Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2016 i Yachting World

A crewmember in the Clipper Round the World Race died and was buried at sea after being swept overboard in the Pacific during a leg that served up bruising conditions for the whole fleet. Sarah Young, 40, one of the crew of the yacht IchorCoal, fell from the cockpit on 1 April. Clipper Ventures reported that Young was wearing an AIS man overboard device, but was not clipped on. It took nearly 45 minutes to recover her, by which time she was unconscious. Attempts at resuscitation failed. This leg of the race takes crew 5,700 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Qingdao, China, to Seattle, USA and IchorCoal had over 3,242 miles left to go to its destination. Young’s death marks the second Clipper fatality in the 20-year history of…

I have always thought that voyaging under sail is more gratifying when it has an underlying purpose. Floating about somewhat ad hoc across oceans from one paradise to the next has never been my cup of tea, although this is classic cruising as we know it. I realise that cruising as a means to kick back and relax has its place in the world, especially if you need a clean break from a full-on hectic working life. The desire to ‘cast off’ is even more understandable for people who have been lifelong weekend sailors wishing one day to ‘live it’. I must admit to having overdosed on a life at sea. Although I love being on the ocean, my preoccupations now are always for making that landfall; at first to…

We can only speculate on the size of the wave that hit Zest. All we can say for certain is that it was clearly a one-off breaking wave that was very significantly larger and of a very different character from the surrounding seas. Nevertheless, the science of wave predication can help to ascertain a possible maximum limit on how large it might have been. Along with many other sailors, my long-standing belief had been that the maximum wave size that you had any chance of experiencing was twice the significant wave height – ie double the average height of the largest 30 per cent of waves. In our case that would have been around 7m. As recently as the mid-1990s the scientific community was dubious of the very existence of…

Vismara Marine has always been an exciting, fresh and different company. Its yachts are fast, light and inspirational designs. To look at the history of this Italian custom yacht specialist is to track the timeline of the modern cruiser-racer. And looking at its models today offers insight into where yacht design is headed. Here is a firm that is consistently ahead of its time. Over the past three decades Vismara Marine has launched over 130 custom yachts from its Viareggio yard, many of which are now regarded as iconic designs. Names such as Pistrice, Alligator and Kiribilli resonate because of the way they combine style and function, able to win on the racecourse despite carrying a cruising interior. News that Vismara is expanding with the launch of its first series-produced…

We left Dead Point at 0800 in a flat calm and entered Beware Passage – inauspicious names for cruising in dense fog, but we had used this rock-ridden channel before and wanted to make the most of our eldest son Duncan and his wife Larissa’s short visit. Suddenly my husband, Andy, called out “Bears!” Turning the boat took an agonising amount of time in the narrow channel and swift current, but then we followed in hot pursuit. Duncan peered through binoculars on the foredeck. Finally he pointed jubilantly at two bears ahead, camouflaged by the sand-rock foreshore haze. It was a mum and cub, and they were grizzlies. What luck! We did not expect to find grizzlies in this region and my camera hand shook in anticipation. It was a…

Virtual reality (VR), a term once reserved for science fiction movies, is now a commonplace reality for techies, film buffs and video gamers. VR uses computers to create a simulated 3D immersive world that you can manipulate. When immersed in it, you become unaware of your real surroundings. Like it or abhor the very concept of it, VR is becoming a technology that is increasingly hard to ignore – the technology giant Samsung is already issuing free VR headsets with its new S7 mobile phone, for instance. But is this simply the next gaming fad, or is there potential for it to benefit our sport? The America’s Cup teams at the élite end of racing have employed VR for shoreside training since the 2013 Cup. However, with the launch of…

THIS MONTH LEMSTERAAK • SPECIAL REPORT: SAFE TO CRUISE? • SHORT-HANDED: UPWIND • WEATHER: COLD FRONTS If Wally were to make leeboarders, they would quite likely resemble this modern version of the traditional Dutch Lemsteraak. Toby Hodges can’t get enough of the 51ft Warber and its F1-style treatment Name any traditional racing class and there will always be one owner who tries to move the game on. In the world of Lemsteraak racing on the Netherlands’ inland waterways that owner is Dirk Blom. He has created an exotic take on a very old design in the 51ft Warber. Warber is a captivating blend of old and new design. Lemsteraaks were originally built in wood for fishing in the late 19th Century hence their low freeboard aft to make hauling nets…

Vincent Riou’s IMOCA 60 PRB makes a ball of spray as she thunders along on a reach during a training session and photoshoot off the coast of Brittany this spring. Riou, winner of the 2004/05 Vendée Globe, is a leading contender for the race as it sets off again in November. His boat is a VPLP/Verdier design from 2010 and does not have the V-foils that are a feature of the latest generation. “We haven’t found any reasons to fit PRB with foils as they don’t improve our winning potential,” he says. She is a so-called ‘classic configuration’ that he thinks is no disadvantage round the world and for May’s predominantly upwind The Transat bakerly race from Plymouth to New York.…

The venerable Sea King helicopter, a workhorse of search and rescue (SAR) at sea for 38 years, made its final flight in service in March, marking the end of the long involvement of UK military services in civilian rescue at sea dating back 70 years. Flying from HMS Gannet, near Prestwick in Scotland, the Royal Navy helicopters made a flight over Edinburgh to mark the end of their service. The contract for maritime SAR is now taken over by a private contractor, Bristow Helicopters, which will operate two types of faster, more modern aircraft. The Westland Sea King, which was to become emblematic of air rescue, was built in Britain as a licensed version of the American Sikorsky S-61, and operated by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Nicknamed…

Few yacht designers were as influential as Ed Dubois, who died in March at the age of 63. He trailblazed a path from racing boats to superyachts and was one of the catalysts of growth in the superyacht industry over four decades. Fittingly, his breakthrough big race boat was called Vanguard, commissioned by Hong Kong sailor David Lieu for the 1977 Admiral’s Cup. Dubois drew his first sailing superyacht a few years later. The early 1980s brought a confluence of factors that allowed the big sailing yachts we now take for granted to take off. Back then, an 80ft IOR maxi was a big boat. Cruising alternatives of similar sizes were heavy and boxy if the accommodation ranged above one level or featured mine-like dark interiors. One by one, the…

Pistrice – a V40 launched in 1992. Designed for IMS racing – “the first real proof that you can win races like the Sardinia Cup with a cruising boat, and that you could sail like a racer,” declares Vismara. She won the IMS Italian Championships and Champagne Mumm Cup in 1993. Kirribilli – the green and gold flush-decked 60ft design was developed with Renzo Piano as a fast cruiser with mini-maxi characteristics. Launched in 2001. Dragon 2 – ‘Gold Dragon’ – “Totally Vismara, with a minimalistic very current design,” comments Vismara. Striking features include her wraparound coachroof windows, gold and red styling and a central engine under the saloon table. Luce Guida – a state-of-the-art V80 designed by Luca Dini. Built for the Princess of Kuwait, this has one of…

Golden Lily is an autobiography telling the story of Lijia Xu, ‘Lily’ to the western world. A citizen of the People’s Republic of China, Lily was born in Shanghai in 1987 and was taken from her parents at ten years old to become a full-time sailor in the Chinese ‘sports machine’. Golden Lily gives the reader an in-depth look into the gruelling life of a state-sponsored child athlete, a shocking world of relentless training and unquestioning compliance. Having fought illness and injuries, she raced in the Laser Radial class at the 2012 Weymouth Olympics. The extract below is her description of the final Medal Race. It’s interesting to note that her Chinese coach and the director of the Chinese Yachting Association are referred to simply by letters of the International…

Smaller yachts had a chance to shine at this year’s Antigua Classics where unseasonably light breezes cooled the racing, but did little to dampen the spirit of a regatta that is more about the yachts themselves than the competition. Not that there’s anything small about the 178ft Adix (foreground) a stalwart on the classic circuit. Crossing her is Columbia, the 141ft replica of a Starling Burgess-designed fishing schooner from 1923, which was an impressive debutante at the regatta this year. The standout performer in the Vintage class, this year’s Classics winner and recipient of the Panerai watch, however, was Cameron Fraser’s 46ft Kettenburg Pacific Cruiser Janley.…

French sailor Francis Joyon says he will be setting out again this year in another attempt to break the non-stop round the world record for the Jules Verne Trophy. Joyon and his crew raced round the world late last year in the 105ft IDEC Sport (formerly record holder Groupama 3), finishing in early January, but failing to break the record, as did Yann Guichard and his crew on the larger trimaran Spindrift 2. Joyon still believes that the record is possible with the right weather breaks and is preparing to set off again between October and January. The record, which was set in 2012 by Banque Populaire V (now Spindrift 2) stands at 45d 13h, a very hard time to better, and Joyon has been pondering on how to increase…

St Barths confirmed its reputation as one of the world’s most in-demand racing venues with an impressive entry list for April’s Les Voiles de St Barth regatta. Competitors included Volvo Ocean Race runners-up Team Brunel, the newest Wally Cento, Galateia, MOD70 Phaedo3, and Jim Clark’s record-breaking maxi, Comanche. Unseasonably light conditions in the French West Indies meant one of the four scheduled days of racing was lost owing to a lack of wind, following the layday party on Nikki Beach. Usually dominant teams such as Comanche and Phaedo were unable to continue their customary run of high-speed victories, with only three tactically challenging races held for most classes. Overall victory went to the Judel-Vrolijk Maxi 72, Proteus, owned by George Sakellaris, who earned a Richard Mille RM 60-01 Regatta Voiles…

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 Who needs rallies? As a subscriber I have seen a succession of articles focusing on ARC, World ARC, ARC+ and similar ocean rallies. There is a pretty standard format of introducing the crew, boat and equipment and these are informative and interesting on the whole. My concern however is the other side of the coin. For those sailors who are nurturing the dream of ocean passages, it would be reasonable after reading these articles to assume that you have to blow a significant six-figure sum on the minimum of a 45ft boat and nearly the same again on freezers, electronics, generators, watermakers, etc. Moreover, in my…

You know when you’ve been hit by a rogue wave. The energy within it is of a different order of magnitude from an inconvenient, but ultimately harmless, wave crest that topples into the cockpit. The first such wave I encountered was more than 20 years ago in the Southern Ocean while being pummelled by a secondary low that produced gusts above 60 knots. Those on deck were swept to the limit of their harnesses. Water streamed through the closed washboards as though blasted from a fire hose. Fortunately we sustained no serious damage and were able to continue to Cape Horn. The second rogue wave was much closer to home – 130 miles west-north-west of La Coruña in north-west Spain – and immediately put paid to any plans other than…

Guirec Soudée met Monique during a stopover in the Canary Islands when she joined him on what had been up to then a solo transatlantic voyage. The 24-year-old Breton was sailing his steel yacht, Yvinec, on the first stage of what he hoped would become a circumnavigation. But not a tour via the tradewind routes – he was looking for adventure and planned to spend a winter in the Arctic in total isolation. The pair soon became inseparable, although the skipper had originally planned to eat her if she became a nuisance. For Monique is a red hen, given to Guirec as a present. Now he says he couldn’t bear to part with her and she has become somewhat of a celebrity with 29,000 followers on Facebook after Guirec started…

This is Vismara’s ‘prêt-à-porter’ concept, a yacht that can be chosen off the shelf. Vismara even provides the option of doing so online by making a simple choice of colours, aesthetics, layout and specification. It uses the company’s rich custom yacht building experience to offer a refined product with multiple variations. The four-step ordering process makes it as easy to pick and mix to suit style as it is to buy clothes online – and, crucially, for a guaranteed fixed sailaway price. “PRÊT-A-PORTER, A CUSTOM YACHT THAT CAN BE CHOSEN OFF THE SHELF” 1 A long gangplank folds neatly into the aft deck. It is a clever, ergonomic design that takes a lot of the fuss out of mooring stern-to. 2 Tall bulwarks offer a good sense of security aft…

Dimensions LOA 20.12m/66ft 0in LWL 17.29/56ft 9in Beam 5.50m/18ft 0in Draught 2.01m/6ft 7in Disp 37,750kg/83,224lb Sail area 177m2/1,910ft2 Kraken Yachts Kraken is a new brand designed in New Zealand and built in China, founded by two experienced British businessmen and sailors in Hong Kong. They are marketing a particularly competitively priced range of bluewater cruisers. The first three models, drawn by Dibley Marine, are a 50, 58 and 66, which will be built at Hansheng in Xiamen, a yard that builds for many other brands, including Passport Yachts. The first Kraken is the flagship, a 66 called White Dragon for chairman Dick Beaumont, and is nearing completion. Beaumont decided to concentrate his 100,000 sea miles of experience, earned cruising the world aboard his previous 58-footer, Moonshadow, over eight years, into…

“AUSTRALIA II ON HER WAY TO WINNING THE CUP” This classic shot of an unfolding moment in America’s Cup history was taken by US photographer J. H. Peterson in 1983 and shows Australia II on her way to winning the Cup. On that autumn afternoon, 22 September, the light took on almost sepia tones, which Peterson captured perfectly. He was aboard one of the first flagged photo boats following the 12-metres Australia II and Liberty. It was the sixth race of the 25th Cup and this was the last windward leg, with defender and challenger going to a tie at three races each. It was on the subsequent race that Alan Bond’s Australia II, designed by Ben Lexcen and skippered by John Bertrand – and sporting her revolutionary winged keel…