Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2016 i Sailing Today

‘UK BUYERS OF EURO›PRICED BOATS WILL HAVE TO PAY MORE FOR THE SAME YACHT’ Like it or loathe it, the UK is now committed to Brexit, and there is bound to be an impact on sailing and the yachting market – although it is too early to assess with certainty the exact extent of this. Within a week, France-based Garcia Yachting, part of the Grand Large group alongside Gunboat, Allures and Outremer Catamarans, was already seeing a Brexit effect as sterling plummeted, the euro followed and the US dollar rose in comparison. Managing director Benoit Lebizay said: “Nobody has used Brexit as an excuse to cancel their order but people don’t always tell you. “For UK buyers of Euro-priced boats it is not going to make things easy as they…

Propeller sculpture Marine engineering at its most beautiful Who would have thought that that barnacled spinny thing under the back of the boat could be such a looker? Sailing Today has run a couple of features on propellers recently and we’ve found the photographs of them quite beautiful (see sailingtoday.co.uk/gear for a slideshow). So we were interested in this idea: Max-Prop has reworked one of its two-blade propellers into a piece of art. The 22in aluminium-bronze propeller is given a superior polish and mounted on a desk stand. The propeller spins on its stand and the pedestal can be modified according to the client’s request. • £1,780 • maxprop.it Alpha Bravo Charlie Nautical codes for nippers, from Morse to semaphore Billed as the ‘first-ever volume of nautical codes for children’…

You arrive at the boat, the evening perfect for a potter. You flick on the nav lights. One’s out. No problem; your burly mate halyard-hoists you up the rig, the bulb is changed and you’re soon on your way. Try another scenario: you arrive on your own or with someone less able at working a winch. What do you do then, other than settle for a sedentary - and frustrating - cockpit sundowner? There’s a third possible outcome: you reach for the solo/assisted mast climbing gear you bought as insurance for this very occasion. There are several different solutions to help ease climbing aloft. Some enable solo ascent, others lighten the load at the winch for the winder. We called in a mix and borrowed a Contest 42CS from UK…

Living on a pontoon in India for two years, despite basic servicing and upkeep, had led to some general deterioration of our boat. For SY Esper, our 25-year-old Oyster 435, to stand a chance of completing a passage to South Africa, she needed to be in the best possible shape. So we spent a full season planning, servicing and preparing. The Maldives – our first stop – seemed like a pretty sweet place for a shakedown. And sure enough, on the second day of our three-day passage to the northernmost port of Uligan things started to go wrong. The engine blower over-heated, setting off the fire extinguisher, and covering the engine compartment in goo. Then the starter motor began to play up and the batteries started to lose their charge.…

When a new manufacturer arrives on the scene, it has a tendency to shake things up with a fresh look at a product. To some extent, this is what happened with Turkey’s Sirena Marine in 2010, when it launched the Bernardo Ceccarelli-designed Azuree 33. With her broad hindquarters and startling looks, here was a forward thinking yacht that was arguably ahead of her time. Not only was she innovative, she was fast too, picking up a class win in the Rolex Middle Sea Race in 2014. Quick, roomy, relatively cheap and stylish. What was not to like? Well, actually there were a few teething problems with the original 33 and that is why Azuree decided to give the boat a few tweaks and relaunch her as the Azuree 33C. I…

SOUTHAMPTON BOAT SHOW 16-25 SEPTEMBER Now in its 48th year, the show will see the world launch of the Oyster 675, Spirit 47CR, and X-Yachts’ X4 and X6, as well as the UK debuts of the J/11S and Dehler 34. There is a new layout this year. 1000-1830 (1800 on Sunday) ST readers can save up to £9 on tickets (£13 each) by entering code ST1 on the website. • southamptonboatshow.com CANNES YACHTING FESTIVAL 6-11 SEPTEMBER, FRANCE The glamorous side to boat shows, sponsored by Porsche. More than 600 boats on display and visitors are being offered makeovers and a rooftop photoshoot! 1000-1900. Tickets €15 (c£12) online or €18 (c£15) on the gate. • cannesyachtingfestival.com LANZAROTE LONG-DISTANCE CRUISING SEMINARS 12-16 SEPTEMBER, MARINA LANZAROTE, ARRECIFE Cornell Sailing…

It was a ‘curiously calm’ June night, about 2am, when photographer Thom Axon took this shot from Flushing village looking over to Falmouth docks. “The light from the docks made the harbour look too sublime to pass by,” said Thom. “Not having my tripod, I rested my camera on a wonky wall and propped the lens using my wallet!” The boats using these moorings along the Trefusis headland vary from cruising yachts to Falmouth working boats. After 10 years of sailing Tall Ships and traditional craft (including skippering the pilot cutter Eve of St Mawes to the Isles of Scilly for a Sailing Today feature) Thom decided to hang up his boat knife in exchange for a camera. His work can be found in galleries across Cornwall and the UK…

Dufour 63 £tbc The trend for larger production cruising yachts seems set to continue with Dufour unveiling preliminary plans for its new leviathan, the Dufour 63. Scheduled to be launched in January 2017, hull number one is already in build. She’s not the first giant we have seen launched by a French manufacturer, with Jeanneau already enjoying success with its 64, launched last year, and Beneteau also lining up the Oceanis 62. The likelihood is that the Dufour will fit into a similar template with an emphasis on both comfort and ease of handling. First impressions are of a slightly racier set up than the 64, with greater owner customisation available. Dufour remains evasive about the precise details behind this new project, but we do know that she is designed…

Amassive incongruous concrete structure lay to starboard and a coaster to port, while ahead of us, just beyond the top of the steeply shelving beach, were a handful of houses. My crew Gavin and I were on board my Folkboat Orzel off Porthoustock, just to the north of Cornwall’s notorious Manacle Rocks – where, it is said, 1,000 sailors have lost their lives over many centuries. We were on our way from St Mawes to the Helford River for a two-day cruise but, before entering the river itself, we had ventured a bit further south to take a look at the coves and creeks which provide good shelter in westerlies. The coaster, we later discovered, was loading gravel from Porthoustock Quarry while the concrete structure was once a loading facility…

 I have a Dutch sailing friend who I’ve overheard making phone calls in her native tongue to her family back home. I’ve also seen her chatting in flowing Spanish with the stallholders at a market in Costa Rica and listened as she hailed the port captain in the Marquesa islands in flawless French. So, as we clink glasses in our cockpit in Fiji, I tease her (in English) about just how jealous I am of her linguistic skills. Because, quite frankly, being fluent in another language when world cruising would definitely have come in handy in our travels so far. ‘IN PORTUGAL IT TOOK ME THE LONGEST TIME TO FIND WE’D MOORED ALONGSIDE A POLICE BERTH’ Our windlass stopped working in Panama and at every stop we made in the…

It is normally considered prudent to avoid areas on the chart that are coloured green, however in the Dutch and German Frisian Islands, it is the abundance of green bits that gives the region its unique charm. To get the best from this area you need a boat that has a shallow draught and ideally one that has a lifting centreboard, leeboards or bilge keels. The Ovni 32 Urchin recently acquired by my friend Chuck draws just 0.6m with the centreboard up and was perfect for the task. Erskine Childers first brought this area, also known as the Waddenzee (in Dutch) or Wattenmeer (German), to the attention of the English public with his immensely popular Riddle of the Sands spy novel in 1903. It was intended to be a wake-up…

FIVE GOLD ANCHORS The marina has 300 berths for yachts up to 65m (213ft); depth ranges from 4m to 6m, and stays are VAT-free. There is also 18,000m2 of dry dock and a 300t travel lift APPROACH From seaward it is straightforward and the shallowest depth on approach is 5m ENTRANCE Marked by red-and-white and red (Fl 4 R. 10s) and green (Fl GR. 3s) striped beacons LEISURE FACILITIES Marina guests can use the private beach and the pool club and gym for free CONSPICUOUS MARK The red-and-white striped tower behind the marina office is visible from 5nm away A virtually undiscovered gem for decades due to restrictions and a lack of marina facilities, the development of Karpaz Gate Marina on the Karpaz peninsula of Northern Cyprus is opening up…

A ripped or holed sail can be a major issue on a long passage. There might be no sailmaker to hand, or you may have many more miles of ocean to cross before you make landfall. In that case, you’re going to need a working repair that will allow you to keep going. Matt Atkins at Kemp Sails said: “Chafe repairs are the most common, with sails catching on sharp objects such as frayed wires or bent split pins/rings. Others include tears as a result of fabric hinging (more of an issue with laminate) or catching on rigging, webbing parting under excessive load and UV damage, which is often hard to see before failure occurs.” REACH FOR THE TAPE Assuming the damage is already done (and we’ll look at tactics…

FIRE CAUSES CHANDLERS CLOSURE An electrical fire at Force 4 Chandlery in Deacons Boat Yard, Bursledon, Hants, caused significant damage to the building and forced the shop to close. It hopes to reopen later in the year. The fire happened in the early hours of 13 June, when no one was in the shop. Staff have been able to work at Force 4’s nearby Swanwick branch instead. “We are relieved that the fire occurred when no one was in the store” said owner Peter McLuskie, “however, there was extensive damage to the building and contents.” Macmillan posts Round UK success After eight weeks, 2,000 nautical miles, 32 different ports, one dolphin escort and various technical problems, two Sail4Macmillan yachts completed their Round Britain sailing challenge. The two 35ft (10.67m) boats,…

Rapido 60 £920,000 Despite the inexorable rise of the cruising catamaran, trimarans remain something of a rarity in the cruising world, particularly when you move into the bluewater bracket. So the launch of the Rapido 60 is good news. She’s designed by Morelli and Melvin, who worked on the Gunboat range, and is built in Vietnam. The design brief for the Rapido was for a very fast, safe, well-appointed cruising yacht. The conclusion was that the best solution was to be found in three hulls. To this end, the Rapido 60 is a stable boat, can go to windward better than most monohulls, and is also comfortable and roomy, featuring forward and aft doubles with ensuites plus additional berths in the saloon area. Made of e-Glass and carbon, sea trials…

Stay and sail Mix beach time with sailing time. Operators typically offer a week in a beach club, with all the comforts and facilities that that implies, then a week on a cruising boat. Choose from flotilla or bareboat options. OCEAN ELEMENTS Based out of Vasiliki on the Greek Ionian island of Le›as – in the midst of some of the Med’s best cruising – the beach club offers a huge range of activities from dinghy sailing to mountain biking. • alpineelements.co.uk/ sailing-holidays NEILSON Two options here: Syvota in Greece, on the mainland opposite Corfu in the northern Ionian, or Vounaki to the south. • neilson.co.uk/sailing SEAFARER With bases throughout the Greek islands, Turkey and Croatia, plus a custom service, there are plenty of options. Flexible stays in a range…

Before I get started with this test I am going to hit you with a number and that number is 64. Why? Because according to Jeanneau’s latest research, this is the average age of its boatowners. In some ways, this is no surprise; 64 is the usual age to retire and what better way to get rid of that burdensome pension than on a yacht? Jeanneau is evidently aware of this fact and its latest offering, the 54, is a yacht that provides ample creature comforts. There’s a dishwasher, washing machine, flat screen TV, three fridges, a wine chiller… Motorboat practicality Yet there is more to Jeanneau’s new design than simply piling in a whole load of luxury electrical goods. She marks a shift in thinking that was initially seen…

JEANNEAU 53 This is a high spec new yacht, although offered for sale through brokerage. She has bow-thrusters, generator, watermaker, full air conditioning, bimini, sprayhood, cockpit cushions, Raymarine electronics, electric winches and furling main and genoa. She’s so new, the Yanmar 100hp engine has recorded only one hour and she doesn’t even have a name! This is a three-cabin version, all with en suite heads. The forward owner’s cabin has an island bed with a large hanging locker and vanity area (or an office space) with a moveable stool. There are also twin aft guest cabins. Elsewhere below there’s an L-shaped galley with double sinks, three hobs, oven, microwave and fridge and freezer. There is a nav station with leatherette surface, and the saloon seats six. The broker says: “This…