Sailing Today August 2015 - Preview

WIN Flexiteek decking worth £4,500 for your boat!

GO FURTHER I SAIL BETTER I BE INSPIRED August 2015 | sailingtoday.co.uk | £4.20

DESTINATION SPECIAL

Canary Islands Where to sail in Africa’s windy playground

GUYOUR G ST E U PE R IDE TE N T R SE O PO Y RT NEW BOAT TEST

Beneteau Oceanis 60 Flagship with a modest price tag

ANALYSIS

Med migrants

2015 AWARDS

Vote for your top boats, clubs, sailors and gear

SQUADRON MEN

The cruisers who made Britain’s top yacht club

ON THE HOOK

How to get a decent night’s sleep at anchor

WHICH RADAR

Choose your next radar with our jargon buster

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08

What does the crisis mean for your cruise?

REGULARS

8 News

Bart’s Bash for cruisers, diesel issues in Belgium and the Greek refugee crisis

16 First rate Objects and experiences to covet

26 Interview What it takes to get a job at Oyster

30 Paul Heiney Sod’s Law rules on a sunny day’s sail

34 Awards 2015 Vote for the best boats, gear, clubs and sailors in the cruising world

74 95 96 98

Books & apps What’s on Letters Dispatches

34

THE SAILING TODAY AWARDS 2015

CRUISING

18 Canaries

Your guide to Spain’s African islands

32 Blue note Don’t let maintenance spoil your sailing

50 Gull’s eye

70

St Peter Port, Guernsey’s Victoria Marina

56 Royal Yacht Squadron Two hundred years of cruising history

BOATS

14 New boats 42 Oceanis 60 Beneteau’s bargain flagship on test

76

84 Three of the best

GEAR

68 Flexiteek competition Win £4,500 of decking for your yacht

70 New gear From plotters to portable barbecues

73 Shortlist Sailing sunglasses

PRACTICAL

64 Comfort at anchor Beat rolling or sheering for a safe stay

76 Radar choice Cut through the clutter for your new set COVER IMAGE: GILLES MARTIN-RAGET

18

42

Welcome EDITORIAL EDITOR Sam Fortescue 020 7349 3752 sam.fortescue@chelseamagazines.com DEPUTY EDITOR Emma Bamford 020 7349 3753 emma.bamford@chelseamagazines.com SENIOR SUB-EDITOR Henry Giles henry.giles@chelseamagazines.com

Skipper’s View IT’S TIME TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE BOATS, SAILORS AND CLUBS IN SAILING TODAY’S FIRST-EVER ANNUAL AWARDS

ART & PRODUCTION EDITOR Geoff Barton PUBLISHING CONSULTANT Martin Nott

ADVERTISING ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER Jodie Green 020 7349 3722 jodie.green@chelseamagazines.com SALES EXECUTIVE Charlie Whitcombe 020 7349 3742 charlie.whitcombe@chelseamagazines.com ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION Allpoints Media Ltd allpointsmedia.co.uk

Published by: The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ Tel: 020 7349 3700 MANAGING DIRECTOR Paul Dobson samantha.oakes@chelseamagazines.com DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR Steve Ross steve.ross@chelseamagazines.com COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Vicki Gavin vicki.gavin@chelseamagazines.com PUBLISHER Simon Temlett simon.temlett@chelseamagazines.com

Subscriptions and back issues +44 (0)1795 419842 Sailing Today, 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne, ME9 8GU Tel: 01795 419842 Email: sailingtoday@servicehelpline.co.uk

DRUMROLL PLEASE: This issue sees the launch of Sailing Today’s first-ever annual awards, giving you, dear readers, the chance to make your voices heard in recognition of the year’s most impressive sailors, yacht clubs, marinas, boatbuilders and gear manufacturers.

To my knowledge there are no cruiser-based sailing awards in the UK, so we thought it was high time we launched some. The aim is to give the enthusiasts who sail the boats and use the kit a say, not just the yachting journalists and the industry professionals. Turn to page 34, where you can find the shortlisted candidates, some nominated by you and others chosen by our expert team. When you’re ready to vote, click on to sailingtoday.co.uk/awards2015 and follow the instructions there to register your vote.

You’ll be able to have your say until 23 August, then we’ll add up the votes and calculate the winner in each category in time for a special award ceremony at the Southampton Boat Show in September.

In the meantime, our expert panel will select winners in our boatbuilder of the year, green award and lifetime achievement categories. We’ll let you know who they are in our September issue.

Readers of Sailing Today, go forth and make your voices heard!

Elsewhere, summer sailing action is hotting up. By the time you read this, more than 1,500 boats will have competed in what looks like it should be a reasonably clement JP Morgan Asset Management Round The Island Race. The Royal Yacht Squadron’s bicentenary (see pages 56 to 62) will be in full swing, drawing some of the world’s finest yachts to the Solent - including at least four J-Class beauties, the 162ft schooner Eleanora, the all-carbon maxi Rambler and Mike Slade’s Leopard III. If you’re venturing farther afield this summer, you might find inspiration in our guide to cruising the Canary Islands (pages 18 to 25) and, wherever the winds take you this summer, be sure to check out our seamanship feature on anchoring techniques that will guarantee a good night’s sleep.

Sam Fortescue, editor

© The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2015.

All Rights Reserved. ISSN 0044-000 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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HILARY KEATINGE practically grew up in Dun Laoghaire harbour and has sailed in many corners of the world

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Cruising ~ Canary Islands

ROCKS IN THE SUN BANANA PANCAKE/ALAMY

Warm and windy all year round, the volcanic Canary Islands are a challenging playground for sailors. By Hilary Keatinge

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Boat test ~ Beneteau Oceanis 60

42

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THE YACHT INSURANCE SPECIALISTS

GALLIC GOLIATH Sam Jefferson finds Beneteau’s new Oceanis 60 to be playful in the gusts and handsome at the quay

GILLES MARTIN-RAGET

P

ermission to talk very briefly about the Peugeot 608: I realise it’s not a boat, but as the flagship executive saloon of the successful French car manufacturer’s range, it’s a big, comfortable, well-appointed motorway mile-muncher. Ever seen one? No. That’s because everyone in Britain who wants that sort of car has bought a BMW, an Audi or a Jaguar.

Beneteau’s new Oceanis 60 is the flagship cruising yacht of the popular French manufacturer’s range and is also a big, comfortable, wellappointed mile-muncher. But that’s where the similarity ends, because these things are flying off the shelves.

I must admit I was surprised, because in the 60ft size bracket for a yacht, you start to think about full-time crew and semi-custom fit out, à la Oyster and Swan. But Beneteau can build a versatile and sensibly designed cruising yacht at a keen price and so the Oceanis 60 is turning out to be a winning formula.

She looks good, particularly in her dark blue livery, and is big enough to pull off the trademark ‘spoiler’ or arch spanning the cockpit, which keeps the mainsheet out of the way. There’s nothing angular or bombastic about the yacht: she’s understated with pleasant lines

and a gentle, harmonious sheer.

Add to that her powerful rig, modest freeboard and sleek, low coachroof and she looks the part.

In fairness, she is already a tried and tested model, being essentially an elongated version of the old Oceanis 58. Yacht design is a funny thing; when the 58 was launched, she was widely praised for her unusual open transom with its deep step down into a large open area. With the 60, this

twin anchor roller, giving the anchor good clearance from the stem.

Beneteau also offers a self-tacking jib and if you choose this set up, a code 0 would be a real boon off the wind. Finally, there is a choice of keels – a shallower 2.2m (7ft 3in) or the standard 2.7m (8ft 10in) deep keel.

The cockpit set up is simple and distinctive, with a decent-sized seating area forward of the helm and then a smaller sunbathing and lounging area

IN FAIRNESS, SHE’S ALREADY TRIED AND TESTED, BEING AN ELONGATED VERSION OF THE OLD OCEANIS 58 has been decked over to create a far roomier cockpit with a tender garage underneath. It makes a lot of sense and the cockpit feels appreciably bigger than her predecessor’s.

Aside from that, there have been no radical changes to what was already a good yacht: she retains the moderate hull with soft chine and relatively wide aft sections which come from the design school of Berret Racoupeau. She has 9/10ths fractional rig and a 105 per cent genoa. The mast is stepped quite well aft, so the headsail is large, with a bit more offwind driving potential than some rivals. A short ‘bowsprit’ doubles as a

aft of the steering wheels. It sounds strange but it works well. All the running rigging is led back under the deck and emerges near the primary winches close to the helmsman. The rope bins are also sufficiently deep to prevent any horrific snarl-ups.

As with many wide-transomed modern yachts, the stern can feel a little exposed, despite the guard wires and the helmsman’s seats. There is access to the tender garage through a hatch on deck or by lowering the bathing platform. Despite her size, shoehorning the tender into the garage can be a bit of a mission and you may have to deflate the sponsons. sailingtoday.co.uk AUGUST 2015

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