Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2020 i Yachting Monthly

Sailing is to be a key part of a new tourism campaign to attract people to Scotland in 2020. The Year of Coasts and Waters aims to complement the Scottish Government’s longer term investment in marine tourism. The River of Light during October’s Scotland’s Boat Show and the Fife Regatta on the Clyde in June are among events planned. A new digital audio trail, Munro Bagging by Boat, has also been launched via the free Geotourist app to encourage more sailors to visit the west coast. The CEO of Sail Scotland, Alan Rankin said the country’s maritime asset was becoming more integral to the Scottish economy. The Awakening the Giant marine tourism strategy 2015-2020 aimed to increase visitor expenditure from sailing from £101m to £145m; it reached £131m in 2016.…

Launched 150 years ago, the Cutty Sark remains one of the most famous ships in the world. The 19th-century clipper was the fastest ship of its day, delivering cargo between Australia and Britain. Now plans are under way to build a full-scale £25m replica called Cutty Sark 2. It will be built as closely as possible to original designs, with concessions to modern safety techniques. The Cutty Sark 2 Sail Foundation Trust has brought together an international team with experience of the design, construction and operation of tall ships and will be led by Vladimir Martus, who was responsible for the full-size replica of Peter the Great’s 1703 flagship, Shtandart Cutty Sark 2 will be used for sail training and to promote and demonstrate ‘green’ cargo transport.…

Beguiling beauty, for those new to the sea, is found to a be common bedfellow with complete disorientation. A straight line is maintained by continual adjustments to the helm. Tide pulls one way and then another, depths vary with phases of the moon, plates slide off the table, and then there’s the weather. It’s not until you give authority to the weather that you truly realise quite how dynamic it is. No plan can hold fast before its assault as assumptions turn to dust on a minute-by-minute basis. There is, however, one absolute on board that is treated with reverence. A safe haven within this void of change is that of a decent chart. As one of the foundations of safety, I am continually amazed at the number of boats…

Q Why do sailors not mount a small outboard on a yacht’s rudder? Why are the brackets made to mount on the transom when the rudder is already mounted on the transom? Westerly made the GK24 in two models: a pocket cruiser with a 6hp inboard engine, and a racing yacht that had no engine, was lighter, and went over waves instead of through them. I bought a Westerly GK24 because I love racing. It has proved to be a wonderfully strong, sound and fast yacht. The 10hp outboard is mounted on the transom, next to the rudder. In the marina on the Thames, in London, I must steer by turning both the outboard and the rudder simultaneously (while I tie up or pass through lock gates or pick up…

The long chain of the Dodecanese islands, 12 in number, hence the name, are located in the eastern part of the Aegean Sea, adjacent to the Turkish coast. The islands are increasingly popular with cruising yachtsmen and most would agree that Arki, almost at the north of the chain, is something very special. It is compact, walking from one end to the other can be accomplished in about an hour, has very little traffic and a population of around 40. Despite this it boasts three good tavernas, with another two just across the water at the neighbouring islet of Marathos, but the chief reasons for its popularity are its spectacular beauty, its wildlife and the remarkable sense of peace it offers visitors. The only harbour on the island is Port…

Send your sailing gossip, diary dates, cruising news and club or owners’ association updates to Katy Stickland katy.stickland@ti-media.com Record number of yachts leave for ARC 2019 More than a thousand sailors from 53 countries have left Les Palmas de Gran Canaria bound for St Lucia as part of Atlantic Rally for Cruisers 2019. Sir Chay Blyth fired the starting gun for the 34th rally, which has a record 283 yachts taking part. First over the mile-long line was Pierre Caouette’s Outremer 5X Bio Trek. The crew of the Oyster Lightwave 48, Scarlet Oyster, which included Greig City Academy’s Seun Williams, led the 26 boats in this year’s racing division while the Dufour 520, Bianco, led the cruising division. Ann MacDonald has done the ARC several times aboard her Moody 419…

1 PAINT PREPARATION Ensure the antifoul is kept at room temperature so it flows and mixes well, (store in your car, or boatshed with the lids on). Standing a tin in a bucket of warm water beforehand will do the same job. Cover the tin completely with an old towel and open the lid carefully to prevent splashbacks from pressure build-up. 2 STIR AND POUR Stir well as the contents, particularly the active ingredients and heavy metal particles, settle and it’s important to achieve a homogenous coating. Pour into a roller paint tray, or a sturdy paint pot and always re-secure the lid of the tin as solvents will evaporate quickly. 3 CHOOSE YOUR ROLLER CAREFULLY To ensure a suitably thick coating is applied, use a medium-pile simulated mohair or…

CONFISSION OF THE MONTH Dragging to windward windward Keith Greenfield On a recent charter cruise to the Hebrides we had taken shelter in Canna harbour in near gale conditions. We had dropped anchor as all visitor moorings were taken, but our 25kg Rocna was holding nicely. Three of us then left the boat in the dinghy to stretch our legs ashore, leaving the others on board keeping anchor watch. On reaching shore we looked back and observed in horror our yacht apparently ‘drifting’ forwards, into the wind and towards her anchor, threatening to pick up her hook! For a moment we just couldn’t compute what was happening and began yelling back at the remaining crew members still on board, hunkered down below. Fortunately one of the crew just happened to…

Are your yacht’s registration details up to date? The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is reminding skippers to check their current details on the UK Ship Register, including the Small Ships Register are correct, following the sinking of 29m yacht Asia off the Indonesian coast. The Australian maritime authority, JRCC Australia received a HF DSC distress alert from the Asia on 22 November 2019 after the yacht hit an object and began sinking. Initially identifying the charter yacht to be UK registered, JRCC Australia alerted HM Coastguard which was subsequently unable to find the yacht on the UK register. It did pick up a US registered EPIRB that had been activated nearby. Officers made contact with the beacon’s registered emergency contact who confirmed the Asia was carrying the activated EPIRB,…

A public consultation is under way into the future management of rivers, estuaries and coastal waters around England. The Environment Agency (EA) Challenges and Choices consultation is seeking views from the public on how these areas will be managed from 2021. Dry weather, river flow, climate change, pollution and invasive non-native species are just some of the challenges facing the EA. It said feedback would help it review and update its river basin management plans, which cover estuaries and coastal waters out to one mile. Director of water, land and biodiversity at the EA, Pete Fox said climate change and a growing population was adding pressure to the water environment. ‘It is vitally important that we find the right balance between our daily water needs, industry and nature to ensure…

DUFOUR’S NEW 530 Making her world debut at Boot Düsseldorf, the new 530 is a merger of Dufour’s Grand Large and Performance ranges. The 530 comes in three versions. The 530 Easy has a stripped-back cabin roof layout, and control of all the lines which are led back to the helm — essentially it’s a base model. The 530 Ocean offers a more traditional deck layout. The halyards are led to the aft cockpit/helm position, along with two additional winches for genoa and mainsheet control. A full-width mainsheet traveler is on the coach roof. The 530 Performance model is an evolution of the Performance range. Aimed at owners wishing to race competitively, as well as maximise their cruising experience. The 530 Performance features an upgraded mast and boom, increased sail…

It was like swimming through a mirror. The deep blue Ionian Sea was turned liquid light reflecting the windless midday sun. The island of Corfu lay about eight miles to the north of my left arm, the mainland of Greece further away to my paddling right-hand fist. I wondered, as the powerful hull of White Dragon, a Kraken 66, motored ever further away if, during the Autumn months, it would be possible for me to make the speckled rocks of the island before succumbing to hypothermia. So I kept on swimming. There was no tide to worry about, but eight miles is a long way and, beginning to feel discomforted by my indulgent analysis, I instead wondered when White Dragon was going to turn around and come back for me.…

SPECIFICATIONS MAKE/MODEL Hanse 508 PRICE FROM £332,750 inc VAT DESIGNER judel/vrolijk & Co BUILDER Hanse Yachts Looking at today’s production cruising yachts, it can be hard to imagine where their design might be going next. For decades, the trend has been for each new generation to be beamier, higher in the freeboard and with more volume than the one before, and there’s only so far you can go down that path. At the same time, rigs have become easier to manage and manoeuvrability under power is better than ever before. On top of that, advances in electronics have made possible things that would barely have been imagined by designers and sailors alike only a few years ago. PERFORMANCE FIGURES These trends are all very much in evidence with the latest…

For more than 100 years the rules remained largely unaltered. The latest iteration – The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (IRPCS or ColRegs) – was in 1972. There have, of course, been further amendments addressing, among other things, the use of radar and conduct in traffic separation schemes (TSS). So far there is no mention of VHF or AIS for collision avoidance. The last amendment was in 2003 when reference to Wing-in-Ground (WIG) craft – planes which fly low to the ground to take advantage of ground effect forces – was included, and formalised by the IMO in 2018. ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT Clearly without the ColRegs being revised in the last 17 years, much has changed for users of the sea. Although the basics of boats meeting has…

Legendary Yachting Monthly editor, Maurice Griffiths, was passionate about making sailing affordable and accessible to all which led him to design a fleet of DIY pocket cruisers. The Eventide, which was launched in 1957, was the flagship of this fleet. Available in 24ft and 26ft, although some sailors did build them larger, most were built by resourceful owners eager to experience the escapism sailing could bring to those living in post-war Britain. She had a shallow draught, twin bilge plates and central ballast keel; a fin keel version was also available. This meant the Eventide could dry out and be used to explore further, with some pushing the yacht more than intended, most notably by Lt Cdr Edward Atkinson, who in 1959 had sailed the Eventide Borer Bee (Sail No.…

Rubbish,’ said my wife, Christobel, who had read that visiting Faversham was hard and was goading me. As we know only too well, Faversham sits inland from the East Swale on the North Kent coast and its creek is well buoyed. Like any ditch-crawling, it can be safely navigated as long as you use caution. Luckily Whimbrel, our clinker-built Finesse 24, is long-keeled with a centre plate and has moderate draft – ideal for this sort of cruising. Faversham is a gem worth exploring. The town is steeped in history and if the local brewer is brewing, then the air has a mouthwatering malty smell. While here, we often do a circular walk to the village of Oare, lunching at The Shipwright’s Arms on the way. For dinner, a multitude…

ADAM FIANDER Having sailed since the early 1990s, Adam cruised and raced a variety of yachts from maxis to dinghies. He has years of experience working with antifoul products and produced the video for the BCF’s Safe Antifouling Initiative. www.safeantifouling.com No one likes the annual effort and cost of antifouling, but keeping the underside of a yacht free of the unsightly, costly and potentially harmful effects of aquatic fouling has challenged and vexed owners for decades. Apart from a few exceptions where water is at its coldest, almost no matter where you keep your yacht in the UK, sailors are faced with some of the harshest and most virulent underwater fouling in Europe. Green and brown seaweed, slime, kelp, sponges, sea squirts, worm casings, barnacles and muscles are vying to…

Any large spillages should be contained and collected with non-combustible absorbent materials such as sand or earth and disposed of properly as hazardous waste. All PPE, apart from goggles, should be disposed of in appropriate hazardous waste collection bins. Scrapings from your tarpaulin can be emptied into an old tin and disposed of likewise. Dirty water from washing down the hull should be disposed of in bunded catchment drains. Please don’t casually discard this in a hedgerow or scatter it across the boatyard as the biocides will leach into the groundwater. Don’t take any contaminated equipment, half-used tins of paint or soiled PPE off-site. In particular, don’t retain these in your car and then drive off because the paint and solvent fumes may impair your ability to drive safely, or…

The Irish Coast Guard has launched an investigation after a report that a Rescue 400 lifejacket, used by many volunteers, had failed to fully inflate. The move has led to the suspension of the service’s inshore rescue boats, including Delta RIBS and D-Class boats, stationed at 23 locations around the coast. The Coast Guards shoreline and cliff rescue services, along with its rescue helicopters, remain operational. The RNLI, community rescue boats and the Irish Naval Service will provide cover to affected areas. A spokesman for the Irish Coast Guard said it was liaising closely with all key stakeholders and Search and Rescue (SAR) providers. ‘The Coast Guard is evaluating all options and is confident of a timely resolution of the matter,’ said the spokesman. The RNLI’s 46 lifeboat stations are…

Brian Meerloo, a co-founder of the Cobramold boatbuilding brand and inspiration behind many of the Leisure yachts, has died. During his 30-year career, Meerloo produced the popular Leisure 17 trailer sailer as well as the L17SL, L20, L22, L23/23SL, L27 and L29. The editor of Saltings, the Journal of the Leisure Owners Association, Kevin Gilroy, said that Brian was a ‘larger than life character, well suited to the wild-west nature of post-war GRP production, which provided him with a 30-year business career that was sometimes highly rewarding, sometimes desperate, but always exciting.’ Meerloo co-founded Cobramold in 1959 and only moved into boat building in 1964, producing the 39ft Caribbean Norfolk Broads Cruiser. The Leisure 17, designed by Arthur Howard, followed, launched at the 1967 London Boat Show at Earl’s Court.…

Lightning struck the sea next to the boat as we made slow going in a 4m confused swell on the 190-mile passage from Enggano. By dawn the weather system had eased and Krakatoa lay in front of us. Our plan was to sail to Borneo from Thailand round the western coast of Sumatra, taking in the remote Mentawai islands and the Krakatoa archipelago on the way. In 2018 Anak Krakatoa began chucking clouds of dust and magma into the air. But it was not considered dangerous, and a couple of friends had sent back images of the smoking volcano from their boats where they anchored. Then, as we prepared to leave Thailand in December, news of a devastating explosion at Anak Krakatoa rocked Southeast Asia. The tsunami which followed killed…

A lighter companionway Pippin is a Francis 34 Pilothouse and I‘ve been her custodian since 2017. Since that time we have covered over 4,000 miles, including a four-day solo Biscay crossing from Penzance to Ribadeo in Northern Spain, a six day return from Vigo and a Jester Challenge to Baltimore. On every trip I have fitted the ‘Willis lightweight companionway door’ before I set off, which is nothing more than a scrap sheet of 6mm polycarbonate roofing material, cut to fit the companionway entrance. It replaces three heavy wooden washboards, which have no proper home, other than buried in a locker. I can even scramble in and out without removing it, by sliding it up just far enough. I have fallen against it, tripped over it, bent it nearly in…

There may be a good time and place to lose a rig and a large chunk of deck, but 130 miles off the north-west corner of Spain in a full gale on a pitch black night is definitely not it. Still, it could have been worse… Zest is a 36ft one-off design by Rob Humphreys, built of strip cedar epoxy and launched in 1992. I bought her in January 2013 with the intention of competing in that year’s Original Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, but was unable to complete all the necessary work in time for the start. Instead, my partner Rupert Holmes and I set about on a programme to prepare me for the 2017 OSTAR. By the end of summer 2015 we had cruised and raced her nearly 12,000 miles,…

Ilfracombe on the north coast of Devon can be a useful anchorage on your way up the Bristol Channel or as one of the last places you might stop over on your way to Land’s End. It is a significant port for both fishing boats and yachts but it does dry out at low water so this is really bilge-keeler country. For yachts with a fin keel you might be able to dry out alongside the harbour wall if there is space but anchoring off is also a viable alternative, particularly in the summer when the harbour is very crowded. There are two possibilities for anchoring here. One is just off the entrance, tucked in close to the rocks on the east side, although here you do need to choose…

Standing like sentries protecting the entrance into the old port of La Rochelle, the dramatic Tour Saint-Nicolas and Tour de la Chaîne, left us in awe as we motored past them into the Vieux Port. We had already spotted the La Tour de la Lanterne and its distinct spire as we made our way up the channel under blue skies. For centuries, the lighthouse lit the way for sailors who came to La Rochelle to trade; it also had a darker side serving as the city’s prison. We had enjoyed an idyllic sail from Les Sables d’Olonne, passing underneath the sweeping bridge which connects La Rochelle to Île de Ré before identifying the red Tour Richelieu and motoring up the buoyed channel into the city. France’s Atlantic coast has a…

It’s a well-worn marketing trope that this or that latest gizmo will transform your sailing life. More often than not, the reality doesn’t quite match the promise. The gear on display at November’s METS 2019 (Marine Equipment Trade Show) in Amsterdam, however, was very exciting indeed. Among the rows of shiny new waterproofs, gleaming anchors and twinkling LED lights, three main themes emerged where onboard technology is changing dramatically. Integration may not be an exciting word, but as manufacturers start to combine multiple technologies, the things they enable you to do seem to multiply, making interacting with your onboard electronics intuitive and using their full potential far easier than their clunky, stand-alone predecessors. In this way, a handheld GPS also becomes a standalone chartplotter, a satellite messaging system, an autopilot…

1 WASH OFF Pressure washing is the easiest way to get the hull clean. This should be done on a bunded wash-off area, where contaminated water will be collected and stored in a holding tank rather than running back into the sea. If this isn’t possible, portable bunding is available, or use a tarpaulin to capture removed fouling and paint particles. 2 SCRAPING Loose or flaking antifoul and small blisters can be scraped. For removing several layers of old antifouling, gelcoat-friendly chemical removers are useful, as is professional soda-blasting, but never use a blow lamp or heat gun. If using a scraper, round off the corners to avoid gouging. 3 KEYING THE SURFACE Lightly wet-sanding the surface with 60 or 80 grit wet-and-dry paper wrapped over a sanding block will…

STEVE BROWN bought Novara second-hand and has sailed her extensively in the high latitudes where her ability to weather a storm by weathercocking the sails to the wind was a definite advantage when shothanded in unpleasant conditions. It was Armin Fischer, then skipper of the 100-year-old Fife Classic Sumurun that first coined the phrase the ‘wobbly rig’ when I spoke to him on the dock at Wayfarer Marine in Camden, Maine. Armin had sailed a singlemasted AeroRig across the Atlantic and was explaining how it had taken the crew some time to get used to the movement of the rig at the masthead. I had just bought the AeroRig schooner, Novara, so had two ‘wobbly rigs’ and other than a short sea trial in light winds and sub zero conditions…