Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2019 i Yachting Monthly

A solution to the problem of end-of-life boats and how to dispose of them could be on the horizon. A working party has been set up by the European Boating Association (EBA) to look at the issue, and discussions are already underway with the European Boating Industry and Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. The RYA, which is part of the EBA, said the group would be meeting in January 2019 to look at the legacy of existing end-of-life glass reinforced plastic (GRP) and composite boats and how future designs could take into account dismantling and the use of recyclable materials. The RYA’s cruising manager, Stuart Carruthers said the RYA has long recognised that despite considerable advances in waste management, there was a ‘compelling need for specific measures related to…

Volunteers who help nurture sailing talent across the UK have been recognised for their input and achievements. Some 57 people were presented with accolades by the RYA president, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal at a ceremony in London. Among the recipients was Laura Carrick from the Scottish charity able2sail, who was presented with the 2018 Francis Elkin Award, given to an individual who has enabled people with disabilities to become involved in sailing. Three generations of the Riley family, who have spent more than 70 years volunteering at West Kirby Sailing Club in Merseyside, were given the Family Award. Recognised for their commitment and services to boating and the RYA at a regional level were the former RYA Cymru Wales chair Dafydd Griffiths, Bembridge Sailing Club’s Mike Samuelson, and…

Stop with the radio checks ‘Solent Coastguard, Solent Coastguard, this is the Yacht Pratt, radio check, over.’ S/V Pratt is loud and clear of course, broadcasting to us all over VHF on a 20 mile radius, and luffing along with the ‘Pratt Yacht Club’ flotilla all cheerfully radio checking. Even the occasional prompted coastguard reply: ‘you are weak and unreadable’ seems to satisfy. Through all this, have we all forgotten the vital purpose of Ch16? Happily I’ve never had to use Ch16 except as a hailing channel, though we have been part of a Mayday relay chain twice now. Perversely there won’t be too many yachtsmen out there, weekend or otherwise, that don’t know Ch16 is for hailing and distress only. But I wonder if boats in mortal danger could…

SPECIFICATIONS MAKE Sunbeam MODEL 46.1 PRICE FROM £425,180 inc VAT DESIGNER J&J Design BUILDER Sunbeam Yachts In the wrong boat, living on board can feel like camping on the water. There are, however, boats that aim to be a home away from home. It’s a nice idea, but many boats fail because there has been a compromise too far — trading deck stowage for comfort, quality for price, comfort for practicality or worse still, practicality for comfort. There is no denying that all boats are a compromise, but a yacht aimed at bluewater cruising has to be a home from home and work as a proficient offshore or ocean cruiser. At 46ft, the chances of finding a comfortable and practical bluewater yacht are increased, but still some manufacturers compromise, so…

ANDRAS BAKODY from Hungary, onboard EH01 We have a sextant and paper charts on board as well as a chartplotter and nav software. Every day we plot a fix on a paper chart but it’s more for fun – a memory, so at the end of the trip everyone can take a photo. We have so many electronic backups that really there’s no need for paper charts. We have a Raymarine C120 chartplotter but use a laptop screen to run the nav software. It’s much more user-friendly and gives you a variety of options, such as race software. As for power, if our batteries failed, we have powerbanks to keep our phones and iPads running, and would use these to plot our position. We’d also use the compass and go…

A few disembodied trees standing like chess pieces in the distance is not much of a landfall, but Essex is a low county, like the Netherlands, her counterpart coastline across the North Sea, and somewhere to the right of the floating tree-line is the River Crouch. I have a sea breeze filling in from the south-east which gives my 25ft gaffer, Betty II, a fine reach up the south-westerly running ditch that lies between two of the East Coast’s greatest sandbanks: the Maplin and the Buxey. We skirt around the large shallow horseshoe mid-channel which is Sunken Buxey, and the glistening head of a curious seal is momentarily mistaken for a buoy. With the flood tide swirling around the real cardinals, we push on into Shore Ends where at last…

Dad, my sister Izzy and I left the comfort of the sofa and sailed from Turnchapel to Port Elliot. Bounty’s End became our home for two days. Izzy and I sat in the bow and screamed out in delight as the icy water hit our feet. As the water calmed down and we felt sunlight on our windswept cheeks, jellyfish started to float by. First it was just one or two but in the end we couldn’t count them all! Watching the jellyfish was exciting, but nothing could compare with going under the Tamar Bridge! As the sun started to set, we had supper, which was pasta, then we got out our sleeping bags, pillows and camping mats as well as the poles, cover and rope. The cover, which was…

Scotland’s Stornoway Coastguard Operations Centre is piloting the use of text-to-voice technology to broadcast Maritime Safety Information. But just one month into the three-month trial, fishermen and sailors in the region are raising concerns, with some complaining that the ‘robotic’ voice is difficult to follow compared to a human voice. Others said they missed the warmth of a human voice. One sailor posted on Facebook: ‘We are HATING the robot that has replaced the coastguards doing the weather forecasts on VHF. This incomprehensible zombie voice must be a hazard. Is anyone protesting? Please bring back those friendly Stornoway voices!’ A coastguard officer has traditionally read the MSI, which provides weather and navigational safety every three hours. A previous automated system was trialled in 2017, but was unsuitable. The director of…

The Marine Management Organisation is considering an application for a marine licence to allow trials leading to seaweed cultivation off the Sussex coast. Sustainable Seaweed Ltd wants to develop five sites around 5km off the coast at Pagham, Littlehampton, Worthing, Shoreham and Brighton. Initially, the company wants to introduce eight cultivation units at two locations, before increasing the operations to create five 20-hectare seaweed cultivation farms. The seaweed would be grown on textile mats which would be anchored inshore and float three metres below the surface of the water. Harvesting would happen five times a year. The RYA considers that positioning the mats so close to the water surface presents a hazard to navigation. It is also concerned about mats breaking free and drifting to the surface.…

Having been privileged to be appointed as RYA Chair a few months ago, I have regularly been asked what is the purpose of the RYA, and what is the future of boating and sailing? Many clubs are having problems attracting new younger members as well as volunteers to help run their activities and racing. These issues are made even more pressing by the range of alternative sports and experiences open to young people, and also by the ageing of the baby-boomer generation who have been participants behind the growth up to around 10 years ago. As shown by the recent British Marine ‘Futures’ study, the future is challenging both for clubs and industry participants. It is instructive to look at what makes the sport work, although I recognise that ‘sport’…

It was calm. Water lapped at the maze of icebergs that stretched down the fjord before me. If this was a film, or a classic book, I might be contemplating my purpose in life. I was, however, slightly more fixated on what I would do should a polar bear sidle its way into my landscape. Just the day before, only 20 miles south, ‘an ice bear’, as the locals call them, had attacked a fishing village similar to the one I was now trapped on the edge of. The reality of life for the people who lived in such a remote and harsh environment was beginning to sink in. A loud crack echoed round the mountains followed swiftly by churning water as an iceberg split and rolled over not too…

Q I’m thinking of replacing the electronics on my boat and I’ve got a great offer on a package that includes radar, chartplotter and Class A AIS. The AIS looks like a great bit of kit, but will Class A integrate properly with my Raymarine chartplotter, and what will the power draw be? Peter Smith Derek Gilbert of Raymarine replies: A Class A AIS is used by commercial vessels and Class B mainly on leisure craft under 24m. Class A AIS transceivers will display and transmit more information about the vessel onto which they are installed. However, basic vessel information, such as name, MMSI, and heading, apply to both classes. Most Class A AIS transceivers use NMEA0183 data protocol and so must be connected into navigation displays using this. Bear…

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is the sailing yacht Julia Too, Julia Too, Julia Too. Our position is…' Never in all my life had I expected to hear those words uttered from my own boat. I had not even, in a lifetime of sailing, heard a live Mayday call, much less been part of one. You prepare for it, you think about it once in a while and at some point undertake a VHF Radio course, but never do you actually think it will happen to you… until it does. I was taking my boat, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40, on an early delivery cruise southeast from northern Greece, and eventually towards Marmaris in Turkey. It was a week-long cruise of around 300 miles or so with a friend of mine,…

PILOTAGE Both rivers are muzzled with the East Coast’s greatest sandbanks but they are all clearly buoyed and as long as you stick to the marked channels you have nothing to fear. In many respects the sandbanks are a boon because in heavy weather once ‘inside’ them they act as breakwaters and the seas are consequently greatly reduced. Both rivers enjoy an abundance of anchorages, all free, and this is what any visitor should exploit, although this does mean you will need a tender if coming ashore. River Blackwater: You can approach from the Wallet either from Knoll N cardinal light buoy or North Eagle N cardinal light buoy. The depth here is 3.8m+ and both channels are clearly marked. Find the green conical Benchhead light buoy and maintain a…

DEPARTURE Severe sea states can occur in Portland Race which usually extends 2M south of Portland Bill (Fl(4)20s43m25M) but much further in bad weather. Aim for slackish water off the Bill at HW Plymouth +5 to HW-5, which becomes a favourable tide for the west-bound passage. In daylight and settled conditions, the inshore passage provides a shorter route around the Bill in relatively flat water. To take this route, position yourself close inshore at least 2M north of the Bill to ride the south-going stream. Then keep 1 to 3 cables off the Bill to stay clear of Portland Ledge and avoid being set into the Race. At night, with wind against tide, or in fresh onshore breezes, avoid the Race by passing at least 3M south of Bill. Start…

The walls of the buildings were covered in bullet holes and there were casings lying around, evidence of raiding parties attached to the Greek Sacred Squadron that had tried to take back Alimia from the Germans in May 1945. The island was a minor base for the Regina Marina (Italian Navy) during the Italian occupation of the Greek Dodecanese from 1912-1943, and was used as a base for re-supplying submarines. After Allied victory in Italy, the Germans took over Alimia, and although the Greek locals later returned, it was eventually abandoned in the 1960s. The remnants of conflict were in sharp contrast to the tranquility of the rest of the island. South Bay was like a huge open-air war museum. When we landed, we saw coils of submarine netting, and…

The implementation of the TEPAH, known as the Greek cruising tax, has been temporarily delayed. The Greek Government implemented the TEPAH on 16 November 2018, giving yacht owners just 10 days to pay. This was despite no information being made available about how the tax will work, other than it will be paid online and will run under the TAXISnet system, which is part of the Greek tax system. There are statutory fines for non-compliance. The Cruising Association (CA) said it contacted the government, which has now delayed the introduction of the tax until 2 April 2019. The association said it understood all vessels would have to register at www.aade.gr, which is in Greek and hasn’t been set up for this tax. The CA has submitted a nine-page document to…

Legendary French sailor Loïck Peyron has finished his last Route du Rhum on his 37-year-old wooden yellow trimaran Happy. He crossed the finish line at Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe in 21 days, three hours and 57 minutes, finishing fourth in the Rhum Multi Class. It also allowed the 58-year-old to complete his own personal tribute to Canadian Mike Birch, who sailed Happy’s sistership, Olympus Photo to a nail-biting finish in the very first Route du Rhum in 1978, winning it by just 98 seconds. Peyron, who described Birch as his ‘Jedi Master’, has spent the last four years paying tribute to racing pioneers including the great Éric Tabarly. Peyron took part in the 2016 Transat bakerly on Tabarly’s Pen Duick II, which won the OSTAR in 1964. For his eighth Rhum,…

Marine electronics have advanced rapidly in the past decade. Chart tables have shrunk or disappeared entirely, and gone are the various bits of kit showing GPS, radar and AIS on separate screens. Most cruising sailors these days will have a marine electronic station with one central multifunction display (MFD) repeated around the boat. And if the battery fails, there are always phones and tablets for backup – at least for as long as you can keep them charged. So does this mean paper charts are redundant? ‘It’s an interesting topic,’ says Lucy Wilson of nautical publisher Imray. ‘Our paper charts certainly aren’t in decline, but the kind of products people want are changing. Large sheet sales are steady but we’re increasing the range of small format charts and packs.’ Imray…

A thick fog hangs over the Solent, enough to veil Osborne House, which is lurking on the shores of the Isle of Wight. Queen Victoria said it was impossible to imagine a prettier spot, and right now ‘imagine’ is all we can do. The engine’s on tickover, but there’s a louder noise ringing in my ears. Dan, the skipper, leans forward and hits ‘circle my boat’ on the MFD. The buzzing gets louder, and suddenly the video image of the grey sea morphs into a bird’s eye view of a motorcruiser. It’s us on the flybridge of test boat, Raymariner, a top-heavy collection of scanners, domes and cameras. Above us is a drone, controlled not by the skipper but Raymarine’s new Axiom UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) app, which is running…

There is something magical about planning a mini Mutiny experience with your two young children, even if your final destination is only around 10 miles away. Having spent more than 60 days on board Bounty’s End during the recreation of William Bligh’s 4,000-mile journey across the south Pacific for Channel 4’s Mutiny series, I’ve become quite accustomed to venturing out in her with nothing more than some fishing gear, a stove and a sleeping bag. So asking my girls, Katelyn and Isabel to pack ‘lightly’ and only take what they would need for a long weekend proved quite a challenge, as each wanted to bring their favourite cuddly toy and plenty of books to read. Before long, their mum Vikki had also chipped in with more rations than poor Bligh…

New home for Sailability regatta Weymouth is to be the new venue for the 2019 RYA Sailability Multiclass Regatta. The UK’s biggest disability sailing event takes place from 5 to 7 July at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) – home of the London 2012 Olympics. Previously hosted on Rutland Water reservoir, the event will be the first chance for many sailors to compete on the open sea. Portland Harbour is considered the ideal location, thanks to its sheltered waters, weak tides and clean winds. It’s also the location of Chesil Sailability (www.chesilsailability.org.uk), a local organisation inspired by the 2012 Paralympic Games to promote sailing, regardless of disability. RYA Sailability Manager, Joff McGill said: ‘We are delighted to announce the new format for the 2019 RYA Sailability Multiclass…

Nappy hooligan Terrence Kearney When leaving Cherbourg with my wife and very young son, our stores included a pack of disposable nappies. As these items became full, disposal overboard was decided upon. As a Merchant Navy officer I was fully aware of MARPOL (marine pollution), so cleared the cotton and its smelly contents away from the plastic. As we approached the UK, this practice stopped and the remainder went into a bag for disposal in Cowes. After tying up at the Folly trots at 0100 and loading the tender, the carrier bag — now quite full — was placed in the tender for the run to Folly pier. While passing a pristine Sunseeker gin palace, the outboard coughed and spluttered. Thinking I may have picked up seaweed around the prop,…