Innholdsfortegnelse for Nov-2018 i Yachting Monthly

My sense of satisfaction was embarrassingly childish I know this goes against the grain to say this but on reflection, now that I am on top of it, I am grateful to a leak. It takes a long time to get to know a boat and the complexities of its innards that are often inaccessible. Perhaps that’s why we humanise them with a name and talk to them. Parallels can be drawn with anatomy; the winches being muscle, electrics the nervous system, plumbing the veins, sails the lungs, engine the heart, with various other features, such as the water maker, representing different ‘organs’. The ‘brains’, or lack of them in my case, is the skipper. The problem is that all boats are different so it’s not like being a GP…

The temptation to sail close to mountainous regions is too great to resist. The grandeur and beauty as the peaks rise into the sky just metres from our vantage point makes one appreciate the enormity of nature. But the very same mountains that create such beauty can also create difficult sailing conditions such as gusty winds, showers and sea fog. So how can you predict such hazards, both when you are planning a voyage and when onboard? These are the things to look out for when planning to cruise mountainous regions… ACCELERATION ZONES Probably the best known of the effects of high ground within island groups is the creation of acceleration zones. These are areas of stronger winds caused when winds are forced to funnel between two islands. Look for…

On 20 May 1996 an obscure piece of secondary legislation was signed onto the statute books. The new law was Statutory Instrument 1996/1353 – the Recreational Craft Regulations. It made the EU Recreational Craft Directive a part of UK law. The RCD is about safety, but it was not primarily intended to benefit boat owners. Its primary purpose was to maintain open borders within Europe, but it has influenced the design of every boat built and sold throughout the Continent since then. Before the RCD came into force, each country had its own set of regulations governing the design and construction of recreational craft. Although they were almost all supposed to be about safety, they were all different and sometimes contradictory, so they were seen as barriers to the free…

First published by Peter Davies in 1951 Above the roaring came the terrible noise of a dying ship Ann Davison and her husband Frank poured all their money and two years’ hard work into restoring the fishing ketch Reliance, then set out in haste from Fleetwood, Lancashire, to escape a Writ of Repossession. Buffeted by gales and frequently lost, they were blown down the Irish Sea and round Land’s End into the English Channel, where they found themselves trapped in Lyme Bay, unable to clear either Start Point or Portland Bill… The tide was making six knots or more. Taking us with it… ‘We haven’t much time,’ I said to Frank, who nodded calmly as if I had told him it was raining. The engine started on one cylinder. There…

A sailor since childhood, Paul, 52, has now retired from his legal partnership after a health scare and wants to spend more time afloat. In the past he’s owned a few small yachts in which he’s raced and cruised along the south coast of the UK but, being so busy, he’s never managed more than a week’s cruising. Though he and his partner Melanie regularly chartered yachts in warmer climes, they both long to visit Scandinavia and cruise the Baltic Sea. Then, after a visit to the Lofoten Islands (hopefully to glimpse the Northern Lights) they want to sail to Iceland and Greenland, before heading across the North Atlantic to the United States. For this type of cruising protection from the elements is essential, so they’re looking to buy a…

If you have a news story to share, contact News Editor Katy Stickland Email Katy.Stickland@ti-media.com Tel 01252 555 166 CO alarms to be mandatory for some cruisers Sailors using certain waterways and harbours in the UK will have to fit a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm on their boat from next year. The Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) is currently consulting on new requirements to install a mandatory CO alarm onboard and has said it will come into effect from January 2019. It will apply to all classes of boat with accommodation. This will affect boaters using the Scottish Canals, BWML marinas, Bristol Harbour, all Canal & River Trust waterways, The Broads, the rivers Medway, Thames, Blackwater, Chelmer, Cam, Dee, Wey, and other waterways run by navigation authorities that apply BSS regulations.…

GOLDEN GLOBE RACE What a brilliant challenge. The thing I’m enjoying is that they are averaging the six or so knots that I normally seem to get when trundling around. capnsensible It will be interesting to see how the attrition rate compares to modern boats doing this same route dunedin STUDLAND SEAHORSES In my local pub a non boater revealed his view that boaters have virtually destroyed the sea horse habitat at Studland. Seems the protagonists for getting boating banned is, sadly, gaining momentum. superheat6k DEFRA say that they will make a decision ‘within the next 12 months’ so the waiting game continues! oldharry INSTRUMENTS ON OR OFF? When anchoring and staying on board, I leave instruments on. I know others simply turn everything off. Am I being overly cautious?…

Those of us who sail enter a fraternity like no other From Sweden to Suez, Thailand to Tenerife, Grenada to Greece, I have had the pleasure of meeting Yachting Monthly readers from across the globe in the 35 years that I have been writing for the magazine. But the most recent encounter takes the ship’s biscuit for the unlikeliest location: 2,005 metres above sea level. My wife, Cathy, and I were on our way home from a motoring holiday in the Italian lakes and had decided to give the Mont Blanc tunnel a miss because of a two-hour tailback in the Aosta Valley. Instead we headed for Switzerland and after an hour’s drive from Omegna on Lake Orta pulled up at the Iselle di Trasquera car-train station at the start…

Are you having trouble manoeuvring? Q Paula is the skipper of the traditional gaff Sail Training ketch Abundance, which is 70ft long with an additional 20ft of bowsprit. She is a Yachtmaster Instructor and has a professional mate plus a willing but inexperienced staff bosun. The crew consists of 12 teenagers ranging from the enthusiastic to two young offenders who will hopefully cooperate by the end of the week. Abundance is entering Fowey in a fresh southwesterly and the harbour master has kindly allocated a large mooring buoy in sheltered water upriver by Wiseman’s Point. There is a strong flood tide running. Abundance is a strong sturdy wooden ship built 100 years ago but her weakness is an underpowered engine. As Paula approaches the mooring it is clear she is…

When John invited me to help sail El Arranque, a Beneteau 473, back from Antigua to the Azores, I leapt at the chance and made major adjustments to my May diary. Although I would call myself an experienced coastal cruiser I had never undertaken any major ocean passage. I’d been out of sight of land on trips to St Kilda, Ireland, and the Isles of Scilly, but this would be something else. John and his family had sailed El Arranque from Lisbon to the Caribbean via the Canaries and had then enjoyed exploring up and down the Caribbean island chain. There were fewer family takers for the long trip back, so John assembled a group of friends to help him. We were hardly the youngest crew; the four of us…

Tracy Edwards is busy. The restoration of her yacht Maiden, on which she headed the first all-woman crew to enter a round-the-world race, is nearing completion and Tracy is promoting the project. The boat is relaunched in August 2018, and Tracy poses behind the wheel with other members of her historic 1989-90 Whitbread campaign. This is followed by a flurry of announcements, including the list of skippers for the yacht’s forthcoming world tour, which includes Dee Caffari, Wendy Tuck and Nikki Henderson. Days later, Tracy is awarded the prestigious Lendy Ladies Day Trophy at Cowes Week for her work advancing the cause of women in sailing. In September, Maiden sails up the Thames, under the outstretched arms of Tower Bridge, where Tracy welcomes the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of…

£18.99 Pieter van der Merwe with Jeremy Michell, Conway Press Four new galleries opened this autumn in the National Maritime Museum. Jeremy Michell is lead curator of Polar Worlds and has collaborated with Pieter van der Merwe on this new edition of essays focusing on Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton. The wealth of illustrations certainly whets one’s appetite for a visit. Luke McKernan’s chapter offers great insight into the achievements of the expedition photographers and their crucial role in attracting sponsorship. The story of Antarctica is updated and the leading characters have been reassessed. Nevertheless, key episodes, such as the last days of the Endurance and Shackleton’s voyage in the James Caird, lose none of their power. £16.99 ASTRONAUTS OF CAPE HORN Nicholas Gray, The Conrad Press As Robin Knox-Johnston approached…

10 After 10 years at the helm, the RNLI’s chief executive, Paul Boissier, has confirmed he will retire in 2019. 87 The world’s biggest operational offshore wind farm at Walney Extension off the coast of Cumbria has been officially opened. It has 87 turbines. 86 Robin Walters, the pioneer of floating, concrete pontoons, which led to the creation of leisure marinas, has died at the age of 86. 1,773 Imerys Clean Energy skipper, Phil Sharp and his crew have officially entered the record books for the fastest Round Britain and Ireland circumnavigation in a boat of 40ft or under. They sailed 1,773 miles in 8 days, 4, hours, 14 minutes and 49 seconds.…

LETTER OF THE MONTH Emergency stop If I recall correctly there was an incident a few years back where a husband and wife team were both badly injured during a tack on a boat fitted with powered winches. For some reason during the tack, the winch started but would not stop. It was an awful moment when a crew member’s hand was dragged into the winch by the rope and her arm twisted from the shoulder. The helm, who came to help, similarly become entangled losing two fingers in the process. Powered winches are clearly potentially hazardous; for instance, I never let children operate mine or anyone else who is not familiar with the mechanics of using ropes and winching during sailing. However, I wonder why emergency stops, operable from…

Like most nautical folklore, how things used to be has a role to play in Biscay’s reputation. Unable to go to windward, square-rigged ships would be caught by the prevailing westerlies and be blown inshore – unable to tack their way back out again. This prevailing wind, combined with a rapidly shelving seabed and exposure to 3,000 miles of open Atlantic ocean, still make for a potentially biblical sea state that continues to occasionally give experienced yachtsman a life-affirming kicking. The geography certainly hasn’t changed, but sailor’s accumulated wisdom about how best to go about crossing Biscay has grown significantly. Better weather information, the ability of modern yachts to go to windward and, dare we say it, motor, have all contributed to the likelihood of a satisfying adventure well within…

1 FORECASTS AREN’T GOSPEL Don’t rely on forecast wind strengths being accurate. It was no surprise to John that the conditions we experienced were so much windier than suggested. Forecasts are only an indication. We found the wind speed double that anticipated on both sides of the Atlantic, though Chris’s mid-Atlantic prediction was bang on. 2 REEF INTUITIVELY If you wonder whether it’s time to reef, then reef. Although it was clear that John knew his boat and that El was still driving well, the pressures on the rig were too great for the genoa sheet which parted quite spectacularly. 3 BE CAUTIOUS REFUELLING Ensure there is always enough fuel in the tank for any eventuality. We had not expected heavy engine use at the end of the passage, but…

We’d had a long winter in Portugal’s Portimão doing major boat works to our 26ft Heavenly Twins 26, Kittiwake. By April 2018, we were heading for the Mediterranean; our voyage having started almost exactly a year before from Falmouth. Having spent six months cruising the UK, France, Spain, and Portugal and five months on the hard, we yearned to sail the Mediterranean and anchor in a beautiful Spanish cala, but we felt we couldn’t skip the Rio Guadiana. The river, which creates a natural border between Portugal and Spain, was high on our list. We were lured in by tales of a friendly cruising community, wild spaces and a peaceful atmosphere. We weighed our anchor in the Faro lagoon and set our course east. An orange sky and silky flat…

HONWAVE T24-IE2 Honwave dinghies come in three versions: the basic slatted floor, an inflatable V-hull floor, or aluminium floor with an inflatable V-hull beneath. We tested the 2.4m inflatable floor version. With drop-stitch material, the inflatable floor forms a solid V-shaped hull. The transom is positioned well forward for extra buoyancy at the stern. Large 42.5cm diameter sponsons have a spray-deflector rail at their widest point, as well as grab lines, solid plastic handles forward and aft, and painter and towing bridle attachment points forward. There are internal lifting points forward and aft, a central GRP thwart and a retainer strap for a fuel tank. The oars have a stainless steel pin rather than rowlocks and the dinghy comes with a high pressure pump. HONDA BF2.3 £669 The Honda BF2.3,…

Founded in 1971, Sirius Yachts now employs nearly 60 craftsmen to produce around 15 yachts a year from 31-40ft. All are deck saloon models and includes the 35DS, which offers three interior layouts, plus a deep or shoal fin, twin or swing keels. The latest designs have slab sides and plumb ends, but a deep forefoot gives a comfortable motion in a seaway. Her semi-balanced rudder hangs on a half-skeg. The hull is vacuum-infused with vinylester resins and foam-cored from deck to waterline, with solid laminate below, reinforced at the keel root. Hull and deck are bonded and bulkheads laminated for strength and stiffness. On deck she has a deep and safe cockpit with very high coamings. Her sidedecks are narrow, but the raised coachroof puts the handrails at exactly…