Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2015 i Sailing Today

FOUR PEOPLE WERE pulled from the water after their yacht sank immediately after it hit a beacon off St Peter Port, Guernsey. The 42ft (12.8m) Melina of Fleet was heading east from St Peter Port to Cherbourg when a strong northerly current pushed it off course and onto the beacon and reef, which are in the Little Russel channel, known for its strong tides. The boat, which was ferro-cement and probably hit the reef side on, where the hull is weakest, sank quickly and the crew, who were not wearing lifejackets, did not have time to put out a distress call. Local lifeboat crew who were in the area saw what happened and pulled two men and two women from the water. The crew, understood to all be Polish, were…

Sailing boat cufflinks Be properly dressed with a splash of STlivery These sailing boat cufflinks are made a stone’s throw from the sea, by Martha Mitchell Design in Hove. They are drawn on ceramic by hand using a very fine ballpoint pen and refired. The illustrations are covered with a small glass dome to make them stand out. The cufflink settings are rhodium plated and measure 25mm in diameter. And they’re in Sailing Today colours - how could you resist? • £30 • notonthehighstreet.com Loch Beag viewpoint Hebrides-facing modern cottage has its own mooring At just three yards away from the sea, this Scottish holiday home must be as close as you can get to taking a break on the water while staying on dry land. The Net…

In the last ten years the number of boats in the eastern Caribbean has exploded exponentially. This is especially true in the Virgin Islands. Sailors say that it’s impossible to find quiet, uncrowded anchorages in the Virgin Islands. This is not true, as I discovered when my old friend and shipmate Geoff Curtain kindly lent me his Olympic 48 for a New Year’s cruise. We did the ‘must-do’ things of a Virgin island cruise: Christiansted St Croix, the best-preserved town in the eastern Caribbean (and the only one that won’t host cruise ships); the caves at Norman Island; the Baths at Virgin Gorda; Gorda Sound to visit Saba Rock and the Bitter End YC; Jost Van Dyke to visit Foxy’s bar. But we also found and spent nights in quiet…

Hamble Point Marina is closest to the mouth of the river and is part of the MDL Marinas chain of 18 around the country, carrying a reciprocal berthing arrangement. It has 230 berths and room for storing about 600 boats ashore. While not the biggest marina on the Hamble by number of berths, Hamble Point has the most comprehensive list of yacht service businesses on site, with 60 tenants offering everything a yacht might need, including 20 brokers and agents for Arcona, Bavaria, Hanse, J Boats, Grand Soleil, Nautitech, Dufour, Jeanneau, Elan, Impression, Hallberg-Rassy and X-Yachts. Manager Nic Parton says: “We’re a one-stop shop, a full-service boat yard and probably the biggest boat yard in the country. Anything you can think of, marine-related, you can get done here.” Saltmaker’s House,…

Network facts Globalstar has 32 satellites orbiting 876 miles up, and is now upgrading base stations Iridium has a network of 66 which are 485 miles above the ground Thuraya has two geosynchronous orbit satellites which are 22,000 miles up. In theory they have a higher bandwidth, while potentially a delay in calls due to the sheer distance from the ground Inmarsat has three geostationary satellites. HOW WE TESTED The Sailing Today team have used satellite phones before, but never compared different satellite networks while out of reach of land. We wanted to be able to make a phone call home, text updates and even check the weather via emailed GRIB files. Vitally, when sailing across an ocean or on a long passage offshore, you don’t want to be fiddling…

THE LEGEND OF THE SEA A celebration of 30 years of Gilles Martin-Raget’s unique marine photography. Long considered France's top sailing lensman, he was hired to capture all the thrilling action from the last America's Cup. The book is arranged thematically, including fast-paced racing shots, dramatic photos from the bow, spectacular accidents at sea, beautiful classic yachts, incredible superyachts, almost futuristic images from the forefront of modern yacht development and, of course, the AC. Would make a lavish coffee table gift. • £50 • bloomsbury.com SLEIPNIR WIND METER Fresh from the Danish boffins behind the Vavuud smartphone wind meter is this new device, which measures wind speed and direction. Plug it in to your headphone jack, download the app and away you go. Great for sailing… and almost…

1 The very best buy is a brokerage yacht whose current owner has just completed a refit. We have recently been involved with a couple of sales where yachts have been fully equipped for circumnavigations and then the owner’s plans have changed. 2 However perfect the yacht you buy, expect to spend 10 per cent extra on the ‘faff factor’. These will be the things that you want to do to make her yours –upholstery; different electronics; maybe an A-sail in preference to a Parasailor. 3 Buy the yacht that makes your heart sing, not the one the experts say is right. There is no such thing as the perfect Pacific, Atlantic or high latitude yacht. 4 Get the boat very carefully surveyed and make sure your surveyor is experienced…

SALON NAUTIQUE DE PARIS 5-13 DECEMBER, PORTE DE VERSAILLES, PARIS The Paris International Boat Show is open 1000-1900 daily, with a new layout and French shipyards present, including Amel, Beneteau, Jeanneau, Dufour, Lagoon, Nautitech and Fountaine Pajot. Tickets are €13 (£9.50) in advance or €16 (£11.80) on the door. ST has 150 tickets to give away, on a first come, first served basis. Email editor@sailingtoday.co.uk to request one. salonnautiqueparis.com AN ALCOHOLIC CRUISE AROUND THE ATLANTIC 9 DECEMBER, CA HOUSE, LONDON Sadly this isn’t an actual boozy cruise but a talk about Roger and Audrey Kynaston’s 18-month Atlantic circuit. As well as describing the drinks encountered on their trip, this talk will explore the history of and maritime links between the UK and other European countries. From 19.00. Cruising Association members,…

Looking east down the Swale as the sun rises over Whitstable, Kent. This shallow waterway divides the Isle of Sheppey from the mainland, and was once a river valley draining into the Thames. As sea levels rose, the valley flooded and it is now navigable along its whole 14-mile length, although the central section shoals to just 0.4m above chart datum. It is believed that the word ‘Swale’ derives from the old English for ‘rushing water’ and tidal streams can reach four knots at springs. The Swale hosts an annual barge match, and on the left of the image is Mirosa, built in 1892, and still engineless.…

Barbados is creating 35 new berths for visiting yachts in its capital city, Bridgetown. The extra berths in the Shallow Draught Facility in the port are walkashore and have power and water. They will be open from December. The Inner Basin in the heart of Bridgetown has also recently been upgraded to accommodate around 30 yachts, with new moorings and stern-to docking. There are customs, immigration and port health offices. Cornell Sailing’s Islands Odyssey will use the new facilities when its rally boats arrive there in December. Next year it will also run the Barbados 50 rally, to mark half a century of the island’s independence.…

A dozen first-timers have completed their first-ever Channel crossing thanks to the RYA’s Active Marinas programme. The group of yachts from Premier’s Brighton and Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne, marinas took part in a three-day cruise from Brighton to Dieppe, Normandy, led by RYA senior instructor Guy Emery. The idea was to provide a supportive group to give skippers confidence. Peter Pring, Eastbourne Marina Manager, said: “These activities encourage all types of boating, and provide opportunities for social boating, as well as encouraging the development of beginners and support the less confident to take part in rallies and similar events.”…

Imagine being able to anchor in a Côte d’Azur-like paradise, a favourite of Hollywood celebrities, for up to 10 days at no charge and with no questions asked. You can at beautiful Avalon Harbour on Catalina Island only 26 miles across the sea from Los Angeles, California. Now compare that with paying £4.50 per metre per day at the UK’s less than paradisiacal Dover Harbour and you may start thinking the UK establishment is making it tough for so-called “wealthy yacht owners”. Dropping your hook in any number of British harbours can cost you more than you expected. But the fact is boaters can’t be charged for anchoring, which is a “public right” in UK waters thanks to laws going back to Tudor times. Yet under powers granted by the…

Most of us start to think about hauling the boat at this time of year, so she can spend the winter in a cradle on the hard. But what if we didn’t? There are always those crisp, winter days when the sun soon sees off the frost and it’s almost warm for a few hours around noon. I’ve often wished I could jump aboard and go for a daysail to shake off those winter cobwebs. An overnighter during some winter high pressure is even better. So we’ve decided to pinpoint five sheltered winter cruising grounds around the country – from the West Country to the Walton Backwaters – and follow the tales of some hardy winter sailors. PLYMOUTH SOUND Plymouth and Plymouth Sound are approached via the eastern or western…

Sailing is no longer an isolated venture. Every cruiser seems to have a blog, a Facebook page or an Instagram account that can broadcast their breathtaking images of picturesque settings, sending them worldwide in a second. And why do we do it? To share, to transfer some of that boating magic back homewards with the adage of “wish you were here” and to further validate that this way of life, our way of life, is so special. But the pictures are only a snippet of the reality. Sailing’s greatest mysteries and wonders lie in the uncaptured moments; the times you lower the camera and set it down on the chart table; those great occasions when you can’t stomach the separation that the lens would create. My favourite images from our…

SOUTHAMPTON WATER It runs northwest to southeast, and you’ll share the water with oil tankers, container ships, ferries, cruise liners and smaller vessels HAMBLE VILLAGE Only a short walk away from Hamble Point Marina, with pubs, restaurants, banks and a few shops PORT HAMBLE MARINA One of several along the river, this has the Hamble’s main fuel dock MAIN CHANNEL If going upriver, the route can be obscured by all the boats. Keep the mid-river pontoons to port and look out for the starboard channel markers PREFERRED CHANNEL Keep the preferred channel marker and the first mid-river pontoon to starboard if entering Hamble Point If you had been a visitor to Hamble in the first half of the last century, you would have known the area for its aviation industry,…

Rudder failure need not be a cause of major panic as there are lots of alternative ways that can be used to get home safely. Ocean-crossing sailors are inclined to rip doors off their hinges and strap them to spinnaker poles to drape over the stern as a makeshift rudder. If the nearest port was 2,000 miles away, and I had a lot of time on my hands, I might well do the same, but here I am assuming that a safe harbour is much closer to hand and the aim is to get close to the destination before summoning assistance. You can use the following techniques in combination for maximum effect. I would recommend using the engine if possible, with wind in the sails to help you steer, rather…

It has been said in the case of the big yacht manufacturers, that many of their entry-level yachts are not really built with profit in mind. The argument goes that such boats at the bottom of their ranges are loss leaders with their aim being to attract new customers to the brand who will later trade up. This sounds very cunning, but it is a plan that relies on turning out a yacht that encourages brand loyalty by not being unremittingly awful. I can confirm that, with the new Hanse 315, the mighty German masters of mass production have certainly succeeded. It may have helped that we took her sailing on a sparkling, blustery day, but the little yacht ensured that I returned to the marina with a smile on…

HANSE 400E | SILVER LINING One owner has had Silver Lining since new and he’s taken her on some adventures. “The arrangement with the benefit of a huge galley and generous starboard walk-in locker provides ideal live-aboard sailing and we are often away for three to four weeks at a time on the west coast of Scotland,” says the owner. “An additional reefing point has been added to the slab reefing on the mainsail which means if you are caught out in winds of 25+ knots she still is capable of coping without a fuss.” These boats are distinctive in their modern looks, with clear decks and lines hidden away from view. Reviews have reported getting 6.7 knots of speed out of 10 knots of true wind. She…

CLINKER-BUILT HOLIGOST WAS part of a four-strong war fleet, which operated between 1416 and 1420 HISTORIAN DR IAN Friel was reviewing documentary evidence while researching a book, Henry V’s Navy HE SPOTTED THE boat’s outline in the riverbed in this 1970s aerial photo that used a red ‘wash’ – an archaeological technique to highlight hidden detail HISTORIC ENGLAND WILL carry out further research and assess the remains, close to the wreck of Henry V’s flagship Grace Dieu near Bursledon, for protection…

Corsair Pulse 600 £27,000 One glance at this sleek, purposeful little multihull and you can guess that she is all about having fun. To have fun sailing, it is important to go fast and there is little doubt that this vessel will fly. She features high volume outriggers, allowing her to be pushed hard, a generous rig and lightweight construction with plenty of carbon. Corsair wanted to produce an entry-level one-design multihull to address the declining numbers of young owners entering the sport. To this end, the owners also wanted to ensure that the 600 was fast, but not too technical to sail, making her accessible to a wide range of sailors. She’s a practical little boat too, featuring fold-up floats for easy ‘trailerability’ and a modest, weatherproof cabin to…

Having passed through the Western Arctic and its ice fields much earlier in the season than expected, and with the ice situation still unfavourable to the east, we could turn the next stage of our voyage into a more leisurely cruise. Our next stops were the settlements of Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok, typical of several urban centres set up by the Canadian government to provide the indigenous population with medical facilities, schools and airports. We were warmly welcomed wherever we stopped, as the people wanted to know what had brought us to those remote places. At Tuktoyaktuk, the mayor Darral Nasogaluake came to greet us and seeing the Blue Planet Odyssey banner and UNESCO logo on our boom, asked us about the meaning of the event. He then spoke at length…

Prestige. It’s a strange, intangible thing, yet it is also a hugely marketable commodity. I’m looking at the brochure for the new Jeanneau 64 and the tagline reads ‘an exclusive and luxurious world’. It’s a new tack for the French production boatbuilder, whose various models are on show in pretty much every marina in the civilised world. The new 64 is a monster of a yacht which takes over as flagship from the successful Jeanneau 57. She’s not far off the superyacht bracket when it comes to size; indeed, Jeanneau reckons she is about as big as it dared go before a full-time crew was mandatory. As it stands, the manufacturer believes she can be comfortably handled by a couple. Put aside the question of what sort of a couple…

The Hamble River can be a bit like a huge floating car park and it’s not really a place to cruise around (although personally I really like its quieter upper reaches, near Universal Marina, where there’s little through-traffic and you can hear the peep-peep-peep of the seabirds and watch mullet noseying around at low tide). The river’s popularity, aside from its extensive array of yacht services and sailing pubs, is thanks to the easy access it provides to the relatively sheltered waters of the Solent. From here you can be in Gosport or Portsmouth in a couple of hours or Chichester Harbour after not too much longer. The quickest and easiest day trip is the short hop across the Solent, zig-zagging among the small boat races, the ferries and the…

Richard and Roz Smith seem rather surprised to find themselves on board their Oyster 56, bobbing gently on a pontoon at Shamrock Quay, Southampton. It is the boat they have been refitting for the past nine months ahead of a “four-or-five-year” circumnavigation. They are surprised in part because the long, expensive fit-out work is finally drawing to a close (although there are winch bits on the saloon table and air-con ducting protruding from the panelling). But also surprised to be taking off for such an ambitious trip by themselves. “We’ve chartered all our lives,” Richards says. “Twelve hours is our longest passage – we’ve just been playing at sailing.” Roz chimes in. “We’re not yachties, we’re waterbabies… diving is our thing.” They’re both day skippers, and have done a flurry…

COMMENT OF THE MONTH Noble nominees Tom and I wanted to write to thank you for our Sailing Today ‘Sailor of the Year’ award nomination. Our nomination encouraged us to continue to help where we could in the islands that we visited in the South Pacific – we have just spent six weeks in Papua New Guinea and before that, six weeks in the Solomon Islands. Wherever we could, we ran small medical clinics, delivered supplies to schools and lent a hand with practical tasks in villages. Not only have we been able to help people, it’s also been a great way to engage with the people we meet to get to know them and their cultures better. We’ve passed on information to other yachts in the hope they can…

Continuous bad weather forced us to head into a small Portuguese town, which turned out to be the highlight of the trip. Aware that Biscay can serve up weather that makes even the most experienced sailor tremble, we wanted to get across as fast as possible and wouldn’t relax until reaching the safety of the northern Spanish coast. Biscay was dead calm, so we stopped at La Coruña to fill the fuel tanks. After a good night’s sleep, we continued south towards Porto. But 24 hours in, after a night of motor-sailing, the wind whisked up. The boat started to roll side-to-side and a call confirmed we should head for shelter. We sailed the 20 miles to land and surfed into Viana do Castelo at 10 knots. It might have…