Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2020 i Yachting World

I am sure this will not be the last you’ll read from me in the pages of Yachting World, but it’s the last you’ll see of me here. The time has come for a change of watch. It’s a wrench, for sure, to leave the team of lovely and dedicated people who make this magazine, especially after such a long and very happy time. During my years here, I’ve worked with some great writers (and raconteurs) whose knowledge was enormous and generously shared, and their exploits would often have us all in gales of laughter. But, if anything, I’ve learned more from you, our readers, whose backgrounds and adventures are so varied and fascinating. This crazy year has had so many of us reassessing our lives. As I became more…

Plans by World Cruising to run the annual ARC transatlantic rally from Gran Canaria to St Lucia in November have been given the green light by governments on both islands. However, with uncertainty about what freedom of movement will be possible through the Caribbean, many owners have postponed their plans and the rally will have its lowest entry list in almost 20 years. Andrew Bishop and his team of rally organisers have been working with authorities in both countries to allow the rally to happen, but there will be changes this year. “We’ve kept a positive attitude but it relies on the support of the authorities at the start and the finish so it needs to be COVID secure, and respecting all the local protocols in place.” The rally fleet…

BeCool, the first of the new Swan 98s, ghosts gracefully over the moody Finnish waters during sea trials this summer. This powerful Frers design shares the modern family look of Nautor’s Swan’s recent models, including the 65, 48 and the upcoming 57. Chairman Leonardo Ferragamo charged the new launch with re-establishing the Swan Maxi Line during a virtual event in July. Nautor’s Swan has launched more than 100 yachts over 80ft and is the leader in semi-custom large yachts. The second and third hulls of the 98 are in build, alongside a 120 and the radical new ClubSwan 125. BeCool is dressed with black sails and titanium deck hardware, which sets off an aggressive look. Designed as a performance cruiser for fast ocean passages, the Swan 98 is built in…

After five years of sailing, a major grounding, over 100,000 miles and two-and-half laps of the globe, even the toughest yacht needs a refit… German sailor Susanne Huber-Curphey is one of the most remarkable sailors, yet surprisingly little known. She was the first woman to navigate the North West Passage solo, and took part in the Longue Route ‘pilgrimage’ round the world in the wake of Bernard Moitessier, circumnavigating between the latitudes of 74°N and 56°S and spending six months in the Southern Ocean in her 39ft Nehaj. Oblivious to the limelight, Huber-Curphey is more interested in sailing than accolades, and she prefers to sail alone. In fact, she and her husband, Tony Curphey, both like to do their sailing apart – Curphey also sailed the Longue Route solo in…

With so few games in town this summer, it was inevitable that the 3,500 mile race to Iceland and back for a fleet of 20 IMOCA 60s (see page 22) was going to attract a good deal of interest. This was much more than just a warm up event ahead of the Vendée Globe in November. With so little sailing having taken place during the lockdown, this was a test of the boats and the skippers and their teams around a new course that had the potential to deliver a wide range of conditions. It was also the only opportunity for the latest generation IMOCA 60s to line up against the rest of the fleet on a race course. Now that foiling an offshore 60-footer is no longer a party…

TIMING IS EVERYTHING: a 4 second error on the time a sight was taken equates to a 1 mile mistake SPECIAL REPORT RUPERT HOLMES ON CELESTIAL NAVIGATION For decades celestial navigation was seen as an increasingly archaic skill, but there is now a resurgence of interest in these traditional navigation skills. Sailor and navigation expert Stokey Woodall, who has made a living teaching celestial navigation for several decades, has seen interest rise steadily over the past five years. “People want to get back to basics, back to nature and are starting to realise we need a system that doesn’t involve electronics,” he says. Bruce Jacobs of Rubicon 3 is another enthusiast whose passion has ignited interest in hundreds of others. Rubicon’s four 60ft yachts cover around 40,000 miles a year,…

Boatbuilder JASON CARRINGTON talks to ANDY RICE about how to make emergency fixes at sea Jason Carrington was always in demand in professional offshore racing crews for his repair skills. Keeping the wheels on the wagon for skippers like Lawrie Smith, Neal McDonald and Ellen MacArthur has taken the British professional on some thrilling adventures around the world. These days Jason’s company, Carrington Boats, is the go-to yard for producing some of the most high specification racing designs of recent times, though he is concerned about a lack of engineering and boatbuilding knowhow coming through the current ranks of pro sailing. “The sailors we see today are brilliant, but it’s becoming rarer to find any with a good practical side to their sailing skills, with some kind of background in…

Yet another consequence of the lockdown which, as I write, is very much still in force in South Africa, is that I cannot follow the construction of the new Pelagic 77 in the Netherlands in person. This vessel is for a private owner, but will eventually be chartering at times under the Pelagic brand. Launch date will be at the beginning of next year. The Dutch builders never really stopped during their lockdown and they continue to forge ahead. The last time I saw her was in mid-March, as a bare aluminium shell and deck. Sadly, I am now missing being at the builder on a regular basis to monitor the machinery, systems and interior that are going on at pace. This is when, no matter how experienced the builder…

There is a school of thought in the IMOCA 60 world that a good autopilot system is worth sacrificing a few sails for in the overall campaign budget – that’s how big the perceived advantage is for some. It’s hardly surprising. At speeds that are regularly in the high 20s with sustained bursts in excess of 30 knots, there is much to gain from getting it right and a great deal to lose if you don’t. At these speeds, the rudder not only alters heading but will behave like an aeroplane’s elevator: every twitch risks changing the fore and aft pitch of the boat. This is already balanced precariously on the giant foil to leeward and the canting keel fin to windward. So given this, it’s little surprise the human…

www.hanseyachtsag.com/privilege For its first launch under the governance of Hanse Yachts, Privilège has totally redesigned its popular 50ft model, the Série 5. But what impact has the German production giant had on this French pioneer in luxury multihulls? The 510 is now the entry-level model of a range in the making, a catamaran which has been updated in tandem with an all-new 580, due out this autumn. It is also makes for an interesting competitor to the Discovery Bluewater 50 in the luxury multihull market. The hulls and deck of the 510 still belong to the original Série 5 design, so the volume remains impressive. However, you quickly appreciate the additional design work done by Marc Lombard. The coachroof, which runs a long way forward, also extends aft with the…

As boats become ever more like homes on water, something else is changing: designers and builders have been turning their attention to the market for floating buildings. New concepts to emerge range from a thatched beach cottage atop a catamaran hull to an entire floating city, generating its own food and power. The one thing they have in common is they’re movable structures that can be parked wherever they can drop the hook. And soon they could be coming to a peaceful estuary near you. There is an opportunity here, of course, to create additional living and leisure space in areas where the land is already choked with people. Imagine being able to moor a temporary holiday village off Bournemouth Beach, for example, or create a restaurant off Dartmouth without…

Australian-born Trevor Robertson is quietly one of the most extraordinary sailors of our times. In his lifetime, he has sailed over 400,000 miles. In 1976, at the age of 27, he sailed from Western Australia to east Africa then round the Cape of Good Hope to the West Indies in a 34ft wooden sloop, then worked in the charter business in the Caribbean and later on oil rigs to earn enough money to buy another boat. Robertson is perhaps best known for his voyages in the 35ft steel gaff cutter Iron Bark, which he built himself. He spent many years sailing with his wife, the author Annie Hill, whose book ‘Voyaging on a Small Income’ is a study of the economics of continual travel and selfsufficiency. Trevor Robertson has undertaken…

At 7 knots the foils produce lift equivalent to 30% of the displacement. At 10 knots, this goes up to 50% At 13 knots, it’s flying SPECIFICATION Since the Pogo 1 was launched in 1997, the Pogo Structures yard in Brittany has won ten out of the last 12 Mini Transat 6.50 races (the single-handed transatlantic race in 21-footers) in the Production class. Even more impressively, the Pogo 3 has not only won the Production fleet but also finished hot on the heels of the Prototype class many times. This gave the French shipyard the idea of offering a ‘production prototype’, or a best of both worlds design. While it might sound paradoxical, the idea is to offer an alternative for sailors who want to go beyond the level of…

‘You can hammer it across the Atlantic, hose it off and go sailing again’ BRIAN THOMPSON NOMINATES MOD70 PHAEDO3 I’d choose the MOD70 [one-design] without too much doubt because the boat is so beautifully thought out. It is a great combination of speed, safety (even though four of them have capsized!) and reliability. Of the seven that were built, I have sailed four of them, for hundreds of thousands of miles. They were born from the development class the ORMA 60s. The best people of the ORMAs decided to built a boat that could go round the world, but was stronger, with 10% higher scantlings on all the structure, and having that buffer meant it is bulletproof. You can absolutely hammer it across the Atlantic then hose if off and…

Cruising sailors voyaging between countries in the Med or Caribbean, or sailing round the world, are facing new levels of complexity and costs when entering countries because of new COVID-19 protocols. Requirements for testing, and possibly quarantine, will stay in place for an indefinite period in many islands and countries along popular cruising routes. Testing is likely to become a way of life for voyagers. In the Caribbean, cruisers must take a test on entry to each island, but can cruise without separate quarantine periods within CARICOM countries such as Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. Islands not in this organisation, such as the British Virgin Islands, are outside the cruising ‘bubble’. Islands in the Pacific require tests on arrival and some also…

Jérémie Beyou has consolidated his position as favourite to win the Vendée Globe after beating all his rivals in the Vendée-Arctic-Les Sables d’Olonne race in July. After COVID-19 led to the cancellation of both the Transat and New York-Vendée races, many of the Vendée Globe entrants were missing race training time and qualification miles. A replacement race was hastily arranged, around a 2,800-mile triangle from the French Atlantic port to two turning marks off Iceland and the Azores. Some 20 skippers entered, setting off on a thumping upwind first leg that saw some early retirements – Sébastien Simon’s brand new Arkea Paprec was among them after suffering a broken starboard foil. Thomas Ruyant on LinkedOut, also a latest generation design, took the early lead, closely followed by Beyou’s Charal and…

Secrets of the boat testers If you’re dreaming of or planning to buy your next boat, what things should you look for? What works and what flaws are there to watch for, and how should you approach a sea trial? We talk to the testers who have put hundreds of yachts of all types through their paces North to Newfoundland Skipper Andy Schell takes a crew to the beautiful, rocky and challenging waters of Newfoundland in search of adventure and wildlife On test: Allures 40 and Ovni 40 These two aluminium oceangoing boats are competitors in a specialised but serious part of the cruising market. François Tregouet looks at what each has to offer and how the two yards have pushed each other to innovate Supersail - Spirit 111 One…

‘The Vendée fleet is more of a technology race than ever’ The world of single-handed offshore racing is a uniquely rarefied one. It’s an oft-quoted statistic that more people have been into space than sailed around the planet non-stop, but solo sailors who have successfully taken on the toughest race in the world belong to a particularly exclusive club. “I think there’s only about 80 of us who have ever finished the Vendée Globe,” remarked Sam Davies, who will be entering her third Vendée this November. “That’s nothing compared to the number of people that have been on the International Space Station [240].” But as the pace of development in the IMOCA class accelerates ferociously, this elite world is changing. The 2020 Vendée entry list includes few of the ‘old…

‘Once you are inside the reef, the sheer size of New Caledonia hits you’ “OK, this time you’ll do it, right?” Wietze asks, full of hope that this time I’ll grab the mooring buoy without a hitch. I’m totally focussed on the white buoy bobbing right in front of us. I mentally prepare the mooring lines in my left hand to go through that ring. But just as we are 3m away from the mooring, a pig surfaces, a big, fat, grey pig. It looks me straight in the eye and says: “Pffff!” I am stunned. “There’s a pig!” I yell at Wietze. “A what?” And then I’ve missed the buoy and have to do another turn. The second time it all goes well and ten minutes later the stillness…

Sailing the paradise of the Pacific Ocean with my own boat had been my dream since forever. The first big question was when would be the right time for the adventure? Should I take time off work or retire early? Since our daughter was born in 2009 and our son in 2011, early retirement was clearly the better option, when the kids were old enough to enjoy and remember the trip, but not so old they missed important school years. The age of the kids from 7 to 11 seemed perfect, so we set the date for 2018. Having chartered yachts around the world, with one exception all monohulls, the second question was what boat to buy? My wife, Dina, was clear about the space she wanted for a trip…

Outremer 55 LOA 16.69m 54ft 9in • BEAM 8.28m 27ft 2in • DISPLACEMENT (light) 13,500kg 29,762lb • PRICE ex VAT €1,215,000 • www.catamaran-outremer.com Feedback from some 310 previous Outremer owners has gone into refining this boat’s design. Plugging the gap between Outremer’s longstanding 5X and 51 models, it will exhibit the brand’s typical balance of performance and comfort. When the design was unveiled at Düsseldorf Boat Show in January, we heard how VPLP’s efficient hull shape will allow the boat to match wind speed up to around 12 knots. “It means much less use of the engines,” explains commercial director Matthieu Rougevin-Baville. Outremer considers performance to be a key plank of its environmental policy. “If you can sail at 5 knots, you can sail 95% of the time,” he reasons.…

PUSH-TO-TALK SATPHONE, UNLIMITED GROUP CALLS What are they? Two-way radio like communications between a pre-programmed group of users using satellite phone technology. Who are they for? Talking with a group of boats when cruising long distances in company. Iridium’s Push-to-Talk (PTT) service has yet to make significant inroads into the sailing market, despite having been launched five years ago. However, that may be about to change thanks to the availability of a greater choice of hardware and cost-effective all-you-can-eat call plans. The service operates more in the manner of radio communications than conventional telephones. The idea is that a number of units can be connected via a private Talk Group, creating a two-way radio system that benefits from secure encryption. When one user in that group presses the PTT button…