Innholdsfortegnelse for Nov-2018 i Yachting World

DEEP BREATHS EVERYONE…. The race crew of Pedro Vaquer’s Swan 42 Nadir proved competitive sailing can be a topsy turvy world, even on a day off. This photo was taken on a lay day during the 2018 Rolex Swan Cup in Porto Cervo in September, when the team took the opportunity to swim in the crystal clear waters off the wonderful Porto Cervo coast. One of the first of the next generation of foil-assisted monohulls for the solo Vendée Globe round the world race is ready for its first big race after being launched late this summer. For experienced racer Jérémie Beyou, who will be starting his fourth Vendée in 2020, Charal has been designed and developed by VPLP and features multi-angled foils and a deeply chamfered bow section. The…

Sven Yrvind, eccentric Swedish solo sailor and amateur boatbuilder, has abandoned his plans to sail from Dingle to New Zealand in Exlex, a home-built micro lug, pictured above. Having got as far as Madeira, he halted his trip, saying: “There were a lot of problems with the boat.” His yacht is just 5.76m in length, with a beam of 1.04m and is driven by two 2m2 lug sails. But he found: “It was not stable enough, and too cramped, and the rudder system did not work very well.” Undeterred, Yrvind has plans to build a new micro yacht, Exlex Minor, with a length of 5.8m, beam of 1.23m and draught of 0.2m. He has calculated that the displacement of the new design, loaded for 60 days at sea will be…

You can lose a lot of friends when you’re cruising across the South Pacific. After the first couple of photos you post posing next to giant tortoises, swimming with hammerhead sharks your popularity will wane. You’re in the Galapagos among the sea lions, enjoying the sun, while your friends are in the midst of a European winter. And that’s just the start of a voyage of a lifetime across the world’s largest ocean. A cruising sailor’s blog, newsfeed or Instagram account from the Pacific is an onslaught of images and videos of every flavour of paradise from the green, dramatic and rugged landscape of the Marquesas with its huge waterfalls, the coral atolls and blue lagoons of the Tuamotus, to Tahiti and Bora Bora, the volcanic eruptions and cauldrons of…

The South Pacific is an inverted night sky,” travel writer Paul Theroux once wrote. “This ocean is so vast that the islands are like little pinpricks.” The analogy expresses the scale of this enormous world of water and islands. The South Pacific is one of the most magical cruising grounds that many people would love to explore. The drawback is that, until recently, leaving Panama in March or April to go west meant committing to sailing almost 9,000 miles in one season as the cyclone season dictates that you have to seek shelter in New Zealand or Australia by November. However, more and more cruisers are choosing to sail part-time or at a slower pace, so where can you stop underway and safely leave your boat? The cyclone season in…

Like me, you may have been following with interest the stories about failed self-steering wind vanes coming out of the Golden Globe Race press office. My own experience of a Windpilot Pacific on my 20-ton gaff cutter Westernman showed that, set up with sympathy for the boat and the conditions, this equipment is hard to fault. Decades ago, I sailed the North and South Atlantic with a Gunning pendulum-servo gear on another gaff cutter. The Gunning looked agricultural, yet it performed without demur for years. I almost never hand-steered either boat under sail. This month’s Great Seamanship is from a hitherto unpublished article by Tom Fisher about Angus, his ‘Hebridean’ wind vane on Arctic Smoke, a 1974 Elizabethan 33. The subtitle to his original copy read: ‘A tale of repeated…

What is it? High-powered alternator technology to replace generators on board Who is it for? Anyone seeking an alternative to a stand-alone generator, with improved reliability and significantly lower operating costs. Triskel Marine’s Integrel power generating system is a novel solution to a long-standing problem – that of generating efficient, reliable power to charge battery banks. It’s the result of a ten-year process with some $10 million spent in development. The research started with an EU-funded project into hybrid diesel/electric propulsion that concluded most people would not want to pay the premium required. However, it “… proved to be one of the most valuable projects we’ve ever done in terms of lessons learnt and datasets,” says Ken Wittamore, managing director of the Cornish company. “In particular, we learnt there was…

ANDY RICE talks to former Olympian and sailing commentator STEVIE MORRISON about the best approach Whether it’s a single leeward mark or a gate, this part of a race course can determine whether you make gains or fall back. Don’t gybe too soon above the final layline to the bottom mark, especially in boats with asymmetric gennakers. This will mean you have to go low and slow, and make you vulnerable to other boats coming in behind at faster angles. They are likely to call ‘water’ on you, leaving you with no choice but to travel circuitously around the mark and position you in a wall of dirty air on the next windward leg. Read on for Stevie’s five tips to get fast in, fast out of the leeward mark.…

A fleet of 41 yachts took part in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Maxi 72 World Championships in September, racing on a mixture of round the buoys and coastal courses. The regatta, held at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo, makes one of the most impressive annual spectacles in sailing – as demonstrated by this shot of the Wallycento Magic Carpet3. The fleet included three of the J Class, and Topaz claimed 1st overall, racing under the superyacht rating rule. The Maxi 72 class was won by Dieter Schoen in Cannonball.…

CHRIS TIBBS ANALYSES THE STORM THAT HIT THE FLEET September is early to be in the Southern Ocean and the southern winter is turning into spring. At this time of year a never-ending procession of lows circulates the globe. These lows vary in latitude; they are usually well into the Roaring Forties, but secondary lows and cold fronts often extend well north of 40°S. The further east across the Indian Ocean, the more north the strong wind bands tend to move. The Kerguelen Islands are on the edge of a plateau, which pushes the circumpolar current north, along with colder water making this area one of cyclogenesis – in other words, where storms form and deepen. The lows in the Southern Ocean are often linked and, as 20 September dawned,…

PREPARATIONS AND PRACTICALITIES The big challenge of sailing in the Pacific is the remoteness, the distance from chandleries, supplies and expertise. If money is no object you can fly in pretty much anything and anyone, but for most people this is cost-prohibitive and realistically you can only expect to make repairs in Tahiti and Fiji. The bigger issue is lost cruising time while repairs are made. Whether you’re on a rally or sailing independently you’ll likely have a schedule to keep. All this means boat preparation is key and you should replace anything suspect before you head off. Consider that living systems are likely to see more use than usual, so take spares of water pumps, toilets and filters. Even new systems can fail so try to identify single point…

Once you leave the South Pacific it is a personal choice between New Zealand and Australia as both offer an extensive range of yacht services. Traditionally most cruisers choose New Zealand and enter through Opua or Whangarei. “Annually, we help about 450 boats clearing into New Zealand,” says Chris Galbraight of the Bay of Islands Marina in Opua. “Previously our marina was too small to accommodate such a large number of boats so in 2016 we doubled the number of available berths.” The competition with Whangarei is fierce. In past years several new companies and facilities have opened up there too, and further south both Auckland and Tauranga offer similar facilities. This competition is positive for cruisers as it will drive down prices considerably. For the yacht service companies in…

1973 Founded by Richard Matthews in Ipswich to build cruiser-racers 1970S Models include the UFO34, a hugely popular three-quarter Tonner 1978-1981 Forty-seven Oyster 26s are sold, the smallest Oyster ever built 1980 The deck saloon concept is developed for cruising yachts 1998 Humphreys-designed Oyster 56 launches, the most popular Oyster ever 2008 The company is sold to London equity firm Balmoral Capital for around £70 million 2012 Sold to Dutch equity firm HTP Investments 2013 First Oyster World Rally takes place 2015 The Oyster 825 Polina Star capsizes after the keel rips off 2018 Oyster Yachts goes into administration, bought by Richard Hadida…

The X49 is squarely aimed at the no-compromise sailor who wants it all. It combines a comfortable, stylish interior, with clean, beautiful lines on deck and can even be raced with a minimal crew. This is a tough balance to achieve, and so often compromise can lead to disappointment. Setting out on one of the only blustery days of the summer, with a crew of four, I was intrigued to find out if this 50-footer could really deliver the whole package. Within ten minutes of leaving the berth I was glued to the helm, blasting upwind with a grin on my face. When a company has 40 years of design experience, hybrid does not necessarily mean compromise. The X49 is the third model to launch in the new ‘Pure’ X…

Who is it for? Those who own a yacht based outside of the tropics. The cost of a good dehumidifier is a fraction of what you will save in damp and mould damage With this glorious summer season almost over in Europe, thoughts are already turning to the colder months, and cold almost invariably means damp: one of the constant enemies yacht all owners face. It seeps in everywhere, can find every bit of clothing and equipment and will leave an otherwise perfectly sound vessel a soggy mess inside. It arrives in various guises. The humidity of sea air is often high anyway while the cold sea environment will cool the hull of a yacht. What happens next is exactly the same as happens on car or bedroom windows –…

‘It’s a boat all the cool kids would really love to sail’ DEE CAFFARI NOMINATES THE MAXI TRIMARAN MACIF MACIF was launched in 2016 for French solo sailor and Vendée Globe winner François Gabart. He set a solo round the world record of 42d 16h in it last year, and it was recently fitted with more advanced and powerful foils for Gabart’s bid to win the solo Route du Rhum in November (see page 12). “This is a boat only a handful of people have ever been aboard but it’s a boat all the cool kids would really love to sail,” says Caffari. “It’s the coolest yacht in the world because it’s very, very fast and because François Gabart set the 24-hour record of 851 miles all on his own.…

Solo skipper Abhilash Tomy was adrift in the Southern Ocean for nearly 72 hours, paralysed in his bunk without fluids, unable even to reach his vital grab bag. Tomy was in one of the most remote areas of the world, some 1,900 miles south-west of Perth, when a severe storm rolled and dismasted his 32ft yacht and severely injured him, leading to an incredible multinational rescue effort. Tomy was lying in 3rd place aboard Thuriya, a replica of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s 32ft Suhaili, winner of the 1968 Golden Globe Race, when he and fellow competitors Mark Slats and Gregor McGuckin were advised by race management to head south to avoid the worst of a fierce low pressure system developing west of the fleet. An alert was sent to competitors in…

FASTEST SPEEDS COURSE DISTANCE 3,510 miles COURSE RECORD IMOCA 24HR RECORD 536.81 miles The four-yearly Route du Rhum, the solo transatlantic race from St Malo to Guadaloupe starting on 4 November, looks set to be one of the most impressive in the 40-year history of the race. Entry numbers quickly surpassed the 100-boat limit initially set for the race and more than 120 competitors will start the race. The stars of the fleet will be the six Ultime class multihulls, each of which has benefitted from substantial offshore training and refit work since last year, so this year’s Route du Rhum should see them sailing at truly groundbreaking levels of performance. The six include François Gabart’s round the world record-holder MACIF, which has had a significant refit at CDK and…

At a glitzy presentation in the unlikely setting of Cowes Yacht Haven in August, organisers of the 36th America’s Cup presented more details of the 2021 competition. What was called the ‘America’s Cup Overture’ opened with impressive holographic presentations of the radical AC75 foiling monohulls. But the most significant piece of information released was the date: the first race will take place on 6 March, 2021, with racing continuing until 21 March on a best of 13 or first to seven points basis. The course area was also unveiled – five possible race areas spread across the Hauraki Gulf, including along the North Shore beaches and inner Waitemata harbour. The course options are designed to allow for racing in all wind directions, while also set close to shore for spectators.…

In control Being an Ocean Yachtmaster and airline pilot for over 30 years, I am in full agreement with the comments made by Skip Novak about automation and AI. Just to put things right in the minds of public opinion: airliners never, ever take off automatically since the variables in the go/no-go decision are too complex for a computer. When it comes to landing, we are doing it manually most of the time, it’s just in dense fog that the autopilot lands the aircraft, given that the environmental conditions are within the capability of the automated system. There are even many arrivals at major airports, such as JFK, where planes have to be flown manually and visually because of close quarter manoeuvring, for example, doing the last turn towards the…

I could only laugh. Travis Rice, world-famous snowboarding pioneer, had just jumped into the waves to chase down his once-anchored dinghy, which was now floating away. Meanwhile Ian Walsh, professional big-wave surfer (and arguably one of the best ocean swimmers in the world), was nowhere to be found. He had gone investigating our abandoned island with Travis’s best friend, Graham Scott. I stood alone at the edge of the water, guiltily amused at our predicament. We were effectively stranded on tiny Malden Island, 1,500 miles south of Hawaii and 1,000 miles north of Tahiti. Travis’ empty Gunboat 48, Falcor, lay anchored a few hundred yards off the beach after the four of us had gone ashore to explore, surf and fish. So impressed were we with Travis’ last catch, a…

Easier and faster – those two words sum up the objectives driving new developments in masts and rigging. Cruising sailors are looking for ways to make sail handling easier, and greater sail power less complicated to control, while for racing sailors carbon masts, standing rigging and sails have led to ever stiffer sail shapes and lighter masts. The next evolutionary chapter could see innovations made in large yachts spread into smaller family boats or club racers. Furling systems Seldén Mast has been a specialist in spars for cruising sailors since being founded by Swede Per Seldén in 1960. It has been among the leading manufacturers of furling systems for over 40 of those years and is still adapting and improving furlers today. This year, the company launched the Furlex 204E…

Oceantec 50 This stunning looking design has its origins in discussions between Humphreys Yacht Design and the Slovenian Oceantec yard around five years ago. At the time Oceantec was building Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite, the Humphreys Class 40 that won the 2015 Normandy Channel Race. Both companies had already had a stream of enquiries for a larger, more cruising-oriented design based on similar principles. The Oceantec 50 was therefore conceived as an ocean capable and very fast long-distance cruiser, with true planing potential and the prospect of covering 250-300 miles per day. While no attempt has been made to optimise ratings for inshore racing, it’s clear the boat has potential for long distance reaching or downwind events in medium to heavy airs, such as transatlantics. Designer Tom Humphreys identifies a…

The health of our oceans is a hot topic – from the huge popularity of the BBC Blue Planet 2 series to campaigns to reduce microplastics. But collecting data or tracking environmental impact over time requires marine biologists to traverse long distances at sea, and that usually means chartering an expedition vessel. The cruising community could be an untapped resource that can help. An estimated 3,000 yachts are cruising long-distance at any given time, with some 500 of those on a circumnavigation. Could those families, couples and crews become a secret army of marine biologists who can help provide much needed information on everything from sea temperatures to noise pollution? Conor and Sarah La Grue hope so. The English couple are engineers and scientists at heart – Conor was formerly…