We did our transatlantic in 1984 we (wife and me) using 6 hour shifts. Our longest leg was from Bermuda to Azores (12 1/2 days). This is much shorter than Eric's planned voyage. However with 3 good people and a well founded boat it is very doable. Having more on a 43 is possible and will not necessarily overcome difficult problems if they arise. We took 5 years to train for our voyage and in hindsight we pretty well practiced all scenarios we envisioned that may occur. We had no problem with insurance. With little electronics we basically used DR and sextant and for weather relied on the SSB weatherfax as well as windows from Bermuda and Azores. I have made previous postings about this voyage. Eric seems to have things down pat and it is encouraging that he will soon be on his way. I wish him Bon Voyage and look forward to his reports. Regards. Leonard Stern, INDIFFERENCE.