You are my hero, never have I seen such an amazing video capting a story like this, such a boat in such a sea state its awesome to see and be part of it.
Your understatement - “I was quite tired” - is legendary. I thought I was doing well enough to sail from the UK to Denmark in a Folkboat but this is in an entirely different league! Legendary stuff. You deserve some kind of award.
No words, no music, just the sound of the sea. Bliss. Anyone who has sailed a small boat will be transported right back to those happy, if sometimes anxious, times. I personally wouldn't have had the courage to attempt such a long, open water, passage in an only partially decked boat, even a seaworthy one as yours evidently is.
What seamanship, skill and guts, i take my hat off in salute to you. My yacht could go around the world and as far as i take it is the harbour entrance.
@@paulfollansbee7103 it was tricky to get going again because we got repeatedly swamped as I tried to bail. The combination of electric pump, autobailers, and bucket got the job done.
Wow I think you are the spirit of all we would all like to be 😛certainly what you call true sailing👍 , I don't think would want to be in an open boat in that part of the world , I like my dry cabin and cups of tea to much.
@kipjoneskipjones it's a very adaptable rig and I wouldn't want to cruise a small boat without a mizzen. Before I do another trip I want to get a mizzen staysail that I can fly between the foot of the main mast and top of the mizzen, just to fill a small gap in the wind range for my sail selection.
@markthomasson5077 there aren't actually any reef points. The rig gives enough options and in my experience dropping a sail is faster and easier than faffing around reefing, no matter how easy the system.
@@reubydoi7111 ok, point taken. But, one it gives you more options. Two, if you know it will be windy, you can reef before you start, then have a more effective upwind rig. That said, I am a lover of modern junk rigs, even for dinghies. I did sail on a 10ft dinghy, two up, she sailed extremely well, and could be reefed in an instant. Also if hit by a gust you can release the main sheet and let the sail feather, on any point of sail. Ok not quite as efficient, but the current designs are equal to a (not new) cruising rig.
I considered it, but decided the faff and complication of a pole wasn't worth it, and I would probably lose the ability to get rid of the jib in seconds.
She's got a centerboard which weighs about 25kg. It's my own design and I'm planning to make something about the boat once I have uploaded the footage from the trip.
Fantastic sailing. Did you contemplate running off under bare poles? Actually the wind looks more than 30kt to me and looks more like a full gale. This is the most incredible footage.
@msf60khz I tried bare spars a few times earlier in the trip but found it better to leave the mizzen up. It is a small enough sail that it does little to effect stability but allows better speed and manouverability to avoid waves. It also means you can sail just above a beam reach which gives a much better freedom of course to steer and leaving it up means if things realy go wrong you can just pin the mizzen in hard and she'll sit head to wind by herself.
There are a couple of dinghy style automatic bailers which work above 4kt, and I have an electric bilge pump, a hand pump, and a bucket for redundancy.
And there's me worrying about sailing my Lugger around Anglesey in a F4!! Fabulous trip and thankyou for sharing that. May i ask a question? Were you scared at any point on that trip? Heading into the North sea in a F6, capsizing along the way? Would love to know how you felt?
Hi Dave, you watched my unsupported windsurf to France video. I bet this one was more terrifying. Sitting in a boat you are lower to the waves and the horizon is blocked. I know I would be terrified doing the North Sea - think we can all agree this is the ultimate!
@@henrycartwright7124 Hi Henry, I sure did. I thnk what scares me most about this is the fact you are literally in the middle of nowhere, with very little help available if you need it!
Pilots Cove on Ynys Llanddwyn was one of my favourite stops of the whole trip, you have some beautiful local waters. Looking back I was in some scary situations that I probably should have found terrifying, but in the moment there wasn't time to be scared, I just had to get stuck in and deal with the situation. Maybe the closest to scared I got was as the weather worsened and I realised the forecast was wrong. By that point I was over 20 miles downwind from the Shetlands so there was no way back and my best option was to continue.
@sailingmistral685 couldn't agree more. I wouldn't have been able to avoid some of the breaking waves i did in a slower 'safe' boat, and would have still been out there when the wind picked up again after I arrived. Less than 12hr after I arrived someone was killed when a 30' viking replica was wrecked a few miles up the coast.
You are living the dream of many of us but that must have been so terrifying in that wind. Did you have a couple of bags of shingle in your beautiful boat?
@the_grand_tourer some were speechless and didn't know what to say, some had a lot to say and wanted to know everything, and I became very familiar with the word 'gal' (Norwegian for crazy).
@@reubydoi7111 Gal! interesting, like gaul in English I suppose? all round impressive! I have a cruiser on west of Scotland, you sailed through my hood ... I must make more effort to go further!
@@BurtReynolds-qp1jk I misspelt, I should have written gall (understood as meaning impudence, boldness), which has origins in northern Europe, so it is possible it's shared with Scandinavian countries and then passed into English.
@@the_grand_tourer As I'm a bit of a language nerd, "gall" in that sense is derived from the idea that the gall bladder was where courage (or at least spite) originated from. Probably Germanic but after proto Norse separated from the rest of the Germanic family tree. "Galen" (old Norse "galinn") derives from "bewitched by the song of trolls" 😲 and survives in sort of its original meaning in Icelandic where "galdur" means a magic trick/witchcraft/magic in general.
Maybe read Peter Clutterbuck's book before recommending Wayfarer over this design. Beam is comparable, LWL is longer in this design, not to mention the mizzen would help a lot. Wayfarers get a lot of broken rudders !
@CrawfordJohnstone I have owned andsailedwayfarera in the past but wouldn't want to do the crossing in one. The main thing is the mizzen which gives far better choice of sail setups. I sailed most of the way with just jib and mizzen.
@markthomasson5077 she has autobailers so empties when going above 4kt, and also an automatic electric pump. I would change very little about the design but there are a few minor things. I would consider ways to reduce the volume of the cockpit when swamped although that would compromise other aspects. I would add a breakwater on the foredeck to deflect more waves, and I intend to get a mizzen staysail set up. I'm also going to put fitting for rowlocks in the transom for sculling and emergency steering.
@jusomebody3069 I designed her to be able to recover from a capsize and I fully understood the challenge I faced. I purposefully didn't publicise my trip before i set off because I didn't want any pressure to set off from Shetland if I wasn't confident. It's certainly not a passage I would recommend for most people.
You are my hero, never have I seen such an amazing video capting a story like this, such a boat in such a sea state its awesome to see and be part of it.
Your understatement - “I was quite tired” - is legendary. I thought I was doing well enough to sail from the UK to Denmark in a Folkboat but this is in an entirely different league! Legendary stuff. You deserve some kind of award.
No words, no music, just the sound of the sea. Bliss. Anyone who has sailed a small boat will be transported right back to those happy, if sometimes anxious, times. I personally wouldn't have had the courage to attempt such a long, open water, passage in an only partially decked boat, even a seaworthy one as yours evidently is.
I clicked the like button but that is nowhere near enough - absolutely brilliant. Remarkable seamanship.
What seamanship, skill and guts, i take my hat off in salute to you. My yacht could go around the world and as far as i take it is the harbour entrance.
You sir are putting us all to shame! Thank you for sharing and inspiring me. Cheers
One of the most frightening sailing videos I've ever seen.Mzsterfull seamanship.
I once did 190 sea miles in a Laser dinghy and its been a lasting memory.
Brass balls!!
Well made vessel !!
Ive sailed a dingy in 30 kts on a few icassions . Its a racous time
Shackleton would be proud
Hello from Newfoundland Canada. That was impressive. I would love it if you did a talking tour of your boat. Take care.
Im going to put something together once I have uploaded all the footage from the trip
Frank Dye (R.I.P.) would have been thrilled to see this footage.
That is living!
Utmost respect!
Wow. Simply wow.
Absolutely, Wow, incredible.
The real….eric anderaa😅😅😂
Very big balls!!🫨🫨👍🥵
Terrifying, but impressive. Can’t imagine righting the boat after capsizing in those conditions.
@@paulfollansbee7103 it was tricky to get going again because we got repeatedly swamped as I tried to bail. The combination of electric pump, autobailers, and bucket got the job done.
Mad !!! At least it was a quick crossing !!
Love it.. Very very well done!!
Top sailing. Brave, experienced,,prepared.
If you bumped into a container ship, that ship would never have realised it ;-) Hats off for the self-confidence!
Fair play, that's an impressive, albeit risky, passage.
Wow I think you are the spirit of all we would all like to be 😛certainly what you call true sailing👍 , I don't think would want to be in an open boat in that part of the world , I like my dry cabin and cups of tea to much.
Pretty wild
All my respect!
That jib and mizzen setup seems great for the big air
Also that swell, holy cannoli I would be very nervous!!
I assume there are reefing points, though didn’t see any.
@kipjoneskipjones it's a very adaptable rig and I wouldn't want to cruise a small boat without a mizzen. Before I do another trip I want to get a mizzen staysail that I can fly between the foot of the main mast and top of the mizzen, just to fill a small gap in the wind range for my sail selection.
@markthomasson5077 there aren't actually any reef points. The rig gives enough options and in my experience dropping a sail is faster and easier than faffing around reefing, no matter how easy the system.
@@reubydoi7111 ok, point taken. But, one it gives you more options. Two, if you know it will be windy, you can reef before you start, then have a more effective upwind rig.
That said, I am a lover of modern junk rigs, even for dinghies. I did sail on a 10ft dinghy, two up, she sailed extremely well, and could be reefed in an instant. Also if hit by a gust you can release the main sheet and let the sail feather, on any point of sail. Ok not quite as efficient, but the current designs are equal to a (not new) cruising rig.
Wow. Rough.
"It was not fun". But impressive - and scary - to watch from the comfort of my dry, warm and stable armchair.
Wow that is exactly what I want to be doing right now.
awesome!
Seems like a poled out jib would have been helpful in strong down wind runs.
I considered it, but decided the faff and complication of a pole wasn't worth it, and I would probably lose the ability to get rid of the jib in seconds.
Fricken Hel!
Bloody hell....
Bonkers
… and if I may ask, is there somewhere you have posted details of the dinghy design?
@jamesvisick6009 not yet but I'm planning to make something about the boat once I have finished uploading the footage from the trip.
I bet the Norwegians on the other end were lost for words…..
Amazing! I'm wondering if that boat has a keel or ballast of any sort? What boat is it anyway?
She's got a centerboard which weighs about 25kg. It's my own design and I'm planning to make something about the boat once I have uploaded the footage from the trip.
Fantastic sailing. Did you contemplate running off under bare poles? Actually the wind looks more than 30kt to me and looks more like a full gale. This is the most incredible footage.
@msf60khz I tried bare spars a few times earlier in the trip but found it better to leave the mizzen up. It is a small enough sail that it does little to effect stability but allows better speed and manouverability to avoid waves. It also means you can sail just above a beam reach which gives a much better freedom of course to steer and leaving it up means if things realy go wrong you can just pin the mizzen in hard and she'll sit head to wind by herself.
Impressive ride. How do you get the water out of the boat?
His balls displace it
His ballz displace it
There are a couple of dinghy style automatic bailers which work above 4kt, and I have an electric bilge pump, a hand pump, and a bucket for redundancy.
And there's me worrying about sailing my Lugger around Anglesey in a F4!!
Fabulous trip and thankyou for sharing that. May i ask a question?
Were you scared at any point on that trip? Heading into the North sea in a F6, capsizing along the way? Would love to know how you felt?
Hi Dave, you watched my unsupported windsurf to France video. I bet this one was more terrifying. Sitting in a boat you are lower to the waves and the horizon is blocked. I know I would be terrified doing the North Sea - think we can all agree this is the ultimate!
@@henrycartwright7124 Hi Henry, I sure did. I thnk what scares me most about this is the fact you are literally in the middle of nowhere, with very little help available if you need it!
Sounds like a pretty rational fear to me!
Pilots Cove on Ynys Llanddwyn was one of my favourite stops of the whole trip, you have some beautiful local waters.
Looking back I was in some scary situations that I probably should have found terrifying, but in the moment there wasn't time to be scared, I just had to get stuck in and deal with the situation.
Maybe the closest to scared I got was as the weather worsened and I realised the forecast was wrong. By that point I was over 20 miles downwind from the Shetlands so there was no way back and my best option was to continue.
Quite tired, but very mad.
The safety of a sailing dingy is within her Speed.
@sailingmistral685 couldn't agree more. I wouldn't have been able to avoid some of the breaking waves i did in a slower 'safe' boat, and would have still been out there when the wind picked up again after I arrived. Less than 12hr after I arrived someone was killed when a 30' viking replica was wrecked a few miles up the coast.
@ thank you for your assessment.
This is incredible, what do you use for nav?
I planned the passages on savvy Navvy then plotted waypoints in my garmin etrex40 and vhf which has built in gps
You are living the dream of many of us but that must have been so terrifying in that wind. Did you have a couple of bags of shingle in your beautiful boat?
@mudball220 the center board weighs about 25kg but other than that there's no ballast
We want to know, as you entered harbour. What did they say when you said you'd come from Shetland ?
@the_grand_tourer some were speechless and didn't know what to say, some had a lot to say and wanted to know everything, and I became very familiar with the word 'gal' (Norwegian for crazy).
@@reubydoi7111 Gal! interesting, like gaul in English I suppose? all round impressive! I have a cruiser on west of Scotland, you sailed through my hood ... I must make more effort to go further!
@@the_grand_tourer
Nope, it's Norse and has nothing to do with "Gaul". Galen in Swedish.
@@BurtReynolds-qp1jk I misspelt, I should have written gall (understood as meaning impudence, boldness), which has origins in northern Europe, so it is possible it's shared with Scandinavian countries and then passed into English.
@@the_grand_tourer
As I'm a bit of a language nerd, "gall" in that sense is derived from the idea that the gall bladder was where courage (or at least spite) originated from. Probably Germanic but after proto Norse separated from the rest of the Germanic family tree.
"Galen" (old Norse "galinn") derives from "bewitched by the song of trolls" 😲 and survives in sort of its original meaning in Icelandic where "galdur" means a magic trick/witchcraft/magic in general.
that takes balls
and a lack of brains.
Brass monkey ones or better!
How did you capsize btw? Broaching and getting pinned? Was there anything you could have done to avoid it, or just inevitable in those conditions?
Hi James! Glad you saw this as well! Epic!
@ haha, I was actually about to share with you !
Foolhardy!?
Probably just cut from a different cloth
Very good sailing well done. Next time use a wayfarer please. With crew
Maybe read Peter Clutterbuck's book before recommending Wayfarer over this design. Beam is comparable, LWL is longer in this design, not to mention the mizzen would help a lot. Wayfarers get a lot of broken rudders !
@CrawfordJohnstone I have owned andsailedwayfarera in the past but wouldn't want to do the crossing in one. The main thing is the mizzen which gives far better choice of sail setups. I sailed most of the way with just jib and mizzen.
Something all dinghy sailors aspire to but very few have the guts to do, good effort!
Or very very silly ...
Jesus Christ get a bigger boat. capsizing twice, you're gambling with your life.
I guess he had practiced that well before attempting the crossing.
Well done, she looks lovely.
I assume she is self bailing?
Any design changes considered since the crossing “
@markthomasson5077 she has autobailers so empties when going above 4kt, and also an automatic electric pump. I would change very little about the design but there are a few minor things. I would consider ways to reduce the volume of the cockpit when swamped although that would compromise other aspects. I would add a breakwater on the foredeck to deflect more waves, and I intend to get a mizzen staysail set up. I'm also going to put fitting for rowlocks in the transom for sculling and emergency steering.
@jusomebody3069 I designed her to be able to recover from a capsize and I fully understood the challenge I faced. I purposefully didn't publicise my trip before i set off because I didn't want any pressure to set off from Shetland if I wasn't confident. It's certainly not a passage I would recommend for most people.
Driving on the road is a gamble with your life. This looks pretty good odds to me 👍