Crossing the Atlantic with Mr. Malingri – Sixth Episode

Enrico Malingri, brother of Vittorio and Francesco, a member of the most famous dynasty/family in Italian sailing, has prepared an X 562 (Magix) for the Atlantic crossing and has sailed just these days from Gran Canaria to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. A great sailor, with tens and tens of thousands of miles behind him, Enrico will tell us, episode after episode, about sailing on the one hand, and on the other, how to set up a cruiser so that it can take on the ocean smoothly. Here is the latest installment!

EARTH!!!!
Lat. 16°07′.560 ; Long. 16°54′.320
Speed 8kn , wind at 20 kn from E

We are on our way to Guadeloupe, the last few days have seen us in a sailing eventful with rough seas and winds between 20 and 26 knots with gusts up to 30. Reduced mainsail and rolled genoa, trying to make a slack as close to the stern as possible, the east wind is right at full stern. It rolls a lot, and that’s the Atlantic, too, you have to put that into account. We made the maximum glide of the entire sailing, on a trio of nice big waves, with wind gust on 28 knots, speed recorded by Gps 18.4 knots. In recent days, tricks have emerged that are needed when sailing for days with rough seas, I list some of them.

ENRICO MALINGRI’S ADVICE.

Roll sheets on bunks. One goes per berth, and double aft or forward cabins need a sheet in between. If not, they are unserviceable for 2 people. If there are usable sofas or bunks in the dinette, these must also have their own cloth.

Kitchen. The tilting kitchen must have an adequate perimeter pan guard with cross rods that hold the pans securely in place. The thing has to be done custom, the potholders they sell with the kitchen are for weekends, not for the open sea. It is not bad to put a nice lead weight tied under the galley, it prevents excessive rolling. I prefer large in-line two-burner stoves and grills in addition to the oven. They allow a better balance of cookware, then three burners at the same time no one ever uses them. The grill then is the magic of the night shift sandwich or snack. I board tons of ready-made vacuum-packed pizzas for this purpose, like the ones in bars when we were kids, which I stuff with ham and cheese. Stuff to raise the dead….

WC and bathrooms. If valves have to be closed when downwind, make sure they are in good condition and and accessible. In our case, the two aft ones share a common sea inlet, so we mounted convenient exposed pvc valves on the seawater intake so they could be isolated individually, with ease. If you have shower wolverine pump, bring a spare.

Fresh water. If you have a regular autoclave , it is a good idea to have a spare one. I prefer boats that also have a foot pump for fresh water. Practical for consuming little water, essential if autoclave breaks down.

Salt water. We have a seawater autoclave on board, which is convenient when washing dishes in quantity. Here again I would install a foot pump for seawater, less noisy and less power consumption and practical when you have to wash few things.

Refrigerators. We have two, a cockpit type and a vertical house type.
They are more than enough, just don’t put the vegetables and fruits in. Much better in nets hung in the air or in baskets without crushing it too much. Every day the round must be done and what is already overripe is eaten.

Genoa Barrels. We have the genoa with the rustication with stainless ring. Eventually the sheets by dint of rocking and tearing when deflating the genoa cut into the stocking. I don’t like carabiners on the sheets and prefer bowline as we have, but for the Atlantic it might be better to have two Gibb carabiners and attach with bowline to the sheets and then to the genoa ring. Be careful that the windward sheet does not jolt too much all the time; give it just the right amount of tension.

Retention mainsail. You don’t take on the Atlantic without a good restraint that goes from the vang attachment on the boom to the foresail just before the shrouds, a meter or so. I always put it on, as a routine, as soon as I let go of the mainsail, even if I sail for an hour between bay and bay. It has to become a fixed automatism; for us Malingri has always been one. The boom in an unintentional jibe can kill a person. Make sure you have good attachment points on the deck and a good parachute restraint that can reach onto a winch in the cockpit.

Scald point in sickle cell for Genoa. When you go to the slack you need a sheet point in the gunwale to keep it more open. And even a security le la scotta yields. We used the tangon arm. Make sure you have appropriate sheet points in the sickle cell, now with the prevailing minimalism the blankets are nice, clean and ergonomic…no risk of hitting your feet when walking: of course there is nothing! When the going gets tough, however, you need things, so if they’re not there mount them, minimalist aesthetics leave them to the weekend navigators.

Tangone. I won’t go into much detail, you don’t cross the Atlantic with 2 weeks of full tailwind without the targone. Stop.

Spi or Gennaker? In reality you have to have both, first because if one breaks there is the other. Second because when you get into the trade wind highway and you are in the full stern the spi is better. Few exceptions for really fast boats…like the Ice Yachts and a few like them in carbon, epoxy, lightweight, lifting keel, etc. But even there I would want a spi, small, sturdy fabric from the stern to hoist it when the trade wind is blowing at 25 knots. Gosh I can just imagine the glides…20 knots you get there comfortably, 14/ 15 knots fixed…mamma mia next crossing on one of these craft!

THE ARRIVAL IN GUADALOUPE
Night approaches, crew excitement and at best we are 40 miles from Guadeloupe, expected arrival by first light, but with night approach. I put a series of wayponts that I will follow like a submarine on a dive, passing the various obstacles, with visual check and radar check. The trusty Marco will support me at the charting with radar and following the course on the chartplotter at the charting, there are a few lumps and the landing is peppered. We arrive straight as spindles, after series of gybes, in the position unerringly indicated by the chart plotter, passing in the night the island of Marie Galante and then avoiding a shoal area toward the very narrow entrance to Point-à-Pitre. The sun peeps over the sea, it is dawn, and we proudly enter the harbor.

Now I am in the company of six other Atlantic sailors, they have earned their first crossing, well done to them all. Never a complaint and great harmony on board, fellow sailors forever. Something inside that will remain forever…to be told to children and grandchildren. I crossed the Atlantic in the 1970s, then in the 1980s, then in the 1990s and now in the middle of the second decade of the 2000s. The difference in a nutshell … faster and faster … more and more comfortable. The bottom line… the Atlantic is now within reach of everyone who has good sailing experience, a good boat properly prepared, and the brains to ask for help from experts, from those who have been there before (if you don’t feel up to doing it yourself), at least the first time. I every decade a crossing would like to do, 3 weeks of gliding. Life cannot always be upwind! The next one I hope will be in the Pacific, too much that I don’t sail in those waters! Best wishes for your next crossing to all!

God Speed!
Enrico Malingri of Bagnolo

THE LINK TO THE FIFTH EPISODE