*Balance 526 ‘Pippilotta’ - Flying downwind toward the Caribbean*

As I write this, i’m looking out at a pristine Antiguan anchorage, reflecting on what an amazing Atlantic crossing we just had. Over 3,000 nautical miles sailed from Lanzarote, in the Canaries, to this quaint and friendly island nation of Antigua. This is now our second trans-Atlantic crossing aboard Pippilotta, our Balance 526 performance sailing catamaran, and we have nothing but admiration and confidence after all these miles sailed. I’d like to go over some of our more technical discussions we had onboard, from routing to sail selection for optimizing VMG.

Firstly, we must discuss how unusually light the winds were for departure, and not for us, but the entire ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) fleet. Although we departed at the same time as the ARC, we started our journey about 80NM leward, making it quite challenging to even get to the back of the fleet. Typically, the winds are blowing a strong NE trade through the Canaries, but this departure lent a very light S to SW, barely above 10kts. Sailplan was easy, jib and full main with leward dagger board deployed fully.

Soon in the coming days we began to catch the tail-end of the ARC fleet, and found enjoyment as the wind shifted to a more traditional, albeit light NE trade. Aboard Pippi, we only have a furling asymmetric spinnaker, and a smaller ‘upwind’ Code-Zero. Sailplan again easy to choose - spinnaker and full main, reaching downwind at around 140TWA for maximum VMG (velocity made good).

Routing here was a little more challenging along the African coast down to our waypoint set 200NM NW of Cape Verde. On a more direct route, the winds showed very light, with maybe a boost closer to the coast, but not conclusive. Most boats were opting for a DDW (dead downwind) setup to minimize distance. However, we opted to find the more consistent breeze, sailing closer to the African coast, and gybing our way back to the fleet. Smiles all around as we rejoined the pack of ARC boats, clearly having made up significant ground!

Our next phase continued to be super light wind, making it hard to choose when to make the ‘turn’ toward the Caribbean. However, it’s extraordinary sailing a boat which sails well in light wind, allowing us to make another ‘gamble’ and turn West early. Once again, strategy paid off and we hit an area of very nice NE breeze, putting us right in the sweet spot for our spinnaker. Pippilotta made easy miles for the next few days, averaging above 200nm a day in what some call ‘champaign’ sailing conditions. Almost no sea state to speak of, the ride was comfortable, days were sunny, clouds stable (as we were close to a high), and fishing endless!

Gradually, those easy conditoins stregthened, transitioning us into some serious power-reaching conditions. We kept the Spinnaker up as long as we could as the wind built between 20-24kts, taking in a reef in the main early to help handle the gusts and rising sea-state. This wind pushed us to our best-ever 240NM in 24 hours, and a new speed record of 19.4kts! But, very soon the winds increased further, making the transition to Code-Zero and first reef a necessity. Our spinnaker has an AWL (Apparent Wind Limit) of 16kts, whereas our Code-Zero is built with much stronger materials, allowing for a higher AWL of 22kts when downwind.

With our sailplan and strong winds veering to Easterly, it makes sense to sail a DDW course. Coupled with a more direct route and taking advantage of the swell pushing us along with nice surfs, our VMG is hard to beat via reaching angles.

For sailing DDW, we have a few options in headsail choices. For higher wind, we opt to rig our staysail, flying this with our jib, ‘wing on wing’. If the breeze or gusts aren’t too high, we can furl the staysail, and fly our Code-Zero, ‘wing on wing’ with the Jib, for a decently impressive ~130m2 of sail area.

*Balance 526 ‘Pippilotta’ - ‘Wing on Wing’ Configuration with Code-Zero and Jib*

Finally, we entered the last leg of our journey, heading for a more direct course West to Antigua with solid trade-winds from the East. This last week or so was a welcome transition to the trades we know so well and love. As the breeze lessened, we hoisted the spinnaker, running DDW for maximum sail area and VMG. Now in lighter wind, without a big swell from behind, raising the main and sailing gybing angles would muster a slightly better VMG. However, with a really healthy 2.5m swell, the boat would frequently surf easily, leaping from 8kts to 14kts, leapfrogging us to the next swell.

What were some lessons learned along the journey? Firstly, we have never sailed Pippi in such a prolonged DDW situation, so we didn’t really have any good performance data in that range. Now, we have a healthy amount of data which we can better fill-in what was lacking in our boat’s polars.

Furling spinnakers are a challenge in these conditions. We almost never opt to sail a spinnaker without the ability to hide behind a mainsail when the wind pipes up. But, we took a risk and it proved challenging when squalls approached. A furling spinnaker is a real bear to furl in those gusts, whereas a traditional sock, you can either ‘blow the tack’, or ease the sheet, colapsing the sail and socking it down in a hurry.

If we were sailing more miles in the trades, in a DDW situation, I would opt for a symetrical spinnaker, in a sock. The ease of handling, and comfort being square with a big swell, is hard to pass-up. Plus, you can reach even deeper angles with some main, allowing you to ‘hide’ the spinnaker in the event of those pesky ‘stealthy’ squalls.

In the end, we as an entire crew were completely satisfied from a tactical standpoint. We made the best decisions to optimize VMG, while balancing the need of crew sleep and minimimzing sailchainges. Our crew learned that although you might gain a few miles making that sailchange at 3am, its generally best to make a ‘cruising’ decision and wait until sunrise and a morning cup of coffee <3

Darren Seltzer

A well Balanced Atlantic Crossing

Sailing Through “Orca Alley”