Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i Yachting World

A revolution has gradually been gathering pace in sailing. We have seen it with the migration of the America’s Cup to foiling catamarans, then with the ‘moustache’ appendages on the newest generation of Vendée Globe monohulls and now on the new Infiniti 46, which uses the retractable DSS foil system. While a question mark hangs over the durability of foils during this Vendée Globe, make no mistake: the genie is out of the bottle. In one shape or another, foils for monohulls and multihulls alike are here to stay, and one day soon will touch amateur sailing too. A different kind of transformation is happening in the Volvo Ocean Race. The new CEO, Mark Turner, has made potentially farreaching decisions, among them a rule change to nudge teams to include…

A record number of yachts will be sailing across the Atlantic in November as part of the ARC and ARC+ rallies. The two parallel events have shown a steady growth in the number of sailors realising an ambition to sail across to the Caribbean. This year 300 yachts, the largest fleet yet, are entered on the two routes: 225 on the ARC from Las Palmas to Saint Lucia and 75 going via the Cape Verde islands. The entries span the full range of sailing yachts, from superyachts at the upper end and some elite racers such as Rambler 88, to more modest family production cruisers. Organiser World Cruising is also seeing a steadily growing demand for its World ARC round the world rally. In January, between 30 and 35 yachts…

The 2008 Vendee Globe saw the introduction in the IMOCA fleet of the Watt & Sea hydrogenerator. Looking more like an outboard leg without the engine body on top, these highly efficient generators were being used to provide a good deal of the power for the sophisticated navigation and communication systems without causing unnecessary drag. But more importantly for the wider sailing community, if the speed conscious racing skippers were prepared to use them, the case was made for the rest of us, even if they were travelling at two or three times the average cruiser’s velocity. Since then the technology and the concept has been developed further and has proved extremely successful with units designed specifically for smaller race boats and cruisers. Indeed, the Volvo Ocean Race organisers have…

For the Love of Sauntress - A Forty-year Affair published as recently as 2014 by the ever-creative Lodestar Books tells the story of Martin O’Scannall’s life with a notably beautiful gaff cutter, mainly on England’s East Anglian coast. The book is exquisitely written, and one can only imagine Dick Wynne at Lodestar rubbing his hands in delight when it came his way. In his own unique way, O’Scannall shows us how a man ready to listen to lessons taught in the classroom of the creeks and the open sea can learn as much about himself as he can the way of a sailing boat on salt water. These two extracts reveal the dramatic personal results of the radical decision to scrap perfectly good engine and let his old yacht live…

Erik Lindgren, Baltic 56 Spirit V The Lindgrens have cruised and raced their Baltic before doing four Atlantic crossings. Having sailed with the World ARC to Australia, they left Spirit in Brisbane and are now back in Sweden. Antal Hook “The Antal Hook is a simple, light and inexpensive movable block. The model we use is called HK16 and replaces a normal (and much more expensive) snatch block in various situations. We use it mainly for the preventer, barber-hauler, jib-inhauler and when mooring (to avoid chafe).” Price €89.30 ex vat www.antal.it Stern anchor arm “Our custom-made anchor arm for a stern anchor has been invaluable in the Pacific. “It was fantastic when anchoring in the Galapagos, Marquesas and all the other areas where you require a stern anchor to keep…

The Fast40+ fleet competed for the famous One Ton Cup for its 2016 national championship, the first time the trophy has been awarded since 1999 Of the 14 Fast40+ designs competing in 2016, 11 scored podium finishes The new Fast40+ class has been the headline act for UK racing in 2016, but one boat has consistently had an edge: Peter Morton’s Carkeek 40 Girls on Film. Rupert Holmes takes a closer look The Carkeek 40 is a proven design that originally dates from 2012. Girls on Film, winner of four of the five class events this year to take the overall Fast40+ season title, is a Mark 3 version, and benefits from numerous small modifications. While many of these offer a saving of only a few seconds in certain conditions,…

IAIN PERCY (40) is one of the most talented and successful sailors in the world. He won Olympic Gold in the Finn in 2000 before teaming up with lifelong friend the late Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson to win Gold in the Star class in 2008, and Silver at London 2012. He has been involved in the America’s Cup since 2005 and is now leading Artemis Racing’s challenge for the 35th America’s Cup. Iain Percy OBE – Artemis Racing team manager and tactician, and double Olympic and multiple world champion gives an insight into dealing with downwind tactics on fast race boats This particular part of the course, coming into Mark 1 on a reach on an AC45, is always one of the most physically demanding and most dangerous parts of the…

Ready for the Atlantic? Round the world skipper and weather expert Chris Tibbs prepared his own yacht and sailed her on the ARC last year. After a season’s cruising, he reflects on what he has learned and makes his best recommendations Middle Sea battles This year’s Rolex Middle Sea Race attracted a fascinating crop of race boats including a new monohull foiler. Helen Fretter reports on an event with unexpected twists On test: Arcona 465 The first all-carbon flagship from this traditional Swedish yard. Pip Hare takes it for a test sail to find out what carbon can do for cruising Solo round the world In November, 30 intrepid round the world solo sailors set off on what is still the world’s toughest race: the Vendée Globe, from France to…

“THE ‘GOLDEN PERIOD’ OF SHOWING UP ON A VOYAGE OF PERSONAL DISCOVERY UNENCUMBERED BY BUREAUCRACY IS OVER” How rare it is, to be left to your own devices on a wild island. From the tropics to the high latitudes, more often than not when you think you are alone and have achieved a sense of isolation, allowing your imagination to conjure up allusions of first contact, as in the voyages of Captain Cook, someone comes steaming around the headland and drops anchor next door. Or else the prefecture or a park warden will materialise out of thin air asking for your cruising permit. Indicative of the interest in worldwide cruising beyond the well-charted, well-known waterways of the Mediterranean and Caribbean (in large part thanks to Jimmy Cornell), over time, many…

Harken Reflex £1,102 What is it? A method of furling asymmetric spinnakers evenly top to bottom for safe, easy drops and hoists. www.harken.com Top down furling is certainly more common on racing yachts, but the technology can make asymmetric sailhandling much less daunting for short-handed cruisers, as our bluewater cruising correspondent remarked on page 74. That’s not to say top down furlers have been without problems. “If ‘top down’ furling was as easy as traditional headsail furling, you’d see them on more boats. It’s a real design challenge,” admits chairman Peter Harken when unveiling Harken’s new Reflex furler during its 50th anniversary year. “For a free-flying sail to furl evenly and completely when you pull the furling line on deck, the head swivel at the top of the rig needs…

The decision to reef is as much about boat handling as it is about wind strength. So try to take a holistic view of how the whole boat feels and don’t let the numbers on the wind instruments dictate your behaviour. When sailing upwind, consider the boat’s angle of heel, the sea state and the amount of helm being used to keep the boat on course. Too much of any of these factors is reason enough to reef. Also, bear in mind that reefing early on a long upwind passage often pays and if your mainsail is getting a little bit older, taking the first slab out of the bottom can give a flatter shape. When sailing downwind or reaching shorthanded, be proactive; a manageable boat is essential and reefing…

Who would argue against having a foiling class at the Olympics? Given the rise in popularity of foiling designs for major events, it’s little surprise that Nacra is testing new foiling platforms for the Olympic mixed multihull class, the Nacra 17. Nacra was asked to look into moving the cat towards full foiling by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by the World Sailing Equipment Committee. The development project has now seen two different models (one with C foils, another with Z foils and T-rudders) undergoing trials (pictured right). Tom Phipps, one of the test sailors, commented: “While hugely challenging, it’s definitely how I would like to take my sailing and where I think Olympic sailing should go.” But, is a foiling catamaran enough of a change? Mark Turner, who is well-known…

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published an interim report on its investigation into the fatal accident of a crewmember during the 2015-16 Clipper Race. Andrew Ashman, 49, sailing aboard the Clipper yacht IchorCoal, was killed on 4 September 2015 during an uncontrolled gybe 122 miles off the Portuguese coast. The crew was preparing to reef the mainsail at midnight while sailing at 11 knots when the accident occurred. The report states that Ashman was the watchleader at the time and that the crew was all wearing oilskins and lifejackets with tethers attached to secure points. “Andrew was standing aft of the traveller rail and to port of the helmsman,” the report reads. “At approximately 2356, Andrew moved forward from the stern of the cockpit to brief his crew…

Sunsail has made a multimillion pound investment in its worldwide charter fleet, commissioning new yachts and opening a brand new permanent base in Palma, Mallorca, reports Clodagh Cahill. The company has commissioned 38 brand new yachts, 21 of which are catamarans, with a further 50 new orders in the pipeline. Sunsail reports that family holidays are a growing market and its bias towards catamarans reflects this, citing the 45ft Sunsail 454 as the perfect boat for families with mixed sailing ability to enjoy a sailing holiday. Marion Telsnig, Sunsail’s head of public relations, says: “There is a trend now for family groups to prefer catamarans as there can be mixed abilities within the family and the boats are more stable for children and more spacious.” Sunsail’s new Palma base offers…

www.twitter.com/yachtingworld www.facebook.com/yachtingworldmagazine email yachting.world@timeinc.com Write to The Editor, Yachting World, Pinehurst II, Pinehurst Rd, Farnborough Business Park GU14 7BF Letters may be edited as appropriate 50 yachts that changed sailing I enjoyed your article on the ‘50 boats that changed the way we sail’, but was disappointed that you were unable to find space for Icarus, the original Tornado catamaran on foils. James Grogono and his friends developed the idea of foils over some years and eventually Icarus held the World Sailing Speed record for Class B for a decade. You included Monitor which, although revolutionary, was a one-off oddity. It was really Icarus, with foils that one would recognise today, that demonstrated in a competitive environment how much faster a boat with foils could go. The foiling trimaran lÕHydroptere,…

According to Dr Spike Biggs of MSOS, your statistical risk of requiring external medical advice is about 1:100,000 crew miles Anchored in a remote lagoon in the Solomon Islands last year, Tom Partridge and his partner Susie Plume were into the third year of a circumnavigation on their Hylas 46 Adina, when Tom suddenly started to feel very unwell. Consulting their copy of the Ship Captain’s Medical Guide, they determined that he was showing common symptoms of malaria. Susie contacted a friend in Vanuatu, who happened to be a qualified vet, for a second opinion. He shared their view and, after speaking to his own GP, suggested that as well as treating Tom for malaria, Tom should also be treated for infections he might have which show similar symptoms to…

CHRIS TIBBS is a meteorologist and weather router, as well as a professional sailor and navigator, forecasting for Olympic teams and the ARC rally Although we often hear about the expected changes to the weather from the El Niño/La Niña Southern Oscillation (ENSO) it does not have a large effect on the weather in Europe. What does affect us to a greater extent in Europe – most noticeably in the autumn and winter months – are the different phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). If we measure the pressure differences between general low pressure near Iceland, known as the Icelandic Low, and the sub-tropical Azores High, we see fluctuations in their respective strengths. This is important as it controls not only the strength of the westerly winds but also…