When do long distance or round-the-world solo racers sleep?

sleep whenever you can...

good morning. i sailed transatlantic solo in 2001.newport to hamburg. 46 days alone from bermuda to falmouth. was going real slow needless to say,not racing at all..i used a simple kitchen timer set hourly when i knew i was going to be napping. used a guard zone on my radar. and used my belief in statistics to reassure myself i wouldnt get run down.its a real big ocean when you get afew hundred miles offshore,especially when averageing only 3-4 kts...abit of fatalistic view,if i got run down it was my own fault. i dont know how the serious racers do it as they push themselves and the boats real hard. i read 40something books... needless to say its abit more difficult in busy areas...
i learned i will never do it again...

Well you did something extraordinary.
Well done!
Kafue

I second that!

Catnaps.

Basically weeks - or months - of catnaps, kitchen timers, tethers, and radar warnings.

i dont want to run into anything....

radar guard zones warn of any ships or anything coming within whatever parameters i set them for... there are ships all over the place... i was on a 10m steel sloop and they could see me but i would want every bit of warning if i could.. nearest ship to me mid atlantic was 8 miles away and he said he changed course to check me out.. i have been on the recieveing end of a solo sailor crashing into us when we were laying to packing fish on a dragger i worked on years ago. we were about 80m se of nantucket and a frenchman sailed right into our stern quarter, never seen some poor ******* fly up from down below so fast... he said he was resting up because he knew there would be alot of traffic as he got closer to land....

Hi there,

Remember that the route you reasonabily chose would certainly be chosen by others for your same reasons, add to that fishing vessels, support vessels, oil rigs, ships that have right of way over you other than the ones mentioned, and containers! A radar warning will buzz when an object is within the set range so you would wake up, check the situation and take appropriate action, then if all is good, get back to bed!
I wish it was as easy as the dream of an open vast ocean that is yours alone, then a 3 week crossing would be all about martinis and long naps and no need to stand watch! Yet, I guess this takes the essense of boating in my opinion.

Cheers,

Hi,

Alfred, come out of Panama and head for south end if NZ, once you clear Panama you won't see much till you get ships heading to Cape Horn from NZ.

It will take closer to 3 months than 3 weeks on a blowboat so make sure you have plenty of supplies for your martinis.

In 1984 we came the other way, never saw a ship after leaving Papetee till nearly in Panama.

Can they be aided by Skype & technology - as in, can others monitor things for them as they sleep?

Since you were asking about racers... at the very least their competitors may be close by.

Global Ocean Match Racing - Vendée Globe 2012-2013

58 days into the Vendee (close to 20 thousand miles of sailing) and two of the sailors are within visual range of each other.

Hi,

Others have been curious about this too:

how do solo sailors sleep - Google Search

Hi there,

K1W1, I would love to be able and do that crossing one day, New Zealand is a country I admire, my Pacific time is merley cruising and my example was for the other side with more croud than you described. Hopefully one day I'll have few month's to spare and do a southern Pacific crossing.

By the way am not a martini guy! my stockpile will be lots of music, books and softer beverages and for sure tools and spareparts.

Enjoy your day.

agreed.

takes a lot to do something like that ...

well done ...

That will depend upon where you are sailing, the South Pacific is still a lot less crowded than the Nth Atlantic.

I be been following the Vendee globe and 2 competitors retired early due to collisions with fishing trawlers early in the race off Portugal. Another one hit a steel buoy adrift off brazil

In both case they "blamed" the fishing boat for not having AIS on....

In a race where every knot count, they don't really reef or slow down. They do prep the boat for the worst possible condition anticipated but still keep the pedal to the metal even when sleeping. A few of them reported pilot issue and being awaken by the boat going into an uncontrolled jybe. It s an incredible race... Round the world, non stop, no assistance .

I would think that one would have to be certifiable in order to cross an ocean in a small boat by themselves to begin with. LOL

Look at it this way... The risk of a collision in busy areas are much smaller than the risk of running a lightweight 60' sailboat 20+ knots in 15' icy seas 2000nm from the nearest land!