Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2020 i Sailing Today

GOING UP Best friend saves man Heidi the German Shepherd trod water for 11 hours after her owner’s boat sank off Brisbane, Australia. The dog was spotted, sparking a successful search for her owner. SailGP to Edinburgh The new Edinburgh Marina at the heart of the city’s waterfront redevelopment, due to be completed next year, is pitching to host a round of the 2021 SailGP series. GOING DOWN Birds nets Northern gannets have been photographed using discarded plastic fishing net debris to build clifftop nests on Runde Island, Norway. Covid cancellations The pandemic looks set to threaten 2020 sailing events, from local regattas to the Tokyo Olympics – cancellations were already being announced as Sailing Today went to press…

Django 8s French firm Marée Haute’s Django range has specialised in interesting and innovative performance-orientated cruising yachts in recent years. The company has returned to its racing roots, however, with the new 8s. The hull itself is actually identical to the Django 7.7 – essentially a fast pocket cruiser – but the deck and sailplan have been reconfigured to ensure the yacht is optimised for singlehanded and doublehanded racing. To this end, the rig has been reinforced and the mast is carbon as standard, one of a number of weight-saving measures incorporated into the fit-out of the yacht. The cabin top is also completely different from the 7.7. This is especially evident down below, where the accommodation is minimalist in the sort of manner that would have made Tabarly or…

‘There’s no pleasure to be derived from maintaining the perfect boat. Boats exist to be sailed’ It should be a lovely moment when the boat finally slips back into the water after a long winter ashore. It’s a kind of rebirth, both for boat and sailor. A new season dawns – new horizons to be reached for, hopes high, the excitement not unlike Christmas morning when you were a kid. It was in March last year, and unseasonably early, as I stood, shivering in a biting north wind, to watch her transformed once again from a useless lump of plastic, high and dry in a miserable boat park, to the means by which I can once again get back to sea. I never feel very happy if I haven’t got…

The market town of Lymington has a colourful maritime history going back to Saxon times. A booming salt industry started in the Middle Ages and in the 17th century began a long heritage of boatbuilding, trading and smuggling. In recent times it has become known as a magnet for yachtsmen and naval architects. Lymington can also call itself home to the much-loved Contessa marque of sailing boats. In the 1970s, 200 employees worked day and night in Jeremy Rogers’ factories building Contessa yachts, while today a much smaller operation is still run by his son Kit, based in the Yacht Haven. Born in 1937, Jeremy Rogers was always fascinated by boats and the water; as a child he and his brothers were evacuated to Canada, where Jeremy built model boats…

LAGOON 50 An obvious alternative here. This is a very similar yacht, it’s just that bit more sedate. The interior layout is much the same, although the styling is different, while sail area is reduced and there is a flybridge steering set-up. cata-lagoon.com NAUTITECH 46 OPEN This is a slightly smaller boat, but one that plays – to some extent – on the same concept. Again, there are twin helms outboard and the stepped hull features relatively narrow waterlines, thereby boosting performance. We review the new flybridge version on p54 nautitechcatamarans.com OUTREMER 4X The Outremer 4x takes the Excess’ performance cruising pretensions to their logical conclusion. Weight is dramatically down at 11.7 tonnes thanks to extensive use of carbon fibre. Nevertheless, the interior is still comfortable and well appointed. All…

LAGOON 46 The latest design from Lagoon is one that offers similar levels of volume with decent performance. There is no option of twin helms on the sponsons here, though. cata-lagoon.com CATANA 47 A step-up in terms of performance, the Catana boasts daggerboards for starters. This is still a yacht high on comfort, with a slight edge on speed and handling – but that comes at a price. catana.com BALI 4.5 Not the best in terms of looks, perhaps, but the Bali 4.5 is a formidable cruising machine that offers masses of internal volume and surprisingly sprightly performance. bali-catamarans.com…

In June, Portsmouth Harbour will once again host the America’s Cup World Series, which is being run in the lead-up to the America’s Cup. The 36th edition of the Cup is being held in Auckland, New Zealand, in March 2021, which is perhaps beyond the reach of most cruising sailors, excepting those who are extra-organised, or who are already cruising the South Pacific or Australasia (or both). But the event at Portsmouth Harbour from 4 to 7 June allows sailors to watch the foiling AC75 monohulls – which can reach closing speeds of up to 100kt – from the official race village shoreside, from Southsea Common or even from the deck of their own boat. The ACWS in Portsmouth is the second of three World Series events, following races in…

Tourist information: visitportsmouth.co.uk; portsmouthmuseums.co.uk; historicdockyard.co.uk; spinnakertower.co.uk; maryrose.org; gosportferry.co.uk Pubs/restaurants: The Briny, Southsea, thebriny.co.uk; Outside-in Food Court, Portsmouth outside-in-food.com; The Canteen, Hotwalls Studios, Portsmouth, the canteen.co.uk; Trinity’s, Haslar Marina, Gosport, trinitysathaslar.co.uk; Gunwharf Quays 30+ restaurants gunwharf-quays.com Yacht clubs: Haslar Yacht Club, haslaryachtclub.co.uk; Port Solent Yacht Club psyc.uk.com; Portsmouth Sailing Club portsmouthsc.co.uk…

Dometic CFX3 coolers The latest line-up of portable coolers from Dometic is said to achieve industry-leading efficiency, while also including an ice-maker model – a world first. There’s even a CFX3 that’s Bluetooth enabled, so you can cool your cold ones remotely. • from €749 • dometic.com Coffee-plus The stainless steel 400ml Ohelo Tumbler is coffee shop compliant, with vacuum insulation to ensure the contents remain hot for up to six hours or cold for up to 12. The lid is designed to go from sip-mode to completely leak free with a simple twist. • £30 • ohelobottle.com Seasafe Junior lifejackets Hot on the heels of their ‘fashion’ lifejackets for adults, are these new junior jackets from SeaSafe, featuring superheroes, monsters and unicorns. The covers can be zipped off for…

“How on earth do you manoeuvre a boat without using prop wash?” This was my first reaction earlier this year when I discovered that the sailing school I teach for had replaced its fleet with twin-rudder yachts. All my previous experiences had been with single-rudder yachts on which the prop wash, or forward thrust from the propeller, can be redirected to one side or the other by turning the rudder. On a twin-rudder boat the forward thrust from the propeller goes straight between the rudders without causing them the least inconvenience. Why have twin rudders? The real benefit of twin rudders becomes apparent as a sailing boat heels over. On a single-rudder boat the upper sections of the rudder will come out of the water and become ineffective. The water…

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s identification scheme for small leisure craft will be scrapped at the end of March, three months earlier than planned. The voluntary HM Coastguard CG66 scheme is being axed with no plan to migrate existing data to the SafeTrx system that replaces it, so all the information currently stored will be lost. Although the MCA system had been destined for the scrapheap this year, its demise has come earlier than many expected. The Cruising Association is advising members to sign up for the RYA-administered SafeTrx scheme, which uses a website and mobile phone app. SafeTrx registers boats and owners, but can also be used to monitor their safe arrival on planned passages and activate automatic alert procedures if required. “The MCA’s procedure is firstly to look…

The RNLI – recently in the news for a cost- and jobs-cutting campaign at its Poole, Dorset HQ – has revealed plans to double the working life of the Severn Class of lifeboats. Originally introduced in 1996 with an anticipated operational lifespan of 25 years, the charity now says its 44-strong fleet of Severn Class boats can be upgraded and remain on station for another quarter of a century. The Severn is the largest and most powerful lifeboat in the fleet and has seen action on more than 16,000 ‘shouts’, going to the aid of more than 22,500 people and saving over 900 lives. The Severn upgrades will cost £1.25m per boat, and include shock-mitigating seats, new survivor space seating and a new ‘daughter craft’ that can be launched quickly…

BRITANNIA SAILS IN ANGER 23-26 APRIL SARDINIA, ITALY Ben Ainslie and the UK’s America’s Cup challenger take on their 75ft foiling rivals for the first time as the America’s Cup World Series kicks off with what promises to be a mouthwatering showdown • americascup.com CHICHESTER MARINA BOAT SHOW 25-26 APRIL CHICHESTER HARBOUR Back for the third year, Chichester’s boat show runs from 1000 to 1600hrs across the weekend, showcasing a selection of yachts. • premiermarinas.com OPENING AT THE BOX 16 MAY, PLYMOUTH, DEVON New city museum The Box opens with a spectacular suspended gallery of former Royal Naval figureheads and a fascinating Mayflower exhibition. • theboxplymouth.com MARTINIQUE BOAT SHOW 14-17 MAY FORT-DE-FRANCE, MARTINIQUE A chance to view catamarans and yachts for sale in the tropical setting many were designed for.…

Sailing around Britain offers magnificently varied cruising – but it does take a bit of planning. Fortunately, we have some expert advisors on hand to help you plan your trip. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. A journey of 1,400 miles begins with a cup of tea, usually consumed on a winter’s evening, surrounded by a pile of charts and pilot books. In general, that’s what many of us do over the winter; we plan the things we will do once our pride and joy is reunited with salt water; we dream, and we plan. For many of us our dream is the ultimate cruise, the global circumnavigation, taunting us from within our own minds as we work hard to make everything right: the right…

‘“Everyone, back on the boat, NOW!” I commanded, in the most authoritative, unwavering voice I could muster’ Sometimes the life of a liveaboard sailor seems completely at odds with that of a landlubber: things that may seem simple in our boat lives may be infinitely more complex in a house. Likewise, there are subjects that appear trivial when you live on land, which are elevated to weighty matters when your home is a yacht. Take the rain. In city life we glance at the raindrop-dashed window, we opt for water resistant footwear and a jacket for our morning commute, and automatically grab the umbrella idling by the front door on our way out. Bobbing at anchor, with all your portlights open for ventilation, the start of an unexpected shower triggers…

Cast your mind back a few weeks and you may recall that Dominic Cummings – everyone’s favourite unelected loon/ visionary genius (depending on your political persuasion) – sent out an urgent missive stating that he was in search of ‘weirdos’ to help him out at 10 Downing Street. Whatever your political persuasion, it was hard to see this as anything other than advertising for a very large shipment of coals to be taken to Newcastle. Anyway, it did occur to me that Mr Cummings would have profited from the kind of people who pioneered multihulls back in the day. Yes, back in the 60s, 70s and even 80s, multihulls were deeply esoteric boats on the whole – often very fast and just a tad out of control, and featuring coffin-like…

I don’t know about you, but when I think of the Mediterranean coast of France, I immediately think of Brigitte Bardot, far too much traffic and superyachts. I’m talking about the Cote d’Azur of course which is both beautiful and infuriating. Yet there are many more miles of French coast on the Med that are largely ignored by comparison – and there is a reason for this. Once you get into France’s Golfe du Lyon you are in an area that is dominated by the low, swampy coast of the Camargue and, frankly, it’s not very inviting – particularly given its savage reputation for being dominated by the Mistral and Tramontana winds. After that, you find yourself on the coast of Languedoc Roussillon; this area is features beautiful sandy beaches…

Nautitech clearly wants to strike a good balance between cruising comfort and performance, and I feel that has been achieved. Back when the N40 came out, it felt quite revolutionary in terms of the fact that a mass-produced multihull was suddenly able to sail well on the wind. Times have changed a little now, but the N46 picks up where the N40 left off and simply does the same but with even greater volume. She’s an enjoyable sail and personally I much prefer the ‘involved’ feel you get from having the helms set outboard on the sponsons. The obvious drawback is, of course, the reduced visibility compared with the flybridge arrangement. Yet, visibility was still pretty good and you felt like you were part of the crew instead of master…

Wearing the right clothing is key to enjoying time afloat, but the sailing garment industry has been going through a stormy patch of late, with a number of buy-outs and failures. Musto is now part of Norwegian giant Helly Hansen, while Henri Lloyd has been rebooted by a Swedish investor. The good news is that things appear to be stabilising somewhat, with Henri Lloyd returning to the market in a big way, and Musto hard at work on the next generation of its famed wet-weather gear. Others like Gill and Zhik have managed to steer a steady course. We take a look at what’s new for 2020 on the technical side. Musto It is a big year for Musto, as the sailing wear brand, established on the back of the…

BENETEAU 50 | CELEBRATION One for fans of fast cross-channel hops: Celebration’s personal best passage time from Cherbourg to Portsmouth is an impressive nine hours. Cruising speed is about 8kt, and max speed 10kt, making this Bruce Farr-designed Beneteau 50 a real mile-muncher. Celebration was the Southampton Boat Show model on launch, and has a blue GRP hull, teak decks, Alcantara upholstery and a 100hp Yanmar (800 hours on the clock) with folding prop and rope cutter. Water and fuel tankage have been extended, enabling longer cruising periods. She seems to have been designed with upwind sailing in mind: twin helms, each with its own compass; pulpit-style ‘granny bars’ either side of the mast to lean against while working or standing there (although all lines lead back to…

Latest news from round-the-world impresario Don McIntyre includes plans for another globe-girdling race – and plans for the boat you can enter it with. The ClassMini 5.80 is a plywood construction ocean-going yacht aimed at adventurous home builders. Plans for the boat cost $300, and it has been designed to fit in a 20ft shipping container for transporting to international events, or to be taken home by trailer behind an ordinary family car. McIntyre, who successfully organised the 2018/19 single-handed Golden Globe Race and is also staging the crewed Ocean Globe Race in 2023, says the idea for the new venture was formed while sailing a 25ft (7.6m) wooden boat across the Pacific in 2010. “I love small boats for their simplicity and pure adventure, and building this 5.80 with…

The long-running saga of red diesel use in leisure boats was kicked up the agenda again in Rishi Sunak’s March budget. The duty discount on red diesel has come into the chancellor’s line of fire, as he declared it a tax ‘loophole’ for polluters. As well as marine use and agriculture, red diesel is widely used for rail freight, construction machinery and refrigerated transport. Leisure boaters are currently permitted to run engines on red diesel, as long as they’ve paid the full duty on the proportion of their fuel used for propulsion. The proportion of fuel used for heating is duty free. Sunak has said his changes won’t apply to agricultural, rail or fishing industries, but all other uses must be consulted on. The RYA says that while red diesel…

Gocycle GX folding e-bike Pedal like an Olympian Come the Tokyo Games, Britain’s Olympic sailors should be whirring between base camp in Hayama and the Enoshima sailing venue aboard a fleet of Gocycle GX folding e-bikes. The GX is a state-of-the-art machine that uses a hydroformed alloy frame, centre-hub mount wheels and a quickly removable lithium ion battery pack, said to give up to 50 miles range – depending on how much of the work your legs will be doing. The Gocycle GX has a fast-folding frame mechanism so you can break it down in fewer than 10 seconds, and it weighs less than 18kgs. With folded dimensions of 88x37x61cms it would happily stow aboard a larger yacht. Charging takes around 4hrs with the optional fast charger – 7hrs without.…

“I’d love to go sailing like you do,” gushed a land-locked lady I met at a publisher’s cocktail party in Bloomsbury. She seemed a nice girl, but she obviously didn’t get out much. “Travel is so noisy,” she continued. “It must be magical to waft along in silence like that!” “Like what?” I wondered, helping her to a bite-sized vegan tartlet. The only time sailing is silent is when the sea’s flat, there’s no motorboat wash, and a steady 10 knots is blowing from just forward of the beam. Or, you could say, with similar frequency to a snowball-fight in hell. Scratch it where you like, yachting is a boisterous business. Given a modest passage-making breeze and waves to go with it, the crockery rattles in its stowage bins, the…

We first came into the Mediterranean in 2011, intending to spend the following season doing a circuit of the Baleares and then returning to the Atlantic. Eight years later we are still in the Western Med, having spent most of our time exploring the islands – Sardinia, Elba, Corsica and, above all, the Baleares. The attraction – beautiful anchorages, clear warm water, good swimming, usually benign weather, not to mention the good food and wine ashore. We think we are now stuck in this area! Practicalities From mainland Spain, the Baleares are within easy reach. From our winter base in Cartagena, Formentera is only 150 miles to the northeast. Ibiza is but 60 miles from Calpe – a day sail. From Valencia, Sóller, in Mallorca, is 140 miles and from…

Make no mistake, this is not a sports boat. What it is, is a clever means of tapping into a slightly different market to the existing Lagoon range. Basically, this is a cruising yacht with just a bit more fun injected into it. For me, this worked well, largely because I enjoyed the much more involved feeling the steering gave you. Having said that, this argument has been turned on THE SPEC Length overall: 48ft 5in (14.8m) Beam: 26ft 4in (8m) Draught: 4ft 7in (1.4m) Displacement: 40,600lb (18,400kg) Upwind sail area: 1,615sq ft (159.5m2 ) Pulse line rig: 1,847sq ft (171.6m2 ) Basic price: €750,000 its head by some who contest that the steering has too much feel. The steering and sail area are the big, radical changes, but the…

The sailing world has always been rather divided on multihulls. They have something of a tendency to polarise opinion – some think they are the best thing since sliced bread, others that they are about as appealing as stale Mighty White. There are a number of reasons for this; one is that the cruising catamaran is rarely a thing of beauty. Two hulls with essentially a large shed-like structure is always going to be tricky to make aesthetically pleasing. And there are other reasons that are more historical. The early multihulls unleashed on the charter market were incredibly comfortable but generally sailed on the wind in the most unconvincing fashion. Go to the Caribbean and the classic view of a charter catamaran was one of motor-sailing with the mainsail pinned…

On the morning of June 27 2011, a mysterious wave rumbled up the River Yealm in Devon. It looked just like one of the tidal bores we explored last month, but the Yealm doesn’t get bores. Headlines of ‘Tsunami’ echoed through the media, despite geologists finding no signs of an earthquake that would have triggered it. After hearing reports of people’s hair standing on end in St Michaels Mount, Cornwall (whose causeway flooded during the event], the experts started to investigate meteorological origins. Sure enough, a storm brewing in the Bay of Biscay the previous night had travelled into the English Channel around the same time as the wave in the Yealm, and further analysis proved that the event was in fact a little-known phenomenon called a ‘meteotsunami’. Meteorological tsunamis…

All sorts of flotsam washes up on the shores of Bocas del Toro in Panama, and I guess I was part of that scene, which consisted of surfers, tourists, locals and outlaws – mostly from the Deep South of the US. I had been there some weeks when I was invited to attend a festival at nearby Loma Partida – an isolated peninsula on the Panamanian mainland. Many took their yachts, but ours was broken so we decided to jump in a friend’s Panga and zoom across the balmy waters framed by the great lush mountains of the Chiriquí. We pulled up to a rough jetty surrounded by lush tropical foliage in the middle of the jungle – no roads, nothing. We were greeted by an evil-looking monkey that was…