From what I understand the Open 40 is designed to sail on top of the water and the S&S down in the water. So again from what I understand the wind vane would not work on Abby's boat that is why she doesn't have one.

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There are vane steering designs that will work on her boat. And, since it is such a vital piece of equipment, doesn't it stand to reason that if a specific design would not work with it, that design should have been ruled out from the beginning?

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There is no better bilge pump than a scared sailor with a bucket.

One more point, sheet to tiller steering does work. Even with a wheel. Not great, but I have used it numerous times. I wonder if she has set her boat up for this?

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There is no better bilge pump than a scared sailor with a bucket.

The reason I'm sure Jessica will be fine is her performance to date and the fact that she's more than half way done.

I mean the girl (and boat) have already survived a 180 degree knockdown. There isn't much worse than that, other than a hull breach.

If this were the olympics, I think the Aussies would be taking home the gold here.

While she may be using sheet to tiller, I personally believe they are relying entirely on an autopilot and may have a backup unit in place just incase of a primary failure. I feel they are relying heavily on technology in place of technique. With the autopilot they can stay exactly on course where with a wind vane they may have to correct from time to time.
Which is the shorter distance?

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What the hell did I just do

Oh my!?! Course corrections? That will never do

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There is no better bilge pump than a scared sailor with a bucket.

Let me throw out another thought.

I wonder if they are trying for two records just to hold onto keeping the solo non stop. If Abby not only completes the solo non stop but also sets a record on fastest time. Then breaking that record would be harder to do.

This could be the reason for the Open 40 choice of boats.

Jessica's S&S design is a 7.5/8 knot hull speed boat where Abby is somewhere around 12 knots.

What do you guys think?

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That's good thinking, Grime. They could grab a "youngest, fastest."

All I know is their whole approach is frightening to me, from a safety perspective.

Whoops! This is Jessica's thread. I'm mixing it up. Jessica will be done shortly. Not so much to comment on, except how nice the "Pink Lady" looks. Cool boat.

I'm with you on Pink Lady. Jessica does have a cool looking boat. I like the design.

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I am having a hard time reconciling the hull speed of an S&S 34. It has 24 feet of waterline so by my calcs it should have a hull speed of 6.59. Here is a comparrison between my boat and Jessica's boat.
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Hull Speed times 24 hours means she is running 153 miles a day. And that would not all be distance made good. I have never been able to keep that kind of speed on my boat. I use 150 or less as my daily average run. Her boat is more of a race boat than mine but still I am 15% faster than her boat. Can someone help me figure this out.

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"Money is not the only thing one has to spend; the other thing is life. The difference is that you never know how much is in the bank, or what your balance is. Your life is your inheritance. As soon as you realize this, you start trying to spend your life wisely." - From "Advice to the Sealorn" by Herb Payson.