Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2018 i Cruising Helmsman

EXHIBITORS are claiming millions of dollars in sales across the four days of the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show and organisers report visitor numbers were up ten per cent. It was not until the final day four of the 30th anniversary show when the weather was at its best to draw the total up to 45,866 people through the gates from Thursday to Sunday. Organisers said 2018 was one of the biggest shows yet, with 180 boats on water and 275 boats on land, along with more than 300 individual exhibitors. “It’s been a great event,” said SCIBS general manager Johan Hasser, “visitor numbers are up on last year and our exhibitors have benefitted with many generating major sales results,” he said. “We can’t wait to do it all again…

WHAT could be more breathtaking than the sight of a majestic old sailing ship, unfurled sails billowing in the wind, as it cuts a path through the ocean? Back in the day they would have been taken for granted. Today the appearance at sea, or in a harbour, evokes thoughts of an era of romance, adventure and camaraderie. I cannot imagine a soul on earth who would not admire these vessels, or who wouldn’t appreciate the skill needed to navigate them around the globe as they travelled from port to port delivering the cargo without the benefit of engines or modern equipment. Times do change however and, with the advent of motorised shipping, the days of commercial sailing ships eventually came to an end. So instead of beautiful but slow…

“WHILE ELECTRIC PUMPS ARE GREAT, DO NOT HAVE THEM AS YOUR PRIMARY.” BILGE pumps, we all have them or should have them; they have saved many a vessel and it would be crazy to go to sea without one. The thing about a bilge pump is that you do not give them much thought until you need them, it can be something as simple as clearing the bilges automatically every ten minutes because the stern gland has started to leak with a hundred miles left to run before landfall. While it would be possible to do this with a bucket however, the truth of the matter is the electric or fitted manual pump is convenient and just so much easier to use. On that same note the electric pump can…

A RECORD 28 Beneteaus of all ages and sizes took to Pittwater for the 18th. annual Beneteau Cup. Typically sailed in light nor’easter’s this year was not different. 170 skippers and crew needed to keep a keen eye to propel their craft around the course. Some of the Beneteaus on display were just three weeks old, while others had 30 something years of water under the keel. Eleven of the Beneteau fleet competed in the spinnaker division, which shows a growing trend to take on the larger sails; with the remainder opting for the non-spinnaker division. They ranged from 23 to 50 feet in length and were a grand sight as they motored up to the start at Taylors Point. After wind delays, division one got away cleanly and out…

Attention: The Hon. Kate Washington, Member for Port Stephens Dear Kate Recently I became aware of the proposal to build a new fixed bridge over the Clyde River at Batemans Bay. This new bridge is proposed to have a clearance of only 12 metres above the water and will replace a lifting span with unlimited clearance. I wrote to the Minister for Roads to voice my concerns about the proposal. I am outraged that the respondent has made patently untrue claims about the accessibility of upstream anchorages if the new bridge is only 12 metres high. In fact, 12 metres precludes most cruising yachts from passing under the bridge. The respondent did not survey usage accurately. In addition, I am outraged that the respondent claims that stakeholders in the boating…

POWER EQUIPMENT POWERS UP DUYFKEN More than 400 years ago a small Dutch ship called Duyfken captained by Willem Janszoon, made a voyage beyond the known world at the time. It was the first recorded European ship to reach and chart about 300 kilometres of the Australian coast on Cape York Peninsula. Some 393 years later, in 1999, an authentic replica was built in Western Australia. The Duyfken replica is as authentic as possible. It is built from European oak sourced from Latvia, its sails are flax and its rigging, including the standing rigging, is hemp rope. However, late in 2017 a storm pounded Duyfken while moored. Flooding through the exhaust outlet resulted in the starboard engine being written off. A single engine replacement was not feasible because the engines…

THE Sun Odyssey range continues to impress with some different thinking packed into a performing hull form. Following on from the worldwide success of the SO349 there is some similarities in this 45 footer but, markedly, mainly in the guise of improvements on factors that worked in the smaller sister, rather than direct copies. A nice fifteen knot true wind blowing on a wintry but sunny day, good steady testing conditions. HULL FORM In a comparison with the smaller 349, similarities can be seen in the underwater hull shape profile view: shallow forefoot, smooth angle drop to the centre sections with a long flat run before gently angling back up to the twin rudders at the stern. It is, however, more surprising what is happening with the hull shape above…

“IT is better to travel in hope than to arrive” is the often quoted mantra of the philosophical nomad who wishes to distinguish himself from the tourist or business traveller. However, the person who wrote this has clearly never been in a howling gale on a boat he did not trust. In this case, arrival is very much the preferred state of being. Bad conditions at sea are always challenging, but can be made almost unbearable if you have less than 100 per cent confidence in your boat and spend every mile worrying about your chainplates or listening to your bulkheads creaking, wondering if they are up to the job. How you feel about the ability of your boat to survive unpleasant conditions will define not just your relationship to…

BEDS on Board, the sharing economy platform that connects guests and owners for stays on boats, moved a step closer to being welcomed into the marketplace. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) released the consultation draft of the proposed ‘Marine Safety (Short term marina accommodation) Exemption 2018’. The exemption will enable owners of private vessels berthed in marinas to rent their boats out as overnight accommodation and in doing so offset some of their costs of ownership. This use has not been permissible to date under Australian maritime law. The exemption, when finalised, will pave the way for the program to proceed. Darren Vaux, Australian director of Beds on Board said, “we have been working with AMSA and the industry for over a year to develop a sensible regulatory framework…

PIRACY events off the Horn of Africa doubled last year compared to the year before, according to the annual ‘State of piracy’ report released by One Earth Future (OEF)’s Oceans Beyond Piracy program, indicating Somali criminal networks are still capable of sophisticated attacks. Overall incidents in the Latin America and Caribbean region increased by 160 per cent, indicating the opportunistic nature of actors in the region. Piracy continues to pose a threat in the Gulf of Guinea despite a broad array of countermeasures implemented by coastal states and maritime security companies. Kidnap-for-ransom incidents in Asia decreased by 80%, in large part due to the effective cooperation by regional law enforcement actors. Maritime crime in Latin America and the Caribbean is also on the rise. The piracy situation in Asia improved…

SAILING the wild side of Tasmania, its west coast, has been a long held goal: remote, rugged, less frequented, all aspects we value. But to cruise there safely, with a chance to see and explore pristine wilderness in all its moods, you need time. You cannot be on a schedule. So although we have often sailed to Tasmania, we had never been able to venture right along the West Coast, not till we had retired and lived aboard. So let us take you through some of the passage planning and practical aspects of a trip down the wild side, before showing you around its two iconic destinations: Macquarie Harbour and Port Davey-Bathurst Harbour. PASSAGE PLANNING Whether you talk to locals or check the wind roses, it seems the best time…

DIVERSITY DOZEN FROM WINDCRAFT Windcraft this year will have more yachts on display than ever before. Six premieres will be in the line up including the Hanse 548 with its distinctive hard top bimini, plus the Italian Solaris 47 and the racy Dehler 42. The Hanse 548 is strikingly different with its hard top, second forestay for a genoa with electric furler and its incorporated dinghy garage. The display model has been highly optioned to intentionally showcase the Hanse 8 series. The hard top protects all in the cockpit from the sun, while its low profile glass windscreen gives shelter from the wind but maintains a 360 degree view. The interior has a new stylish finish, which has been introduced to all up-coming 8 series models. Other stand-out debuts in…

IN 1956 a Turkish naval officer gave a copy of an early 16th century Ottoman navigational chart, drawn by Piri Reis, a captain in the Ottoman navy during the sultanate of Suleyman the Magnificent, to the U.S Hydrographic Office in Washington D.C. That chart became known as The Piri Reis Map and drew worldwide attention because it appeared to show the coastline of Queen Maud Land in Antarctica, even though the map was drawn in 1513. More extraordinary still were the claims that the map showed that the islands and bays of the depicted coastline of Queen Maud Land are the same as they appear below the Antarctic ice sheet, as revealed by seismic echo-soundings taken in 1949. The first reactions to these claims were: “OK, maybe someone sailed to…