BreckSailor:

Meal planning was a bit of a challenge. Part of that was what I was referring to in regards to the original provisioning order, because we had to split the order between two boats and make sure that we had adequate refrigerator capacity, etc. The other part of that was to try to figure out cooking rotations, as Deepcut mentions. Only a couple of times did we attempt to get the whole group of sixteen aboard the FP 47 to eat together. That required cooking some of the items aboard the L42 and dinghying them over along with crew to the FP 47.

To answer your question more directly.....preparing meals aboard for a group of 12+, even on a larger 50' or 52' boat still presents its challenges. We prepped and froze several meals ahead of time before we left home and brought them down in coolers. That certainly helped. It depends on what you make, but stove top space and grill space have their limitations. Lunches (like sandwiches and salads) were no problem at all.

Deepcut, there was a bit of a performance difference to contend with, for sure. I captained the 47, and my brother the 42, so there was already a natural rivalry (all in good fun). We gave the L42 a bit of a head start on the longer legs (North Sound to Anegada, Anegada to Guana). Even still, the 47 closed the gap....and then some. All-in-all, most of the sails were short enough so as to make the performance difference not that big of a deal. In other sailing grounds with longer passages, I could see this being more of an issue. We also had strong winds (20+) the first part of the trip where 2 reefs and crew comfort took precedence to everything else, and made performance difference a bit less noticeable.

As always, the composition of your crew will have more to say about how "doable" or enjoyable the trip will be than anything else. I would not hesitate to do it again with a group that size, if the mix of people was right. In the same breath, however, my guys trip of 3 in early June was a breeze by comparison.

Happy to help with any other questions that you have. Feel free to PM me.