Yachting World May 2019

Dinghy designer Julian Bethwaite is working on a development to modernise the evergreen but now conservative Laser class. Bethwaite proposes a‘C5’ rig for the 50-year-old one-design, a carbon spar with laminate sail that can be checked in as airline hold luggage. Strange but true: a German sailor used his jeans to stay afloat after being knocked overboard, New Zealand media reports. Arne Murka was sailing off North Island when he was hit by the boom. He tied off the ends of the legs to trap air and stayed afloat for over three hours until being rescued by helicopter. “Without the jeans, I wouldn’t be here today,” he said. Congratulations to contributor Bruce Halabisky and his partner, Tiffany Loney, on winning the Cruising Club of America’s prestigious Blue Water Medal for…

Flying machine French solo sailor Tanguy Le Turquais at the helm of his Figaro Beneteau 3 Queguiner in training for this season’s racing. The new foil-equipped production one designs have been hitting speeds not that long ago associated with the IMOCA 60s, nearly twice the LOA of these 35-footers. The objective of this year is the 50th anniversary of La Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro, which begins from Nantes on 2 June and runs to Kinsale in Ireland, Roscoff (via the Isle of Man), and finishes in Dieppe at the end of June. The full course is a total of 1,770 miles. Skippers taking part include Loïck Peyron (see page 13).…

Women skippers share Yachtsman of the Year Two women sailors have shared the Yachtsman of the Year Award. Nikki Henderson, runner-up skipper in the 2017/18 Clipper Round the World Race, and Tracy Edwards were awarded the trophy jointly. At 24, Henderson was the youngest skipper ever to compete in the race. Edwards, famous for skippering the all-female crew Maiden in the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World Race, is behind the yacht’s restoration and now three-year mission to promote girls’ education through The Maiden Factor project. Island clean up An Australian organisation has removed some two tonnes of waste and debris during a clean-up of a remote, uninhabited island off the coast of Brisbane. Ocean Crusaders removed 92 bags of rubbish that had washed ashore on St Helena island, including 1,350…

British boat owners continued to face confusion about the customs and tax status of yachts past the UK’s original Brexit deadline in March. With no firm deal agreed as we went to press, there has been little clarity for owners on the treatment or status of boats returning to the UK from European waters in the event of a no deal Brexit. The EU Commission has indicated that, in the event of a no deal Brexit, boats lying in the EU27 at the time of Brexit would retain Union status, and boats lying in the UK at the time of a no deal Brexit would lose Union status and have the status of UK goods, regardless of whether or not VAT was previously paid in the UK. The Commission takes…

Despite political uncertainties, British marine companies grew their revenues by 1.7% in 2018 to £3.17bn, IBI magazine reports. It is the seventh consecutive year of growth. The marine industry supports over 33,000 direct employees, and half of all exports are to within the EU. “These latest figures illustrate that the British boating sector has continued to prosper, despite challenging conditions and the ongoing uncertainty about Brexit,” says British Marine CEO Lesley Robinson. “A weakened pound has provided much-needed support to industry exports and with British holidaymakers staying in the UK, nearly a third of tourism businesses are remaining positive about the future. “However, with the proposed EU exit deadline looming, the future health of the industry is not guaranteed,” Robinson continues. “Business confidence within the industry relies on consumer confidence…

Record-breaking solo yachtsman Thomas Coville has launched his Sodebo Ultim 3, the newest 100ft Ultime trimaran and a conceptually very different design to the rest of the class to date. The most striking feature is that the cockpit and living ‘pod’ are forward of the mast, with an empty trampoline abaft. According to Coville, the central pod weight amounted to 25% of the weight of the hull, and shifting it forward of the mast moves it closer to the centre of gravity. One effect of this is that it lowers the centre of effort by some 2m and reduces pitching moment. “You can’t imagine how much money we are ready to spend to move the gravity centre of a new boat like this down just 1cm. It’s more than €10,000…