Innholdsfortegnelse for Jul-2018 i Yachting Monthly

How do you know when you’ve had a good week on the water? Tanned limbs rather than windburned cheeks, miles of wake trailing astern, or a zen-like feeling of calm from watching the sun sink over a quiet anchorage, taking the hubbub of life with it? I have a new measure for successful sailing: after a week afloat, my technology disowned me. Handling canvas and rope in a bracing April breeze toughened my office-soft hands and rubbed my fingertips smooth. The biometric umbilical cord cut, I couldn’t make the touchscreen work for days. I might only have been on the Norfolk Broads rather than the open sea, but it did my soul a world of good to be out under those wide, cloud-painted skies. Moreover, it was a novelty to…

A wee tip Several years ago, my partner Bill and I were made aware of a study of men drowned in a Scandinavian harbour, a large proportion of whom had their zips undone. Among Bill’s obsessions were scientific method and the necessity of accurate facts and statistics to back them up: he has nothing to do with woolly phrases like ‘studies have shown’ and ‘scientists believe’. So recently, I spent an interesting afternoon trawling the web for a survey of ‘Men drowned with their zips undone’ and found no trace of whatever study had fascinated us. So the above paragraph remains, regrettably, merely anecdotal. What I did find was a 2013 study by Karlstad University in Sweden, which considered 4,000 cases of drowning between 1997 and 2011 and found that…

It’s an unforgettable experience for everyone, but for some it’s transformational When Jolie Brise and the students of Dauntsey’s School in landlocked Wiltshire go transatlantic, the planning starts very early on, and for good reason. The tall ship’s long-time skipper Toby Marris knows only too well how different individual crossings can be. In 2009, during the last leg of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge, Jolie Brise lost her topmast in 55 knots of wind, mid-ocean. They had broken the topmast before, in the Mediterranean, but that was in fairly placid waters; this North Atlantic storm was very different. Coming down a large breaking wave touching 15 knots on the surf, the helm lost control, they gybed, the mainsail preventer pulled the deck fitting out and the boom whipped through the…

PILOTAGE This welcoming harbour is accessible at all times of the day and at all states of tide. Pilotage is straightforward, although beware of trawlers and ferries coming in and out of the harbour. There are also controlled areas in Tor Bay, mainly for swimmers and waterskiing and marked by buoys (May-Sept). There’s good shelter but the outer harbour can become uncomfortable in north-westerlies. On approach, the first sighting is of the long Victoria Breakwater at the end of which is a white lighthouse (Oc R 15s). Once rounded, you arrive at the main fairway which is marked by port and starboard buoys. On either side of the channel are several swinging moorings, and as you progress you will see the modern trawlers and the walled fishing harbour to starboard.…

The Sadler 34 evolved from the 32 and while the 32 was a tough, capable seakindly yacht, the 34 offers much more in the way of accommodation thanks to her wider beam. Apart from being pretty, the most notable feature of the 34 is her double-skinned hull, sandwiched with thick closed-cell foam, making her unsinkable and eliminating condensation thanks to the added insulation. She came with a deep fin, shoal fin or bilge keels, and the post-1990 models had a Stephen Jones-designed, foiled fin keel with ballast bulb that upped upwind performance. Under sail, she is responsive and vice free with a comfy motion and predictable handling. While her pinched (in modern terms) stern might limit the width of the aft cabin, it works well at sea, allowing her deep…

A skipper’s prerogative Terry Kemmann-Lane I’ve sailed with Keith on his boat at the end of the season for years. This year, we laid up the boat in Leros Marina, using the lazyline and warps from the quarters to the pontoon. This left the stern about 7ft from the pontoon. We were all packed up and I had carried the bags across the passerelle just at the time that the taxi was due to take us to the airport. The passerelle would not stay across all winter; fortunately, there was one boat between us and the quayside, so Keith said he would cross the 2ft gap between boats and alight on the quay that way. I went aboard the adjacent boat and helped pull the two together. Keith lent across…

Bavaria Yachts seeks new investors In a surprise announcement, one of Europe’s biggest boatbuilders, Bavaria Yachts, has announced it has gone into self-administration to help it secure new investment. The German company is stressing that operations at its main factory at Giebelstadt will continue ‘seamlessly over the next few months.’ Under German insolvency law, self-administration allows companies to restructure in insolvency proceedings under their own management. This means Bavaria’s management team will remain in full operational control while it looks for new investors. Bavaria’s 600 workers are being kept updated and all wages between April and June 2018 will be paid under insolvency compensation. The company’s French subsidiary, Bavaria Catamarans SAS, formed after Bavaria bought Nautitech Catamarans in 2014, will not be affected. ‘The delivery season is currently in full…

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) rightly calls for emergency position indication radio beacons (EPRIBs) to be registered. In your news article ‘MCA urges EPRIB registration despite delays’ (YM, May 2018), the MCA was quoted as urging people to keep their EPRIB registration up to date. I take my personal locator beacon (PLB) on every trip. It does appear, though, that the system can’t keep up with the changes. The solution is simple: the MCA needs to develop a web self-service portal, whereby sailors and boat owners can update their details easily and remove all the delays. This will also remove dull admin work from the staff who can then spend their time on more interesting work. The web development will soon pay for itself. Helicopters cost a lot to…

Built by Albert Paumelle, Jolie Brise started life as a Le Havre pilot cutter and was launched in December 1913, only to be laid up throughout WWI. Peacetime brought three years as a tunny fisher before the famous yachtsman E G Martin, winner of the One Ton Cup and twice winner of the Royal Cruising Club’s Challenge trophy, discovered her languishing at Concarneau near Brest and brought her back to England. She was converted into a cruising yacht at Teignmouth by her owner and his new skipper Sid Briggs, with some help from Martin’s friend Frank Morgan Giles, who ran his yard from that town. In 1923, the Americans had held their sixth 635-mile offshore Newport to Bermuda Race and Martin, who was a yachting journalist at the time, was…

Some sailors can go a lifetime without ever needing to resort to heavy weather tactics; others simply end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and have to find a way of riding out a storm. Both of my previous boats had been pretty good at riding out bad weather when hove-to. I had read and reread Adlard Coles’ book on heavy weather tactics and concluded that I could jury rig a drogue if required. Some 50,000 miles later, this had still not been necessary but my plans for my boat Novara would take us to the higher latitudes both north and south. Novara is a 60ft aero-rigged Bestevaer schooner, a completely different kettle of fish to my previous cutter rigs. I experimented with possible methods to heave-to…

The charming little town of Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight has so many delights that visiting sailors often fail to progress further than the local amenities. But those with a love of nature and an adventurous spirit will find grand satisfaction above the road bridge at high water by navigating the attractive, unspoilt River Yar, not to be confused with the other River Yar at Bembridge, at the east end of the island. The Yarmouth harbourmaster has jurisdiction over the river up to the causeway at Freshwater, so it is his office to which any queries should be addressed. For some reason, the Yar swing bridge, renewed in 1987, blocking the upper river to masted vessels, seems to impose a slight mental as well as a physical barrier. The…

Not unlike the Nicholson 35 in both hull lines and reputation, the Rival 36 is a tough, solid yacht designed for passagemaking in virtually all weathers and sea conditions. The 36 slotted between the slightly cramped 34 and the larger 38 ketch, with 78 in total being launched. Possibly a squeeze on such a tight budget, but you get a lot more space in the R36 than the older R34, and there’s a good chance you could find one that’s already equipped for bluewater cruising. She was offered as a masthead sloop or with a cutter rig option. Keel choice was between a deep lead-ballasted fin, a shallower Scheel keel or a centreboard (R36C). Under sail she’s predictable and easily handled, although like her predecessors, she’s not the fastest boat…

Q We have an Arcona 400 which we keep at Plymouth yacht haven. We bought her because she is well built, a delight to sail, is reasonably quick and can accommodate our daughters and their young families. We mainly cruise locally with the occasional racing event for charity. We plan a cruise to south Brittany this summer. I have 45m of 8mm anchor chain, hardly sufficient for anchoring my boat in a range of wind and tide conditions. I have a further 30m of 8mm chain sitting in my garage, but is there any safe way of joining the two together? Will this joint pass through the anchor winch? Alastair Paramore A Vyv Cox, a chartered engineer specialising in metallurgy, replies: The only fastener that will join two lengths of chain…

Yachts might be getting bigger every year, but there is strong competition among builders of sub-10m cruising yachts as they seek to convert new buyers into brand-loyal owners. There’s plenty of choice, but if you’re looking for your first yacht or downsizing and still want comfort, the Jeanneau 319 has much to offer. Generous accommodation and lofty headroom are squeezed into a package that still sails superbly. Usually on a test, it’s clear who to credit for all the clever features on board, but on this boat it’s less obvious. You see, the new Jeanneau 319 is a reincarnation of the six-year-old Delphia 31. Delphia has long built boats for other yards under contract and the 319 is built by Delphia, but she has a new hull, designed to accept…

1 THE MAINSAIL CONTROLS With the mainsail, we have one or two extra controls to play with: ▪ Luff tension is the same as for the headsail▪ Clew outhaul for tightening or releasing the foot of the sail▪ Kicking strap or vang for pulling the boom down▪ Mainsheet traveller with a car that can be moved to windward or to leeward 2 SET CLEW TENSION WITH THE OUTHAUL AND SET TRAVELLER Sailing close hauled in light winds, we would want to let off the clew outhaul to increase belly in the sail, and then move the traveller up to windward and sheet the main in until the boom is amidships. We will also want to leave the kicker/vang loose to ensure the leech isn’t over tight, allowing some twist in…

After a long sail across the expanse of Lyme Bay, the sight of Brixham at the southern end of Tor Bay brings welcome relief. Approaching from the sea, the view is one of colourful houses cascading down on either side of the harbour. A couple of trawlers emerge from behind the long breakwater, along with the occasional ferry heading over to nearby Torquay. Other than this, there is little to concern a yacht on its way to the harbour entrance. A popular town with a distinctive character, there is more to Brixham than meets the eye. It is rich in stories about its maritime and military past but is best known for the development of fishing trawlers, which saw Brixham transformed from a small village to a busy port. Once…

One of a range of solidly built and well-found cruising yachts built by Northshore Yachts, the Vancouver 32 was designed specifically for serious passagemaking. Full hull sections and short overhangs offer a high-volume yacht with excellent load-carrying abilities. Her fully encapsulated shallow keel contains nearly 3 tonnes of lead ballast, giving her an enviable ballast ratio of nearly 45%; a keel shoe extends aft to support the rudder and protect the prop from floating debris and lines. Only available with tiller steering and transom-hung rudder, she has an easily manageable masthead cutter rig with full shrouds and twin straight spreaders. A smart teak-capped bulwark offers extra security going forward while large scuppers ensure rapid deck drainage. The interior is surprisingly spacious and comfy. The long quarterberth and port-side straight settees…