Innholdsfortegnelse for Jun-2018 i Yachting World

Final negotiations are under way between the IMOCA class and the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) to adopt the IMOCA 60 as the design for the next fully crewed round the world race. An announcement is expected to be made before the end of the VOR in June. Proposals for the race to adopt the IMOCA 60 rule (formerly Open 60), used in the major solo and short-handed ocean races such as the Vendée Globe and Route du Rhum, have been discussed for several years. The IMOCA box rule, which has incorporated developments such as wingmasts, canting keels and now foils, is the most successful and enduring rule in ocean racing, and has led to a vigorous second-hand market for these one-off designs. An agreement could make it possible for teams…

Anglo-Swiss chemicals and manufacturing company Ineos will fully fund Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup team in what is the biggest – and fastest – sponsorship investment in British sailing. The £110m deal, aimed at winning back the Cup for the first time in 167 years, was signed a mere four weeks after Ineos founder, chairman and majority shareholder, Jim Ratcliffe, met Ainslie in a pub and chatted over a beer. The company will back Ainslie’s BAR team through to the America’s Cup in New Zealand in 2021, replacing Jaguar Land Rover. The scale of the deal means Ainslie will not have to find other backers. It will allow his team to build and test two boats for the new AC75 rule (see page 18) and, crucially, allow Ainslie to focus on…

What is it like to sail in hurricane force winds in the middle of an ocean? Most sailors may hope they never find out, but there was little choice for the crews of the current Clipper Race when they met an intense low pressure in mid-April while racing across the North Pacific from Qingdao to Seattle, bringing 70-80 knot winds and 14m waves – and they seemed to relish it. “Let me paint a picture,” said Dare To Lead’s skipper, Dale Smyth. “Outside it’s blowing a solid 50 knots and gusting 70–75 in the hail squalls. The temperature is sub-zero. The sea state is massive and regularly breaking. We just hit a top speed of… wait for it… 32.8 knots! This is where you tread lightly and feel like a…

You’ve got the plan, you’ve got the boat, you’ve got the time window – you’re set to hit the ocean. Almost. How much thought have you put into your spares and tools inventory? And have you considered how you might maintain and repair all the key equipment? Shipping the right spares and considering how you’d affect makeshift repairs at sea before they happen can make the difference between a trouble-free crossing and being forced to seek assistance or make unplanned diversions. Thankfully we can learn from the experience of skippers who have already completed ocean passages. During the 2016 ARC crossing, 60 per cent of the 290-strong fleet reported a breakage of some sort. So, after last year’s ARC, we quizzed the 254 skippers specifically about which spares they carried…

The Sunbeam day racer is perhaps the prettiest of all the designs produced in the 1920s and 1930s by Westmacott for building originally at Woodnutts on the Isle of Wight. I have always admired these sweet-sailing craft when passing their moorings in Itchenor Reach in Chichester Harbour, but it was on a recent visit to Cornwall that my eye was caught by a supreme example in the shed at Mylor Yacht Harbour. It turns out that three new ones have been built there by their own in-house craftsmen in recent years. The office kindly lent me the beautiful book about the class, The Brilliance of Sunbeams by Peter Nicholson (available via info@solentsunbeam.co.uk). Browsing its pages I was surprised to come across an unusual cruising yarn and its sequel concerning the…

Powered Reeler £3,800 What is it? Automatic tidying of rope tails at the push of a button. Who is it for? Superyachts and perfomance cruising yachts Today’s cruising yachts are significantly larger than their forebears, and are more powerful for a given size, yet all too often any provision for stowage of rope tails is an afterthought. As a result, it can often feel as though an eternity of time is spent tidying lines, or flaking them ahead of a manoeuvre. What if there were an easier way to tidy lines automatically in a way that would leave them instantly ready for the next manoeuvre? That’s already been happening in the top end of the racing scene, which has revolutionised manoeuvres thanks to near automatic tidying and retrieval of rope…

ANDY RICE talks to ALEXIS LOISON, whose double-handed victories include the overall Rolex Fastnet Race prize The popularity of double-handed sailing is on the rise. This year Cowes Week is running a doublehanded category for the first time, with inshore round the cans racing for two-person crews. So why is two-up catching on in such a big way? According to Alexis Loison, it’s partly because the logistics are much easier to organise with just two of you, rather than having to pull together a full crew of seven or more people all with different levels of commitment. Also, autopilot developments have made it much easier to handle a boat shorthanded. But for Loison the main attraction is that there’s always something to do – no sitting on the rail for…

After being dismasted 100 miles south of the Falkland Islands on 30 March while racing from Auckland to Itajaí, Volvo Ocean Race entry Vestas 11th Hour Racing had a race against time to first reach landfall, and then get to the Brazilian port in time for the start of the next leg. In what was a world away from the tightly controlled, uniform procedures of the VOR’s maintenance department, Vestas 11th Hour Racing was jury rigged at Port Stanley with little support. Scrapheap challenge Nick Dana, boat captain and race crew on Vestas, took charge of the project, and explained: “None of the parts from the original rig could really be used. We still had some blocks left over, the base of the rig and the runners, but basically we…

Far East Yachts, the world’s largest builder of Optimist dinghies, has announced it will supply the first 1,000 of a new dinghy design for disabled sailors. The S\V14 dinghies will be sold at subsidised base price of US$3,000 and this marks the realisation of founder Peter Jacobs’ ambition to bring a low cost alternative to the disabled sailing community. Jacobs, a marine surveyor, posted a message on Facebook in October 2015 asking if any designer would be willing to help him create a boat specifically for disabled people and make it freely available to all. Simonis Voogd responded with a clever design that is not only incredibly stiff and stable, but is easy and cheap for DIY build projects too. The S\V14 concept was inspired by the Mirror dinghy and…

Recycling for old boats? Photos of the carnage after hurricanes Irma and Maria last year raise questions about what happens to glassfibre boats when they ‘die’? The glassfibre and carbon-Kevlar used in construction of most modern boats provide very stiff, strong and resilient hulls that do not break down readily. An obvious example of the resilience of modern boat construction comes from the finding of the wreck of Alex Thompson’s Hugo Boss in Chile after nine years adrift in the oceans. There appears to be an ever growing demand for new yachts, and indeed superyachts, driven by the constant need to improve speed and safety as well as accommodating all needs of cruising and recreational uses. It's great to see such a thriving international boatbuilding industry. However, boats fall into…

1 “If you think it needs doing, do it before you leave your home port.” Emily Morgan 2 “Start preparing early – it’s hard to receive parts once you have started cruising.” Umoya of London 3 “Make sure you have taken everything apart, so you know what it looks like inside.” Kapalai 4 “We have a lot of spares that we wouldn’t have the confidence to replace.” Amuse 5 “If you think you may need it, get it! The ability to dive under the boat to carry out work is also important.”Khaleesi 6 “Start early and think through all eventualities seeking to build resilience into the system either through reducing probability of failure (maintenance/workmanship/practice) or by having back-ups in place – through spares, alternative equipment or alternative procedures.” Barracuda of…

Susie Goodall had been sailing single-handed for less than a week when she experienced her first hallucination. “After crossing Biscay, I came down the coast of Portugal and had a solid Force 6 gusting 8. I didn’t sleep for two days because the lines on the self-steering had snapped and I had to hand steer, so I was utterly exhausted. “I was approaching Lisbon at about midnight when this man appeared in front of me, and another sat next to me and took the helm. They were both wearing red coats. One had brown hair and the other blond hair. I didn’t recognise either of them, but they looked Danish, or Scandinavian. The one at the helm said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s OK, we’re here.’ “It must have only been ten…

‘WINDS NEVER DIPPED BELOW THE HIGH TEENS. EVERYONE WAS PUSHING HARD’ Landing at the tiny airstrip in St Barth’s Gustaf III airport is something you never forget. At just over 2,000ft the single runway is short and requires accurate flying, approaching through a gap in the hills. It’s so challenging to land at that pilots require special training to get the appropriate licence. So for newcomers and regulars alike, arriving in this small French Caribbean island the landing is always one of the most talked about subjects. But not this year. This year was different. The talk at the annual Les Voiles de Saint Barth regatta was less about arriving and more about recovery following the unprecedented damage that had been sustained after Hurricane Irma swept through the region last…

Imagine putting a cruising couple from the late 1990s into a time capsule and fast-forwarding them to the present. Then tell them about the Hanse 548 – a stylish, modern cruiser that offers exceptional value for money, sails effortlessly at 10 knots, fits in up to four double cabins and is easily managed by a crew of two. Would these people believe you? Back in their day, a 40-footer was usually considered the biggest boat a husband-and-wife crew could expect to handle safely and efficiently. And even if they could cope in open water, what about manoeuvring and berthing? Now let’s invite them to join us on our test sail on the Hanse. Just getting aboard will elicit comment because, for some people, the gunwale will be at shoulder height…

Online crewing websites bridge the gap between yacht owners and crew, opening up opportunities for both, from Sunday club racing to circumnavigations. We take a look at the pros and cons of using crew finder services. Every November, hopeful crew gather in Las Palmas in the lead up to the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). In the search for a berth across the Atlantic, some will pay in excess of £4,000 well in advance, others pay their share of the running costs, while some hang around the marina until they find a boat willing to take them for free. Emerging from the ARC skipper’s briefing a couple of years ago, participants came face to face with a man holding a cardboard sign begging them for a ride. Some averted their…

‘A HUGE KETCH DISGUISED WITH PERFECT PROPORTIONS THAT FOOL THE EYE’ MIKE GOLDING NOMINATES SUPERYACHT HEITAROS I first saw Heitaros sailing in St Barth and thought it was a beautiful 60- or 80-footer but, as we neared, a crew looking as small as ants could be seen moving around the deck. This huge 60m (218ft) superyacht ketch is heavily disguised with perfect proportions that completely fool the eye. Conceived by Dykstra Naval Architects, built at Baltic Yachts in Finland and launched in 2011, she’s a Panamax yacht, designed to fit the maximum air draught to get under the Bridge of the Americas on the Panama Canal. Heitaros is a wonderful fusion of traditional looks and state of the art hull design and construction. Superyachts are seldom cool, in my view,…

A breaching maxi Rambler 88 launches above the Caribbean waters off St Barth, the water cascading off the bow in this spectacular shot captured by photographer Christophe Jouany. The foredeck crew are momentarily elevated and fighting gravity as they manhandle the huge Code 0 forward to plug the furling sail in for the next leg. George David’s silver line-honours machine, the largest competitor at Les Voiles de St Barth in March, was first home each day and won the new Richard Mille Record Trophy for the fastest boat around a 48-mile course. See our full report on page 46. Classic action Two of the largest yachts at this year’s Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta in April battle majestically against each other. These are two staysail ketch sisterships, the 157ft/48m Chronos and…

A Polish skipper and crew completed a 15,800-mile circumnavigation of Antarctica in April, sailing an Oyster 72. Mariusz Koper and eight crew closed the loop of the continent after leaving Cape Town and sailing in the deep Southern Ocean, below 62°S/ The crew finished in Hobart after 102 days at sea. Their route round the Antarctic took 72 days. The expedition in Katharsis II inevitably took them through some very harsh conditions, most memorably a storm in the Davis Sea when, for the only time on the voyage, they turned north to escape the worst of the weather, before returning to continue their route. Tough conditions followed to the end and in the week before arrival in Hobart the crew had a broken boom and badly damaged mainsail following a…

The most radical yacht to join the Fast 40+ class is the brand new Rán, designed by Shaun Carkeek for Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom. Zennstrom’s Rán team was a big player on the TP52 circuit, but last year the tech innovator commissioned a brand new all-carbon Fast 40+ built by Jason Carrington. The new Rán has aggressively curved chines and cambered topsides for improved aerodynamics, and ‘hiking benches’ on the side decks. There are no jib cars, and halyard locks are used to reduce the number of jammers and winches needed – all adding to her Gotham City-style stealth look. We’ll be taking a closer look at her later as the Fast 40+ season kicks off on the Solent. Barcelona cancels World Race Organisers of the two-handed Barcelona World Race…

The class rules for the new America’s Cup foiling 75ft monohull were published at the end of March. Emirates Team New Zealand surprised the sailing world back in November last year with rendered images of their radical new concept for the 36th America’s Cup boat, and now the Italian challenger of record, Luna Rossa, has provided the paperwork to back it up. The basic concept is a monohull the size of a Maxi 72, but with no keel. Instead, a canting T-foil set to leeward generates the necessary righting moment to keep the boat upright, while lifting it clear of the water too. Here, one of the major design issues will be achieving sufficient stability before the boat develops enough speed for the foils to work. While the new class…

We asked you if you’d ever seen a green flash as the sun set in the tropics? Here are some of your replies: Yes indeed, the green flash does exist, even though there are many misreports because the eyes can deceive. The sky has to be absolutely and utterly clear of any and all cloud. The horizon must totally sharp. The limiting latitudes are tropical. It is very distinct and unmissable when it does happen, but if any conditions deviate from absolutely perfect it will not happen. Paul Weychan My husband and I have cruised around the world for over seven years and we have never seen one. We are always looking for a green flash on the horizon, but to no avail. Desanka Ilich In 39 years as commercial…

Stephan Mühlhause on the dismasting of their very well-prepared Hallberg-Rassy 46 Lykke, 250 miles east of Barbados: “It was a normal night with 16 knots of wind and about 2m waves when we lost the mast. We are so glad that our emergency management worked. We acted like machines and we were lucky to have a battery flex [grinder] on board with stainless steel cutting discs. We could free the rig from the deck within 15 minutes without scratching the hull. The falling mast cut everything on its way down and the hydraulic oil splashed all over the deck. “We waited until the morning came to make sure that nothing overlapped in the water. After that we started the engine. We were lucky that the wind calmed down and we…

Contest 85CS Contest Yachts is in the later stages of building the first of its new flagship model, the Contest 85CS, which is scheduled for launch in July/August. This semi-custom design is the largest so far from this longstanding Dutch builder and follows two significant recent launches for the yard – the 67CS and 72CS. While the 85 is the company’s first boat above the psychologically important 80ft mark, the 85CS’s pedigree couldn’t be better. As with the 67CS, the structure of the 85 is built of vacuum infusion under Lloyds Register supervision, while naval architecture and interior design are again by Judel/Vrolijk and Wetzels Brown Partners respectively. We were impressed by the results of this collaboration when we tested the 67CS early last year, noting: “In terms of quality…