Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2022 i Yachting World

A skipped or shortened sailing season or two over the pandemic was tedious for most of us, but for youth sailors at the start of their sailing journey it was a hiatus that could have lost them to the sport for good. Junior sailing has been variously criticised as too competitive, too expensive, the sailors too mollycoddled… or pushed too hard. Some talk of the ‘good old days’ when free-roaming young crew set off in a clinker dinghy without a by-or-leave to their parents, and would have you believe that children’s sailing is simply not fun any more. It’s not true. I spent a week at the RS Games in Weymouth this summer and there were hundreds of junior and youth sailors (and adults!) having a brilliant time both on…

Hannah Mills and Ben Ainslie, the most decorated female and male Olympic sailors of all time, have launched a new high performance pathway scheme for female and youth sailors, called the Athena Pathway Programme. The aim is to build the skills needed so young and women sailors can take their career trajectory into events such as the America’s Cup and SailGP. The 37th America’s Cup is set to include the first ever Women’s America’s Cup, with a Challenger series and final match race held within the main event at Barcelona in 2024. A key aim of the Athena Pathway is to form a British team ready to win the 2024 Women’s America’s Cup, while a longer term goal is to develop female sailors to eventually sail within a mixed Cup…

French yachtsman Yann Quenet has completed a three-year circumnavigation in his tiny 4m homebuilt keelboat Baluchon. Quenet sailed across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans in his 13ft single-sail engineless micro-scow, although he did avoid Cape Horn in favour of a Panama Canal transit. Quenet initially attempted a transatlantic in his first microyacht Skrowl in 2015, which was abandoned after he was shipwrecked off Portugal. Undaunted, he built the plywood-hulled Baluchon in his garage in Brittany for less than €4,000, then trailed it over land to Lisbon in April 2019. From there he set off first for the Canaries, then crossing the Atlantic to Guadeloupe, Panama, and onto the Pacific. He overcame multiple capsizes in the Indian Ocean, lost his autopilot, and had to negotiate quarantine and border closures during…

You might understandably mistake this futuristic craft for another America’s Cup foiler. Yet, although the aesthetics may look similar, Flying Nikka is a very different animal to the AC75s which ripped around Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf in 2021 – and to anything we’ve seen before. This 60ft foiling weapon is designed to be owner-driven and compete in key maxi and long distance Mediterranean races. Flying Nikka has a keel and inherent stability as it needs to compete in displacement mode too. It also has the potential to embarrass any competitors by lifting onto its carbon foils and taking off at two to three times the speed of most other monohulls in existence. Flying Nikka is the most complex, innovative and exciting big yacht of the year – a pure speed machine,…

‘In an overnight passage we sailed in 24 hours of daylight’ It’s 0600 and I hear movement down below, our guide Marcel going for his shower. I’d woken a couple of hours earlier when I knocked a pillow covering the window and bright, bright, sunlight came streaming in. I couldn’t get back to sleep, we were in an area where polar bears had been recently sighted and I could feel they were out there right now. Marcel came up, took one look around and calmly said, ‘There’s a bear.” Where? I’d been staring at the same area for two hours and seen nothing, in fact I still couldn’t see it! We were aboard the expedition yacht Qilak in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard on a photographic expedition that was originally…

It’s arguably a good time to be in yacht design – as you may just help save the world. From hull shapes, sail technology and engineering, through to green energy production, the creative, innovative and efficiency-targeted approach of yacht designers could also be the future of commercial shipping. On page 86 we focus on the development of wingsails and unstayed rigs, which has rapidly escalated in recent years, and how the performance and ease of use/stowing benefits they bring could fast-track the shipping industry’s desperate need to clean up its environmental act. Most of the leading superyacht design firms are presenting viable solutions, in a format suitable for premium quality superyachts, or on a more industrial and widely practical scale for automated operation. They have the software tools, knowledge and…

It would seem that I’m not alone in finding Dykstra’s modern classic designs stunning, especially its pilot cutter-inspired models. The 117ft Perseverance scooped Sailing Yacht of the Year at the World Superyacht Awards earlier this summer, together with eco and best naval architecture awards. The pilot cutter style, with its trademark features such as plumb stem and bowsprit, squared deckhouses and counter stern, is one which has stood the test of time for its practicality as well as aesthetic appeal. For example, the long bowsprit helps enable multiple headsail options, while the deep cockpits and high bulwarks provide a secure feeling on deck. Perseverance can set and furl its formidable sail wardrobe via push buttons for easy shorthanded cruising, particularly useful for a cruising yacht which is chartered out. Behind…

This year’s Superyacht Cup Palma, held from 29 June to 2 July, proved why Europe’s longest running superyacht regatta ticks so many boxes. At its heart the Superyacht Cup is run by sailors for owners and their crew, offering ‘bite sized’ coastal races on the legendary Bay of Palma before a chance to reconvene in the bars of the beautiful Real Club Nàutico de Palma to mull over the day’s competition. It’s an enduring appeal which has seen some teams come back year after year, but this year also welcomed yachts under new ownership for a first, memorable, taste of superyacht racing. The 2022 edition may not have been the biggest but it was a pleasingly diverse fleet, from Wallys to modern classics, to the big, beautiful – but occasionally…

We have had this in long-term use for the past six years (hence the used appearance) but it remains a current model. It has been used as a backup to the main fixed set on a sailing yacht. It charges via a drop-in cradle, which has two cable options, one for 12V and the other for 240V charging. As the second lightest handheld VHF in our test this lends the Cobra HH500 to being used where weight or size might be an issue, such as carrying it on a tender, kayak or paddleboard. It is also easily stowed in a grab bag for emergency use. The Cobra HH500 comes with an extra battery tray that takes five AA batteries. Bluetooth connectivity with a mobile phone also allows waterproof calls, which…

This VHF unit is a real workhorse and has a sturdy, no-nonsense feel to it. As we turned the volume up to hear it above a noisy engine it continued right up to 81dB without any distortion or feedback, retaining enough clarity to hear it over the background noise. There’s always a compromise and in this radio it’s perhaps the physical size that takes the hit in return for a supremely impressive battery life. It monitored a busy VTS channel round the clock for more than two days without any sign of the battery fading. Obviously if we were transmitting large amounts of chatter then this battery life would be much reduced, but there’s no doubt this would outlast all the others. The M37E also has an additional battery tray…

Most of us hope that we'd do our best to go to the assistance of those in need at sea, but a skipper’s first responsibility is to their own vessel and crew and the decision on whether or not to help isn't so clear cut. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention (Chapter V, Regulation 33) requires the master of a ship to provide assistance to any persons in distress at sea. However, in practical terms a small yacht is unlikely to be able to provide meaningful assistance to a boat carrying a significant number of migrants without putting the vessel and crew in danger. In such circumstances, the accepted view is that SOLAS Chapter V does not require the skipper of a private yacht…

Man overboard recovery is a key drill for Clipper Race crews. Winning skipper Chris Brooks shares some key tips on the process with Andy Rice After 45,000 nautical miles racing in the Clipper Round the World Race, skipper Chris Brooks was relieved that his crew on Qingdao never had to put their well-rehearsed Man Overboard (MOB) drills into practice. With Clipper Race crews covering thousands of sea miles there are strict rules to avoid MOB situations. “It’s a race for amateurs, many of them with very little prior experience of sailing, so there are a lot of rules we abide by on the boat. When the wind is over 15 knots, we’re clipped on at all times. At night, we’re clipped on at all times. So people get used to…

This year’s Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race turned into a true epic, eventually decided by just over 7 minutes after two weeks of racing. Despite the light airs forecast, the 1,800-mile race took even longer to complete than predicted for many, with some boats having run very low on food and non-emergency water by the time they finally crossed the RORC finish line in Cowes. Among those to take a full fortnight to complete the circumnavigation was the JPK1010 Jangada. Sailed double-handed by Richard Palmer with Yachting World regular contributor and boat tester Rupert Holmes, the pair finished with an elapsed time of 14d 22h, taking 1st in IRC overall, as well as 1st in IRC Class 3 boat and 1st Two-handed boat. Holmes explained: “This edition will be…

Translated 9, a Swan 65 that will be racing around the world in the Ocean Globe Race, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first edition of the Whitbread Round The World Race, sails alongside the legendary Swan 65 Sayula II that won the 1973/74 race. Translated 9 also xcompeted in the 1977 edition of the race, then as ADC Accutrac, skippered by Clare Francis. Sayula II is still in the hands of the Carlin family, after skipper Ramon confounded the yacht racing world by winning the first ever multistage crewed around the world race (which later became the Volvo Ocean Race). Carlin took on some of the giants of offshore sailing, including Eric Tabarly and Chay Blyth, with an eclectic crew that included members of his own family. His…

Technically speaking, the sailing world reopened last year as the pandemic eased, but at many of the biggest events it didn’t feel like it. Cowes Week 2021 was down on numbers and barely seemed to fill the Solent in the way that has made this event so famous. Ashore, the normally bustling and noisy high street felt ghostly and the pubs and bars empty. But 2022 was different. While the fleet numbers were about the same as last year, the event felt vibrant once again with a noticeable buzz. The Cowes Yacht Haven seemed particularly lively thanks in part to the fresh, new concentration of carbon rocket ships with the arrival of the Cape 31 fleet. With 18 boats entered and with most of them crammed gunwale to gunwale in…

Tested by RUPERT HOLMES Where: Les Sables d’Olonne, west France Conditions: flat water, mostly cross-shore wind of 4-18 knots Model: standard keel with taller aluminium performance rig, slab reefing mainsail and 105% furling genoa, both in panelled laminate construction A measure of how much yacht design has moved on over the past few years is that Beneteau’s replacement for the successful Oceanis Yacht 62 (2016) is smaller and visually sleeker, with lower freeboard, and a whopping five tonnes less displacement. Yet it offers the same accommodation volume. As a result the new Oceanis Yacht 60 design has a dramatically different character and is a boat that sails very nicely, while also providing an enviable amount of space. The hull shape is an evolution of the one Roberto Biscontini created for…

Due to make her eagerly awaited regatta debut at the Maxi Worlds in early September, the first new ClubSwan 80 My Song launched from Persico Marine in Italy earlier this summer. And from the renders and initial pictures it looks set to dazzle. This one-design pure racer by Juan K fits neatly into the hot new ClubSwan line up, a recent collaboration with the famed Finnish yard which has already brought us the radical CS36, CS50 and the supermaxi CS125 Skorpios. The shape of the new 80 is an evolution of these designs, closest in spirit to the CS36, and is conceived to compete in the typically light winded, short racing format of Mediterranean maxi events. Although a foil was mooted in concept stage, the resultant appendages are a canting…

While we were given a tantalising peak last autumn of what iconic Italian brand Wally may be up to under its new Ferretti ownership, only now have full details been disclosed of its sizzling new wallywind range of cruiser-racers. This wallywind110 is the first of a new series, which also includes a 130 and 150. And it’s encouraging to see that it reprises the hallmark features of the most successful Wally Yachts which exude minimalist elegance. These include high bulwarks to help blend in raised saloon lines, an aft deck terrace on the sea, magic trim hydraulic sheeting systems for ease of handling, and an underwater anchoring system. At its heart lies Wally’s promise for blistering performance thanks to a full carbon build and a design that pairs short-handed fast…

On a summer weekend there’s always a bustle of activity on the foreshore at Hamble-le-Rice, on England’s south coast. The whirr of electric air compressors has been the soundtrack to the rise and rise of the inflatable paddleboard. And it may be about to initiate another transformation, simplifying sailing to the point where it returns to its birthplace; commercial shipping. Matt Sheahan reviewed the Inflatable Wing Sail (IWS) in this magazine more than three years ago and was impressed by the invention of Edouard Kessi and Laurent de Kalbermatten. Based on an unstayed, telescopic mast, the IWS inflates via an integrated air compressor to a surprisingly low pressure, just two millibars. It creates a soft, symmetric wingsail with many of the efficiency advantages of a hard wingsail (amply demonstrated in America’s…

The IC-M25 is a lightweight, low-spec VHF handheld radio suitable for taking with you when paddleboarding or in your tender as well as for augmenting a fixed VHF unit on a larger boat. It features a Float‘n’Flash system that works well too, so if you do drop it in the water you’ll be able to find and retrieve it easily. Waterproof rated to IPX7 (up to 1m for 30min) means you won’t want to leave this submerged for too long but it certainly should keep on functioning after the odd dunking. The slim design means that it is one of the lightest units on the market at a mere 225g. It comes with a simple micro-USB cable for convenient charging from a variety of electronic devices or a USB plug…

Running TIde was one of the most successful S&S-designed racing yachts of the 1970s. Bought back to the USA by one of the original owners 30 years later, it’s undergone a stunning refit to race again There are some yachts which are beautiful, some which are successful, and some which are well loved. It’s a rare boat which combines all three, but Running Tide has always been that yacht. The S&S 61 was originally commissioned by passionate big-boat racer Jakob Isbrandtsen, and on its launch in 1969 was one of the earliest stripped-out racers, designed for performance with scant consideration for comfort by the standards of the day. Built of aluminium plating by Huisman in the Netherlands, the design represented an evolution for Olin Stephens, with a relatively slender beam,…

Buying a yacht in the EU is more complicated than it once was, following Brexit, but there’s now a growing bank of knowledge on how to smooth the process. We get expert advice on some of the key questions. Double VAT, the Schengen zone, the 180-day rule; the list of considerations when considering buying a yacht in the EU is long and, in some cases, very complex. Crucial to understanding is having a grasp of some of the legal and tax principles that govern making a purchase. The following is not intended to be comprehensive and we advise getting specialist guidance from a tax adviser or similar. Linda Jacques, partner at LA Law, a firm specialising in marine law and yacht transactions, says the first thing you should consider is…

‘The Cal40 is like driving a 1965 Mustang’ STAN HONEY NOMINATES THE CAL40 The Cal40 has iconic status in the United States and was a game-changer in the 1960s as a true racer/cruiser. Designed by Bill Lapworth, it has a radical flat-bottomed hull and separate rudder and keel, and was famed for its downwind surfing performance. “The Cal40 revolutionised yacht design,” says Honey. “All ocean racers that came after had the fin keel and spade rudder that the Cal40 proved in the mid-1960s, dominating the sport including the Transpac, Bermuda Race, SORC etc. The Cal40 remains competitive in racing and an easy-to-sail, well-mannered cruising boat, perfect for a couple. “One aspect of owning a Cal40 is that everywhere you go folks come by the boat and tell stories about how…

One of the mysteries of SailGP so far has been why the usually dominant Team New Zealand was just so slow. Going into this year’s Great Britain SailGP event in July in Plymouth, the team, led by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke – previously a relentlessly successful partnership in Olympic 49er sailing and the America’s Cup – had yet to make it to a regatta final. Over the season, the Kiwis had only secured five race wins from 50 starts, leading coach Ray Davies to describe their race record as ‘a pretty ugly scorecard’. Davies, tasked with shaking up the under-performing squad, had worked through changes with the team. Before Plymouth this included adding former Olympic 470 Gold Medallist Jo Aleh as one of the team’s strategists, alternating with Liv…

Solo ocean racing skipper Alex Thomson is working with offshore newcomer Scott Shawyer to launch a new offshore sailing campaign, Canada Ocean Racing. Thomson, who stepped aside from competitive sailing after the 2020 Vendée Globe, always made clear that he wanted to work with another skipper in the IMOCA class. Surprisingly, however, his first project is not with a British sailor but with Canadian entrepreneur Shawyer. Shawyer is bidding to become the first Canadian sailor to complete the Vendée Globe. Under Thomson’s tutelage he'll aim for the 2028 race, with a key focus on gaining miles on the water and solo experience between now and then. Shawyer is a successful businessman and a lifelong amateur sailor, although his experience prior to working with Thomson was limited to racing dinghies and…

Golden Globe Race rebooted Four years on from the first ‘retro’ solo non-stop around the world race, skippers are again lining up to pit themselves against the oceans… as if it were 1968. We look at the allure of this uniquely challenging event Which lifejacket? We put 12 of the best coastal and offshore lifejackets through their paces to find out which offers the best fit and functions for this vital safety item Using Starlink at sea Starlink has been heralded as a game-changer for offering high speed internet at sea. Phil Johnson is an early adopter – he shares tips on installation, cost saving and ways to make the most of this latest technology Buying a family cruiser How to choose and purchase a yacht for long-term cruising with…

You know what? I actually went sailing recently. I’ve just signed off Pelagic at Iqaluit, Baffin Island, after a delightful three week cruise that began in Ilulissat, Greenland, in mid July. Y One of my original partners in the Pelagic project, Chuck Gates, my oldest sailing friend from Chicago going back 60 years, collaborated in getting the boat up and running after two years on the hard in Maine during the Covid crisis. While I was tending to Vinson of Antarctica (my day job) in Cape Town, starting the three month annual downtime and service from our southern theatre, Chuck and Tor, a young South African, relaunched and prepped the Pelagic for an Arctic summer so he and friends could sail up to Greenland. This is testament to a partnership…

There came a moment when it felt right to speak to the water, here in the middle of the Bristol Channel. I could hear the tiredness in my voice, “Let us go Eric, let us go north with the others, be at peace.” This is going to sound weird because I was addressing the ghost of Eric Tabarly, France’s legendary sailor, and a unifying national hero who helped make the sport so popular there. He drowned in these waters while taking his beloved 100-year-old Fife rater Pen Duick north to the first Fife regatta in June 1998. Tabarly had been heading to Milford Haven too and the weather conditions had been about the same – Force 6, gusting higher, at night, the sea getting up and a bit confused, occasionally…

Norwegian for Southern Wind, SØRVIND is the fifth example of the Italian brand’s SW105 mini series. It is yet another successful collaboration with Farr Yacht Design and Nauta Design and shows Southern Wind’s speciality in this fast cruising size range. The owner’s brief for a high-performance bluewater yacht for fast and comfortable sailing resulted in boosting the already powerful shape with increased sail area, twin rudders, and a deep telescopic keel. The prime benefits here are extra performance without losing the accommodation space, which will prove vital for successful chartering. SØRVIND’s sleek black livery is more than skin deep, with carbon fibre used for her hull, deck and bulkheads. The Cape Town shipyard focussed heavily on weight management, with titanium used for the stanchions and fairleads and synthetic decking all…

This imposing performance cruiser launched from Vitters Shipyard after two years in construction. The dreadnought bow sets off a distinctive, contemporary look, designed by Mani Frers, the latest in the multi generational line of famous Argentinean naval architects. The aluminium hull has twin carbon rudders and a lift keel. It’s also a design graced with Vitters innovations and solutions including V-drums below decks to ease headsail handling, retractable bollards and a submarine anchor to keep the aesthetics super clean. Below the aft beach club is a garage for a 8.5m tender. vitters.com…

Handheld VHF radios are must-have items on every boat owner’s kit list. Even if your boat has a fixed VHF you’re may be away from the navstation or zipping ashore in the tender but still need to know what’s going on around you and be able to communicate with other craft in the area. In commercial shipping areas it’s particularly useful to know the movement intentions of larger ships as they dock or receive pilots. Calling up a marina to get your berth sorted is another hugely beneficial feature. Most modern handhelds have dedicated M1 and M2 channels for this very purpose. Even more importantly, a handheld VHF is an essential safety tool for communicating with search and rescue services, especially in the event of having to abandon ship. That’s…

Standard Horizon’s HX210 is a great handheld radio at a good price and is a well-judged balance of weight vs battery life vs features. It is charged via a cradle and uses two different cables for 12V or 240V power supplies. It locks quite securely into the cradle, too, so it won’t jump or fall out if it takes a knock, but isn’t the easiest to remove in a hurry. FEATURES, SIZE, PICE |LEAST CLEAR AT MAX VOL We like having separate dedicated buttons for the volume and squelch, and the menu is really easy to navigate. Finding the FM radio receiver is quick and easy so if you want to tune in for the weather forecast or the next episode of The Archers, you’ll be very happy with this…

What would you do if you came across a migrant vessel adrift at sea? It’s a scenario many sailors have discussed because, unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to find desperate migrants making treacherous crossings on overloaded, poorly constructed rafts or inflatable boats. For Ryan Ellison this scenario became a reality when he encountered 60 migrants – and became part of a mission to rescue over 300 – at night, on his first ever solo ocean crossing. Ellison and his partner, Sophie Darsy, have lived aboard their 2007 Beneteau Oceanis 40 Polar Seal for more than four years. The couple, who document their adventures online (ryanandsophie.com), have sailed around Europe from Scandinavia to southern Italy, cruised the Caribbean and Antilles, and made transatlantic crossings via the Azores and Cape Verde islands. In…

Tim (who wishes to remain anonymous) found his ideal cruising yacht online, located in Spain. The prospect of buying a yacht in Spain following Brexit immediately posed several questions, particularly considering his cruising plans. “The yacht was UK VAT paid but had been present in the EU on 31 December 2020 and so also had EU VAT status. As VAT status does not survive a change of ownership, we had to make a choice between the ability to bring the boat back to the UK and our initial plan, which was to cruise Europe. “We decided to maintain UK VAT status. This necessitated a survey and acceptance of the boat in the EU, followed by a Biscay crossing to conclude the sale in the UK, with all the logistical hurdles…