Practical Boat Owner April 2016

with the editor To receive the editor’s monthly email newsletter, sign up on our website: www.pbo.co.uk It’s been quite a busy month. In the aftermath of London Boat Show, it’s been all hands to the pump to find our Project Boat Hantu Biru’s new owner, a mere matter of processing several thousand competition entries filled in from the magazine, online or from the forms handed out at boat shows around the UK. We’ve had a tremendous response, and I’d like to thank all those readers who have taken such a lively interest in the project, visited us on the boat and made the 46 days the PBO team have spent standing at boat shows both interesting and enjoyable. During the competition, many of you made such convincing cases for winning…

News and current affairs from the world of boating SEND US YOUR STORIES Email news editor Laura Hodgetts at newspbo@timeinc.com, tel: 01202 440825 Anna Millington, an electronics engineer from Ferndown, Dorset, has won the PBO Project Boat, the Snapdragon 23 Hantu Biru. She had been following the boat’s restoration since becoming a PBO subscriber a year ago as a birthday present. The PBO Project Boat free prize draw attracted almost 6,000 entries via magazine entry forms, online at pbo.co.uk and at the Southampton, Scotland and London boat shows. All the entries were added to a database by an independent company, and the winner was picked at random. Anna said she was ‘absolutely made up’ to win Hantu Biru after entering online, and can’t wait to learn to sail with her…

■ 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 ■ Pre-Season Boat Show at Swanwick Marina, 5-6 March,10am-4pm, www.premiermarinas.com ■ Kent Boat Jumble, 6 March, The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Kent. TN12 6PY. Entry £4. ■ Peter Leonard Marine boat jumble and boat clearance sale, 20 March from 9am, Newhaven, www.plmarine.com ■ Fish & Ships, 9-10 April, Osprey Quay, Portland, with new and used boats for sale, watersports demonstrations, sailing opportunities and food stalls and musical entertainment, in aid of local charities. ■ Irish Boat Jumble, 10 April 2016, Carrickfergus Sailing Club, Rodger’s Quay, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, www.irishboatjumble.org ■ West of Scotland Boat Jumble, 1 May, opens 10am, Scottish Maritime Museum, The…

Send us your local news stories. Email PBO news editor Laura Hodgetts at newspbo@timeinc.com, tel: 01202 440825, or write to the address on page 5 SOUTH DEVASTATING BLAZE A large accidental fire at Medina Village industrial estate, Cowes destroyed 30 boats – including two classic yachts whose restorations were nearing completion. The explosive blaze started in a car repair workshop and swept through industrial and storage units on 25 January. Among the yachts lost were the Dunkirk Little Ship Vere, 15 Etchell keelboats, seven XOD One Designs, five Dragon keelboats, the Mylne yacht Fedoa, which was being restored by Moreton Marine, and the Sibbick yacht Witch that was being restored by Martin Nott on the same premises. Site owner, the Harrison Trust, said Medina Village has reopened, and demolition work…

MAY ISSUE ON SALE THURSDAY, MARCH 24 PRACTICAL A high-speed tender ■ The fastest flubber in the west? Plus ■ Understanding metal fatigue ■ Gas safety on board ■ Fitting a folding prop ■ Car engine as boat spare, part two – renovation and reassembly TESTED Cordless drills ■ An essential tool for any boat owner – but which to choose? Pulse compression radar ■ Does it live up to the claims of sharp imagery and easy Wi-Ficonnectivity? BOATS Allures 45, Exploration 45 ■ Two very different, French-built, aluminium-hulled cruising yachts 31-33ft cruisers ■ Some groundbreaking early GRP designs SEAMANSHIP Modern navigation ■ Get the best from digital and paper The Bermudan rig ■ Everything you need to know CRUISING The Hebridean triangle ■ A bracing week-long charter sail in…

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