We’ve been in Fiji a week, decompressing from the push of the last three years. Our tropical awnings are set, there’s a lovely breeze blowing through the boat, and a bowl of delicious island fruit in the galley. It will soon be time for a swim before we start our boat chores.

We’ve both been thinking about the passage up. The trip between the tropical islands and New Zealand can be one of the toughest on the planet. The weather, which runs on a track from the Australian bight through the Tasman Sea, on its own is challenging enough. But when it occasionally combines with moist, warm air coming down from from the tropics, things can really happen.

We’ve made this trip a number of times on different boats. We’ve always had the same goal – get there as fast as possible. In either direction, towards or away from New Zealand, the faster you go, the less weather risks you face.

We had lots of design data on the new boat before we left, and over 1,000 miles of New Zealand sea trials. But none of this really duplicated the real world to be found well offshore, with confused seas, and the uncertainty always accompanying a passage in these latitudes. We did not really know how fast we’d want to run the boat, or at what speed the sound level would be acceptable.

We chose to leave the Bay of Islands when we did because of several weather-related issues. First, leaving on the leading edge of the building high pressure system meant we’d have strong winds from abeam or just aft of the beam for the first 24 to 36 hours, and we wanted to test the boat in these conditions, in the open ocean.

Second, there was a trough predicted by all the weather models to build over Fiji a week out from our departure, and we did not want to face the risk of this trough coming into contact with high pressure and creating a compression zone gale.

The conditions we faced in the first 24 hours were as boisterous as any we saw on Beowulf or Sundeer, barring one evening, in a combined 60,000 plus miles. Winds were not that strong as gales go – just 32 to 35 knots, gusting to the low 40s in squalls. Seas were confused, as you expect in this part of the world, with swells from three directions plus the wind waves.

Waves were normally in the 10-foot (3m) range with the odd 20-footer (6m) coming through now and then.

Here is what we found:

• Speed – We were very comfortable noise-wise running at 2000 to 2100 rpm, averaging 11+ knots. We knew the engines were on, but the sound was in the background, and there was a sort of mental comfort from the steady drone of the engines. We now know that if the need arises, we will not hesitate to run at 11.5 to 12.5 knots.
• Breaking seas – There was the odd breaking sea, as you would expect to see in these conditions. Only one of these really caught us. About half the boat was impacted beam-on by a 4-foot (1.2m) vertical crest, on top of what was perhaps a 16-foot (5m) wave. There was a very loud smack, and the boat was pushed sideways slightly. Maximum heel angle recorded on our motion sensing system was 17 degrees. We actually did not notice the heel itself and within two seconds we were back to vertical and moving on our way.
• Motion – At a variety of slower and some faster speeds, motion was very comfortable on an overall basis. More comfortable than we would have been on Beowulf or Sundeer, which was surprising given the sea state. We did have to hang on all of the time, as there was always the risk of an out-of-sequence (sneaker) wave catching us.
• Stabilizers – The NAIAD stabilizers worked very well in what must be considered extremely difficult conditions. We had almost total motion control down to speeds as slow as 8 knots. We are still learning to fine-tune the NAIAD controls, and expect even better results in the future.
• Steering downwind – Heading north is always difficult for any autopilot, as there is less angular displacement on the compass, and the rate of turn of the compass tends to be sluggish. Still, the WH Autopilot performed flawlessly and we were always totally under control, even when surfing at high speeds. We found that unlike our sailboats, which want to be tightly controlled by the pilot at higher speeds, this design was happy with the pilot controls backed well off. In effect, the boat was mainly steering itself down the waves, picking the optimum course better than we or the pilot could. The photo below is of a medium-sized wave set, looking aft over the transom.

• Surfing – A very pleasant surprise was the ease with which the boat surfs. We knew from sea trials it did not take much to get her going. During the passage we were getting good rides on the small waves at the end of the trip, and on the big seas at the beginning of the passage. The surfs were under control, and once the boat was locked onto a wave, she would track straight as an arrow. Watching the speeds wind up – high teens were common and several time we saw 20 knots on the GPS – was great fun. The push from the wind and waves substantially reduced fuel burn and increased average speeds probably half a knot. The photo below is of the radar data screen and gives the B & G speed (19.4 knots) as well as the GPS speed (18.5 knots). Position, heading, and true wind speed (17 knots) are also indicated. We tried to catch one of the 20-knot surfs with the camera, but this was the best we could do.

• Comparative passage time – Beowulf made this trip in the opposite direction in four days, six hours. While she was capable of going a lot faster, her trip represented the usual mix of favorable and unfavorable conditions. In 1995 this represented what was probably the fastest cruising passage on record between Fiji and Bay of Islands. The fact that the new boat made the trip 8 percent faster is remarkable as we were not pushing. Rather, we just picked the speed which felt right for the conditions. If we’d been sailing Beowulf in the same weather as Wind Horse, Beowulf would have been quicker by 20 to 30 miles on the first day, maybe gained 10 to 15 on the second, and then lost ground on the last half of the trip due to jibing angles and lighter winds. Overall, if the two boats had been racing (in a cruising context) the new boat would have won – which is a big surprise to us.
• Weather routing – Optimal routing for the new boat is going to be somewhat different. She is most efficient and most comfortable running downwind at deep angles – something to be avoided with our sailing designs, which do not like to run. The new boat is also closer winded, and in anything under 18 knots of wind will probably head straight into it, if our objective to weather. Once the wind and seas get up, we’ll look for a 30-degree wave angle to increase the distance between crests and improve comfort. On a sailboat we’d be tacking through 95 to 100 degrees in the open ocean, looking at 45- to 50-degree wave angles. However, by carefully choosing our weather in the past we’ve been able to mostly avoid the need to tack to weather. We think this will become easier in the new boat.

• Interior layout – Works better than imagined at sea. Having our watchstanding, social, office, and galley functions in one area is ideal for our style of cruising. On watch or in the galley we have 360-degree visibility. The forward cabin was in use for sleeping during most of the trip. During the roughest 24 hours we used the "sea cabin" aft, with its single bunk and seat belts for sleeping. We found the five-point saloon harnesses very comfortable, and used them whenever we were seated. The various doors, drawers and lockers in the galley are easy to use at sea. The heads also work well and we both took daily showers using the forward bath.
• Systems – All worked as advertised, with the exception of the Mastervolt inverters, which do not operate at their rated load levels producing AC or at anchor with the genset charging the batteries.
• Mental issues – In heavy weather, with our sailboats, there was always a level of awareness of the weather, the boat, sea state, and what could go wrong. Some folks would call this a state of worrying. And there was some of that. But more, it was being aware of our surroundings, and then checking and re-checking to make sure things were as they should be. With the new boat, to some degree this has lessened. There are no rig or sail issues about which we have to be concerned. On the other hand, we’ve spent all of our lives in sail, and developed habits and feelings over a quarter of a million sea miles which are not easily shed. So, we are still very aware of what is going on around us. But the risks from something going wrong are much less with this new boat than with one of our sailboats.

The bottom line is that this is a much easier boat to cruise on than any of our previous designs. She is also more comfortable. A lot of the challenge is gone from passaging the way we used to do it. However, we can add back in some of this with more challenging destinations, if we feel the need.