with the danger of an uncontrolled gibe but with the autopilot this is no longer the case - it really does sense a yaw or luff quite early in the cycle and any wave breaking on the aft quarter is handled with aplomb. It also means in stronger winds I won't have to have a poled out jib when nearly before the wind which can be a real bother when the seemingly inevitable gybe occurs. For a preventer on the boom I now run a guy right from the stem and back to a winch in the cockpit which gives a certain amount of flexibility when the boom dips in the drink but at the same time keeps it well under control. All this means we have been travelling comfortably at better than seven knots in sometimes steep and breaking seas in the odd squall.
On my previous circumnavigation in L'Eau Commotion to maintain balance with the Windpilot I often found I was taking in the first reef in the mainsail in the relatively light winds over 14 knots. Accordingly when it was decided to retire the rather tired main which had some 40,000 miles on her, in consultation with my sailmakers Jesse and Adrian of Switch sails we decided the new main should be 500mm shorter on the boom and 330mm shorter on the luff ( because David Lambourne had cut that much off the top of the mast ).Further the roach is straight and two very deep reef points were put in so that the sail area can be much reduced. Now separately but relevant I now have a hydraulic ram operating in conjunction with the Raymarine 200 autopilot and of course the Watt & Sea to pump out the Amps so that I can use the autopilot at any or all times, so the steering is no longer a problem whatever the sail balance. Now I mentioned yesterday that I was reducing the jib area and using the staysail as well. Well as the winds from the Port quarter gradually increased during the day I fully furled the jib and then the staysail so now I am using the double reefed main alone which because of the imbalance the Windpilot could not handle. The yacht would either round up or fall away with the danger of an uncontrolled gibe but with the autopilot this is no longer the case - it really does sense a yaw or luff quite early in the cycle and any wave breaking on the aft quarter is handled with aplomb. It also means in stronger winds I won't have to have a poled out jib when nearly before the wind which can be a real bother when the seemingly inevitable gybe occurs. For a preventer on the boom I now run a guy right from the stem and back to a winch in the cockpit which gives a certain amount of flexibility when the boom dips in the drink but at the same time keeps it well under control. All this means we have been travelling comfortably at better than seven knots in sometimes steep and breaking seas in the odd squall.
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