ONYachting THE MONEY
Three tantalizing destinations Danish shipping personality Esben Poulsson describes his favourite voyages
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first started sailing as a 12-yearold – now more than 50 years ago. I am at heart a racing man having done a dozen Hong Kong - Manila races, three Sydney - Hobarts, three Fastnet races including the infamous 1979 version when 15 people lost their lives. I was also a part of the Hong Kong Admiral’s Cup teams in the ’70s and ’80s. I continue to race to this day, in Singapore in my little Esse 7.5 m ‘’petit bateau’’ and in England, where I own a half share in a well known classic yacht from the 1960s called Firebrand, designed by Sparkman & Stephens and herself a member of the British Admiral’s Cup teams of 1965 and 1967. As well as racing, however, I do love cruising too. I have been tasked to write about great yachting destinations and here I have three recommendations. For beautiful warm weather, great winds and a wonderful atmosphere Antigua is very hard to beat. I did the classic regatta there twice in the 1990s, followed by some great cruising and have difficulty thinking of anything better in terms of winds
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and weather. At English Harbour one meets yachtsmen from all over the world and the many wonderful bars and restaurants, let alone Nelson’s Dockyard, offer amazing venues for socialising and the swapping of yachting yarns in equal measure. For the more hearty, I think the west coast of Scotland and the west coast of Norway are hard to beat. The former has the advantage of enabling one to carry out almost daily distillery visits, ensuring a little warmth when required. And if on the Isle of Mull, a visit to Lady Claire Macdonald at Kinloch Lodge is everything it is cracked up to be: wonderful! And if time allows, I can strongly recommend a transit through the Crinnan canal for something a bit different. On those rare days when the sun comes out, what can be better than the Geiranger fjord, or island hopping the outer Hebrides on Scotland’s west coast? Whilst the natural scenery of Norway is as spectacular as the west coat of Scotland, if not more so, don’t
The west coast of Scotland offers daily distillery visits, ensuring a little warmth when required
Issue ONE 2014
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bother dropping into the Bergen yacht club if you feel a great thirst – they do not serve booze because (in their words), sailing is a sport and thus incompatible with the serving of alcohol. For the even more hearty types, the Beagle Channel (pictured) and Cape Horn is, to me, the ultimate – but make sure you have the right kit because horizontal sleet in 50 mph winds in the middle of summer is not uncommon – but nor are blue skies and a comparatively balmy eight degrees. Setting foot on Cape Horn was for me, at least, one of those moments I shall never forget. The fact we were allowed to land indicates that our rounding of the most southerly point on Earth was relatively benign – though not many hours after being back in the Beagle Channel, icy winds of 40 mph were once again upon us. A visit to Puerto Williams (on the Chilean side of the channel, 50 or so miles southwest of Ushuaia on the Argentinian side) is a must and even more so, Puerto Toro (population: 20 brave souls), the world’s most southerly settlement which is quite special and where the air is as clean as it is possible to be. And if weather bound, the hiking on the island of Navariono is exceptional. ●
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