Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting February 2023 - Sample Issue

ENDLESS SUMMER - WINTER SUN CHARTER OPTIONS

with FEBRUARY 2023 £4.95

OCEAN RACE PREVIEW Who will win the ultimate prize?

THE

BEST LAID PLANS Plot your perfect summer cruise SEA CHANGE Atlantic to the Med via the Canal du Midi

BRITISH YACHTING BEST YACHTS AND SAILORS OF THE YEAR AWARDS SEE HOW 2022 YOU VOTED SPONSORED BY GREAT BRITISH BOAT TRAILERS

9 771367 586148

Expert advice on trade wind sailing

JEANNEAU 380 A perfect pocket cruiser?

02

TRICKS OF THE TRADES

BOAT TEST

16

REGULARS

8 News 30 Paul Heiney 32 Andy Rice 46 Tom Cunliffe 98 Jess Lloyd-Mostyn

UNDER SAIL

16 British Yachting Awards Find out who won in this year’s Awards

34 Canal du Midi

THE

BRITISH YACHTING AWARDS 2022

A trip from Bordeaux through to Sete via the Fench canals

40 Ocean Race preview A look at the exciting new IMOCA class

34

42 Planning a cruise Barry Pickthall plans a summer long cruise to Scotland and back

56 Interview: Joan Mulloy An Irish racing sailor with a fascinating back story

64 Charter - winter sun A look at chartering spots where you can top up your tan in the depths of winter

70 Gull’s Eye Guide to Woolverstone Marina

80 RORC Transatlantic Race All the runners and riders in the race across the Atlantic

84 Tricks of the trades

60

Tradewind sailing tips from Rod Heikell and Don Street

BOATS

14 New boat news 60 Tested: Jeanneau SO 380

88

A perfect poclket cruiser?

94 Three of the Best Three of the finest brokerage boats

40

EXPERT’S FORUM

71 Expert’s Forum

From race tactics to cruising conundrums

GEAR

88 Launched Our picks and reviews

90 Buyer’s Guide Winter maintenance tips

3

DUFOUR 37 DUFOUR DUFOUR 37 37

New New New

© JM Liot ©© JMJM Liot Liot © JM Liot

unique, performant and spacious AA spacious sailing sailing yacht yacht Aunique, unique, performant performant and spacious sailing yacht www.dufour-yachts.com/en/ www.dufour-yachts.com/en/ www.dufour-yachts.com/en/ | 32 | 37 | 390| 430 | 470 | 530 | 61 | | 32| 37 | 37| 390| | 390|430 430| |470 470| |530 530| |61 61|| | 32

Movie Movie Dufour 37 Movie Dufour 37 Movie Dufour 3737 Dufour

BOOT DÜSSELDORF BOOT BOOT DÜSSELDORF 21 - 29DÜSSELDORF January 2023 2121- -29 2023 29January January 2023 Hall 16 / B39 Hall 16 / B39 Hall 16 / B39

Welcome

EDITORIAL EDITOR

Sam Jefferson 020 3943 9261 sam.jefferson@chelseamagazines.com GROUP EDITOR Rob Peake ART & PRODUCTION EDITOR Gareth Lloyd Jones WRITER AND SUB EDITOR Sue Pelling PUBLISHING CONSULTANT Martin Nott PUBLISHER Simon Temlett simon.temlett@chelseamagazines.com ADVERTISING ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER Mark Harrington 020 7349 3734 mark.harrington@chelseamagazines.com SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE Charlene Homewood 020 7349 3779 charlene.homewood@chelseamagazines.com GROUP SALES DIRECTOR Catherine Chapman HEAD OF SALES OPERATIONS Jodie Green ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION Allpoints Media Ltd allpointsmedia.co.uk CHAIRMAN Paul Dobson CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Vicki Gavin MANAGING DIRECTOR James Dobson Published by: The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ Tel: 020 7349 3700 © The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2020.

All Rights Reserved. ISSN 1367-5869 (print) ISSN 2059-9285 (digital)

Subscriptions and back issues Tel: +44 (0) 1858 438769 Annual subscription rates: UK £70 ROW £90 Email: sailingtoday@subscription.co.uk Online: Did you know you can manage your subscription online? Oversee your print and digital subscriptions online today simply by signing up at https://www. subscription.co.uk/chelsea/Solo/. Stay up to date with the latest issues, update your personal details, and even renew your subscription with just a click of a button.

Post: Sailing Today, Subscriptions Department, Chelsea Magazines, Tower House, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street Market Harborough LE16 9EF

Skipper’s View AS WINTER BITES, MANY OF US ARE REDUCED TO ARMCHAIR SAILORS - YET THERE ARE SOME SERIOUS BENEFITS WELCOME TO THE February edition of the magazine and, as we plunge into the depths of winter here in Europe, many of us are reduced to the role of being armchair sailors. There are some consolations though and one treat to keep us diverted is the departure of the Ocean Race fleet - see our preview on p40. This event rarely fails to deliver and has been providing inspiration to sailors since those early contests back in the 70s when it seemed less of a race and more of a magnificent adventure. These days the race is a very different beast and the old concept of 'cracking on' and hoping nothing gave way by relying on the judgement of the skipper has been replaced by more sophisticated techniques involving sensors, load cells and all sorts of things that blur the line between the fine art and science. Talking of the fine art, I am always drawn back to the words of writer and sailor Joseph Conrad, who served as third mate under the great clipper captain William Stuart aboard the wool clipper Loch Etive on the Cape Horn run.

Conrad recalled that when handing over the ship to him at the end of his watch, Stuart, an austere Scotsman, would say severely: 'don't take any sail off her' then, with an ominous pause, add: 'don't carry anything away'. Yes, times have changed but the skill in pursuit of speed remains.

One thing that never ceases to dismay me, however, is that many of these events that always seemed so synonymous with the UK seem to have been lost. In the early days of the Whitbread the 'scramble at Hamble' pre race was an integral part of the event. Similarly the Golden Globe Race starts not from Plymouth as Knox Johnston, Moitessier and the rest did, but from France. I'm not blaming the organisers. I would imagine that cold, hard economics guide these decisions. Equally, i'm not some rampant nationalist but it strikes me as a crying shame. Britain has been at the heart of the yacht racing scene since its inception and this strange willingness to allow the country to slip to the margins of the sport is frustrating to witness and feels emblematic of a broader malaise.

facebook.com/ SailingToday

editor@ sailingtoday.co.uk

twitter.com/ SailingTodayMag

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.

The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd makes every effort to ensure that the advertising contained in this magazine is delivered from responsible sources.

We cannot, however, accept any responsibility for transactions between readers and advertisers. For the Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd full set of terms and conditions please go to chelseamagazines.com/terms-and-conditions

Also part of the Chelsea Marine Magazines family:

chelseamagazines.com

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

ANDY RICE is a journalist and veteran dinghy racer who has won championships at both ends of a skiff

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting FEBRUARY 2023

5

Chill out

Most sailors are deep into their enforced winter winter lay off by now , while even those hardy souls who don’t mind scraping frost off the tiller in order to go sailing start to question their sanity by January/February time. Things could be worse though - or at least colder - as this snap taken looking towards Gig Harbour in Washington State demonstrates Photo: iStock

News

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

Club of the Year

l Ballyholme Yacht Club – Northern Ireland l Bassenthwaite Sailing Club – North West l Blackwater Sailing Club – East l County Antrim Yacht Club – Northern Ireland l Gresford Sailing Club – Wales l JOG Yacht Racing – South l King George Sailing Club – London and SE l London Corinthian Sailing Club – London and SE l Lymington Town Sailing Club – South l Otley Sailing Club – North East l Rudyard Lake Sailing Club – Midlands l Whitefriars Sailing Club – South West

PHOTO: PAUL WYETH

Voting closes at midnight on Monday, 23 January 2023, in the RYA and Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting Club of the Year competition, supported by Gallagher.

Voting is already underway in the annual competition, which recognises the outstanding achievement of sailing clubs across the UK. After whittling down the entries, the RYA Awards’ panel selected 12 finalists this year:

Individual awards and the overall winner will be announced during the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show at Farnborough International Exhibition Centre on Saturday, 25 February 2023 (see below).

Visit awards.yachtsandyachting.co.uk/rya to read more about each club and vote.

PHOTO: RYA LAURA EAVES

RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show

8

Exhibitors are being unveiled for the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show presented by Suzuki, which is returning to Farnborough exhibition centre over the weekend of 25-26 February, 2023.

Featuring dinghy sailing, wingsurfing and foiling, and paddleboarding, the show now encompasses all watersports and has plenty of things to see and do whatever your level and interests.

There is family fun with a model boat pool, a VR experience and the popular dinghy trapeze feature, as well as the dinghy racing simulator; there are many watersports displays and demos, as well as live coaching sessions from some of the best coaches in the world, not to mention hundreds of boats and the biggest names in marine retail all under one roof. A Beginners Zone offers advice on starting out including in sailing, foiling and wingfoiling. Advice is also on offer about boat repair via various workshops.

Members of the British Sailing Team will be present and they will be talking about their Olympic hopes, while more established legends will be offering advice for different classes and disciplines across the dinghy racing board. Dinghy cruising has become a key part of the show, with the RYA Dinghy Cruising routes remaining popular and now growing post-pandemic.

The full list of exhibitors includes RS Sailing, Hartley Boats, Devoti Sailing, Barton Marine, Allen, Rooster and many others. There are always show offers on boats and kit to be had.

RYA members can claim a free ticket this year. Get tickets at: rya. org.uk/events/dinghy-show FEBRUARY 2023 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

Win a safety boat The RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show and Suzuki Marine are offering RYA Affiliated Clubs the chance to win a new Suzuki-powered Rigiflex safety boat with Extreme trailer, worth £6,400. The Rigiflex Newmatic 360 boat will be powered by a Suzuki DF9.9B outboard. The competition runs until 10 February, 2023, and the winning club will be contacted by 17 February.

Club representatives will be invited to the show to collect the prize. Enter at www.rya.org.uk/events/dinghy-show/win

Dylan Fletcher has become the Moth World Champion, adding one of the great sailing titles to his CV after his Olympic gold medal at Tokyo.

Fletcher beat an international fleet at the event, hosted by Yacht Club Argentino, in Buenos Aires.

He said: “I was stoked to win it. Having stopped Olympic sailing, this was the next thing on my list. It was fanstatic week. I was out there in 2015 for the 49er worlds and I knew it is very challenging conditions. The River Plate water is brown and it’s very hard to see the wind. With the wind-over-tide conditions, it makes Moth sailing very difficult.”

“Completely different to Weymouth!” he said of his home waters.

In Buenos Aires local sailor Massimo Contessi was second and Fletcher commented: “I said beforehand there’ll be someone who knows the conditions who’ll do well and it was great to see some local guys at the front.

“The Moth fleet is always interesting – very high level and it attracts people from different classes. We train in different parts of the world and then we come together for the big championships, so when you do race, often you’ve not seen the others for six months or a year.”

Fletcher has concentrated on the Moth since giving up an attempt to defend his Olympic title in the 49er, which he won with Stuart Bithell.

He will, however, be defending his Moth title, with the next worlds taking place at Weymouth and Portland and a fleet of well over 100 expected. Over the past year he’s been third in the UK nationals, won

Foiling Week and the Europeans. He believes he can go faster in his new Moth, the Aerocet, made by Maguire Boats.

Fletcher said: “There’s still performance in the boat and we’re always pushing for more. The Aerocet is very fast but what sets it apart is the level of build quality and reliabilty and consistency that you get. That comes from Maguire. If you have a problem, you just call them up and it’s solved. The parts are exchangeable and the whole thing is made very easy. They designed it so that speed is easier to achieve. They could have made it faster, but harder to sail, but instead they made it easier to sail with still great performance. Yes, Moths are not easy to sail, but owners coming from the Excocet [also by Maguire] are at home very quickly.”

Fletcher makes no bones about his long-term goals, saying: “The last nine Moth world titles have been won by Olympic gold medallists and a lot of those guys are also America’s Cup sailors.

“I would love to get into the America’s Cup or get back into SailGP [he helmed the Great Britain boat in SailGP’s season one, before Ben Ainslie took over] and this was one thing I could do to help that. Also it’s good to keep winning, keep the habit.”

Fletcher finished the week with 17 points. Argentina’s Massimo Contessi came second with 27 points and was also Junior World Champion. Completing the podium was Italy’s Simone Salva, with 36 points. Helena Scutt was crowned Female World Champion.

PHOTOS: MATIAS CAPIZZANO

Dylan becomes Moth World Champ

Sailboats at BoatLife The second SBS BoatLife show runs from 16-19 February, 2023, at NEC Birmingham, with a range of talks, exhibitors and activities for sailors.

There will be an Activity Pool hosting watersports demonstrations plus visitor sessions, while a dedicated angling village will showcase all-things fishing, and the inland zone will have a range of narrowboats.

The organisers say: “The scope of exhibitors under one roof will span multiple requirements, from design to tech, lifestyle to affordability, ensuring there is something for everyone to experience.”

The BoatLife Stage will present talks and discussions, hosted by Olympic sailor Mark Covell. Sailors can see exhibitors including Hartley Boats, Topper Sailboats and RS Sailing, Drascombe Boats, and Viko Yachts among others.

Raymarine, Garmin and marine electronics SM Group, as well as Mustang Survival, OceanR and Sailing Holidays. Vloggers Lauren and Chris from Sailing Indiana will be at the show for the second year. Pre-bookable car parking is available at a discounted rate. Children under 16 go free and a free ticket arrangement is available for disabled visitors with accompanying carers. Bars and restaurants are available on site for a range of refreshment options.

Full show details can be found on boatlifeevents.com Tickets are on sale at boatlifetickets.com

GREAT BRITISH BOAT TRAILERS

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting FEBRUARY 2023

9

News

Q&A RICHARD DOVE, BOATLIFE

Come and race!

Our new Charity of the Year, the Tall Ships Youth Trust, is offering race weekends for groups in 2023.

The trust is inviting sailing clubs, schools, colleges and other youth organisations to compete in its Challenger Championships.

The trust says: “Sailing onboard an iconic 72ft Challenger yacht, your group will take part in an exciting and competitive race, with a ‘Le Mans’ style start. Out on the ocean, the young people will become an integral part of the crew and get involved in all aspects of running the vessel. This includes ropework, sail handling and even taking to the helm.”

For more information, contact Diana Bunescu at diana. bunescu@tallships.org or call 02392 832055. tallships.org.co.uk

BoatLife’s inaugural year was more power than sail. What can we expect in 2023?

We are pleased to announce that we have a number of the brands from the sailing sector including three of the top dinghy brands. Topper, RS and Hartley Boats have all confirmed and this compliments the equipment and apparel brands such as Rooster and Raymarine already signed up.

The closeness to the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show is potentially awkward. How do you manage that?

February isn’t a time that many UK boaters are on the water, so I think we are lucky that people are looking to get their boating fix at events. That said, our events are quite different and we recognise it can be challenge for some exhibitors doing both, so we’d love to change this in the future.

What were your conclusions following the first show?

We couldn’t have asked for more positive feedback from the first show.

What people seemed to particularly like was the relaxed atmosphere and the range of smaller boats. The location is absolutely perfect and there was huge support for a show away from the south coast and a quieter time of year. People were really blown away by the number of boats there.

Is the economic outlook hampering exhibitor bookings?

Our exhibitors have had a good couple of years on the back of the pandemic and while we all remain cautious, the mood is very upbeat. Our sales are stronger than the previous year, with many rebookings and companies coming for the first time.

Did you draw visitors from the midlands and north of England?

Yes! We had a lot of visitors from Scotland and the north which is great for our exhibitors as they are reaching a new audience. Our long-term goal is that SBS BoatLife can bring new people into boating.

PHOTOS: DEREK TRASK / ALAMY

Win a charter every year for life

10

GlobeSailor is running an incredible competition to win a yacht charter every year for life.

The charter company has launched the competition to help celebrate its 15th anniversary.

The prize is equivalent to a GlobeSailor skippered or bareboat charter holiday worth €3,000 per year for 99 years. Air flights, transfers and other personal expenses are not included.

The competition is open until January 26, 2023. You can enter via our website SailingToday. co.uk and searching for ‘GlobeSailor’.

FEBRUARY 2023 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

What are the other attractions for sailors (apart from yachts)?

We are pleased to have a pool this year, sponsored by GJW – visitors can have a go at paddleboarding and kayaking.

Our show ambassadors will also be doing demonstrations and displays.

This will be a great attraction for everyone especially families. For the 2023 show we will be providing a free trailer test-drive feature, enabling visitors to navigate and manoeuvre a course to experience and practice trailering boats. The stage was also incredibly popular last year, with many sell out talks. We have confirmed Tom Cunliffe, Ellie Driver and the White Brothers.

Will ticket prices remain the same?

One of the criticisms we received was the cost of parking, which we can’t change. So, to compensate this we’ve reduced the ticket price to £15 from £20.

You might find a few deals around too.

Have you managed to do any sailing this year?

I did have a great experience learning to fish with our show ambassador, the Mckell Family – and even caught some fish including bream, mackerel and a small smooth-hound.

SBS BoatLife is giving back to the industry, with its sponsorship of the British Yachting Awards and other partnerships. Where do you see the brand in five years?

An exciting question to answer! Our plan is to build BoatLife as a strong community brand that brings together boaters regularly, and plays a big part in growing the number of people on the water across the UK. We very much see it as more than one event in the calendar and an all-year resource for boaters to engage with. boatlifeevents.com

Briton Simon leads Golden Globe Race British sailor Simon Curwen was leading the Golden Globe Race fleet by 750 miles, as we went to press, after an assured passage thus far, having reach waters west of Tasmania in around 100 days from Les Sables d’Olonne.

Curwen (pictured above and below) dipped down to 45°S to find stronger westerlies, enabling him to sail 1,143 miles (6.8 knots average) over the first seven days of December, including his best 24-hour distance of 175 nautical miles (7.3 knots average). His yacht is a Biscay 36 named Clara.

Curwen is originally from Emsworth, Hampshire, and lives in Morbihan, with his nautical base in Lorient. He reports all is well onboard bar chafing issues with his halyards. Every few days he must move the wear spot to prevent failure, but he ‘feels good about everything’.

Like many GGR competitors, Curwen was inspired by the offshore pioneers of the 1960s. He started dinghy sailing at an early age and moved to keelboats in the 1990s where he had success in the BUSA regattas. He later was second in the 2001 Mini Transat, the highest ever Mini finish for a British sailor.

The rest of the GGR fleet is stretched 5,000 miles across the Southern Ocean, with nine sailors still bound for the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne and no less than 23 out of the race.

The start was two months later than the previous edition of 2018 and winds have been lighter. To ensure they remain in the race, the sailors must pass through a Hobart gate before 31 January and round Cape Horn before the end of March 2023.

The latest retirement is that of Frenchman Arnaud Gaist, who has been plagued by rigging issues and barnacles. GGR organisers said: “It took a long, frustrating and depressing time to make the decision but now that it’s done he feels relaxed. After three years of planning and preparation it is a hard decision to make. With another 150 days of food on board, he is planning to head eventually to the Caribbean and then on to Les Sables d’Olonne, once his boat, Hermes Phoning, is back in shape.”

I am just searching for the ONE that will: keep my boat fouling free save me from re-painting every year save me money save on fuel save the environment

Is it really too much to ask???

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting FEBRUARY 2023

11