Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting April 2021

VIRTUAL RYA DINGHY SHOW – FULL GUIDE INSIDE

with APRIL 2021 £4.95

BOAT TEST

SPIRIT 44E The future is here

FORECAST WITH CONFIDENCE How to read GRIB files

A LEGEND DEPARTS Farewell to Bob Fisher

AMERICA'S CUP Here come the Kiwis COWES GUIDE You think you know it?

VENDEE GLOBE Closest ever finish

BROADS HEAVEN Hire this summer!

© Konrad Frost / Volvo Ocean Race

B U I LT F O R T H E O C E A N Crosshaven The ultimate high-performance sailing boot

38

REGULARS

8 News 32 Paul Heiney 34 Andy Rice 36 Andi Robertson 44 Tom Cunliffe Night watch dilemmas and dramas

98 Jess Lloyd-Mostyn

UNDER SAIL 12 Bob Fisher remembered 26 America’s Cup Who can stop the Kiwis?

38 Vendee Globe A final wrap up of an action packed race

54 Tea on the Nile Dinghy racing well off the beaten track on the Blue and White Nile

58 Norfolk Broads The appeal of the Broads explored

70 Lofoten Islands Sailing in the land of the midnight sun

84 Gull’s Eye Insider’s guide to Cowes Harbour

BOATS

16 New boats 48 Spirit 44E

70

Electric motor, timeless elegance

92 Three of the Best

90

Three of the finest brokerage boats

GEAR

18 Dinghy Show

68

What to look out for as the 2021 RYA Dinghy Show goes online

58

62 Buyer’s Guide A look at what’s new in the world of antifouling

68 Shortlist Marine leisure batteries

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MASTERCLASS

74 How to Win

Jon Emmett takes a look atfitness regimes to shape up for a summe of racing

78 Weather and planning Dick Beaumont talks you through thebasics of blue water passage planning COVER IMAGE: SPIRIT YACHTS

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting NOVEMBER 2020

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I N S P I R E , E D U C AT E A N D FA C I L I TAT E ACCESS TO THE FREEDOM OF BEING O N T H E WAT E R # I N YO U R E L E M E N T

@ROOSTERKIT R O O S T E R S A I L I N G . CO M + 4 4 ( 0 ) 1 2 4 3 389997

Welcome

EDITORIAL EDITOR

Sam Jefferson 020 3943 9261 sam.jefferson@chelseamagazines.com

YACHTS & YACHTING EDITOR

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

Skipper’s View SINGLEHANDING AT HIGH SPEED AND A TRIBUTE TO ONE OF THE HEAVYWEIGHTS OF SAILING JOURNALISM

ART & PRODUCTION EDITOR Gareth Lloyd Jones PUBLISHING CONSULTANT Martin Nott PUBLISHER Simon Temlett simon.temlett@chelseamagazines.com ADVERTISING ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER Jodie Green 020 7349 3722 jodie.green@chelseamagazines.com Mark Harrington 020 7349 3734 mark.harrington@chelseamagazines.com ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION Allpoints Media Ltd allpointsmedia.co.uk CHAIRMAN Paul Dobson CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Vicki Gavin MANAGING DIRECTOR James Dobson CHELSEA CREATE MANAGING DIRECTOR Steve Ross PARTNERSHIPS DIRECTOR Lyndall Beeton 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)

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AS THE VENDEE GLOBE winds up and the America's Cup heats up, I just wanted to extend a hearty thanks to the fates and the organisers of both events which has ensured in this most numbing of winters, there is still plenty to keep us distracted and provide welcome succour in grim times.

At present, any distraction is welcome and both events could not have been more obliging in dishing up relentless action. With the Vendee fleet now safely returned, all that remains is to doff a cap to their extraordinary feat of endurance. In many cases, modern technology can tend to cosset us from the harsh realities of life and sometimes even strip us of important skills. Yet with the Vendee racers, every single advance in technology seems to make their lives harder as it makes their racing machines faster and therefore even more gruelling to sail on. Plus the one thing you can't get away from is that you are sailing solo 24/7 for weeks on end. The question of night watches is touched on by Tom Cunliffe on p44 and, although he is talking in less turbocharged terms, his discussion the early dilemmas on whether to keep a watch while short handed on a long ocean crossing is thought provoking.

Having done a few solo overnighters where I have given myself a joyless 15 minutes on/15 minutes off routine I can attest to just how psycholgically crushing this was. Extrapolate something like that over several months and you have to tip your cap to the Vendee racers - and perhaps book them straight in with a psychiatrist when they are back on land.

Veering abruptly away from that, the sad news that Yachts and Yachting stalwart Bob Fisher passed away in January was most unwelcome. Turn to p12 for a full obituary. I worked with Bob fleetingly when I was Deputy Editor of Yachts and Yachting and generally had to get in touch to enquire whether he thought the contents of that month's column might not land us in court. He was a colourful character of the old school and certainly one who did not mince his words. Yet he was also a gent and the sailing world will miss him. Fair winds, Bob.

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CONTRIBUTORS

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.

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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

NICK COGHLAN is a retired Diplomat based in Canada. He and his wife Jenny specialise in sailing off the beaten track

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

5

Fjord transit This iconic view looking down on the small fishing port of Reine in Norway’s Lofoten archipelago captures the magic of this gem of a cruising ground. Its blend of dramatic snowy peaks, sheltered bays and stretches of open seas covers almost 500 square miles and has been a magnet for adventurous sailors for many decades. Turn to page 70 where contibutor Nick Huxford narrates his adventures in the land of the midnight sun Primeimages/iStock

News

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

Australian yachtsman Jon Sanders has become the oldest person to sail solo around the world, aged 81, after he arrived home in Fremantle on 30 January. It was his 11th solo circumnavigation.

Sanders arrived back after 455 days away. He had to extend the trip by six months because of Covid restrictions.

At sea, he said he saw some of the roughest conditions he has known.

His latest voyage was supported by the Minderoo Foundation, which works to combat plastic pollution in the oceans.

Sanders said: “As someone who has spent more than 60 years traversing and enjoying the world’s oceans, I could not sit idly by and watch that same environment be choked to death with plastic waste.

“My voyage has given me a unique opportunity to contribute to scientific research on microplastics, particularly in the Indian, Atlantic, Pacific and Southern oceans.”

Each day of the voyage, Sanders filtered 100

PHOTOS: EMMA DOLZADELLI

Incredible Sanders does it again

litres of ocean water and at each port of call, the filters were sent for analysis by researchers at Curtin University in Perth.

Sanders’ yacht, Perie Banou, is a Sparkman & Stephens 34, 45 years old, built for the One Ton Cup. His longest voyage was an extraordinary three circumnavigations in a row, covering 71,000nm and spending 678 days alone at sea, in 1986-8. The achievement earned him an OBE.

He did his first circumnavigation from 1975 to 1977, setting off when he was 36. In 1981 he set off again, going round alone twice without stopping.

British Jeanne Socrates has sailed around the world solo five times and holds the record for the oldest solo, non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation. She completed her voyage in September 2019. noplasticwaste.org

The Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series will run until August, after Covid restrictions prevented most of its events taking place.

Only the Datchet Flyer was able to run. As the other events were postponed or cancelled, the series organisers put on webinars and online talks that proved hugely popular.

Now series co-organisers Andy Rice (read Andy’s column on page 34) and Simon Lovesey have agreed with title sponsor Seldén Masts to continue to the series through to a concluding event at Rutland Water, the rescheduled John Merricks Tiger Trophy on the last weekend of August.

“This is probably the first time a winter series will be taking place during the warm months of the year,” said Andy. “But the focus for

8

TIM OLIN

Dinghy series to run all summer

me and Simon has always been to maximise participation in dinghy racing by whatever means we can.

With so many summer regattas and national championships being cancelled already, and the ever-present problem of too many of the smaller classes trying to organise single-class open meetings where they can’t even guarantee a turnout of 20 boats, we’re looking to offer a more

APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

sustainable option with the multi-class handicap events throughout the spring and summer.”

Simon has been spearheading the continuation of sailing wherever possible within Covid guidelines, via his non-for-profit organisation RestartSailing, which he established last year.

Simon said: “We are working with sailing clubs that are keen to

make things happen wherever it is possible to do so in a safe, Covid-compliant manner.

“If any club or class wants us to help them put on a sustainable, profitable, fun and safe event, we’re ready to talk with them.”

Contact Simon on simon.lovesey@sailracer.co.uk The following events are in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series (Summer Edition!): Alton Water 27-28 March Paignton Open for Single Handers (P.O.S.H.) 8-9 May Grafham Belle 29-30 May Wilsonian River Challenge 26-27 June Bala Long Distance 19-20 June Tiger Trophy 28-29 August SailJuiceSeries.com

News

NEWS BRIEFS Cheaper Vendée Globe French veteran Jean Le Cam has called on the Vendée Globe organisers to ensure the race remains ‘accessible’. Le Cam, aged 61, who finished fourth overall after his rescue of Kevin Escoffier, said: “Today this race is becoming financially inaccessible.

There are boats at €6-7 million, so you wonder if you need to have a multi-national sponsor to be able to participate and not be left out on the sidelines.”

Buckler’s Hard 50th A £2m redevelopment of Buckler’s Hard Yacht Harbour will be completed in the year that marks the 50th anniversary of the Beaulieu River marina. It was opened by Lord Montagu with Sir Chay Blyth 50 years ago. The new-look marina contains 66 additional berths. A celebration is planned for Saturday 1 May, with guests from the 1971 launch.

British sailor Pip Hare crossed the line of the Vendée Globe in 19th place on her boat Medallia after 94 days at sea.

Hare, aged 47, from Poole, finished on Thursday 11 February close to midnight, making her the first Briton to finish this edition of the race, after Alex Thomson and Sam Davies retired into Cape Town after collisions. Miranda Merron was approaching the Azores as Hare finished.

Hare, whose achievement was celebrated on the front of the Times newspaper, said she was overwhelmed with the messages of support, which she had only been able to read upon arriving.

She said: “I’m coming to terms with how many people have been following my story and engaged with it. I’m stunned. It’s a little bit hard to comprehend. For all those people who are sending the most beautiful comments, it’s been an utter privilege to share this with you and thankyou so much.”

Speaking on the dock as she tied up, she said: “I’ve made mistakes and I’ve learned from them. I can’t believe the race I’ve had. I never thought I’d be playing with foiling boats and it’s been incredible.”

Asked about the highlights, she said: “Any time I’m pushing the boat hard and it feels good, my first 400-mile day, looking at the rankings and seeing I was the fastest boat in the fleet, and just being at sea – I love it, it’s where I belong. It’s an incredible race. It stretches you so much as a person. Why would you not want to come and do it again?”

Medallia hinted they would be interested in continuing the partnership with Hare but there is no official agreement.

Hare’s final week at sea saw the most difficult and uncomfortable conditions of her race. She suffered a last-minute drama when her gennaker strop failed

and the massive sail streamed overboard, as she entered the Bay of Biscay. Hare deliberately gybed to put Medallia on her side, climbed up the deck and hauled in the water-filled sail over the high rail.

Sam Davies had almost completed her circumnavigation as we went to press, having retired from the race but continued around the world after making repairs in Cape Town.

Alex Thomson is now back in Portsmouth, having sailed Hugo Boss home. He said: “It’s great to be back home. 8,000 miles – I’ve learned an awful lot, as we always do when we go sailing, and I’m looking forward to looking back at that data and doing some analysis.

“I know a lot of you have been asking what’s next for me and the team. Well, there’s a lot to think about.

“There are a lot of opportunities and I’ll be sitting down with my team over the next few weeks to talk about it. So as soon as I know…you’ll know!”

Round Britain and Ireland 2022 The Royal Western YC has announced that entry for the RB&I 2022 is open. The race has been developed to embrace short-handed offshore crews, with a ‘more balanced course’, to encourage those aiming to participate in the double-handed offshore event of the Paris Olympics.

Starting and finishing in Plymouth, the clockwise course will have three compulsory 48-hour stop overs in Galway, Lerwick and Blyth. To express an interest, email rbandi@rwyc.org Round Iceland Another initiative from the Royal Western YC (see above) is the Round Iceland Race 2023. Rear Commodore Oceanic, Adrian Gray, said: “At 2,750 miles, the Round Iceland Race is set to challenge anyone who takes it on. In time we hope this race will become a true classic, just as the OSTAR is today. The race will start and finish in Plymouth, the course will simply be to leave Iceland to starboard.”

UKSA build plans UKSA is building a new 136-bed accommodation block in Cowes and work will start in February. The site will enable an additional 3,000 children and young people to visit the sail training charity each year.

The project has been made possible by a number of donations.

IRC for 2021 The Royal Ocean Racing Club has adjusted its IRC rating for 2021 to include a new definition of a Flying Headsail, which encompasses some Code Zero sails that do not measure as a spinnaker. A new definition of Spinnaker Pole Length has also been added to enable IRC to better rate boats with both a bowsprit and spinnaker poles. The 2021 IRC software includes changes to the rating of whisker poles.

Details at ircrating.org/irc-rule/

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

MEDALLIA PHOTOS RICHARD LANGDON; LE CAM BY VENDEE GLOBE

Pip Hare 19th in Vendée Globe

Seafarer flotilla After a successful debut in 2020, Seafarer is running its UK South Coast flotilla cruise again, starting on 15 August. The company is offering two routes of seven nights each, which can be combined. Boats sail with a knowledgeable lead yacht, offering guidance and support. seafarersailing.co.uk

9

News

You pay for flare disposal, says Government Sailors may be forced to pay for the safe disposal of flares, following a UK Government consultation that is critical of the marine industry.

The Department for Transport is asking for responses before 15 March and proposes a ‘polluter pays’ concept, pointing to other industries that produce waste.

In those instances, the DfT says “industry itself is legally required to have in place effective mechanisms and processes that facilitate the safe management, containment, storage and disposal of such items…and for which they’re usually obliged to pay”.

“It’s perhaps not unreasonable, therefore, to encourage the recreational boating sector to

adopt a similar approach in disposing of its own waste products,” the consultation says.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has voluntarily provided a free flare disposal

service for leisure boat owners for a number of years through 17 Coastguard stations, plus through the RNLI in Poole.

The contract that the MCA has in place with a commercial ordnance company comes to an end in December 2021, hence the consultation.

There are about 360,000 flares in circulation during any one three-year period, it says, adding: “The [marine] industry has so far failed to organise itself in such a way as to be able to offer the extremely diverse boat-owning community robust options and solutions that work across the UK.” Responses are asked for by 15 March. Visit gov.uk and search for ‘Disposal of pleasure vessel marine flares’.

Classic schooner sinks There was widespread dismay as the news broke in February that the 1902 Fred Shepherd schooner Coral of Cowes had sunk off Crete with the loss of her owner.

Reports said the owner had gone down with the yacht. A police investigation was underway as we went to press, with hopes that the boat would

be raised. She sunk in a shallow part of Souda Bay, on the north west coast of the island. The owner’s dog, Friar Tuck, was found clinging to the half-sunken boat. The 98ft (30m) schooner was well-known and much loved across the classic boat world, having raced extensively from Cowes, in the Caribbean and in the Mediterranean.

Skip to speak Skip Novak will be keynote speaker at the virtual RYA Cruising Conference on 21 March 2021.

The Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race veteran’s presentation, ‘How excelling in basic boating skills can enable you to accomplish your cruising dreams,’ will focus on the advantages of utilising uncomplicated on-board systems when voyaging. He will draw on his own experience over the past 30 years of sailing in high latitudes.

Places are free for RYA Members and £10 for non-members.

Search rya.org.uk for details of how to register.

Foiling race circuit A new foiling circuit is being launched around the UK by the ASC Performance Academy, part of the Andrew Simpson Foundation.

The circuit will be raced in the Skeeta and Nikki foiling boats. The academy says: “We aim to provide continued high-quality foiling coaching and a foiling race circuit throughout the UK. With four GP events planned for this year alone, it is the first foiling circuit specifically

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APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

designed for adults, youth, and junior sailors.”

The academy offers training for junior and youth sailors in a number of different classes and also has a junior and youth foiling pathway programme for sailors and windsurfers. The initiative will be delivered at Andrew Simpson Centres and partnering venues in regions throughout the UK. ascperformanceacademy.org

News

SailGP ready for global season SailGP this year will feature eight national teams, made up of some the sailing’s best athletes, racing in eight events across three continents. The schedule represents an expansion from five events in the league’s inaugural season of 2019 and is due to kick off in Bermuda in April. It will make for a fascinating regatta, with rivalries from the America’s Cup, which will have finished just weeks earlier, being resumed. The Plymouth event is set for 17-18 July. SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts said: “In just over three months, we’ll have the world’s best sailors lining up in equally matched boats for what is shaping up to be some of the sport’s most competitive racing yet.”

Position: The traditionalist When the heat is on, don’t be afraid to get back to basics

W

e’ve heard of athletes taking ice baths, or wearing ice-packs within their shirts, in order to keep cool in very hot sporting venues.

Recently one clothing manufacturer has taken to using a material used in chewing gum to help sailors feel refreshed on the water.

All interesting and no doubt effective sports technology.

But there is never any harm in adopting a more traditional approach. Laser sailor Nick Thompson here looks quite gentlemanly as he drifts downwind in a Hempel World Cup Series in Japan, possibly between races rather than during, or he no doubt would have been using the parasol for added sail area.

DIFFICULTY RATING: 1/5

He looks quite gentlemanly as he drifts downwind Quote and buy online at www.noblemarine.co.uk or call us on 01636 707606 Authorised & regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

11

Farewell ~ Bob Fisher

Bob Fisher 1935 - 2021

Tributes have flowed in for our legendary writer after he died in January. Colleague and friend Barry Pickthall looks back

B

Wherever you went in the world, Bob knew everyone… A real character…just a lovely man”.

Fisher’s interest in the America’s Cup began in 1967 crewing for Peter Schneidau on the British C-Class catamaran defender Lady Helmsman against the Australian Little America’s Cup challenger Quest III. Lady Helmsman had won the trophy the previous year in the hands of fellow Brightlingsea sailors Reg White and John Osborn, and many deemed her too heavy to be competitive a second time round against a much lighter opponent.

They had not taken account of the Brits’ secret weapon – a radical wing mast that led to an easy 4:1 victory.

Lady H’s one loss came when a centreboard snapped, shattering the case and damaging a hull. The final race, held off Thorpe Bay where Y&Y had its office in a converted beachside café, was a horizon job despite Schneidau being knocked unconscious by the boom, leaving Bob to come off the wire and take the helm for several minutes while Peter recovered his senses. They still won by an 11-minute margin.

Fisher’s prize was an all-expenses paid trip to Newport, Rhode Island to watch the American 12m yacht ALL PHOTOS PPL MEDIA

ob Fisher, the larger-thanlife yachtsman, Yachts & Yachting columnist, author and raconteur, died in January after a gallant fight against cancer, sparking tributes from around the globe. He was 85.

Bob had been a prime contributor to this magazine since the early 1970s when as a championship winning crewman in the Hornet and Fireball classes, he found writing race reports a good way to supplement his sailing.

Born and bred in Brightlingsea, he developed a life-long love of the sport from the professional fishermen in the town regaling their experiences as crewmen aboard the big yachts of their day, including Shamrock, Endeavour and Endeavour II. Bob’s own reputation grew from championship-winning crew to one of the most influential and knowledgeable names in the sport Three days before his death, Sir Ben Ainslie called from Auckland after INEOS Team UK had just won their thrilling round robins race against the Italians to dedicate their victory to him. In a later tribute Sir Ben called Fisher “the doyen of yachting correspondents and a very good yachtsman in his own right.

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

ABOVE LEFT Bob attending the SINS America’s Cup lunch in the Candy Store, Newport Rhode Island, during the 1983 America’s Cup BELOW LEFT Circa 1967, the Little America’s Cup. Bob at full stretch with helmsman Peter Schneidau aboard the British C-Class catamaran defender Lady Helmsman, which beat the Australians 4:1 BELOW CENTRE Circa 1963, again the Little America’s Cup, with Bob helping walk the British C-Class catamaran Hellcat III to the water’s edge at Brightlingsea, during early sailing trials BELOW RIGHT Circa 1958; Bob was an early proponent of the Jack Holt-designed Hornet performance class dinghy, winning his first world championship with Roy Partridge in 1958; the two won the nationals in 1961 and Bob went on to win a further four Hornet championships with various helmsmen during the 1960s

Intrepid beat the Australian challenger Dame Pattie in the real America’s Cup. It led to a life-long obsession with Bob covering 16 Cup matches since, bar the current racing off Auckland. These experiences are recounted in five books on the America’s Cup, culminating with his greatest work, An Absorbing Interest, a two-volume opus covering the entire history of the Cup for which he gained the tag ‘Mr America’s Cup’.

Volume III, taking the Cup history up to the present time, is expected to be published in the autumn.

Bob and Tornado Gold medallist Reg White were best buddies from an early age. They escaped conscription together by spending two intense days climbing steps and jumping down after Reg’s father told them the exercise would give them ‘flat feet’. It worked, with both failing their medicals. Reg made his name making and racing multihulls, sometimes with Bob. They won the 1974 IYRU (Now World Sailing) trials to select an international Class B catamaran which led to their Tornado being selected for the Olympics. Bob tried his hand at several professions, as a trainee dentist and accountant, before landing a job with the BBC as a

promotion trailer producer, making short promos about forthcoming TV programmes. He became known for his sailing prowess and was invariably called on as the BBC’s in-house expert on anything to do with wind and watersports. He taught children’s presenter Valerie Singleton to go boating during one Blue Peter programme, which led to the two almost sinking the powerboat on the Thames, but much more memorable was the time he was called on to demonstrate the new sport of hang-gliding. The take-off went well enough but flying in fast downwind he came down to earth with a bump – straight into a gorse bush. Being live, it is the only time during the six-decade history of Blue Peter that the ‘bleep’ button has had to be pressed.

I first met Bob in 1971, when as a greenhorn editorial assistant at Y&Y, I sometimes subbed his copy. We became firm friends, and as our careers developed – he as yachting correspondent for the Guardian and Observer newspapers, and I first with the Sunday Times and then The Times – our lives became intertwined. He was my pen monitor (for I never seemed to have one to hand), mobile abacus (we could

never fault his ability at mental arithmetic) and minder. Loud and wrathful he may have been at times, but he always showed enormous loyalty to friends and fellow commentators. He got me out of many a scrape and sometimes, such as at the finish of the first Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race in 1978, I had the opportunity to reciprocate.

He and I had joined 500 other media aboard two chartered jumbo jets on a free junket to watch the finish in Guadeloupe. We were told that since our flight had arrived 1 hour 20 minutes early at the spartan island airport, and the second plane was due shortly, we should make our own way to our designated hotel. I arrived at the foyer to find Fisher angrily throwing pot plants at the concierge.

He stopped to let me approach the desk and find that I too did not have a booking. With that, the pot plants started flying again. I whispered to the concierge: “I know this man – do you have a spare room anywhere that I can take him?” I was hastily given a key and whisked Fish off before the police arrived.

Bob was just as forthright in campaigning against injustice.

During one Hornet championship at Whitstable, he led a crew strike,

ABOVE LEFT Circa 1991, Bob hosts a party aboard his yacht Barracuda of Tarrant, at Cowes, serving rum punch from the liferaft well ABOVE RIGHT With Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on Barracuda, setting out in the 1986 Round Britiain Race BELOW LEFT Bob enjoys a laugh with Dee early in their relationship BELOW RIGHT With America’s Cup luminaries Sir James Hardy (left) and Harold Cudmore of Britain’s challenger White Crusader, at the launch of Bob’s first book about the America’s Cup, 12 Metre Images, during the 1987 Cup in Fremantle, Australia

leaving non-plussed skippers standing knee-deep in water, holding the bow of their boats for an hour.

Barry Dunning, another great crew from that era, who later in life shared ownership of two yachts with Bob, recalls: “A whistle sounded from the yacht club and all crews downed tools and returned to the bar where 60 pints were ready lined up. The protest was for crews to be recognised by officials as part of a team worthy enough to be named in the results and on the trophies.”

As the beer flowed, the Crews’ Union rules were formulated: Rule 1: No Helmsman should rig a boat without it being checked by the crew.

Rule 2: All crew to be mentioned at prize-givings.

Rule 3: Helmsman to buy the beers for their crew after racing.

Rule 4: See Rule 3…. …And so the rule book went on in an increasingly indecipherable script to end with: Rule 10: Thou shalt conduct thyself with decorum in the presence of thy helmsman, if thou consider it so fit.

Having set their agenda, Bob led the crews back down the beach to resume that day’s race… and crews, who after all, always finish ahead of their helmsman, have been given due respect ever since.

Always controversial, Bob’s forthright comments in his Y&Y column ‘Bob Fisher Airs his Views’ invariably drew anger and handshakes in about equal measure.

His detractors made much of Bob’s highly publicised escapades; hitting the Varvassi wreck close to the Needles lighthouse during one Round the Island Race, a week after writing “Anyone who hits the wreck should not be allowed out afloat on Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

13

ALL PHOTOS PPL MEDIA

Farewell ~ Bob Fisher

their own”, then running his 45ft Barracuda of Tarrant up on Bembridge Ledge while returning from a cross-Channel race. There was also the little incident between the maxi yacht Drum, which Bob happened to be helming, and the submarine HMS Otus, during a cruise through a fog-shrouded Mull of Kintyre. The sub suffered £1m worth of damage to its conning tower.

Bob treated these misadventures as badges of honour. David Latchford, Commodore of the South West Shingles YC, where membership is by invitation only to those who have performed humorous incidents afloat, and has had such luminaries as Ben Ainslie, Tony Bullimore and Harold Cudmore among its number, says of Bob: “He had to be reminded that it was not necessary to qualify every year!”

Full of bonhomie ashore, Bob’s persona changed afloat the moment the 10-minute signal fired, and his competitiveness kicked in. His own sailing progressed through keelboats – he campaigned a Soling during the build-up to the 1976 Olympics – to offshore and later ocean racing. Lady Pippa Blake recalls the first time she

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

met Bob aboard the 76ft wooden maxi Condor, skippered by her husband Peter Blake, during the 1979 Sydney-Hobart. “We finished 2nd across the line on New Year’s Eve just as the pubs were shutting. Somehow we met up with Captain Baines from the Onedin Line TV series and finished up singing in the New Year in the gents toilet of the Customs House pub, with Bob centre stage!”

Bob never turned down a good sail. He was navigator aboard Ludde Ingvall’s 80ft maxi Nicorette when they broke the west/east monohull transatlantic record from in 1997, and was always up for a ride on a Whitbread 60, a class he did much to found and promote.

Then there was his two-man Round Britain Race campaigns. He sailed with Les Williams on the Whitbread maxi FCF Challenger in 1982 and in the next race with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on Barracuda of Tarrant. Sir Robin recalls: “Not only did we beat every boat under 65 feet, we had a fantastic time doing it.

I will always remember before leaving Barra, the second stop, Bob asking the hotel waiter for a bottle of Claret to drink with our breakfast.

ABOVE LEFT Start of the first Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race with Chay Blyth’s ‘Great Britain II’ leading Eric Tabarly’s French entry ‘Pen Duick VI’.

Bob was instrumental in the creation of the Whitbread 60 class and was one of only three journalists to have covered all the Whitbread and Volvo races ABOVE RIGHT Bob campaigned to establish a trust fund that will ensure the grave of Charlie Barr, which Bob had found in disrepair, will be cared for in perpetuity BELOW LEFT Bob with Barry Dunning on Rosenn BELOW RIGHT Barry Pickthall with Bob at the launch of their book Sailing Legends

The waiter looked non-plussed, so Bob underlined his demand with “Don’t you normally serve Claret for breakfast round here?’”

Barracuda of Tarrant was a very forward-thinking design, born out of the BBC drama series Howards Way, set around a Hamble boatyard in the late 1980s, for which Bob played the role of technical advisor. Bob was proud when Barracuda was voted ‘Yacht of the Year’ at the1987 Silk Cut Nautical Awards. In later years he enjoyed sailing the classic 1896 West Solent One Design, Rosenn, coowned with Barry Dunning.

One inexperienced crewman, press-ganged to join her crew for the Round the Island Race one year, summed up the thoughts of many at Bob’s passing with a Facebook tribute: “Bob, you abused me the whole way round the Island…And I loved it!”

Bob Fisher is survived by his wife Dee, two children Alice and Carolyne, three grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Donations in Bob Fisher’s memory can be sent to the Sir Thomas Lipton Foundation at sirthomasliptonfoundation.org

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New boats DESIGNS | LAUNCHES | PROJECTS

Oystercatcher XXXV Oystercatcher XXXV joins a long line of racing yachts built for Richard Matthews – ex proprietor of Oyster Yachts. This is a latest 52ft IRC racer designed by Shaun Carkeek. The boat is beamy and powerful, featuring twin rudders that point to a yacht that will be fast and relatively easy to control on a reach, suggesting a yacht that can be campaigned successfully in offshore races. However, the design team has been keen to make this yacht as versatile as possible and, to this end, a single rudder option is a possibility. Designer Shaun Carkeek explains: “I wanted to design a boat that could be sailed by 10 offshore without giving up any performance on the coastal and 600 mile races, all the while being equally strong inshore against the TPs around the cans.” l carkeekdesignpartners.com

J/Boats J/9 J\Boats continues the expansion of its range with the addition of a fun looking new boat in the form of the J/9. J/Boats describe this 28’ yacht as a day sailer – which is quite large to sit in that bracket and, in fact, there is modest accommodation including heads so I would definitely put this in the weekender bracket. The boat is good looking and there has been an emphasis on keeping things simple and fun. Tiller steering is standard, for example. There is the option of an inboard diesel or electric motor or outboard on a bracket. It is light at 1,927kg and can be easily trailered. l Jboats.com

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APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

Oyster 495 Oyster Yachts continue their renaissance with another new launch.

This is the smallest Oyster in a good while and is part of owner Richard Hadida’s vision to make the marque more accessible – although that is all relative of course because this is still very much a top end luxury yacht. Rob Humphreys is retained as the designer and the set up is the familiar centre cockpit/deck saloon layout seen on the larger Oysters. Below the waterline there are twin rudders while you can expect an exquisitely finished interior. l oysteryachts.com

ORC 57 ORC is a new range of fast bluewater cruising catamarans (ORC stands for Ocean Rider Catamarans – nothing to do with Lord of the Rings). The 57 is a brand new design from the pen of Marc Lombard. This is a big boat that looks like it definitely sits at the high performance end of. The cruising cat range. Displacement is comparatively moderate and sail area generous. It looks like a boat that would win you the ARC and then provide a comfortable platform for a barbecue afterwards. l marsaudon-composites.com

Dufour 61 Dufour’s new 61 footer is their biggest yacht to date and therefore understandably their flagship.

This Felci design sticks to the template of the smaller boats in the range but is, well, just a lot bigger. Given that the smaller boats in their range already offer an awful lot of volume thanks to

chined hulls and broad aft sections, you can obviously divine that this is a truly huge boat.

Handling is kept simple thanks to the option of a self tacking jib among other things and, despite the size, this is still a yacht that looks like it has been built with couples sailing in mind. l dufour-yachts.com

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

17

Dinghy Show

Virtual RYA Dinghy Show We preview some of the highlights of the virtual edition of the popular Dinghy Show, which runs over 27-28 February for free

T

he virtual RYA Dinghy Show presented by Suzuki takes place over the weekend of 27-28 February.

The show is free, interactive and accessible to view on any device.

You can visit and talk to more than 100 exhibitors, many of whom have show offers, while on the main stage and in the Knowledge Zone there is a series of great talks from top sailors and coaches – all for free.

Once registered (visit the website

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

dinghyshow.org.uk) you can visit the show from wherever you are, and there is no limit to the number of times you can log in. You don’t need to install any software.

Those registered receive a copy of the show guide and an instruction guide providing step by step tips on how to navigate the show, from accessing the show halls and interacting with exhibitors, to viewing the talks and how to collect everything in your show bag.

The easy-to-use platform also

ABOVE There will be technical support on hand and easy nav around the event BELOW RIGHT Hannah Diamond is hosting the show

offers live technical support throughout the weekend for those unfamiliar with attending online events.

Professional sailor Hannah Diamond will host the show. From medal races to ocean races, Hannah has raced across the breadth of our sport and will be helping to guide visitors around the show plus interviewing sailing legends and industry experts across the two stages.

Register by visiting dinghyshow.org.uk

Saturday

Quick glance at what’s on

1100 Rio 2016 gold medallist and current 470 world champion Hannah Mills talks about her preparations for Tokyo 2020 and how she’s handling the current restrictions (Suzuki Main Stage) 1130 Racing tips from GB’s ILCA stars Alison Young, Elliot Hanson and Lorenzo Chiavarini (Knowledge Zone) Noon Top coach and our regular writer Mark Rushall talks tactics for the beat, run and start plus an update on the racing rules of sailing (Knowledge Zone) 1300 The winner of the annual RYA and Yachts & Yachting Club of the Year competition supported by Gallagher is announced (Suzuki Main Stage) 1415 How Quadriplegic sip and puff sailor Natasha Lambert went from keelboat sailing to completing her biggest challenge yet when she crossed the Atlantic (Suzuki Main Stage) 1500 Concours d’Elegance (Boat of the Show) – Ben Saxton and Mark Jardine talk dinghy classes and reveal the boat of the show (Suzuki Main Stage) All day Kit Picks: our group editor Rob Peake reviews his pick of gear from the show, viewable all weekend (Suzuki Main Stage)

Sunday

1030 Q&A with the Tokyo 2021 Team GB Sailors (Suzuki Main Stage) 1200 Dinghy Cruising Adventures with Roger Barnes – tips on how to prepare, stay safe and make the most of your trip; followed by RYA Dinghy Cruising Trails launch (see overleaf) (Suzuki Main Stage) 1230 Mike McNamara shares his top tips on how to rig your boats in different conditions (Knowledge Zone) 1615 Seven Dinghies for Seven Decades – historian David Henshall as he travels back in time to the very first show in 1952 and examines one boat per decade that helped define the time (Suzuki Main Stage) All day both days Come and say hello at the Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting stand. We are proud to be the official media partner for the show and we will be on our stand all weekend to discuss the magazine and all things dinghy sailing. You can also take advantage of our special show subscription offer Full the full schedule see dinghyshow.org.uk

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

19

Vendée Globe Dinghy Show

Sailing Legends Back in the 1980s when the Dinghy Show was held at Crystal Palace, a 16-year-old called Ian Walker visited the event for the first time. He was the Mirror national champion and had been asked to exhibit his winning boat.

Ian has been at every show since then and the years in between have also seen him become one of our most successful sailors, a figurehead in the sport and a hero to countless young sailors worldwide.

Ian will be presenting a talk at the virtual show this year on three of his own all-time sailing heroes.

“There are lots of brilliant sailors out there,” says Ian, who is RYA Director of Racing, admitting the choice was tough.

His selection of Santiago Lange, Russell

Coutts and Xu Lijia [known as Lilly] was based on the wider work and inspiration the three have provided, on top of their sailing achievements.

“With Lilly, it is such an interesting story in terms of her sailing development, not living with her parents from the age of 10, effectively becoming a professional sailor at that age, and making her way through the Chinese system,” said Ian. After an extraordinary career, overcoming countless adversities, Lilly won Laser bronze in 2008 and gold in 2012.

Ian continued: “With Russell – fundamentally he is the most successful America’s Cup sailor of all time.

“He’s won it five times, three times as skipper and twice as CEO. On top of that

BELOW Ian Walker with the British Sailing Team at last year’s show

there’s his support for youth sailing, in New Zealand through the Bic one design, also the SailGP Inspire programme, and the engagement with youth in Bermuda 2017.”

Santiago Lange is the Argentinean sailor who on top of a stellar sailing CV in the America’s Cup, in dinghy and offshore sailing, won gold at the Rio Games, aged 55, in the Nacra 17 class.

“It’s such an incredible story,” said Ian, “and he did it having recovered from lung cancer. I wanted to talk to him for his success across multiple branches of the sport.”

Ian said: “I have asked each of them what advice they’d give to young sailors and how they started out themselves.”

Looking forward to the Dinghy Show, as ever, and interested to see how a virtual event can engage with the existing and a new audience, Ian said: “I’ve been going to the show for 35 years and the reason that it’s so successful is its ability to connect people.

“You can connect the very top of the sport with those just starting out in their junior years. Certainly my lasting image of the 2020 show is of the Olympic sailors signing autographs, doing Q&A sessions and meeting all the kids and giving their time. That is something that’s special and maybe doesn’t happen in other sports.”

Watch Ian’s discussion with Lilly, Russell and Santiago at 1600, Saturday, on the Suzuki Main Stage

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

Protecting Our Playground GB windsurfer Saskia Sills will be among those talking about environmental issues at a talk called ‘Protecting our Playground’ at the Dinghy Show.

The talk will be led by Kate Fortnum of The Green Blue, with tips on what we can all do to start environmentally friendly habits and how we can take existing measures to the next level.

Kate said: “Top sailors will be sharing some of the positive actions that they’ve seen and giving us some top tips.”

Last year’s show saw a standingroom only talk led by Kate and she says the Dinghy Show crowd is a very proactive audience: “We have questions from clubs, from parents, from youngsters – it’s a real mix. There is a definitely a driving interest in sustainability from the younger generation and the parents are following suit.”

The Green Blue, a joint programme from the RYA and British Marine, was launched in 2005. How far have we come since then?

Kate paid tribute to long-term ambassador Mike Golding and said: “We’ve made massive steps in the marine sector. In the early days we had litter being thrown straight into the water. Now that has become frowned upon. For The Green Blue it was about raising awareness of what the environmental issues were for recreational boaters and then providing best practice that people could adopt.”

BELOW RIGHT Top sailors gathered for a beach clean in Dorset

Kate says she’s seen a major shift in public feeling since David Attenborough’s Blue Planet documentary in 2017 and also through the work of Greta Thunberg.

“She gave young people a voice and made them realise that actually they do play a massively important part in decision-making.

“People are more watchful now and more inclined to point out if a company or individual is not doing something correctly, but also we’ve seen a huge demand from businesses and sailing clubs, wanting to be more sustainable.

They are now coming to us, whereas before we would very much have to go to them.”

The proliferation of well-meaning environmental initiatives can be overwhelming. How do you choose which advice to absorb and to follow?

“There’s lots of new groups popping up, so it’s quite an exciting time.

“Climate change is really the top environmental issue that we all need to be tackling, but it is a little bit more difficult for people to get their heads around. It’s hard for people to see positive results.

“We’re focusing more on bringing it back down to the basics, focusing on your local waters and how you can protect them. What you do on that level will have a global impact.”

The Green Blue has a sustainability strategy and a sustainability team.

British Marine has created environmental roadmaps for the marine sector, with regards to forthcoming legislation. World Sailing has a Sustainability Commission and other initiatives.

Kate said: “But there are always challenges. In today’s society there’s so much going on in people’s lives, it can become overwhelming. It is about just choosing a couple of things that you’re going to do. It does help. That’s where scientists and organisations like ourselves can help, by figuring out what the actions are that are going to have the biggest impact.

“There are lots of small actions that have a big impact that are also practical, affordable and feasible for people to do.”

Kate concluded: “The whole reason I’m out on the water is because of my wellbeing and my enjoyment. What I don’t want to see is that environment being degraded and destroyed. It does take a certain person, but from my point of view, you can’t wait around for other people to start doing things, if you know that you have the knowledge to do something yourself – you’ve got to start with yourself.”

Watch Kate’s talk with Saskia Sills and others at 1300 on the Sunday on the Suzuki Main Stage Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

21

Dinghy Show Dinghy Cruising Trails The RYA is launching a series of nationwide ‘dinghy trails’ aimed at encouraging dinghy cruising.

The first six trails will be launched at the Dinghy Show and there is a competition to suggest the next. The winner will see their proposed trail become the seventh on the list.

Each trail comes with its own map and notes, guiding dinghy sailors on a cruise, with the notes offering other things to do locally as well as interesting facts about the area.

A similar scheme has been hugely popular with British Canoeing, which has more than 170 canoeing trails around the country.

The RYA was prompted into launching its own scheme partly by the pandemic and a desire to create ways in which new and experienced dinghy owners could get out and enjoy their boats with friends or family.

The RYA’s Michelle Gent, who is behing the scheme, said: “This is really easy, low-cost way of using your dinghy with your family and friends, while exploring our glorious coastline and inland waters – and we have some of the most stunning scenery in the world!”

Some of the accompanying guidance suggests challenges, for example

Coach Yourself to Success With time on the water limited, getting yourself round the racecourse quicker is becoming harder.

If you don’t have access to a coach, being able to objectively assess your own strengths and weaknesses is vital.

RYA coach Niall Myant has four key areas to focus on – and his talk at the Dinghy Show will be outlining these.

Niall, who is national Feva class and British Keelboat Academy coach, says: “It’s about trying to replicate the coach’s viewpoint – ways you can recreate the coach’s eye.

“You’re the one who is viewing your own sailing, but often you’ve got the worst viewpoint. You’re distracted by concentrating on everything else.

“All the coach has to do is watch.

“So the sailor’s challenge is learning what to ignore, learning how to pick a specific focus. The next step is saying ‘how can you measure that?’ That is, in more meaningful ways than just ‘that feels better’.

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

wildlife spotting, or a walk, or a local race.

There are links to the National Curriculum, for instance the trail on Ullswater references Wordsworth, who wrote his famous poem ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ there.

Michelle was inspired to create trails in some of the areas that she has got to know well as the parent of a keen dinghy sailor.

The initial six trails are at Ullswater, Largs, Rutland Water, Milford Haven, Brownsea Island and Broad.

Some trails are easier than others – the Milford Haven trail involves negotiating the estuary’s big tides –

“It may be measuring a time, a force, an angle – something that allows you to say: ‘If that happens, then I’ve got better’.

“Coaches have seen hundreds of different boats do the same manoevure and can measure your performance within that field. To do that yourself you have a find a way that isn’t subjective.

ABOVE Rutland Water is the location for one of the new Dinghy Cruising Trails

and each is given a ‘rating’ in terms of its accessibility to all sailors.

The idea has been given the thumbs up by dinghy cruising guru Roger Barnes, who is speaking at the show.

A competition will be launched at the show, inviting people to suggest their own trail. The winner will see their trail become an official ‘RYA Dinghy Cruising trail’.

See the RYA website for details about the trails.

Watch the launch of the Dinghy Trails after Roger Barnes’ talk about ‘dinghy cruising adventures’ at 1200 on Sunday on the Suzuki Main Stage

BELOW The talk is aimed at enabling you to take the coach’s perspective

“The other problem with sailing is there are so many variables. Someone might take a photo of their sail set-up, but two seconds later it might look totally different. It’s about cutting through the variables. What is worth measuring and what is a distraction?”

Niall will also be talking about some solo exercises you can do with your own boat, as well as some useful sources of information, or as he puts it: “We’ve collated some night-time reading.”

Niall said: “Overall, there are three different areas – identifying what you need to work on; learning something new; and practising it.

“The last two are easy once you have the information. It’s the first one that is tricky and that’s what we get into.

“Can you do it, can you do it under pressure, can you do it repeatedly when focussing on other things around the race course?”

Watch Niall’s talk at 1530 on Saturday in the Knowledge Zone

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Barton Boomstrut Barton are at the show with their new Laser Kits, a new Ratchet Block and BabySplice, a dinghy rope splicing tool. Their new Boomstrut (left) is a patented flexing spring device that provides fast and constant force for the vang. The low-pro design features two flexible coated fibreglass rods which support the boom. Barton call it a ‘maintenance-free durable design that eliminates friction and sliding parts’ with easy installation and no need to replace your existing hardware – the Boomstrut mounts independently inside the existing kicking strap tackle. There are six sizes available.

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Selden Seldén Mast is keen to publicise its expanded dinghy range and will have an array of deck hardware and other kit at the show: “We can now supply and refit the majority of dinghy classes with everything they need from the smallest 16mm block to high load purchase systems and carbon masts.”  

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Zhik Zhik’s upgraded PowerPads, released in time for the show, are ultra-light carbon that are designed to move with you around the boat. Zhik have collaborated with a specialist carbon fibre company to ensure the hiking system offers ‘asymmetric flexibility’, so that the pads keep moulded around your leg as you adopt different hiking positions. They are enclosed within new seamless, 3D knitted compression sleeves, designed to aid blood flow and recovery.

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25

America’s Cup

Can they be beaten?

Emirates Team New Zealand is lying in wait in the America’s Cup, due to take place from 6-15 March. We take a closer look at the team to beat

W

hile the challengers slug it out in the Prada Cup, tradition dictates that the Defender of the America’s Cup lies in wait and doesn’t show its colours until the Cup match itself.

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

This 36th edition of the Cup has been different, in that the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, organised two regattas before Christmas 2020 in Auckland, where all four teams took part.

This gave all Cup watchers a fascinating glimpse of each team’s

ABOVE The New Zealanders had the raw boatspeed to beat all comers in December

and each boat’s relative performance – including that of the Defender.

And as we know, the New Zealanders came out on top, winning the regatta.

They were clearly the fastest on the water but their dominance overall wasn’t complete. They were threatened most by the Italian outfit,

ABOVE Spectator boats lined up around the race course off Auckland BELOW Emirates Team New Zealand were challenged by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the World Series event in December

the latter stages of the Prada and America’s Cup, but at this level and at this stage even a 2% improvement in performance can count as a race winner – and a Cup winner.

Improvements in the way the boat is sailed are just as key as technical and design tweaks. In the semi-finals against the US team, Luna Rossa showed they had made great strides forward in this regard. Later Francesco Bruni, co-helm of the boat with Jimmy Spithill, said they had spent time practising starts against their team RIB and making other changes to how they worked the boat practically on the water, as well as how they peformed tactically in different circumstances around the race course.

When, in the early Prada Cup final races, the British lost all their starts, it was suggested they were suffering

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. That, however, was in December. Both the Italians and the British made huge leaps in performance in the period over Christmas and New Year, coming out with not entirely new boats but very different boats – masts, sails, foils and software were upgraded.

As we saw in January, the speed and performance difference for the British alone was startling.

So have the New Zealanders made the same kind of gains in this time, while they sit back and watch the rest of the teams fight it out for the right to challenge them for the Auld Mug? Similarly big gains are unlikely in

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

27

America’s Cup

from the long, three-week lay-off without any racing. The Italians had had two weeks off since their previous match with American Magic, but maybe they had retained a race sharpness that INEOS had lost.

Meanwhile Emirates Team New Zealand will have had even more time away from the race course. The question remains – is that a benefit or is it dangerous time in which they lose the racing edge? The issue is particularly topical after helm Peter Burling failed to put in a good showing in his pre-starts in December, beaten off the line by Ainslie despite Britannia’s technical problems.

January and February saw the New Zealanders out on the water and at the same time their binoculars will have been trained on the three other

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 021

teams as they improved and got to grips with the AC75’s quirks and challenges. The New Zealanders will have had the luxury of more time – always the crucial factor in any Cup campaign – without having to focus on winning races.

In practice racing in January, before the Prada Cup, when the New Zealanders were out on the water they were deemed a touch faster than their rivals. They were punchier in the practice pre-starts and notably more aggressive than in December.

Real data relative to the other teams is impossible to come by, because boat-on-boat tuning is not permitted. But certainly there is nothing to suggest that the Kiwis are off the pace – their boat handling and raw speed is as hot as ever.

At the heart of their race team are

ABOVE The NZ team has been out training while the others were busy racing in the Prada Cup BELOW LEFT Peter Burling holds aloft the World Series cup in December BELOW RIGHT Blair Tuke is flight controller on the NZ boat

three sailors at the very top of the sport. Helm Peter Burling came to most of the world’s notice in the last America’s Cup, where his apparent nonchalance, aged 26, at the wheel of the New Zealand foiling catamaran was one of the lasting memories of the event. He became the youngest helmsman to win an America’s Cup. Burling’s unflappable nature had already won him Olympic silver at London, where he was again one of the youngest sailors, aged 21, and then gold at Rio. He and crew Blair Tuke won in Brazil with two races to spare – and Tuke is another key component of the New Zealand set-up.

Flight Controller on the New Zealand boat, Tuke started sailing at the age of 11, teaming up with Burling in the 49er in 2008 and

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together winning four consecutive world championships and all 28 of the major regattas in the 49er between the London and Rio Olympics.

Both Tuke and Burling signed with Emirates Team New Zealand in 2014, so bring significant experience to this campaign.

Alongside them on the water is another big name, Glenn Ashby, from Australia, who became known as a Laser sailor and has since become a leading multihull specialist.

Ashby was head coach for BMW Oracle Racing’s 2010 challenge against Alinghi and was one of the first multihull specialists hired by Emirates Team New Zealand. He was skipper on board for the New Zealanders in Bermuda and is wing trimmer in Auckland.

While the INEOS lead designer, Nick Holroyd, is from Auckland, the New Zealanders have Dan Bernasconi, the man behind the AC75 Rule, an English engineer who holds a PhD in Mathematical Modelling and Aerodynamics, backed up with a Masters from Cambridge University. He worked at McLaren for six years, before swapping fast cars for fast boats.

Bernasconi came to Emirates Team New Zealand after the break-up of Alinghi in 2010, another established spoke in a very strong wheel.

Bernasconi’s take on his own Rule is a radical and aggressive design that on the face of it had much in

common with the INEOS boat. The New Zealand team’s expertise in cutting edge catamaran design and foiling is no secret. They were ahead of the game at the San Francisco America’s Cup, even though they were beaten at the last. They carried that through to Bermuda 2017 where they were dominant from the outset, showing confidence in design and on the water.

As winners of the Cup, they have been allowed to chose the design.

The AC75 is a game-changing boat that took technical expertise from all the four teams to get right.

Being behind the AC75 Rule at the outset, the New Zealanders have an advantage. It was a surprise when they launched their second boat looking so different to their first, but nobody believed the New Zealanders

ABOVE The AC75, designed by an Englishman for the NZ team BELOW Glen Ashby gives the thumbs up as the champagne sprays in December

didn’t have a long-term plan and their raw boatspeed in the America’s Cup World Series backed that up.

In lower winds, the New Zealand boat is said to be most manoeuvrable and the quickest to foil again, which in the tight racing off Auckland may prove critical.

Ray Davies is another long-term Emirates Team New Zealand man, with six America’s Cups under his belt. He can also boast successes in the Whitbread and Volvo Ocean Races. He was the backup helmsman and coach in Bermuda and continues to fill the role for Auckland.

The man at the head of the New Zealand team is Grant Dalton, on his fifth America’s Cup but just as well known for his Volvo Ocean Race exploits, where he was a fearsomely competitive skipper. Inevitably as CEO of the Defender, Dalton has had numerous distractions, not least some news in February that shook New Zealand.

It was reported in the local press that a bidding process was underway to host the next Cup – so if New Zealand won, it meant the nation might not host its own Cup defence.

In the past, winning has meant hosting, the only exceptions being the Cups in Bermuda and Valencia.

Dalton has said a modern financial reality needs to be faced up to by all.

Covid restrictions, and the relatively low number of challengers, at three, has meant less tourism for Auckland.

To survive, Team New Zealand may have to have the next Cup hosted by the highest bidder, a foreign location.

Observers have pointed to the football World Cup, as one example, where the contest to host the tournament is entirely separate to the contest to win the trophy. It’s a tough question that will need to be answered by whoever wins the 36th America’s Cup. The schedule for the America’s Cup Match has two races per day planned for March 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Additional reserve days have been scheduled but the intention is to complete the event on the weekend of March 13/14, weather permitting.

The winner will be the first team to score seven points.

Follow all the racing daily on yachtsandyachting.co.uk Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

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Paul Heiney What’s the worst part about going sailing? In Paul’s mind there is no question; it’s the first and last five minutes. And if you happen to be moored up in a marina, it a whole new ball game

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hat keeps you awake in your bunk?

Small stuff, or big stuff? If it’s just annoying halyards tapping in a breeze, or the snout of the rubber dinghy nudging you awake in the small hours when the tide turns, count yourself lucky.

I once met a chap who told me he could never, ever sleep at anchor because he would become convinced he was adrift. His solution? To ditch the anchor and always head for the security of a marina. When I told him that nights in marinas gave me more sleepless nights than any I’ve experienced at anchor, he clearly thought I was some kind of lunatic; surely no sane person would gamble their lives on the holding power of a lump of old iron when they could spend a night securely tied to an expensive piece of floating wood, electricity provided? This is not yet another piece about why anchoring in better/ worse or more heroic/cowardly than dropping into a marina for a quiet night. It’s your choice, do what you like, and to hell with what anyone else thinks. But the reason for my uneasiness is worth considering. For every night that poor chap had slept uneasily, I have spent just as many wondering ‘how the hell am I going to get out of this berth in the morning?’ We’ve all been through it. You arrive in the calm of the evening, drift easily into the berth, come to a gentle stop with the smallest nudge of astern and before you can declare ‘all secure’ the sound emerging from below is that of corks being drawn.

could be certain your bow won’t get blown in completely the wrong direction and scythe off his davits.

This really is the stuff of nightmares.

What’s the answer? Stay in bed, probably. But when the forecast says there won’t be lull till at least next Thursday, you simply have to get out of that damned berth. So you pray with as much fervour as you can to any God you think might help. This is the reason I had little sympathy for the man and his anchor phobia - in truth, he doesn’t know how lucky he is. Pick up the anchor and go. Could anything be simpler?

After my adventures of recent years, I’m always asked about singlehanded sailing. ‘What’s the most difficult part?’ Exhaustion, loneliness, fear of unseen ships, getting lost? I tell them it is none of these things. The hardest part of single handing - in fact, any sailing whether crewed or not - is the first five minutes and the last. Getting out of harbours can seriously shorten your life. Boats don’t always do what you expect, tides don’t flow where they should, the wicked wind which had been blowing from the west suddenly pipes up from the east; all the elements conspire to give you hell. But once you are away - and it doesn’t have to be very far from that berth - freedom is yours. Head where you like, dodge anything in your way.

I’ve never been convinced that anyone in the process of leaving a berth is entirely in control - if they get out unscathed it’s more likely they’re just lucky. To borrow from the world of aviation, every landing you walk away from is a good one. That applies to unberthing boats too.

Of course, the actual sailing becomes a doddle once you are free. You can take all the time in the world to get your sails up, plot a course, make tea and scoff a fig roll or two. But it won’t be long before the next arrival; another tight berth, a freshening wind, a sluicing tide and a shiny million pound hull to rub up against followed by another sleepless night.

Do you remember the story of the legendary French sailor, Bernard Moitessier? He was racing round the world ,but instead of turning left at Cape Horn to sail back to Europe, he kept going and sailed round for a second time. I’ve often wondered why. Perhaps it was the last five minutes he couldn’t face.

Then, just as you are turning in, the wind starts to rise, fenders creak, lines twang, two boats down there is a mast being beaten to death by its halyards, then another joins in and they hammer at your head all night.

Far too early dawn breaks and you must come up with a plan. If only you had one of those lightweight flyers which steers in reverse with the ease of a motor car; if the boat downwind of you didn’t look as though it had just emerged from the showroom still with the vase of cut flowers on the cabin table and a fussy-looking owner giving you an occasional threatening glance. If only you

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APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

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Andy Rice Musings on the exciting dynamics of ‘end plating’ and the exploits of the late Bob Fisher - including his predeliction for Fireballs with low cut jibs

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an I claim the America’s Cup for my dinghy column?

After all, there’s no keel on an AC75 so technically does that make Britannia a dinghy? As I write, Sir Ben Ainslie teeters on yet another one of the many precipices that have defined his career. 4-0 down after a drubbing by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on the first weekend of the Prada Cup Final, Ben has hauled himself out of worse scrapes than this. As Shirley Robertson observed during the TV commentary: “Ben EATS pressure.”

So as you read this, you will know if Sir Ben has written yet another ‘back from the brink’ chapter in his incredible life story, or if Jimmy Spithill, Francesco Bruni and the rest of the Italians proved too slick and too faultless.

One of the many fascinating AC75 observations for us sailing geeks to nerd over in great detail is the obsession with the ‘end plating’ effect. An aviation description of ‘end plating’ goes thus: “An end plate on a lifting surface means less lifting area is needed to produce the same lift force.” It’s why modern airliners have wing tips that curve upwards, and it’s why the AC75s are using ‘decksweeper’ mainsails that hug the cockpit floor and which force the likes of Ben Ainslie and his tactician Giles Scott to run around the back of the boat every manoeuvre. The end-plating effect continues all the way to the water, with the bustle designed to minimise the gap between the hull and the surface.

Someone who could have told us all about the endplating effect and its contribution to a boat’s performance is Bob Fisher who passed away in January at the age of 85. As well as being the world’s most famous yachting journalist and the doyen of the America’s Cup, The Fish was also a great sailor in his own right.

Dougal Henshall wrote an excellent tribute to Bob less than a fortnight before he died, and documents his world championship winning successes in the Hornet and Fireball dinghies. Crewing for Colin McKenzie, Bob won the Fireball Worlds in 1966 with a number of innovations including a low-cut jib whose foot swept the deck in preference to the high-cut clews of the time. These deck-sweeping jibs have been standard in nearly every double-sailed dinghy class ever since, and the past decade has seen the growing trend

towards deck-sweeping mainsails on small cats like the A-Class.

It’s a great pity that Bob was unable to enjoy the spectacle of this latest America’s Cup, which became his professional obsession for the second half of his long and rich life. For a long time fellow Lymingtonians, Bob and Sir Ben had a special connection, Bob being one of the first to be invited to Ineos Team UK’s base when they unveiled the first of their AC75s.

There are very few old-school journalists of Bob’s calibre remaining, although there’s a new breed of geek analyst that has emerged in recent months, notably the trio of entertaining and well-informed engineers who have been making America’s Cup analysis videos under the Mozzy Sails brand.

The Hayling Island threesome of Tom Morris, Rob Gullan and Tom Partington are all great sailors in their own right, Tom M being reigning RS800 National Champion, Rob one of the top RS200 and RS800 sailors in the country, and Tom P the 2018 International 14 World Champion with his dad Andy.

They’ve clearly got some good inside intel with the British team in Auckland but they also make some great insights of their own, probably not all of which are correct. Tom tells me the Ineos crew have a good laugh at the Mozzy Sails videos and say that they’re right about 60% of the time.

I don’t want to ruin your fun with spoilers, but go look and listen to this one if you want a flavour of the Edutainment on offer with Tom and the crew. Search for this video on YouTube and have a good laugh: INEOS Rules! Britannia’s Communication Decoded.

Tom Morris also competes at some of the events in the Selden Sailjuice Winter Series. However, because we’ve only managed to run one of the scheduled events this past season, the Datchet Flyer in December, we’re extending the Winter Series through the spring and summer, concluding with a rescheduled John Merricks Tiger Trophy on 28 & 29 August. With so many events already being cancelled this year due to Covid 19, more than ever it seems to make sense to have multi-class handicap events where if you show up you’ll know that there will be some competition on offer.

To find out the latest line-up of events on the roster, go to sailjuiceseries.com. If you are a member of a club or class that might be interested in holding an event within this summer’s ‘Winter Series’, contact Simon Lovesey via the website.

PHOTO CREATIVE COMMONS/SPITFIRE

‘BOB WON THE FIREBALL WORLDS IN 1966 WITH A NUMBER OF INNOVATIONS INCLUDING A LOW-CUT JIB’

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APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

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Andi Robertson As the Vendée Globe wraps up, skippers are alreadly looking to the future and the next race. So what are the prospects for the class of 2021

I

newer generation boat with the ambition of going forwards to the do The Ocean Race.

But the question really is what next for Pip Hare? Leslie Stretch, the CEO of Medallia, told the British skipper ‘let’s go shopping for a new boat’ during a Vendée Live show, but she will really only speak to them seriously when she gets home to Poole next week. For sure she and her team have been looking at what is available and doing sums but the second race is always a difficult one.

Her communication has been the very best of all the finishers, using every medium available to her and unfolding her story beautifully from being an unknown to being one of the most popular, outstanding stars of the race among the French as well as English speaking audience.

But where does she pitch her next programme in terms of performance? The key aspect of the return in the future is that that novelty is gone, the wide eyed story of discovering the big south can not be re-told next time. I don’t think that is too much of a worry for Pip as she is a natural communicator with an inbuilt desire to demystify ocean racing and reach as wide an audience as possible, but where can we expect her to be in four years time and with what boat?

It is an interesting question. Look at Alan Roura who in essence could be considered to be Pip one race on, or Arnaud Boissieres on his fourth race and they finished just one or two days ahead of her with newer, faster boats. But then consider also Isa Joschke who was catching Sam Davies on a boat with very similar speed potential and set up but the Franco German skipper has ten years less IMOCA sailing experience than Sam. My conclusion right now is that the sky is the limit for Pip but she needs a well structured programme with the right boat maximising her miles but making sure she steps back from always being on the cusp of burnout where she has been for the last couple of years. Absolutely for sure Pip’s race was accomplished on 95% adrenalin, the sheer desire which has been pent up for years, released over three months and you cannot race like that again.

So while the sky may be the limit, from hereon in there is a big element of managing expectations required, hers and ours. Meantime Pip…rest!

PHOTO VENDEE GLOBE

‘I DON’T REMEMBER A LEVEL OF ACTIVITY AS FRENETIC TOWARDS THE END OF A VENDÉE GLOBE AS WE ARE SEEING THIS TIME’

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APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

ABOVE Jean Le Cam is already mulling over his next Vendée despite the fact that he will be 66 by the time of the next one

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

“

t is usually when skippers are bouncing upwind on the five to seven day starboard tack climbing the north Atlantic that they start to talk seriously about their next Vendée Globe.

Jean Le Cam at 66? Never say never, he is a solo racer who – he admits – would be insufferable at home if the race were on and he were not in it. Come to that Nandor Fa, 63 when he was eighth, 67 now, would go again if Le Cam went. At the other end of the age spectrum Alan Roura is 28 at the end of February and has already two Vendée Globes under his belt, both as the youngest skipper. He wants to be back for a third.

But big picture it really is open season after this race. In some quarters the media return has never been greater, but I hear others – those whose ROI model is based on getting corporate guests to Les Sables d’Olonne – are rather less than happy. But for sure I don’t remember a level of activity as frenetic towards the end of a Vendée Globe as we are seeing this time.

As I write this the news has just landed that Louis Burton and his sponsors of ten years standing Bureau Vallée have just bought the highly fancied L’Occitaine en Provence, the Sam Manuard scow.

Recall that they moved quickly to buy the 2016-17 race winner before it had crossed the finish line and that the choice of a successful boat with a lap of the planet on the clock proved a smart move for a team which did not have the resources then to do all the IMOCA Globe Series races, buying a proven boat was a smart move. Builders Black Pepper Yachts in Nantes are already building a second boat – on spec – but I suspect it will be very quickly taken. Word is that Jérémie Beyou is interested in a Manuard scow but nothing presently has been confirmed.

Also nothing formal from Kevin Escoffier other than suggestions that if he wants a new boat then he will need a co-sponsor other than PRB, but Escoffier for sure proved on this race that he has the capacity and skills to finish on the podium.

Boris Herrmann’s boat is owned by a German businessman is for sale at €2.7m and attracting a lot of interest, in fact I am sure it will be sold by the time this is published. He wants to build new or have a

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Vendée Globe

It ain’t over til it’s over

An edge-of-your-seat Vendée Globe thriller came down to the final hours, with a last minute drama that shocked millions

T

he ninth Vendée Globe had promised to be a lightning-fast head-tohead between two or three boats, a sprint around the globe that would surely lower the 74-day record and herald a new era in offshore racing.

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

In the event, the two big favourites had serious collisions that ended their podium dreams before the race passed Cape Town.

What we were left with was something far more open and arguably far more exciting, a group of nine or 10 boats that stuck

ABOVE Yannick Bestaven arrives on a battered Maître CoQ RIGHT With 24 hours to go, little separated the leaders in distance; Bestaven lay to the north

together around the world, each successive attempt to break away reeled in by the pack.

And the finish, overnight on 27 January, was as gripping as sport could be, with the closest ever winning margin and a victor that nobody could predict even in the final hours.

Paralympian Damien Seguin makes light of his extraordinary single-handed achievement by donning a pirate costume at the finish

didn’t know was the condition of their boats. After more than 20,000 miles at sea, all would be nursing tired machinery and given the high stakes, it was likely that not everyone was being 100% open about what disabilities they were carrying.

The leading fleet comprised IMOCA 60s of vastly different ages and theoretical abilities. The latest generation foiling boats had proved difficult to sail at speed in the big southern ocean conditions. Now they might have shown their pace, but several had suffered collisions and were carrying broken foils or other damage.

Attention focussed on the race’s only German entrant, Boris Herrmann, who had amassed a global army of supporters for his engaging videos and seemingly unflappable personality. His boat, Sea Explorer-Yacht Club de Monaco, possessed the biggest foils and given

the right winds, had a clear chance of doing well.

Almost immediately, however, the German skipper’s dreams were put on hold, as he was caught in a fiendish Doldrums and failed to make the predicted breakaway.

The leaders were Charlie Dalin, the quietly spoken naval architect who trained at Southampton Institute, in Apivia, and the rugged Saint-Malo man Louis Burton, whose campaign on Bureau Vallée 2 was being managed by his wife Servane, herself an accomplished sailor.

Also in the running as they entered the north Atlantic was Thomas Ruyant on the latest generation foiling boat Linked Out, one of the pre-race favourites, and Yannick Bestaven on Maître Coq IV, who had led the race through the south Pacific and around Cape Horn.

A fascinating chess game developed, with pundits on land poring over the weather models and

Chess match

The global press woke up to the fact that this was likely to be a true epic in offshore racing as the fleet sailed up the south Atlantic towards the equator. Off Rio, on 12 January, there were no more than 120 miles covering the first nine places. The race was effectively reset – for the nine contenders, it would be a 4,000-mile sprint back to France.

The skippers readied themselves for a gruelling test where they knew the tiniest mistake might mean the loss of a podium position. Any of the leading pack had the ability and the desire to win, but what we Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

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Vendée Globe

‘This is a mixed race and there is no female classification... at sea I am a sailor and I don’t tell myself that a man or woman is in front’ routeing options for each boat. The fleet fanned out, with Burton taking a bold westerly option and Dalin sailing a more direct route.

Herrmann had got back in the running was third, but Ruyant and Bestaven were neck and neck just behind.

A few miles to the east and not to be discounted was one of the most remarkable stories in Vendée Globe history. Damien Seguin was born with the use of only one hand. He won medals at the Athens, Beijing and Rio Paralympics, but when sailing was dropped from the Paralympics, he turned to offshore

racing. This was his first Vendée Globe and his achievement was all the greater as Seguin’s boat, Groupe Apicil, was designed in 2008, with daggerboards, not foils, yet he had kept pace with the latest generation IMOCAs all the way around the world.

Not far behind him was France’s beloved veteran, Jean Le Cam, in his boat Yes We Cam!, responsible for rescueing Kevin Escoffier from his liferaft 850 miles off Cape Town earlier in the race.

It soon became clear, as the boats sped homewards at 20 knots or more, that the Escoffier rescue might

Dame Ellen congratulates Clarisse The race record, set by Armel le Cléac’h four years ago, of 74 days, still stands.

But another record did fall, that set by Ellen MacArthur no less than 20 years ago. Her time of 94 days, set on Kingfisher in the 2000/01 race, was broken by Clarisse Cremer, when the Frenchwoman became the first woman to finish this edition in 87 days.

“For me, yes we know that being a woman in ocean racing becomes a differentiator on land,” said Cremer, downplaying the comparison. “But this is a mixed race and a mixed sport and it about

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ABOVE LEFT Charlie Dalin emerges from the dark on Apivia to take line honours BELOW CENTRE Clarisse Cremer arrives as the first female sailor in the race, beating Ellen MacArthur’s record in Kingfisher

the breadth of ocean racing together. There is no female classification. At sea, I am a sailor, and I don’t tell myself that the sailor in front is a man or a woman, I don’t think about that at all.”

MacArthur sent a message of congratulations, saying: “Hi Clarisse, just a little message to say a big bravo for your race around the world. It’s great to see you at the finish line. It’s truly an exceptional lap. Well done for everything you have done!”

A relative latecomer to ocean racing, 31-yearold Cremer is a graduate of Paris’ elite HEC business school with a postgraduate business diploma from Kelley College, Indiana, USA. She did the Mini Transat in 2018, before being chosen by the Banque Populaire team to skipper their Banque Populaire X IMOCA. The boat is an older style, straight daggerboard design, which won the 2012-13 Vendée Globe as MACIF in the hands of Francois Gabart.

She admitted the early stages of this race were tough. At one point she admitted: “I’m afraid I’m going off my head. I know that each gale seriously affects the condition of my boat.”

Approaching France, she reported: “If I could set off again around the world immediately, I would.”

ultimately prove critical. Le Cam, Herrmann and Bestaven had each had to stop racing in order to help the search and had subsequently been given a time compensation by race officials. Would it be enough to change the podium positions?

Almost certainly – meaning Dalin and Burton, who were by now vying for the theoretical ‘lead’ from quite different positions on the chart, would need to get still further ahead to win on corrected time.

As the leaders crossed gybes, split and came back together, their tactical battle was being followed by millions of people around the world. The

highest prize in offshore sailing was at stake. Public communications from all the boats shut down as the skippers focussed all their energies on the matter in hand.

With 600 miles to go, there was a flyer. Bestaven and Ruyant went north after the Azores. Seguin and the popular Italian skipper, Giancarlo Pedote, on Prysmian Group, followed them. The fleet had finally split.

Again, the pundits on land went to their routeing software. Which path would be victorious, in which winds?

Few could agree, but by now it was clear the overall finish could be decided by hours, if not minutes.

With just 24 hours to go, the fleet entered the Bay of Biscay from different angles, Dalin and Herrmann from the south and looking good – if the weather played ball. Coming in fast to the north, with a building wind behind them, were Burton, Ruyant and Bestaven.

It was impossible to tell who would arrive first, until with around 170 miles to go – a matter of hours in an IMOCA 60 – Dalin found a fast reaching angle and a gap.

After 80 days at sea, Dalin and Apivia emerged from the dark to cross the finish line at 8.35pm on 27 January. He had taken line honours and realised the dream of his youth, but the clock was ticking.

Herrmann had six hours in hand and Bestaven had 10 hours. Both were approaching at 20 knots. Dalin knew he was unlikely to be the overall winner, but his well-executed race was universally praised.

As Dalin was spraying champagne over the Vendée Globe organisers on the dock in Les Sables d’Olonne, however, shocking news was about to break.

Herrmann was 90 miles out to sea, having a last nap down below, before his run in to the finish, when he was awoken by a crash.

A fishing boat had collided with his yacht. With his sails tangled in the fishing boat’s trawling arms, Herrmann staggered on deck and assessed the damage as the boat motored off into the darkness.

His bowsprit was crushed and his starboard foil damaged. Herrmann could hardly believe it – his tantalising glimpse of the Vendée Globe podium, even of victory, was

ABOVE LEFT Boris Herrmann nurses in his damaged boat after a collision that almost ended his race with just 90 miles to go ABOVE RIGHT Unspoken bond: Kevin Escoffier and Yannick Bestaven BELOW RIGHT Our columnist Andi Robertson presents the race’s daily live shows; he is shown here talking to Pip Hare via video link

gone in an instant. Shaken, he sailed on at seven knots, reflecting on the fact that none of his multiple collision alarms had gone off. There was speculation the fishing boat was not transmitting its position, but 10 days later Herrmann and the captain had a rapprochement by phone. “We are both working at sea,” he said, “so we are kind of colleagues.”

Meanwhile, close to midnight in Europe, social media went into overdrive as it became clear who the likely winner was now to be.

Back in the south, Bestaven had led the race for 26 days. That lead had been mercilessly reined in up the Atlantic, but now at the last, he regained it on corrected time. The 48-year-old father of two arrived at 3am to a hero’s welcome of fireworks and cheers from along the famous Les Sables d’Olonne canal.

As he walked up the pontoon, holding aloft the trophy, he was greeted by Kevin Escoffier, whose rescue had indeed proved critical in deciding the final positions. The two men pressed their heads together, eyes shining, saying nothing.

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

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Vendée Globe

Russell Crowe’s message for Pip British sailor Pip Hare was stunned when she received a video message from film star Russell Crowe on her birthday.

The actor had responded to a request from BBC Radio Solent, whose presenter Steve Harris was collecting messages for Hare as she sailed towards France in the north Atlantic.

“Happy birthday Pip,” said Crowe in the message. “Just this morning I was kayaking up Coffs Creek (in New South Wales, Australia). “So a similar journey to yours, I imagine. I’m just sitting here thinking about the incredible challenge in front of you.”

“Just keep going,” said the star of Master &

The winning margin, after the time compensations were applied, was just 2hrs 31mins. Dalin and Burton were second and third respectively.

Little known outside France, Bestaven, from La Rochelle, boasts an ocean racing career spanning nearly 20 years, including wins in the Mini Transat 2001 and in Class 40 twice in the Transat Jacques Vabre.

After he was forced out of the 2008 Vendée Globe, dismasted in the Bay of Biscay less than 24 hours into the race, he took time away to focus on his business. He is an engineer who owns and runs Watt & Sea, manufacturer of the hydrogenerators fitted to most of the competing IMOCAs. He returned to the race with a small team of specialists from various fields including the America’s Cup. The boat, not one of the latest generation foilers, is from 2015, designed by VPLP-Verdier.

One of the many congratulating Bestaven as he climbed ashore was Dalin. “There are two winners in

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

this Vendée Globe,” said Bestaven as the two embraced. Burton, too, was magnanimous after he was demoted a place, having finished second on the water: “For me the matter is closed and I won’t be talking about it again.

A human life was saved. End of story.”

A relieved and philosophical Herrmann nursed his boat in the following day and there were further celebrations that night with the arrival of Le Cam, Seguin and Benjamin Dutreux, the 30-year-old skipper of Omia-Water Family, who was cheered from the rooftops by his Les Sables d’Olonne hometown.

The first eight boats finished within 24 hours, compared to a gap of 20 days in the last race.

The 2020/21 edition of the Vendée Globe will be no doubt be remembered for the dramatic rescue of Escoffier by Le Cam, but it gave so many stories besides.

The extraordinary moment when favourite Jérémie Beyou turned back for France, just days after the start,

Commander, which is Hare’s favourite film. “What an amazing feeling you’re going to have when you can say you’ve claimed the globe.”

A beaming Hare said: “I’ve never had so many birthday messages in my life.”

BELOW LEFT Escoffier was also on the pontoon in France to welcome in the man who saved his life, Jean Le Cam BELOW RIGHT One of the few Italian skippers ever to do the race, Giancarlo Pedote, shows what it means as he finishes

leaving his title hopes in tatters. The thrilling descent of the Atlantic by Alex Thomson and the widespread sadness over his forced retirement.

The story of the Paralympian Damien Seguin. The fact that this edition featured more women on the startline, almost, than had done previous Vendée Globes. Pip Hare’s superhuman rudder replacement mid-ocean. The wave of love that followed 61-year-old Le Cam around the planet.

And finally the nerve-shredding battle for the podium, a test of seamanship, guile and grit, decided only in the final hours of the race.

And this edition of the race still has stories to deliver. As we went to press, much of the fleet lay at sea, the largest group crossing the equator as the leaders’ press conferences were being broadcast worldwide.

For the chasing pack, the small matter of 3,000 miles lay ahead, and as Herrmann would surely say, it ain’t over til it’s over.

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Classic Boat GBR 2019.07 v02.indd 1

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

14/06/19 15:48

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Tom Cunliffe

Tom Cunliffe

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ccording to Rule 5 of the Colregs, we must keep a lookout at all times by all available means. There’s no ambiguity there, yet the realities of short-handed sailing can be a long way from the ideals of the wise people who drafted the rules.

Yachts are not alone in occasionally sailing close to this particular wind.

Early in my career, I served as mate

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aboard a coasting ship. Out of a crew of five, including the cook, only the skipper and myself were qualified to keep watch. The deckhands came cheap but had no looking-out skills, so we two managed with alternative sessions. The Old Man liked a good spell on the Dreamland train so we stood five-hour shifts during the hours of darkness. He opted for morning and evening while I stood from 2200 until 0300, a grim proposition in rough winter weather.

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

A visit to the heads would have eased my pain and a snack around midnight might have been nice, but the cook was invariably snoring in his bunk. After five hours with only the beat of the diesel for company I was close to hallucinating.

I expect there are rules about such practices nowadays, but the point is that when you or I see a ship steaming our way on a dark night, the possibility still exists that she may not be crewed by a full

ILLUSTRATION: CLAIRE WOOD, PHOTOS TOM CUNLIFFE

Night watch on a long offshore passage is a real test of will and concentration but a memorable night encounter underlined the need for vigilance to Tom

“I could see the bow wave in the moon track. Blow me if I couldn’t hear it! Another fifty yards and we’d be swimming’’ complement of the MCA’s finest.

My wife and I first ventured into deep water shortly before my brief merchant service. We were very young, with no idea that ships might be conned by sleep-deprived zombies or, if the guys had slunk off to brew themselves a coffee, nobody but the autopilot. Fifty years ago many respected ocean passagemakers considered enjoying ‘all night in’ to be sensible practice for short-handed crews far from the shipping lanes.

As unimpeachable an authority as Eric Hiscock advocated heaving to and turning in when tiredness became a serious problem. Peter Pye concurred. These folk would hang up a hurricane lantern to scare off any steamer that fate sent their way, say their prayers and hit the pit. With the glib assumption of personal immortality that youth confers, I bought into this madness.

As you will realise, my swinging

lamp was more likely to pull in a flying fish out on night exercises than catch the eye of a steamer’s lookout. If a ship’s watch-keeping arrangements fell short of the ideal, I might as well have saved my paraffin for the cooker, yet there was no arguing that the odds against collision were stacked high in my favour.

One night in the southeast trades I awoke sweating with anxiety under my sheet for no definable reason. I listened to the breeze, the sea and the rhythmic creaking of the rig.

Although there was apparently nothing to worry about, whatever its dark origins, the feeling was insistent so I crept out for a look round. The silhouette of the windvane nodded sleepily, the compass confirmed the heading and moonlit cotton-wool clouds came trundling over the weather horizon as usual. All seemed well, but I had to wait for the boat

ABOVE The days when the offshore cruising sailor would heave to and retire to their berth for 12 hours shut eye are long past

to rise on a swell to peer under the boom to leeward. When she finally gave a weather roll, I saw what had woken me. The huge black shape of a steamer was almost on top of me, red light standing out like a traffic signal. I could see the bow wave in the moon track. Blow me if I couldn’t hear it! Another fifty yards and we’d be swimming.

I leapt at the self-steering, de-clutched the vane and shoved the tiller hard down. As the boat came up to the wind, I hove in the mainsheet like a madman. She was going to need all the help she could get to tack, even with no boom preventer to let off on a beam reach. I backed the headsail as the bow lurched through the wind, then let go the sheet and hauled for my life. As the one-way ticket to Davey Jones’ locker swept by four boat’s lengths away, the wind died and I smelt the steamer’s hot, oily breath. Nobody appeared on the bridge wing to watch me bob past.

Don’t ask about single-handers.

I’m not one, but since that night, my wife and I have worked three hours on, three off in fair weather for the twelve night hours. During the day, we take up any slack, with Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

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Tom Cunliffe

one always available. Offshore in areas of light traffic, the night watchkeeper is not necessarily in the cockpit for 180 minutes at a stretch.

This ends in fatigue and boredom, both enemies of efficiency. Instead, we go below to make hot drinks, check the radar or the plot and enter the ship’s log, sweeping the horizon conscientiously at least every five minutes. Without scrutinizing all conceivable possibilities, a reasonable worst-case scenario might be that a 24-knot ship is head-to-head with us at 6 knots, making a converging speed of 30 knots. Since there are sixty minutes in the hour, in six we’ll have come closer by one tenth of an hour’s distance, or three miles.

Assuming that in decent visibility, we might first spot her lights when she’s eight miles away, after 6 minutes she’ll be five off and closing fast.

We’ll see her then for sure, even if she’s a fast motor yacht, so five minutes below is maximum for safety. When visibility closes to five miles or less, things are tightened.

As it deteriorates further, we end up with one hand permanently on deck. There remains the remote possibility of running into an unlit yacht, but even if the incalculably small odds of such an event were to be cast against us, it’s more than likely we wouldn’t see her if the helm were permanently manned. A quick break below now and again is a sight better than nodding off at the wheel.

AIS is handy today, but the best

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ABOVE The best aid to short handed navigation at night remains the radar BELOW The scourge of the cruising sailor

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

aid to shorthanded watch keeping is still radar, especially in bad weather. When hove-to in ocean storms before we had it, we used to stay safely below and look out of the hatch regularly for shipping.

Once or twice we had to get under way to avoid another vessel, but we never found out how many we were missing because, until modern low-wattage instruments arrived on the scene, radar hit the batteries too hard for most small sailing cruisers to contemplate.

I first used radar for two-handed storm watch-keeping one filthy night just south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Setting the sea clutter to a sensible compromise, I pressed ‘auto-tune’, wound the gain well up and turned on the ‘target enhancer’. This tool can be detrimental to super-accuracy in

piloting, but for spotting isolated blips it is magic. The first contact showed up at eight miles and steamed safely by three miles away.

Keeping up our policy of actually looking out regardless of electronic assistance, my wife strained her eyes peering into the gale. She even took a green one down her neck, but she never saw that ship. The second target also appeared at eight miles, but this one was running straight up my electronic bearing line. At four miles no lights had appeared, so I called the ship on VHF, feeling small and vulnerable in the 25-foot seas. A Scandinavian-sounding mate said he’d been monitoring us and would turn to starboard, but he kept on coming like an arrow heading for the bullseye in the centre of my screen. At two miles we still couldn’t make him out in the dark and the waves and the flying spume, so I called again. The calm voice reassured me that he was turning now and would pass eight cables off.

When he was precisely 0.8 miles abeam by radar, I popped my head out and there he was, pitching like a fairground ride as he plunged by towards Europe and home.

These days, my best heavyweather lookout lives up on the mast. Mr B&G is light, he doesn’t grumble, he never sleeps, and instead of wolfing the iron rations he sips economically at my batteries, drawing only a nudge more than a pre-LED masthead tricolour. We’re ready on deck to act on what he reports, but, with proper rest cycles, watchkeeping is a distant cry from the old coaster. And it’s far, far safer.

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021 18/01/2019 17:57

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Boat Test ~ Spirit 44E

Spirited performer Choosing a traditional-looking boat doesn’t mean going low-tech, as Sam Fortescue discovered when he sailed the Spirit Yachts’ new 44E

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Boat Test ~ Spirit 44E

PHOTOS: SPIRIT YACHTS

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50 34

here’s no denying it when you clap eyes on the latest boat to emerge from the Ipswich yard of Spirit Yachts. There is a lot to be said for old fashioned looks. With her long overhangs fore and aft and a glowing mahogany finish, the new 44E cruiser racer is a thing of beauty. And yet, this is a pioneering boat, designed and built to cross oceans in comfort without burning a drop of fossil fuel.

Compared to the pared-down, sleek lines of her larger sisters, the 44E offers more volume and therefore greater comfort for adventurous sailing. “These hulls have a little more beam and volume with increased displacement,” explains Spirit founder and head designer Sean McMillan. “Their counters tend to be a little less extreme, as the lazarettes are required for carrying more equipment, a dinghy and so on. The fuller volume is carried further aft.”

It is nothing like the volume of other modern 44-footers, but volume is not the main reason to consider this boat.

With her gleaming brightwork and lines reminiscent of a 1930s yacht, she is a thing of beauty. Construction is in the well-proven combination of cold-moulded wood and glass infused with epoxy. Hull planking is in Douglas fir as standard, but the Canadian owner of this first boat, Dr Vincent Argiro, opted for yellow cedar.

It is more expensive, but saves around 150kg in the build. “When it came to

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making the boat go faster, I stopped looking at the budget,” he tells me.

Every element of the design is completed in-house by Spirit, and McMillan still starts by sketching every boat by hand. His naval architects run it through CAD and Velocity Prediction Programmes, so the boats have a very modern feel below the waterline. Flat aft sections are designed to minimise friction and enable the boat to plane at up to 17 knots on a reach, according to the VPP. In displacement mode, hull speed is a stately 7.4 knots, but the long overhangs quickly

ABOVE Classic lines with long overhangs make for an alluring yacht BELOW Performance is sparkling

lengthen the waterline as she heels and add potential for another knot.

All Spirits have carbon spars as standard. But the owner of this first 44E wanted a powerful, light-airs sailer for the fitful winds of his home waters in British Columbia, Canada, so he ordered a mast with an extra 2.4m length to it. Stayed with EC3 multistrand carbon rigging from Future Fibres, the rig saves weight aloft equivalent to a 10 per cent increase in righting moment from the modern lead bulb keel.

The carbon fibre spade rudder is so well balanced that it offers

no resistance at all. Sailing at 5-6 knots in some 8-10 knots of breeze, I could tack easily with just fingertips on the wheel. The mast has a ferocious bend to it, with sails from OneSails that fit like a glove, but there is still an adjustable backstay. A large main and relatively small jib make for easy handling.

The mainsheet traveller is on the aft deck, with four manual Lewmar 48ST winches on the coaming – all within easy reach of the helm. Two size 40 halyard winches appear on the coach roof, one of which is electric. There is an electric

Bartels furler for the jib, hidden under the deck, and a tack point positioned further forward for a loose-luffed headsail or a Code sail.

Lithium-powered

To deliver a comfortable globetrotting boat with no hydrocarbons aboard, Spirit has installed a lot of electric power.

For propulsion there are 16 1,9kWh lithium batteries with Victron controllers, and there is a further 3,2kWh to cover the boat’s domestic supply, including hot water, refrigeration and air

ABOVE The secret to the lusciously gleaming mahogany exteriors of Spirit yachts is in the use of a transparent epoxy paint rather than traditional varnish BELOW LEFT A comfortable cockpitwhich is deceptively roomy BELOW RIGHT The running rigging is well set up for singlehanding

conditioning. In place of the diesel engine is a quieter, smaller 15kW electric saildrive from Oceanvolt.

Recharging is the key constraint to comfort and range. But the 44E has a secret weapon, in the form of its regenerating system, which can charge the battery as the boat sails.

Water flowing past the propeller can generate around 500W at normal speeds of 5-6 knots, or up to 3kW scudding along on a fast reach. The key is Oceanvolt’s unique Servoprop, a variable-pitch propeller which can be electronically adjusted to provide the optimum output

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

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Boat Test ~ Spirit 44E

under sail. The Finnish company claims this boosts generation over a standard propeller by 150 per cent.

Solar is the other charging source, with 350W of custom Solbian panels on the aft deck and a further 560W laminated to each side of the sails.

This is a pioneering development from France’s SolarCloth, currently licensed only to OneSails. The technology has been proven in tough conditions on the Vendée Globe race, but is still being honed. Despite good 17 per cent efficiency, these PowerSails look a little agricultural with large junction boxes by the luff and heavy round wires running down a special pocket sewn to the sail. SolarCloth is working on a sleeker way to get the charge from the PV panel down to the battery.

“The stretch goal for the 44E was near total energy self-sufficiency,” says Dr Argiro. “I envision plugging into shore power to be a rare event.

And happily, an energy-efficient design is also a fast design. This light and sleek girl is going to fly!”

The electric motor is efficient,

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but not silent, so Spirit is planning to add acoustic insulation around the motor compartment to reduce noise levels in the stern cabin.

“The wood used in the Spirit is extremely good quality and almost resembles carbon fibre in strength,” points out Oceanvolt commercial director Christian Hallberg. “It would thereby be normal to have a similar type of resonance.”

Cosy cabins

Spirit’s classical aesthetic extends below decks, although Nigel Stuart stresses that anything is possible, so long as it is sustainable. While in the yard, I saw a zinc work surface and bronze sink, for instance. The 44E has dark American walnut with a satin finish for the cabinetry. Doors and lockers use attractive frame and panel construction, a centuriesold technique, combined with stainless steel handles and hinges.

Wherever you look, the finish and craftsmanship are excellent. There is white panelling overhead and on the main bulkheads, with eco-friendly

ABOVE LEFT

A battery monitor on the binnacle means you can keep an eye on power levels as you motor

ABOVE RIGHT

Deep aft lockers with solar panels on top

BELOW

The interior is beautifully finished and a really pleasant place to be

Lignia (an engineered softwood with the performance of a hardwood) for worksurfaces and soles.

The tight horseshoe galley has a two-burner alcohol stove, but it could just as well run on standard gas. There is also a large 100-litre drawer fridge, while hot water is provided by a 16-litre Webasto Isotemp heater, running at 750W. It makes use of waste heat from the engine and can be easily drained down in the winter. Webasto also supplies the boat’s efficient Blue Cool S10 air-conditioning unit, capable of heating or cooling.

Accommodation amounts to a twin cabin aft, with a typically Spirit touch: a hatch in the bulkhead drops down to serve as a chart table, next to the navigation instruments. There is a V-berth with an infill in the cabin forward, and a single heads with a shower.

“If you wanted a second heads, we would recommend at least 47ft of boat length,” says Nigel Stuart, adding that harmonious proportions are key to the Spirit ethos.

Boat test ~ Excess 15

ALTERNATIVE BOATS

TOFINOU 12

SAM’S VERDICT Like other Spirits, the 44E is a beautiful boat, and she offers sparkling performance. If you don’t mind less space below, and can afford the semi-custom price tag, this would be a joyous boat

A little smaller but without the long overhangs internal volume is not wildly different. This is a stylish daysailer which also has decent cabin space. Built by Latitude 46, a diesel inboard is standard but the custom nature of the yard means an electric motor is a possibility. keyyachting.com

to own. And all the more so for her green credentials.

PERFORMANCE: HHH HH VALUE: HHH HH COMFORT: HHH HH

THE SPEC LOA: 13.4m (43'9") Waterline length: 9.4m (30'8") Beam: 3.3m (10'8") Draught: 2.3m (7'5") Theoretical hull speed: 7,4 knots Displacement: 5,900kg (13,000lb) Ballast: 2.450kg (5401lb) Mainsail: 54.4 sq/m (585sq/ft)

FRIENDSHIP 40 The Friendship 40 is designed and built in America and is a fine example of a modern classic. This is a very elegant yacht that subscribes to the old American school of design being relatively shallow and beamy.

There is lots of internal volume making this much more than a weekender. fontainedeigngroup.com

Jib: 32.8 sq/m (353sq/ft) Engine: Oceanvolt Saildrive 15 (15kW) Water tank: 214 litres Blackwater tank: 40 litres Hull construction: Wood-epoxy Base price: c£800,000 spirityachts.com

CONTESSA 32

The Contessa 32 is a tried and tested classic that remains in production – albeit in limited quantities – at Jeremy Roger’s yard in Lymington. This is a custom operation and one recent launch, Calypso, was tailored for green sailing, with an electric motor and cork decks among other features. jeremyrogers.co.uk

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Dinghy sailing ~ Sudan

Tea on the Nile

When you’re living in the middle of the Sahara desert and the government is a military dictatorship it can be a challenge to find fun things to do

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he work could be quite interesting. As the sole Canadian diplomat resident in Khartoum (Sudan) I had in 2000 a vicious civil war to report on that had cost two million lives and had been running for 17 years. And after 9/11 it fell to me to look after journalists who had come to see where Osama bin-Laden had got started. I would show them the chemists’ shop where he’d once had an office and we’d go out and meet his ex-cook, who’d tell us how Osama had a taste for Basmati rice and loved small children. For good measure we would throw in a visit to the site of the al-Shifa pharmaceuticals factory that had been destroyed by American cruise missiles in 1998; the custodian would show us a piece of rocket motor on which you could make out the word “Boeing.” And, although it was not strictly relevant, we’d sometimes finish the tour by having tea with a Canadian friend in the flat that used to belong to Carlos the Jackal.

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But the terror-tourism became tedious with repetition. For relaxation there was nothing better than getting out on the river, for Khartoum is located at the junction of the Blue with the White Nile.

Back in the 1920s, when this was a British garrison, it occurred to the Colonel of the Regiment that a good way of keeping the young officers out of trouble might be to establish a sailing club. The first problem was that there were no boats. Indeed, there was hardly any wood to be had either, the nearest forest being about 2000 km to the south. But there was a large pile of galvanised steel that had had been hauled up laboriously from Cairo in case one of the garrison’s old gunboats needed repairs. A reputable yacht designer was commissioned – Morgan Giles – and the result was the Khartoum One Design. This is a steel 18ft sloop based on a Sharpie, with buoyancy tanks, a retractable centreboard, a Bermuda-rigged mainsail and a jib.

Starting in 1932, about fifty were built.

ABOVE Khartoum Ones at their moorings off the Blue Nile Sailing Club BELOW Manhandling the heavy boat into the water

Khartoum characters

The clubhouse of the Blue Nile Sailing Club (established in 1926) is similarly ironclad: H.M.S. Melik (“King” in Arabic). The Melik is one of four gunboats that were ferried in pieces past the six cataracts of the Lower Nile. They were re-assembled in situ as British forces approached Khartoum in 1898, seeking revenge for the earlier killing in the capital of General Charles Gordon (portrayed in “Khartoum” by Charlton Heston) by the messianic figure known as the Mahdi (an equally unconvincing

Laurence Olivier).

The Melik played a part in the Battle of Omdurman, where its deck-mounted machine gun was used to devastating effect, inspiring Hillaire Belloc’s short poem: Whatever happens We have got The Maxim Gun And they have not Shortly afterwards, the Melik was key to another moment of colonial history known as the Fashoda Incident, driving a would-be French colonial force from the area and thus giving rise to the term Gunboat Diplomacy. Her swansog was as a prop in Alexander Korda’s classic movie “The Four Feathers” (1939).

Since that date she has been beached, listing at a slight angle, in front of Khartoum’s St Matthew’s cathedral.

The Khartoum One Design fleet

would race twice a week just before sunset, then there would be a longer race on Friday mornings – the Islamic weekend. For the Friday races we would often beat down the Blue Nile to its junction with the White Nile and run back against the current. My wife Jenny and I were a little nervous the first time we took a boat out on our own. The current of one to two knots would inevitably take us downstream in the direction of Cairo (about 3000km and six sets of cataracts) and while the prevailing northerly wind would tend to bring us back, late evening calms were not uncommon.

It was also clear that, should we capsize, then righting a heavyweight like the Khartoum might be challenging. The Commodore, a genial and very large man in a flowing white djellabiya that sometimes gave him trouble when going about, was nonchalant when

ABOVE LEFT Evening on the Nile ABOVE RIGHT Launching our Khartoum One Design after a new paint job BELOW H.M.S Melik, the gunboat has served its retirement as the clubhouse of the Blue Nile Sailing Club

we very cautiously inquired if the club had lifejackets: “No, no Mr Nicholas, Miss Jenny… do not worry about that. Our Nile is warm.”

But he hesitated.

“There is one thing…If you do capsize, please be sure to do so on the Blue Nile, not the White….you see, there are crocodiles on the White. And….er….do not stand on the bottom of the river. There is, how do you say, Bilharzia? It is a worm; it is not good.”

We were generously allocated a boat of our own. The arrangement for temporary residents such as ourselves was that you were welcome to fix-up one of the ancient dinghies – being steel they were pretty robust – as long as you bequeathed it once you left. About one third of the members were expatriates, the rest locals. Our Sudanese fellowmembers would try to offset the cost of rehabilitation by seeking sponsorship – from Pepsi, or maybe the local cooking-oil company – and displaying their logos. We contented ourselves with a sparkling paint job in Canadian colours (red and white), SailingSailing TodayToday with Yachts with Yachts & Yachting & Yachting FEBRUARY APRIL 2021

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Dinghy sailing ~ Sudan

a maple leaf on the bows and the grand name “Canada One.”

Revised racing rules

Racing around the buoys on weekday evenings was often a robust affair and we rarely did well. In theory the usual racing rules applied, but in reality the terms “Starboard!” or “Water!” were taken to mean “Get out of my way!”, and were held to be binding as long as you said it first.

The club employed two “boat boys” who served as night-watchmen, did some basic maintenance and filled in as skippers or crew when numbers were short. Farouk was in his eighties, Mohammed Bahar a few years younger but impaired by a severely crooked back. On the race-course they were demons. Of course, they knew every eddy, every spot where there was likely to be a wind shadow. Above all, they knew where the sandbanks were. A common ploy was to lead trusting “khawajas” (foreigners) such as me and Jenny over such a shoal, having very surreptitiously hauled up their 3ft centerboard without our seeing.

On one memorable occasion we were thus stranded directly in front of the grand Republican Palace where, memorably, Gordon had been speared to death. It was strictly forbidden to loiter around here. The AK47-carrying soldiers who began shouting and gesticulating at us, as Jenny stepped out to lighten ship and move us off the bottom, gave us some cause for concern.

Arabian Chinese gybe

We twice snapped our wooden mast in Chinese gybes but by next race-day Farouk had spliced the joint

together again, just making the mast a little shorter. Dents resulting from collisions would simply be hammered out. As and when we tore the sail we would take it to the souk to a little old lady, where it usually provided some amusement. But one fellow-diplomat took things more seriously. On leave in the UK, he strolled into a venerable sailmaker’s on the Solent somewhere, anticipating a little quiet oneupmanship: “I’d like a new mainsail for my dinghy, please?”

“Oh yes sir, what class might that be?”

(Smugly) “A Khartoum One Design…”

“Of course sir….Hmmm, I do believe Mr Giles sent us a set of drawings, but I must say I don’t think we’ve cut one of those for a while…1945 maybe? When do you need it?”

Most clubs have their own historic annual races. One of ours, described

ABOVE Crew neglecting the jib BELOW Tranquility following a day’s racing

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Nick and Jenny Coghlan are avid sailors and adventurers based in Canada.

Their voyages span from Alaska to Cape Horn. Nick has also written Winter in Fireland, a book about their adventures aboard Bosun Bird, a Vancouver 27. You can buy the book and find out more at bosunbird.com

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in the Club Rule Book, was to Gordon’s Tree: long ago felled, it grew at the point on the White Nile where the relieving British force sighted smoke in Khartoum and knew they were too late to save the General. At a skippers’ meeting prior to this race we were all asked to take note of the fact that a particularly aggressive hippopotamus had been seen in the grounds of the Hilton, where the Niles meet; he (or she) was “to be avoided.” Another race involved swimming to and from your dinghy; this was held to favour the expatriates, as very few locals knew how to swim. But the highlight was the overnighter to Om Dom: Crocodile Island.

We would set off in the late afternoon and it would be a leisurely run down-wind as the sun sank and the call to prayer would be heard from minarets all over the city.

There’d be a bonfire on the island and then the expats would come into their own, especially the diplomats.

As we were among the very few people in the country with legal access to alcohol, there was a quiet expectation that we would bring along the “tea” (the euphemism for Johnny Walker Red Label). Once that was exhausted, it would be on to the local homemade “araki” (date-based firewater); next morning’s long beat home could seem tedious to some.

It was only on these morning sails back from Om Dom that we expats could finally beat our Sudanese friends, in fact. For we were experts when it came to tea drinking.

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Cruising ~ Norfolk

Broads appeal With foreign cruising off the agenda for many for a few months, thoughts turn to home waters and what better place to start than the Norfolk Broads

T

he Norfolk Broads are one of those treasures of the UK that are sometimes overlooked by cruising sailors. Yet this network of slow flowing rivers and cuts which open out into the great stretches of open water that are the Broads themselves offer new challenges to the uninitiated and endless days of sailing pleasure to those in the know.

The narrow river stretches force even the most experienced of sailors to feel like a novice on first acquaintance. Meanwhile, when the rivers open out into the wide sweep of the Broads, the surrounding lowlands ensure fine steady breezes on lovely flat sheets of water.

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The Broads themselves have an interesting history as for many years people assumed that they were a natural phenomena. However in actual fact, they were created in the Middle Ages when the existing peat bogs were dug out by locals in need of fuel. Subsequent rising sea levels flooded these huge pits creating the Broads which stretch Across the southern section of Norfolk and the Northern quarter of Suffolk with access from the sea most notable at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. The Broads have been a popular yachting destination since the late 19th century and were immortalised by Arthur Ransome is stories such as Coot Club and The Big Six.

ABOVE A stately gaffer makes her way up the River Thurne BELOW Leisurely racing on the River Bure

The question is; where to go? Well, with a little help from Ruth Knight from hire company Norfolk Broads Direct, we have a ready made itinerary: “It’s only a rough indicator and there are plenty more options,” Ruth explains, “but this is a starter.”

Barton Broad

Horsey Broad

River Thurne

Wroxham Trinity Broad

Norfolk

River Bure

Breydon Water

River Ware

Great Yarmouth River Waveney

River Chet

Lowestoft Oulton Broad Beccles

Day 1: River Bure, Wroxham and Salhouse Broad Starting out in Wroxham, follow the River Bure downstream towards Wroxham Broad and Salhouse Broad. The Bure is considered to be one of the prettiest rivers of the Broads and the birthplace of Broads cruising holidays. The river provides a slice of pastoral paradise with lush riverbanks interspersed by thatched cottages.

Salhouse Broad is about an hour’s cruising, offering the perfect overnight mooring stop for you to finish unpacking and start to enjoy the slow pace of life the Broads offers.

Salhouse Broad is a quiet and peaceful place with abundant wildlife. Whilst here why not take a walk along the footpath next to the old staithe to the village, and 13th century thatched church, or head for sleepy Woodbastwick, home of the Woodforde’s Norfolk Ales.

Inn and The Ferry Inn, with river gardens and riverside walks. The village also has a very active sailing club, which organises the famous annual Three Rivers Race and is home to the paddle steamer, The Southern Comfort. Horning Village stretches along the northern bank of The River Bure for about a mile.

Continue to cruise on until you come to the turn for Ranworth Broad. Here you will find the ‘Cathedral of The Broads’; Saint Helen’s Church. The energetic are well rewarded if they climb the eighty-nine spiral steps and two ladders to the top of the flint-lined tower. The view is spectacular with much of the Norfolk Broads river system visible, interlaced with boats that weave their way in the constantly changing pattern of light through farmland and marshes that grow traditional Norfolk Thatching

ABOVE LEFT Principal towns and rivers of the Broads ABOVE RIGHT A view from the top of Saint Helen’s Church, near Ranworth Broad BELOW Sailing through Horning

Reed.

Leave the River Bure behind you and head up the River Ant, under Ludham Bridge and up to How Hill.

With lots of moorings on the starboard side, this is a great place to stop overnight. How Hill is a lovely Nature Reserve with a small museum of a Traditional Marshman’s Cottage.

Day 3: River Ant, Barton Broad & the River Thurne The beautiful River Ant opens onto Barton Broad, the second largest broad. Barton Broad itself is a magnet for boats, particularly sailing, and is home to one of the most famous Broadland sailing clubs, the Norfolk Punt Club. Once on Barton Broad you can either follow the channel to port and head down towards the village of Neatishead, or carry on across the Broad heading up towards Sutton and Stalham. If you

Day 2: Horning, Ranworth Broad & the River Ant A short cruise further down the River Bure brings you to the pretty village of Horning, boasting fine riverside cottages, shops, three different pubs; The Swan, The New

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Cruising ~ Norfolk

decide to moor up at Stalham this would be a great point to stock up on any supplies, with Tesco being just a short walk away. You will also find one of the most picturesque windmills in Norfolk, Hunsett Drainage Mill. Stalham is home to the Museum of The Broads, which is definitely worth a visit as it explains the history of the Broads nd man’s interaction with them.

Day 4: Great Yarmouth Time for a change of pace with a voyage to the big smoke that is Great

Yarmouth. Leave Potter Heigham and head back down the River Thurne to the Bure, passing through Acle and under its road bridge. The landscape changes to fields and marshland with the remains of ancient wind pumps before you arrive at the popular seaside resort of Great Yarmouth.

Yarmouth is a bustling seaside town with much to offer, including a first-class beach, shopping centre, amusement arcades and funfair.

Children can run wild at the Pleasure Beach with over 70 rides.

ABOVE LEFT A view of the iconic Thurne Mill which has been a landmark in the Broads for over 200 years ABOVE RIGHT Moored up at Great Yarmouth

Day 5: The River Wensum and Norwich Take a peaceful cruise up the Yare through the pretty countryside, stopping at Bramerton for lunch and a stroll along the Weaver’s Way footpath.

The rivers Yare, Chet and Waveney all have a unique story to tell, but combined they offer the ultimate Broadland experience. The River Yare for instance is often called ‘the gateway to the Broads’, a nickname which stuck after it became a main trading route linking Norwich with

Top tips for sailing in close confines Retired Sailing Today Editor and avid river sailor Jake Frith provides his top tips for sailing in confined waters such as the Norfolk Broads: 1) Don’t cleat the sheets . In close confines you don’t want to fluff a tack, so use the minimum of turns on the sheet winches. Make sure the lazy sheet will run out well (nobody has stood on it etc.).

2) Don’t just think about where you are trying to get on this tack, think a few tacks ahead.

There’s no sense in taking a risk or losing speed by pinching to get upstream of something this tack if it means you’ll have to bear away to clear an obstruction next tack.

3) With all the excitement of avoiding objects at water level and planning three tacks ahead, it can be easy to forget aerial obstructions.

Keep an eye out for things like bowsprits and dinghies hanging off davits.

4) Rivers provide a showcase of fluid dynamics in their simplest form. Bottom drag means shallower water at the sides of a river provide less flow than the deeper water in the middle. Therefore the most effective progress upstream is achieved by keeping out of the stream to the sides of the main channel. When running with the stream it pays to stay in the

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APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

faster flow near the middle.

5) Water on the outside of a bend has to flow further and therefore faster to keep up with the water on the inside. The upshot of this is that rivers and channels tend to slow down and deposit sediment on the inside of bends creating shallow water while the faster water scours them deeper on the outside.

6) It often feels like much of river sailing seems to be dead upwind or dead downwind. This is more than just a suspicion, as surface winds are often channelled up or down river valleys.

7) The temptation when tacking upriver to pinch uptide of a moored boat is a very strong one. After all, if you have to accept defeat and

bear away downwind of her you may lose out on 40ft of uptide progress. Look at the background that the boat is obscuring at the bow and stern. If the bow is unveiling more background than the stern you should safely pass uptide of it. But if the bow and stern are equally obscuring the background, then you are on a collision course so need to bear away or put a tack in.

8) Barge skippers used to use the word ‘huffling’ to describe carrying a boat’s way as far upstream as possible in a tack. When stemming the river’s flow and a light wind, this is still a valuable skill. The contrary flow will often be weaker in the shallower margins where you will be tacking than in the centre stream, so if you can use the boat’s weight and momentum to shoot upwind another few metres against this weak flow it can pay dividends.

9) When the wind is not funnelling directly up or down river, its direction will provide one tack that affords further progress than the other. This is commonly referred to as the ‘making tack’, always watch your depth sounder like a hawk towards the end of the making tack when carrying it into the shallows, as the making tack is the one that finishes on the lee shore.

‘Yarmouth is a bustling seaside town with much to offer, including a first-class beach’ the seaside port of Great Yarmouth.

Today the river is a haven of woodland flora, fauna and impressive marshland. The Chet in comparison offers a sleepy backwater feel, this three mile stretch of river makes an effortless detour and before you know it you are back on the River Yare. The Waveney takes its place between Norfolk and Suffolk and is the Broads’ most southerly main river.

Cast-off, heading for the river Wensum and the fine city of Norwich. Here you’ll moor close to the city centre, within sight of the magnificent cathedral which is well worth a visit. The City of Norwich is famous for many things, including the magnificent Norman Cathedral,

busy market, and selection of cosmopolitan restaurants, cafes and wine bars which come alive at night.

You could even see a show in one of the many theatres, or watch the latest film in one of the city’s cinemas.

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Day 6: Loddon and Burgh Castle Retrace your steps down the Wensum and Yare, passing Surlingham and Rockland Broads before turning right on to the narrow, scenic River Chet.

This takes you to the small, pretty town of Loddon. Here you can take time to stroll around the town and stock up with provisions before heading back towards Breydon, mooring up at Burgh Castle.

Day 7: Homeward bound Leaving Burgh Castle, head across Breydon Water and back onto the Bure towards Wroxham. Stop for your last night at Horning and stroll to Cockshoot Broad with its crystal clear waters, or try walking to Salhouse Broad, a pleasant walk along a tranquil footpath from the Fur & Feathers Pub. Then it’s just a short hop back to Wroxham and a return to the real world!

Norfolk Broads Boats for Hire Eastwood Whelpton A total of 16 Broads sailing yachts.

Tel: +44 (0)1493 750430, www.eastwood-whelpton.co.uk Hunter’s Yard Traditional cabin yachts and day sailers, all engineless.

Tel: +44 (0)1692 678263, www.huntersyard.co.uk Martham Boats Up the River Thurne, Martham has a fleet of five yachts plus motorboats.

Tel: +44 (0)1493 740249, www.marthamboats.com Norfolk Broads Yachting Company Horning-based with 14 classics, including a (skippered) wherry.

Tel: +44 (0)1692 631330, www.norfolk-broads.com Swallowtail Boatyard Ludham boatyard with three own-built traditional Broads sailing yachts.

Tel: +44 (0)1692 678066, www.swallowtailboats.co.uk Norfolk Broads Direct Wroxham based hire company with motorboats plus a small lugger you can tow for the best of both worlds.

Tel: +44 (0) 1603 782207 www.broads.co.uk

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ABOVE LEFT The approaches to Norwich

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61

Buyer’s Guide ~ Antifouling

Foul language It won’t be long before boatyards around the coast are humming with the noise of sanders and the chip-chip-chip of owners removing old flakes of antifouling. Sam Fortescue looks at the latest products

A

few years back, there was a question mark hanging over the common British practice of antifouling your own yacht. A failure to stick to best practice on wearing gloves, glasses and masks made the Health and Safety Executive nervous, while the Environment Agency was concerned about the amount of toxic old antifouling paint that was finding its way into marine ecosystems.

There was a concerted push by the British paint industry, as well as the Royal Yachting Association and industry body British Marine to get DIY painters to up their game. They put out a confetti shower of leaflets,

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APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

posters and guidance to boatowners as part of their ‘Protect, Collect, Dispose’ campaign. And the industry’s Green Blue initiative tried to raise awareness of marine pollution among boaters generally.

Four years on, it is very hard to determine what has changed nationally. Although marinas and boatyards have been urged to install water collection and filtration equipment to ensure that old paint can’t run off and pollute the water, no-one has followed up on this. And in fact, no-one thinks it is their job to do so. “It is ultimately the responsibility of the marinas/ boatowners to follow [up],” according to Emily Bradley of industry body the British Coatings

Federation.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that there has been only limited take-up.

According to the RYA, “marinas and boatyards with suitably bunded facilities are not that common.” The Green Blue offers a map of the British marinas with some sort of environmental facilities installed (thegreenblue.org.uk), and this currently shows just six marinas can collect contaminated wash-down water. Premier says it is planning to install facilities soon, Boatfolk says three of its six marinas are equipped with ‘interceptors’ and Yacht Havens has equipped more complex collection facilities in its three marinas that have boatyards. With water pollution high on the

Ablative

Government’s agenda ahead and a new Environment Bill expected in March, there must be some concerns within the industry.

Better news is that the majority of boatowners seem to be aware of best practice when it comes to antifouling the boat. A survey by the industry in 2016 found that 97 per cent of boaters wore gloves for antifouling, while 74 per cent wore face masks.

And the industry is busy innovating with novel types of antifouling which are free of traditional biocides. Here is a round up of the options, and a look at what is new.

The classic antifoul, also the easiest to apply and the cheapest, simply erodes as it goes to make it hard for fouling to take hold. Within the genre, though, there is a huge range of different products and technologies. If you spend more, you can end up with a coating that lasts for two years and erodes at a constant pace that is marginally kinder to the environment. A cheaper rosin-based paint simply rubs off.

“How biocide is released from an antifouling film is therefore key to product performance and this is an area on which our team are constantly working to optimise,” says Jotun’s marketing executive Tonje Hvalvik. The Spanish manufacturer’s Nonstop II product is designed for DIY application, and functions using a unique ion hydractive exchange mechanism that should make it effective even in high fouling areas.

Seajet is innovating in this area with an entirely biocide-free version of its popular ablative paints – part of a trio of more environmentally responsible products from the brand.

ALL CHANGE? Now that the UK has left the EU, we were keen to learn how our regulators planned to use their newly returned control. It might surprise you to know, then, that there is literally no change in the paint sector post-Brexit. That’s because the UK has simply copypasted the previous EU Biocidal Products Regulation into British law and put it under the control of the Health & Safety Executive. “This gives an element of reassurance to UK antifoul manufacturers and

distributors placing products on shelves, meaning there are no physical changes to formulations at this point in time,” says Geoff Mackrill, director of Teal & Mackrill, which manufacturers the Teamac brand of paints. On the other hand, it duplicates the cost of compliance.

“The question is: will the UK market justify spend on all or just some of the costs?” Reading between the lines, British boatowners could see a narrower choice of product available in the future.

Eko 021 is a self-polishing product that starts to erode as soon as it goes into the water. It is based on crosslinking zinc acrylate technology, which results in a very thin hydrolysis layer that renews itself constantly. Prices are still being determined, but I am told it should be comparable to Seajet’s copperbased products – that is some £70-120 per 2.5lt tin.

Resin-based ablatives £43-£95 (2.5lt tin) International Boatguard 100 Seajet Samurai 031 Seajet Eko 021 Flag Cruising Nautix A3 Teamac D Plus Self-polishing ablatives £90-£130 (2.5lt tin) International Micron 350 Hempel Mille NCT Jotun Nonstop II Seajet Shogun 033

Hard antifoul

Hard antifouls are structured paints that don’t erode. They can be burnished for a really slippery finish and are therefore often the racer’s choice. They usually leach less biocide than ablatives, although they

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

63

Buyer’s Guide ~ Antifouling

BEST PRACTICE FOR ANTIFOULING l Choose a paint that works for your boat and the environment in which you keep it. Get local advice on successful treatments. l Consider fouling release coatings, ultrasonic and other non-biocidal options. l Try to use a marina or yard with a proper wash-down system that collects the contaminated run-off from your hull. See the directory at thegreenblue.org.uk l You can use portable bunding to prevent runoff flowing into watercourses or the sea. l Only remove paint that really needs to be replaced. l Put a groundsheet or tarp under the boat to catch flakes and debris of old paint. l Use wet abrasion to minimise dust. l Consider paste-and-peel treatments that remove old paint in a single layer. l When applying new paint, wear suitable personal protective equipment including gloves, mask, goggles and overalls. l Keep the tarp in place to catch drops. l Dispose of waste paint, brushes, rollers etc at your local hazardous waste station.

Source: thegreenblue.org.uk

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APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

often still contain copper. That means you’ll need to scrub them off during the season to keep the bottom clean.

A unique sub-genre is Coppercoat, which is a precise blend of finely milled copper powder and epoxy.

When correctly applied, it can offer more than a decade of protection before a new treatment is needed, but it is more expensive up front and requires careful application. It is often billed as a less environmentally damaging way of keeping your hull clean.

Seajet will unveil a new hard antifoul this autumn, in time for the 2022 sailing season. Aimed at boats in relatively low fouling areas, it is apparently pitched equally at cruising and racing boats. As an epoxy-based product containing no biocide, it will require regular cleaning, but it includes additives to protect against UV and to increase surface tension.

It would also suit boats used on a ‘dry sail’ system, where they are stored ashore between outings.

Hard paints £100-£124 (2.5lt tin) Hempel Hard Racing 7142H International VC Offshore (2lt pack) Jotun Racing Seajet 035, Seajet Eco Coppercoat

Non-biocidal

Coatings that are free from toxic biocides usually work by making it very hard for marine life to establish a chemical bond to your hull.

Anything that does so can only form a weak bond and is easily dislodged by the movement of the hull through the water. These are so-called fouling release coatings. Some, like Hempel’s well-known Silic One, use slippery silicone to almost eliminate friction with the water. International’s Intersleek 900 uses fluorocarbons to do the same thing – a bit like Teflon.

Being biocide free, these products are the focus of much R&D effort at the moment. Seacoat Sea-speed is a hard epoxy paint containing siloxanes, which can switch valency in moving water, making it very hard for anything to latch on. It is widely used in the cruise and military sectors, but works for slower sailing boats too. Renolit Dolphoin S

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APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

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ADVERTORIAL

Buyer’s Guide ~ Antifouling

(renolit.com) comes as a film which can be wrapped onto your hull, but the main UK supplier Grapefruit Graphics of Fareham, has recently stopped importing it. And Finsulate is another innovative film which mimics the behaviour of sea-urchin skin, with millions of tiny spines which brush off marine growth.

There is even a version of the product which is optimised for speed, but in reality, it is more likely to appeal to cruisers. A coat lasts for some five years.

Seajet is launching its own fouling release coating, called Bioclean Eco. It will work like other products in the category but where it is unique, according to Seajet, is in the ease of application. Some silicone-based paints require the hull to be scraped back to the bare gelcoat each time, but Bioclean will adhere well to a primer. “As long as the existing coating is free from flaking, and in generally good condition, all you need is to apply is two coats of tie coat, followed by two coats of Seajet

INTERNATIONAL PROPELLER PRIMER New this year from International is a product that will make it possible to apply the company’s popular antifouling paints to underwater metal. Propeller Primer forms a strong bond to bare metal, and offers great adhesion for antifoul. “One of the most important aspects is that the product is water-based and chromate-free – so this a smooth fast-drying primer vastly improves HSE credentials and makes it much more user-friendly product for both DIY and professional applicators,” says Matt Anzardo, global segment manager, yacht.

Bioclean Eco for antifoul protection of at least one year,” says Seajet’s general manager Michael Hop. With four coats, it’s still a lot of painting, and more than a traditional ablative antifouling paint. But Bioclean can also be stored between coats, so there’s no need to get it all done in a single session.

Fouling release coating £40-£50 (750ml tin) Intersleek 900 (professional application only) Hempel Silic One Seacoat Sea-speed V10X ($425 per 3.78lt tin) Seajet Bioclean Eco

Ceramic Pro

Ceramic Pro stands alone among the many antifouling options for boats. It is a nano-ceramic primarily designed to protect topsides, but it is undergoing tests now as a foul release coating, where it is showing some promise. Its tiny particles fill the rough surface of a finished gelcoat, smoothing it and reducing friction.

“Those same pores, voids and undulations are also present even on the very best top-coat paint finishes,” says Chris Dell at Ceramic Pro. The finish has extreme hydrophobic properties, lowering the surface tension of the water against the hull, which means it actually enables boats to go 3 per cent faster than they would with a clean, bare hull.

Ceramic Pro couldn’t yet provide details of the performance as a fouling release coating, as the Gosport ferry and other yachts are still trialling it. However, it has been successful in the US. Typically, fouling release is more effective on faster hulls, as a certain speed is required to dislodge the fouling. But because the coating is exceedingly difficult for marine organisms to latch on to, a quick spray down, or an in-water scrub from something like a Scrubbis usually suffices. “It is definitely something for the future,” says a representative.

The product has made its way into the marine sector from automotive, where it is used to provide a very durable protective finish to cars.

Although it is painted on, the product dries to provide a smooth and scratch-resistant shell to the hull which is compared to glass. It proclaims a hardness of 9H+, but as this equates to a surface that can’t be permanently marked by a 9H pencil, it doesn’t seem a very useful measure.

More interesting is the three-year warranty and the possibility of an even longer service life. Once your local applicator has rolled or sprayed the finish on, it will protect the gelcoat for many years against discolouring or degradation due to oxidation and maintain a high gloss finish. What’s more, it can be applied to almost any hard surface, inside and out, from fibreglass to wood, glass and metal. There is even a derivative product range for cleaning and protecting soft furnishings.

A typical application for a 30ft fin-keeled yacht would cost some £975+VAT. Find out more at ceramicpro.co.uk.

PAINT BRANDS: FIND OUT MORE International-marine.com Hempel.com Seajetpaint.com Coppercoat.com Sea-speed.com Nautix.com Jotun.com Teamac.co.uk Flagpaints.co.uk Renolit.com Finsulate.com

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Shortlist | 12v Marine Leisure batteries

SHORTLIST

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

12V MARINE LEISURE BATTERIES

68

Aceleron Essential LifeP04

Halfords Leisure Battery 800

The Essential is a Lithium Ion battery, which is a one size fits all leisure battery capable of up to 5,000 cycles at 50% DoD for up to 20 years. It can be fully charged in as little as two hours. It’s a lightweight battery, weighing in at 15 kg, which is less than half of the weight of a lead-acid battery of the same capability.

A no nonsense lead acid leisure battery which is sealed and provides up to 1200 Watt Hours and 400 cycles. It’s not the lightest compared to lithium ion rivals, weighing in at 25.6kg. It comes with a two year guarantee.

 £1,155  aceleronenergy.com

 £145  Halfords.com

Mastervolt MLI-E

Powermax 110 Sealed

Mastervolt is one of the largest companies in the marine electric power market, with a wide range of batteries. This lithium Ion battery features an LED display on the top showing state of charge, and warning you of low voltage. It also offers an app to monitor the battery via Bluetooth.

The Powermax 110 sealed, dual purpose lead acid leisure battery is renowned for its quality and reliability. Being a sealed battery, there is no requirement for maintenance or topping up. Dual terminals add to the versatility of the unit.

 £1,530  mastervolt.com

 £103  barden-uk.com

Rolls R Series R12-260 AGM

Sterling AMPS 100

The Rolls R Series R12-260 AGM is a dual purpose sealed maintenance free Advanced Glass Matting battery. The Series 2 range has all the leading design features associated with AGM technology offering both a lower selfdischarge and an increased acceptance to charge current than wet batteries.

A lightweight (14.5kg) lithium Ion battery which feature many interesting safety features including an automatic fault recovery systems, intenal cell thermal safety fuse and explosion proof stainless steel cells.

 £516  rollsbattery.com

 £1,250  sterling-power.com

Varta professional LFS105

Victron Smart 100

This is a battery tailored to work as both a leisure battery (for domestic needs aboard) and also deep cycle use (starting the engine). The battery is based on tried and tested flooded technology. It’s maintenance free and offers good levels of durability.

Victron have long been big players in the marine market and this lithium Ion battery is designed for leisure use. Victron state it is 70% lighter than lead acid competitors. Bluetooth allows cell voltages, temperature and alarm status can be remotely monitored.

 £137  barden-uk.com

 £1,465  Victronenergy.com

APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

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Cruising ~ Norway

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Fjord Focus Nick Huxford narrates a voyage that took him from Southampton to Norway’s Lofoten Islands

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ur summer voyage was to sail to the Lofoten Islands in Santosa, a 55ft ketch lovingly built over 14 years by her owner Steve. Steve had spared no expense to make Santosa a very comfortable boat, with every conceivable labour-saving device. My personal favourite was one of those instant hot water taps you find in posh kitchens, giving us a constant supply of hot drinks, a must for any Arctic journey. Santosa’s first major voyage started from her home base in Southampton. The plan was to cross the North Sea and make Stavanger the first port of call. Having had an uneventful sail/motor up the English Channel, we rounded the corner from Dover into the chaos of the North Sea, a series of traffic separation schemes, wind farms, and gas fields. As we made our way north, it became evident that the weather forecast was less than accurate, and as the wind picked up to 45 knots, the decision was made to make for a safe haven, Den Helder in Holland. Once the weather blew through, we set sail again for

Norway, arriving on a calm sunny evening. After negotiating our way through the numerous islands and intricate maze of rocks and skerries we finally tied up alongside the beautiful Stavanger town quay.

Santosa had coped well with her first gale and a North Sea crossing.

Our journey from Stavanger to Bergen planned to follow the advice of an accommodating Tourist Information lady who suggested that we take the Hurtigruten ferry route through the Fjords. This invaluable advice not only kept us inshore and out of the bitter North Sea, but it also provided a great opportunity for plenty of dramatic photos. Bergen, a charming city, is a mix of old and new. It’s a lively cosmopolitan city with areas of traditional buildings, the most impressive of which is the Bryggen, a fascinating labyrinth of rickety wooden structures housing shops, bars, and restaurants. The oldest restaurant serves a beautiful Norwegian food, including sardines, cod tongues, and, somewhat controversially, whale meat. These wooden buildings have a wonderful smell, which I later discovered was a SailingSailing TodayToday with Yachts with Yachts & Yachting & Yachting FEBRUARY APRIL 2021

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Cruising ~ Norway Cruising ~ Norway

mix of tar and brown cod liver oil used for preserving the wood.

Apparently, the slight tilt to the buildings resulted from an explosion on a Dutch munitions ship in 1944.

Despite its rather violent history, Bryggen has survived as one of Norway’s most quintessential city waterfronts.

Northward bound

The next leg of Santosa’s voyage started with Champagne and cake to celebrate the silver wedding anniversary of two of our new guests, Tom and Julie. The following day we headed North again towards open water, our first port of call, Leirvik, a sleepy town tucked into a small, sheltered inlet on the edge of Sognefjorden. The local hotel staff were amiable, supplying us with

plenty of information. One suggestion was that we should explore Sognefjorden, the world’s second-longest fjord at 110 nautical miles. Thursday morning started with a slight breeze as we headed to Balestrand, 64 miles away but a little over halfway along this fantastic fjord. Balestrand is a small town surrounded by impressive snowcapped mountains. Its most notable building sits on the seafront, the imposing Kviknes Hotel, the holiday retreat of Kaiser Wilhelm, who was resident here at the outbreak of WWI when he was given 24 hours to leave.

Our departure was less hurried, and having spent the night in Balestrand, our plan was to head for Naeroyfjord, stay for the afternoon, and then head further up Sognefjorden. Our journey started with dramatic,

ABOVE LEFT The beautiful waterfront of Trondheim ABOVE RIGHT The Lofoten Islands are a haven for both Sailors and Mountaineers BELOW Weather in the fjords can bring four amazing seasons in one day

escalating to stunning and culminating in unbelievable scenery.

Naeroyfjord in Norwegian means narrow fjord, and it lives up to its name. It is 10 nautical miles long and only 250 meters across, with dramatic cliffs on either side. The snowmelt pours down the peaks in stunning torrents of ice-cold water crashing on the rocks below. There was only one thing to do, forget our plans of pushing on, anchor, and break out the barbecue.

Dragvag Bolsoya, a pretty anchorage off the SE tip of Molde, was our next destination and location of our first Sea Eagle sighting, something we would see on our journey north on several more occasions. Dragvag to Trondheim was 174nm north again, and would take around 24 hours. We weighed anchor at 07:30 and set off back through the fjord. On arrival in Trondheim, after 22 hours of sailing, we were moored up outside the Central Railway Station. Trondheim is another beautiful city, and the old town became a real favourite amongst both crew and guests. This area houses plenty of cafes, bars, and restaurants, including one selling the best fish soup I have ever tasted.

Having enjoyed the charm of Trondheim, it was time to head north to Bodo and the Lofoten Islands inside the Arctic Circle.

Into the Arctic Circle

For the next five days, the crew consisted of Skipper, Mate, and Engineer, giving us the luxury of

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some time off to explore moorings and anchorages between Trondheim and Bodo. Our first stop was Torget, home of the famous Torghatten (Troll mountain), an imposing slab of rock with a square hole through the middle. This was a chance to get off the boat and do some muchneeded hill walking. As we edged further North towards Bodo, we crossed 66°33’39, the elusive Arctic Circle. Our destinations of Bodo and the Lofoten Islands were now only a couple of days away. The natural beauty of Torghatten was soon eclipsed by our evening arrival at Traena, a small island with an even more dramatic mountain range rising up from the seabed. The lack of wind and the midnight sun produce spectacular views reflected in the mirror-like harbour well into the night. The following day was very different. The rain came in as we headed to Svartisen and remained heavy for the next two days.

However, this did not detract from the stunning river of ice we had come to see. The Svartisen Glacier was only 4 miles from where we had moored the boat. We were able to walk to the leading edge of the glacier, a 40ft wall of ice that contained a multitude of blue, turquoise, and crystal hues, without a doubt a highlight and a stunning reminder of the harsh environment that exists above 67° North.

Our arrival in Bodo saw the sun’s return and a pleasant, easily accessible port to base ourselves for the Lofoten Islands’. Bodo is a

garrison town, home to a significant NATO airbase, making it feel very international, albeit a long way north. Having picked up our next guests, we set off to explore the Islands, initially heading north and stopping at the end of each day at a mooring or anchorage: Trollfjord, Risoghamu, and Fiskevaeret, to name a few. The Lofotens are renowned for their staggering mountain ranges and glorious white sandy beaches. The seas are full of fish. Many of our stopovers celebrated a rich fishing history with museums and renovated fishing villages that give a real insight into the 18th-century fishing fleets’ harsh life. Our contribution was two large cod, caught from the back of the boat and eaten for supper in true Lofoten tradition.

Whale of a time

Our journey north from Bodo had a purpose. We were heading for

ABOVE Santosa moored up; time to sample the delicious Lofoten seafood

BELOW A typically dramatic scenes in the land of the midnight sun

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nick Huxford is a Freelance Ocean Yachtmaster who has worked as skipper for the Tall Ships Youth Trust, delivery skipper and work in leisure sailing.

He has sailed many miles including to destinations as diverse as the Caribbean and the Arctic Circle.

Andenes, a small industrial fishing town that sits at 69° north on the edge of the continental shelf. The site of a 1500m deep-sea canyon which attracts various species of whale, the most enigmatic of which is the Sperm Whales that dive to great depths for their prey, the giant squid.

We arrived at the edge of the canyon in perfect conditions. With some helpful advice from a passing Sea Safari boat and the recording of eerie clicks from Steve’s hydrophone, we were not disappointed. A male Sperm Whale treated us to an impressive display of diving and surfacing for the next hour, a great privilege, and a day none of us will forget in a hurry.

Having decided to head back to Bodo, our route south took us to more remote and beautiful anchorages such as the tiny Island of Aesoy. Our mate Sue braved the Arctic Sea to go swimming and explore the white sands and crystalclear waters of Meloyer. A landscape to rival the Caribbean, although slightly cooler at four degrees. The Lofotens truly are an undiscovered paradise and a cruising ground that is relatively easy to reach from the UK. They provide a stunning variety of scenery, wildlife, and culture. This was my second summer in Norway and I believe if I returned every year for the next twenty years, I would see only a fraction of this remote and wild country’s extraordinary diversity.

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How to Win ~ Keeping Fit

Fitness from home There has never been a better time to train from home than now. Even in normal times, just think how much time you would save. Jon Emmett provides some pointers on best technique

H

umans like routine and a regular activity gets done.

It is habit forming, just like brushing your teeth first thing in the morning [yes believe it or not it is best to brush your teeth before breakfast to remove the bacteria before you eat].

So, let us start from the beginning.

When you first wake up your body’s top priority is hydration. You need to have something to drink, since it has been many hours since you have had any fluid intake. A

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quick plain glass of water first thing does the trick and requires almost zero effort. This is important to keep your internal organs working well.

You certainly don’t want to train dehydrated (or indeed race or do any physical activity dehydrated).

Different people have different body clocks: some are early risers or ‘Larks’ and some are late sleepers or ‘Owls’. Regardless of this the best time to train, when your body is strongest, is usually around two hours after your first meal of the day.

Exactly what you should eat before, after (and even during) exercise is a topic for another article.

The important thing is the routine, training at time that fits your schedule and that you can keep to.

My suggestion would be to train three days on and one day off but for many it may be more appropriate to train fixed days of the week and I would therefore suggest two days off.

In terms of timing, it is good to have a rest day, the day before you have an important task, whether that task is

‘The core not only makes our boat goes faster when we move around the boat but perhaps more importantly it protects us from injury’ physical or mental. So perhaps you have Saturdays and Tuesdays off because you do club racing on Sundays and Wednesdays… the devil is always in the detail.

Coffee time

So how can we make our training more effective? Well, a simple supplement that many of us enjoy is coffee and the caffeine in this has many helpful effects such as increasing heart rate, the amount of fat we burn whilst exercising and may even allow us to train at a greater power up and/or for longer.

We want to start training during the peak caffeine blood concentration and therefore beneficial effect which starts around 45 minutes after consumption so it is best to have after breakfast, 45 minutes before you start training rather than first thing in the morning (when its effects will be diminished by the time you train).

It is also best not to rely on caffeine as a wake-up aid. Your body is waking up naturally first thing and this is the best way. Remember over consumption of caffeine can even lead to minor withdrawal symptoms if you rely heavily on it Monday to Friday and then cut out for the weekend. The reason I favour coffee/ training in the morning where

possible is because caffeine has a mean half-life of around five hours for a typical person at rest (a regular coffee drinker and/or elite athlete doing an extremely physical session could have a shorter half-life). If you take 200mg of caffeine in the form of a double espresso, you have 100mg in 5 hours and still have 50mg in 10 hours. Caffeine can interfere with sleep and sleep is very important to our recovery from exercise.

As a side note, taking your caffeine quickly is better for your sports performance (think downing a double expresso rather than simply a big coffee) and adding milk also slows absorption/reduces the benefit.

Caffeine also has a diuretic effect (it makes you pee more) and it is important to stay hydrated… obviously the amount of hydration in a specific coffee gives you is dependent amount of water /caffeine in it (think weak big coffee with lots of water for hydration vs a pure caffeine tablet with no water for a quicker caffeine hit).

Training options

So what training are we going to do…? Well, if possible, I would suggest we do our aerobic activity outside and our strength exercises in the home. Therefore walk, jog, or

ABOVE RIGHT Press ups BELOW Working on upper body strength

run, cycle if possible and there are also plenty of aerobic workouts on YouTube etc which can be good fun when it is not a nice day to be outdoors. I always think it is good to get out in the fresh air and I am sure that is part of the reason we all enjoy sailing. This means when planning your three day a week training programme it pays to check the weather forecast (and remember forecasts can and do change) to choose the day(s) you would most like to be outside!

Another general principle is to do our hardest session first in the three day cycle. Make a plan and stick to it.

Since most of our aerobic activity tends to involve our legs (even something like rowing which is perceived by some as an upper body activity the majority of the power should come from the legs and trunk). So, when we train from home we should focus on the upper body and perhaps most importantly the core. The core not only makes our boat goes faster when we move around the boat but perhaps more importantly it protects us from injury. The effective exercises are therefore those which use the whole body or nearly the whole body and activate the core at the same time.

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How to Win ~ Keeping Fit

Suggested exercises at home:

This short programme is designed to work the whole body, to keep you balanced and even if you train every other day or just once per week they will be of benefit. The order of the exercises is important. Try to keep a training diary because monitoring your progress is a good way to encourage yourself to keep going, Squats/lunges Getting a full range of movement is important. With both squads and lunges you can go down until the top of the leg is parallel with the floor (something you wouldn’t normally do with running/cycling etc). The advantage of squats is if you can load the body with more weight whereas lunges there is more of a sidewise balance element. May be alternate on different days to keep things interesting. Squats and lunges strengthen both the front and back of your legs, buttocks, and abdominals.

Nearly everyone knows what a press up is but to do them in good form is another matter. We need full range of movement and the body in a straight line (as we will see in planks later), this means activating the core.

If we cannot get the full range of

movement or complete the full number of repetitions, we can complete the exercise on our knees, again with a straight body. The press up strengthens the chest, back of arms and abdominals.

Muscle balance is important. We have worked all our push muscles, therefore we also need to work our pull muscles, and these are perhaps especially relevant to sailing. Quality of training is key. Don’t be tempted to use the legs to “kick” you up for the pull up, they must be static and likewise a bend over row needs to be done in a smooth and controlled fashion rather than “snatching” the weight or twisting your upper body to make it easier. Pull ups strengths back, front of arms and abdominals.

We need a “fresh” core for the hard (or more technical lifts) so finally: Planks and side planks Planks are simply a static hold to work the core. So, shoulder blades down, tummy in and body in a perfect line. To start with aim for 30 seconds. Better a good 30 second plank than a mediocre 60 seconds!

Bridging Just as with the press ups/pull ups, when we do planks, we also need to

ABOVE TOP LEFT Squats ABOVE BOTTOM LEFT Lunges ABOVE CENTRE Pull-ups ABOVE TOP RIGHT Planks ABOVE BOTTOM RIGHT Side planks BELOW Bridging

work the opposite. Rolling up into a bridge bone by bone (imagine peeling your back off the floor) so first you slowly raise your bottom, then the lower back, then middle back and then only the top of your back remains on the floor. Your body in a perfect line. We should hold for 30 seconds and gradually build this time up. You may well find bridging easier than planking.

For most of these exercises I would recommend 5 – 6 sets of 8 – 12 repetitions with 30 – 60 seconds rest in between to achieve a good balance in gains between muscle strength, endurance, and hypertrophy. The heavier the weight (if any) and the fewer the reps and greater rest the more we are leaning towards muscular strength gains, whilst lighter weights, more reps and less rest is more for muscular endurance.

Remember to stretch! The end of the session is perfect for this when we are nice and warm. Not only does it help remove the lactic acid and other waste problem from our system but it can even help improve our flexibility which helps protect us from future injury. Then time for a quick shower and grab something to eat to replace those calories burnt, which should be easy because you are already at home.

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Cruising ~ Blue water passage planning

WEATHER WITH YOU Dick Beaumont spells out what you won’t find in the almanac GRIB files and enhanced communications have changed the way that we use weather forecasts to plan and shape a course on a long ocean passage. Yet there are also pitfalls to avoid, as Dick explains

PART ONE A new age

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ffshore satellite communications have improved beyond recognition over recent years. Time was when skippers had to rely on HF radio transmissions or weather fax, which were based on the same communication system, to access weather. Most radio operators, for that’s what you needed to be, would agree that the vagaries and complications of managing the equipment and the airwaves was a dark art that only dedicated radio enthusiasts could master. What’s more, most skippers accepted that once they were over three or four days out, they had to rely on their own short term weather forecasting from barometer and hydrometer measurements, combined with an assessment of cloud formation.

While this provided skippers with a heightened sense of awareness, the deductions made were uncertain.

The crew of an independent ocean

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cruising yacht simply had to take what weather was coming.

The advent of affordable and reliable satellite communications has changed that. Skippers, anywhere on the oceans, can now very easily download weather forecast GRIB files to keep themselves better informed about the weather, wind and sea conditions they can expect.

Even so, it’s as well to remember the following: It’s a forecast and however sophisticated the computerised models become, occasionally the computers get it wrong and forecasters are surprised by an ‘off the grid’ weather system development.

Bear in mind that you should add ten knots to the wind forecast if you’re going upwind, to convert the true wind forecast to apparent, which is what it will feel like.

These worldwide computer analytics will not show local weather variances.

For example, if you are sailing in the tropics, particularly as the season moves towards the summer, forecasts will not pick up nasty little thunderstorms that can turn a lovely calm evening with 10kt of wind, into a 40kt white squall maelstrom in just minutes, yet be gone again 15 mins later, leaving blown out sails and carnage in its wake, so keep a weather eye out.

In my experience. the forecast for the first 24 hours is likely to be 90-95% accurate, 48 hours 70-80%, 72 hours 55-60%, at 96 hours its 50/50 and at 120 hours, five days, 30-40 % but it does depend where you are in the world and how intense the weather system is. In certain places around the world once a weather system has formed, the certainty of it, and it’s associated weather fronts, moving in a given direction, can be very high.

Generally, the accuracy of forecasts beyond five days is questionable and can only be used as a guide of what might occur.

Furnished with good weather info, you may not be able to completely avoid heavy weather, but you can know where and when it’s coming.

That gives modern skippers a huge

safety advantage compared to their counterparts of just a few years ago.

Please don’t misunderstand, I am not falling in line with the mistaken belief that with good forecasting or a fast boat, you’ll never have to sail in heavy weather. I have heard some shockingly foolish statements made by salesmen at boat shows. One of the favoured misnomers peddled by eager yacht brokers is that a a fast cruising yacht these days can outrun bad weather. This may be true some of the time but, in the vastness of an ocean, it can also easily be rendered nonsense. Nevertheless, with a good understanding of the weather charts that are derived from GRIB files, one can ‘load the dice’ in your favour, so that, rather than head straight into the heart of a weather system, you can make a course change and avoid the worst of it. That can make the difference between a tough sail and a survival situation.

I believe it is necessary for any skipper that is intending to go on offshore passages of more than three or four days to be able to read and understand weather charts. It is not sufficient to rely on weather forecasts that predict at xyz place next Tuesday there will be 15kts of wind from the

south-west, or to pick up a digital animated graphic forecast from a website such as Windy or Predict Wind. You need to know what’s going on.

These animated forecasts are helpful while you are learning to understand a weather chart, but weather systems are so fluid that you need to understand how weather systems are building, deepening, declining and moving, so you can form a probability in your own mind as to what might happen.

As I’ve said in previous issues, I do not accept that a skipper should rely on weather routing services to determine their route from A to B. For skippers to abdicate their responsibility in understanding the very fundamentals of the

ABOVE A screenshot from the popular Windy app demonstrates clearly a weather system off the North American coast BELOW A diagram to illustrate how the coriolis effect influences the direction of the world’s prevailing winds

The Coriolis Effect 60 n

90 n

30 n

0

30 s 60 s 90 s

environment they are sailing in, to someone sitting at a desk perhaps thousands of miles away, is totally unacceptable to me.

Your crew should be able to expect more from their skipper.

In this series, I will explain the rudiments of understanding weather, and how to read the weather charts. The issue of the confusing array of satellite communication systems and software programs that are available to enable sailors is worthy of another article in itself.

Firstly, we need to understand the weather systems, and particular, the wind and sea state that these systems might generate in given circumstances.

If you want to understand meteorology in more detail, there are many very good books written from a yachtsman’s perspective so it’s well worth having a proper browse through the options.

In simplistic terms, weather is the result of the uneven heating of the earth’s atmosphere and the movement of the air as it cools or warms up during summer and winter, and day and night, combined with the Coriolis Effect which throws the weather systems off of a fixed position.

The Coriolis Effect (illustrated to the left) is created by the rotation of the earth as it spins around its axis and essentially plays a big part in dictating the general direction of the trade winds which blow steadily for months on end. They also dictate the wind direction of pressure systems.

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Cruising ~ Blue water passage planning

There are two main types of weather systems, high pressure and low pressure: Cold air sinks

Air spirals out clockwise at low levels

High-pressure systems These are generally more stable systems created by cool air from the higher atmosphere dropping down onto the earth’s surface. The winds generated are caused by the dropping air spreading as it comes to the earth’s surface (see diagram to the left).

These systems generally create lighter winds, are mostly larger than low-pressure systems, and move around slower than low-pressure systems.

However, there are circumstances in which two high-pressure systems in proximity of one another will create a pressure squeeze between them that then generates strong winds. Also, otherwise lighter winds from a high-pressure

system may become exacerbated in the proximity of a low-pressure system, particularly a cyclone, when effectively the cyclone sucks air in from the weather systems around it. This effect can be felt many hundreds or even a thousand miles away from the cyclone itself.

Whilst sailors generally welcome the onset of a high-pressure system, it must also be understood that as one moves to the centre of the high-pressure system, slack, or no wind at all, may be experienced.

The need to ‘choreograph’ your route around the systems as they move, to maintain good wind, is therefore essential for the blue water cruiser.

Low-Pressure systems In simplistic terms, these systems are created by the convection of warm air.

As air is warmed up over land or sea and rises, ambient air is pulled in to replace the air that has risen (see diagram to the right).

As the name suggests, as lower atmospheric air ascends it creates low pressure at its base, which ambient air rushes in to fill. The Coriolis Effect then starts the weather system spinning, and the rotation of the earth throws the weather system off across the earth’s surface.

Low-pressure systems generally create more wind than high-pressure systems and can be much more violent. Cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons, which are all created on the same

Low Pressure

basic principle, and are essentially intense low-pressure systems turbocharged by high temperatures.

Low-pressure systems often generate both warm, and cold fronts as they drag in air from surrounding areas. It’s important that sailors understand the severe wind and sea state conditions that may occur as these fronts, particularly cold fronts, affect the area they are in.

In the account I’ve written on a voyage from Madagascar to Cape Town alongside this article, I have explained the potential consequences of running into the extreme weather that such low-pressure systems can produce.

Rising warm air draws more air in

Air spirals upwards anticlockwise at low levels

Avoiding storms Look at the weather chart to the left and you can see the huge cold front generated by hurricane Teddy, which stretches right across the Atlantic west to east.

If you were heading for Europe from Boston or Annapolis when Teddy formed, way down in the Atlantic, level with the Caribbean, it’s difficult to see how you could avoid going through the cold front.

Mitigating the wind generated by the hurricane a thousand miles away would be fine, but outrunning the front wouldn’t be an option.

I want to stress that gaining a better understanding of weather is complementary to sailing in a well-founded seaworthy yacht and to good seamanship. It can never be an alternative to either.

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Air flows towards low pressure

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Cruising ~ Blue water passage planning

Out-running the storm

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n one nine-day passage from Nosy Be, Madagascar to Durban, South Africa, we had planned a stop of 12 hours at an atoll reef called Bassas da India, to dive the surrounding deep-sea pinnacles. All of the crew were experienced divers and we were all very excited at the prospect of diving this reef, which is hundreds of miles from the nearest land.

After three days sailing, as we began to approach the atoll, to my great concern when I downloaded the weather charts for the next five days, I saw that a ‘weather bomb’ ( an intense but small depression ) was developing down at The Cape of Good Hope.

I had been warned about this kind of weather system and had witnessed first hand the dramatic effects these ‘weather bombs’ can generate: While planning a departure from Nelson in New Zealand to Sydney, a similar weather system had developed in Tasmania, throwing weather fronts across seven hundred miles of the Tasman Sea. We stayed in port for a few days to let it blow through.

Indeed it was a ‘weather bomb’ depression that wreaked havoc in the ill-fated Sydney-Hobart Race in 1998.

I said nothing, but rechecked the forecast six hours later, only to find, to my consternation, the storm was following precisely the direction and pattern I had been warned about, it was deepening and following a curving track hugging the coast around the Cape going east.

I checked the plotter, I had 750nm to run to Durban and so did the storm, it was moving at about 5.5kts. I calculate my daily run distances based on 7.5kts, we normally do more, but it’s best to be conservative.

It became clear that if we stopped at Bassas da India and went diving, it might be a close call.

With a heavy heart, I told the guys

we couldn’t stop and that we needed to get to Durban before the storm hit. The charts in the area carry a warning to mariners that waves in excess of 20m (66ft) had been reported in this area!

We cracked on making good progress and covered just under 200nm in the following 24 hours. I began to think I had been over cautious, maybe we could have stopped and dived for the day, but the next weather download removed any complacency, the storm was now speeding up, fuelled by the warm waters flowing down from the Mozambique Channel. It was now moving at just under 10kts and deepening.

It still looked like we would beat it to Durban but I began to consider that Richards Bay some 80nm nearer might be a handy fall back plan.

With less than two days to run, Richards Bay became the primary target, as the storm continued to increase its speed. It was gobbling up the miles at over 12kts an hour and the vicious front now stretched over 500nm from the east coast of South Africa out into the Indian Ocean.

There would be no going around it, we either got to port or were going to have to go through it. The storm had 400nm to run to Richards Bay, we had 300nm to go. If we kept up 10kts we would beat it to Richards Bay by three hours. We ran on under sail and power, covering 245nm in the following 24 hours and now had just

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dick Beaumont is the CEO of Kraken Yachts and a bluewater cruiser of some note having sailed over 250,000nm on a range of yachts. He currently cruises his own Kraken 66, White Dragon. krakenyachts.com NEXT MONTH: How the weather systems actually move over a 20-day voyage compared to forecasts and what that means to our on route passage plan

under six hours and only 55nm to run. The storm however had sped up to 14kts. It would be a very close call.

There was no longer any talk from the crew about Bassas Da India. The storm, our Nemesis, was now only 80nm from our safe haven.

With three hours to go, the wind died, the proverbial calm before the storm. There was an eerie silence that spread over the greasy flat swell of the sea, and my crew. We furled all sails and I cranked up the engine to 2600rpm, to keep up to 10kts. As the entrance to Richards Bay came in sight, we could see the monstrous front stretching across the horizon like something out of a Steven Spielberg movie. The barometer was now dropping like a stone. We powered through the heads at the entrance to Richards Bay just as the wind began to pick up, and we could smell the storm in the air. We had made it with an hour or less to spare.

We tied up in the main port alongside a fishing vessel and the skipper came out and said ‘you better put extra mooring lines on guys, there’s a bit of a storm coming’, everyone started laughing. I told the bemused gnarly old salt ‘yes I know, we have just run 750nm over five days and beaten it here by an hour’.’

Good job’ he said, ‘I reckon this one will be real nasty’. He was right.

By the time we had finished tying up, the wind was 25kts, it hit 50kts as the barman served the beer up, and blew at 65-75kts until dawn.

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GULL’S EYE

COWES HARBOUR ISLE OF WIGHT

50° 46’.08 N, 001° 17’.95 W

WEST COWES

FERRY TERMINAL

COWES YACHT HAVEN - CONTINUE UP RIVER TO SHEPARDS MARINA AND ISLAND HARBOUR

W

Cowes Harbour is rightly viewed as one of the great yachting hubs of the world. Sam Jefferson discovers a port that needs very little introduction

ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON

COWES BREAKWATER SWINGING MOORINGS

SHRAPE BREAKWATER

S

N E

Cowes Harbour

ABOVE The Red Jet ferry is fast moving and should be viewed with caution LEFT (TOP) A race gets underway off the Royal Yacht Squadron LEFT (BOTTOM) Cowes High Street in summer BELOW (L-R) The chain ferry between East and West Cowes; Squadron view

50.7624° N, 1.2973° W

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S

ituated on the northern side of the Isle of Wight at the mouth of the River Medina, Cowes Harbour can lay a pretty strong claim to being one of the birthplaces of yachting as we know it these days. There are many reasons for this; on one level you have to look at the socio economic status of the UK in the mid-19th century and also the fact that the royal family holidayed at nearby Osborne House and happened to be keen sailors. Yet in a more simplistic reading, the success of Cowes lies squarely on its superb location. The River Medina provides all tide shelter with generous depths, while the north side of the Isle of Wight faces straight onto

the sheltered waters and cruising heaven that is the Solent. It all means that Cowes is possibly the most famous keelboat sailing destination in the UK, if not the world.

This is one of the south coast’s best sheltered harbours which allows exceedingly easy access to a whole array of wonderful south coast cruising. Being a cruising Mecca does come with drawbacks of course and, in summer, the place is an absolute hive of activity. Yet this is a port built on that buzz of activity and, as such, the selection of marinas boast staff who are thoroughly efficient and accustomed to the hectic summer months.

The town and port is quite unusual in that there is no fixed bridge between East Cowes and West Cowes, although there is a very frequent chain ferry, which makes the five minute crossing many times each day. This does give the two sides of the river markedly different feels, with West Cowes being the main hub of activity. The river remains navigable all the way up to Newport and it’s well worth exploring the upper reaches.

FACTFILE

STEPPING ASHORE Cowes Harbour and the River Medina are home to four marinas: Cowes Yacht Haven, Shepards Marina, East Cowes Marina and Island Harbour marina.

Cowes Yacht Haven The Yacht Haven is situated within a stone’s throw of Cowes High Street and has 260 fully serviced berths, 24/7 access, a 50 ton hoist, new boat mover and 15 ton mobile crane as well as a HIAB for keelboats and RIBs. Facilities include Wi-Fi, showers, toilets, launderette, on-site engineers, electricians and boat repairers.

Shepards Marina Shepards Marina is slightly further up the River Medina and prices are therefore slightly lower. Nevertheless, it’s handily placed for town and offers all the facilities you’d expect, including free Wifi, and caters to yacht racing events, rallies, cruising sailors and powerboaters. The marina has 130 visitor berths and an onsite

ABOVE (L-R) Brisk racing off Gurnard Head; BELOW LEFT Pontoons at Cowes Yacht Haven BELOW RIGHT Shepards Marina

restaurant, sail maker, dive school, and sailing school with yacht charter.

East Cowes Marina East Cowes Marina is on the opposite side of the river and is therefore slightly removed from the hustle and bustle of central Cowes. Nevertheless, it’s just 500m south of the Chain Ferry and this modern marina has 360 berths.

It’s very welcoming with the popular Lifeboat pub a magnet for sailors.

Island Harbour Island Harbour is something of a gem, being a locked marina a short way upriver from the iconic Folly Inn on the east bank. This is a more peaceful spot in a wooded valley, although things get a bit lively when the annual Isle of Wight Festival arrives. Access is via lock gates up to 4.5 hours either side of High Water. The maximum draft is 2.5 metres. There are all the facilities you’d expect of a modern marina plus an onsite bar and restaurant.

COWES YACHT HAVEN: VHF Channel 80 call sign ‘Cowes Yacht Haven’ Tel: 01983 299975 info@cowesyachthaven.co.uk Cowesyachthaven.com SHEPARDS MARINA VHF Channel 80 call sign ‘Shepards Marina’ Tel: 01983 297821 shepards.chc@cowes.co.uk Cowesharbourcommission.co.uk EAST COWES VHF Channel 80 call sign ‘East Cowes Marina’ Tel: 01983 293983 berths@eastcowesmarina.co.uk Boatfolk.co.uk ISLAND HARBOUR VHF Channel 80 call sign ‘Island Harbour’ Tel: 01983 539994 info@island-harbour.co.uk Island-harbour.co.uk USEFUL CONTACTS: Cowes Harbour is a trust port, which means it has no shareholders or owners but is managed for the benefit of its harbour users or ‘stakeholders’ and run by volunteer commissioners. They run one of the marinas (Shepards) and are also in charge of levying fees, appointing a harbourmaster and maintaining and allocating swinging moorings.

Cowesharbourcommission.co.uk chc@cowes.co.uk 01983293952

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Cowes Harbour

PASSAGE PLANNING Cowes Harbour entrance is deep and well buoyed. The main problem is traffic There are two entrances to Cowes Harbour, the main fairway, which is also used by commercial and ferry traffic, and the Eastern Channel for craft up to 20m in length, which is dredged to 2.25m.

The entrance via the main fairway or Eastern Channel is straightforward enough but keep a sharp eye out for ferries.

Access to, and the route up, the Medina River, which separates Cowes and East Cowes, offers a few navigational hazards. These include the Cowes Breakwater and the Cowes Floating Bridge. Outside Cowes Harbour the main issue throughout the Solent is a significant amount of commercial traffic travelling predominantly to or from the major port of Southampton.

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In a similar vein at Cowes Harbour, there is the issue of the East Cowes-to-Southampton Red Funnel ferries which dock near the iconic Union Flag building in East Cowes, and regular shipping

BELOW An aerial view which gives an indication of the volume of traffic in the port (nb; this photo was taken before the breakwater was constructed)

transiting Cowes to reach the commercial wharves further up the River Medina. Though the ferry traffic can be frequent, the captains are well practiced at manoeuvring and will give the appropriate warning signals in the crowded waters. You usually have plenty of time to avoid the ships due to the Cowes Harbour speed limit of 6 knots but be sure to keep a good look out to stay safe.

If you are entering or exiting the Medina as a ferry is entering or exiting there is plenty of room provided you stay close to the western side of the river. However, the bigger threat in traffic terms out in the Solent and Southampton Water, largely thanks to its speed is the Southampton-to-Cowes Red Jet ferry. This passenger-only highspeed ferry races along at over 35 knots and has been known to catch out the unsuspecting yachtsman with its speed. The Red Jet docks on the western side of the river at Jubilee Pontoon, Town Quay and must turn through 180 degrees before it comes alongside so keep well clear if the Red Jet can be seen making its approach to its berth.

Of significant note in Cowes Harbour, the Solent and in Southampton Water are the tides. In the Solent during spring tides 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 dangers go, the main one in the central Solent is, the well-known (and documented) Bramble Bank. The bank is marked on its easternmost point by the Bramble Post, 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.

There is a large ‘precautionary area’, which stretches from west of Cowes out past the mouth of the River Medina and up into Southampton Water. This zone is used by large commercial vessels going to and coming from the Port of Southampton, so keep an eye out for traffic and keep well clear to give them room to manoeuvre.

CRUISING GROUNDS The Isle of Wight itself offers a great deal of cruising with plenty of pretty anchorages. The northern stretch of the coastline is most popular due to its access to the Solent and relative protection, and in truth the exposed cliffs of the south side do not make for the greatest moorings.

For day sails you really are spoilt for choice. Head west and you have the secluded delights of Newtown Creek followed by the charms of Yarmouth which is a little less hectic compared to Cowes. On the mainland side you have Keyhaven, Lymington and the Beaulieu River.

All of which are great stop offs in very different ways. Directly to the

ABOVE LEFT The iconic church at Bosham, Chichester ABOVE RIGHT Buckler’s Hard on the Beaulieu River RIGHT The moorings off Yarmouth BELOW LEFT Poole Harbour BELOW RIGHT Braye Harbour, Channel Islands

NEXT MONTH

Fecamp Marina in beautiful Normandy

south is the dubious delight that is Southampton, although Hamble on the east side of Southampton Water certainly boasts great pubs and authentic yachtie atmosphere. To the west, is Portsmouth Harbour on the mainland and the somewhat less rough and ready Bembridge on the Isle of Wight. For those wishing to actually exit the Solent, Chichester and Langstone harbours are a day sail away to the east and to the west, Poole Harbour is readily accessible provided you get your tides right for the Needles. For a week’s sail, the Channel Islands are well placed or you can hope for a favourable slant to get you down to the West Country.

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Baltic lifejacket for women The Athena is the first lifejacket from Baltic that is female-specific. As Baltic rightly say: “A lifejacket only works when worn, it is of little use if kept in a locker and only attempted to be donned in an emergency. Evidence tells us that a lifejacket which is comfortable to wear, and one that provides freedom of movement is likely to be worn more frequently.” The Athena is billed as ‘lightweight, slim, and supple’ with an ergonomic design that makes it easy to put on without it having to go over your head. It’s secured in place with a padded Velcro and quick release buckle.

The 33G CO2 auto-inflation valve is positioned on a diagonal axis, low down, away from the chest.

The jacket has padding for comfort, is 165N and fully adjustable to suit all sizes. £149.99

baltic.se

LAUNCHED THE BEST NEW KIT

Gill Offshore Boot Helly Hansen jacket

One could imagine well-dressed Frenchman Louis Burton doing the Vendée Globe in a pair of slippers, so perhaps it wasn’t a surprise when he crossed the line to exclaim warmly about the quality of his Gill boots: “They were so comfortable it was like wearing my slippers!”

The Gill Offshore Boot is blessed with tall gaiters, almost to the knee, which will prevent all but the most persistent waves from getting your socks wet. Among many other features there is non-slip outsoles, thermal lining and impact protection.

Helly Hansen has had a rollercoaster month – their sponsored team American Magic was knocked out of the Prada Cup, but then their sponsored sailor, Yannick Bestaven, won the Vendée Globe. Either way, they are keen to highlight the gear they’ve developed for and with both teams. This jacket is part of their new HP Foil Pro collection, which includes a Softshell Smock as well. It has “ultrasonic and double sealed seams for reduced drag and unbeatable waterproof protection”.

It will be available from spring 2021.

£195

gillmarine.com

hellyhansen.com

OceanR

Digital load pin

Eco-friendly clothing brand OceanR is the sponsor of The Green Blue’s University Sailing Sustainability Challenge (USSC), the winners of which will be awarded at the RYA Dinghy Show. The challenge encourages university sailing clubs to undertake as many sustainable actions as they can throughout the academic year. Much of OceanR’s clothing is made out of recycled polyester and reclaimed ocean waste such as fishing nets or discarded water bottles.

OceanR’s Adam Chubbock said: “Our mission is to reclaim as much waste as we can from our oceans and recycle it into eyecatching, sustainable clothing and products for sailing clubs and other businesses.”

Cyclops Marine have launched a “game-changing” Digital Direct Load Pin to measure loads on standing rigging such as forestays and shrouds, giving you valuable data to optimise performance and avoid rig overload. Load pins are designed to replace existing pins and Cyclops claim to offer the “most accurate, reliable and robust custom load pins available”.

“In the past, load pin installation has been complex,” the UK company says. “Pins have featured fixed analogue cables and external amplifiers that need bespoke calibration, often regularly requiring re-calibration through the life of the pin. Cyclops pins are installed with commonplace tools and can be disconnected from the supplied cable, making them compact and practical.”

The digital pins are suitable for all yachts.

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APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

£TBC oceanr.co

£POA

cyclopsmarine.com

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

Three of the best

aid P ax T 00 0 , 99 3 £

BROKERAGE | BOATS FOR SALE

¤4 Tax80,0 Pa 00 id

SWAN 65 | CHOUCAS III Arguably one of the most iconic and instantly recognisable yachts of all time.

The evergreen classic Swan 65, designed

by Sparkman and Stephens, is one of their most successful Swan designs., Choucas III offers sparkling sailing together with exceptional build quality. Perfect for serious cruising, these yachts also shine on the Regatta circuit and are rare to the brokerage market. Choucas III was launched in 1980 and she has been under her current ownership for the past 36 years. She is hull number 34 of the series which began in 1973 and ended in 1989 with 41 hulls launched. She is fitted with a ketch rig. The Swan 65 is a yacht that has an impeccable pedigree, having

been designed by the legendary Olin Stephens. The 65 shot to fame when the Swan 65 Sayula II won the inaugural Whitbread Round the World Race.

Her interior is both practical and attractive. She has good headroom throughout and the owner’s stateroom is generously roomy, the two guest staterooms are also spacious and the forepeak can be used by one or two paid hands or guests. The location of the galley aft and the chart table adjacent to the companionway seems to have worked out well. Cockpit space is generous and the deck overall is both comfortable and practical. All in all, a stunning yacht.

Year: 1980 LOA: 19.68m (65’) LWL: 14.33m (47’) Beam: 4.96m (16’2”) Draft: 2.9m (9’5”) Displacement: 31,800kg Engine: Nanni diesel 135hp Lying: Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy grabauinternational.com craftinsure quote: £POA

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HANSE 575 | GREY GOOSE OF FALMOUTH The Hanse 575 has been the world’s most popular cruising yacht between 55 & 60ft for several years and it is easy to see why. Solid build quality and mile eating passage speeds are par for the course, while sailing is made genuinely effortless thanks to the simple sail handling set up which utilises a self tacking jib and very simple running rigging layout.

Grey Goose is a stunning example having undergone an extensive refit in the last two years. This has been augmented by the care and attention of a professional boat captain, which is evident in all aspects.

Grey Goose is fitted out in stunning high gloss cherry cabinetry with classic teak and holly style flooring that sets a lovely tone to the spacious interior. Grey Goose also benefits from a lovely inventory of branded interior equipment. The boat features the standard three cabin layout with a sumptuous stateroom forward and generous aft cabins.

Year: 2014 Cabins: 4 LOA: 17.2m (56’4”) Beam: 5.2m (17’) Draft: 2.85m (9’3”) Displacement: 19,500kg Engine: Volvo 110HP Lying: Antibes, Cote D’Azur, France michaelschmidt.co.uk craftinsure quote: £POA

£6 Tax 5,00 Pa 0 id

J/88 | JONGLEUR Jongleur is a well cared for J Boats J/88 which is ready for racing or family cruising. This boat has had only one owner from new and has enjoyed continued maintenance and upgrades. At 29 foot, the J/88 is the smallest J to offer an inboard engine, heads and cabin space. This boat has regularly taken part in the Solent racing circuit under a very enthusiastic owner who has played a pivotal role in the class.

The boat comes with a good wardrobe of sails and is well set up for racing. Meanwhile, for lovers of fast cruising, the boat features basic but comfortable accommodation with a vee berth forward, galley, heads and a cockpit table.

LOA: 8.84m (29’) LWL: 8.18m (26’10”) Beam: 2.90m (9’6”) Draft: 1.98m (6’6”) Displacement: 1,315kg Engine: Volvo Penta D1-13 Lying: Hamble keyyachting.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 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

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Dispatches GOLFE DE ST TROPEZ | WOOZLE

I was sat in a café in St Raphael on the Cote d’Azur when I noticed that the wind had shifted to a more favourable quarter. I was quite comfortable in the café and had little desire to leave as the wind remained strong. Yet it was a fair breeze and I needed to get on. Besides, I reasoned, St Tropez was just around the corner – 9nm in fact - nothing. It was early evening in late September and I hoisted the sails to a very fresh breeze just abaft the beam. My boat likes a strong blow and I was in for a treat. I had endured a summer of seemingly endless light headwinds but here was something else; the boat felt totally different, alive and dragging me forward like an excited dog tugging at the leash. Evening fell and started to glow pearlescent and beautiful yet faintly menacing in the strong offshore breeze. Off the Point des Issambres the wind picked up a notch again and I fought with the tiller despite the flat water. The boat felt like it was running away with itself, the reins off. We were being thrown forward by the great force of wind. It was dark now and the lights of St Tropez were winking in the distance as the first stars pricked the sky. The boat ran on pell mell before the building breeze into the darkness, the sea hissing by, the lee rail nearly under. I thought of the Ford Madox Ford quote: ‘the great black flood of wind polishes the bright stars’. I was both a little scared and exhilarated and I didn’t even want to think about heading up into the wind and dropping the main on my own. Presently though I brought up in the shelter of Les Canebieres and spent the most uncomfortable night on the anchor, which persistently dragged. It was worth it though for that exhilarating, edge of control sail into the night.

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

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INSURANCE

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

01636 707606 www.noblemarine.co.uk

DINGHIES

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LASER 156156 STANDARD RIG C1995 Really good boat with no flex in the deck or hull and a sound mast step. Good gunwalehung trolley, high ratio kicker, carbon tiller.

Needs a new cover - I have two on there, both of which are past it, but have kept the weather off. £950 Tel 07876 745095 / (CAMBRIDGE)

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CLOTHING CREWSAVER DRY SUIT 2 XL Crewsaver drysuit sold with undersuit, 50N buoyancy aid and Gill boots UK size 11. In as new condition. £250 Tel 07971 627555 / (RINGWOOD)

DINGHIES LASER Full and radial rigs. Refitted 3 years ago - hardly sailed. Cover.

Launching trolley. £600 Tel 01825 733089 / 07484 897661 (UCKFIELD)

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EUROPE CLASS SAILS Velas Pires de Lima (AP-3 layout, different shapes) 4 sails in very good condition, used 2-3 months Spanish Champion design 2014!!! £280 Tel +3466 0181999 / (SPAIN)

APRIL 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

RS400 SAIL NUMBER 1376 Mist grey hull.

Built 2013. Very little use. Approx 15 events.

Very competitive boat. Immaculate condition. Stored indoors. Combination road base / Launching trolley. Under cover. Top cover. Padded rudder bag. All Harken fittings. Mylar radial sails. Black kite. Vynalester hull. Carbon pole. Cut thwart. Carbon tiller extension. Cost of this package new over £15,000. £5950 Tel 07721 767777 / (HOLYWOOD, NORTHERN IRELAND) 2020 CABRINHA SWITCHBLADE FX KITE New Cabrinha 2019 Switchblade FX Kite Complete With Bar And Lines kitesurf 2020 Cabrinha Switchblade FX Kite Complete With Bar And Lines kitesurf Available Colors - Orange / Yellow / Blue Call Me +1 832 299 4636 Whatsapp +1 469 988 5877. £700 Tel 83229 94636 / (DALLAS)

craftinsure.com 03452 607888

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MERLIN ROCKET - 3760 Winder Canterbury Tales built late 2013. Selden mast, boom and spinnaker poles with Winder pole launch and Ronstan cleats on the mast.

Rod rigging. Winder lifting rudder with carbon tiller 3 jibs, 2 mainsails, 2 spinnakers all HD Sails. West Mersey road base. Lots of photos on request. £13000 Tel 07903 993588 / (CHICHESTER)

TIDEWAY SAILS. Tideway Sails by Jeckylls in White Terylene Main - 1 row of reefing points fitted. (No battens supplied) Genoa some staining, nylon twist Hank’s on luff Jib - brass piston Hank’s fitted to luff All in good useable condition. £100 Tel 07887 771451 / (FAREHAM) SCORPION DINGHY PARTS Everything for sale apart from hull - mast, boom, sails, rudder, centreboard, spinnaker poles, rigging and fittings, etc. Canvas cover only 3 years old. Launching trolley with removable jockey wheel. Everything in fair condition. Parts for sale separately, please apply. £20 Tel 01969 368371 / (LEYBURN) MIRROR 14 (MARAUDER) 14 foot racing dinghy with spinnaker & trapeze. With launching trolley and boom-up cover. £200 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)

HALF TON CLASSIC 1979 Mistral 31 Hull No 1. Taken from the mould of the legendary Rollercoaster. A gorgeous and seaworthy Rob Humphreys design with blistering pace. Good condition, fully loaded, ready to race. £19995 Tel 07971 809294 / (BRADWELL ON SEA)

31 FOOT CRUISING YACHT A Sparkman and Stephens designed sailing sloop, with a black GRP hull, teak deck, beautiful lines and shape. Fully equipped for sailing, roller reefing and GRP/Radar installed 2011. New Nanni 21 hp engine and seacocks. Down below: 4 berths, leather upholstery, cooking galley, separate toilet and washing area. £15000 Tel 028302 60600 / (NEWRY)

SIGMA 8 SPORTSBOAT 8m white hull built 1995. Two suits of sails with large and small jib together with large and small spinnakers. Tacktick with depth speed compass ans starting sequence. All racing equipment included. Mercury outboard 3.3 hp. 4 wheeled double axle trailer. She is in good condition ready to sail. £7500 Tel 07595 057188 / (NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE)

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DINGHY COVERS

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FITTING OUT

1980 SOUTHERLY 105 Well-maintained lifting keel Southerly 105, all the gear, including full suit of sails, inflatable dinghy, winches, full inventory and ready to sail away immediately for all-year round sailing. Viewing by arrangement, contact for more information. £30950 Tel 07894 275014 / (PLYMOUTH)

ENDURANCE 38 DECKSALOON Beautifully light maple interior

by Blondicell Southampton. Safe comfortable Grp criusing yacht with raised saloon for all the family and friends, 6 berths. Only lightly used. Fin and skeg hung rudder. Radar, Autohelm, GPS, Navtex, Heater, 240v, Battery charger. Any offers or share considered. £69950 Tel 07770 860730 / (PLYMOUTH) JEANNEAU ‘16 479 Used 13.4m length polyester white coloured diesel Sailboat, with 4 cabins, 4 heads, 4 beds. Usage hours 3.289. Engine’s power 55bhp.

Anemometer, Bathroom ladder, Auxiliary machine, Compass, Electric windlass, Fathometer, GPS, Gangway, Kitchen, Land socket, Oven, Plotter, Sewage tank, Tent, Tv, Vhf, Water tank, Auto pilot, outboard motor, Refrigerator, with 1 engine, A/C, Bimini Top, Bow Thruster, Electric Winch for Mainsail, Electronic Instruments, GPS Plotter Inside and on Cockpit, Reefing Mainsail, Outboard Motor, Radio/CD player, Solar Panel, Sprayhood, 2 Steering Wheels. £189000 Tel +30 6932606223 / (GREECE) FLYING 15 - 3827 Built August 2005 by Carbon Composites Cowes, Carbon deck, flyaway spinnaker pole system, carbon spinnaker chute, adjustable jib cars, fully faired hull, keel, rudder. Full amount of correctors. Lovely looking boat in off white.

Comes with full set of Pinnell and Bax sails.

Road trailer. Lying Grafham SC. £5000 Tel 07816 836245 / (HUNTINGDON) 1990 ROGERS DESIGN J-24 Good race results both in club racing and opens. 2nd Spring Cup 2019 in Dartmouth. 5th Summer Cup 2019 in Parkstone with race win. 3rd Autumn Cup in Poole. Race wins at the last two National Events. Last weighed in at 1272KG. Original Kenyon Mast with forestay reinforcement completed 2019. £9000 Tel +4477 87741871 / +4477 68533119 (POOLE) SWALLOW YACHTS BAY CRUISER 23 Bay cruiser 23. Built 2015.Very good condition.

Includes a braked trailer. £39000 Tel 07770 860730 / (CARDIGAN) ROGERS CONTESSA J24 Race-ready Rogers Contessa J24. GBR4113 is ready to take away today, fully rerigged in 2019 with Kingfisher Ropes, Harken and Viadana blocks. Correctors, 2016 Dart Sails set, North Sails spinnaker, road trailer, outboard engine. Contact for full history and inventory. £6750 Tel 07894 275014 / (PLYMOUTH)

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Ready to race. 1 – Main & Jib. 3 – Gennakers.

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Keel hoist. Keel buffers. Tacktick Compass.

2 – Gennaker launch bags (blue). Rudder blade plus cover sleeve. Top cover. Lifting straps. Engine bracket. 2.5 hp engine. Many accessories. Road Trailer. £10000 Tel 00353 863731738 / (DUBLIN)

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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 Master: serviced withBruce electricity and fresh water to accommodate all types harbour. The railway and bus stations Harbour 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.”

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Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting APRIL 2021

97

Jess Lloyd-Mostyn Rats and sailors share an uneasy relationship going back almost to the beginning of time.

When Jess and crew received an unwelcome visitor, drastic action was required

A

loud bang from the cockpit wakes me. Followed by a fleeting, scurrying sound, then a flurry of movement up on deck, a splash and my husband, James, shouting “Give me an oar!”.

“What the hell is going on?” I demand, scrambling up the companionway steps, blearily taking in the scene.

But I can see from the chaos on the cockpit floor exactly what must have happened.

The rat escaped.

Let me backtrack a moment here. There is a long history of rats and boats. Indeed, most islands only have rats on them because they were transported by our sailing trading ships of old. And, in our pre-sailing life in London, it was said that you were never more than six feet away from one.

Although, I think that was more of an urban myth.

The cruising stories about rats are endless. Gossipy boaters eagerly swap tales about how if you go to this marina or that dock, one particular city or country, then you’re practically inviting the little critters on board. Sailors advise home-made ‘rat-guard’ contraptions on mooring lines, from physical objects to sprinkling chili to prevent them. Apparently the link between rats and boats is such that when we arrived into Caribbean Mexico we were questioned about them. We were used, by then, to the rigmarole of bureaucracy that accompanies entering any country by boat. But, what was new to us, was the question form including specifically “have any of the rats or mice on board died from plague recently?”.

“How should we answer this?” I questioned James.

“Does this indicate that it’s okay if mice or rats have died from plague but it was a while back?!?” To which his response was of course an eye roll and a look of “Let’s just get this finished so we can go and find some tacos and cold cerveza please”.

In truth we’ve never had any dealings with rats or mice trying to hop aboard without so much as a competent crew course to their names (if they had names..). Until, that is, our last haulout in Indonesia. We were enjoying the convenience of staying in shoreside accommodation while our boat was on the hard for a fresh coat of

antifoul. And, after a dust-filled day of sanding, James reported that he thought that a rat had got aboard. “It must have climbed the ladder” he said, matter-offactly. I shuddered, thinking of something small and decidedly malevolent, shimmying up the flimsy bamboo ladder lashed to the stern of our boat. It must now be frolicking about our home, scratching its way into cupboards to get at our food stores.

We put down a glue trap, baited with cheese but it didn’t fall for it. So we upped our game with a sturdy metal cage trap, upgraded the bait to include peanut butter and prepared to re-splash the yacht. Happily, that first night back on the water, this new trap worked and we awoke to find a very healthy looking but startled brown rat.

He was squeaking nervously.

“Aw, isn’t he cute, Mama?” our eldest said, and all three children promptly fawned over the frightened creature and started posting food gifts of seeds, oats and fruit in through the holes of the cage.

Now what to do? If we reported the rat to the yard we knew it would be drowned. If we rowed ashore to release it further away we’d have to do it under cover of darkness. So, with a clandestine plan of humane (or possibly rodentine) disposal of mister rat we all went to sleep. Us in our cabins, the rat in its cage in the cockpit.

Except the bang that I awoke to was the cage falling down as the rat escaped through the perfectly circular hole it had gnawed through the metal during the night, followed by it dashing over the side and into the water.

James and our son were watching it swimming out to sea and then, as if alerted to the foolishness of this by its inner compass, turning round and heading back towards the shore and also our boat. Hence the cry for an oar, to deter it from climbing our anchor chain.

He was a gutsy chap, swimming over 200 metres to the nearest dock. We actually started cheering him on, applauding his furry little efforts to survive.

The last we saw he climbed a rope, hopped onto the dock and scampered away to land. James and I turned to each other, triumphant with our rodent’s success only to be faced with our crestfallen kids pleading “can we have another pet rat please?”.

98

APRIL 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

‘The rat escaped through the perfectly circular hole it had gnawed through the metal trap’

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