Attempting to cross the Atlantic single handed on a Modified F18 Cat Greg Homann

Pretty cool Tommy. I remember a couple of guys making the crossing on a Hobie 18 years ago in something like 14 days...but not singlehanded. Then there was a guy who tried it on a NACRA. Never found him. Hope the guy has a good EPIRB.

Johnny Tiger

He sounds as qualified as any pro sailor. It looks like he's attempting it on a modified Dart 18. His web site says that if he's successful, he wants to turn the event into a race: Mini cat transat. That would take distance racing to a whole new level of crazy.

I could see doing a race on boats like the Reynolds 21 (maybe a modern *lighter* version of the boat) or Stiletto 23, but not an 18' beach-cat.

With all the sponsership he has it seems like a well planned attempt, so I wonder what he will do with the boat when he sleeps. At least with a two or three man attempt you can take it in turns at the helm.

Alot can happen to a beachcat when the helm is left unattended. Even a wind powered autopilot would be tricky because of the apparent wind situation with a beachcat.

.

So the guys on the Hobie survived and the guy on the nacra died, ehh ? Must have been the com tip !

ctually the nacra guys were Hans bouscholte and they broke the record (Did not die !)

A few quotes from the web :

For what it's worth, there have been at least five beach cat attempts on the Atlantic since 1986: In November 1986, the Frenchman Daniël Pradel and the Australian Tony Laurent did the first such crossing in 18 days and 22 hours with a Hobie 18. The next four attempts didn't better the original time. That same year 1986 Laurent Bourgnon (now skipper of 60-ft trimaran 'Primagaz' and Fréderic Geraldi tried it as well and they needed two more days for the crossing.

In '93 another attempt was made by two frenchmen (I think Navarin was one of them I can't remember the other name). They used a KL 18 catamaran (actually a good boat) and crossed th atlantic without any serious problems. However their trip lasted more than 21 days.

I read on the web somewhere that in 2001 Bouscholte teamed up with Gerard Navarin, using a modified inter 20, to attemt to crossing. Bouscholte would break the record but I don't recall Gerard being part of it. I guess my memory is most likely to blame for that. Anyways, in 1999, the Dutch-French duo of Hans Bouscholte and Gérard Navarin dropped the time to 15 days, 2 hours, with a slightly modified NACRA cat.

Apparently two Italians broke the record again in 2003 but this has passed by the majority of the sailing audience. It is difficult to find anything on their attempt on the net.

Wouter

I sure you don't mean a Dart 18. It might be a Dart Hawk.

My first thought was same as Grob's. How do you steer a cat, keep her in the groove while sleeping?

Here is another mention of the trip.
source: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20040929100230Sailpower.html
News
Small cat attempts record

On 18 November 2004, Greg Homann, 41, from Australia but now resident in the UK, will set sail in his attempt to cross the Atlantic in a tiny catamaran, the type normally seen at beach club resorts. But Greg is no sailing 'eccentric' - he's hugely experienced and what's more his attempt is backed by principal sponsor, the United Kingdom Sailing Academy (UKSA).

In 2003 an Italian sailor succeeded in sailing solo on a 20ft catamaran from the Canary Islands to Guadeloupe, taking 28 days. Greg will take the same route and attempt to beat this record by a big margin - his estimated time being 20 days. If successful, Greg will have established an official new solo record for catamarans by being both the quickest transatlantic crossing and the smallest such craft to do so.

The boat being used is a modified F18 catamaran called 'UKSA.org' in recognition of Greg's major sponsor. A fully enclosed pod has been built so Greg can get in it and be totally protected from the cold, wind and water. A mast float was also introduced to prevent the catamaran from inverting but if it did capsize, Greg is able to re-right it by himself. Other modifications include "wings" and a seat allowing long periods at the tiller. The food Greg has chosen is self-heating, therefore no gas is required, and a portable desalination unit will provide his water supplies.

Greg has the use of a VHF and Iridium satellite phone and will be in contact daily for weather forecasts and routing. He will have a qualified doctor on call 24 hours a day. As another precautionary measure, Greg has chosen to do the attempt when the annual transatlantic ARC Race starts on 21 November from Gran Canaria, meaning that, at any one time, some of the race's 150 plus sailing yachts should be reasonably close by.

To succeed Greg will put all his immense sailing skills and experience to good use - Greg has been racing for over 30 years and professionally for almost 20 years. And backing from the UKSA, the world's premier sail training establishment, has given Greg a huge boost of confidence.



Sailpower , 29 October 2004
source: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20040929100230Sailpower.html

And here is Greg's latest note, dated Nov. 2, 2004:
Messages form Greg will appear here

02/11/04
Latest news from Greg
Greg has arrived in Cadiz. Final prep on UKSA.org before departure from Cadiz to Gran Canaria. This is Greg's chance to iron out any final problems before the record attempt........The entire team is now on standby for departure later this week.


source: http://www.greghomann.com/messages.html
Greg's Messages

GARY

It's a Hawk all right. There are photos. http://www.greghomann.com

Wouter,
Another for the list: there was a failed attempt to cross the South Atlantic (S.Africa to Brazil) in a Supercat 17. One of the crew died, the other was rescued.
Luiz

Greg Homann has chosen to suspend his Solo Transatlantic Record attempt at this time. Following his trial sail to the Canaries he has decided to review his programme and he has said that he will make an announcement about his future plans in due course.

Looks like he has postponed this attempt, shame as I was really looking forward to see how he got on.

http://www.greghomann.com/

Doh! didn't realise Dermot had allready posted this!!