Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2020 i Yachting Monthly

Absolutely exhausted. It was only when the boat was finally tied up alongside and I sat down that I realised how tired I felt. This hadn’t be an offshore odyssey, however. The conditions had been perfect – flat water, a Force 3 blowing in from the south west, and few other boats around. I hadn’t even sailed that far – just a few miles in the Solent – as this wasn’t a proper cruise. I had in fact been singlehanding my Sadler 29 during the photoshoot for this month’s article on sailing alone. I had spent the day slipping moorings, setting sail, reefing, heaving to, rigging lines and fenders, manoeuvring alongside and repeating. Busy, in other words, but no more so than any other solo daysail, and much easier than…

10 Crown Estate Scotland has announced the first round of offshore wind leasing in Scottish waters for a decade 01 Ashley Nicholson, 33, has been appointed the first female president of the UK Harbour Masters’ Association. She is the senior harbour master at Grangemouth 1923-2020 Henryk Jaskuła 1923-2020 Tributes have been paid to Henryk Jaskuła, 96, who was the first Pole to circumnavigate the world solo and non-stop. He left Gdynia on Poland’s Baltic coast aboard his yacht Dar Przemyśl, on 12 June 1979 and returned on 20 May 1980. Jaskuła, who died on 14 May 2020, was later awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for his achievement…

For the first time in three years, a boat show will be held in London this January. The UK Boat Show will be based on the days of the Earl’s Court event but with one big difference – it will be a virtual experience only. It has been organised by life-long sailor and virtual technology expert Andy Beharrell, and Beryl Chalmers, a former general manager of the Cruising Association. ‘With a backdrop from the good old days of Earls Court, the virtual London boat show will offer visitors the chance to visit stands, chat to exhibitors live, watch demonstrations, take part in webinars and do virtually everything you could do at a physical show – except perhaps meet up at the Guinness stand,’ explained Chalmers. The event will be non-profitmaking,…

Send your questions to our experts at yachtingmonthly@futurenet.com for the chance to win a bottle of Chilgrove gin THIS MONTH’S EXPERTS Pump vane reversing On almost a weekly basis the same question will come up on yachting forums: ‘Which way does the water pump on my yacht rotate? I am fitting a new impeller and forgot to find out first.’ Responders can spend quite some time researching workshop manuals, whereas others either guess or say it does not matter. I decided to find out what happens in reality. In my home workshop I had an old water pump with an impeller in reasonable condition. I made up a dummy shaft and lever that I could rotate by hand. I then cut a clear cover from an acrylic sheet that was one…

BOAT ▪ Boat well maintained with all known faults rectified ▪ Sail handling arrangement set up with lines back to cockpit if possible ▪ Autopilot or self-steering set up, calibrated and working, with remote if available ▪ Hove-to practised and balanced sail plan checked ▪ Furling headsail and mainsail lazyjacks set up and working ▪ Enough fenders and mooring lines to rig both sides, and means of getting midships line onto a pontoon cleat YOU ▪ Confident you can handle the boat for the given forecast ▪ Practised mooring, manoeuvring and sail handling alone ▪ Well rested ahead of passage ▪ Food and drink prepared in advance and available on deck ▪ Familiar with boat’s key systems and how to troubleshoot each of them PLAN ▪ Short passages and daysailing…

DO YOU ONLY HAVE A WEEK TO SPARE? For those of us who are time poor but who want to seize the moment, either on our own boat or on a charter, it is reassuring to know that there are plenty of cruising hubs from where we can enjoy some of the best of the region in only a few days. This new series, A Week Afloat, commissioned by Yachting Monthly and Imray, visits some ideal destinations and suggests a one-week itinerary. Each article, complete with expanded information about cruising each area, will be available as a PDF download via Imray’s website or Google Play Books. The Gulf of Morbihan is a fabulously scenic inland sea of 50 square miles and about 40 islands, affording some protection from the weather,…

Teenager’s solo round-Britain challenge Schoolboy Timothy Long is planning a single-handed circumnavigation of Britain in a Hunter Impala 28. ‘At 15, I am aiming to become the youngest person to sail solo round Britain’, explained Timothy, who hopes to set sail this July. The teenager, from Buckinghamshire, said: ‘The current record is held by Tom Webb, aged 17, from 2011. I came up with this crazy idea a few years ago. I’ve got my GCSEs next year. That’s why I wanted to do it now, so it didn’t get in the way.’ His parents will be driving around the coast as his shore support team: ‘It’s quite an adventure by land as well. I’ll be meeting them at arranged points because I can’t take all the charts and food I…

BRIDGING OUR DIFFERENCES £11.99 Gerry S M Hughes, New Generation Publishing Scottish sailor Gerry Hughes was born profoundly deaf – misfortune enough, one might think. But this was compounded by an educational system which insisted deaf children should be taught by lip reading, rather than in their natural language of signing. Gerry reached age 13 unable to read or write and detached from his own identity. His struggles to learn (and to become a teacher) are horrifying. Sailing with his father off the west coast of Scotland was a happier experience yet the barriers to independent achievement and recognition were almost equally daunting. Hughes suffered from depression but persevered. He was the first deaf yachtsman to complete the OSTAR – and then went further. An inspiring book. COASTAL SCOTLAND £25…

UNFURLING If you were to look down from the top of the mast, the foil usually rolls onto the foil in anti-clockwise direction, that is, the unfurled sail comes off the starboard side of the foil, though it’s worth checking on yours. This is the key to getting in-mast furling to work correctly; trying to furl on a port tack drags the full height of the sail over the side of the mast slot, adding friction where there shouldn’t be any. Furling on starboard tack obviates most of this friction while you furl. Whether letting the sail in or out, the first thing is to release the backstay (to straighten the mast so the foil doesn’t rub) and put the boat on a starboard tack – with the wind slightly…

1 PREPARE TO SET SAIL ‘Before raising, lowering, or reefing the mainsail,’ explains Kim Petersen, Elvstrøm Denmark’s in-boom sail specialist, ‘get into the habit of always releasing the backstay tension – this will successfully straighten the mast and takes any flattening tension out of the sail – and then making sure the boom is at the correct angle – this is extremely important.’ To raise the sail, after slackening the back stay and adjusting the boom level, point the boat into the wind, release the mainsheet and take up on the mainsail halyard, making sure that the furling line can run free as you hoist the mainsail. Once set, increase the halyard tension until the horizontal creases at the luff have just gone. 2 REDUCING SAIL POWER If you don’t…

S/Y LARUS (1998) Owners Alan and Sue Thomas bought Larus, a Dufour 30 ‘Integral’ with lifting keel, at the 1998 London Boat Show and have owned her ever since. She was first splashed in July 1998, just in time for Alan’s 50th birthday. Since then they have made many minor modifications, the most important being to the running rigging to allow full control from the cockpit. ‘She was an inexpensive French production boat with the bare minimum of deck gear,’ explained Alan. ‘Just three clutches on the starboard side of the coachroof for the halyards and keel uphaul, with all reefing controls, main outhaul and topping lift at the mast. I have since fitted deck organisers, extra clutches to starboard and four new ones to port. ‘The jib sheets were…

If you have a news story to share, contact News Editor Katy Stickland Email Katy.Stickland@futurenet.com Tel 01252 555 166 An independent review is calling for the introduction of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) around England and Northern Ireland. Environmentalists have welcomed the findings of the former environment minister Richard Benyon, who is recommending establishing, for the first time, HPMAs in inshore and offshore English waters and the offshore waters of Northern Ireland. The management of waters off Wales and Scotland is devolved regionally. A spokesman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said the Government would be responding to the Benyon Review in due course. There are currently 182 designated Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in England, which include Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs). The review argues that…

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) says it will be looking at a new study which could improve search and rescue techniques. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new algorithm which analyses ocean conditions such as the strength and direction of currents, surface winds, and waves, and identifies in real-time the areas where floating objects are likely to converge. The method has also been tested in the ocean using mannequins. ‘This method uses data in a way that it hasn’t been used before, so it provides first responders with a new perspective,’ explained MIT’s Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Thomas Peacock. He said the research was ‘freely available to search and rescue organisatons’ and is ‘out there for anyone to use.’ Like other coastguard agencies, the…

Send us your questions in less than 200 words by email yachtingmonthly@futurenet.com or by post Yachting Monthly, TI Media, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF WIN The letter of the month wins a bottle of Pusser’s Rum, produced to Admiralty specification and served daily to every sailor in the Royal Navy for more than 300 years (UK residents only) www.pussers.com Plea from the buoys with large feet I love YM and have written in and supported the magazine in the past with ‘mast climbing advice’ and comparison tests, although I have just retired. This summer I plan to fulfil a life-long ambition, and take my boat across the Atlantic (ARC+). I have a problem… large feet. Until 2018, Musto made both sailing boots and shoes in…

Q I used to do a lot of windsurfing and sail small boats like Wayfarers. I have also crewed, but skippered a yacht once during a passage through the Caledonian Canal. I was planning to complete my RYA Day Skipper later in the year with a view to chartering as part of a family holiday next year. By accident, I came across a Dufour T7 for sale with an asking price of £2,500. This set me off searching and I realised there are plenty of older day/weekend sailing boats available for under £5,000. Mooring fees in a harbour near me are around £600 a year so this made me wonder if owning a small boat to use at the weekend, maybe sleeping overnight in the harbour, would allow me to…

Singlehanded sailing is often something we associate with feats of adventure and endurance, bringing forward ideas of the lone sailor heading off across oceans. Setting off on a significant offshore voyage on your own is a truly specialist activity where you are likely to experience sleep deprivation, the stresses of being alone for long periods of time and the possibility of facing inclement weather by yourself. That may well not be for all of us, but closer to home, many of us are likely to sail alone – be it regularly or just the odd occasion, a short coastal trip or a longer voyage, or when a crew member is laid low by seasickness or other ailment. You might end up without a crew and face the choice of leaving…

Whether it’s a spilt litter tray, pet passports or dogs overboard, sailing with furry friends can be a challenge, but since a pet is often an integral member of the family, leaving them at home is simply not an option for some. When we got a kitten, I spoke to past and present cruisers to find out the realities of living on the water with a pet, to ensure our upcoming voyage was memorable for all the right reasons. MOVEMENT AROUND THE BOAT Whether the pet or the boat comes first, there are several considerations to keep in mind when it comes to reconciling the two to each other. Moving between above and below decks on a monohull can be tricky; modern yachts tend to have less vertiginous companionways and…

1 KEEP YOUR PHONE HANDY Always keep your mobile phone with you – it will be no good to you on the chart table should you get into serious trouble. I’ve since learned that you can make an emergency call in a couple of button pushes. Knowing that function would certainly have helped me. Also don’t keep it in a top pocket where it could fall out easily. 2 REMEMBER YOUR BERTH OR MOORING NUMBER Finding a boat on a river mooring or marina berth is more difficult than offshore or out at sea, so always remember your berth or mooring number as the emergency services will need this. 3 SWITCH ON AIS Turning on AIS (Automatic Identification System) would have helped. AIS devices use VHF frequencies to transmit their…

As with much sport during the pandemic, the Original Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race (OSTAR), due to set off from Plymouth in May, has been postponed until 2021. The event was expected to be a major celebration, marking 60 years since the first race, and although it will now take place a year later, the plan is still to celebrate the achievement. One man for whom the event was set to be his swan song, racing for a sixth and final time, is Mervyn Wheatley. In a remarkable offshore sailing career that has made him a hero among Corinthian ocean sailors, he has competed both singlehanded and with crews, as well as cruising extensively across oceans and in coastal waters. We caught up with him during lockdown as he reflected on how…

Mark Blackburn has sailed all his life. He completed an eastbound Atlantic crossing on Daq Attack in 2004 and has sailed the Med, North Sea, English Channel and the Baltic. As veterans of UK and French inland waterways we thought we knew it all: we were wrong. Dad’s Hallberg Rassy 352, Amarylla, surged about in the fierce surface currents of the first Göta Canal lock, bouncing off the other boats. Our first lock keeper after leaving Mem instructed us on the Swedish lock tying up method but we didn’t listen. By the third lock we were paying attention. On each up lock we now tied a short stern line and secured it to the iron rings on the top of the lock sides, then ran a long line from a…

ZHIK NECK GAITER BREATHE EASY AT SEA £39.95 Many sailors already wear a Buff or similar to keep their face and neck warm, but the Zhik version features a front section that’s designed to prevent moisture build-up, and therefore chafing, when worn over the nose and mouth. It also functions as PPE in these Covid-19 times… The quick-drying, breathable, stretch tube keeps water, sun and wind away to keep you warm in cooler weather, though it is quite a lot more expensive than other similar products. www.zhik.com OCEAN SIGNAL KIT MOB RESCUE PACKAGE £849.99 Ocean Signal has combined two AIS products to create a complete man overboard system. It unites the latest in AIS tech in the ATB1 transponder with two rescueME MOB1 man overboard beacons. The compact MOB1 communicates…

1 UNDERSTAND YOUR SYSTEM First to check is to have a look inside your mast at which way your system should furl. If your furling system has the option, put a winch handle in the furling mechanism at the mast and turn it the direction indicated to make sure the sail is going into the mast in the correct direction. Clicking over the ratchet at the mast before it’s time to furl will ensure it always rolls in the right direction. 2 ASSESS YOUR SAILS The biggest cause of problems is the sail itself – how old it is and the material it is made from. Stretch in the cloth makes baggy sails, which furling systems will happily munch on. Furling mainsails are cut flatter than conventional slab-reefing sails as…

If you want to tell us why you love your boat, get in touch by email yachtingmonthly@futurenet.com or by post Yachting Monthly, TI Media, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF In the 1990s, Dufour Yachts was becoming a dominant brand in the French production yacht market and was popular both in the charter business and with private owners. The Classic 30 was particularly well-liked by those starting out in sailing, often with young families. They were quite pretty, almost traditional in a GRP way, and conservatively designed, both hull and rig-wise. Saying that, the Slovenian design team, J&J, were no slouches when it came to performing hulls and modern rigs and sail plans. She has a fairly plumb stem, pronounced transom scoop, a sweeping sheer line…

DUFOUR Classic 30 DESIGNER Oliver Poncin/J&J Designs BUILT 1997-2002 PRICE £17,500-£25,000 LOA 9.01m/29ft 6in LWL 8.03m/26ft 4in BEAM 3.00m/9ft 8in DRAFT Deep fin 1.42m/4ft 8in DRAFT Twin/Shoal 1.15m/3ft 9in DISPL 3,100kg/6,834lb BALLAST 1,064kg/2,346lb SAIL AREA 45.00m²/452sq ft WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY… NICK VASS, Marine Surveyor (www.omega-yachtservices.co.uk) The Dufour Classic 30 is a well-made and good-looking yacht that has stood the test of time better than many other French yachts. Dufours can suffer from squeaky decks and the 30s are often found with cracks on the superstructure. In general, early French yachts were lightly built and did tend to flex but the Classic 30 is better in this regard. It’s not as ‘bendy’ as other French yachts, where the inner stiffening mouldings can part from the inside of the hull. The…

Email yachtingmonthly@futurenet.com Post Confessions, Yachting Monthly, TI Media, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF Send us your stories in less than 200 words Asleep with the fishes Ed Beard The veteran skipper of a successful racing yacht invited me to join his seasoned crew for an offshore season. As a novice to high-performance sailing, I was eager to show everyone how helpful and competent I could really be. Before long I was promoted from winch-grinding to galley mate. Although my porridge was reviewed as having ‘plaster of Paris consistency’, my early efforts paid off as I began to earn the crew’s trust and respect. This changed during one particularly hardfought race from England to France, when the bowman called through the howling wind and driving…

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) had been notified after a 24ft Shrimper collided with the Sandbanks chain ferry and became pinned to the vessel’s prow. The incident happened around 1530 on 21 June 2020 in Poole harbour as the ferry was heading towards Sandbanks. The two people on board were not injured and were recovered onto the ferry. The crew of Poole RNLI lifeboat towed the yacht clear. Conditions in the harbour were choppy with a strong ebb tide and a fresh southwesterly wind.…

Bill Parker, who built the Parker range of lift keel yachts, has died, aged 83. Born in Boston, Lincolnshire, Bill was described by his family as a ‘naturally gifted’ boatbuilder. At the age of 16, he saw John Westell’s design for the 505 racing dinghy which started Bill’s boatbuilding career. He built the dinghy and sailed it on The Haven, the tidal river which runs through Boston; he also introduced boat building to the family joinery firm. Initially, the 505 was cold moulded before this changed to GRP construction. It was a popular boat, particularly amongst the French sailing fraternity. The 505 went on to win numerous races including 18 world championships. Bill established Parker Yachts and moved the family firm to a larger factory at Kirton in 1973-74. But…

Anchored alone in Baltimore after taking part in a bruising Jester Challenge with a ripped mainsail, and an old back injury reawakened whilst anchoring, I knew I must reach safety within 24 hours; so, at 0215 I pointed Pippin’s bows for the moon, which hung conveniently over Baltimore’s entrance. Lot’s somewhat misplaced wife, now a pillar of stone for she had disobeyed the Angel and looked back when fleeing Sodom, slept atop her dark headland, as I set course for Crosshaven, 54 miles east. It was a limp sort of morning: the ensign hung limp, the Irish flags hung limp, the wind hung limp and I hung limp. Only the sea was alive, rolling lazily in from the Atlantic. Pippin motor-sailed past Galley and Kinsale Heads and around lunchtime, on…

Could you berth safely in a strong cross wind? Q Andy and his wife Janet are reaching the end of a day’s sail to a favourite harbour on board Sea Thrift, a Bavaria 34 fin-keeled yacht. The marina berth is booked, the sails are stowed, the fenders and warps ready. On calling the marina on Channel 80 they are given berth A6. As they approach they realise that booking was essential as it is the only visitor’s berth available. The wind is blowing inwards at 10 to 15 knots between the pontoons A and B, so they will be berthing alongside A6, a finger pontoon. On A7, the next berth outwards, is a yacht whose stern is sticking out into the channel, making the gap between A and B pontoons…

Before taking on any planned solo voyage, your boat handling should be up to scratch, but even the best sailors will find their skills improving quickly from a bit of time on the water alone. Thinking through manoeuvring into and out of marinas berths and moorings, and then practising this a few times can take away some of the stress of a solo trip. At sea you need to be able to heave-to or stop comfortably, as this will give you time to boil the kettle, tend to any problems, or even have a quick break. Manoeuvres such as tacking or reefing can also be rehearsed: which lines are eased or hauled in first, and when to put the helm down will be particular to your boat, but can be…

Arctic terns are said to return to Orkney ‘in the first mist of May’. What happens next is unpredictable – as Stephen Rutt discovered when he worked as a volunteer with the bird observatory on North Ronaldsay. Averages are unhelpful with terns. They are boom and bust – sometimes in the same season. It took them a week from when they arrived to settle down into their colonies. It took until July for summer to arrive. In the intervening two months of rain the nests in the bog by the loch were washed out, eggs got cold, the vegetation didn’t grow and didn’t hide their eggs from the skuas. I watched what looked like team work, or perhaps just bold opportunism, as one skua emptied the colony of adults, before…

Unlike in-mast furling, in-boom systems can be retrofitted in place of conventional slab reefing. For an in-boom furling system to work efficiently, however, it has to overcome a number of problems. First of all, the sail has to be led from the boom to the mast, but there needs to be space for the bearings for the central mandrel and the boom’s gooseneck fitting, so the whole sail has to move aft along the boom. To combat this, many in-boom systems have a protruding track on the trailing edge of the mast, while other units have the reefing mechanism at the aft end of the boom, or sometimes you’ll find a combination of both. Whatever the system, there is usually a flexible feeder to guide the sail from the boom…