Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2016 i Yachting Monthly

Carbon monoxide risk The Gas Industry Safety Group (GISG) has issued a warning to sailors about carbon monoxide on boats. Poor ventilation and engine exhaust lead to the death of two people on a boat on the Norfolk Broads in June this year. Stalwart volunteer Rex Woodgate will been given an RYA Community Award at the RYA AGM for his contribution to the Royal Southampton Yacht Club. Now 90, he has organised over 500 mid-week cruises. RNLI award for yacht rescue The crew of the RNLI Islay lifeboat in the Hebrides has been recognised for the part it played in saving a sailor’s life during a severe gale. Coxswain David MacLellan was awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal for Gallantry. Compensation for sailing death Sunsail has paid compensation to Lynne Morgan,…

EMAIL yachtingmonthly@timeinc.com POST The Editor, Yachting Monthly, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU Please send us your letters in less than 200 words Most letters are edited for brevity. You can read more correspondence, online, at www.yachtingmonthly.com/letters WIN A BOTTLE OF RUM The letter of the month wins a bottle of Pusser’s Rum, produced to Admiralty specification and served daily to every sailor in the Royal Navy for more than 300 years (UK residents only) www.pussers.com LETTER OF THE MONTH Should we be taught how to use an outboard? I had logged few miles since completing my Day Skipper when my family and I found ourselves at anchor off the beautiful Italian island of Ponza. Land beckoned a hungry crew so my son and I made the…

Ken Endean is a retired civil engineer and pilotage enthusiast who cruises a twin-keeled Sabre 27 from Southampton Water ‘The most common hazards arise during the transfer from tender to yacht, or vice versa’ A teenage girl and her two companions had walked along the beach from New Quay harbour and sat on a rock while the sun set, playing with their mobile phones – until they found they were cut off by the rising tide. I, and the skipper of another anchored yacht, then rowed our tenders inshore and offered them a lift to dry land. Within a few seconds of coming on board, the young lady illustrated two fundamental aspects of safety in small boats. When I invited her to step on board, to my surprise she did…

EMAIL yachtingmonthly@timeinc.com POST Any Questions, Yachting Monthly, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU Please send us your questions in less than 200 words WIN CHILGROVE GIN The question of the month wins a bottle of Chilgrove Gin (UK residents only). This super-premium gin, handcrafted by keen sailors in the Sussex Downs, blends the finest botanicals with a neutral grape spirit. www.chilgrovespirits.com QUESTION OF THE MONTH How do I avoid a 50-knot flying machine? Q My wife and I were recently sailing from Portsmouth to Cowes when we noticed a fast yacht that looked like Land Rover BAR, the America’s Cup catamaran. Whilst we were managing 4 knots in 10 knots of wind, she was flying on her foils. I then realised she was heading straight for us,…

‘Rogues yarn’ This sounds like a tall story dragged out in the local boozer by a character with a parrot and a sailor hat. In fact, it’s the dark-coloured strand worked into some ropes at manufacture. Historically, this showed who had made the cordage. Today’s rogue’s yarns are not to be confused with the solid coloured fleck seen in many braidlines, but they still help us identify which line is which. ‘Spunyarn’ ‘I’ll spin you a yarn, me son…’ I always think this should have been the caption for Millais’ painting of ‘The boyhood of Raleigh’, but that’s not what spunyarn is at all. It’s light-weight, two-strand, natural cordage. In its raw form it was used for odd jobs, but when soaked in Stockholm tar to make marline it found…

Over 50 Contessa 26 yachts gathered in Lymington this summer to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this iconic class. With lines based on the classic Folkboat, this attractive little cruising and racing yacht has won many admirers, and races, in the years since the first one was launched in 1966. Since then, over 600 have been built in Britain and in Canada, generating a loyal and sizeable following. The last weekend in July saw owners flock to the Solent from far and wide. Two boats sailed almost 500 miles to be there – Me-Mo from Amble in Northumberland and Kleine Johanna from Medemblik in Holland, as well as boats from the West Country and the South coast. One owner, Nina Kristin Nilsen, even flew in from Canada, albeit without her…

‘Of all the shelters in the Outer Hebrides none is better than Stornoway’ I was standing on the dockside admiring a particularly well-kept Alan Buchanan sloop when a van screamed up and almost knocked me down. It was then followed by another, then a third, as fit young men leapt out, tearing off their jackets. The Outer Hebrides is surely not plagued by an outdated joy-riding craze, I wondered, as the men disappeared into a shed? But all was revealed as they re-emerged in yellow oilskins, lifejackets and welly boots and ran down the pontoon. Within minutes the orange and blue Stornoway lifeboat was reversing out of her berth leaving the sixty or so yachts rocking on her wash. More cars drew up at speed and more young men leapt…

In addition to preparing yourself for every eventuality you need to look at what is required on the boat to ensure the safety of your crew and to try to avoid emergency situations arising in the first place. If you have safety equipment, make sure your crew know where to find it, and also how it works. If you’re sailing on a boat you don’t know, ask your skipper to go through any unfamiliar equipment with you before setting off – finding out which is the hot end of the flare is better when you’re not having to learn in a panicked rush. Emergency Position Indicating Rescue Beacon (EPIRB) An essential item when ocean cruising, a satellite beacon is intended for your boat, rather than for personal use. It is…

If you have a news story to share, contact News Editor Theo Stocker EMAIL theo.stocker@timeinc.com TEL 01252 555164 A year after nine Coastguard stations were closed in a move to centralise and network the UK’s maritime safety organisation, confusion remains among sailors about how the system works. The transition to a new national network started in 2014 and was completed in December 2015. The national network comprises the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) and 10 other operations centres around the UK. The remaining operations centres are Fareham NMOC, Dover, Falmouth, Holyhead, Milford Haven, Belfast, Stornoway, Aberdeen, Shetland, Humber and London. These centres are all networked together, allowing resources to be shared and workload managed during busy periods and major incidents. Unsure who to call There have been concerns among the sailing…

Britain has proved itself to be the world’s best sailing nation at the 2016 Olympic Games. As the United Kingdom celebrated coming second in the Rio 2016 overall medal table, the country’s sailing squad topped the sailing medal table with two gold medals and one silver medal. Furthermore, none of the ten British crews finished outside the top ten for their respective classes in the Olympic regatta. Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark in the 470 women’s class, and Giles Scott in the Finn class, both took gold, while Nick Dempsey in the men’s RS:X windsurfing class won silver. Team GB has now topped the sailing medal table for four out of the last five Olympic Games. In other classes, Luke Patience and Chris Grube came fifth in the men’s 470,…

‘Some miracle of tidal flow will keep me off the bricks at the bottom of the ebb’ I’m writing this column anchored up the Tréguier River a mile or so below the marina. I’ve ridden out more than one gale here and it’s blowing now. Like many apparently easy options, however, it’s not quite as ideal as it appears. We’ve a big tide this week. At low water I can easily toss a McVitie’s ginger nut across to cheer up the mussels clinging to the rocks; at high water I’m riding in 15 metres with a scope of cable to match. Long experience has shown that some miracle of tidal flow will keep me off the bricks at the bottom of the ebb; the holding is so good I’ve no…

Bill Anderson is YM’s seamanship guru. He was RYA chief instructor from 1972 to 2000 and created the Yachtmaster scheme ‘They made a fast passage and arrived at high water’ Bob and Jane’s first visit to the Channel Islands had, so far, been easier than expected. The crossing from Poole to Alderney had been a fast passage in a moderate NW wind. Alderney to St Peter Port was trickier, with the wind slightly South of West they had been close hauled all the way and, with wind against tide, it had been rough going. The wind was lighter and from the East for the next few days, ideal weather for their bilge keeler to explore the drying anchorages on the West coast of Herm, before the ridge that had kept…

‘Any port in a storm?’ Jane probably doesn’t have a perfect answer but she probably does have the least bad one. As long as there is only chop and no swell in the harbour they shouldn’t bounce too much on the beach and once they are firmly aground they should be perfectly safe. Grounding the boat at the top of a falling spring tide, with a low barometer, will keep them safe but it might be a fortnight or even several months before they have a tide high enough to float her off again without a crane. The perfect answer would probably be to make haste slowly. Stooge around for half an hour or maybe an hour and then ground the boat. This should avoid the risk of being neaped,…

‘Practice. Go at night, in bad weather, alone, but go. It’s too late when you set off’ ■ Choose the right boat. Mine would be steel with a doghouse, a boarding ladder welded onto the transom, a bar running down the centreline for clipping on and a deep, self-draining cockpit (Annie’s drains are small and block quickly, once with a dead flying fish). It would have granny bars at the mast, where you need two hands to work, plenty of handholds on deck and below that you can actually grab (Annie’s were too close to the bulkhead), a deep bilge and a sump where water can collect and be pumped out. Having water sloshing around the sole soaking everything is no problem in the Solent but gets tedious on a…

Every skipper has his or her own interpretation of what is acceptable and safe. Many focus on what needs to be added to a yacht to keep her crew safe and sound. But it’s all too easy to forget about personal safety, especially if you regularly sail on a well-equipped yacht and find yourself onboard an unfamiliar yacht. Taking responsibility for your own safety is something all of us can do. Warm, dry clothing There’s a level of personal safety that I apply to both my crew and myself at all times and it’s doesn’t necessarily just involve carrying the latest bit of smart electronics in my pocket. Anyone who has spent a long night watch in foul weather and rough seas will know that the most important responsibility you…

If you overlook her high topsides and raised cockpit – with parapetlike coaming – Westerly’s 34ft Seahawk will reward you with a hardy cruiser and the interior volume of a 40ft yacht. The Seahawk, from the board of Ed Dubois, was first launched at the Southampton Boat Show in 1984 to fill the gap between the Fulmar and Corsair, and to replace the older Laurent Giles-designed Discus. The hull of this voluminous, centre-cockpit cruiser eventually became the basis for the aft-cockpit Falcon and Kestrel, the aft/centre-cockpit Oceandream and Oceanquest, and the Riviera pilothouse yacht. In 1988 a sugar scoop transom was added to create the Seahawk 35. Westerly Seahawk – Performance on test The owner Our test boat, First Dawn Treader, is owned by Stephen and Vanessa Jervis. Stephen (54)…

Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/yachtingmonthly Like us on Facebook facebook.com/yachtingmonthlymag The UK Met Office will no longer provide weather forecasts to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). From spring 2017, weather forecasts broadcast by the BBC on television, radio and the Internet will be provided by private weather firm MeteoGroup. The selection of MeteoGroup, a private equity owned weather company based in Holland, was made in August, although the end of the Met Office’s contract with the BBC was announced in August 2015. It is the first time since BBC weather broadcasts began in 1922 that the weather data will not be provided by the Met Office. Nigel Charters, project director for BBC Weather re-procurement, explained: ‘We’ve carried out a thorough, regulated procurement process to test all the organisations that applied…

‘We rounded a dirty sand dune called Cape Trafalgar’ The Rock loomed through a Levanterdriven haze, a brooding rampart behind which lay a cornucopia of Mediterranean promise. We wanted it astern, we were sick of the Atlantic, or more accurately, sick of the easterly winds which had dogged us ever since rounding Cape St. Vincent. The trouble was, we had been forced to motor Snatch, the Swan 48 we were delivering from the Solent to Gibraltar, ever since leaving Portugal’s West coast because the boat’s massive racing mainsail had only two reefing points and, devoid of a third, was being overpowered in strong headwinds. Since David Smith, co-owner, dropped his partner, Adrian Lower, a gynaecologist and rear-commodore of RORC, at Sagres, on the tip of Portugal to fly home for…

The shortest distance between two places may be a straight line, but that doesn’t mean it’s the safest, driest, or even the quickest. You need to assess the conditions by asking yourself questions. What is the wind direction? Where is the main tidal stream? Are there any shallow areas or counter-currents on the route? It’s a passage and, even though it’s a small one, it needs a bit of planning. When a moderate wind of about force 4 is blowing across a mile or two of open water, the occupants of a small tender, butting into the waves, are likely to be drenched by splashes over the bow. On a long-ish estuary passage, for comfort and safety it is wise to seek quieter conditions close to a weather shore, even…

John Neal has sailed over 342,000 miles, running offshore cruising courses on his Hallberg-Rassy 46 Mahina Tiare III ‘Given the right conditions anyone can become seasick’ When day sailing, seasickness goes away once land is reached or the anchor is down. However, for coastal or offshore passages longer than 24 hours, preventing or effectively treating seasickness matters as, untreated, it could result in incapacitation. Seasickness is caused by sensory conflict and/or stress, both of which result in histamine production. Nausea results when histamine reaches the brain. Some are more susceptible than others but given the right – or should that be the wrong – conditions anyone can be seasick. The responsibility for the safety of the vessel doesn’t go away if you’re seasick. A continual watch for hazards, other vessels,…

POTO PADDU By Dick Allan, published by SilverWood at £10.99 paperback, £4.99 Kindle. The author visited Poto Paddu, a cove on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia, during his post-retirement circumnavigation and chose it as the setting for this story of the husband-and-wife crews of three yachts cruising in company. One couple is attacked by pirates (one Welsh, one English, both villainous) and the husband is killed, while the wife, after suffering at the hands of the English pirate, manages to escape. With the aid of a local girl and her brother, the surviving woman plots extreme revenge. It’s a generally believable story and it’s easy to read, holding your attention right to the end. Recommended. TO ITHACA By J C Graeme, published by Taniwha Press at £6.75. The era of…

Practical advice for all sailors Tom Cunliffe has sailed tens of thousands of miles all over the world and has been a Yachtmaster Examiner since 1978 GOING FOR A BURTON It’s interesting to note how some traditional techniques of the sea have translated into modern yachting. I saw this remarkable array of blocks on the backstay of a French cruiser and it took me back to the topping lifts on a big gaffer I once sailed. The 4:1 tackle rigged on the fall of the lifts wasn’t really enough, so we doubled it up by attaching a single block to the fall well above deck level. We dead-ended a rope on deck, led it up through the new block and down again. Ten feet above deck level we spliced it…

I first crossed the Atlantic over 49 years ago, aged 18, as one of 16 crew onboard the 180ft motoryacht Camargo V. I felt awe and fear at the vastness and relentless power of the ocean and vowed never to go near it again. So when, in 2014, my wife Louise asked: ‘What do you want to do for your 65th birthday?’ I have no idea why I replied ‘I’m going to cross the Atlantic single-handed.’ I planned to buy a small yacht, sail the Atlantic, run her up a Caribbean beach and give the keys to the first local I met, provided they drove me to the nearest airport. My friend Ian Joseph, who comes from Grenada, suggested that I give her to the Grande Anse Sea Scouts in…

There’s always a good read hidden on a sailor’s shelves. Tell us your favourite. EMAIL theo.stocker@timeinc.com ‘We could hear her beat herself to pieces’ By this time, we had got round Iona and begun to come alongside Mull. The tide at the tail of the land ran very strong, and threw the brig about. Two hands were put to the helm, and Hoseason himself would sometimes lend a help; and it was strange to see three strong men throw their weight upon the tiller, and it struggle against and drive them back. This would have been the greater danger, had not the sea been for some while free of obstacles. Mr Riach announced from the top that he saw clear water ahead. ‘Ye were right,’ said Hoseason to Alan. ‘Ye…

When I first came to Milford Docks, close on 50 years ago, it had all the signs of a port going into decline and reaching the end of its useful life. It was still used as a fish dock with trawlers discharging their catch from the prolific fishing grounds offshore but corners of the dock were filled with boats that looked as though they would never go to sea again. Also, the oily waters of the dock did not encourage visiting yachts. Over the years I have used Milford as an occasional stopping-off place when on passage up the coast but the tidal restrictions of the lock entrance did not encourage use and the anchorage at Dale tended to be a more convenient option for a stop. Then the Haven…

Whatever sailing you do, you should always carry some safety equipment, but what you need and how much is a hot topic in club houses and web forums the world over. It’s made more interesting because, for private use leisure vessels of less than 13.7m (45ft) LOA, there are no statutory requirements for safety equipment other than those required under the very limited SOLAS V regulations. But it obviously makes sense to equip yourself, crew and boat with a level of safety equipment commensurate with the type of sailing you commonly do. In the next few pages we’ll aim to explain what kit we feel is really needed, what it does and how it can help, so that you can make an informed decision as to what to carry, depending…

Losing someone overboard is probably one of the most common incidents onboard a sailing yacht, but it’s also the one most people studiously ignore! When was the last time you practised your MOB drill? Do you even have one? Could your partner get you back on board when you’re wet through, or unconscious even? There are a hundred different ways of tackling an MOB situation, but the most important factor is planning. Devise a way that suits you and your regular crew and then practise it in a variety of weather conditions. We all know about throwing lines, Danbuoys and horseshoe buoys and lights, but are there better devices for marking an MOB? Firstly, bear in mind your own visibility. Forgetting smart electronics, a lifejacket with a high-viz hood will…

What’s she like to sail? Ed Dubois was renowned for designing fast boats, but the Seahawk was built for comfort, not speed. She has high topsides, a wide beam, a high cockpit sole and a heavy displ/LWL ratio – none of which does her performance any favours. These negatives are partially countered by a balanced spade rudder, short keel, shallower underwater sections and longer LWL than her predecessors, so that she doesn’t disgrace on a reach, with average speeds of 5.5-6 knots and a hull speed close to seven. She likes to be sailed quite free and baulks when pinched too tightly. Her favourite point of sail is around 55º off the apparent wind where she’ll tramp along happily at 6 knots in 15 knots of wind. Her generous displacement…

I’ve got to hand it to judel/vrolijk, they have shone with Dehler’s new 42. I love the fine details. For instance, the razor-sharp line of the coachroof windows forms a stilletto shape in the coaming beneath, and this shape is mirrored in the grabrails on the cockpit table. Whatever it is I’m all in favour of seeing more Dehler-esque boats out sailing on the water. Looking good is one thing, being good is something else. Dehler is part of the Hanse group, but offers a bit more quality in fit out and deck hardware than the Hanse brand, and they are also built for a bit more speed and power, while still being able to cruise comfortably. Performance With a maximum wind strength of less than 8 knots’ true struggling…

What’s she like to sail? With the apparent wind topping out at 10 knots I’ll never know how she would cope in a blow, but even a pontoon sails in 25 knots and the Dehler would be a lot quicker and more fun. However I found the helm to be light (no surprises there) but responsive too. On the wind she made almost 5 knots, which in 6 knots true, isn’t too bad. Also, thanks to her narrow sheeting angle, she was able to point quite high. We freed her off a little and the log shot up to almost 6 knots in less than 8.5 knots apparent, all very respectable, more so because the only other boats on the water on our test day were engine-assisted. There’s no seating…

OWN UP TO YOUR SAILING SINS WIN The confession of the month wins a floating Standard Horizon handheld VHF radio worth £140 PLUS an original Bill Caldwell cartoon STANDARD HORIZON POST Confessions, Yachting Monthly, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU EMAIL yachtingmonthly@timeinc.com Please send us your confessions in less than 200 words Three men being Scilly in a tender CONFESSION OF THE MONTH By Gary Revell My friend Dave, co-owner of our Maxi 1000, decided our summer cruise would be to the Isles of Scilly. We picked up a friend from Fowey en route and went on to have a great time exploring and navigating around the islands. Our next overnight stop was anchoring at Tresco, where we rowed ashore in the tender. It was a strong offshore…