NEW LM30 Owner - Passage Planning advice

[jdp]

I am shortly going to be the owner of a 1986 LM 30 with bilge keels and a newly antifouled bottom. The boat is currently in Plymouth and I am planning to spend the whole summer "harbour hopping" the boat back to the Medway. The boat has an inmast main furler and a Brunton auto prop. The sails look to be in quite fair condition.

What I would like to know is what speed other LM 30 owners would use for passage planning ?

Any advice gratefully received.

With thanks in advance.

[oceandancer]

Hi jdp and welcome to the forum and to LM ownership!

The generally accepted passage planning speed for a boat around the size of the LM30 is 5 knts. You may well sail faster if just day sailing with the tide but on passages longer than 6 hrs this will tend to even out. It is expected that to maintain this speed as a planning tool that you will use the engine when necessary either under bare poles or motor sailing. The strategy for "going somewhere" is different from just leisure sailing.

The  longest stretch in your case will be the South Coast.  The supposed prevailing SW winds here may be in your favour , however, we tend to sail more in fair weather mostly in high pressure systems. Beware that along the English Channel coast this will, for your trip,  generally mean a head wind and many high pressure systems also end up squeezed by a continental low which often ends in an easterly gale. The sea state along the south coast in easterly winds  is also not very kind to small boats as the wind can produce a short sharp choppy sea.

There are many ports along the South Coast that are worthwhile visiting but there are also several longish passages without convenient ports such as Lyme Bay (some 55 nm from Dartmouth to Portland ) an offshore passage that you will have to negotiate in one lump . You can just manage this one as a day sail but it means an early start and a late finish. it is worthwhile pre arranging your visit to any marinas as you may well arrive after the office is closed.

Regards

Mick Legg

[jdp]

Many thanks Nick for your advice
I’ve had Lone Star for about 3 weeks now and getting her sorted out
I decided to re-rig totally which is almost complete and will start testing he out around Plymouth in a week or so.
It will be interesting to see how she goes I’m not expecting a sparklingl performance and will initially work with 4 kn and hopefully get to 5 for the Lime bay crossing
I’ll report later
Thanks again
John

[oceandancer]

Hi John,

I hope you have a working tiller pilot on your boat. This is essential for a long passage. If you're steering you're the helsman. If you have a reliable tiller or wheelpilot then you are the skipper, able to tend sails, lookout and check the boats status freely.

Don't try to sail too high. the boat will sail close to the wind but the speed will be low and the leeway high.
Much better to sail slightly off the wind. Remember when beating into a wind on the nose that a modest 4 knts under engine is equivalent to 8 knots tacking, something you can not achieve so the "iron topsail" is an essential factor in sailing any yacht

If you have a conventional propellor you need the engine to be in neutral when sailing so that the prop spins, this reduces drag.

Regards

Mick

[jdp]

Just an update about our progress with Lone Star our LM30
We made our first passage from Plymouth to Dartmouth about 10 days ago it was much better than we thought despite a big swell and variable SW wind
Wind was F3/5 and on our plotted course we were almost running down wind which was wallowing and not particularly fast - by altering course 10-15 degrees we were more comfortable and achieving almost 6kn.
Off Salcombe the wind reduced and we were only making 4kn so remembering Mikes advice we motorsailed at about 2000rpm and got 6/7 kn all the way to Start Point where the wind picked up and we were able to broad reach at 6kn into Dartmouth
Our passage time from E.Tinker to Dartmouth about 6.5 hours arriving just before the predicted storm
We are staying in Dartmouth for a couple of weeks and have decided to keep Lone Star in the West Country over the winter to be able to really explore it early next season before returning to the Medway later next Summer
We expect to be in Sutton Marina until the end of October then ashore somewhere till April. We would be delighted to meet up with any LM owners in the area during the rest of the Season
Regards
John