Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Yachting Monthly

Few of us could hope to emulate Jean Le Cam’s dramatic rescue of Kevin Escoffier in the Southern Ocean during this year’s Vendée Globe Race. While Yachting Monthly wouldn’t normally venture into the lofty world of offshore racing, the astounding seamanship involved in plucking a shipwrecked sailor from a liferaft ricocheting around the immense Southern Ocean deserves attention, racer or not. Pete Goss is uniquely qualified to comment on the rescue (p46) as one of the few to have done exactly this – for Raphaël Dinelli during the 1996/7 Vendée Globe. His insights are gold-dust to us mere mortals because they are tempered by real experience and apply to coastal cruising as well as ocean crossings. Have you considered how you would operate your safety gear when your fingers are…

French photographer Gilles Martin-Raget has won the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image of the Century award for his photo of the Orma 60 trimaran, Fujifilm II, taken during the Course des Phares 2002. He was one of 131 professional photographers who took part in the competition. Spanish photographer Alfred Farré won the Public Award for his photo of two Minis fighting a storm. The Special Award went to Britain’s Dan Towers for his picture of Bernard Stamm facing a terrible storm in the Bay of Biscay in 2006 during the Velux 5 Oceans Race. Martin-Raget was ‘very happy’ to win. He gets €1,000 and an Alpina Seastrong Diver 300 watch.…

Now, I’m not one for armchair sailing but the technology behind the ’20/’21 Vendée Globe has me on the edge of my seat. It allows you to be completely immersed in everything from real-time onboard data to second guessing strategic decisions. Having made my lofty take on their toil over a glass of red I fall into a warm bed for a good night’s sleep before logging on first thing. It’s terribly indulgent. The race had hardly released 33 passionate skippers into the unknown when they started to fall. After years of preparation the disappointment is crushing for the unfortunates as they limp to shore with nothing but their own desolate company for support. It takes a big person to make repairs, get back in the saddle and set off…

We were lucky to have bright sunshine on the day of the test, with wind ranging from 10 to 18 kts true. With a length overall of 9.99 (32ft 9in) the 348’s performance figures were respectable, more so considering the test boat was on loan from Pure Latitude Boat Club and had a full complement of safety clobber. Even so, she was a delight. She was overpressed at times (at 20 knots over the deck many yachts are) but she retained her composure and behaved impeccably. When we did reef, her performance was still good. The Jefa steering made the helm light and responsive. She cut a fine balance between being entertaining and lively to sail, without feeling flighty or tender. Not only is she enjoyable, but she’s also incredibly…

Most sailors are well accustomed to the navigational data available from their instruments. But recent developments have produced devices capable of generating a lot of data relating to critical onboard systems, including batteries, tanks and engines. Imagine early warning of the engine overheating, water in the bilge rising or knowing exactly how much fuel is left, visible on your instruments? This information could make the difference between calling out the lifeboat and making it safely home. Bigger or more modern engines already produce digital data, which they typically share with the engine display panel. Volvo Penta’s entire range even includes an N2K output, ready for hooking up to your instrument network. But even a relatively simple engine like the Beta Marine 30 in my Sadler can be tapped for data.…

After buying a used Hunter Channel 245, new owner Nick Meadow undertook an electronics upgrade with Garmin authorised installer Knight Marine in Port Solent. The boat had an old Raymarine C80 chartplotter, a VHF and a small Raymarine i40 instrument for depth and speed. He decided to install a new GPSmap 922, as it supported radar. ‘Plus, the Active Captain Helm feature would give me control of the screen via my smartphone,’ Meadow said. This was paired with a GMR Fantom 18 radar. ‘While Garmin’s entry level GMR 18HD+ would have been enough for my needs, target tracking and power usage were of utmost importance,’ he continued. ‘So I chose the solid-state Fantom 18 for its Motionscope Doppler-effect target tracking, and its ability to lock-on to up to 20 MARPA…

With rainforest, rivers, the world’s top dive spots, unique wildlife, and sea-gypsy communities, the island of Borneo is a fantastic place to explore by yacht. So why are its north-eastern waters devoid of cruising boats? The only way to sail safely is with a military escort by the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM). And the only way for that to happen is to join the last leg of the Sail Malaysia Passage to the East Rally. Coves, mangroves, shoals, creeks and reefs make it tricky for pursuit boats to patrol this area. For cruising boats, though, it is a dream destination. In 2020, with Malaysia in lockdown and international borders shut, the rally was cancelled. No tourists and very little shipping for the past few months meant nature had been…

If it hadn’t been for Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, there is a chance that Gerry Hughes’ dream to sail around the world might have gone unfulfilled. The Scottish sailor, who was born profoundly deaf, was struggling to find insurance for his double-handed sail around the British Isles with deaf sailor Matthew Jackson. ‘Being deaf meant I couldn’t get insurance. I remember one person saying that I must have a hearing person in my crew. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to show that deaf people have the ability. I didn’t want hearing people to help me,’ he said. His ‘big breakthrough’ came when he met Sir Robin at the bar at Troon marina, and explained his dilemma via written notes. The following morning Sir Robin handed him a note…

Electronics technology is constantly improving, offering ever more impressive capabilities. It is making navigation easier, quicker and more accurate, and useful information easier to access. It’s making recording and displaying historical data possible, supplementing the real-time (now) data we’re used to. It costs, but only if substantial replacement of hardware is necessary. We decided we wanted the best of both worlds — standard hardware with longevity, and software with the flexibility to take advantage of emerging trends. We are electronics enthusiasts and configuring electronics isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But a little effort can deliver the very latest capabilities, tailored to your boat, for minimal additional cost. For those not inclined to experiment, this article illustrates capabilities coming to future ‘plug and play’ systems. Our boat Zen Again is a…

S/Y OLIETA (2008) Mike and Carol Perry bought Olieta in October 2019 and currently keep her in the UK, although they plan to move out to Greece soon. She is a three-cabin two-heads model launched in 2008. Asked how she has been so far, Mike said: ‘I have not had sufficient opportunity to sail her much just yet, but the construction appears to be of good quality. However, the previous owner had severely neglected her and much time has been spent on repairs and renewals. So far, I have had to fit new running and standing rigging, have the Webasto heater and the bilge pump rebuilt, fix a domestic water leak (filter fitted after the pump, strangely, causing it to jam with debris), remake all the electrical connections and fully…

JEANNEAU SUN ODYSSEY 42I Another stylish performance cruising yacht from racing yacht designer, Marc Lombard. The 42i has similar dimensions to the 425GL and performs with equal gusto and balance, particularly the Performance version, with its taller rig and laminate sails. The 42i sports twin wheels, a wide cockpit with stout table and plenty of useful stowage for deck gear, including a liferaft locker. The mainsheet controls are on the coachroof as usual, but the primaries are right beside the wheels. The cockpit seats are comfortable and the coaming tops wide, but not overly tall. The sturdy table makes an excellent footbrace and has a strong grabrail at the aft end as well. She was available with ⅔ cabins and two heads, but the aft heads is rather cramped in the…

The sailing world has praised veteran Vendée Globe skipper Jean Le Cam after his dramatic rescue of fellow competitor Kevin Escoffier whose IMOCA 60, PRB broke in two during the race. The 40-year-old, who had been lying in third place, had just minutes to abandon ship in 16ft waves before PRB sank around 840 miles south-west of Cape Town. ‘You know those images of shipwrecks? It was like that, but worse,’ explained Escoffier. ‘In four seconds the boat nosedived, the bow folded at 90°. I put my head down in the cockpit, a wave was coming. I had time to send one text [Mayday] before the wave fried the electronics. It was completely crazy. It folded the boat in two [forward of the mast bulkhead].’ Le Cam, 61, was diverted…

A new online Manufacturers Identity Code (MIC) database has been launched which will help boat buyers confirm the identity of vessels for sale. The free service is being run by British Marine. A requirement of the Recreational Craft Directive (RCD), an MIC forms part of a unique serial number that every CE-marked boat must have and enables manufacturers and regulators to identify each particular vessel. It also helps others to identify the country of origin, the builder and year of build of the boat. From 1 January 2021, all global boat builders, including EU-based manufacturers, have to register their MIC on the UK register to place a vessel on the British market. Previous MIC data will also be transferred to the database, helping buyers of second-hand boats. The CEO of…

Sailing and windsurfing are back on the curriculum for students studying for GCSE, AS and A-level physical education (PE). The two watersports were removed from the list of activities eligible for practical assessment in 2014. Sailing and windsurfing can now be taught and will be assessed in 2021 for AS-level and 2022 for GCSE and A-level. Students wishing to take PE at GCSE, AS or A-level and to have sailing or windsurfing assessed as one of the activities, should speak directly to their school to determine which awarding body they use and the criteria and evidence required. The RYA has worked with the awarding body, AQA, which has recently published the assessment criteria for teachers. The RYA sailing and windsurfing training schemes chief instructor, Amanda Van Santen said it was…

It was quite a moment in July when COVID-19 restrictions eased enough to let us sleep aboard. We hared off to Dartmouth and pottered westward. Two weeks later a 15-year-old set off eastward from Hamble in a Hunter Impala 28: Alchemy was not pottering but sailing 1,600 miles round Britain anticlockwise, to bag a youngest-ever record and raise money for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. You may, like many thwarted in their own sailing this summer, have followed Timothy Long’s blog reports even before his final triumphant interview here. They’re a treat: modest, sensible and honest, admitting fears and near-disasters and sharing apprehension about the longest legs. He mainly sailed by day, with a lot of time awaiting his weather in harbour over the 11 weeks (storms Ellen and Francis…

The 418 felt slower to react than the 348, giving her a more graceful feeling on the water. She would also find a groove and stay in it, and was less affected by wave motion and gusts. Like the 348 we were also sailing at the top of what would be considered a suitable sail plan. The larger 418 gave plenty of warning that she was overpowered and wanted to round up – the helm would load up and then she would slowly head towards the wind. It was, however, possible to catch her and apply helm to halt her course and take her back. It gave an excellent feeling of confidence. Reefing was a push-button affair, thanks to the electric winches, and all done from the starboard helm. She…

Q I sail a Moody Eclipse on the Solent, but we live near the beautiful Beaulieu river and I am very interested to buy, new or secondhand, a dinghy or small river boat with an electric outboard, to take two adults and three grandchildren on the river. It’s such a peaceful place to be that I think an electric outboard would be very appropriate. Can you tell me if there is a supplier who could supply the outboard and boat as a matched pair? Joe Hayward ANorman Kean responds: I am sure Joe can find a chandler who’d be able to provide the combination of boat and outboard, but the place to start would be with agents for Torqeedo who I think are the market leaders in electric outboards. We…

Not so long ago, most transducers and sensors used analogue signals to send their data to a dedicated display. That option is still available through Nasa Marine’s budget range of instruments and through Raymarine’s current i60 display, although the preferred option is to run transducer signals into an iTC-5 black box that feeds it directly into the N2K network. The same is true for other sensors and transducers. If you wanted to install an ultrasonic speed sensor, such as Airmar’s UST800 (£1,135), it should fit the same through-hull as your traditional paddlewheel. You then run the wire from the transducer into a black box which puts out the depth data in N2K format. So you would need to create a small N2K network, even if the aim was simply to…

Now that you’re generating all this data, you’ll naturally want to get it onto a phone or tablet, where you can view it from anywhere on board. The simplest solution if you have a modern multifunction display is to use the MFD’s built-in WiFi. Check the maker’s instructions on how to switch on the WiFi function, which may require you to give the network a name and a password. Then use your smart device to connect to that WiFi network, just as you would at home. Remember that the phone or tablet won’t be able to access the internet through the WiFi connection with the MFD, unless you have separately set that up. There are limitations to this, however, as Ben Holdsworth explains: ‘You can only use the manufacturer’s own…

Lyme Regis is an attractive place to stop over for the night when cruising up or down the English Channel. It offers a good selection of pubs, restaurants and cafés, and is famous for its fossils, being located at the heart of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast. The town’s popularity amongst cruisers has increased in recent years following the expansion of visitor pontoons just outside the main harbour. The harbour here dries out at low water, and for those who can’t take the ground there is the option to anchor outside. The chart shows an anchorage close by the harbour entrance with its lighthouse, but here you are right in the line of fire of all the boats heading in and out of Lyme Regis: it is hard to picture getting a…

Teenager scoops ‘power of sailing’ award A youngster who found solace in sailing while battling an aggressive cancer has won the Panerai Challenger Trophy for 2020. Ben Tylecote, aged 16, has been awarded a £5,000 grant to continue his development in sailing, and scooped £10,000 for Rutland Sailing Club to purchase new equipment that further supports junior sailors or windsurfers. The award was created by watchmaker Panerai and the Royal Yachting Association’s OnBoard programme to promote the power of sailing in positively impacting young people’s lives. Ben was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma when he was 12. Gruelling treatment and surgeries followed including Ben having his eye removed. Rutland SC Commodore Pete Ashworth said: ‘Ben’s sailing skills have given him a crucial boost of confidence and positivity during an otherwise very frightening…

Reading the advice on what size anchor is best for your boat, the forums are full of advice that an anchor one or even two sizes bigger than the manufacturer’s recommendation should be carried for greater anchoring security. On the assumption that the manufacturers have tested their products in a wide variety of conditions, I began to wonder why people would believe that they need to go bigger, with all the expense and handling difficulties that this may entail. Our yacht cruising experience began around 35 years ago in Anglesey, North Wales, from where we cruised widely to Scotland, Ireland, the Scilly Isles and Brittany, almost always anchoring. Throughout this period we used Delta anchors, a 10kg version on our first boat and 16kg when we moved up. We then…

The founder of the Scaramouche Sailing Trust, Jon Holt, has won the inaugural YJA MS Amlin International Sailor of the Decade Award. Holt, who is head of outdoor education at Greig City Academy in Hornsey in London, started running his sailing programme in 2014. It has gone on to provide sailing opportunities for young people from all backgrounds. In 2017, Greig City was the first state school to compete in a Fastnet Race on their own yacht. The Trust has since gone from strength to strength, with students racing regularly in Etchells and 420s. They have also taken part in the 2019 Fastnet Race, and during the COVID-19 pandemic refurbished more boats. ‘As time has gone on, with our project, it has felt more important; we are showing people what…

Disabled sailor Natasha Lambert is believed to be the first person to sail across the Atlantic using just sip and puff technology to control her boat. The 23-year-old, who has quadriplegic athetoid cerebral palsy which affects her limbs and speech, left from Gran Canaria, with her crew as part of the 2020 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) fleet. They crossed the finish line at 1039 on 11 December 2020 after 18 days, 21 hours and 39 minutes at sea, sailing 2,808 miles. Natasha sailed the Nautitech Open 46, Blown Away — the largest vessel ever converted to use sip and puff technology. Her father Gary designed the specially adapted system, using open source software; it incorporates a sip-puff system that utilises a single straw, allowing Natasha to control the helm…

She ruled the waves of the greatest empire the world had ever seen, launched more warships than any other nation and indulged a son’s love of ‘big class’ yacht racing, yet Queen Victoria hated sailing, a new book reveals. The Empress of India suffered from seasickness and during a passage from the Thames to Edinburgh’s port of Leith, in the full-rigged ship, Royal George, she lay on a sofa brought up on deck as she succumbed to mal-de-mer. Victoria was also disappointed at the unreliability of wind power and noted in her diary how ‘annoying’ it was that the ship had made only 58 miles up the North Sea overnight. According to author Mike Keulemans in his book, Never To Sail In Her, Victoria’s loathing of sail was confirmed on…

Size matters, so the saying goes, but what do two extra metres get you on a modern cruising yacht? Usually, a bigger boat means a different layout or different features, but Hanse’s sub-50ft range of easy-to-sail family cruisers follow a tried and tested layout: forecabin, saloon, an aft-facing chart table and a heads compartment to port, an L-shaped galley to starboard and a cabin or two under the cockpit. Regardless of model, it sticks rigidly to this formula. We wanted to find out what you gain and what you lose by going bigger or smaller. The two boats we chose were the 348 and 418 as they hadn’t been tested by YM before. Both had the same number of cabins and berths. Both are evolutions of older models (345 and…

Q Alice and Ben are sailing Lydia, their 10.4m Arcona 345, home after a few days cruising with a couple of friends. It’s a perfect sailing day, 15 knots on the beam and warm sunshine. As they approach their home port they notice a few high performance dinghies out practising in the open water, clear of the harbour entrance. It is a great sailing day for them too and they are enjoying planing under spinnaker. Some of them look like beginners and there are several capsizes. Suddenly, there is urgent shouting from a sailor sitting on top of an inverted dinghy. Alice and Ben furl the jib and motor to the dinghy as there is no safety boat anywhere near. The distraught dinghy sailor screams that his crew is trapped…

Multifunction displays have developed as rapidly as mobile phones, and many no longer offer a legacy NMEA 0183 input. Garmin’s displays will accept an N0183 signal via the audio port, using a special cable (£35); B&G’s Zeus displays have a similar work-around using an optional video/data cable. The rest, including Raymarine’s Axiom displays, B&G’s Vulcan and Furuno’s Time Zero Touch range do not accept N0183 inputs at all. In this case, you’ll need to buy a small black box converter that takes your old instrument data in at one end and converts it to N2K. You’ll wire up this ‘gateway’ to the old instrument on one side and plug it in to the N2K network at the other. Don’t be put off by the prospect of a ‘network’ on board.…

A common addition to an older electronics network is a new repeater display, perhaps in the cockpit or at the chart table. It is far cheaper than a more powerful MFD, but you will very likely face many of the same issues with connectivity. New instrument displays like B&G’s Triton2 and Raymarine’s i70s will invariably use the more recent N2K standard, so to view speed or depth data from your old instruments you will need to convert it from N0183 to N2K, using one of the gateway devices mentioned in Scenario 1 on page 39. If there are multiple N0183 instruments, you may also need to add a multiplexer. Once again, you are effectively creating a mini N2K network on your boat in order to use the display. At its…

On 30 November, whilst sailing at 27 knots on starboard tack, disaster struck the IMOCA 60 PRB. A strong SW air stream behind a front had thrown up a large and confused sea state. Kevin Escoffier, lying in third place in the 2020 Vendee Globe Race, was 840 miles SW of Cape Town. ‘In four seconds the boat nosedived, the bow folded at 90?. I put my head down in the companionway. A wave was coming, I had time to send one text before the wave fried the electronics. It was completely crazy’. THE NIGHTMARE UNFOLDS The infrastructure and procedures that lie behind the rescue, supported by modern communications, are a marvel in their complexity. Escoffier had a couple of minutes to send a short message to his support team:…

We created a perfectly balanced crew: a glass-half-empty pessimist, a glass-half-full optimist and an opportunist enjoying the contents; hybrid and happy. I had been sailing Scotland’s west coast regularly with Eric, since 1978, and with Rod since the 1980s. Two years ago, to suit our remaining health and fitness, I bought a Dragonfly 32 trimaran. A good size, exciting performance and comfortable accommodation for three or four; it was a superb compromise. It was time for a late September cruise before Tri Mhor (pronounced tree-vore – translated Big Three) reluctantly went on the market. My son Iain drove me to Oban, and we spent a night in the special Kerrera marina where facilities have been tastefully upgraded with respect to the beautifully remote location. Nearly 50 years ago when I…

NICK VASS, Marine Surveyor B,Sc B,Ed HND FRINA MCMS DipMarSur YS www.omega-yachtservices.co.uk The Dufour 425GL’s beamy stern requires twin steering wheels, which might require attention in 20 years time, but Dufour deck hardware and steering gear is generic, well tested and no different to that found on twin-wheel Beneteau Oceanis and Jeanneau Sun Odyssey yachts. Dufours are a joy to survey as everything is easily accessible. They were designed with the charter market in mind, where access to steering gear, keel bolts, seacocks and engine is important. Two problems that I encounter on the Dufour 425 GL are the toilet holding tank hoses, which can degrade and begin to perish, and some flexing on the deck. Creaking decks are a bit of a feature on Dufours and not normally a…