Practical Boat Owner March 2016

with the editor No business like show business I’m writing this the day after the last day of London Boat Show and, first of all, would like to say a big thank-you to all those readers who made the journey and took the time to come and visit us on board our project boat Hantu Biru. London was her final public appearance before we draw the competition to find her new owner: entries are now closed, and as soon as we have sifted through the thousands of entry forms from the magazine, website and three boat shows, will let you know where she will be making her new home. The winner will be picked at random, which is perhaps a good thing – we’ve met so many people to whom…

SEND US YOUR STORIES Email news editor Laura Hodgetts at newspbo@timeinc.com, tel: 01202 440825 News and current affairs from the world of boating A further 23 Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) have been announced for English seas, bringing the total number of marine protection sites around the country’s coast to 50. Among the 4,155 square miles of newly-created MCZs is the Needles site, which includes Colwell, Totland and Alum Bays; Cromer Shoal Chalk Beds – a reef which stretches 20 miles (30km); Land’s End, one of the South-West’s most recognised areas and renowned for its rugged coastline; Farnes East, one of the deepest patches of the North Sea, reaching to between 30-100m in depth; Greater Haig Fras, the only substantial area of rocky reef in the Celtic Sea and Mounts Bay,…

■ Notts & Lincs Boat Jumble, 7 February, Newark Showground, Newark On Trent, NG24 2NY, Entry £4, www.boat-jumbles.co.uk ■ Gosport Boat Jumble, 21 February, Haslar Marina, Gosport, Hants. PO12 1NU. Entry £4. ■ Essex Boat Jumble, 28 February, Ardleigh Showground, Ardleigh, near Colchester, CO7 7QR. Entry £4. ■ RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show, 5-6 March, Alexandra Palace, London, www.rya.org.uk ■ Kent Boat Jumble, 6 March, The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Kent. TN12 6PY. Entry £4. ■ Weymouth Leviathan, 12-13 March, Britain’s only dedicated maritime literature festival, www.weymouthleviathan.org.uk ■ Fish & Ships, 9-10 April, Osprey Quay, Portland with new and used boats for sale, watersports demonstrations, sailing opportunities, food stalls and musical entertainment. ■ Irish Boat Jumble, 10 April 2016, Carrickfergus Sailing Club, Rodger’s Quay, Carrickfergus, Co.Antrim, www.irishboatjumble.org ■ Horning Boat…

There are few greater influences on the sport of sailing than Sir Robin Knox-Johnston – winner of the 1968-69 Golden Globe Race. Far from fading into obscurity, the tale of the ‘disturbingly normal’ 29-year-old merchant navy officer becoming the first non-stop solo circumnavigator in his self-built 32-footer, Suhaili, has become a modern myth. The race itself has inspired dozens of written accounts plus the award-winning 2006 documentary Deep Water, and a new film about the tragic Donald Crowhurst, starring Colin Firth, is due to be released this year. On the water, over 3,000 sailors have participated in 10 editions of Knox-Johnston’s Clipper round-the-world race, and he has now inspired fellow solo circumnavigator Don McIntyre to found a brand-new ‘retro’ round-the-world race – an event that is already oversubscribed more than…

Antonio Felipe Garcia Martinez (USA, 39 in 2018) plans to sail his Westsail 32 from San Francisco via Australia to the start in Falmouth. Shane Freeman (Australia, 63 in 2018) has owned and cruised numerous boats. He plans to sail his Tradewind 35 to the UK a year early, in 2017. Fabrizio Ladi Bucciolini (Italy, 53 in 2018) is an experienced cruiser with well-respected adventure skipper, John Harries, as his shore team manager. www.bluechallenge.org Neree Cornuz (Italy, 29 in 2018) is a former Italian naval officer turned sailing instructor with several offshore race campaigns and thousands of ocean miles under his belt. Roy Butler Hubbard (USA, 29 in 2018) has racked up thousands of coastal and offshore miles from his base in Maine, New England. Uku Randmaa (Estonia, 55 in…

Ian Reid (58 in 2018) is a farmer from Somerset with 50 years of sailing experience. Mike Garside, a solo circumnavigator (Around Alone race 1998-99) is team manager and mentor. www.reidosea.co.uk Chris Jacks (33 in 2018) took up sailing in 2012 and has since taken his Yachtmaster exam. He is planning a solo circumnavigation of the UK in 2016, and the 2017 OSTAR aboard his Nicholson 32, Roma. Susie Bundegaard Goodall (29 in 2018) is the only woman in the race. She was brought up sailing from a young age, becoming a sailing instructor at the age of 18. She is now crewing aboard a sail-training/expedition yacht. Tim Newson (38 in 2018) runs his own sailing school with experience of cruising to the Scilly Isles and Brittany, the North Sea…