Buyer’s Guide

Bluewater dreams

Three bluewater sailors tell Sam Fortescue about their top offshore kit ideas

Distant shores and balmy waters are the stuff of bluewater dreams. Many of us have idly thought about escaping the rat race to explore. Perhaps fewer have actually managed to do it. But from our three case studies, one thing is clear: preparation is absolutely key.

All three of those we interviewed had spent at least two years readying the boat. In the case of

Hugh Mullens’ Oyster 565, the options were chosen with the yard and built in from the outset.

At the other end of the scale,

Elisa and Guillaume Guerrhit did much of the work on their

Dufour 425 themselves in the years before setting off.

Top of everyone’s list, after sails, seems to be onboard power – or tackling a shortfall thereof. There are three classic avenues open here, and many blend elements of each: add renewable generation capacity, trim on board power consumption and invest in better fossil fuel capacity.

Wind power

D400

British-built machine with a top output of more than 600W, but good low-wind performance too. £1,852.10 plus £366 for the charge regulator.

eclectic-energy.co.uk

LE-300

Also built in the UK, this is a good value three-blader topping out at

BELOW (L-R)

The D400, the LE 300 and the Air Breeze wind turbines 300W. Costs £789.93 plus £207.95 for a Tristar charge controller

leadingedgepower.com

Rutland 1200

Marlec’s three-blader produces 40W at 10 knots of wind speed and tops out at 483W in a strong breeze. Price of £1,372.96 includes controller.

marlec.co.uk

Superwind 350

Super robust, proven unit with low wind start-up and 350W peak output. Expensive at £2,473.37 + £524.86 for the charge controller. mactramarine.co.uk

Silentwind Pro

Very capable, producing up to 420W, with low start-up speed. Blue carbon blades are designed to be near silent. Costs from €1,857.30, including the Bluetooth controller.

silentwindprogenerator.com

Air Breeze

Sleek-looking three-blader with 250W top output. Needs no charge controller, but benefits from one. Price: £1,250

ecopowershop.com

Solar power

Sunware

Semi-flexible monocrystalline panels from Germany. From 20W-110W. Price: £257.50 to £656.95

marlec.co.uk

Solbian

Among the most efficient rigid and semi-flex panels out there: From 52W to 258W. From £330.14 to £1,231.67

barden-uk.com

Solara

Rigid and semi-flexible panels – choose the Power-M (mono-crystalline) range from 12W to 150W. Prices from £238.25 to £845.71.

barden-uk.com

SunPower

Resists shading by the rig. Available from 50W to 170W. Prices: £116.95 to £455.95

marlec.co.uk Hydrogeneration

Watt&Sea Cruiser

Transom or pod mounting for 300W or 600W units. Output up to 120W at 5 knots boat speed. £3,504.10 (300W) or £5,010.41 (600W)

wattandsea.com Swi-Tec Hydro-Charger

600W system for transom mounting, with an impeller that can be repitched. Produces 85W at 5 knots and tops out in excess of 400W. €3,650.18 (c£3,093)

swi-tec.com

Sail-Gen

On a long pole for towing, SailGen can produce 80W at 5 knots, or around 350W at 8 knots. Costs £2,575.61 without charge controller.

eclectic-energy.co.uk Alternator/generator

One way of getting better charging out of your engine hours is to install a beefier alternator – Balmar makes marine-specific units for a range of engine types (balmar.net). More power out means more power in, so check for compatibility with your engine. You could also invest in an alternator regulator to get more out of your existing unit, although this can involve dismantling it, so is not for the faint hearted. Sterling Power Products manufactures an excellent example, with prices starting at £140.40 (sterling-power.com).

Then there is the 9-18kW alternator-on-steroids from Integrel. In fact, it’s an alternator, a 28kWh battery bank and sophisticated power management electronics. The idea is that you can harness the excess energy produced by your engine during harbour manoeuvres or digging in the anchor to charge up a big battery bank very quickly. It’s not cheap, with the Integrel costing some £13,000, the batteries £8,500 and another £2,000 for other kit. Then it has to be installed!

But it could be cheaper than a similarly powered standalone genset, especially when you factor in fuel savings. A 10.3kW Westerbeke is £13,926, while a Paguro 5.5 SY costs £7,250 and a 3.4kW Fischer Panda 4000s Neo is £5,040. Alternatively, you could look at buying a small portable generator, such as Hyundai’s 1000W unit, which weighs just 14kg and costs £385 from onboardenergy.co.uk

ABOVE LEFT

Solara panels in situ

ABOVE RIGHT

multihulls provide plentiful space for solar panels

BELOW (L-R)

A Watt and Sea hydrogenerator; the Fischer Panda 4000s generator; the Rainman watermaker

Watermakers

Then there are watermakers, which can range in capacity from simply providing a few litres of drinking water every day to filling the tanks for daily showers, dishwashers and other mod-cons.

Choose a DC system that will run off the boat’s batteries, and look for the most economic in terms of power consumption for your desired output. An energy recovery system should form part of the design, and then it’s up to you whether you want

bells and whistles such as remote displays and automatic flushing etc.

Dessalator

Modular 12/24V units from 30100lt/hr. Prices from £7,140-£12,432

dessalator.fr

Rainman

Portable petrol or 12V systems producing 26-140lt/ hr. £4,199-£5,499.

thewetworks.co.uk

Schenker

Super quiet, efficient Zen models produce 30-150lt/hr. Touchscreen controls available. From £4,968 to £12,804

mactramarine.co.uk

Spectra:

Efficient, compact systems producing from 24-155lt/hr. Pricing £5999.95 to £22,500.

gds.limited

Osmosea

Very efficient, brushless units producing from 20-100lt/ hr, depending on the model. Prices start at £4,074.

sailfishmarine.co.uk

EcoSistems: Efficient watermakers producing from 25-90lt/ hr. Prices start at £4,434.

improducts.co.uk

Windvane steering

Often on the bluewater wishlist, windvane steering is purely mechanical, hugely reliable and akin to having a dedicated helmsperson permanently on watch. Not for nothing are these bits of kit often given a name by grateful skippers!

Aries

The classic servo-pendulum vane gear. From €5,847.50

ariesvanegear.com

Monitor

US-built servo-pendulum

ABOVE LEFT

An X-Yachts Xc45 with extendable XT wind vane

ABOVE RIGHT

An Aries wind vane in action unit on a hinge, to improve access to the bathing ladder. From c£3,570 ($4,495)

scanmarinternational.com

Hydrovane

Exquisitely engineered, very robust and entirely independent of your rudder, allowing offset mounting on the transom. From c£5,078

Hydrovane.com Drogues

Proven again and again in storm conditions offshore, drogues or para-anchors help to slow the boat when running ahead of big seas. You can stream them over the stern to stop the boat from burying the bow, or to help steer. Lin and Larry Pardy developed a system for hanging off the bow at an angle to the seas, where the boat creates a ‘slick’ to windward that helps

Hugh Mullens Oyster 565, Akoya

Delivered in June 2020 in the teeth of the first wave of Covid, Akoya was, “built with a circumnavigation in mind”, according to owner Hugh Mullens. His first passage was Ipswich to Lymington in a force 7, but he is now on the other side of the planet, halfway through the Oyster World Rally.

Being built to go bluewater means that she was well equipped from the off. “All items were installed during the build, but with the circumnavigation in mind,” Hugh says.

His list of extras included:

l Dessalator Duo 100 watermaker l AB Lamina 12ft semi-rigid inflatable tender with aluminium hull and 25hp Yamaha outboard with a custom stainless propguard l Twin headsail rig - lightweight twin to the 125% Yankee l Asymmetric spinnaker, heavyweather staysail reefable down to a storm jib – all by Dolphin Sails l 3x 180Ah Mastervolt lithium-ion batteries l Watt & Sea 600 hydrogenerator pod, fitted just aft of the keel l 11kW Cummins Onan generator l Swissway hydraulic passarelle l Icom SSB radio l Hydraulic swimming platform

Most of the equipment has performed very well, he says, including the pasarelle, although “not much use for it in the Pacific”. He singles out the watermaker, batteries and genset as a particularly good combination. “All these make the management of the boat and its services easier and provide a high standard of ‘hotel’ services - good for crew morale.”

The Watt & Sea unit has given excellent results recharging the batteries, but has not been reliable. Hugh says it has not been working for some months while Oyster tries to arrange servicing. Otherwise, the one regret has been a rather non-technical one. “One item I missed was fitted seatback cushions in the cockpit,” he says.

Akoya has had particularly good use of the dinghy, which takes six people in comfort, “the propguard being a very good buy, despite its cost”. He recommends a tender that functions at long range, for beach landings, exploring the coastline and quick commuting to and fro. The Oyster World Rally zigzags across the Pacific to Australia, Indonesia, then over the Indian Ocean to South Africa. It winds up back in Antigua in April 2023.

calm conditions for the boat.

Drogues are often said to be easier to handle, being a hundred or more small cones sewn into a long line. Para-anchors can be harder to retrieve, but have tremendous staying power.

Para-ring

Approved by NASA, with a design that resists tangled lines and offers a rapid deployment and recovery system. From £237 when you buy direct.

para-anchor.com

Yachtsman series para-anchor

Robust drogue in sizes from 9-28ft diameter. Pair with a retrieval line and an anchor line. From £1770.

oceansafety.com

Sea-brake GP-30

Unique rotation-free design with heavy webbing lines that creates it’s a variable pressure wave. From £190 plus £200 for the towkit.

oceanchandlery.com

Ocean Brake

Series drogue described as ‘the sailor’s airbag’. From 100-180 small cones, costing from $981.40 (c£778)

oceanbrake.com

Jordan Series Drogue

Series drogue made now by Ace Sailmakers in the US. From 100-180 small cones, costing from $1,150 (c£917)

jordanseriesdrogue.com Liferafts

They say you should step up into the liferaft from your sinking ship – what they mean is that the boat is safer until the very end. But if it does happen, you’ll need to make sure you have an offshore certified raft – that is meeting ISO 9650 Part 1. Choose the 24hr+ pack, which includes a little more drinking water and food.

ABOVE LEFT

The Para-ring drogue

ABOVE RIGHT

Plastimo's TransOcean six man liferaft Crewsaver’s 6-man valise is a bestseller: £1,275

www.survitecgroup.com

Ocean Safety’s top quality 6-man valise costs from £2,099.95

oceansafety.com

Plastimo Transocean

6-man valise is c£1,395

Plastimo.com

Lalizas

Liferafts are Polish-made and carry a 12-year guarantee. Six man valise: £1,309.08

Lalizas.com Epirb/PLB

Epirbs have become vital safety kit, and most offshore sailors have one on board. They send your distress signal via satellite to your home MRCC, along with your exact GPS position for rapid rescue. Category 1 units deploy automatically when

Jonas Edholm Arcona 400

Fresh from last winter’s ARC rally to St Lucia, Jonas Edholm and his family have been exploring the Caribbean in their Arcona 400, Liv. They spent over two years preparing the boat. “Our original plan was to leave the summer or 2020 but we postponed one year due to Covid,” says Jonas. “Almost everything was completed before the summer 2020 and very little needed to be done the last 12 months before we set off.”

Key items on the job list included:

l Replace all the electrical wiring l Install 320Ah of Winston LiFePO batteries and a high-performance alternator l Install an arch with 780W of SunPower/Victron solar panels and integrated dinghy davits l Install an Echotec 260 watermaker l Modify the anchor locker to fit 2 x 5kg LPG bottles, the anchor windlass, 60m of chain and a 20kg spade anchor l Reinforced the bulkhead and mounted chainplate for the cutter stay l Installed Raymarine Quantum 2 radar l Install Raymarine Evolution autopilot and EV-1 sensor with linear drive

“For sail configuration we used a bit of a different setup when we did the crossing. Due to heavy winds and cross-seas we were limited. Roughly half the crossing (day 4 to 13) we had an average wind of around 30 knots, more in squalls. To provide more comfort and make it easier for the autopilot to steer we used the genoa 1 with a pole and no mainsail, that pushed the bow pointing downwind and made it easier for the autopilot.

“As soon as we started to get winds around 20-30 knots we used the main with one or two reefs together with the genoa. We tried using the spinnaker, but due to the movement in the boat from the waves, it wasn’t possible.”

Jonas also put a lot of thought into small things to ease passagemaking. They include an electric kettle and hand blender running off a 230V inverter, cheap non-slip mats to stop things in the galley from rattling, Hella fans and lamps with integrated USB charging sockets. “It’s great to not have the kids fighting about who can charge their phone when everyone has their own at each bunk,” he explains.

“Another small thing that we do enjoy is the lighting inside the boat. At the main saloon, kitchen and toilet all lights are equipped with a red night mode so you can choose to either only use red lights to preserve night vision and not disturb the crew sleeping or use the regular white light.”

they sense water, but even manual ones oat and have a minimum 48hour battery life. Personal Locator Beacons do much the same thing, but are worn, so transmit your position rather than that of the boat.

Epirbs

RescueME Epirb 1, £445.54, oceansignal.com ACR GlobalFix V4, £535, acrartex.com McMurdo Smart nd G8 AIS, £861, seasofsolutions.com Kannad SafePro AIS, £861 seasofsolutions.com

Bluewater comms

PLBs

Ocean Signal PLB1, £317.36, oceansignal.com McMurdo FastFind 220, £361, mcmurdogroup.com Kannad Safelink Solo, £361, kannadmarine.com ACR ResQLink, from £365, acrartex.com Staying in touch o shore is another key priority, but it doesn’t come cheap. You can install an SSB long-range radio kit for free voice and basic data services using an external Pactor modem, but there won’t be much change from £5,000.

If you opt for satellite, you’ll need to spend £1000-plus on a terminal and then take out a subscription, where monthly costs can quickly reach £100 or more. It all depends on whether you simply want an emergency phone, or hope to send/ receive emails and photos and social media posts under way.

Iridium is the low-bandwidth specialist, with a number of phone and low data options.

Its Extreme phone can act as a modem for very basic email and weather routeing. But the

Iridium GO is optimised for this, using your mobile phone or tablet as the handset and display. Predictwind has an app

ABOVE (L-R)

An Ocean Signal EPIRB, Inmarsat's Satellite Internet receiver; the Iridium Certus Skylink

BELOW LEFT

McMurdo's FastFind PLB that is optimised for this platform. Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband has been the go-to system for more datahungry usage, including sur ng the web and posting regular pictures. is market is also being disrupted by Iridium’s new Certus terminals, which are smaller, cheaper and faster.

Satellite phones

IsatPhone 2: £714 Iridium Extreme: £1,319 Iridium Go: £959

Satellite internet

Inmarsat Fleet One: £3,899 Inmarsat Fleet Broadband 150: £5,999 Iridium Certus Skylink 100: £2,999

inmarsat.com iridium.com

SSB

Icom’s brand new European certi ed IC-M804 is the best bet for SSB. £3,780

icomuk.co.uk

Guillaume Guerrhit Dufour 425

Guillaume’s father had bought the boat second-hand in 2011, so before setting o on the long-awaited Transatlantic voyage, there was some work to do. Together with his partner Elisa, they started the modifi cations in 2019, doing much of the work themselves.

Here are the headline items:

● Changed the mainsail for a bigger one with a 3rd reef ● Bought a spinnaker pole ● Upgraded to a Raymarine Axiom display ● Added AIS and Iridium GO! satphone ● Gantry with 300W of solar 440Ah gel/carbon batteries ● New 25kg Rocna anchor

“The spinnaker pole is one of the best investments we made,” enthuses Guillaume. “We have used it a great deal, especially during the crossing where we’ve had the genoa poled out to starboard with several turns in it. With lots of heavy weather, we had the main to port and two or three reefs. We kept this set-up for 3000 miles.”

The rigging is still original, but they had it checked before setting o on the long leg from the home port of Quiberon, south Brittany, to Galicia. “There were a couple of small factory errors we discovered. Otherwise, we are looking for a Hydrovane self-steering gear, so it’s a bit more relaxed as we always sail two-up, even for the crossings.”

There was no budget left over for a watermaker, but Guillaume and Elisa have developed a successful watering strategy. “We have 440lt of tankage on board, and we carry 80 litres in jerrycans. The advantage is that we regularly fi ll the jerrycans in the dinghy, so rarely need to go alongside to fi ll the tanks.” You can follow Guillaume’s adventures on Instagram at @sailingleGG

A heady cocktail

Rupert Holmes sails the Mojito 6.50; an impressively fast pocket cruiser with a lot of interior volume

When David Raison won the Mini Transat race in his radical scow-bow prototype TeamWork Evolution he demonstrated the potential speed and seaworthiness of this hull shape. At the same time, many sailors from a cruising background wondered what such a shape could do for accommodation volume.

The Mojito 6.50 is the answer – it’s a fast cruising boat based on a development of Raison’s original hull shape, tweaked to produce

IDB Marine’s Maxi 650. This design took an impressive five of the top nine places in the series division of last year’s Mini Transat.

The Mojito is a capable fast mini cruiser or weekender that’s easy to look after, while offering loads of fun and a lot more accommodation that other boats of its length. As well as the scow bow there are almost full length chines, vertical topsides and twin rudders. This is topped by a chunky, but not obtrusive or unsightly, coachroof that provides a lot more space inside than the original version and gives an almost all-round view of the outside world.

On deck

The deck layout has been deliberately simplified to make this an easy boat to sail, without miles of string. However, it still offers a large degree of efficiency compared to most cruising yachts.

The carbon rig of the original design is replaced by a more economic and practical Sparcraft aluminium spar, without a backstay. Similarly, the massive articulating bowsprit of a racing

ABOVE

The Mojito's Mini Transat pedigree is clear for all to see in her lines Mini has been replaced with a simple retractable carbon tube. This sits in a recessed groove on the foredeck and is typical of the many neat touches on this boat.

On the other hand it retains the race boat’s transom mounted mainsheet traveller and deck layout with three Carver Compact 45 winches, plus a hanked on slab reefing headsail. On our test boat this was supplied with a decent bag that allows the sail to the left on deck ready for use, just as easily as for a roller furling sail. It therefore doesn’t have to be removed and stowed below deck at the end of every trip.

A common drawback with smaller boats is that when sailing shorthanded you are limited to relatively low specification autopilots. However, in common with racing Minis, this boat has quadrants below deck that allows

a top-notch system to be fitted.

A generous 3m beam means the cockpit has the feel of that of a much larger yacht, yet it’s an easy step up onto the side decks to go forward. Despite the large coachroof, these have plenty of width and the lower shrouds are taken to the cabin sides, so movement forward is unrestricted. There’s a decent toerail of around 1.5 inches height, very good moulded nonslip and coachroof handrails.

On the downside, our test boat was fitted with shorter 18 inch stanchions. While they are within regulation for both the RCD and racing on a boat of this size, I’d prefer to see full height 24 inch stanchions, which would give a greater feeling of security.

A big locker under the cockpit has space for fenders, warps, ground tackle and even a small dinghy. The hydraulic lifting keel has a 400kg bulb, giving shallow draught for cruising, with the ability to dry out using optional beaching legs.

Under sail

The form stability of this boat is so great that the moment you step on board it has the feeling of a much larger yacht – unlike most 21 footers it doesn’t immediately lurch when you step on the side deck. However, the ease of pushing off the dock is a welcome reminder that this boat weighs only 1,200kg.

One of the delights of sailing a small boat, even one this powerful, is how easy everything is. We popped the mainsail up within the confines of the La Rochelle’s Port les Minimes marina and hoisted the masthead A2 spinnaker immediately outside the harbour entrance.

At this stage there was no more than 4-6 knots of wind, yet our boat speed on a broad reach was soon touching 5 knots, as the apparent windspeed built thanks to our own acceleration. Even in the many holes in the fitful offshore breeze we never stopped and acceleration in any gusts was brisk. This all but eliminated any concerns about the range of the Torqeedo Cruise 2.0 electric outboard on the transom.

As the afternoon wind started to fill in we were soon reaching off towards Ile de Ré at 6 to 7 knots. It was absolutely effortless sailing with the pilot steering and no worries about its ability to cope in gusts. This boat’s massive form stability means it does not respond to gusts in the way lesser vessels react. Heel only increases very marginally, the tiller remains light, and weather helm builds very, very slowly. Add to that a decent below deck pilot and you have a boat that’s very easy to sail without being physically tiring.

A continuing trend in the Mini class has been for the boom to get progressively lower. The same is also true of the foot and clew of spinnakers. This makes it difficult to see past the kite, and those accustomed to larger boats may find the boom in the way.

However, these are not intrinsic problems with this boat. A discussion with a sail maker could raise both the aft end of the boom (with a higher clew for the mainsail) and create a higher clued spinnaker that it’s easier to see underneath.

What about upwind speed? This is where smaller boats with their inevitably short waterline lengths often suffer. Beating in 6-8 knots of true wind we maintained 5.5 knots boatspeed, with flashes of 6 knots in the stronger puffs.

Of course, speed alone is only half the equation when sailing to windward – tacking angles are just as important. This is another area in which this boat scores highly – despite the light conditions we repeatedly tacked through 80 degrees. As a result we were faster up wind than several 1980s 36-38ft cruiser-racers.

It’s a shame that we were not able to test the boat in much stronger winds. However a couple of my colleagues from French sailing magazines had been out two days earlier in 25 knots, with stronger gusts. The boat was comfortable upwind with a reef in the main and the slab reef in the jib. Downwind with a kite up they notched up speeds well into the teens, again under good control.

ABOVE

The scow bow is unquestionably eye catching

BELOW

Performance is really rather impressive