Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2016 i Yachting World

www.twitter.com/yachtingworld www.facebook.com/www.twitter.com/yachtingworld yachtingworldmagazine When their yacht began taking in water and sinking in December, Steve and Teresa Arnold could not work out where the water was coming from. The yacht sank far out in the Atlantic around 12 hours later and to this day they cannot be certain why. Their story is on page 30. The experience highlights an important point about water ingress: that is that when water begins coming into a vessel rapidly the source, being underwater, is liable to be disguised. If you have not hit something – and the Arnolds feel sure they did not – a process of elimination may be the best you can do. Another point often missed is that it may not be long before the manoeuvrability of a yacht is affected…

Top yachts of 2015/16 Toby Hodges examines the cream of the crop of new yachts in the last year in more detail and gives us an insight into his favourites The yacht that Graham Greene built For a time the novelist Graham Greene was enchanted by sailing and even dreamed of cruising with his lover. Nic Compton looks at a classic yacht with a colourful history Skip Novak – keeping it simple A winter cruise in Tierra del Fuego in his 54ft Pelagic convinces Skip that smaller yachts with simpler systems have a lot to recommend them Ireland’s wild Atlantic coast Rocky, rugged and beautiful, Ireland’s west coast has charm to spare even in autumn. Daria Blackwell describes a last cruise of the season Cruising to Colombia The country is…

I hadn’t planned to go swimming in early January in a reservoir outside London, but our new RS400 feels so different from our previous boat that I’m having a struggle to get used to the sprightly handling and subtly different control line layout. Deep down we know that this shiny machine is quicker than the old one – we can feel it pick up onto the plane more readily, and it’s more nimble too. And having capsized it twice during the UK’s biggest pursuit race, Queen Mary Sailing Club’s Bloody Mary, I can also confirm that the underside and foils are immaculate and as slippery as a dolphin wearing suncream. 274 boats in mid-winter Fortunately we were not alone in taking a dunking. As several winter squalls swept across the…

Her elder brother, Ernesto, is famed for his America’s Cup victories, but Dona Bertarelli is now rivalling him when it comes to great endeavour in yachting – the Jules Verne Trophy attempt makes the 47-year-old the fastest woman round the world under sail The Bertarellis have sailed all their lives, initially cruising in the Mediterranean. Ernesto raced multihulls on Lake Geneva in the 1990s and Dona followed this same route by setting up the all-female Lady Cat campaign in late 2006 to compete on the Swiss D35 onedesign catamaran circuit. Three years later with Dona at the helm, the fuchsia-coloured Lady Cat won Switzerland’s top sailing event, the Bol d’Or Mirabaud, with a crew of seven including two men. Ernesto and Dona come from the Italian Bertarelli family, three generations…

• Communication is key. No ‘mushroom management‘. • Listen/watch, crew and boat. • Remain cheerful, or at least positive, even when woken during your watch below. • Above all, make sure all hands are running on the same ‘motivation fuel tank‘. If they all want the same thing, you are three-quarters of the way to a happy ship. • By all means communicate legitimate concerns, but never irrational anxieties. • Sit down before you start, agree ship’s articles and all sign them. Everyone must know their duties. If money is involved, details of this must also be inscribed, as well as a probable route with contingencies. Then, when things turn to the bad and aggro starts, you get out the articles and read them together. End of problem (given to…

Do keep the mainsail area to a minimum when sailing downwind in unpredictable weather. Do have a go at reefing downwind, even if conditions don’t call for it. At least you’ll find out how feasible it is, which could be really useful on the day when you’ve been backed into a corner and have to try it for real. Do reef early upwind. You’ll probably make better VMG and certainly reduce anxiety on board as the wind rises. Don’t trust a stumpy catamaran with high-volume bows. Far from piercing waves downwind it might just trip up if pushed too hard, so don’t push your luck – especially in heavy seas. If you’re in a bread-and-butter ‘floating castle’ sort of catamaran don’t expect miracles upwind. The seamanlike solution often involves applying…

Spreader and rig chafe – When sailing downwind the mainsail spends a lot of its time resting on the rig. On Skyelark we have a straight spreader rig, which is more forgiving than swept-back spreaders, but even so we still pad our spreaders with pipe insulation and have reinforcement patches for the spreaders at each reef point and on the batten pockets. The bottom of the headsail where it exits the foil, and foil segment joins – You may be able to lower the halyard enough to reach the damaged section then reinforce with sail repair tape, but If conditions don’t allow, then keep a wrap or two in the sail to take the pressure off the damage. Spreader ends, and anything mounted on the front of the mast can…

CHRIS TIBBS is a meteorology and weather router, as well as a professional sailor and navigator, forecasting for Olympic teams and the ARC rally Caribbean cruising is not complete without sundowners on a beach watching the sun slowly dip below the horizon. Invariably the conversation will turn to the ‘green flash’ and the group will be divided between those who swear they have seen it and the sceptics who believe it is more to do with the amount of rum that has been drunk. There is a scientific basis for the green flash: it is the refraction of light and may be observed at sunset as the upper limb of the sun disappears. It may also be seen at sunrise as the upper limb of the sun rises. At sunset…

Edinburgh marina Consent has been granted for a new 300-berth marina, with residential, retail and spa hotel development, just 2.5 miles from Edinburgh city centre. It is believed to be the first new marina next to a capital city in Europe for several decades. The Edinburgh Marina development will deliver new homes for over 4,000 residents, plus a community boatyard and improved facilities for the Royal Forth and Forth Corinthian yacht clubs. Growth continues for UK marine industry The UK leisure, superyacht and small commercial marine industry has grown for the fourth consecutive year. British Marine attributes the positive trend to the expanding domestic market and strong performances in the consumer sector, led by boating tourism, brokerage, insurance and financial services. US team to return to Volvo Ocean Race Key…

email yachting.world@timeinc.com Write to The Editor, Yachting World, The Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU Letters may be edited as appropriate www.twitter.com/yachtingworld www.facebook.com/www.twitter.com/yachtingworld yachtingworldmagazine Taking control I’ve just read your article ‘Women at the helm’ in February’s Yachting World and so agree with Elaine’s sentiments! I did my Day Skipper about 12 years ago and felt quite confident immediately following it that I could do most things that my husband (who’d grown up on boats) could do. I wanted to be able to be an equal partner when on board with my husband and two children (then three and six years old). However, over the years the boats have grown from a Fisher 30 to an Oyster 56 and I hadn’t really put much of it into…

What a pleasure to read in the December issue about the couple who sailed themselves halfway across an ocean after a complete rudder failure. No rescue was called out, this being my point. Granted, they had much support and advice via the cruising net, but as we all know the stories are legion of boats being towed in by overly stretched rescue resources, for all sorts of reasons, many of which were unnecessary. You can consider systems on board such as the rig with sails and of course the steering system as fundamental. Engine and propulsion system also, but debatable as secondary. Sailing back to a mooring or an anchorage, if not a jetty, should be doable, for safety’s sake. If you are unhappy about this, I suggest you should…

• Safety, safety, safety – make this a priority, not just on deck, but below: in the galley, moving in the interior, even in the heads. • Wear lifejackets at night. Always. • Respect the environment, particularly with a view to pollution. • Remember you can’t do everything so delegate/rely on crew wherever possible. • Carry out drills before departure, ensure all crew understand their roles during any scenario. At halfway, have a chat, table top drill or even a full drill in order to keep the crew refreshed. • Pay attention to detail. This applies to pretty much everything, from maintenance of systems to presentation of the yacht to monitoring the weather. • Communicate the plan to the crew: a daily briefing on weather (lunch time is ideal), route,…

Mariquita 1911 Jim Thom’s account is an extract from Mariquita 1911, a super-quality, limited edition book from www.yachtingheritage.com. Price €270 (£205) Mariquita is a 19-metre Fife built in 1911 to the International Rule and restored over two years in 2004 at Fairlie. At the time of her relaunch, she was the world’s largest racing gaff cutter and her skipper, Jim Thom, made a point of sailing her using only traditional techniques. Watching her crew handle over 6,000ft2 of upwind sail with a 71ft main boom on 96ft of deck was a revelation in teamwork. Here, in a short insight into a day on the racing circuit, Jim, his mate Lucy and their crew of heroes show us what great seamanship is really about. Very properly, the words are Thom’s. Sailing…

• Adjust your isochrones to suit the passage; 0.5 or 1 hr might be suitable for a short or inshore race, but when crossing the Atlantic six to 12, or even 24 hours, will suffice. • Always display the isochrones while the computer is building the route – watching them build and paying attention to areas where they are close together or spread apart will help you to understand where the critical areas on the course will be. • Download a synoptic chart before starting your routeing and sketch out with a pencil where you feel you should go – if the computer-generated forecast is wildly different, try to understand why. • If your routeing software does not have an option for motoring in light winds, make yourself a set…

Our eight-part Catamaran Sailing Skills series by Nigel Irens, in partnership with Pantaenius, is essential reading for anyone considering a catamaran after being more familiar with handling a monohull. Each part is accompanied by a free video which you can find on our website www.yachtingworld.com 1 From mono to multi October 2015 2 Handling under power November 2015 3 Anchoring/picking up a mooring December 2015 4 Cruising upwind under sail January 2016 5 Cruising downwind under sail February 2016 6 Coping with heavy weather March 2016 7 Safety and man overboard April 2016 8 The future of multihull cruising May 2016 This series follows on from three previous successful multimedia series we have done in partnership with marine insurance company Pantaenius: the Sail Faster, Sail Safer series with solo sailor…

RAMBLER 88 RESULTS 2015 Will I bring Rambler 88 back next year? It’s too soon to be sure, but it’s certainly a possibilty.” The words of owner George David moments after crossing the finish line in 3rd position in the 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race – and four minutes behind Syd Fischer’s 100ft Ragamuffin 100 – say as much about the nature and further potential of his yacht as they do about the draw of this classic ocean race. Many have queried David’s choice of an 88-footer since her launch in December 2014 – too large for a Mini Maxi, too small to beat line honours 100-footers – but 12 months of impressive results seem to vindicate his choice. Indeed, it was largely only the fickle nature of the…

Although we get light wind near the centre of a high, there will be strong winds at the periphery. As high pressure tends to be slow-moving the wind speeds and direction will remain steady sometimes for days. As the vertical movement of the air is restricted by a temperature inversion we can get strong bands of wind being funnelled near coasts. A good example of this is in the English Channel with an east-north-easterly wind where we get stronger wind bands than isobar spacing would suggest, particularly around headlands at night. These are sometimes referred to as coastal jets and can give a large increase in wind. Further afield in the Canary Islands (left), you get strong acceleration zones around the islands that can increase the wind speed significantly in…

Comments on Elaine Bunting’s blog on yachtingwold.com on the debate about whether or not to carry a gun on board while cruising reflected differing views: I once lived in Yemen for four years, including during the Gulf War, in which Yemen was pushed onto the side of Iraq. As a friend was to leave the country, he gave me his pistol and I started pondering whether I should keep it, and for what. My conclusion was that, if you face another person with a gun, you have to shoot first in order to survive. But if you do not have the psychology of a killer you will always be at a disadvantage, since the person you are facing is likely to. So not carrying a gun is most probably advantageous.…

Jim Thom has been skipper of a Robert Clarke sail training yacht, a Baltic trader, a Clipper Round the World Race yacht and for four years was captain of the Fife design Kentra. From 2003-2012 he was captain of the 125ft Fife 19 Metre Mariquita with his wife, Lucy, as mate. 1 It’s becoming progressively easier to access sophisticated weather information. A good skipper will prepare the yacht for the actual weather, not the forecast he/she’d like. 2 Monitor the yacht’s position and the conditions, high and low-tech, from radar/chart plotter to barometer. Even though electronics are increasingly failsafe, a good skipper keeps a record on paper, in the log and on a chart – even the most advanced yachts can be struck by lightning, or lose power. A good…

FACTS Where we tested: Plymouth. Wind: 15-25 knots true. 3m+ waves at sea, flat water in the sound and River Tamar. Model: as standard a version as this semi-custom boat gets, plus 3di sails. Three-cabin layout. Is this the catamaran equivalent of a monohull cruiser-racer like those from J-Boats or X-Yachts? The Dazcat 1495 differs from other modern fast cats in that, as well as being a comfortable platform for cruising, she offers genuine offshore racing potential. The second Dazcat 1495, Apollo, is in build for seasoned IRC racer Nigel Passmore, a past J-Boat and TP52 owner, a telling indication of the current interest in offshore sailing in greater comfort. And just as with cruiser-racer monohulls, Dazcat owners choose how Spartan or comfortable to make their cats, depending on which…

Every discerning sailor will carry out some sort of weather routeing before going out on the water. The extent to which we are able to predict weather patterns and assess our own boat’s performance relative to it is getting better and better as computing power develops. This is an involved and intricate science, but it is being made more readily accessible to all sailors. The variables involved in accurate routeing are many and it is easy to get sucked into an information overload when you start investigating what today’s computer-driven weather routeing can do. If you choose the right product for your needs, however, these are powerful aids that are essential to help you plan a safe, quick and comfortable passage. I picked five popular weather routeing options available today…

One name stands out when you think of multihull design: the British designer Nigel Irens. His career began when he studied Boatyard Management at what is now Solent University before opening a sailing school in Bristol and later moving to a multihull yard. He and a friend, Mark Pridie, won their class in the 1978 Round Britain race in a salvaged Dick Newick-designed 31-footer. Later, in 1985, he won the Round Britain Race with Tony Bullimore, with whom he was jointly awarded Yachtsman of the Year. His first major design success came in 1984 when his 80ft LOA catamaran Formule Tag set a new 24-hour run, clocking 518 miles. During the 1990s it was his designs that were dominant on the racecourse: Mike Birch’s Fujicolour, Philippe Poupon’s Fleury Michon VIII,…

STEP BY STEP 1. The clew must be allowed to fly out in front of the boat. 2. Do not attempt to pull the clew round if the sail is inside out. 3. Tack batten prodders help stop the lazy sheet from falling under the pole. 4. The crew is best placed to call the gybe as they can feel the pressure in the spinnaker sheets. Outside gybing is not purely reserved for boats with extra-short poles or top notch race crews. If you practise, it can be less risky than pulling the clew inside the luff and is a great alternative for crews with less muscle power. The key to success is to ensure the spinnaker flies out freely, like a flag, so the clew passes directly in front…

KEN READ (54) has twice won the Rolex US Yachtsman of the Year and has nine world championship titles to his name. He is currently skipper of Comanche, which took line honours in the Sydney Hobart Race. Read was in three America’s Cups, twice as skipper of Dennis Conner’s Stars and Stripes, and he twice skippered PUMA Ocean Racing in the Volvo Ocean Race KEN READ, president of the North Sails Group and skipper of Comanche, holder of the maxi-monohull 24-hour speed record (618.01nm), explains what’s happening in the featured image, offers tips and advice on the best way to deal safely with a wayward spinnaker, and suggests how to avoid the situation in the first place. This is a highly precarious position, and one that you should never find…