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8 News 16 Paul Heiney 18 Andy Rice 20 Andi Robertson 22 Tom Cunliffe The undoubted benefits of tactical navigation

122 Jess Lloyd-Mostyn Close quarters manoeuvring

UNDER SAIL

26 Olympic Review Looking back at a magnificent sailing performances by Team GB

44 South coast weekend

Clive Loughlin plans a long weekend on the south coast

58 Transatlantic adventure Looking back at the trip of a lifetime

66 Gulls Eye A trip around Ocean Village marina in Southampton

74 Fastnet review Rupert Holmes rounds up the action

88 Atlantic passage planning Don Street steers you down the North Atlantic en route to a transatlantic crossing

94 Overfalls Clive Loughlin on how to deal with this tidal hazard

100 Sail GP Review 116 Dispatches

BOATS

109

50 Kraken 50 The manufacturers claim this is the ultimate blue water cruiser

118 Three of the Best Three of the finest brokerage boats

GEAR

82 Buyer’s Guide A look at folding and feathering propellers

107 Shortlist Wind vane steering

109 Launched The latest gear

112 Southampton Boat Show preview Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting NOVEMBER 2020

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Welcome

EDITORIAL EDITOR

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Georgie Corlett-Pitt georgie.corlett-pitt@chelseamagazines.com GROUP EDITOR Rob Peake

Skipper’s View THE RETURN OF THE SOUTHAMPTON BOAT SHOW IS LIKE THE RETURN OF AN OLD FRIEND AFTER A YEAR OFF

ART & PRODUCTION EDITOR Gareth Lloyd Jones PUBLISHING CONSULTANT Martin Nott PUBLISHER Simon Temlett simon.temlett@chelseamagazines.com ADVERTISING ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER Mark Harrington 020 7349 3734 mark.harrington@chelseamagazines.com SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE Charlene Homewood 020 7349 3779 charlene.homewood@chelseamagazines.com GROUP SALES DIRECTOR Catherine Chapman HEAD OF SALES OPERATIONS Jodie Green ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION Allpoints Media Ltd allpointsmedia.co.uk CHAIRMAN Paul Dobson CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Vicki Gavin MANAGING DIRECTOR James Dobson Published by: The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ Tel: 020 7349 3700 © The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2020. All Rights Reserved. ISSN 1367-5869 (print) ISSN 2059-9285 (digital)

Subscriptions and back issues Tel: +44 (0) 1858 438769 Annual subscription rates: UK £69 ROW £81 Email: sailingtoday@subscription.co.uk Online: Did you know you can manage your subscription online? Oversee your print and digital subscriptions online today simply by signing up at https://www. subscription.co.uk/chelsea/Solo/. Stay up to date with the latest issues, update your personal details, and even renew your subscription with just a click of a button. Post: Sailing Today, Subscriptions Department, Chelsea Magazines, Tower House, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street Market Harborough LE16 9EF

IN 2019 I RECALL CHATTING TO a slightly jaded colleague about the upcoming Southampton Boat Show. It would be his 20th show and he mused on the slightly weird time warp sensation that the boat show engendered; years blurred and melded into one as you entered the show in a manner that he both found comforting and also disconcerting as the years zoomed by. 'When will it all end?' he concluded. Well, who would have thought that one year on, the show would end in the most dramatic style with a Health Secretary taking a break from some illegal kissing to issue a panicked memorandum on the eve of the show in order to shut it down, locking the gates even as the first eager visitors arrived. Not much in that sentence makes much sense and if I had told my colleague in 2019 that this would be how his 20 year run of visiting the show would end, I suspect he would have presumed I was fully losing the plot. Well, I wasn't and the events of the late autumn and winter suggest that the actions of the Department of Health weren't quite as mad as they initially seemed. Fast forward one year, however, and I'm rather hopeful that this boat show season will be slightly less dystopian than the last. Touch wood here, but there seems to be every indication that Southampton Boat Show will go ahead come what may and I'm looking forward to a reassuring dose of normality and the sort of familiarity that can transport me back to a more comforting time - 2019 to be precise. I think it's safe to say that the absence of the boat show has made us all appreciate it that bit more. The same can, of course, be said of the Olympics which, having been delayed a year and then commencing under something of a pandemic induced cloud, have gone on to be one of the most memorable on record and the exploits of the British Sailing Team have been a key part of that for any supporter of Team GB. One can only imagine the emotional rollercoaster our sailors have been on in the last couple of years, and to finish on such a high is a real bonus. Relive the action on p26 .

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No part of this magazine may be reproduced without permission in writing. Every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information in Sailing Today, but no responsibility can be accepted for the consequences of actions based on the advice portrayed herein. The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd makes every effort to ensure that the advertising contained in this magazine is delivered from responsible sources. We cannot, however, accept any responsibility for transactions between readers and advertisers. For the Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd full set of terms and conditions please go to chelseamagazines.com/terms-and-conditions

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JESS LLOYD MOSTYN is a writer and blue water cruiser who is currently moored in Singapore

TOM CUNLIFFE is an author, journalist and TV presenter, and one of Britain's best-known cruising sailors

RUPERT HOLMES has decades of experience covering and participating in the offshore racing scene

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Fastnet fury British J/109, Trojan, to leeward, and French Figaro 2, Tuf...Tuf...Tuf, making their way through heavy Solent wind-over-tide conditions at the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race on 8 August. After the opening morning’s pasting and continued punishing conditions overnight, almost 50 boats had retired by day two. Some of those that carried on were greeted by almost windless, flat seas at the Rock. It was a two-day affair for the fastest, but for most of the fleet,this 49th edition of the offshore classic turned out to be as tough as ever. Our full report, looking at the many fascinating races within the race, starts on page 74. Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex

News

Ebb and flow EVENTS | NEWS | TALES FROM THE SAILING COMMUNITY

Duke’s Dragon wows Cowes Week

TOP: PAUL WYETH; BELOW: JOE MCCARTHY

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Dragon, Bluebottle, was the toast of Cowes Week as the newly restored boat won her class with a day to spare. Restored to immaculate condition by David Heritage Racing Yachts in Cowes, she finished the regatta on seven points, after three wins, two second places and a fourth – her first time racing in decades. The boat was acquired several years ago by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, in Edinburgh, which was behind the restoration. She will now become part of the Trust’s fleet of royal boats, comprising the last royal yacht Britannia, as well as Prince Philip’s former yacht, Bloodhound, and his Flying Fifteen, Coweslip. Built in 1947, Bluebottle was a wedding present from the Island Sailing Club. The Trust sought the Duke’s consent for the 18-month restoration and kept him appraised of progress, before he died in April this year. Bluebottle was raced at Cowes Week by David Heritage himself, with experienced Dragon sailors Graham Bailey as skipper and wife Julia Bailey. Both Graham and Julia have won the Dragon class’ premier event,

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

the Edinburgh Cup, numerous times, both together and individually. David said: “We won the first race of the regatta on the Saturday, which involved short-tacking up the green and was the last thing we wanted to do in a newly restored boat. I had no idea how she was going to go. But at the time you didn’t think you were sailing this iconic Dragon, just yacht racing. “That Saturday night was just brilliant, big smiles all round. We’d done all the hard work and won the first race. We had some beer that night! “The comment was made as we were sailing back in that Uffa Fox and the Duke probably would have opened the port by now! It was one of those moments you won’t forget.” David added: “The Duke did know of the project. We were taking photos and sending them to the Trust. He definitely saw pictures of the work going on and was very pleased it was being done in Cowes. That’s nice to know.” Britannia’s Chief Executive Bob Downie said “It’s a real fairy tale ending to an incredible story – how an iconic 74-year-old royal yacht was saved to successfully race once more at Cowes – and we are all very appreciative that The Duke of Edinburgh agreed to entrust his beloved Bluebottle to our charity.” Watch a video of the boat at Cowes Week, on the website of our sister title classicboat.co.uk

News

NEWS BRIEFS Helm take crypto UK yacht charter broker HELM has started taking crypto currencies as payment for yacht charters, becoming the first yachting holidays business globally to do so. Lonely Rock Entry opens on 15 August for the Original Lonely Rock’ race from Ryde on the Isle of Wight, around the Fastnet Rock and back to Plymouth, which will run on Sunday 17 July next year. rwyc/lrr

PHOTO BELOW: NICK DEMPSEY/RYA

“We want to inspire young sailors” – Olympic boss The British Sailing Team hopes its performance in Tokyo will inspire younger sailors, says RYA Performance Manager Mark Robinson. Robinson spoke as the sailors and shore team packed up and prepared to fly home from one of the most successful Olympics ever for British sailing. The team won five medals, including three gold, and was one of only a handful of nations to compete in the 10 Olympic classes at Tokyo. Robinson said: “Being top nation is pretty important for the British sailors. That means more gold than anyone else. “The biggest thing for the sailors is can we inspire more kids to pick up the baton for 2028, 2032 or even 2024. Probably most of the 2024 cohort are already in the British Sailing Team at this point but

you never know – there are some new categories. The message from all the sailors and the staff is that we hope it inspires more kids to take up sailing and therefore ensure the legacy in two quads’ time. “I’m proud of the team we’ve built. For me, the big thing was ‘can we get top nation and come in with the most amount of medals?’ I did say to the team at the start of this, when we arrived in Japan, some of you will not come home with medals, it’s just the facts of life. But the thing I’m most proud of is the way that all 44 of them, if someone had a bad day, someone else would pick them up. Just the way that they gelled and supported each other throughout and I think that’s been a big part of the success.” See our full Olympics review on page 28.

Berthon is first for latest wifi Berthon Lymington Marina in Hampshire now boasts the latest generation of wifi connectivity, known as Wi-Fi 6, thanks to a partnership with wifi company Shared Access, giving 19 access points supplied by a 1000Mbps broadband connection.

11th Hour’s new IMOCA The racing team has unveiled its new IMOCA 60 which will be raced in the forthcoming edition of The Ocean Race.

Orkney tidal power What is being called ‘the world’s most powerful’ tidal turbine has been connected to the grid after being sited in the Fall of Warness, Orkney. The 74m-long turbine is said to have the capacity to meet the annual electricity demand of around 2,000 UK homes with “clean, predictable power” from the fast-flowing waters. Chichester cracks down Chichester Harbour Conservancy announced the successful prosecution of three cases of speeding in Chichester Harbour in June. Each boatowner was fined, the maximum total fine being £1,580.

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

News

Round Britain solo in a classic yacht, aged 14 Teenager Katie McCabe is sailing around Britain solo in a 26ft Morgan Giles sloop, Falanda. The 14-year-old, from Topsham, Devon, set off on 30 June and aims to be back in time to start the school term on 6 September. The feat would make her the youngest person to complete the trip, after Timothy Long did it last year aged 15. Katie’s father David is following a few miles behind in his own 33ft 1937 wooden yawl. Katie spent evenings after school and

weekends over the winter of 2019/20 restoring the 1950 West Channel One Design, which cost £800, with her father. David, 53, is a self-taught boatbuilder who has several serious restorations to his name, including a Herreshoff, a Riva and a Chris-Craft. The family have lived afloat since before Katie was born, on a converted 50ft fishing trawler called Ros Ailither. Katie was inspired by Dutch sailor Laura Dekker, who sailed around the world aged 14.

Round Britain solo, aged 82! Also sailing solo round Britain this summer is 82-year-old Scotsman Murdoch McGregor, who is doing the full trip, including rounding Orkney and Shetland, in a Hunter 232. He and Katie McCabe met as they crossed paths in Scotland, pictured below. Murdoch is raising funds for mental health charity Mental Health UK and says: “I have not been a life-long sailor, only getting my first sailboat at 72. In that time,

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

though, I sailed extensively throughout our Scottish waters and I’ve been over the North Sea and the Baltic as far east as Poland.” He adds: “The pandemic has so powerfully illustrated that no matter our age, no matter our social social status, whether we are a barrister, a bus driver or bouncer, we are all equally vulnerable to suffering mental health issues and tragically our younger population has also been affected. My younger brother Jim died just over two years ago after living most of his adult life with mental health problems. Thankfully the awareness of mental health issues has nowadays been recognised as being so important.” Donate via justgiving. com/fundraising/ murdoch-mcgregor1

“She initially wanted to sail around the world,” said mother Hazel. “Around Britain was better! She’s had a different upbringing, we’ve always lived on the boat and we’ve been away for two separate year-long cruising trips, so maybe that’s given her the bug and she’s been talking about having her own boat for years. It’s a small boat but a big boat for a young person. I wasn’t completely convinced at first but Dave said she would be fine and she has proved it so far. I do have faith in her, she’s done brilliantly. Watching it, you take it day by day, but the whole thing altogether is amazing. I take my hat off to her.” The family did a trial sail in company to the Scillies last year, when Katie navigated her boat solo without electronics. The teenager has no paper qualifications, having learned everything she knows from her parents. Daily passage planning and tidal calculations are checked by David. Speaking from south Wales, waiting for a weather window to round St David’s Head, Katie said: “The ‘youngest’ record isn’t really important. I just wanted to sail around Britain. It’s been fun. I’ve met lots of people who’ve given me advice. My mum was not that keen, so she was quite relieved that dad had to come. He is coming because I’m only insured if I have an adult nearby. But they’ve been really supportive. “The other day coming into Conwy I got the tides a bit wrong. We had 3m wind against tide conditions around the headland. That was a bit scary but it was only for a couple of hours. Coming into marinas can be the most difficult bit.” Her longest leg was a 32-hour sail from Oban to Conwy, 172 miles. “You had to be awake because of all the crab pots – it’s coastal sailing,” said Katie. “It was tiring but after sleeping the next day I was ready to go.” She had advice for other young people: “Definitely do it. Don’t think ‘you can’t’. I didn’t have any money. You’ve got to have the right mindset for being at sea on your own and you can’t think it’s going to be easy.” She is raising funds and awareness for two charities fighting marine pollution, Sea Shepherd UK and Lonely Whale. Donate via justgiving.com/ fundraising/falanda-roundbritain

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News

Bruce Kirby, 1929-2021 Tributes have poured in from across the sailing world for Bruce Kirby, the designer of the Laser, who died aged 92 in July. Famously he drew the initial sketch for what became the world’s most popular boat while ‘doodling’ on a legal notepad. The idea was canned and lay in Kirby’s desk drawer, before he reworked it and it was shown, as the Laser, at the New York Boat Show in 1971. More than 216,000 Lasers have been built since then. Kirby was a three-times Olympian in the Finn and Star in the 1950s and 1960s and twice a world champion for Canada. He was a self-taught naval architect and drew many other successful designs, including the Sonar class, the Kirby 25 and Ideal 18, as well as America’s Cup 12-Meter yachts and the Admiral’s Cup 40-footer Runaway. Rob Cage, chair of the UK Laser Association, said: “The UKLA, the class association in the UK, goes from strength to strength. The nationals this year is a 260-boat regatta, with 14 to 64-year-olds competing alongside

Olympic hopefuls. That’s the impact the design still has on the sailing world.” The UKLA is holding a gala dinner at its nationals in Portland, Dorset, to

celebrate 50 years of the class “and to celebrate the most successful sailboat design the world has ever seen”. Our columnist Andy Rice, co-organiser of the Selden SailJuice Winter Series and other dinghy events, said: “Can you imagine the sailing world without the Laser? Fifty years on, it’s incredible how Bruce Kirby’s design has endured to the present day. The whole concept of one-design racing owes so much to this simple little boat. What a great legacy to leave behind. Bruce Kirby will always be remembered as one of the most influential names in our sport.” Former national Laser champion and Olympic Laser coach Jon Emmett said: “It is almost impossible to imagine the sailing world as we know it in the absence of the Laser. Bruce is the father of the class which countless sailors have passed through. Indeed, it is hard to find a sailing club anywhere in the world without a Laser in the boat park. We all owe him a huge dept of gratitude for the countless hours of pleasure this wonderful boat has given us.”

Bentley for boat show The new Bentley Bacalar, the most exclusive and bespoke Bentley of the modern era, will be on show at the Southampton Boat Show, running from 10-19 September. For our full preview of the new yachts at the show, see page 76.

Cowes boat museum to reopen for 25th birthday The Cowes Classic Boat Museum, which houses many modern racing boats including Shirley Robertson’s Yngling and Ben Ainslie’s AC45, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and is set to reopen in September after a series of upgrades and innovations. The museum closed during the pandemic but volunteers have worked behind closed doors to establish a Covid-safe layout inside and also to incorporate multiple new features. The museum, which has sites in both east and west Cowes, was established in 1996 by Maurice Wilmot. He died in 2009 but his collection of unique craft and artefacts has continued to be cared for. The collection of boats now numbers 85 historic vessels of all kinds. Chairman Mark McNeill seeks funding for a major expansion plan that would see a new building created for the entire museum in east Cowes. classicboatmuseum.com Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

News

Solar boat to Alaska An electric boat that runs endlessly on solar power has been the dream of David and Alex Borton for the last 17 years. Now the father-and-son team have completed a voyage from Washington to Alaska in their 27ft wooden boat Wayward Sun, powered 100 per cent by solar energy with no fossil-fuel combustion engine on board. Wayward Sun is propelled by a Torqeedo Cruise 4.0 electric pod drive with six Torqeedo Power 24-3500 lithium batteries. There is a separate 12-volt system for lights, electronics and other DC-powered systems and an inverter for occasional AC loads, like making waffles. The batteries are charged from a 1700Watt array of solar cells on the boat’s rooftop. “The solar-electric system has more than exceeded our expectations,” said Alex Borton. “During the 45-day passage from Bellingham to Glacier Bay to Juneau, we were underway for 38 days. We averaged 32 nautical miles per day at an average speed of 3.7 knots. While some

days we stopped early or left late because of weather, there were only two full days we didn’t travel at all due to high winds or dense fog. “Even on a completely overcast day this time of year, we can travel at 2-3 knots

during daylight hours without drawing on our batteries at all,” Borton said. “With direct sunlight, we can do 5 knots or more all day without any battery use. “Most of the trip was overcast and it rained a lot. Some days we travelled slowly because we had to; other days we travelled slowly and charged the batteries while underway.”

SailGP gives £20k for Plymouth young sailors Following the successful SailGP Plymouth event in July, SailGP has made a £20,000 donation to the city to encourage youth sailing. The donation was made as part of the SailGP Inspire programme, which aims to make sailing more inclusive in every city that SailGP visits around the world. Operating out of the Mount Batten Watersports & Activities Centre, and in conjunction with Horizons Plymouth Children’s Sailing Charity and Plymouth Youth Sailing, the £20k funding will enable around 480 on-the-water experiences for local young people, including RYA sailing courses, club memberships and the purchase of a Waszp foiling dinghy. SailGP CEO Russell Coutts said: “Our youth are the future of sailing. Building sustainable foundations through meaningful partnerships such as what we’re developing in Plymouth, as the league continues to expand, is fundamentally important.” Leader of Plymouth City Council, Councillor Nick Kelly said: “It was incredibly important to

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

us that SailGP had a wider, long-lasting impact on the community right here in Plymouth. We were proud to work closely with SailGP and our key city partners to deliver such a fantastic program of activity, which has

enabled more people to get out on the water, to try sailing, learn new skills and embrace all that is brilliant about Britain’s Ocean City.” See our full SailGP Plymouth review on page 98.

Big names in for ‘retro’ Golden Globe Race 2022 Twenty-eight people have signed up for the second edition of the ‘retro’ Golden Globe Race, due to run next year. The 2022/3 edition will again see competitors attempt to circumnavigate on elderly boats fitted with technology in keeping with the era of the original Golden Globe Race of 1968/9, which was won by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. There are entrants from 11 countries, including one female sailor so far. Among them is Frenchman Damien Guillou of team PRB, who worked with Kevin Escoffier in the last Vendée Globe. Also entered is Graham Dalton, brother of America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race winner Grant Dalton. Tapio Lethinen returns from 2018, as does Mark Sinclair. The only female entrant so far is Kirsten Neuschäfer from South Africa, who has “the experience to win and a yacht that could actually do it”, say the organisers. The youngest is 26-year-old Elliott Smith from the US. The oldest, at 79, is the multiple solo circumnavigator David Scott Cowper from the UK. Only five sailors completed the 2018/19 edition, which was won by 73-year-old Jean Luc Van Den Heede after 212 days at sea.

Position: Foil-dance Michael Flatley-inspired moves on the water...

TOM TOUW

ailors who lived through the late-1990s will recognise this move immediately. The foil-dance was initially inspired by the leg kicks of hit musical Riverdance, famously choreographed by Irish-American Michael Flatley. The move died out but is making a fast comeback as foiling sweeps into every corner of our sport. This board foiler expertly demonstrates the foil-dance, the board shooting out quickly from beneath her feet, while the limbs follow and the sailor hangs in mid-air for a second, before making a dramatic splash into the water. Those training on the new iQFoil windsurfer, or even on a Waszp or Moth, might be familiar with the move. Use with caution: potentially lethal.

The foil-dance was inspired by hit musical Riverdance

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Paul Heiney Talk of a new National Ship representing Britain abroad has Paul dreaming of a tall ship - the sort of vessel that separates the political chaff from the wheat on a trade mission to foreign lands

e are going to have a National Ship, or at least it’s on the cards if not yet actually on the stocks. It is to be an emblem of Great Britain, proudly flying our flag around the world, carrying a bulk cargo of well fed business people hell bent on getting that elusive overseas contract for bed springs that will make us the envy of the world. I have no view on whether this is a good or a bad use of public money, but I’ll bet you one thing - they’ll get the ship wrong. The last thing we need is a poor man’s copy of an oligarch’s bath toy; heaven forbid we end up with a plasticlooking, multi-decked monster built in the style of a vulgar Dubai hotel and using, at a guess, as much fuel per mile as a moon shot. That is not going to win any hearts, nor any election for a government that cracks a bottle of priceless champagne over its bows. Anyway, some hipster, awash with a fortune from the invention of a ‘cool’ app, is always going to build one bigger, and how proud is our nation’s flag carrier going to stand when eclipsed by a monster built on the proceeds of an online betting game involving Smarties? Given the insistence that this is going to be an enginedriven ship, where should we look for inspiration? Might the fictional Vital Spark, the ever unreliable Clyde Puffer of Neil Munro’s stories, be a good working model? It may have been a pretty hopeless vessel but it was endearing, and there are more ways to win contracts than one, and a Puffer might at least produce a bit of sympathy for our cause. The purpose of this National Ship, as I understand it, is to turn heads, create admiration, rekindle respect, and generally make people feel good about Britain when she appears above the horizon. If so, may I point out that one of our strongest exports has always been our sense of history and tradition, and that the only vessel with enough symbolism to capture that is a Tall ship. Don’t groan, you modernists. Sails are on the way back. Only last week I read that in these ever greener times, sails are being seriously considered as additional propulsion

for cargo ships. Ship designers have finally taken a backward glance to the golden age of sail and, pretending it is a new idea all of their own invention, have embraced as a brave step into the future what we do most weekends, which is put up sheets of cloth to catch the breeze and thereby avoid burning up the diesel. We’ve been here before with this idea of using sails, I admit, but there’s a new urgency to reduce the burning of that filthy fuel that ships carry, so this time masts and canvas might just take off. But even if it doesn’t, a sailing ship does not have to be a throw back to the days of tarred hemp, scurvy and the lash. In the final days of the great square-rigged trading ships, the German-built barques were reckoned to be the most advanced ships of their day employing the best technology that was to hand. We could do the same, demonstrating that although we no longer rules the waves, we can be pretty smart at getting ships to roll over them. I’m afraid I would also keep the Navy’s sticky fingers off it. They are a fighting force, and a National Ship should be an instrument of persuasion and not intimidation. We want the countries we visit to be thrilled at our dignified and stylish arrival, not nervous. The National Ship sails in peace. So instead of gold-braided captains and crew let us seek out those who understand the practice and the strengths of sail training for young people - the Ocean Youth Trust comes to mind - and let them inspire those who might benefit most from learning to hand, reef and steer, acquiring much needed self-respect and dignity in the process. And there’s one other good use for a National Tall Ship. There is no better way to get the measure of a person than by sending them to sea. It has a way of washing away veneer to reveal the true person beneath. Blaggards can become cowards when faced with the ocean’s anger; yet the diffident and nervous can often find unimagined heroism. So if it should be anyone’s boastful wish to crave high office and run the country, might not a few hours lashed to the wheel while the barometer drops, reveal if they might, or might not, be up to the job. If it only achieved that, a National Ship would be well worth the money.

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

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ILLUSTRATION: CLAIRE WOOD

‘One of our finest exports has been our sense of history and the only vessel to capture that is a Tall ship’

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PHOTO: SPIRIT YACHTS

Andy Rice Covid - 19 meant being at the Olympics this time around was a hugely surreal but ultimately rewarding experience

orking at Tokyo 2020 was one of the strangest experiences I’ve had, and certainly the strangest of the four Olympic Regattas at which I’ve reported. If I hadn’t been employed by World Sailing as a writer, there’s no way I’d have got there under my own steam. Three consecutive days of PCR tests (cost approx £400) before we were even allowed to get on the plane, let alone five hours stuck in Tokyo airport until I was ‘free’ to begin my three days of quarantine in a hotel room not big enough to swing a cat o’ nine tails. Not that I’m wanting to sound like a whinger. Because once the Olympic Regatta got going, it was incredibly exciting to be there amongst all the high and lows of the competition, capturing the emotion of the sailors as they came ashore and did their compulsory walk through the ‘Mixed Zone’. This is the area were we, the media, get our chance to talk to the athletes soon after they come ashore. Although they’re under no compulsion to talk to us, only to pass through the zone. It’s incredibly frustrating, but understandable, when sailors refuse to stop and walk briskly past towards the exit. When everyone’s wearing masks, as we had to do all the time except when eating or drinking, it’s even easier for people to ignore you. In that sense, this was a very impersonal Games. Strange to see people you knew but unable to do anything more than a fist bump by way of greeting. My observation from standing in Mixed Zones at the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Games is that the sailors who turn up to talk to the media every day, regardless of what kind of day they’ve had, are the most likely to go on to win medals. There is probably some false logic here, so you can take the observation with a pinch of salt, but my experience has been that the sailors who talk to the media even when they’ve had a terrible day - rather than making a beeline for the exit - have developed a level of control over their emotions that sets them apart from most their competitors. The Brits were generally very good at showing up for media interviews, which of course is much easier when you’re doing well! But every sailor suffered setbacks during the competition at Enoshima, and windsurfer Emma Wilson was one that stood

out to me as always smiling however her day had gone. When you’ve scored two bullets and then a third on the final outing of the afternoon, only to discover you’ve been disqualified from the last race for breaking the start line too soon, it would be easy to focus on the negative. To rue the missed opportunity. Emma never did this, not even when she came out of the Medal Race with ‘just’ a bronze medal when the gold had been well within reach. Asked if she regretted missing out on gold, she reminded everyone there that it’s a privilege for any sailor to win a medal of any colour. Emma was relieved to have broken her run of fourth places in a number of major RS:X events over the past two years so to come away with a bronze medal was a source of huge relief and elation. A bronze medal for Marit Bouwmeester on the other hand was a source of great angst and regret. The defending Olympic Champion from Rio 2016 came to the Laser Radial regatta fully expectant of repeating gold, but the Dutchwoman made errors - such as also falling foul of the U flag at the start - and said she would never forgive herself for those missed opportunities. It’s almost as if Marit attached no value to the bronze. As winner of a silver at London 2012, gold at Rio 2016 and now bronze at Tokyo 2020, I said to her that most people would consider her to be the ‘three-time Olympic medallist, Marit Bouwmeester’. I asked her how many medals she considered she had won. “One,” she replied. To Marit, gold is all that matters. At each of the medallists’ press conferences, when I asked for a show of hands from the medallists as to who would be back in three years’ time for Paris 2024, I had very few hands go up in any of the 10 events. This is hardly surprising. It’s a cruel question to ask the sailors when they’ve only 10 minutes earlier been awarded their medals at one Olympics, their faces still encrusted with salt from the Pacific Ocean. And already, some pesky journalist is asking them: ‘So what next?’. But the question elicits interesting responses. And in the case of the Laser Radial medallists, neither the new Olympic Champion Anne-Marie Rindom or the silver medalist Josefin Olsson would commit to Paris there and then. Fair enough, only to be expected. But my greatest surprise was to see Marit’s hand go up straight away. She wants that ‘second’ medal, another gold to go with the ‘only’ medal she has won, the gold from Rio 2016. Talk about unstinting commitment. In that moment Marit reestablished herself as the favourite to win gold in Paris 2024.

PHOTO R COMMONS

‘STRANGE TO SEE PEOPLE YOU KNEW BUT UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING MORE THAN A FIST BUMP BY WAY OF GREETING’

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

ANDY RICE As a sailing journalist and TV commentator Andy has unparalleled knowledge of the dinghy sailing scene, from grassroots to Olympic level

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Andi Robertson Sustainability in the yachting world is a real buzzword at the moment but frequently bold pledges are not backed up by meaningful action

hough I have to be careful where I go with this, am I alone in reaching saturation point in terms of sustainability messages and propositions arriving in my inbox from big teams and big, big events? I have to be careful because, like many others in the sailing media, the sustainability Dollar – or Euro – is an important part of the modern, forward thinking, responsible media programme. And so I am a direct recipient of such marketing budgets. But these programmes are all about the power of sport to effect positive changes and more often than not it seems to me that it is the sport aspect that is left behind, somewhere after the message that we need to do better to look after our oceans and our planet. I am fed up at the lack of cohesive, joined up thinking – some might say hypocrisy – where, for example, plastic bottles are banned from the media centre and areas of the regatta village, but that sustainability policy does not extend to recycling waste on the race dock or in the regatta village, or any kind of transport and logistics policy. Meantime a little bright spot on my horizon remains Yachting Gives Back in Palma, a wonderful organisation run by Nick Entwhistle and with really strong support from the Superyacht community there. With the 52 Super Series in 2019 when we were last in Puerto Portals we started a little initiative whereby they picked up the teams’ and organisation’s uneaten food and redistributed it to those individuals in the city who are in need through the Associaco Tardor, a local NGO. That will be happening again this time and our intention is to try and encourage the other Palma events to follow the same initiative. Most people won’t give it a second thought but Palma has many, many more homeless people now as a direct effect of the pandemic – the tourism industry employs thousands of individuals and that industry was devastated last year – and the level of need has multiplied significantly. And while the level of support from the industry there has been fantastic, that agency has three hostels now and a food bank, and the industry is very supportive. What was great with the 52 Super Series was the awareness that it created

and that is a practical ‘sustainable’ initiative which every regatta and event could be looking to for the future. It was great to see the young, almost all amateur crew on Sunrise win the Rolex Fastnet Race outright. It was their time. They had already been third of 112 starters in the Myth of Malham and have done the hard miles in preparation as well as smartly optimising the boat in terms of sails so that they would be at the very top end of Class 2 so they could push hard to be up to their rating and beat tidal gates – or in this case a weather gate. But to have a crew triumph who are all in their 20s save owner Tom Kneen who is only 36 and pro Dave Swete is nothing short of inspirational for a whole young generation of offshore racers. And two of the crew are female in Suzy Peters and Tor Tomlinson. And through the RORC’s Griffin committee, of which Tor Tomlinson is the chair and on which Kneen sits, they are intent on improving RORC’s youth training offering. And while Suzy Peters aided and abetted the supremely talented Tom Cheney in the nav role on Sunrise, meantime in Palma at Copa del Rey I was stoked to see a young German female navigator succeed in the white hot ClubSwan 50 class. Lena Weisskichel is just 30 years old and was race navigating for her first time ever in the hot seat as a navigator with Kiel owner of NiRaMo, Sonke MeierSawatzki. He gave the pportunity to the former Laser Radial who wants to also get back in the 49erFX for an Olympic programme. Weisskichel is a bundle of energy clearly doing a decent job with NiRaMo finishing fourth overall. She told me “This is my very first event as navigator on any kind of short course inshore regatta. I had the pleasure of working with the old navigator Marcel Korte who was navigating last season during the training days, that was awesome because I could learn so much on this steep learning curve. “The whole team are so patient when I am doing small mistakes which happens when you are still learning. “It is great to be around these guys who have so much knowledge.” She did the mixed offshore keelboat last year when the discipline was going to be in the Olympics on the L30 and Dehler 30: “I liked the role doing the work on the chart and the looking at the numbers. That was the first time I did that and enjoyed it.”

PHOTO: NAUTOR’S SWAN

‘I WAS STOKED TO SEE A YOUNG FEMALE NAVIGATOR SUCCEED IN THE WHITE HOT CLUBSWAN 50 CLASS’

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

ANDI ROBERTSON An offshore sailing expert, few people can match Andi’s insight into the big boat world, both in the UK and globally

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Tom Cunliffe

s a young sailor I’d never heard of ‘tactical navigation’. When the issue first came to my notice I set it aside as being downright esoteric, yet all it often means is travelling a little further in order to arrive a lot quicker. Here in home waters north of 50 degrees latitude, it doesn’t take more than an awkward turn in the weather, coupled with a spring tide, to encourage thoughtful

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

mariners to educate themselves, but many of us don’t give the question much consideration until supper starts jumping off the table. Strategic tacking was a shut book to me as I hacked out of Cherbourg one long-ago Easter to face a 60-mile beat home. My boat was a 22-foot centreboarder whose pointing ability in a big sea was lamentable. The track to the Needles and home lay due North and a solid 25 knots of breeze was blowing from 20

PODCAST Catch up with Tom’s columns now and in the future at sailingtoday.co.uk

degrees west of the desired course. ‘Aha,’ I said to my wife, ‘Let’s stand to the westwards on starboard and get the losing tack out of the way while we’re fresh. Then we’ll flop over and make it back in a single long board.’ Sounds almost rational, doesn’t it? But that’s not what happened. Modern oilskins were a dream as remote as manned flights to Mars, and after we had hammered upwind for six hours we were wet through

ILLUSTRATION: CLAIRE WOOD, PHOTOS TOM CUNLIFFE

Tom contrasts two passages he made many years apart to illustrate how basic seamanship and planning make all the difference

“The full import of this sinister turn of events did not make itself felt until we went about”

and already seriously cold. Just before we tacked, I noticed that although the breeze had eased a touch, we were pointing more towards the North. The full import of this sinister turn of events did not make itself felt until we went about. Only then as the wretched wind continued to veer, did I realise that it was still smack on the nose. The tide had walloped us down towards Alderney making our net gain little more than zero. I was slumped over the tiller, cursing what I imagined to be pure bad luck, when my bride handed me up a coffee followed by a hot-water bottle to tuck under my saturated sweater. In those days, her sailing experience was almost nil, but she had no shortage of common sense and she surely deserved a better skipper. ‘Am I right in thinking,’ she said, throwing up neatly to leeward before ducking the square green wave swamping the tiny cockpit. ‘that if we hadn’t gone so far to the west, we’d be better off now?’ There was no arguing with

that. It didn’t take a Christopher Columbus to work out that if we’d put to sea on the other tack, we’d have been headed, not freed by the shifting wind, which meant that once we’d come about we’d have been almost laying the Needles. The pill stuck in my throat. I settled the wobbly ‘hottie’ and recalled the weather bulletin I’d only half-listened to. My concern had been to ensure it wasn’t going to blow a whole gale, rather than whether the breeze might veer or back. When we finally slipped past the lighthouse the following morning I was so exhausted I had arrived at the ‘waves are green hills’ state of hallucination. I never forgot

ABOVE Thrashing into a fresh breeze and head sea is not always the wisest move BELOW Tom’s command Saari pounding across the channel in chilly conditions

the lesson, which was clearly to work onto the right side of the rhumb line so as to make the most of what the Clerk of the Weather serves up next. Like Shakespeare’s ‘tide in the affairs of men,’ if you get this right you’ll cruise home with a smile on your face. Blow it, and you’ll end up miles down the tube, or motoring in the rain and wishing you’d never left the marina. When you’re unsure about what the weather will do, stay near the rhumb line and assume the great dealer will slip you a low-value card from the bottom of the pack. A two of clubs won’t then be a disaster. If you get a favouring shift, you can ease sheets and hooray for even odds! Almost twenty years later I was able to test this theory on a 1,200-mile windward passage from Iceland, past Greenland’s Cape Farewell, and on to Newfoundland, a trip spiced by ice and fog. My yacht was far more able than the centreboarder, but she wasn’t noted for tight pointing. A day out of Reykjavik, we ran into the business end of a series of frontal depressions tracking between us and the Arctic Circle. The weather was vile, the seas square-sided and for a fortnight our boat never laid her south-westerly course for more than an hour or two. She managed the passage Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Tom Cunliffe

“We made the best of a bad job by following the axiom, ‘Always stay on the tack that is taking you nearest your destination.’’’

* Wind backing into the south. Barometer dropping like a ballast pig. Cloud base lowering. Rain and poor visibility. Course made good, around WSW. This sounds like a warm front approaching. We sail as hard as is sensible on the port tack, ten degrees or so free of closehauled. * Blowing 45 knots from the SW after a steady veer. Barometer levelled out. Rain eased but still coming in pulses. Seas building. The warm front has now passed. With such a sea running there’s no point trying to sail closehauled, so we heave to on the starboard tack for a day or so. We’re drifting more or less south-eastwards at two knots, making up some of the ground we lost northwards of the rhumb line on the last tack. * Mega hailstorm. Glass shooting up like a lift. Very windy indeed, and veering. Mate spotted wearing gloves at the helm. Poor show! This is the cold front. It’s tough right now, but with luck there will be a day or two of north-westerlies behind it.... We stay hove-to, bend on a stiff scotch and keep our heads down. * Blue sky and flying clouds. The odd anvil round the horizon. Blowing 25 from the west-northwest. Barometer

ABOVE Square riggers were in general not vey good at going to windward, but the seamanship and know how of the skippers enabled them to make good progress upwind

TOM CUNLIFFE Tom has been mate on a merchant ship, run yachts for gentlemen, operated charter boats, delivered, raced and taught. He writes the pilot for the English Channel, a complete set of cruising text books and runs his own internet club for sailors worldwide at tomcunliffe.com

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

rising more slowly. Seas 20 feet high and confused. Tumbling over each other every so often. Sun gleaming through the crests. Distant bergs in view. Lovely. This comes four hours after the previous entry, and it’s our best chance. We let draw on the starboard tack and cram on every stitch we can carry. The lee deck is regularly buried and we take heavy water from time to time as an awkward one breaks to windward, but the boat is going great guns and we’re logging six knots. She’s a nudge south of her best course but nobody is dismayed, because we all know what’ll happen soon.... * Barometer dropping. Wind backing. Right on the nose now. 100% cirrostratus. Dirty to windward. Here comes the next one. We stay on the starboard tack, knowing we can afford to lose ground to the south, because we’ll make it up when we tack as the wind backs seriously to the left of the rhumbline. * Wind south by east. Piping up. Barometer dropping, etc. Exactly what the text book said. We’re

now on port tack and cracking along almost on course. When we can’t stand it any more, we’ll heave to and begin the cycle again. It’s surprising how effectively even a modest boat can work to windward, so long as the skipper sticks to the old ways. Often, you don’t need a forecast to predict a change in wind direction. In many places, a summer afternoon sea breeze will veer steadily as the earth spins. A passing front generally veers the wind in our hemisphere, although the breeze may back as it approaches. Clipper ship captains weathered Cape Horn knowing this, and humbler merchant sailors regularly arrived upwind in vessels whose performance wasn’t worth a spent match by our standards. For us, as it was for them, the secret is not to curse but to think, and to remember that while no boat ever made ground to windward without being driven hard, if she’s broken in the process, she doesn’t get there at all. That, like so many other things at sea, will never change.

ALL PHOTOS TOM CUNLIFFE

surprisingly well despite the horrors, however, perhaps because she had an unusual ability to heave-to sweetly. In that respect she was a winner. In our situation morale could easily have collapsed, but we made the best of a bad job by following the axiom, ‘Always stay on the tack that is taking you nearest your destination.’ What this meant in practice is illustrated by my log. The weather entries are italicised. The rest relates what was happening.

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Olympics

Olympic Goldrush TeamGB’s sailors excelled at Tokyo2020, winning five medals, but it was edge-of-your-seat viewing for us back home. We talk to team boss Mark Robinson about each athlete’s performance and we hear from the sailors themselves, after a historic Olympics for British sailing All photos: Sailing Energy/World Sailing

ack in March 2020, the British Sailing team was riding high. Several of its sailors were world champions and team bosses Mark Robinson and Ian Walker had the confidence in the athletes to announce selection before almost every other sport, giving the sailors plenty of time to prepare. In the end, they had far more time than they wanted. Just months after selection, the pandemic changed life worldwide and put the Games back a year. The sailors were allowed special dispensation, as elite athletes, to train after lockdown#1, but travel restrictions and a lack of international competition meant that everyone would go into what was still being callled Tokyo2020 in the dark about their rivals. Uncertainty about whether or not the Games would in fact take place didn’t help, but the sailors trained on, preparing as best they could for the biggest regatta of their lives. The British Sailing Team had recce’d the Olympic venue in Enoshima just after the Rio Games. It was clearly a strong wind

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

venue, with a likelihood of big waves. Crews in all classes formed and trained accordingly, but when it came, at last, to the Olympic regatta week, a tropical cyclone off Japan caused unsettled weather and unusually light winds. The conditions would catch out sailors from all nations, but as spectators around the world saw in the early days of August, the GBR sailors were dominant. Even those who didn’t medal ticked off great race wins and put in performances that bode well for the future and will be priceless inspiration for younger sailors. The legacy of Tokyo2020 for British sailing will surely last long, as male and female role models showed a clear pathway from youth sailing to the very top of the sport. Over the next few pages we re-live some of those great moments, we hear from the sailors and we hear from RYA Performance Manager Mark Robinson – how does he rate his sailors’ performances?

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Olympics

470 WOMEN, Hannah Mills (helm) and Eilidh McKintyre With her second gold and third medal overall from three successive Olympics, Hannah Mills became the most successful ever female Olympic sailor. Meanwhile Eilidh matched her father’s gold from Seoul, when he won the Star class in 1988. Hannah, 33, from Cardiff, said: “It’s been massive. I mean it’s been one of the hardest weeks of my life and I’m sure for Eilidh as well. Just every day, feeling sick, not being able to eat, just nerves building up and yeah, the emotion. But we’ve done it, we’ve done what we came here to do and it’s amazing.” Commenting on the record, she said: “I’ve had two incredible crews to sail with [Saskia Clark was her crew previously] and I just feel really lucky. We’ve got a great team around us and the support has been phenomenal. “Big shout out to the National Lottery, and everyone who plays the lottery, because without you guys we wouldn’t be here either.” Eilidh, 27, from Hayling Island, said: “I can’t believe this has happened. To think that I’ve dreamed of this through my entire life. It’s an amazing feeling and I just can’t wait to have the gold around my neck. I’d like to thank my dad for everything, for being my inspiration and for being at the end of the phone whenever I’ve wanted to talk. But it’s really hit my whole family: my poor mum who’s had to live through the stress of this twice now, and my sister and brother have been my total rocks. But thank you everyone – my fiancé John and that whole group of them – have been there so much and supported me. It’s always been that nothing is good enough, but gold is enough and they’ve all been on this journey.” RYA Performance Manager Mark Robinson said: “The teamwork there is immensely important. It’s interesting because they are different people. There are several years’ difference in age. I think early on they were just trying to learn to understand

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

each other. What Joe [Glanfield, coach] brought to them is understanding how to work a little bit more together. Joe’s all about very high EQ versus IQ – emotional intelligence. Their partnership has just grown and grown and grown. And they both know how to put their game face on when it really matters and that’s basically what they did.”

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Olympics

FINN, Giles Scott The man who had dominated the Finn class for much of the last decade went into Tokyo with a series of less than stellar results. He had spent the winter with INEOS Team UK as tactician, which meant in one sense he was race ready, but lacking time in the slower boat. Scott, however, won gold in Rio and was not about to relinquish his title without a fight. In fact, it became clear to all that he had timed his Finn comeback to perfection. He took an early lead at Enoshima and stayed the one to beat all week, so much so that he had a ninepoint lead going into the final day and was assured a medal. The medal race, however, would decide which colour. On 3 August, it was showtime. Given his dominance over the class, a silver or bronze would have been an upset, so the pressure was most definitely on for the defending champion – and there were plenty of rivals lining up to do the upsetting. Any of the top six, in fact, could have won a medal, showing the competitive nature of the class. There was drama at the outset. With 15 seconds to go, as the boats tussled for space on the line, Scott appeared to be early and immediately after the gun the Brit cried out in frustration and turn his Finn back as the flag went up. He later said he didn’t think he was over, but went back anyway in case! Either way, he was able to cross the line again and continue the race. A minute into the first beat, he was ninth, last place on the water and out of the gold and silver medal positions overall. Now it would take all his guile and fitness to come back. The cameras caught Scott coaching himself quietly – “come on” – and after going left on the course he rejoined the fleet having gained ground and a place. The leaders were 30 seconds ahead. If Scott wanted to defend his Rio title, he needed to move. On the second beat he again took the left hand side of the course and the tactics paid off. He was up to sixth on the water, giving him gold overall if positions stayed the same. Scott desperately needed to hold on over the next two legs. The umpires were on hand watching for a Rule 42 penalty – just one instance of pumping would see the Olympic dream shattered. It was going to be a photo finish for the overall medals. No less than 25 metres separated the first five boats. In tense silence the boats rounded the final mark and picked up speed on a reach for the line. The fleet bunched. Where was Scott?

It looked like the Briton had missed out, with Berecz from Hungary taking gold, but as the Hungarian looked back to count the boats behind him, he saw Scott crossing in fourth on the water. Scott slammed the deck and held his head in his hands as he realised he had done it again. The Olympic title was his. Berecz, in silver, swam over to Scott and bronze medallist Cardona from Spain, aged just 23, joined them for a well-deserved dip. It was last ever Finn race in an Olympic games and the end of an era for this boat, after seven decades of being sailed by the greatest names in the sport, Scott among them. His victory was also a fitting culmination for the successful British Finn programme that also saw Iain Percy and Ben Ainslie win gold in this event – the British have won every Finn Olympic gold since 2000. Scott, 34, from Huntingdon, Cambs, said: “I didn’t make it easy for myself, did I? I don’t think I was over the line but I played it super safe. So I made that call to go back and from there I had quite a lot on. I made it literally by the skin of my teeth. It is was down to last leeward mark, last reach, it was properly to the wire. “I tried to stay vaguely relaxed on that final reach and not pick up a penalty. I’ve certainly not been involved in any former boat race that was a close as that. It was absolutely the greatest pressure I’ve ever felt. Without a doubt. “I’m so, so proud. There’s such amazing heritage in the Finn, it’s such a shame it is leaving the Games. And to follow legends like Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy, they were my heroes growing up, so yeah, it’s a good moment.” Mark Robinson said: “The last leg of the last race! He didn’t need to go back, he wasn’t over. What we did know is we couldn’t afford an OCS disqualification. We did send Finns down to New Zealand during the America’s Cup but he didn’t get a lot of time to sail them. “He’d had a good Europeans and then a bad Worlds this year, so the trajectory – the only way was up. He put his game face on and off he went. And it was really good to see the three guys jump in his boat at the end, a nice touch.”

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Olympics

49er Stuart Bithell and Dylan Fletcher (helm) In the 49er class, New Zealanders Pete Burling and Blair Tuke were expected by all to take gold, having dominated the class and won gold at Rio. The British pair of Stuart Bithell and Dylan Fletcher had sailed well against them, but never beaten them. However, Tokyo saw the Brits sail the regatta of their lives, taking race wins and notching up consistent results, so that going into the medal race, New Zealand and Great Britain started as good as equal on points. For the British to win gold, they had to be ahead of NZ and with one boat between them. The start, on 3 August, could not have been more exciting, with the British in with a chance of taking a historic victory. Bithell and Fletcher were in first place at a very tight top mark but Burling and Tuke were displaying their usual calm assurance just behind in the chasing pack. The TeamGB duo stretched ahead downwind and kept their pace, but the winds dropped and at the bottom mark there was a nervy gybe with the New Zealanders right on their heels. GBR were ahead at the first cross on the next upwind leg. New Zealand, in second, now had to ensure that no boat came between them and the British. Germany had been in the running all the race and they came into contention at this crucial juncture. As the teams crossed next, Germany were ahead of NZ. There was huge experience on board all the three boats, with sailors on each having won Olympic medals. Fletcher and Bithell, despite the pressure, shared a joke on board, with the onboard camera picking up Fletcher laughing. The communication between them was admirably relaxed as they approached the next windward mark, but Germany were ahead, not a good situation if the British wanted gold. All teams launched spinnakers with one leg to go, NZ in gold medal position. It had to be now for the British – they had to overtake the Germans to win gold. As the two boats approached the finish line, it was impossibly close and the bowsprits of the Germans and British were neck and neck – until a final gybe metres before the line put GBR inches

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

ahead, one of the closest and most dramatic finishes in Olympic sailing history. There were ecstatic cheers and hugs between Bithell and Fletcher as they realised they had just taken first place in the race – and gold in the Olympic Games. Fletcher, 33, from Thames Ditton, said: “It’s been super close all week in racing and today just showed off what it’s been like. It was intense, but it was my aim to be sat here now as Olympic champion. “I thought we had it [at the end], but I knew it was super touch and go and the other guys had right of way of us, so we had to be careful not to get a penalty and time everything just right. But Stu did an incredible job of making the boat go fast and we just nicked it at the end. To come here and deliver is just a huge testament to all of our team behind the scenes to make this happen, so I’m incredibly proud of the whole team.” Bithell, 34, from Rochdale, said: “I think the exact moment [we knew we were going to win] was the very last gybe at the end. We both gybed almost simultaneously, and I could just see the bow coming up and we were on a little bit of a wave and just got a little bit of surge and I thought that’s the one. I’ve certainly

never seen that at the Olympics, not in the 49er class. “Dylan talks about it’s been a long road since Rio, five years, but for me it’s been nine years. I missed out unfortunately in the last cycle to Dylan, so yeah it’s been a long part of my career really, chipping away and working hard. This is my last Olympics, almost certainly. As you can image it’s so nice to go away with the gold.” Fletcher now flies home to Portland to prepare for his wedding to fellow team member Charlotte Dobson (p38). Mark Robinson said: “Talk about heart-stopping moments. They are both so determined, they live and breathe and sleep all this stuff, so to finally win and beat the reigning Olympic champions and the America’s Cup winners, was quite special.”

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NACRA 17 Anna Burnet and John Gimson (helm) The Nacra 17 world champions, British pair John Gimson and Anna Burnet, had spent 2020/21 training with their Italian rivals, and both teams proved fastest in the Tokyo fleet and were guaranteed a medal come the final race, but which colour? It was beautiful conditions, with hot sunshine and 10 knots from the south. GBR didn’t start well, but none of the medal contenders were well-placed up the beat. Gimson and Burnet were eighth, with the Italians just behind them until their raw speed proved dominant and they stretched ahead. The relatively light winds prevented much foiling and speeds were around 10/12 knots. At the first mark, Burnet and Gimson were in eighth and second place overall. Argentina were leading, helmed by 59-year-old legend Santiago Lange with Cecilia Carranza Saroli, the Rio gold medallists. Gimson and Burnet’s workrate was clear and Gimson’s voice could be heard: “We coming back.” The 38-year-old had held the dream of winning an Olympic medal since his teens. The popular Argentineans showed their class by winning the race on the day, but all eyes were on who would get the medals. Denmark, the USA and France crossed the line. Where were Gimson and Burnet? The Union Jack crossed in fifth, a great comeback for them and giving them silver

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overall. The Italians came in just behind them to take gold. Gimson and Burnet arrived on shore in highly emotional scenes, Gimson in tears as he marked his long road to the Olympics with a popular medal. He had been congratulated as they crossed the line by Iain Percy, coach and good friend. In a neat circle, Gimson had been Percy and Simpson’s tuning partner in the Star for London 2012. Gimson, 38, from Congleton, said: “The journey has been worth every minute. I’ve done it for 20 years to get here and an unbelievable amount of people have helped me along the way, and just for them to say thank you, I’m glad we did. A lot of people have invested heavily in us so I’m happy we followed through for them.” Burnet, 28, from Shandon, Scotland, said: “The team has had an incredible day and seeing the 49er guys win a medal just before we went out, I found it hugely inspiring. “It’s a huge relief, we’ve put so much pressure on ourselves and just to pay back all the people that have helped us to get to this point, so to be able to win a medal for all of them is just a massive relief and I hope it’s something everyone can be happy about. We’re super happy.” To the delight of all, Gimson and Burnet shared a kiss on the medal podium, putting the seal on their personal and professional partnership. Mark Robinson said: “Perseverance and determination are the words that come to mind. John has worked tirelessly for nearly 20 years just to get selected for the Games and to come away with a medal is a great achievement. Together John and Anna are two of the most dedicated and determined sailors I have ever worked with, literally sailing 300 days per year to cover all the bases in their pursuit of an Olympic medal. They complement each other in all the aspects required of a successful Olympic campaign.”

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Olympics

RS:X WOMEN, Emma Wilson Briton Emma Wilson found herself the talk of the national press after she won the first sailing gold of the Games, on the RS:X windsurfer. The medal race was a gruelling affair, in light winds that demanded ‘pumping’ the sail around the entire course, testing athletic ability as much as sailing tactics. Wilson, 22, from Christchurch, held her arms aloft on the podium and looked at the sky, later saying: “Those were so physical those conditions. I gave it absolutely everything and, in the end, I came third, but still it was amazing to get a medal and I’m super, super happy. I’ve come fourth so many times and it means so much to finally make it to the podium at the Olympics – it’s a good time.

“My mum has been a big influence [Wilson’s mother Penny windsurfed at two Olympics], but also there’s so many other people as well like my coach Barry and my family, his family, my training partners, I mean everyone has just given so much and I just have to thank so many people. The medal’s not just for me but for everyone else as well.” Mark Robinson said: “It is brutal in those conditions. She was completely spent every day and just went out the next day and did it again. She would come back every night and the medical team would be patching her body up to go again. And she would just go out there and lay everything on the race course.”

470 MEN, Luke Patience (helm) and Chris Grube The 470 pair were fifth at the Rio Games after only a short time in the boat together. Now they wanted to go better. In the run-up to Tokyo, they put in consistent top 10 results, becoming North American champions twice. They started the Games well, taking victories and showing their class. But it was not to be. They eventually were fifth at Tokyo, with Luke, 34, from Rhu, Scotland, saying: “It’s a tough old thing to take on any professional sport, and everything has to be right when you’re competing against the best in the world. “The reality is today [in the final race, where they stood a chance of medalling] we needed a wee slip up from our competitors out in front of us, and they didn’t slip up. We can do as well as we like, but if they don’t slip up we don’t have enough distance in points to make up the deficit. “It’s tough and I’m a bit emotional at the minute. It’s a long road and a good one as well. It’s a joy to push and compete at the highest level, but it’s hard when you don’t get what you want out of

it. We’re so well-supported by the team behind us and a nation behind us – the National Lottery players, mums, dads. You want to do it for everyone that’s backed the journey, but the buck stops with us. There’s an army of some 65 million that has helped us to do this, but it wasn’t to be this time. “It wasn’t in vain though and we held the British flag at the highest level in this class. This sport has given me so much, you know, I’d like to give something back, maybe as a coach. I’d like to see that there’s more gold medals than this next time.” Chris Grube, 36, from Chester, Cheshire, said: “We gave it everything we could. We had a plan coming into it, but I think ultimately it wasn’t to be and basically we were out-sailed this week by the three or four boats out in front of us and they’ve shone for a while now. We felt we had a real chance midway through the week and in the medal race we still thought we had a chance and we were still pushing hard going in to the last day, but it wasn’t meant to be. “For us, last time [in Rio] we were quite proud of how we did. Fifth last time after just eight months together, it was a good performance. With this time, I think we’ll both be quite heavily disappointed by it because of the amount of time that we’ve had – that’s five years together to try and achieve it and have fallen foul so yes, it’s very disappointing. Nothing has quite sunk in yet to be honest.” Mark Robinson said: “It’s painful, but really just one day caught them out. If the end of their regatta had been slightly more like the early part of it, it would have been a completely different outcome, or different medal race, for sure. Twiggy [Grube] is renowned as probably fittest guy on the team. There’s an argument between him and Tom Squires! They gave it their all.”

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Olympics

LASER STANDARD, Elliot Hanson Hanson, aged 27, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, had a strong regatta and was gunning for a place in the medal race when a tough decision by the umpires saw him DQ’d for pumping. He finished 12th overall. Afterwards Hanson said: “I’m gutted, I got two yellow flags, supposedly body pumping upwind, which I don’t agree with. If I hadn’t have been penalised I would have been in a good place for the medal race. I might even have been in with a shot at a medal.” Later his Facebook page was inundated with messages of goodwill after he posted: “I’ve always been able to take most things on the chin but this one will hurt for a while; hopefully I can use that as motivation for the future. Whilst I find the ultimate result this week a little embarrassing, I’ll hold my head high with how I’ve conducted myself for this Olympic campaign. Thanks to each and every one of my supporters– family, friends, sponsors new and old. In an individual sport it’s amazing to have an army behind you.”

Mark Robinson said: “You look at Elliot at the moment, he is fully ripped and he is the fittest he’s ever been, he’s doing PBs. Elliot just didn’t have the right week. In 2018 he won the event there by something like 50 points, the biggest winning margin in Laser history. Arguably he’s in the toughest fleet.”

49erFX, Charlotte Dobson (helm) and Saskia Tidey The 49erFX duo of Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey formed after Rio and were as good as anyone in heavier winds, on a blustery opening day in Tokyo winning by a clear margin. They backed it up with another win, in top spot on the leaderboard, but lighter winds prevailed, not their favoured conditions, and they finished sixth overall. Dobson, 35, from Rhu, spoke after she had watched her fiancé Dylan Fletcher win gold, and said: “That was some morning I think I’ve had. The end of our campaign and our medal hopes, but amazing to watch Dylan and Stu win their gold medal. They’ve been amazing supporters of ours the whole way through this cycle and this morning optimises to me the ying and yang of sport – with amazing results someone has to lose. When you get into this world, you risk feeling terrible for the moment to be able to feel how Dylan and Stu feel right now.

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

“At this level you can’t expect to win medals with holes in your performance and unfortunately we got found out this week in these lighter winds, which is frustrating because in the past we’ve dealt with that weakness.” Tidey, 28, of Portland, said: “We fought through it and we pushed hard and tried to fight for every inch and it hasn’t gone our way. It’s been an honour to sail with Charlotte and to be part of this team. Now it’s about cheering on everyone else.” Mark Robinson said: “Once they’re trapezing, they’re on fire. They just got caught out by a few very marginal days, 4-5 knots of breeze. They were in the yellow bibs for two days [as leaders]. As it got lighter they started to suffer a bit in the boat speed, which then knocks on to your confidence and everything else. But they were still there at the end.”

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Olympics

LASER RADIAL, Alison Young Alison Young, 34, from Bewdley, was in her third Olympics, a remarkable achievement on its own. She finished 10th at Tokyo and said: “This week my sailing has just not been good enough. It’s my last [Olympics] and I’m just really grateful for the support that I’ve got on the British Sailing Team. It’s a privilege to race for your country, but it’s a massive privilege to work with those guys.” Mark Robinson said: “She’s another sailor that probably prefers a bit more breeze, probably more so than the FX girls, and had we had a 14-18 knot regatta, it could well have been a different story.”

RS:X MEN, Tom Squires Squires, 27, from Kingston Bagpuize, was seventh in the RS:X after taking wins and showing he was dominant in stronger winds. Afterwards he said: “I just hope I’ve done TeamGB proud. I feel like I’ve given everything, so I can’t be disappointed. I’ve loved pretty much every minute of it, apart from the medal race which sucked a little bit.” Mark Robinson said: “Him and Elliot probably had the toughest fleets. Tom was fourth in the test event and to get where he got, he was in with a chance of a medal and he gave it his all. He is also just joyful to have around and lifts the mood. When the medal winners come back from their medal ceremonies, Tom’s there with a bottle of champagne the minute they walk in the cafeteria to spray it all over them. He’s that ringleader that starts the celebration.”

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Tokyo 2020

Tokyo 2020: my view from the boatpark British coach and sailor Jon Emmett was at Tokyo 2020 as coach for the Finnish Laser Radial sailor Tuula Tenkanen. He gives a personal view of life on the ground at the Olympics that almost didn’t happen

he first thing to say is just how incredibly welcoming the Japanese were from the moment we stepped off the airplane, to the moment we left the hotel to the final time to the airport (where I had no fewer than 12 coming just to wave me off!). I would estimate I said hello over 100 times a day, as each and every volunteer greeted me. To say nothing of the “host families” from local villages who adopted teams, showering us with presents and making our lives so much easier. Every day on the road to Enoshima Island (think like the road to

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER JUNE 2021 2021

Portland to the 2012 Olympic venue) locals were lined up waving flags and wishing all the competitors good luck. Since it was difficult for many to make the opening ceremony, they even made their own ceremony just for the sailors with hundreds performing dances on our route to the venue. Upon arrival we were literally greeted off the plane and the whole experience from arrival to leaving the airport took anywhere between 2 and 8 hours depending upon your luck. I landed on 15th July, arriving the first day that the field of play was open (that we could go on the water) … so

ABOVE We were showered with gifts and help from the Japanese, from the moment we got off the plane to the moment we left

a few hours after landing I was on the Olympic waters. The whole experience reminded me of a school trip with one helper at the front and one at the back (like teachers taking primary school children on a school outing). I arrived on a near empty plane so there were only 4 of us and we went through the various procedures to get Olympic accreditation. One of those was Team GB Equestrian coach and I enjoyed his mime trying to explain to the Japanese what sport he did, mind you mine for sailing was probably even more bizarre!

We had to have our first negative PCR test before we could even get in the country. We had daily testing and I was fearful of having a very sore nose but thankfully it was just a saliva test. Although producing 1cm of Saliva after a 12-hour flight was more difficult than you might imagine. After this I made sure to drink lots of water but that didn’t help on the 2-hour drive to the Sailing village. I had a 55-seater bus all to myself with a lorry following on behind holding my 2 pieces of luggage but there was no toilet! My own experience probably had more freedom than most. I had a rental car and left my hotel before 7:00am every morning to go to the sailing venue (I was glad that they drive on the left) and from this point I always wore a facemask when not eating, drinking or on the water and remember it was often more than 30 degrees and very high humidity. I didn’t usually get home until around 10:00pm so had very little time in the room, so certainly there was no chance for boredom or cabin fever to set in. Once at the venue the first thing I did (so there was no chance to forget) was take my daily PCR test and set up the tubes for the other

members of the team in a cool box to do the same. We then had a Team leaders meeting. World Sailing did a fantastic job with all the documentation but there are always “Request for Information” as various questions need to get answered. The most different thing for me was that no electronics which could connect with Wi-Fi were allowed. Meaning I had to use equipment more than 10 years old (pre-2012) because nearly all modern cameras, Gimbels and video cameras have Wi Fi connections – which were not permitted. At all times I was wearing my team uniform and carried my Olympic accreditation around my neck and RIB operator’s licence on the water. On returning home it seemed strange not to be wearing it, like something was missing. For food and drink (and for many the chance to watch the

ABOVE CENTRE The boatpark at Enoshima; what you can’t see here is the heat! For us coaches, getting ice to our sailors after their races was paramount ABOVE RIGHT It was great to see Hannah Mills flying the flag high for sailing at the opening ceremony, and also to see Argentina’s flag carried by Nacra 17 sailors Cecilia Caranza Saroli and Santiago Lange BELOW The welcome from the locals in Enoshima was extraordinary; we knew there were Japanese who were against the Olympics being held, but we experienced only the warmest hospitality

medal races if they didn’t want to brave the heat on the official viewing area) there was the Athlete lounge but most of the time was spent in the Team container. Like most, this was an air-conditioned unit that was our home. From the back to the front it contained a treatment room with physio behind a curtain. Gym (2 x bike and cross trainer, weights, and a pull up bar) by a large TV following the Olympics. Lounge with fridge and freezer for the drinks and sport bars for the sailors and office. Where meetings with the meteorologist and team leader took place. For on the water I collected 10Kgs ice every day along with my tracker. This quickly melted and was kept in 2 tubs on the RIB. I gradually added the ice to the cold water which was immediately poured on Tuula after every race before she wrapped her head in a cold towel) from the same bucket. Some days the temperature was close to 32 C wet bulb temperature with near 100% humidity. The drinks were kept in ice and with careful management, 10Kgs in a cool box would just last the whole day. After racing I drove to the Sailing village for the evening meal. This really was a mini village with

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Tokyo 2020

everything you could need. They even did your washing. We ate every meal at every venue between plastic screens. They obviously did their job because they blocked out most of the sound, making it very hard to hear people sitting opposite us. We needed an intercom system! My lip reading has subsequently improved. Finally, I would drive back to my hotel, where at my personal parking space I was once again overwhelmed with welcomes, whatever time of day! In terms of the coaching, by the time you get to the Games, the hard work is done; no more technical gains to be made, it is performance and anxiety management. Keeping the positive and pragmatic

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

atmosphere and remembering under stress, natural tendencies both good and bad, may come out. So if you have an athlete who tends to OCS, be line shy or pick up yellow flags (rule 42 infringements) then the Games will bring this out, so this is the key area to be dealt with. The Radial class was full of drama with no places decided until the finish of the medal race. Finland had a great event with both the standard in gold and radial in silver overnight at one point in the regatta and Tuula was in silver medal position at the 1st windward mark of the medal race. The important thing to me and I felt this true in all classes is the people who sailed the very

ABOVE CENTRE Tuula Tenkanen retired from Olympic sailing having finished fifth at Tokyo in one of the most competitive fleets ABOVE LEFT Ecstacy on the face of Spanish 470 sailor Jordi Xammar after winning bronze; the shore teams are always hard at work making sure the sailors and boats are 100% ready to go BELOW After 18 months of little international competition, who was on form and who wasn’t only became clear in the first races

best, over the whole week took the medals and none more so that Matt Wearn in the Standard and AnneMarie Rindom in the Radial. Sailing really is a consistency sport. After the Games had finished for me, I had the great pleasure to go to the main athletes’ village, which after the small sailing village was completely overwhelming. The size of the dining room alone meant you could easily lose people. My favourite thing here is to meet up with the whole team, take the photo within the Olympic rings and to walk down the road which contains every country flag competing at 2 metres distance. It is longer than you may think. Then the compulsory visit to

the gift shop, but I only allowed myself to be a tourist after the racing was over. It seemed no sooner had we arrived than we were loading the containers for the bump out. Not an easy feat in the heat and with many others still racing. Once done I was able to watch super Tuesday where Team GB won 3 medals (49er Gold, Finn Gold, Nacra Silver). To watch the racing and then congratulate the sailors onshore in person was a magical experience. It is hard to put the emotion into words, I ended up shaking and I was just a spectator. For the 49er medal race I was sat directly between Team GB and NZL, it was tense to say the least.

Now back in the UK and after such a unique experience there is always a low after such a high, especially due to the unique nature of these games. Returning to WPNSA (Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy), it seemed very much business as usual. Dylan [Fletcher] was there trying to make his Moth go even faster. The RS:X sailors were back on the water, but this time foiling. For many, a change is as good as a rest as they take the opportunity to do some other sailing to recharge their batteries. One thing is for the sure, the Olympics waits for no one. Every cycle, the level at the top gets higher and higher. If you are not moving

ABOVE AND BELOW Standing on the slipway, the emotion as the sailors come ashore is hard to describe; elation, despair and everything in between

forward, you are getting left behind and the depth also increases, making the number of potential medallists higher and higher and therefore calling the runners and riders increasingly difficult. The pressure next time round will be even greater, with just a three-year cycle and the Olympic trials starting more than a year before that. The addition of kitesurfing to the Olympics and the 470 becoming a mixed class means there is a huge amount of work to do. Now is perhaps the lull before the storm and for me the moment to put some time into grassroots sailing. These are not only our future Olympians but more importantly the future of our whole sport.

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Cruising – Solent Weekend

A weekend on the waves Clive Loughlin takes a trip on the wild side while planning a weekend’s sailing in the Solent.

here shall we go this weekend? This must be a common question among those lucky enough to have a boat moored within the Solent area. For me the real attraction of the Solent is the great variety of locations and sailing challenges that it has to offer, and I like to venture slightly off the well-beaten track to spend time in more natural and less frantic environments. In this article I will plan a weekend in the Solent that is based on a Friday early evening departure, and returning early evening on the Sunday. The plan is primarily intended for boats based in the Hamble, Itchen, Portsmouth and Cowes but is still viable for those based in Lymington or Yarmouth.

Time to go

When to go where is largely determined by the tides and this

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER JUNE 2021 2021

particular itinerary is best undertaken at neaps or a few days either side. This ensures that the tidal stream will usually be going in the right direction at convenient times, and also that there should be enough height of tide to access the chosen destinations. I leave it to you to do the necessary passage planning, pilotage and secondary port tidal height calculations for your specific adventure

ABOVE The dramatic backdrop of the Needles Channel

Passage Planning

As always, my starting point for any passage planning is to take multiple photocopies of the ‘Isle of Wight and Solent Tidal Streams’ from the almanac so that I can create an hour-by-hour lookup for what’s flowing where for the complete weekend. In the Solent, my top natural destinations are the Beaulieu River on the mainland and Newtown River and Bembridge on the Isle of

Wight. For this weekend my first night’s destination is the Beaulieu River.

Friday evening – Beaulieu River

The Beaulieu River is the only privately owned river in the UK and belongs to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. The river is an absolute delight and the banks are home to a great variety of birds including Little Egrets, Peregrine Falcons, Redshanks and Terns. The jewel in the Beaulieu crown however is Buckler’s Hard. Surrounded as it is by the oak of the New Forest it was ideally located to serve as a major shipbuilding village in Napoleonic times. The slipways down to the river are clearly visible today and we can only wonder at the construction and

launch of the HMS Agamemnon, a 64 gun ship of the line and reputedly Nelson’s favourite. I have been to Buckler’s Hard many times, but I never cease to be awed by the sheer beauty of the place. Arrive towards sunset and the red-brick buildings radiate a warming glow that cannot fail to delight.

Getting in

At springs there are a few times when access to the river will be restricted for deep drafted boats, however at neaps the height of low water is sufficient for most and has the added advantage that the tidal flow in the river will be reduced, and therefore not too much of a problem if you find yourself having to motor against the ebb for the 3.5 nm passage from the entrance to Buckler’s Hard.

BELOW LEFT Buckler’s Hard BELOW CENTRE Beaulieu River – a tranquil haven for simply messing about in boats. BELOW RIGHT Master Builder’s pub and hotel.

The marina is just a cable upstream from the historic slipways and cleverly manages to sit alongside the 18th century village – the one discretely supporting the other. Recent years have seen the expansion of the marina so that it can now accommodate over 200 berths of most dimensions, and it also has the most luxurious shore facilities I have yet to find. Those heading for a marina berth will need to have made a reservation considerably in advance and will then be able to take the 10 minute stroll to the very scenic and historic Buckler’s Hard village and Master Builder’s pub and hotel. If the marina is full then all is not lost, as there are usually vacant visitor moorings (marked yellow pickup buoy and ‘V’) en route. Anchoring is only permitted between

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Cruising – Solent Weekend

piles ‘20’ and ‘22’. There are few places as pleasant to spend the night, and wake up in the morning, than the Beaulieu River. Even if I have spent the night on a mooring buoy, a trip up to Buckler’s Hard never disappoints, and is a good place to head for if you need fuel, chandlery or use of shore facilities. Mobile phone coverage is rather patchy in this area which may be a good or bad thing depending on your point of view – so be sure to make any urgent calls prior to entering the river.

Saturday - Needles, Alum Bay, Yarmouth, Newtown River

The itinerary for Saturday involves catching the west-going ebb tide for

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

the 12nm from the Beaulieu River to the Needles. Arriving just as the tide turns and ducking in to Alum Bay to drop the hook for lunch and a swim. Alum Bay offers only modest protection from the elements and needs to be navigated with care as there are some rocky shallow areas. However the multi-coloured sand nevertheless provides a spectacular backdrop that is perfect for a lunchtime stop, in the right conditions. After a cooling dip, suitably leisurely lunch and perhaps a postprandial snooze, you can raise the anchor and catch the east-going tide towards the day’s final destination of Newtown River. On the way it’s well worth calling in to Yarmouth Harbour, possibly to refuel and go shopping for food or chandlery items.

ABOVE The Needles channel BELOW LEFT Alum Bay is beautiful but needs to be navigated with care BELOW RIGHT Yarmouth Harbour – a delightful location to refuel boat, body and soul.

Yarmouth

I love Yarmouth Harbour and you will not find more helpful berthing masters anywhere on the planet – let alone the Solent. You only need to hover near the entrance for a few moments before a cheerful soul in a well-padded tender will be alongside and do their best to find you a berth. I have never been turned away, and my favourite berth for a short-stay is the pink pontoon that is straight ahead as you go in. This gives ready access to the village centre and also to the excellent facilities at the marina office. There are no facilities at all in Newtown River; this is part of its attraction; so now is a good time for a shower to wash away the salt and sand following your swim in Alum Bay.

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Cruising – Solent Weekend

Newtown River

Time your departure from Yarmouth to give you an hour of east-going tide for the 4nm to Newtown River. This will be on a rising tide and entry to Newtown is straightforward. Find the smallest west cardinal you are ever likely to see, and then use the ‘O’ and ‘Y’ transit (130°) to guide your approach and keep you away from the shallows on either side. I aim to get to within a cricket pitch or two of the ‘Y’ and then head straight for the middle of the entrance. Immediately ahead you will come across some green starboard hand marks. Leave these well to starboard as they dry out at low water.

Watch your depth!

To port you will see an isolated danger that marks another shallow area and this should also be given a good margin. There is a trot of white visitor moorings going up the river towards Shalfleet. If one of these is free I suggest you grab it. The large area off to port as you arrive has a few mooring buoys and also lots of room for anchoring. Getting to a suitable anchorage around high water is not normally a problem, however getting away can

be more challenging as it is easy to anchor in a relatively deep area, and find yourself locked in by shallows. Keep a very close eye on your depth sounder! I like to anchor just to the north east of the first trot of white buoys so that I can leave when I like. I have always found holding to be excellent in the very sticky mud. If time and inclination permit you can go due south in a dinghy to a slipway with hut, and find the path that will take you on the short walk to the tiny hamlet of Newtown and then on to the pub in Shalfleet. If you have an engine, or need the exercise, head further south to Shalfleet Quay. This is best done setting off 1-2 hours before high water as access to the slipway and quay is restricted.

Romans and Oystercatchers

Newtown River is a National Trust property and a National Nature Reserve. There is a charge if you pick up a mooring buoy, however ‘donations are invited’ if you anchor. Either way, the cheerful Harbourmaster, Davie Flannagan will likely be knocking on your hull. In the 17th century this whole area was developed for salt production

ABOVE LEFT Newtown River – the trot of buoys leading to Shalfleet ABOVE RIGHT Davie Flannagan, Newtown River Harbourmaster (Photo Steve Morgan) BELOW Newtown River at sunset (Photo Brendan Arthur)

and the salt ponds are still clearly visible. In even earlier Roman times this area was a major port and the oyster beds harvested with enthusiasm. The Romans have gone, but Oystercatchers have taken their place in abundance. The flood, and especially the ebb, cause strong currents within the ‘creek’ - those taking a dip (or rowing a dinghy) need to be on guard.

Sunday morning - back to reality

Clive Loughlin is an RYA Yachtmaster Instructor and regular Sailing Today contributor. Clive teaches for First Class Sailing in the Solent area.

If the tidal stream is still ebbing and flowing west in the morning I recommend taking a dinghy ashore and landing on the beach just to the west of the entrance, Keep an eye aloft for white-tailed eagles that are now in residence in this part of the island. Those with a home port in Lymington may chose to leave in time to catch the last of the ebb while those heading east can hang on for the tidal stream to turn in their favour. As you tie up your boat and pull the hatch closed after this weekend’s adventure; reflect on the sights and sounds you have experienced and start to plan your next Solent weekend – there are many more that await you.

Buckler’s Hard Yacht Harbour reader offer We have a £10 off voucher for a stay overnight between Monday to Friday at Buckler’s Hard Marina for the first two readers to email Clive (clive@ coastlinetechnology.com).

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Boat Test ~ Kraken 50

A Kraken sail Kraken Yachts believe that their new 50 footer is the ultimate blue water cruiser. What makes them so confident? Sam Jefferson finds out In association with

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

nyone who has spent a long time on passage will know that by the end of the trip, you have a list as long as your arm of ways in which the boat can be improved. It’s natural. Next thing you know, you’re sketching out a few plans of your dream blue water cruising yacht. And that, of course, is as far as it goes. There are exceptions however and Dick Beaumont, CEO and founder of Kraken Yachts, is one of them. After many years of blue water cruising, he decided to make that dream boat a reality, launching Kraken Yachts. Some years later and he now has a line up of blue water cruising yachts crammed with clever ideas garnered from years afloat. Beaumont has pursued his vision of producing the ultimate blue water cruiser with Ahab like monomania. Just a spot of history before we get started though; readers may remember that the original Kraken 50 was actually launched out in China in 2018. Since then the company has enjoyed something of a metamorphosis, with production being shifted to Turkey in 2019. New moulds were made for the Kraken 50 with hull shape, deck layout and interior all tweaked. So this makes the boat at least a MK2 but perhaps something more than that. So anyway, what makes Mr Beaumont so confident this is the ultimate blue water cruiser? Well, it starts from the keel up with a stubborn unwillingness to compromise. The hull lines were drawn up by Kiwi designer Kevin Dibley and the first requirement was an integrated keel and a single rudder protected by a skeg.

This means that in the event of a collision, you are in the best shape possible to retain both your keel and steerage. Integrated keels (as in a keel moulded into the hull when the boat is laid up in the mould) are a rarity these days but Kraken has gone further with what it terms the Zero keel which boasts a lead bulb right at the foot of the keel, precisely where it’s needed, which is moulded in when the yacht is being built. This means zero bolts and a torpedo bulb keeping almost all the weight of the keel in the most effective spot – right at the tip. On top of that, the rudder skeg with a massive steel frame is also moulded in, providing excellent protection. The lay up of the yacht is extra thick with a minimum of 18mm thickness of laminate and is reinforced with Kevlar in vulnerable spots. There is a crash bulkhead at the bow for further protection. It’s an interesting start, brimming with good ideas. Yet the road to hell is paved with good intentions and the next step is to see if that hull can be married to an alluring yacht. A first look at the boat on the water is promising; this is a handsome boat that looks stylish. Although Dibley’s lines are conservative, with relatively modest beam and plenty of taper aft, the boat does not look dated. The smart wraparound deck saloon windscreen makes the boat look purposeful and the slightly jarring mullions from the Kraken 50 MK1 are gone, as too is the much more upright bow. Combine this with a powerful rig and this looks like a boat that means business.

On deck

Step aboard and the first thing to note is the centre cockpit and single helm position. This is, of course, the most practical solution for a blue water cruiser but it is becoming a bit of a rarity. This is a comfortable area with the helm slightly raised up above the seating area for better vision. The helm features a supremely comfortable seat because, as Beaumont notes, this is where you’re going to be sitting for a long time on a blue water passage. From the helm you can control everything. The chart plotter is directly in front of you where it should be and Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Boat Test ~ Kraken 50

there are a total of six very beefy winches, three to each side. The mainsheet and traveller are just where it should be, right behind you and there is a feeling of tremendous control when you are sat at the helm. There are two rather pleasing seats to either side of the helm, ideal for keeping an eye on sail trim. Forward is the cockpit table with seating for six. The cockpit sole has three massive drains, hugely overspecified, which mean that in the event of the yacht taking a wave over the stern, the cockpit will drain within five seconds. The cockpit sole also features cut out section that is Sikaflexed in for removing the engine should the need ever arise.

Aft of the cockpit there is a modest bathing platform with very substantial bathing ladder plus beautiful stainless steel davits for the dinghy. The aft lazarette is huge and there is a dedicated locker to starboard for the liferaft. The lazarette features exceptional access to the rudder quadrant and is probably unique because you can actually access the top and middle rudder bearings and change them at sea. I do not know of another yacht that offers this feature. The emergency tiller also has its own dedicated storage space. Out onto the side decks and it’s immediately noticeable that there is an integrated toe rail with stanchions bolted into it. These are

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ABOVE LEFT The cockpit is secure and features a really comfortable helming position ABOVE RIGHT Masses of storage forward and a beautiful and very strong steel bow plate BELOW The 50 moored alongside one of her big sisters, the Kraken 66

actually designed and bolted so that if they do shear off in a collision, they will snap at deck level without ripping out a chunk of you toe rail. The guard rails themselves are a good 30cm higher than the normal and the stanchions are very solid. There are two nicely crafted solid drop down gates amidships on each side. The genoa tracks have also been set outboard on the toe rail which reduces clutter and provides a good lead for the sail while reducing chafe. The shrouds look monstrously overspecified and the chainplates are laminated into the hull. Mid way along the deck is another nice feature which is a fuel filler inset into the deck under a flip up lid with the filler caps themselves then raised up to ensure water ingress is minimal while also getting rid of the problem of fuel spillages on the deck. Port and starboard tanks can be filled from here, getting rid of the problem of dragging the fuel hose across the coachroof. Up forward, the decks are uncluttered and the most noticeable feature is the massive stainless steel bow plate which integrates the anchor roller, and windlass and looks hugely overspecified. The bow roller also features a small sprit for the Code 0 although this sprit can be removed to provide an emergency second roller. Aft of this is the anchor locker and then a huge storage space that could double as a crew quarters

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Boat Test ~ Kraken 50

but has been dedicated as storage. This also doubles as a crash bulkhead as it is completely watertight, being sealed off from the rest of the hull. In terms of the rig, this is generous and optimised for blue water cruising with a keel stepped mast from Z spars carrying a fully battened main plus the Solent rig with a large genoa set ahead of a well dimensioned blade jib. This gives you another string to your bow and means you can run butterfly under the two for mile upon mile on a trade wind passage.

Down below

Having tested the Kraken 66 back in 2018 I recall it was a smart yacht that featured ‘classic’ styling which contrasted with some of the starkly modern styling of other yachts I tested. This is not the case with the 50. The company has enlisted the help of a New Zealand design team to do the interior and they have managed to strike a nice balance with a space that feels modern but not jarringly so. The other thing that hits you is the sheer quality of the woodwork; Turkish boatbuilders have long had a reputation for superb carpentry and steelwork skills and these are much in evidence

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

throughout the boat. The quality of woodwork was truly exceptional though, with panels matched for grain to the most absurd extent and beautiful levels of finish. Perhaps the ultimate test though was the floorboards which, when you lifted them up were sealed around the edges. For some reason, the number of manufacturers that do this is virtually nil. Kraken describes itself as semi custom but in actual fact their very strict rules on certain aspects of what makes a Kraken a Kraken means that they are less flexible on some details. Ultimately they take a modular approach to the interior with the boats divided into three sections; bow, midship and aft section and you can order modifications in those three areas giving you a good range of layout permutations. Entry to the saloon is via a companionway that features a very nifty vertical sliding arrangement designed in house and that can be held at whatever height you like by friction. It works a treat and is a lovely piece of engineering. Once below, the deck saloon arrangement ensures you are in a light space with ample room.

ABOVE

The powerful rig comes from Z Spars

BELOW

The interior finish is absolutely top notch and the styling was modern but not jarringly so

One key feature, not unlike most Discovery yachts, is the skipper’s chair which is set to port and fully adjustable, giving great views out forward and to the sides while a strategically placed hatch also means that you can keep an eye on the rig above. To starboard is a comfortable and generous seating area. Moving aft, the galley is linear and ideally dimensioned for bracing yourself while cooking. The galley features many clever touches, particularly a sink arrangement with two bins to either side; one for biodegradable waste and one for normal rubbish, plus a strategically placed portlight meaning you can hand food, cups etc straight from the galley to the cockpit. There are twin drawer fridges plus a drawer freezer and an

induction hob – no gas at all on this boat. One final thing to note is just how much storage there is in here. Aft of this is a very well appointed master cabin. Being a centre cockpit boat, this is roomy with excellent headroom and lots of light. Storage is, again, excellent and the double is notable for having lee boards that can be folded up. A novelty but also very important for ocean sailing. Forward and to starboard is a very generous ensuite head with room for a separate shower stall. Up forward is a bunk room to starboard, a second heads – also with separate shower stall - to port – and a modest single berth beyond that. There are a number of layout permutations up here but it’s better to refer to the website and some diagrams to be honest.

The final coup de grace down here is the engine room. This is a fully walk in affair and you can walk around it. There is superlative access to the engine, prop shaft – everything. Most importantly, there is access to the fuel filters and each tank features Racor fuel filters and fuel transferred from either of the main tanks has to go through a fuel polishing system before it’s transferred to the day tank. This drastically reduces the risk of the dreaded diesel bug. There is ample room for the generator and watermaker which come as standard.

Under sail

All the remained was to go sailing and, given I was testing the boat in the Sea on Marmara in August

ABOVE The fixed bimini is incredibly solid and several cuts above usual set up BELOW LEFT The galley is well set up for cooking on an ocean crossing BELOW RIGHT The walk in engine room provides superb access to all systems, in this case the fuel filtering system

boisterous conditions were bound to be at a premium. In a way this was a blessing as it’s fairly clear that this is a boat designed to excel in whole sail, booming trade winds. The big question was, therefore, how would she perform in fickle conditions when her 18,000kg displacement might well hamstring her. In the end we had 7kn or wind in the morning and a maximum of 12 in the afternoon. This was genoa weather and the boat performed astonishingly well. That powerful rig is a real boon and, despite the fact the Code 0 was still at the sailmakers, the big fore triangle and ample mainsail meant that we bowled along and 6kn plus. The boat is designed to put the first reef in at 15kn so that gives you a measure of the power of the rig. Unfortunately the blade jib was not required but the concept behind this as opposed to a cutter set up is that with a Solent rig you have a sail that sets perfectly for upwind work and also has the power to drive you upwind. The problem with a cutter rig is that beautifully shaped headsail is often too small to give you adequate power. A skeg hung rudder is always going to be heavier than the finger light touch of a balanced rudder and this was, of course, the case with the Kraken 50. Yet in the modest conditions it had a good amount of feel and was very light under power. It would be good to test the boat in a heavier blow, but this was definitely not possible. The boat was very nicely balanced and poised and also had a very pleasant motion. Under power the boat was well behaved. All in all, I ended the day looking for the distant horizon and wishing I was off on a longer adventure.

Boat test ~ Excess 15

Boat Test ~ Kraken 50

ALTERNATIVE BOATS

SAM’S VERDICT Kraken’s quest to produce the ultimate blue water yacht has led to a no compromise approach that serves them well. A few years of experience under their belt and a switch to production in Turkey has also unquestionably improved the product. The quality is exceptional but so is the clever attention to detail. The boat was enjoyable to sail and performed strongly in fickle conditions and left me just wishing that I could have sailed in the 20-30kn conditions that, I suspect, this boat would revel in. From small details such as the set up of the kitchen sink and bin layout, through to fundamentals such as access to the engine and the keel and rudder set up, this is a boat that just demands the attention of any sailor

looking to make ocean passages. I came away very impressed with the product. The big question is price: this is a boat that is extremely well specified yet also very competitively priced - if any boat priced in the £700,000 to £1m price bracket should ever be called that. The sail away price boasts generator, air con, bow thruster, water maker, fuel polishing system, Solent rig, electric winches - essentially everything you need to set off for blue water - as standard. Low production costs in Turkey is obviously part of the driving force, but can that sort of price tag be retained?

HALLBERG RASSY 50 For many, the ultimate in blue water cruising yachts the 50 is brand new and surprisingly sporty, featuring twin rudders and relatively broad aft sections. Quality remains superb. hallberg-rassy.com

PERFORMANCE: ★★★ ★★ BLUE WATER ABILITY: ★★★ ★★

AMEL 50

COMFORT: ★★★ ★★

THE SPEC Length Overall 15.24m 50’ Waterline Length 13.68m 44’8” Beam Overall 4.5m 14’7”

Amel built its name on the iconic Super Maramu ketch. The 50 was a bit of a game changer for the company but retains the blue water credentials while switching away from ketch rig and also moving to twin rudders. amel.fr

Beam Waterline 3.8m 12’5” Draft 2.3m 7’5” Displacement 18,250kg 40,234lbs Ballast Weight 6,500kg 14,330lbs Ballast Ratio 35.60% Sail Area 134.2sq/m 1444 sq/ft Engine Power 80hp Fuel Tank 850L 187 gal Fresh Water Tanks 670L 147 gal Price: €979,000 ‘Full sail away’ specification Contact: krakenyachts.com

RUSTLER 42 Somewhat smaller, but probably closest to the Kraken in terms of hull shape and general ethos. Rustler also sticks to the ethos of sea kindly lines and a skeg hung rudder plus good levels of bespoke work. rustleryachts.com

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Cruising – Atlantic Crossing

All’s well that ends swell Leo Kenny looks back on an eventful Atlantic crossing from Las Palmas to Barbados and beyond

42 58

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER JUNE 2021 2021

knew I was cutting it fine when I signed up for the delivery trip of a Lagoon 45 from the Grande Canarias to the Caribbean; I was hoping to make the 2500 Nm journey starting in mid-November and be back in Stockholm for Xmas. It seemed feasible. Although the initial leg would need to be southwest towards Cape Verde, the usually reliable November east Trade Wind should provide a comfortable following wind and sea for the rest of the crossing and get me to Barbados in time to catch a flight home for Xmas. The hurricane season had ended; what could go wrong? Albeit we were in the times of COVID, this was not like Love in the Time of Cholera and I trusted the skipper’s boat preparation. It was up to me to get a PCR test for COVID before we departed Las Palmas. But what use was a test if the standard requirement on landing is that it should not be more than 72 hours old? That is hard to satisfy when you are four weeks at sea. This would prove to be problematic!

Haiku for my family

Under a waxing moon on a gentle sea on the first night out, COVID 19 could not have been further from my thoughts. There were many more baffling things about crossing the great expanse of the Atlantic which were troubling me. The paramount question was why was I doing this? I felt compelled to share my musings with my wife and kids – but how, given the 20-character limit of the IsatPhone 2? Then I had a brilliant idea! Haiku! DRONE PICS: PER WAHLBERG

“Everything becomes a Zen ritual out here; the disposal of loo paper for example,” I texted, using both thumbs. That didn’t sound very Haikuish! Having found it impossible to write a haiku in 20 characters – especially about such personal hygiene - I decided to concentrate on essential thoughts. They were easier to text - especially by the time we were nearing the Caribbean and the most existential questions were already answered. Staring at the sea: why does it feel so good that there are no other ships; so many people on the globe and yet only us and the flying fish visible here? Why do I feel more for the flying fish dead on the deck, than I did for the tuna and Mahi Mahi when I killed them on the same deck? Why are the dolphins bigger and less friendly mid Atlantic than the ones closer to Barbados and Grand Canaria where they came and scratched their backs on the hull and turned sideways to flash you a knowing smile? How long did it take for the Sargasso weed from the Gulf Stream to reach us mid-Atlantic and stop us fishing? Why did I not hesitate to put the flying fish that landed in my cabin, on the hook? How did I know it would catch the biggest Mahi Mahi of the voyage?

A fair following wind

Sitting up on the high bridge of the Lagoon 45 was comfortable even in the 35 knot winds we had for several days and nights. Thankfully they were following winds with a following swell – kind enough, but at Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Cruising – Atlantic Crossing

times swells reaching 5-6 meters. The cat loved it and glided down the angry faces of waves as if to say, “What more have you got for me Atlantic?” The auto pilot complained a lot of course; it was right behind my head in my aft cabin, and we often exchanged moans with each other at night. We had a spinnaker up for the first week, hardly touching it day or night, (mainly because the sock is broken at the top and it was too hard to get down). When the wind dropped and it started misbehaving, we wrestled and cajoled it down. The fishing was superb for two weeks out of Las Palmas; some days we pulled in two and (once) three Mahi Mahi over 3 Kg, and the odd Blue-fin tuna. When the freezer was chokka block, we stopped fishing, but not before the Sargasso weed told us to stop. Fish was our staple - well, fish and the fresh bread Tomaz and I took turns to make each day. (Something about the smell of fresh bread; especially in the middle of the Atlantic. The yeasty smell is familiar and not at odds with ocean breezes.) The carpaccio and ceviche were

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

devoured by hungry crew including the beautiful kids with us – Tomas and Dasa’s permanent crew: little Marc, two years old, who has more miles at sea than I; and his sisters, Luna 11 and Eva, nine, more than any sailors I know. When I first met them in Las Palmas, Marc proudly showed me how he can handle the dinghy outboard - much to the chagrin of Luna and Eva who wanted to (and can) do the same, in between swimming like mermaids and doing their home schooling with Dasa on a rolling deck. Marc doesn’t have toys; he plays with toolboxes. His favorite item is a battery powered drill which he delights in holding to your backside and turning on. The kids were such a bonus on this crossing. They are old hands having done it several times before. This was a delivery trip from Greece to the Caribbean where Tomas and Dasa work their boat as Kiteboard Cruises in the European winter and then return to the Aegean to do the same in the Mediterranean summer.

Moments of reflection But sitting on the bridge during

ABOVE (L-R) A fishing frenzy mid-Atlantic BELOW (L_R) Enjoying the cool of the evening as we approach the Caribbean

watches in the middle of the night, and especially when the kind old moon was trying to make you welcome, in between moments when you think that you belong in the middle of the Atlantic, the questions keep coming: why was it not disconcerting not to see another boat for two and a half weeks? Why did that French boat, K Helios, (hope he reads this magazine), cross 200 meters in front of us in the middle of the Atlantic when we had not seen another boat for over two weeks? We had been following him on AIS for a couple of days. It was one night before the full moon after he gave me his course and speed on VHF - us both flying spinnakers in the middle of the night. Was he lonely too? Did he get flying fish in his cabin too? What was he eating for dinner? Was he sweating like me? How did the hot nights creep up on us without us noticing? Is the ghost of the Mahi Mahis still with us? Is Pelle, our Swedish photographer’s drone that he crashed into my arm and cut me through my long sleeve T shirt with

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting AUGUST 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

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Cruising – Atlantic Crossing

its sharp rotors, still trying to transmit home from 5000 meters deep where it ended up after my valiant capture grab failed, or has the Gulf Stream taken it, clutching its remains in its perpetual currents?” And the most perplexing question of all: “Why is it so important that you love me in these times of COVID?” It was a bit intimidating having such limited connection with the outside world mid Atlantic. We used the Iridium for weather updates and my Satphone 2 for family texting. And yet, all these questions were probably best answered in haiku or Satphone text anyway. All is futile in comparison with this Atlantic expanse with its unpredictable moods witnessed under a nearly a month of the moon phases. The moon, the moon! Some nights it screamed at me, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

First land for weeks

Seeing Barbados, first land for three and a half weeks, was not as thrilling as I thought. There was no smell of the land because the trade wind was

still behind us. The shores crept up on us as friendly dolphins escorted us along the coast. The beaches were deserted and the harbor hot and empty. Covid landing quarantine was prohibitive so we only stayed half an hour to talk to immigration. They didn’t look like they played cricket; or maybe they didn’t like Australians! Now here in Grenada quarantine for five days, the warm Caribbean wind lulling me to sleep with a bottle of fine Barbados rum at my side, everything seems less complex. The first Covid test and quarantine was what it was. I will not elaborate on that frustrating time when Dr Charles, the Chief Medical Officer, told us on the first day that, since we did not have a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours from the Canaries, he was ordering the Coast Guard to escort us out of their waters. We quarantined off a beautiful beach and ordered pizzas and rum each day until they agreed to test us. It was fully eight days before Dr Charles radioed to say they had teo results and that with the weeks at sea it was safe to assume we were all negative. He allowed those of us flying out, to

ABOVE (left) a perfect spot to view the sunset on the sponson; (right) dolphins get a massage BELOW (left) Tara oversees hamburger making by Leo; (right) somewhere over the rainbow

go ashore. I booked the only remaining flight before Xmas to Stockholm via Barbados and Frankfurt with the knowledge that I would not have a written coy of my PCR because that was only available by personal presentation at the hospital on a weekday. This was Sunday and my flight was 06:00 the next day. Sitting at the airport, I wrote in my logbook: “Now, 6000 km, three and a half weeks from Gran Canaria, two tuna and about 25 Mahi Mahi and five toilet rolls later, I am looking forward to Xmas with my wife and kids and Jack my dog. I am sad my little girl Emma can’t come home from Boston. I want to ask them all more questions, not about the Atlantic, but about Trump and Covid and Rudi Giuliani’s chances of being forgiven for being in the Borat movie. The gentle easterly trade wind has blown us here. The 30-40 knot tail wind we had for a couple of nights and days was not scary - not like the 35-knot head wind we had from Rome to Sardinia in 2016 when we were all nearly lost at sea because I

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Cruising – Atlantic Crossing

read the weather wrong. We did not fly our gennaker that night in the Mediterranean. And yet we had our spinnaker up often this Atlantic crossing. I liked the Lagoon 44 although it does not sail up wind like my beautiful blue Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 45-foot Deck Saloon, Pura Vida. On this boat, Boogie Woogie, the rum stayed put on the chart table even in 35-40 knots; until we drank it – but only one shot after a watch!).

Aftermath

Pelle is off to Gothenburg to his darling family. He captured wonderful images being the professional photographer he is and had already demonstrated in his books on our voyages with Pura Vida 2016-2018. With his permission, the drone photos appear in this article. On demand you can get your own private video of the drone crashing into my arm, then into the 5000 meters deep mid Atlantic where it rests in peace and pieces. Luna captured that on iPhone, including the expletive deletives. Pelle still got the drone footage though – transmitted to the control panel before it went over the side. He didn’t cry much. What a man! And his

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

porridge each morning was second to none, (other than the ceviche and tuna carpaccio we ate each day). The crew was fine. Tomaz, Dasha, Rita and Pelle – and especially the kids, took all the kind Atlantic had to offer with glee. In 30 knot winds, the three kids and I put on a little birthday cabaret for Dasa. We rehearsed for days to present the Unicorn song – complete with Little Fish (Tara), and her toilet roll horn, and Marc waving his arms in unison with whatever moved. I take my hat off to these people taking their four small children over the Atlantic. I learned a lot from the unflappable Tomaz; strong as a bull and a competent sailor, navigator and technician who knew his boat inside out; and a gentle loving family man. And Dasha; breast feeding in between managing the business when Iridium connection permitted. When I left them in Granada, they were waiting on their Covid results still quarantined on the boat. Little Marc waved me goodbye with a confused look. The kids are used to making friends then saying goodbye but Dasha tells me sometimes they find it hard. I found it hard. What I didn’t write in my logbook, was what I could not have known in

ABOVE (left) The last shot from Pelle’s drone before it crashed; (right) Tara the unicorn BELOW Mum and Dad Dasha and Tomaz with permanent crew: Luna, Tara, Eva and Marc

Grenada that morning. If I thought the COVID intrigues were over I was wrong! Congratulating myself that I was able to board the 10-seater Winward Islands codeshare charter with Lufthansa from Grenada to Barbados without a COVID paper, I was to be the only passenger and decided not to strap myself in so that I could take photos of the ocean I had just crossed. This was nearly my undoing. Fifteen minutes out of Barbados, I got up to use the toilet when the twin turbo prop aircraft hit an air pocket and dived for what felt like was half a minute. I hit the roof and ended up sprawled across the seat behind me, shattering the plastic arm rest which gouged my middle and lower back with wounds that bled like the Fish River Canyon – all over my only clean white shirt I had saved for coming home. The aircrew were marvelously empathetic with a good sense of humor. The Captain remarked, “You survived the Atlantic to fall at the last hurdle!” I was met by an ambulance and EMT team who cleaned and dressed my wounds, but not before an officious Health and Immigration woman in a white shirt much cleaner than mine, told me my COVID receipt from Grenada was not proof of a negative result and that I needed to have a new PCR and be quarantined. “What? There goes my Xmas pudding,” I thought. My protests were not heard and my Satphone calls to Dr Charles unanswered. What she had neglected to explain that I would still make my Lufthansa connection after a PCR test and isolation from other passengers. Didn’t make any sense! I made my Lufthansa flight but never got my PCR result. Ahh, all’s well that ends swell. This was not kids’ stuff albeit we had four beautiful children on this crossing.

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Ocean Village Marina

cean Village is one of the iconic marinas of the yachting scene; events departing from the marina over the years such as the Whitbread Round the World Race back in the day put this marina firmly on the map and gave it a glitzy air completely in sync with the cosmpolitan vibe of Southampton itself.

OCTOBER 2021 sailingtoday.co.uk

50° 53’ 42.00” N -1° 23’ 24.00” W

In fact, this is a marina that has a history intertwined with the growth of Southampton as a port itself. The marina was originally part of an ambitious expansion of the docks area of Southampton following the arrival of the railway lines in the city. The new docks were opened in 1842 and were bigger and deeper than the existing facilities at nearby town quay. They were generally used by passenger vessels right up until the

1980s when ferry operators began to favour Portsmouth as it was closer to the eastern exit of the Solent. With the ferries gone, the decision was taken to repurpose the docks as a marina and work began on building what we now know as Ocean Village in 1986 and the marina was opened by Z list celebrity Danny La Rue in 1987. The result has been a marina that has withstood the test of time: The marina is well

protected while also allowing great access to the Solent and its excellent surrounding waters. It hardly needs to be stated how famed these waters are, and not without reason. Nearby Oxford street lays claim to many of the best restaurants in the city and is always worth a visit, although the marina itself has a great mix of restaurants onsite including fine dining at the five star hotel. There is also a cinema on site.

A short walk from the marina could see you in the centre of Southampton with theatres, museums and many other delights, all within an easy 10-15 minute walk.

FACTFILE

OCEAN VILLAGE MARINA 326 berths Max LOA: 90m Fuel: (petrol, diesel) available at nearby Hythe Marina Village and Port Hamble Marina Boat lifting and storage ashore: Available at nearby Shamrock Quay, Hythe Marina Village and Hamble Point Laundry facilities Yacht brokerage Restaurants: The Jetty, HarBAR on 6th, Maritimo Lounge, Ocean Grill, Bacaro, Blue Jasmine, Banana Wharf, Pitcher & Piano 776 space multi-storey Ocean Car Park Shops: Tesco Express and Co-op convenience stores Electric Vehicle Charging MDL WiFi

Berthing costs: Daily: Up to 12.5m: £4.25 per metre 12.6m – 18m: £5.45 per metre 18.1m – 24m: £6.05 per metre 24.1m - 35m: £6.35 per metre 35.1m +: .£6.70 per metre Short stay: Up to 12m: £15.00 (up to 4 hours) 12.1m - 18m: £30.00 (up to 4 hours) 18.1m +:£50.00 (up to 4 hours) Annual: Get a quote at www. mdlmarinas.co.uk/quote Contact: Ocean Village Marina 1 Channel Way, Southampton, Hampshire SO14 3QF T: 02380 229385 W: oceanvillagemarina.co.uk E: oceanvillage@mdlmarinas.co.uk Rewards scheme: Berth holders receive extra benefits with MDL’s Berthing Plus Otium loyalty programme. To find out more, go to mdlrewards.co.uk

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Ocean Village Marina

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PASSAGE PLANNING To the novice sailor a glance at charts for both the central Solent and Southampton Water can seem a bit challenging. After all, this stretch of water has a reputation as one of the busiest in the UK. Yet this is also a well sheltered and extremely well buoyed and lit cruising ground and is popular with sailors with good reason. Obviously the significant issue with the Solent and Southampton water is the number of commercial and pleasure craft all vying for supremacy in such a small patch of water. The commercial shipping is one of the reasons so many sailing schools chose this as their Yachtmaster examinations base, working on the principal that if one can navigate in the Solent, one can navigate anywhere. However,

as with any busy stretch of water all that is reasonably required is a good look out and early evasive action. The basic rule of thumb is that you need to keep your wits about you. Key to this is keeping a weather eye for the king of the fast craft, the Red Jet ferry, which regularly crosses from Southampton to Cowes at 25 knots. Of significant note in the Solent and in Southampton Water are the tides. These come in two different flavours. During springs there is a double tide, with separate high waters roughly two hours apart. During neaps this double high is instead replaced by a single long stand. So far as grounding risks go, there are really only two main dangers. The first, in the central Solent is the well-known (and

ABOVE The entrance to the marina is straightforward. Note the helpful sign guiding you in BELOW The big thing to look out for in Southampton Water is commercial traffic

documented) Bramble Bank. The bank is marked on its easternmost point by the Bramble Buoy, and its westernmost point by West Knoll. It fully dries at the bottom of spring tides and should be avoided at all states of the tide to be safe. Other than Bramble Bank the only other piece of land likely to cause any sort of problem is the Western shelf, which sticks out from the eastern corner of the River Itchen. Here, the deep-water channel up the river is well marked with port and starboard hand leading posts. There is a large ‘precautionary area’ which stretches from west of Cowes out past the mouth of the river and up into Southampton Water. This zone is often used for turning large commercial vessels, so keep an eye out for any tugboats floating around. Entry to Ocean Village Marina itself is simple. Turn to starboard as you approach the river Itchen and follow the river towards the large Itchen Bridge. Due to the angle of approach, the marina entrance is largely hidden for the first few yards up this river. However, a sign is affixed to the harbour wall on the corner to guide you in. Even without the sign, the wide, deep entrance is easily spotted as you get closer. To port as you enter are the visitor berths for larger yachts and in front of you at the base of the hotel on the pontoons is the floating dock office, which is manned 24 hours a day, every day. When in sight of the entrance, contact the dock office on VHF CH80 and they will explain the location of your berth.

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Ocean Village Marina

CRUISING GROUNDS Ocean Village offers great access to the Solent, south coast, and also the Channel Islands The Solent being such a popular cruising spot means there are endless places to sail to and moor, many of which have great facilities and shoreside attractions. Finding somewhere that is not too busy can be something of a challenge, however. Heading up either the rivers Test or Itchen is not to be particularly recommended on leaving a berth in Southampton as there is little of interest beyond. Those looking for an enjoyable upriver sail will fare much better heading out of Southampton Water, turning to

OCTOBER 2021 sailingtoday.co.uk

starboard, heading a couple of miles along the coast and then heading up the Beaulieu River which offers some beautiful river sailing and views. Alternatively, with three more stunning MDL Marinas, the river Hamble is a great option for a spot of pub lunch. Further along to the west and across the Solent is the thriving boating community of Lymington which is always worth a visit. After that, you can always head across to the Isle of Wight which also offers plenty to see and enjoy, including the iconic port of Cowes,

ABOVE Channel Island ports such as Gorey in Jersey are readliy accessible BELOW Chichester Harbour is close by and very picturesque while Portsmouth (inset) is very different but also has its own attractions

whose very name is steeped in yachting history. Beyond that, the sleepy ports of Yarmouth and Bembridge are great destinations. Further afield Portsmouth lies relatively nearby to the East and Poole harbour to the west, a little further. From these two destinations the entire south is your oyster with day hops along the coast just as possible as long coastal passages. Chichester Harbour is an obvious attraction, while for those planning going further afield, Jersey and the Channel Islands are logical destinations.

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Fastnet Race

Rock n’ roll Fastnet veteran Rupert Holmes looks back at an action packed edition of this bucket list event

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Fastnet Race

his year’s Rolex Fastnet Race was different to usual in many respects. As well as the longer course, with the finish in Cherbourg, it has been a long time since the race has tested competitors as severely as the first 24 hours of this year’s event. A solid 25 knots, with stronger gusts, greeted competitors at the start and more was to come, with many reporting gusts in the mid 30s in the Needles Channel and through the first night at sea. At the start there was a predictably wide mix of sail choice, with the optimistic only having one reef, but others sporting storm jibs or trysails. A 300 metre bias at the southern end of the start line meant there was plenty of action here, especially as the strongest favourable stream was relatively close to the Isle of Wight shore. Inevitably there were some collisions, including at least one involving a dismasting, that sadly ended the race early for a few.

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Others, however, opted to stay clear of the melée. The immaculately restored 74ft Van de Stadt ketch Stormvogel made a perfectly timed start at the pin end of the line, trading bias and better tide for clean air and many fewer tacks. It was a smart move and she went on to take a very impressive seventh place overall on corrected time. Dmitry Rybolovlev’s massive new ClubSwan 125 Skorpios took a punchier approach. Although she hung well back from the line at the gun, she started two-thirds of the way down towards the southern end, needing to find space for an early tack onto port to clear the shore. The Needles Channel provided photographers with rich pickings as deep-reefed yachts jumped off steep breaking waves. It’s no surprise that some, including Richard Palmer and Jeremy Waitt racing the JPK1010 Jangada, opted for the flatter water of the North Channel. In their case the prime motivation was to avoid the

ABOVE Blustery conditions at the start gave photographers a treat BELOW LEFT The beautifully restored ketch Stormvogel making a strong start... BELOW RIGHT ...then getting battered in the Needles Channel

risk of damage ahead of October’s Rolex Middle Sea Race in Malta, which marks the first event of RORC’s 2022 season. With such a diverse fleet, ranging from Contessa 32s to Skorpios, and several 30-plus metre Ultime trimarans, competitors were soon well spread out across almost the full width of the English Channel. It was no surprise to see boats making a long starboard tack out from the Needles. However, eyebrows were raised when a number of IMOCA 60s, led by Charlie Dalin’s Apivia, along with some of the giant multihulls, didn’t tack back onto port. Instead they continued south, though the Alderney Race, then past Guernsey and Jersey, before tacking nine hours after the start and passing little more than 10 miles off the Brittany coast. Unfortunately, Vendee Globe winner Yannick Bestaven’s Maitre Coq lV wasn’t with them, having been holed in a pre-start collision with a spectator boat. Just ten and a half hours after the start the leading 105ft Ultime trimaran, Maxi Edmund de Rothschild, was at Land’s End. Meanwhile Skorpios and David George’s Rambler 88 were off Start Point battling it out at the head of the monohull fleet. A freer wind angle

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Fastnet Race

enabled the IMOCAs that went south to gain a substantial benefit from their foils. When they converged at Land’s End, at dawn on day two, Apivia was only four miles behind the giant Swan. Also doing well at this stage were the Volvo 70 I Love Poland, and three smaller IRC 0 boats – Richard Matthews’ new Carkeek CF52 Oystercatcher XXXV, David Collins’ Botin IRC 52 Tala and Jens Kellinghusen’s Ker 56 Varuna. However, the bulk of the IRC fleet was still battling between Portland Bill and Start Point, after a tough night in which the slower Class 3 and 4 boats at times made painfully slow progress against the tide, still in the strong winds. Even among the larger IRC yachts, James Gair, skipper of the Carrol Marine 60 Venomous, reported peak apparent wind of 55 knots around midnight on the first night. Unsurprisingly the retirements kept coming, with that first night at sea also punctuated by a number of Pan Pan and Mayday calls. A surprising number of mainsails were early casualties, including one well known 45-footer returning only

a short time after the start with damage to the leech near one of the reef points. As the race progressed more yet more would succumb. At the 48-hour mark some 80 boats had retired and the total crept up to 91. Among them were some top boats, including 2017 overall winner, Didier Gaudoux’s JND39 Lann Ael 2, the Volvo 70 Telefonica Black, and Giovanni Soldini’s much travelled 70ft foiling trimaran Maserati, which broke the drum of a new primary winch. The final tally included at least four dismastings, plus a further half dozen boats with rigging damage and several with electrical problems. Maxi Edmund de Rothschild rounded the Rock at breakfast time on day two, 20 hours 47 minutes after the start. She then put in an astonishing performance, completing the 335 mile return leg in only 12 hours, reaching speeds of 40 knots. She took line honours more than nine hours ahead of the next 105ft Ultime, Yves Le Blevec’s Actual. Skorpios and Rambler split at Land’s End, with the latter taking the more inshore route to the east of the Longships Traffic Separation Scheme.

ABOVE The J/109 Arethusa enjoys a lively ride BELOW LEFT Close quarters racing in the Solent BELOW RIGHT The maxi trimaran Edmund de Rothschild put in a remarkable performance on her way to line honours

As Maxi Edmund de Rothschild was closing the finish line, the 125ft Swan rounded the Fastnet with a three hour advantage on Rambler. After rounding the rock the smaller boat again split paths with Skorpios, heading east and leaving the Fastnet TSS to starboard. Given the whole TSS, not just the lighthouse, is a mark of the course it was a mistake that resulted in her ultimate retirement. It’s a stark reminder of how easy it is to get one of the many fundamentals wrong in the heat of the moment. A dozen other boats picked up 10 per cent time penalties for entering the excluded areas at Traffic Separation Schemes. Apivia continued her break away from the rest of the 13-strong IMOCA fleet, rounding the Fastnet just 50 minutes after Skorpios and a whopping five hours ahead of the next IMOCA, Sebastien Simon and Yann Elies’ Arkea Paprec. Dalin went on to lead the 13 IMOCA 60s home, in two days 17 hours, with an advantage of more than six hours. However the rest of fleet enjoyed incredibly close competition throughout the race. Jeremie Beyou / Christopher Pratt’s Charal and Simon Fisher / Justine Mettraux’s 11th Hour Racing, crossed the line only 28 seconds apart, followed by the next three boats within 13 minutes. A key element of any Fastnet Race is the sheer number of transitions that have to be successfully negotiated. A decision to route east of the traffic separation scheme at Land’s End, splitting from the rest of IRC Class 2, was a big break for Tom Kneen’s JPK 1180. This put her just ahead of a high pressure zone that

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Fastnet Race

slowed the chasing pack a few miles behind. “It was a critical moment where we really pushed hard,” says Kneen, “and it was probably the difference between finishing at 10 o’clock in the morning on Thursday or finishing the same time the following day.” As a result Sunrise was third on corrected time at the Rock, behind only I Love Poland and Rob Bottomley’s Mat 12 Sailplane. Many of the smaller boats rounded the rock just ahead of a cold front that left a patch of very light winds in its wake. A further transition as the bulk of the fleet rounding the Scilly islands saw an eastern group of boats, who left the west Scilly TSS to starboard, including Jangada, Nick Martin’s Sun Fast 3600 Diablo, and Nigel Colley’s Sun Fast 3300 Fastrak Xll, virtually becalmed for almost five hours overnight, while competitors only three miles to the south sailed by in a steady breeze. As a result many of the smaller and older boats in IRC 4 finished at the top of the class rankings, including Alain Guelennoc’s 20-year-old X-332, which ultimately won the class. A final roll of the dice lay in the last 40 miles to the finish. Some of the faster multihulls sailed a longer distance, routing to the north of the Casquets TSS, as did a handful of IRC boats keen to avoid the lottery of whether or not they would be slowed by a mammoth adverse tidal stream off Alderney and Cap de la

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Hague. Many of course were lucky with their timing, sailing south of Alderney and benefitting from a helpful lift in the Alderney race. On the other hand, others encountered an unfavourable stream here. Among them was Stuart Greenfield’s newly restored and updated 54-year-old

ABOVE A stirring sight on the Solent just after the start

Double handed fleet This element of offshore racing continues to grow, with this year seeing record entries, ranging from 31-48ft and including many recent competitive boats raced by top-notch teams. First on corrected time was Alexis Loison and Guillaume Pirouelle’s JPK 1030 Léon, representing Loison’s fourth double handed win in the last five editions of the race, including overall victory in 2013 when racing with his father Pascal. Henry Bomby, racing with double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson on the Sun Fast 3300 Swell was second, ahead of Olivier Burgaud and Sylvain Pontu’s JPK 1080 Aileau. Sam White and Sam North, a Corinthian team racing White’s father’s Sun Fast 3200 Mzungu, showed absolutely dogged determination throughout the highs and lows of the race to finish fourth double-handed on corrected time, first double handed and seventh overall in Class 4 and 26th overall.

S&S34 Morning After – he lost an agonising 24 places while kedged for four hours within six miles of the finish. This edition of the race strongly favoured the Class 1 boats in the overall IRC leaderboard – they took six of the top seven places. However, the overall winner was a superbly sailed Class 2 yacht –- Tom Keen’s JPK 1180 Sunrise, whose mostly young team completed an impressively consistent race. “It doesn’t really matter what level in the fleet you’re at,” says Kneen, who only started racing offshore seven years ago. “As long as you have a good crew, and the right support, then you can win your class. And if you can win the class you can win overall, although that depends on things like tidal gates and wind conditions – things that are much more in the hands of the gods. “I think all of us in offshore sailing ask ourselves why we commit to this ridiculous sport where you get mostly cold and wet, and 90 per cent of the time you wish you weren’t there,” he added. “But then you get glimmers of complete elation, adrenaline and an experience that is just unmatchable. There’s no greater sense of achievement. When you get everything in the right place, with the right people, in the right conditions. We had four, five or six hours of that between the Scillies and the Lizard, when we had 25 knots of breeze and the boat – our so called caravan – was flying along at 20 plus knots.”

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Buyer’s Guide: Propellers

Propellerheads Nobody goes sailing for the motoring but the reality is that both engine and propeller are vital. Sam Fortescue explores which prop works best for you

ixed props are still the most efficient when you’re under power alone, but as sailors, we’re more interested in using wind power. With the sails up in a good breeze, a fixed prop can generate 30-40kg of drag on a 40-footer – costing you up to a knot in boat speed. But a folding or feathering prop can eliminate 95 per cent of that unwanted friction. If you are repowering your boat, it is a golden opportunity to upgrade a propeller that may well need to be changed in any case. But it’s worthwhile on its own merits. Club racing without a folding prop is no fun at all, while the prospect of 10 per cent faster passage times has obvious appeal to cruisers.

What you want in a prop

A good propeller must always be designed to suit your boat’s engine and gearbox, otherwise it cannot

perform efficiently. Too small and the prop won’t get the boat up to hull speed or perform in heavier conditions (when you might need it most); too large and it can stop the engine from reaching optimum power. “The main misunderstandings are the big differences between engines, even when their power ratings may be similar,” explains Glen Print, MD of Sillette. “Yes, I say to the boat owner, but your new engine rpm is 3200 and your old engine was 3800 and therefore the propeller requirement is vastly different. Same applies to different gearbox reduction ratios.” A classic mistake is to install a more powerful engine, then discover that the larger prop needed to transmit that power to the water won’t fit under the boat. “When repowering, the science must be fully understood,” Print adds. “It’s always best to start with the propeller and what limitations the boat has to swing the propeller that

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

matches the new power unit.”

How many blades?

Racers with slippery hulls will often prefer a two-blade prop, because it offers minimum resistance and the least vibration. But the more powerful the engine and the slower the hull, the more blades you’ll want. It’s similar to car tyres, where you need enough surface area to transmit the power without slipping. There’s also a relationship between propeller diameter and blade number. In principle, the most efficient set-up would be a really big two-blader, but since boats generally have limited clearance between the end of the prop shaft and the hull, the solution is three or four smaller blades. Pitch is the other key characteristic, and refers to the angle of attack of the blades. Measured in inches, it refers to the forward distance the propeller

would travel in one complete revolution if it gripped the water perfectly. You can over-pitch a propeller to compensate for a restricted diameter, but it quickly becomes inefficient and wearing on the engine. Excessive pitch can also exaggerate prop walk astern.

Feathering vs folding

Racers will almost always prefer a folding propeller, whose blades shut like a clamshell. That’s because they have the lowest drag of all – less than a kilogram according to some tests. This is particularly the case when they are tucked behind the leg of a saildrive. On the other hand, they can be noisier when deployed, opening with a loud clunk as the blades spin out and hit their stops. They also tend to be less efficient in reverse – in part because they are trying to close themselves, and partly because they present the trailing edge. Several brands have geared the blades so they open in unison, and installed rubber or plastic ‘bumpers’ to reduce the noise. The folding Gori even allows its blades to swivel for greater efficiency aft. Feathering propellers generally appeal more to cruisers, because they offer much better performance astern (thanks to swivelling blades) and in close quarters, albeit for marginally greater drag. Feathering units usually feature flatter blades, which are less efficient drivers of the boat than the curved blades of a fixed or folding propeller. Most feathering propellers can be used in hybrid systems that generate power from the prop while sailing, and because of its unique design, the folding Gori can too. Every propeller mentioned here is available in shaft or saildrive variants, but expect to pay a little more for the saildrive version. Finally, when it comes to pricing, bear in mind that buying direct from European manufacturers may now be tax free, but incurs import VAT of 20 per cent and handling fees.

Gori

There has been little change recently in the design of the award-winning Gori – since 1994 it has offered a unique folding action that claims to have the thrust of a fixed prop. Engineered in Denmark from nickel aluminium

bronze, the blades are geared so that they open in concert. They pivot through 180 degrees to give the same pitch in forward and reverse, which means optimum speeds in both directions. Goris also have an ‘overdrive’ function for motorsailing which deepens the pitch of the prop to give the same power from lower engine rpm, like the fifth gear of a car. “Still without any doubt the most efficient sailboat propeller!” according to senior VP of sales Lars Østergaard. With the lowest drag of any folding prop, according to some German tests, Gori’s special two-bladed race variant is used by most of the Imoca 60s, Melges 37, ClubSwan 50, as well as many of the big racing trimarans, including François Gabart’s new ultim 101. Blades: 2, 3 or 4 Diameter: 11.5in to 30in Engines: 10hp to 300hp Gori-propeller.com

Autoprop

Bruntons has used lockdown to start work on a new range of controllable pitch propellers. But its existing feathering propeller already uses smart engineering to allow the pitch of each blade to change according to the need. So,

TOP Gori's three blade folding propeller ABOVE Bruntons Autoprop BELOW Bruntons Varifold BOTTOM A featherstream fitted to a Rustler 36

when you are motorsailing, they pitch up to account for the driving force of the sails, reducing fuel consumption. This feature should also reduce prop walk astern. With the prop shaft locked in sail mode, the blades balance in between, presenting a fine profile to the water. Bruntons also manufacturers the Eco*star specially for hybrid or electrically powered boats. Based closely on the Autoprop, it has all the same features, but slightly different blade geometry that is optimised for spinning backwards in sail mode and generating electricity to recharge the batteries. This has seen it specced for Saildrone’s autonomous sailing craft. All are manufactured in Essex. Blades: 2 or 3 Diameter: 13in-35in Engines: up to 350hp bruntonspropellers.com

Varifold

Also manufactured by Bruntons in Essex using high quality nickel aluminium bronze, the Varifold is designed to appeal to racers and fast cruisers. As a folder, it offers less resistance in sail mode than its Autoprop sister. The company claims a unique design for the blades of the prop that cuts noise and vibration. A helical pitch, including reduced pitch towards the blades’ tips, reduces pressure and noisy pulses against the yacht’s hull. Blades: 2, 3 or 4 Diameter: 12in to 45in Engines: up to 1000hp Bruntonspropellers.com

Featherstream

This UK-built propeller is manufactured and designed by Darglow, near Poole, using aluminium bronze for the hub and stainless for the blades. Recent improvements include a new lightweight hub suitable for small boats with saildrives. “It is approximately £4-500 less expensive than the large hub version which we used to supply,” says head engineer Chris Hares. The pitch on a Featherstream is determined by the pitch cassette Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Buyer’s Buyer’sGuide: Guide:Safety Propellers Gear

installed with it. This can’t be altered when the boat is in the water, but it is always possible to send off for a differently pitched cassette from Darglow and install it via a 10-minute operation when the boat is hauled. If you send the old cassette back, this is cost-free. The blades are completely flat for frictionless sailing, and rotate through 180 degrees for optimum power ahead and astern. All models are now compatible with the Ambassador rope stripper, and up to 50mm shaft diameter can be accommodated. Blades: 3, 4 or 5 Diameter: 12-24in darglow.co.uk

Maxprop

Engineered in Italy since 1975 by Maximilian Bianchi, Maxprop owns its own foundry as well. The blades are flat and pivot through 180 degrees, so that the leading edge is presented in both forward and reverse – making for excellent thrust either way. Pitch can be changed in 2-degree increments at the turn of a screw, which can even be done in the water with the Easy and the Whisper models. It is not quite the variable pitch that the manufacturer claims, but it does offer some flexibility. The blades are linked by gears so they open and close at the same time. And the Boomerang variant for larger boats with hydraulic transmission has patented springloaded blades that return to the feathered position without any need for a shaft brake. Maxprop says its products are particularly good for catamarans. Blades: 2, 3, 4 or 5 Diameter: 12in to 44in maxprop.it seaviewprogress.com

Kiwi Prop

Essentially unchanged over more than 20 years since its launch, the blades of the Kiwi Prop are unique in being made of a special nylon-glass composite called Zytel. It is tough, lighter than metal and

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

adjusted - as can direction of rotation, in case a change of engine necessitates it. Blades: 3 Diameter: 15in to 20in Engines: up to 75hp Seahawk.com.au steeldevelopments.net

Slipstream corrosion free, plus it is much cheaper than bronze - a fact reflected in the lower retail prices. The manufacturer also points out that the blades are sacrificial in the event of a collision, and much cheaper to replace than potential repairs to the stern gear. Recent tweaks to this successful 20-year-old design include a new more efficient shape to the foil of the outer part of the blades, triangular rollers and titanium blade retention pins. The blades are fatter than some but free to rotate around their axis for excellent feathering. The unit offers adjustable pitch ahead and maximum pitch astern for more power at low speeds. Kiwi has developed a two-blade folding propeller for race boats in the same lightweight Zytel composite It will soon be available in diameters up to 17in, roughly suitable for a 40hp engine. Blades: 2, 3 and 4 Diameter: 14.5in to 21in vectamarine.com

Autostream

This feathering prop is manufactured in Australia by Seahawk, but sold in the UK by Steel Developments in London. It is entirely made of 2507 duplex stainless steel for exceptional strength and resistance to corrosion, and features narrow blades that swing through 180 degrees in reverse. “Reverse acceleration is faster leading to less ‘prop walk’ and giving you full control over which direction you head,” says Julie Hale at Steel Developments. Pitch is independently set for ahead and astern, and can be easily

ABOVE A Maxprop fitted and ready to go ABOVE RIGHT The Slipstream prop BELOW The Autosteam feathering prop BOTTOM Flexofold's twin blade folding prop

The folding prop from Seahawk is also in stainless steel – but this time low carbon 316 for long life. “This being the same metal as most prop shafts and saildrive internal parts, it is less likely to promote electrolysis, the most common killer of props,” says Julie Hale of Steel Developments. The blades are geared, so they are synchronised, and the bushes can be replaced easily when worn. Polyurethane bump stops prevent the prop from clunking when it swings open, and the same plastic forms side plates to stop metal-on-metal wear. Seahawk provides a five-year warranty. Blades: 2 or 3 Diameter: 14.5in to 18.5in Engines: up to 75hp steeldevelopments.net

Flexofold

Also designed and manufactured in Denmark, the Flexofold uses high quality nickel aluminium bronze in its construction. Being water lubricated, the gears on its folding blades need no grease. Its simplicity and competitive price have made it the go-to prop for boatbuilders including Beneteau, Hanse, Dehler, X-Yachts and more. And new this year, there is a larger hub available to suit ZF’s new SD15 saildrive, which is making headway in the 110-150hp sector where previously a shaft drive

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Buyer’s Guide: Propellers

EWOL

was the only option. The Flexofold has large shock absorbers for quiet opening and in tests, it performs well both ahead and astern, although its blades don’t swivel to offer the leading edge. Pitch changes require a new set of blades which can be fitted to the existing hub. Flexofold is also available in an award-winning race variant with a composite boss that saves 2.8kg of weight. It is only available for saildrives, but the use of composite makes the hub immune to electrolysis. Blades: 2, 3 or 4 Diameter: 13in to 27in Flexofold.com

Variprop GP

Manufactured in Germany, near the North Sea coast, the Variprop is one of two offerings from SPW. It is a robust prop, built to order in ice-class nickel aluminium bronze (Nibral) for long life. The blades were recently redesigned with a Gawn profile, which SPW says make them 10 per cent more efficient than the old design. At the same time, the internal gears were switched from cast to machined, reducing vibration. Flat, thin blades rotate 180 degrees in reverse to offer the leading edge in both ahead and astern. A simple turn of a screw changes the pitch, which can be independently set in both

directions – ahead it is all about optimising thrust, while in reverse it is about reducing prop walk. A patented multidisc brake acts as a shock absorber to eliminate the clunk when you engage the prop. SPW reckons it has the shortest hub in the business, making the prop really suitable for long-keeled boats with a small prop aperture. Blades: 2, 3 or 4 Diameter: 12 to 32in Engines: up to 750hp Spw-gmbh.de

ABOVE LEFT The Variprop ABOVE The Variprofile feathering prop BELOW EWOL's Orion SD prop

This Italian company’s range of beautiful stainless steel propellers have undergone something of a revamp this year. Chief among the changes is a new design of ‘Sword’ blades which are said to be more efficient and quieter in rotation. The Andromeda unit is designed for sailing boats from 6-11m LOA, and engines up to 40hp. It is a threeblade feathering prop. Other lines include the newly engineered Orion SD-15 – another three-blader with a stronger body designed for ZF’s new saildrives up to 150hp. And for 70ft-plus boats, the Pegasus four-blader should do the trick. An external pitch adjuster allows for fine tuning, while parts that wear over time can be easily replaced. There’s even a titanium bladed option. Popular in Italy, the prop has found its way onto many of the country’s performance cruising boats, as well as an 80ft Sunreef catamaran. Blades: 3-4 Diameter: Engines: 30-150hp ewoltech.com

Variprofile

Similar to its Variprop, Variprofile is SPW’s cheaper, small-boat feathering prop. It is mass-produced for modern serial yachts with engines up to 140hp, but otherwise has many of the same features as its custom-built sister, including micro adjustment for the forward and aft pitch and Gawn-profile blades. Diameter: 12in to 18in Engines: up to 140hp spw-gmbh.de

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Crossing the Atlantic – Passage Planning

Vanishing Point Sailing across the Atlantic is one thing but getting to the jumping off point of the Canary Islands has troubled sailors since Columbus’ time. Don Street explores the options

rossing the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean can in many respects be viewed as the easy part of the trip – the downhill run if you will. Getting to this jumping off point in the first place is often far more challenging. This article explores both getting to the jumping off point and also routes across the Atlantic and has been drawn my personal experience of seven trade wind passages on four different boats. The first passage in 1956, last passage in 2005 plus more than sixty years of reading about and discussing with sailors trade wind passages to the Caribbean. As a first golden rule, all boats should try and get across the Bay of Biscay by mid September when the fall strong gales are likely to start.

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER JUNE 2021 2021

The Irish Sea route

Boats from Scandinavia should leave from the Skagerrak, sail approximately 250 miles to Scotland to Inverness, then 90 miles across Scotland, combining loch sailing and Caledonian Canal. Through the Scottish Lochs Ness, Oich then Caledonian canal, exiting at Corrah

BELOW The Caledonian Canal is a beautiful route to the Atlantic from Scandinavia

near Ft William. This is an interesting trip, 38 miles of sailing through the Scottish Lochs with magnificent scenery on both sides, 22 miles of Canal, 22 locks. Canal width 34’, lock length 150’ depth 15’. Once through the canal you need to head south through the North Channel, with interesting Scottish

lochs on the port side begging to be explored and to starboard the Irish coast. As you head south it is 300 miles south and west down coast of Ireland to a SW Ireland, the jump off spot to cross the Bay of Biscay. There are interesting stops along the way. Dun Laoghaire is Dublin’s yachting center with five Yacht Clubs, a number of marinas and excellent fast frequent rail service to Dublin From here it’s south to Tuskar, a right turn along the south coast of Ireland with many excellent harbors and clubs to visit. Crosshaven, the yachting center of Cork City is the home of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world. On to Kinsale, with its yacht club, large active fleet of cruisers and racers. Ashore dozens of top notch restaurants to the extent that Kinsale is regarded as the gourmet capital of Ireland. Crookhaven is a good spot to sit and wait for a weather window to cross the Bay of Biscay. If sail repairs are needed, there is a sailmaker a 20 minute taxi ride from Crookhaven. The above route is much more pleasant and has much less traffic that the route down the North Sea, via the Dover Straits although things pick up past the Solent, with Falmouth the jump off point for crossing the Bay of Biscay.

North Sea/English Channel

From the mouth of the Elbe, Holland and Belgium it is just a case of fighting your way down to the Strait of Dover as best you can. Once through, hug the English coast inside the traffic lanes but be careful. The lobster pots are poorly marked and are hard to spot. They have caused much trouble as boats are picking up the pick up line to the trap on their prop with disastrous results. Fight your way west to Falmouth and wait for a favorable weather report. From Falmouth or Crookhaven or any of the ports in SW Ireland, you need to head SW to get off the 100 fathom continental shelf as soon as possible. Once off the shelf south to wp 3O miles west of Finisterre. It is necessary to stay away from Finisterre as off Finisterre there are

ABOVE Cork in the Republic of Ireland BELOW Vigo is a beautiful Biscay stop off

FIVE traffic separation lanes. At times it looks like Piccadilly Circus at rush hour!

By way of Biscay

From WP 30 miles east of Finisterre, time permitting, visit the Rias between Finisterre and Vigo. Every sailor that I have talked to that has visited a Ria is most enthusiastic. Stop in Vigo as the Lagos bros, astillero@astilleroslagros.com will be able to take care of any of your needs The yard founded in 1913 is run by the third generation of the Lagos family. From there it’s 600 miles on to Porto Santo and Madeira. For detailed information on both islands go to www. street-iolaire.com for article on these two islands that appeared in an earlier edition of Sailing Today

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Crossing the Atlantic – Passage Planning

Canary Islands

Then to Canaries. The two eastern most islands are low, flat, dry and loved by wind and kite surfers, but anchorages are few and far between. Both islands have numerous concrete jungles. Fuerteventura is really not set up for yachts. Lanzarote, with its three marinas is a good island to visit if you need to do repairs, otherwise i’d say forget Lanzarote. Gran Canaria will be loaded with ARC boats until they depart late November. The other marinas will probably be full. Back in about 1980 I asked the famous skipper of Stormvogel, the late Malcom Horsley which Canary islands were the best? He said, the western Canaries, Tenerife and Hierro. My experience has proved it is still true today. Both islands are high, so there is plenty of rainfall, the fresh produce market in both island is superb. The city of Palma deserves a couple of days exploration. The African market alone deserves almost two days shopping and exploring The roads on Hierro are excellent but narrow. Hire a taxi as, if you self drive, the passengers will enjoy the spectacular scenery but the driver will have to concentrate so much on the road and driving that the driver sees nothing. Tenerife and Herro are the easiest and best islands to stock up for a transatlantic or trip on to the Cape Verdes before doing your crossing. If you are leaving from the Canaries these are two good islands from

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

which to start. But November is not a good time to start a transatlantic from the Canaries. The trades start moving north late September, early October but do not solidly reach the Canaries until late December early January.

Across the Atlantic

In November the false trades, the African trades that blow from the north and north east pretty much 12 months of the year, start moving further and further offshore. Boats leave the Canaries with a good solid trade only to have it ease off and become variable about 200-300 miles west of the Canaries and do not find the real trades again until they get down to 20 or 21 N and will not get back into good solid trades until 2/3 of the way across.

ABOVE Las Palmas is the stepping off point for the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers but Don favours Tenerife or Hierro BELOW The dramatic coastline of Hierro RIGHT Tenerife

The northern route

The next question is what track to take from the Canaries. Sailors contemplating a summer crossing via the northern or Great Circle route will probably run into light and variable winds. Being this far north, the bottom of a low that is coming west if well far south will produce head winds. It’s also worth noting that the bottom edge of a late season hurricane will do the same or kill the trades. In 1984 my yacht, Iolaire, was caught on the north side of Sint Maarten by a late season NE tracking hurricane and saved by using six of her seven anchors. I obtained the NOAA book, Tropical Hurricanes of the North Atlantic. It had the track charts of every hurricane from 1851. Never has a

Sailing Today with Yachts YachtingOCTOBER AUGUST 2021 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts && Yachting

41 91

Crossing the Atlantic – Passage Planning

hurricane crossed the track of boats following the Great Circle route to the Caribbean, but in 2018 the bottom edge of a hurricane brushed Tenerife causing considerable damage. The northern route is the route followed by many winning boats in the ARC. In all cases they have been light, fast boats with big crew willing to do plenty of sail changes.

Middle route

If departing from the Canaries the middle route is better. You will be starting with the African trades, sail SSW down to about 23N lat before turning SW Hopefully at 18N lat you have reached good solid trades, but in November this is dubious. To really be sure you are in the trades continue SSW until down to 16N lat before turning west. This will almost certainly guarantee you good solid trades the entire trip, but this route is roughly 2,700 miles. On this route, you are passing close to the Cape Verdes so why not break the transatlantic trip? It’s 760 miles to the Cape Verdes, then 2,100 miles on to Caribbean.

Cape Verde route

I recommend not leaving direct from the Canaries and here’s why: In my experience it’s better to head south 760 miles to the Cape Verdes booted along by the ever present African trades. If you are running at 170 miles per day, that’s 3½ days. Cape Verde to the Caribbean is 2,100 miles, all the while booted along by the ever present strong trades, 170 miles per day, 12½ days much nicer than leaving from Canaries with erratic trades probably averaging 150mpd and taking 17 days or more if using the middle route. Head from the Canaries south to landfall in the Cape Verdes at Isle Sal the western most of the islands. The islands are covered in great detail in my newly revised pilot guide to the Cape Verdes, www.seaworthy.com Having made your departure from here you can spend three weeks cruising west, downwind, no windward work, departing Brava end of first week in December, 2,100 miles to Caribbean at hull speed, 10 to 14 days depending on

ABOVE The port of Mindelo in the Cape Verdes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Don Street is, is a legend of the sailing scene and one of the most successful marine authors and journalists around. He has had many books published and his Iolaire charts are an invaluable guide for sailors wishing to explore the Caribbean

Chart selection Any sailor contemplating a transatlantic crossing in any direction should have on board Imray Iolaire chart 100. This is a gonomic (to the Americans) or conical (to the British) projection which means a straight line is a great circle course. Myself and the late Alan Wilkenson, Imray’s head cartogarapher put this chart together over 25 years ago. On the face of the chart were shown the various routes used by yachts doing transatlantic passages both eastwards and westwards. The location of ice bergs that had drifted hundreds of miles south of where ones were to be expected were also shown. If you ran into a patch of fog on a clear day there was probably an iceberg in the vicinity. On the back of the chart were wind, gale and excessive wave height charts for 12 months of the year plus piloting directions for the various routes. Imray.com

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

size of boat and arrive in time for Christmas in Caribbean. Alternatively you could make landfall at Mindelo and take the one hour ferry to San Anto and enjoy being a tourist for one or two days then south to Santiago, landfall at Tarrafal on the northwest corner of Santiago. You will think you have arrived in the Caribbean as you will be greeted by a beautiful white sand beach backed by palm trees. On the cliff above the harbor is an excellent restaurant. I very seldom recommend restaurants, but this one served me excellent meals in ‘85, ‘89, ‘05 and ‘09. Heading south on the west coast of Santiago I would by pass Ribeira da Barca and continue south to Ricano. If the ground swell is predicted, check www.majicsurf.com, move one mile north to the cove behind Punta Tuna. Local fishermen told us this cove was always safe in ground swell conditions and, needless to say, has plenty of tuna! Conditions permitting, if you have a good dinghy or RIB, head south. One mile south of Ricano, you will find a small fjord, cliffs 50 or more feet high on all three sides and a white sand beach at the head of the fjord, with crystal clear water in the fjord. Cuidad Vela, the original capital of the Cape Verdes, with its huge fort overlooking the anchorage and town is worth a visit, then head on to Paria, which is much better for stocking than Mindelo, then on to Brava and depart as above. The port captain in Brava will not give you clearance for heading direct to the Caribbean. He insists you must head back to Paria to obtain clearance. However, I did this route in ‘85, ‘89, and ‘05. The customs and immigration said no problem and entered us.

Is Your Anchoring a Drag?

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Seamanship – Overfalls

The Rough Guide Clive Loughlin analyses the causes and effects of rough water – and explores some notorious areas There be dragons

What constitutes ‘rough water’ is a matter of personal perspective. A cracking sail for one might be a terrifying experience for another that would put them off sailing for life. Good skippers need to take the capabilities and natures of their crew

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER JUNE 2021 2021

into account in addition to the physical considerations of the rough water itself. A crew that has been briefed that “It’s going to be rough for about an hour until we round that headland, but then it will be a lot smoother”, will be a lot happier and have confidence in their skipper.

ABOVE Portland Bill is a notorious spot for overfalls although you can sometimes avoid them by hugging the shore

Do your research

Areas of rough water should not take anyone by surprise. They are all well documented on the UKHO charts, the Reeds Nautical Almanac and pilotage guides. I am surprised and disappointed that they do not currently feature prominently on some electronic charts. Casual mariners who currently rely solely on electronics, and especially those using A to B auto routing software, are likely to experience some unpleasant surprises. Passage planning is a lot more than a legal requirement to be ticked off on the back of an envelope.

A bit about waves

Waves are energy, and they get this energy from the wind. Although the wave moves across the sea there is no overall forward motion of seawater. After a wave has moved over a stretch of water all the water ends up in much the same place as it was before the wave arrived. However, under the wave itself there is a circulation of water (see fig above) that extends to about half the wavelength below the crest like an inverted teardrop. The height of waves depends on the wind speed and duration, and the ‘fetch’ or distance that it has travelled.

Careful studies of tidal streams will not only alert you to potential hazards but can also significantly reduce your passage times. The Almanac provides good guidance on the well-known rough water areas such as the Portland Race, and pilot guides provide additional detail and salutary anecdotes. Specialist guides that provide detailed tidal stream data can be obtained for some areas, and I find these reassuring if I am considering the sort of short cuts for which ‘local knowledge’ is advised. In this article I will cover some of the causes of rough water and illustrate these with some examples from personal experience.

Duration There is a lot more to weather than just wind speed. A force 6 (24kts) that has been blowing for 5 hours will create waves that are 1m high and not of too great a concern, but after 36 hours the height will have increased to over 4m. Fortunately most sailing weather forecast apps also include wave height and direction, so although we cannot do much about the weather, we are blessed with technology that will at least give us a good idea what is coming our way.

ABOVE Anatomy of waves showing the circulation system.

build up. We had smooth seas, 9.5 knots over the ground, and no tacking for 100nm!

BELOW Opposing currents have a disproportionate affect on wave height and steepness

Waves against current Most sailors will be familiar with the rough seas associated with wind, or more correctly, wave against tide conditions. The current essentially compresses the wavelength and this leads to a dramatic increase in wave height and steepness. As an example of the disproportionate affect of waves against current, if a wave of wavelength 15m, which will be travelling at 10kn, meets a 2kn current its wavelength will reduce by 50% while its height is increased by 75%. This is a huge change (see fig below). Steepness Wave height is not in itself a concern, what really matters is how steep the waves are. Steepness is defined as the ratio between wave height and wavelength. Once this ratio is greater than 1/7 the wave will break.

Fetch Wind direction is also key. Normally a trip heading to the West Country from the Solent involves a SW wind on the nose and a boisterous passage. On my last trip to Brixham we had a good breeze (F5) and most importantly it was from the north. This meant it was coming off the land, and with a fetch of just a few miles there was no time for waves to Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

Seamanship – Overfalls

Learning curve I have only experienced truly horrendous wind against tide conditions on two occasions. The first was off the west coast of Scotland at the end of a very tiring crossing from Canna in a Force 7. We were seeking shelter in Armadale on Skye, but this meant a passage up the Sound of Sleat between Skye and the mainland. The ebb tide can hit 8kn in this area but we ‘only’ had about 5kn against us. The second time was heading west out of the Solent in the Needles channel under similar conditions. In both cases the boat pitched up and down by 30 degrees and everyone was hanging on to anything they could get hold of. To add insult to injury, forward progress to more sheltered waters was tediously slow. Both of these events happened early in my sailing career, and I say that not as an excuse but to reinforce that they were so awful I have made very sure not to repeat them. Shallow water In deep water the speed that a wave travels is entirely dependent on its wavelength with long waves travelling faster. When a wave enters shallow water, with a depth less than half a wavelength, the speed becomes entirely dependent on depth. The bottom of the teardrop circulation

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system begins to drag on the seabed and this slows the wave down, which in turn leads to a reduction in wavelength and an increase in height and steepness in much the same way as an opposing current. As the wave progresses into the shallows the wave gets steeper and steeper until it breaks. This is great for surfers but not so good for sailors. Bars If waves encounter a contrary current at the same time as a reduction in depth then the effects combine dramatically. This can most often be experienced in the approaches to harbours and estuaries. Chichester Harbour is a large expanse of shallow water with a narrow channel just 1 cable (0.1nm) wide connecting it to the sea and a shallow bar with depths of 2 m or

ABOVE LEFT St Catherine’s Lighthouse, Isle of Wight BELOW Skirting the overfalls – calm water very close to rough water.

less guarding the approach. On a spring ebb the current can reach 6 knots and should not be attempted in a strong onshore wind. Many harbours and estuaries have bars across their entrance, and they should be treated with respect. They are all the more dangerous because they represent the gateway to a safe refuge. After a testing passage it can be tempting to seek sanctuary by ducking into a harbour – but the approach to sanctuary could actually be the greatest danger of all. Overfalls Overfalls are areas of turbulent water caused by a sudden change in depth. Anyone planning a circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight has the overfalls off St Catherine’s point to consider. The depth reduces from about 40m down to 15m and can produce very rough conditions,

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Seamanship – Overfalls

“ The Portland Race is a ‘perfect storm’ location for rough water with the currents flowing in the main Channel meeting the currents diverted down either side of Portland Bill..’’ especially on a west-going spring ebb against a strong SW wind. The rough water created by overfalls is often very tightly defined and can normally be spotted, at least in daylight, by an alert crew. If travelling against the current it is then a relatively simple matter to skirt around the hazard keeping the boat in calm water while the turmoil is no more than a few boat lengths away. The danger comes if the boat is riding the favourable stream, in which case it is very easy to get sucked in, and before you know it the crew are wondering where all the rough water has suddenly come from. In both cases a bit of diligent passage planning can avoid the hazard altogether. A planned diversion made early enough leads to a very minor increase in overall passage length, and it is very satisfying for the skipper to draw their crew’s attention to the white horses that have been effortlessly avoided.

ABOVE Dramatic conditions off Portland Bill BELOW Currents around Portland Bill merge on the Ledge to create a ‘perfect storm’ BELOW RIGHT The shallow ledge off St Alban’s Head creates another Race

Races Races are areas of turbulent water caused where two currents meet in shallow areas around headlands and in constricted channels. Portland Bill off the south coast of England is one of the most notorious. I was once on the dockside in nearby Weymouth, following a very easy, blue-sky sail from the Solent, when a Westerly Centaur arrived and tied up alongside. After a brief interlude consuming whisky in their cockpit, the crew disappeared below

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

and started passing up all their soaking-wet bedding to be draped unceremoniously over the boom. Apparently they had just been through the race. The Portland Race is a ‘perfect storm’ location for rough water with the currents flowing in the main Channel meeting the currents diverted down either side of Portland Bill. The southern tip of Portland Bill extends south over Portland Ledge with depths of just 10m over an extensive area that extends about 1.5nm from the headland, and an additional shallow area called the Shambles to the east of the Bill. The position of the rough water depends on the direction of flow and state of tide. Being displaced to the east by an east-going flood tide and to the west on the ebb. If the confluence of strong currents and the rising seabed were not enough of a hazard this area is also popular with lobster pot fishermen.

The prospect of being anchored by your propeller in such a dangerous area does not bear thinking about, and for this reason no passage through the race at night should be considered. The race can be avoided by passing 3-5nm south of the Bill. There is also an inshore passage between 1 and 3 cables off the Bill that offers relatively smooth water. While planning challenging passages I like to consult every reliable source of information I can lay my hands on, and for this area my go-to sources are the Alamanac, Shell Channel Pilot and Peter Bruce’s ‘Tidal Streams between Portland Bill and St Alban’s head’ which happens to be waterproof; presumably as a testament to the practical experience on which it is based. St Alban’s Race St Alban’s Race is another area that does its best to impress. The merging of currents is not such an

issue as it is at Portland Bill, however there is the St Alban’s Ledge that extends some 4nm from the Head. As with Portland there is an inshore passage within 2 cables of the Head. Timing is everything for coastal passages in this area and if heading east I like to hole up in Chapman’s Pool before leaving on the early turn of tide that flows south along the west coast and rounding the Head at slack water or on the start of the flood. Those heading west can hole up in Poole, Studland Bay or Swanage waiting for the tide to ebb. St Alban’s Head may not have quite the notoriety of Portland Bill but it can boast the added danger, if any were needed, of the Lulworth Cove firing range immediately west of the Head. The Alderney Race The Alderney Race lies between Alderney and Cap de la Hague on the French mainland, and is characterized by very strong tidal

streams that regularly exceed 5 kn. These currents, combined with an extensive shoal area with just 20m depth, make this a no-go area for sailing boats under certain states of tide and especially with an opposing wind. On one trip we had been overnight in Cherbourg and had intended to get to the Cap de la Hague just before the tide turned south to take us to our destination of St Peter Port on Guernsey. Our departure got delayed and we arrived at the Cap after the ebb tide had become established. There was also an F4-5 from the SW. When you can see rough water from 3nm away you can be confident it will be even worse than it looks. If we had pressed on we would have had a very fast and very rough passage tacking our way to Guernsey. I decided to continue due west on an easy close reach, leaving Alderney and the Casquets to port before heading south.

ABOVE LEFT Corryvreckan : Whirlpools and large steep waves await the unwary. ABOVE RIGHT The Gulf Of Corryvreckan BELOW LEFT The Alderney Race – best avoided under certain conditions.

Clive Loughlin is an RYA Yachtmaster Instructor and regular Sailing Today contributor. Clive teaches for First Class Sailing in the Solent area.

Corryvreckan Whirlpools are best viewed from a high-speed tourist RIB of significant dimensions. The only one I have personal experience of is the notorious Gulf of Corryvreckan that lies in the narrow (0.5nm) channel between the islands of Jura and Scarba off the west coast of Scotland. The tidal streams in this area are always interesting and passages between the islands often include dramatic changes in the boats heading over which you have little or no control. These streams are so strong that fighting them is pointless and the best solution is simply to go with the flow and give all granite a wide berth. The Gulf of Corryvreckan is something else, on the ebb water flows eastward from the open sea and is relatively undisturbed, however the flood tide heading west has been disturbed by the varied topology as it flows up the Mull of Kintyre. The Gulf includes a huge hole that drops to below 200m and also a pinnacle just north of the centre of the channel that rises to just 27m below the surface. When the strong west-going flood tide hits this pinnacle it is forced upwards and creates whirlpools and waves up to 9m high. I have sailed through the Gulf many times, but always on the east-going ebb, and on one memorable occasion our passage was accompanied by a rainbow and leaping porpoises, in a pastiche of hippy artwork. Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

SailGP

Western shoot-out SailGP enjoyed a spectacular West Country welcome in Plymouth as thousands of people gathered to watch the world’s most famous sailors race in the Sound – and what a show they put on

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DRONE PICS: PER WAHLBERG

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SailGP

housands of fans turned up on Plymouth Hoe, and hundreds of spectator boats lined the F50 racecourse in Plymouth Sound, for the sold-out Great Britain Sail Grand Prix. Tom Slingsby’s Australia SailGP team celebrated its first event victory of this second season of SailGP and meanwhile the local fans were given what they wanted with a race win for the home team. It was a spectacular weekend of racing in sun-drenched and windier than expected conditions. The natural arena of Plymouth Sound proved the perfect showcase for the exciting F50 fleet and SailGP’s style of short-course racing. After the opening rounds, the three-boat final in Plymouth was a thriller, between Australia, the US and France. Slingsby said: “We’re now three events in, we’ve had lead

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changes at each one with different people winning each time, and we’re just starting the rollercoaster. We’ve got plenty more turns ahead. “We’ve come from close to the top of the leaderboard, to down at the bottom, and now we’re back at the top. There’s no form guide, every team has its day, and we’ve just got to hold on for the ride to try and make that Grand Final in San Francisco next March.” Celebrating with his Australia crew members was an ecstatic Nick Hutton, the team’s grinder, who hails from Devon. Hutton said: “It’s always great to win and for me it’s extra special winning in Plymouth. It’s as close as I’m ever going to get to racing at home so I’m super happy. The last race was very hectic for us, we didn’t make it easy for ourselves, but it was great to get it done.” The French team – driven by Billy Besson and with Brit Leigh McMillan

ABOVE The atmosphere around the Sound was buzzing, with people gathering course-side on their own boats and on the Hoe; viewing areas and spectator boats were sold to half capacity for Covid precautions BELOW (L-R) Conditions were windier than expected, giving the F50s plenty of breeze to lift off and get up to speed; Jimmy Spithill’s USA team head on

onboard – was always in the hunt over the weekend and never out of the top three. After a nail-biting final race that saw multiple lead changes they eventually took silver. Jimmy Spithill’s United States SailGP team was third overall, coming back from a disappointing start to the season, in which they sustained damage to their F50 in both events to date. Spithill said: “It was a good day because we made the final race again but unfortunately we had a bit of a technical issue on our starboard rudder that was deteriorating throughout the day. It was a good result for the team, given what had happened in the first two events.” While the British could not qualify for the final podium race in front of its home fans, interim driver Goodison earned the loudest cheer of the day when his team crossed the finish line to win the

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SailGP

fifth race of the weekend. Goodison, in his final event driving the British F50 before Ben Ainslie’s return to the wheel, signed off his SailGP stint with a fourth-place finish in Plymouth. Goodison said: “That was a special day. It felt fantastic to cross the finish line in first place in front of our brilliant home support at the end. There was a lot of pressure to perform after yesterday and it was really impressive how the whole team rallied. There were so many positive vibes going out there this morning and then seeing all the fans and hearing all the noise coming from them on the water was just incredible. “The team sailed very well. There are a bunch of really talented athletes on the boat and the team in the chase boat were incredibly supportive. For me, it’s been a great pleasure to have been involved in this team and I’m just thankful that we’ve given it back to Ben in a similar shape to what I took it off him. That’s a big relief.” The British team was joined by four female triallists, as part of an

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initiative to integrate female sailors into the crews. Ellie Aldridge, Nicola Boniface, Hannah Diamond and Emily Nagel spent time on board. Olympians Hannah Mills and Anna Burnet trialled previously. Emily Nagel, who was previously a Data Analyst with the Great Britain SailGP Team, said: “For me it’s a brilliant initiative. I initially got involved in SailGP because I wanted to one day be a sailor on board. It’s not easy as a female sailor to get a lot of opportunities sometimes, especially in the world of foiling. SailGP is creating these opportunities for women to get this experience, so I am grabbing this opportunity with both hands and hoping at the end of the day I manage to get the role, but there’s some very tough competition.” After the event, leader of Plymouth City Council, Councillor Nick Kelly, said: “All I can say is - wow! What an absolutely incredible weekend in Britain’s Ocean City. The atmosphere along the waterfront was electric and Plymouth Sound really has made a fantastic stage for the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix. Not only that, but

ABOVE (L-R) AND OPPOSITE Spectacular foiling action from the Australian team with Tom Slingsby at the helm; there was no lack of home support for the GB SailGP team BELOW Take-off for the Spanish team; the champagne goes pop for the winning Aussies, who are aiming to defend their title from 2019 and who boast local Plymouth man Nick Hutton on board

the week leading up to SailGP has seen so many people in Plymouth getting involved and engaging with the ocean, including STEM sessions for school children and free sailing experiences for young people and people with disabilities, which is amazing.” SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts said: “The crowds were loving it. I went for a walk during the race to see what the reaction was and they were really engaged. I think Plymouth should be really proud of the event here. They really did deliver a magnificent event. One that I will certainly remember for a long time.” SailGP season 2 championship leaderboard after 3 events 1 Australia 22 pts 2 Great Britain 22 pts 3 France 21 pts 4 United States 19 pts 5 Japan 19 pts 6 Spain 19 pts 7 Denmark 17 pts 8 New Zealand 17 pts

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting AUGUST 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

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Yachts & Yachting May 14.pdf

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Shortlist | Windvanes

SHORTLIST

MORE SHORTLISTS We keep this list and others like it bang up-to-date online at sailingtoday.co.uk

WINDVANES Hydrovane

Aries Vane Gear

Seafeather

One of the best-known bluewater products out there, Hydrovane is unique in that it requires no direct attachment to the boat’s rudder. It uses beautifully engineered gears to rotate its own rudder, which can also be used as an auxiliary in the case of main rudder failure. Can be offset and mounted on sloping transoms. .

The original and many say, the best, servopendulum system out there. The wind turns a short rudder, which is deflected by the wake of the boat as it moves, pulling on lines attached to the boat’s tiller. The unit doesn’t require such heavy supports, because its rudder is much lighter, and it is suitable for boats up to 55ft LOA.

Engineered in Britain, the Sea Feather is also a servo-pendulum wind vane, and capable of fitting to any type of stern. Each one is custom built using stainless steel, anodised aluminium and Delrin bearings. Weighs about 20kg and must be centre-mounted. Easy to remove the gear, leaving just the bracket.

 Hydrovane.com  From c£4,769

 Ariesvanegear.com  From €3,600 (£3,167)

 Sea-feather.co.uk  £1,985

Monitor

Auto-Helm

Pacific Windpilot

Designed in a California garage in 1975, the Monitor is now built by Scanmar in the US. It is a servo-pendulum gear, built in hardwearing stainless steel, with hightech bearings. The Monitor can also be converted to serve an auxiliary rudder. A clever swing mount means that you don’t lose the function of your swim ladder.

Not the electronic one, but another option from Scanmar, which includes an auxiliary rudder controlled by a trim-tab. The horizontal axis airvane of the autohelm windvane powers the trimtab. Water flowing past the trimtab controls the auxiliary rudder which, in turn, steers the boat. A rugged and popular option.

Again relying on the servo-pendulum principle, the Pacific Windpilot is incredibly flexible to mount on almost any stern type. Available in various versions, including the Pacific Plus, which uses servo-pendulum technology to turn an auxiliary rudder, dispensing with the lines to the boat’s helm. The gear can be folded up out of the water.

 Scanmarinternational.com  $4,400 (£3,150)

 scanmarinternational.com From $5,250 (£3,785)

 windpilot.com  from €2,950 (£2,575)

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

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OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

Yachts: The Impossible Collection Showcasing the world’s “most grand and luxurious ocean vessels worthy of praise” comes Yachts: The Impossible Collection, whose publishers tells us includes everything “from original J Class yachts of the late 1800s”. Like all publications from Assouline, it is a lavish tome to say the least. Text by Miriam Cain, Featuring photography by Guillaume Plisson.  £695  assouline.com

LAUNCHED THE BEST NEW KIT Baltic Baltic Lifejackets Sweden have launched their new technical clothing range with the introduction of base, mid and outer layers to their range of lifejackets, buoyancy aids and floatation clothing. The range includes the Pacific 3-L jacket and trousers and Ulven fleece, Ymsen Wool top and Anten Wool tops and pants. The Baltic 3-L Pacific Pro Shell comes in the form of a jacket and trouser with a 3-layer shell waterproof fabric membrane with four-way stretch, easy access pockets, adjustable cuffs and hem, and adjustable waist and ankles for the trousers.  £POA  baltic.se

Jefa steering Jefa Steering has developed a new electric wire steering system, offering customers an “easy to install wheel complete with all controls and components included”. They say the system can be standalone or installed between an existing autopilot and a Jefa Drive Unit. As you only need electrical wire connecting the wheel to the drive units, it makes for “a very simple install and is ideal for those looking for an additional steering position”. The system is designed for keelboats and small yachts where a mechanical system is not suited, LOA 20ft to 45ft.  jefa.com

Dartmouth Gin Produced by the owner of the Cockwells pilot cutter, Merlin, Dartmouth Gin was named Craft Gin of the Year 2018 and is distilled in Dartmouth, Devon, “very slowly” to produce a remarkably smooth, full-flavoured spirit that ensured the recent pontoon party at British Classic Week, sponsored by our sister title Classic Boat, went with a bang. It comes in a handsome bottle, carved to depict a replica of the wrought-ironwork on St Saviour’s Church door in Dartmouth, showing the two leopards of Edward 1 and the tree of life.  £38  dartmouth-gin.com

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

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Dubarry polo shirts Dubarry has designed a new range of sailingspecific polos, with short and long sleeves, in men’s, women’s and unisex styles. There’s a loop for your sunglasses, a cleaning cloth discreetly hidden in the hem so you can wipe them dry, plus the new shirts are made from “soft but durable poly-cotton with UPF 40 sun protection”. They’re also “quick-drying, highly breathable, actively wick moisture away from your skin, and have odourpreventing antimicrobial protection built in”.

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ActisenseCloud Actisense, the NMEA marine electronics specialist, has launched a free-to-use platform “to help boaters to make journeys safer and more efficient”. ActisenseCloud “harnesses the power of cloud computing and gives users the ability to upload log files from any NMEA 2000 network and to easily view data from all available PGNs online, and then download these in common formats such as Excel, as well as formats such as GPX and KML, which allows users to then plot their journeys over time on Google Maps and Google Earth”.

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Stainless Steel Cleaner and Rust Remover CleantoGleam Stainless Steel Cleaner and Rust Remover is a highly concentrated cleaner for all marine stainless steel surfaces, fixtures and fittings. Its special formula “quickly removes limescale and neutralises stubborn rust and corrosion stains without damaging other surfaces and furniture”. The company says it was “specially developed for guard rails and wires, stanchions, davits, cleats and other stainless steel fixtures and fittings” and that there is “no scrubbing or rubbing needed”.

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We can testify to the deluxe quality of these Sailor Socks from Seasalt Cornwall. They are made of 80% bamboo, which we’re assured is a “biodegradable and sustainable crop, growing quickly on rainwater alone without the need for harmful pesticides or fertilisers”. More importantly, they are nicely ‘elastic’ and stay up, plus are eye-catching when sitting down.  £35 for a box of seven pairs in giftbox  seasaltcornwall.co.uk

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Wuzzo gilet made from plastic bottles New brand Wuzzos has made its mark with deck shoes and is now expanding with polo shirts and these soft shell gilets, each one manufactured from 12 discarded polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles. The bottles are cleaned, crushed, chipped, melted and then extruded into thread which is spun into yarn for knitting. The zips are also made from recycled plastic. There is an inner microfleece fabric layer, which is also 100% recycled polyester, providing warmth. The outer has a Durable Water Repellent (DWR) coating. The cut is slightly longer than some gilets, with a smarter look overall. We liked them so much we’ve got some branded up and have been wearing them ashore and afloat this summer. Recommended!  £50  wuzzos.com

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

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New boats at Southampton The Southampton Boat Show, opening on 10 September, will boast plenty of world yacht launches. We round up the big names and what else you can see at the event

isitors to the Southampton International Boat Show, from 10-19 September, will be able to see sailing yachts of every size and shape. From world debuts to UK premiers, award-winning designs and the welcome return of some of the most popular models from British and international boat builders, the show is very much somewhere you can see, try and even buy the sailing yacht of your dreams. Moored in what is billed as ‘Europe’s largest man-made marina’, built for the event every year, boats of similar ilk will be together on the pontoons and ashore, with the aim of giving potential buyers an easy

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comparison. British Marine CEO Lesley Robinson says: “Southampton International Boat Show is exactly that – a world-leading boat show – and our success relies upon having all the major manufacturers from all over the world represented in our event. We’re delighted that so many companies have chosen Southampton as the venue for the world premieres of their new designs.” British shipyard Discovery will be showing the 14.5m Discovery 48S, alongside a walk-in scale model of the interior of the new Southerly 42. “The Southampton International Boat Show is our home show, it enables us to showcase our yachts and demonstrate the best of British

ABOVE Contest 55CS BELOW Discovery 48S FAR RIGHT Sunfast 3300

yacht building. Due to the size of the show, it offers fantastic brand awareness, not only to the UK but the international markets as well,” says Oliver Hayes, Marketing Manager at Discovery Shipyard. Mainland Europe remains a key source of new models and one of the leading names is Contest Yachts

from Holland. The company will be showing its award-winning 17m blue-water cruiser, 55CS, at the show. Accolades for the boat are not hard to come by and it was voted winner of the Luxury Cruiser category in the European Yacht of the Year 2021. Before that, readers of this magazine voted it winner of the Bluewater Cruiser category in our 2020 British Yachting Awards. French manufacturer Beneteau will have five models at the show, including the Oceanis 40.1 and the 17m Oceanis 54, the first chance to see these new yachts. Jeanneau also has a range of boats, including the popular Sunfast 3300, which is now world-renowned as a double-handed race machine. The Rolex Fastnet Race saw a veritable fleet of these. “The British market is one of the most important and we have a huge fleet of Sunfast 3300s sailing in the Solent,” says Antoine Chancelier of Jeanneau and Prestige. The company will also be showing its Sun Odyssey range, running in size from 35ft (10.66m) to 44ft (13.41m). Each model offers options Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

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designed to suit different uses, from a lifting keel to light and spacious interiors, and innovative deck designs. Moving along the pontoons, the new Dufour 470 is making its debut at the show. With a contemporary design, the 14.85m Dufour 470 is available in three models – Easy, Ocean and Performance – and will be on show alongside her smaller sisters, the Dufour 430 (13.24m), 390 (11.93m) and the 10.73m Dufour 360. The Salona 46 is also making her world premiere at the show. This short-handed, long distance performance cruiser is aimed at couples undertaking long passages offshore. Always popular in the UK market, Clipper Marine will be showing its range of Bavaria’s Category A sailing yachts for trans-ocean conditions. With nine models on show from Dehler, Moody and Hanse, the Inspiration Marine Group is another that says the Southampton Boat Show is the most important event in

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting OCTOBER 2021

its calendar. “Not only can we showcase the latest models and innovations from our award-winning brands but also introduce the customers of the future to boating in a fun and interesting setting,” says Director Phil Dollin. The UK premier of the Dehler 38SQ (11.66m) will take place at the show, alongside the launch of the new 12.52m Moody DS41. Six different Hanse yachts – from the Hanse 348 at 10.4m to the Hanse 588 at 17.2m – will be lined up as well, giving a good chance to compare the range. World renowned Swedish boat builder Hallberg-Rassy has chosen Southampton International Boat Show as the venue for the international premier of the Hallberg-Rassy 400 (13.6m). “This will be a very important model in a very competitive sector of the European market,” says Jeremy Mason of Transworld Yachts. “Hallberg-Rassy have been building exceptional cruising yachts on the west coast of Sweden for more than

ABOVE LEFT Salona 46 ABOVE RIGHT Dufour 470 BELOW Moody DS41

75 years and we have been their UK representatives at Hamble, the focal point of UK sailing, since 1985,” he says. Transworld Yachts will also be exhibiting the Hallberg-Rassy 57, which at 18.44m is one of the leading fast offshore cruising yachts on the market. The show is expanding this year, with a number of new zones including a dedicated Watersports Zone, packed with all the latest products from stand-up paddle boards to inflatable kayaks, windsurfers, wakeboards, and all the clothing kit and accessories to go with them. The Get-A-Float area, organised by Rockley Watersports, provides fun and safe instructed sessions in dinghies, SUPs and kayaks. “Get-A-Float runs every day encouraging people to come and have a go on the water,” says Pip Woods, MD of Rockley Watersports. “Our sole aim is to introduce as many people different activities, having fun on SUPs, kayaks and in dinghies.” Much of the kit used by Rockley, such as inflatable SUPs and sailing dinghies, is available for sale at the show. There are many other ways to get afloat at the show for free, from SUPs to RIB rides for all the family. There is also a zone for wooden boats and day boats, with talks, demonstrations and even a wooden boat being built as the show progresses. Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting is official media partner for the show. Find out more at southamptonboatshow.com

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Dispatches MONTELIMAR | BLACK JOKE

I had been puttering across France via the rivers and canals for what seemed weeks when suddenly I felt out of my depth. I had joined the River Rhone which, after weeks of slow meandering on canals, commenced to now push me purposefully south at remarkable speed. It was late July and extremely bloody hot. I sped down the river wafted on by the sweet scent of lavender in the surrounding fields. Every night I would collapse into my bunk in an exhausted, baked stupor, flayed by the sun and feeling like an overcooked steak, but very happy. The longed for south was here at last. I was being driven forward by a desire to see my girlfriend who was based on the coast. On this particular evening, I reached Chateauneuf lock near Montelimar as the evening shadows lengthened. It was time to stop, drink a beer and cook dinner. But no, the lock was set open. Lock keepers sometimes did this for you – although on the Rhone it was not normal. Still, I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to progress still further. Avignon beckoned! I sped toward the gates of the huge, intimidating lock gates. Just as I was entering an alarm sounded and two barriers crashed down almost on top of my boat. A voice crackled over a speaker system beseeching me ‘Retirer, RETIRER!’ I glanced behind me and saw the huge bulk of a large freighter headed for the lock. This was no riverboat, it was a fully fledged seagoing ship somehow transplanted into the midst of rural France and now bearing down on my tiny boat. I slammed the boat into reverse. My boat has a long keel and doesn’t do backwards but I knew it HAD to do reverse. For once in its life the boat behaved impeccably I backed out at extreme speed and slid back into the lock layby, flung a line on and watched this huge leviathan enter a lock that seemed smaller than the ship. I cracked open a beer and drank it with the gusto of a man reprieved. Silence fell, the night enveloped the boat and I slept, profoundly content.

FEATURE HERE! Send us your dispatches – from St Mawes to St Croix editor@sailingtoday.co.uk twitter.com/SailingTodayMag

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OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

Considering an Electric Outboard? “Using a well-engineered electric outboard has been a revelation.’’ TOM CUNLIFFE Classic Boat

Quiet, Convenient, Reliable and Easy-to-Use In the popular 2-4hp category, the latest electric outboards – with their integral and rechargeable lithium batteries – have transformed the market, rendering petrol motors all-but obsolete. Advantages include: From £1650 Epropulsion Spirit PLUS 1276Wh battery Faster to charge Battery floats if dropped Foldable tiller means only one cable to connect › Three shaft length options › Direct drive (no gearbox) › › › ›

› Ease of Use Switch on, twist the tiller handles, go. Almost anybody can do it; no experience, strength or mechanical knowledge is needed. › Ease of Handling The batteries are removable, and the “pass up and down” weight (the shaft/motor assembly) is then 10kg or less. › Ease of Storage These electric motors divide into components, don’t leak oil or petrol, and don’t mind which way up they’re stored. › Quietness & Smoothness Electric motors are a delight to use.

From £1750 Torqeedo 1103 › 916Wh battery › GPS data on tiller gives speed & range indication › Removable tiller (more compact for storage) › Near‐silent direct drive › Much more robust than the previous model (Torqeedo 1003)

› Power Forget slow speed “trolling motors”, these 1kW electrics have huge torque (more like a 3hp petrol). › Range There are many variables, but most users achieve at least 9 to 10 nautical miles per charge, at 4 to 5 knots (2.5m inflatable dinghy). Much more if you slow down a little. › Reliability Many outboard motors don’t get used very often, and small petrol motors hate this. Electric outboards have fewer parts in general, and in particular there’s no carburettor to “gum up”.

Of course, it’s not all perfect. The range may still not be enough for some users. And they’re undeniably More Expensive than petrol outboards, mostly because lithium batteries are expensive. But that extra upfront cost is largely offset by their Lower Lifetime Running Costs, including (almost) No Servicing.

NESTAWAY BOATS is the UK’s number one retailer for both Torqeedo AND Epropulsion. You can find out more on our website, and we are always happy to discuss further – and offer advice – by email or phone. If you’d like to see them before making a purchase, we are based in Christchurch, Dorset (UK).

www.nestawayboats.com mail@nestawayboats.com Tel 0800 999 2535

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HANSE 418 | ARGENTA A fine example of the popular Hanse 418, Argenta is very lightly used, has a super spec and is absolutely ready to go for the 2021 season. This Judel/Vrolijk design sticks to the successful tenets of easy handling, combining a powerful rig with the easy sailing provided by single line reefing and a self tacking jib adding up to a yacht that provides minimum effort, maximum enjoyment, quick passage making and great fun. The spacious saloon can happily seat six adults around the table without squeezing and bumping elbows. Hull windows allow external viewing while seated. Argenta enjoys a stylish interior combining the popular French Oak joinery with Noce Nero Flooring and Black Quartz galley tops. Panoramic deck head panels allow the maximum of light during the day and starlight of an evening. Year: 2017 Length: 39’4” (11.99m) Beam: 13”8” (4.17m) Draught: 6’9” (2.07m) Displacement:10,150kg (22,377lb) Engine: 39hp

MAXI 1300 | MAXIMOOSE TOO A rare find in the UK market with only 50 built, this is a one owner example of the Maxi 1300 with a comprehensive inventory. In commission and ready to sail away. The Maxi Yachts 1300 was the legendary Swedish yacht designer Pelle Peterson’s penultimate project before retirement. Designing a boat that he could enjoy sailing single hande , he also wished her to have a turn of speed which would see her passing other boats while cruising. Commissioned by her owners and launched new for the 2008 season, Maximoose Too was built with a focus on easy single or short-handed performance sailing. During the current ownership she has proven to be successful in local two-handed races with her owners also cruising predominately as a couple. She offers a spacious cockpit with full cockpit tent creating extra living space above decks. Below decks she offers three double cabins with a large bright saloon and two heads.

Lying: Southampton Contact: michaelschmidt.co.uk

Year: 2007

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Length: 42’9” (13.1m) Beam: 12’4” (3.8m) Draft: 7’4” (2.25m) Displacement: 9,600kg (21,164lb) Engine: Volvo 40hp Cabins: 3 Lying: Largs, Scotland Contact: grabauinternational.com craftinsure quote: £651

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OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

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DISCOVERY 67 | TILLY MINT The Discovery 67 is rapidly becoming something of a modern classic with the mixture of those slippery Ron Holland penned lines and exceptional Discovery fit out adding up to a superb product. Tilly Mint was built for her first owners as a family cruising yacht and she took them far and in great comfort. Under these owners she cruised the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and spent several winters in the Caribbean. Although she can be handled by the family, she always had crew and she chartered successfully but modestly on both sides of the Atlantic. The winter of 2017/18 saw a major refit with a new teak deck, full repaint of the superstructure and the fitting of a new generator. Her whole rig was replaced in 2014. Her current owners purchased her in 2019 and undertook a refit to fit her for a cruising programme in the Mediterranean including full servicing of her systems, and work to the mast plinth where it needed some strengthening. She also had full overhaul and replacement of her audiovisual equipment and hence she is ready to sail with her new owner. Year: 2009 Length: 67’ (20.79m) Beam: 18’3” (5.63m) Draft: 8’6” (2.60m) Displacement: 33,800kg (74,360lb) Engine: 1 x Yanmar 4LHA 200hp Cabins: 4 Location: Palma de Mallorca Price: £995,000 VAT Paid Contact: berthoninternational.com craftinsure quote: £POA

Insure your yacht with Craftinsure - boat insurance at the touch of a button. Get a quote online or call today: craftinsure.com; 0345 2607 888 OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

119

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LASER S/N 134716. Radial sail. Trolley. Cover. Blue hull. Foils. Good condition. . £499 Tel 07870 136121 / (CHIPPENHAM) MIRROR DINGHY 68275. Last used 10 years ago and stored in garage throughout. Includes trailer. TRADE. £400 Tel 07918 051098 / (WORCESTER PARK)

From dinghies to racing yachts, we’ve got you covered.

SCORPION DINGHY FOR PARTS, INCLUDES LAUNCHING TROLLEY,. Everything for sale. Glass fibre hull has small hole that could be repaired - 2 suits of sails, canvas cover only 3 years old, would wash well. Launching trolley with removable jockey wheel. Would prefer to sell the whole as a lot. Everything in fair condition. . £100 Tel 01969 368371 / 07815 643408 (LEYBURN)

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CLOTHING SPINLOCK 5D DECKVEST LIFEJACKET + SPINLOCK 2 CLIP SAFETY LINE + SPINLOCK LIFE JACKET REARMING KIT All Items Brand New (Unused and unopened). Now unwanted due to cancelled passage. Spinlock deck vest pro sensor 170N. Spinlock safety line 2clip. Spinlock life jacket re arming kit. £299 Tel 07966 339392 / (SEVENOAKS)

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BLAZE 815. Late Mk3A Blaze bought new in 2015. Highly competitive boat built to minimum weight, well setup and easy to sail. Carbon tiller, Carbon mast, 2 North Blaze sails, new top cover, plus under cover and rudder bag. Combi trailer/trolley with 10” road wheels. £6450 Tel 07980 212319 / (LYMINGTON) LASER 2000. Complete and ready to sail, with trailer, trolley, top cover and mast head float. £3250 Tel 07738 984826 / (WEYMOUTH) SCORPION 1314. Hi, I’m Scorpion 1314, Michaelmas Daisy. Born 50 years ago by Stewart Boats. With Chipstead SC, then Netley then Shearwater. Two full suits of sails. Seeking a good home for me as a project. I have a road trailer but bring a lighting board to tow me away. See http:// www.gumtree.com/p/boats/scorpiondinghy/1411488353. £80 Tel 07974 443895 / (COWBRIDGE) RS700 SAIL NO. 914. Good condition boat with trailer and trolley. 1 good main and 1 spinnaker + 2 main and 1 spinnakerfor club racing. Rudder + daggerboard in protective bags. Spare new carbon tiller. Lighting board. Over and under covers. £3200 Tel 07767 841428 / (SUNBURY ON THAMES)

To advertise please call Mark on 020 7349 3787 or see website www.sailingtoday.co.uk | www.yachtsandyachting.co.uk 120

OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

MIRROR 14 (MARAUDER). 14 foot racing dinghy with spinnaker & trapeze. With launching trolley and boom-up cover. £150 Tel 07913 604 574 / (STAINES) MIRROR DINGHY. Mirror dinghy No.64859 for sail. Never sailed. Stored in garage since built. All parts still in original package, Stainless Steel rigging. £700.00. £700 Tel 07798 828733 / (DARLINGTON)

KEELBOATS SB20 GBR3316. 2007 hull. Ready to race - 5th place Cowes Grand Slam 2021. All required race equipment included. Honda 2.3hp. Two spins, mains and three jibs. Velocitek. Refurbed trailer 2021. All new cordage in last three years. Loads of spares. £5555 Tel 07540 915562 / (WINCHESTER ) CONTESSA26 GENOA AND SPINNAKER - WESTAWAY. Little used racing sails, westaway spinnakers AP design and conventional. Westaway epoxy genoa, Sail Register dacron furling genoa. Stored indoors. Regatta use only. £299 each sail. offers invited. £299 Tel 01405 812307 / (DONCASTER) HUNTER 19 EUROPA S/N 273. Hunter 19 (Europa). 1979. Shoal. Maroon hull. Offwhite deck. Sails barely used. Boat good condition. Currently stored in Lauren Marine boat yard (Hunter yachts). No trailer. No outboard engine. Unfinished kit. Reluctant sale due to ill health. Hence price. £875 Tel 07870 136121 / (SOUTHAMPTON) J24 JIFFI. Number 4035 from 1979. 3 times winner of Westerly Plate at Nationals. Excellent Club racing record. Many North Sails. Lowered coachroof. Tohatsu 3.5 HP. Carbon Pole. Galvanized 4 wheel road trailer. Price depends on options wanted. £2900 Tel 07790 011051. / 01752 667083 (SALTASH) J24 HIJINKS GBR4213. 1988 Rogers, good racing history, North club sails and Quantum regatta sails, carbon pole, new standing rigging, recent survey, road trailer, 3.5hp Tohatsu outboard, dry sailed. £7495 Tel 07971 879128 / 01392 841026 (PLYMOUTH)

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DEHLER 41DS RIGID WINDSCREEN - NEW. Brand new acrylic windscreen for Dehler 41DS. £1500 Tel 07714 259616 / (OBAN) SOLING DEEP KEEL. Soling Deep Keel sailing boat on road trailer for sale, with mast, sails etc sailed down from Scotland, it has been in storage for at least a decade. £600 Tel 07809 134852 / 02077307537 (HARTLEPOOL)

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12 METRE BERTH SOTOGRANDE SPAIN. 2 metre berth in Popular and secure Marina of Sotogrande near Gibraltar/Malaga airports. Elec hook up Water available on pontoon Very secure 35 year lease. Port fees apply. £35000 Tel 07527 534504 / 00346 42864354 (NEAR GIBRALTAR) RESCUEME MOB1 BOXED AS NEW. Unused due to cancelled passage. £220 Tel 07966 339392 / (SEVENOAKS) HUNTER 19 EUROPA S/N 273. Hunter 19 (Europa). 1979. Shoal. Maroon hull. Offwhite deck. Sails barely used. Boat good condition. Currently stored in Lauren Marine boat yard (Hunter yachts). No trailer. No outboard engine. Unfinished kit. Reluctant sale due to ill health. Hence price. £795 Tel 07870 136121 / (SOUTHAMPTON) AERO 7 2146. This is my ready to race boat, open meeting winning boat comes with over deck controls, tapered kicker, carbon extension, jc strap and trolley and cover. Help with delivery possible. £6250 Tel 07990 867339 / (HUDDERSFIELD)

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Arbroath Harbour

“Arbroath Harbour has 59 floating pontoon berths with security entrance which are serviced with electricity and fresh water to accommodate all types of leisure craft. Half height dock gates with a walkway are located between the inner and outer harbours, which open and close at half tide, maintaining a minimum of 2.5m of water in the inner harbour. Other facilities in the harbour include free parking, toilets and showers, a crew room, fueling facilities, on site laundry facilities and boat builders’ yard.

The town of Arbroath also offers a variety of social and sporting amenities to visiting crews and a number of quality pubs, restaurants, the famous Arbroath Harbour twelfth century Abbey and Signal “Arbroath Office Harbour has 59 ﬂoating pontoon berths with security entrance Harbour • Arbroath • DD11 1PD Tower Museum are located close to the which are serviced with electricity and fresh water to accommodate all types harbour. The railway and bus stations Harbour Master: Bruce Fleming of leisure craft. Half height dock gates with a walkway are located between are only 1km from the harbour with Tel: 01241 872166 the inner and outer harbours, which open and close at half tide, maintaining direct north and south connections.” Email: harbourmaster@angus.gov.uk a minimum of 2.5m of water in the inner harbour.

Other facilities in the harbour include free parking, toilets and showers, a crew room, fueling facilities, on site laundry facilities and boat builders’ yard. The town of Arbroath also offers a variety of social and sporting amenities Today with Yachts & Yachting to visiting crews and a number of quality Sailing pubs, restaurants, the famous twelfth century Abbey and Signal Tower Museum are located close to the harbour. The railway and bus stations are only 1km from the harbour with direct

OCTOBER 2021

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Jess Lloyd-Mostyn Imagine choosing to live in a shipping container for a decade. There are certain comparisons to be made betwen that and living on a boat - but they are dwarfed by the benefits

his month is our anniversary, ten years since we loosed the docklines from the UK. And though a sailing yacht that has taken us three quarters of the way round the globe is a far cry from a 40ft corrugated metal box, the volume is comparable. Yet, far from feeling boxed-in or cramped, this undeniably small space has seemed ample for our needs, both when there were just two of us and even now when there are five aboard. Why is that? Don’t get me wrong, I find it just as baffling as any of you reading this will. How have we not gone stir-crazy? Why is it that we’re not desperately longing to expand out into a five bedroom, three bathroom home on terra firma? What marriage could put up with this amount of togetherness? And surely, to throw three kids or babies into the mix means that we live in a tiny house of perpetual chaos? Well yes and no. Firstly, I attribute the sheer sense of spaciousness and volume entirely to good design. A successful yacht layout is all about the fittings and furniture working really hard. The sofa is comfortable but it also safely stows several jerry cans of fresh water underneath the seat cushions, along with an additional CQR anchor, the pump for our inflatable kayak, a basket containing onions and potatoes and a box full of sail mending equipment. In fact there are hidden storage cupboards squirreled away everywhere, which you simply don’t have in a house. Under beds, tables, floors are all manner of important boat bits or stored things, so that the remaining space looks deceptively simple, and clutter-free. A great advantage to living small is that everything is only an arm’s reach away. Underway you need to be able to quickly grab for a winch handle, or be only a few steps from the main sheet but the same goes for your living space. You never have to trudge up and down several flights of stairs to get a pair of binoculars, or a sewing kit or sink plunger. The cabin life is so holistic that you can have a precise awareness of the physical space that everyone is in and what they’re doing all at once. We have three cabins down below, two used as

bedrooms, one used for tools, projects and storage, but each member of the family could be in a different room and you’d still have a sense of where they are. There’s something comforting and secure about that, probably harking back to our ancient days as cave-dwellers. Yet at the same time the space is massive. We’re not pennedin by surrounding buildings or structures, even in the tightestpacked Caribbean anchorage or berthed in a vibrant city marina there is still a surrounding bubble of our ‘own space’ around us. At times there is nothing but endless horizon on all sides and an infinity pool that justifies the name. Wherever the boat is there is a feeling of the huge expanse above and outwards that this home actively engages with in a way that you don’t with the average house. Plus, the fact that the setting changes so much and so often adds movement and diversity, like changing all the pictures on your walls. And whilst the volume of the cabins doesn’t feel constrained or restricted on the other hand it does limit our amassing of additional ‘stuff ’. Things really need to earn their place to be considered worthy of being kept on board day after day, year after year, and it’s an ongoing constant assessment. We regularly edit down our number of possessions, be it clothes, toys, or other superfluous extras. There are no hidden drawers of broken, redundant electrical chargers or cupboards hiding little-used kitchen appliances. Everything needs to be needed, and wanted and used. And living this way certainly heightens your appreciation of just how much you consume and question whether you need to. All the while I think it’s important to make clear that I’ve never been what you would class as a minimalist and moving aboard wasn’t part of us trying to join the tiny house movement and make a conscious choice to live small. In fact, it never has once felt as though we’ve compromised on the things we own or the space we have. And each night, as we lounge back on our aft deck, watching the sun steadily dip lower, we feel lucky and our small home feels abundant. Is less truly more? For us it is.

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OCTOBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

JESS LLOYDMOSTYN Jess and James left the UK in 2011 in their Crossbow 42 and have sailed halfway round the world, growing their crew en route. Follow their journey at water-log.com

ILLUSTRATION: MICHAEL PARKIN

‘A great advantage to living small is that everything is only an arm’s reach away’

POOLE A HIDDEN TREASURE

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POOLE QUAY POOLE QUAY BOAT HAVEN BOAT HAVEN

PORT OFPOOLE POOLE PORT OF MARINA MARINA

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SWINGING MOORINGS

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Poole Town Quay, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HJ t: 01202 649488 | poolequayboathaven.co.uk

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