Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i Yachting Monthly

What’s more important to you: eating up the miles at speed, or comfort and seaworthiness in any weather? The kind of boat you own, or dream of, will go a long way to answering that question. It will also dictate which of this month’s test boats you’ll prefer. The 30-year-old Najad 390 may displace a generous 10 tonnes, but as her owners find, you’ll still feel fresh after a long day at sea, and there’s plenty of space to make toast and marmlade (p86). On the other hand, the Salona 46, fresh out of a less well-known Croatian yard, offers 7ft more waterline and another 10m2 of sail area for the same weight (p20). She’ll eat up the miles in style, if less sedately than the Najad. I’m still debating…

A total of £4,000 is the prize for the winning article about the marine environment as explored by boat in the Yachting Monthly Brian Black Memorial Award 2022. The author will receive £2,500 and £1,500 will be donated to the marine conservation charity, Sea-Changers on their behalf. This year, the judges are inviting entries that focus on the issues of climate change and biodiversity loss, and how these are impacting the marine environment as seen from the deck of a sailing boat. To reflect Brian Black’s personal love of Arctic sailing, the judges will also highlight the best article about high latitude voyages. The Brian Black Memorial Award was established last year to commemorate the lives of lifelong sailor, environmentalist and journalist Brian and his wife Lesley Black. The award…

Ocean Shipyard has secured rights to hand build the Southerly 42, Southerly 48 and Bluewater 50 Catamaran following the demise of Discovery. Run by Discovery Shipyard’s former general manager, Steve Edwards, Ocean Shipyard will also offer joinery and refit facilities, and is now operating from Discovery Shipyard’s former Southampton yard. Discovery went into voluntary liquidation in January, with 77 staff made redundant. Liquidators Interpath Advisory said it was progressing with the sale of Discovery’s ‘minimal assets’.…

During the depths of winter we were on a Hurtigruten coastal ship in a very rough North Sea, having another crack at the elusive Northern Lights (got’em!). But one thoughtful moment of revelation came in the port of Finsness on Senja, when I had opted not to walk to the town but stay aboard walking the deck and admiring the snow-covered mountains. But the good ship Maud had to vacate the quay for 90 minutes while the regular ferry came in and out, so I had the chance to observe the berthing manoeuvres either end. Like poetry, it was. These Norwegian ships are phlegmatically accustomed to every kind of vicious weather, icy gales, exposure round the Stadt headland and nimble dodging between countless reefs and rocks. The ferry service runs…

‘…LEARN HOW TO USE THE RADAR FOR PILOTAGE & NAVIGATION’ To the uninitiated, radar can seem like a dark art. The splurge of blobs would look more at home in the Tate Modern than the nav station. Recent advances in radar technology make it more affordable and easier to use than ever before, however it’s easy to misinterpret the display. Radar has several applications on board: navigation, collision avoidance and even squall dodging in the tropics. It is easiest to become familiar with the radar by practising navigation, because there is only one moving object in this equation – you! There are three main nav applications for the radar: ‘eyeball’ pilotage where radar takes the place of visual cues; to avoid isolated hazards by use of clearing ranges; and position…

One peaceful autumn evening we anchored off a small, uninhabited island on the way back from a short cruise around the Sporades. The Aegean islands are quiet at this time of year and Beduin, my partner’s Nicholson 32, was alone in the anchorage. The days were getting shorter so we jumped straight on our paddleboards to explore while it was still light. Paddling round a low rocky headland I spotted a smooth, round shape in the water among the jagged rocks fringing the shore. I felt a thrill of excitement - could it be the animal I’d been hoping to see for the past two years? Yes! When the round shape turned it was unmistakably the head of a seal. It was a big animal and reminded me of a…

Oigh-Sgeir, now generally known by its Norse name of Hyskeir, can only really be considered a fair-weather anchorage as the shelter is minimal and the pool and quay are prone to swell. Oigh-Sgeir is a low-lying isolated group of skerries lying five miles south-west of Canna in the Sea of the Hebrides. Its rocky ledges claimed enough shipwrecks to justify the construction of Hyskeir Lighthouse, completed in 1904. Initially it was manned by three lighthouse keepers whose shore base was in Oban; on Hyskeir they grew vegetables in a walled garden, kept goats, and even amused themselves on a three-hole golf course – an eccentricity which earned them an appearance on television. The main island’s three parts are linked by a footpath over bridges, and historically supported enough pasture to…

www.yachtingmonthly.com/books Great blocks of ice weighing many tons were lifted into the air and tossed aside as other masses rose beneath them. We were helpless intruders in a strange world, our lives dependent upon the play of grim forces which made a mockery of our puny efforts. I scarcely dared hope now that Endurance would live and throughout that anxious day I reviewed again the plans laid long before for the sledging journey we must make in the event of our having to take to the ice. We were ready, as far as forethought could make us, for every contingency. Stores, dogs, sledges and equipment were ready to be moved from the ship at a moment’s notice. The following day brought bright, clear weather, with a blue sky. The sunshine…

Lead-acid battery makers are busy trying to differentiate their products with jazzy descriptions like ‘highdensity active paste’ or ‘Maxguard separators’. Thinner, purer lead plates have certainly improved performance, as has including carbon. But for the next generation, you have to look at more ambitious design changes. ‘The next thing may be bi-polar batteries, where the cathode and anode are mounted on the same plate with a hard wall between them,’ says Tom Spinks of Enersys. ‘We’re a few years out, but it would offer higher power density – more power in the same space.’ On the lithium side, the hope is to develop solid-state batteries where the electrolyte is a metal. Proven in the lab, these are more energy dense and much faster to charge than current liquid electrolyte batteries.…

BOWMAN 40 Bowman is one of the few yards to produce sailing yachts purely for ocean passages. The Bowman 40 was one of several iconic blue-water cruisers which has a long and successful history. Originally designed by Laurent Giles with a long keel and transom-hung rudder, a second version from the 1980s was drawn by Chuck Paine after Bowman merged with Rival. The model was so successful that it went on to become the Bowman 42. Cutter-rigged, the Paine Bowman 40 had a fairly long Scheel Keel to keep draft to a minimum and give good course-keeping abilities. However, there will be a small sacrifice in windward performance compared to the Najad or Hallberg-Rassy. The hull has a traditional, deep forefoot as you’d expect from a serious cruising yacht of…

Email Katy.Stickland@futurenet.com Tel 0330 390 6738 YM TRIANGLE RACE ENTRIES Entries have now opened for the YM Triangle Race, 5-17 June 2022 www.rtyc.org/event/triangle2022/ RYA SUPPORT The RYA has launched the Para Sailing Hub to increase racing opportunities for disabled people JST-COWES PARTNERSHIP The Jubilee Sailing Trust has been named as one of the official charities for Cowes Week 2022 JOHN DEAN 1939-2022 Tributes have been paid to one of the founders of Dean and Reddyhoff, John Dean, who has died aged 82. The marina merged with Quay Marinas in 2019 to form boatfolk RAMSEY MARINA REGISTRATION Sailors wanting a berth at the proposed Ramsey Bay Marina in the Isle of Man are now able to register an expression of interest. www.yachtingmonthly.com/ramsey ANTARCTICA RECORD Australian Lisa Blair has started her attempt…

Over the course of one week in mid February, three named storms – Dudley, Eunice and Franklin – caused disruption and damage to boats and marinas in parts of the UK. At the Needles Old Battery on the Isle of Wight, Storm Eunice brought wind speeds of 122mph (106 knots) on 18 February, the highest gust of wind ever recorded at a low-level site in England, according to The Met Office. Rare Red Weather Warnings were also issued for Wales, the South West, plus the south and east coast of England. Extreme gusts left a boat sunk in Swansea Marina. Other boats on the hard were blown over in the conditions. There were reports of vessels damaged at Mudeford Harbour in Dorset, Plymouth Yacht Haven and Hythe Marina. At Netley…

Security has been tightened at Premier’s Chichester Marina following thefts at the premises in January, but some berth holders want the company to go further to protect their boats at the over-1,000 berth marina. Boats were broken into on 8 January 2022 across five pontoons. A container in the boatyard was also broken into on 24 January 2022. Premier said thefts ‘are extremely rare’ at Chichester, and security measures and procedures are subject to constant review and ongoing investment. Andy Ward’s Finnmaster T8 suffered £8,000 of damage after thieves ripped out the vessel’s instrument panel, damaging the GRP, and took a chartplotter, engine display and bow thruster controller. Ward said high gates and fencing should have been installed at the pontoon heads long ago, and despite notices, members of the…

Winter, given that we live completely off-grid, was challenging. It was one the dullest on record, providing December a very meagre 12 hours of sunshine. I knew it was going to be bad when my solar-powered wrist watch gave up the good fight and blanked out. When things are that dire I have a little Honda generator to aid the solar panels. We plan on doubling our panels this summer to completely cut out what little fossil fuels we use at home. Dull weather has been front and centre of our minds as we wire Oddity. Obviously we have an engine but this will only be used when required for propulsion or firing up the anchor windlass. As such, Oddity needs to be stand alone in terms of sustainable energy.…

Performance cruisers around the 45ft (14m) mark are not exactly thin on the ground. At least half a dozen well-established yards in Europe alone are producing sporty 40-somethings, all looking to offer a subtly different blend of qualities. For anyone seeking a boat in this broad category, the Salona 46 might not be the first that springs to mind, perhaps because the Salona name is less wellknown – in western Europe at least – than some of the others. It’s becoming better known, however. This Croatian yard has now been building boats for two decades and has enjoyed a more consistent and highprofile presence in the UK in recent years. And then there’s the price of the new 46: starting at around £248,000 before VAT, it looks rather attractive. MORE…

Q I have recently bought a second-hand Moody 29 in excellent condition. It comes with a Raymarine Plotter with an AIS receiver. However, this does not transmit my position via AIS. It also comes without a radar reflector. I would like to have the capacity to cross the Channel from Portsmouth to northern France. Should I upgrade the AIS to a transceiver, fit a radar reflector or do both? I am inclined to upgrade the AIS as I think the majority of boats using radar will be likely to also have AIS available, and a proportion of your smaller boats without radar are likely to have AIS alone. Passive radar reflectors do not always give a clear echo, especially on a small sailing boat. I would be very interested to…

Clockwise around Britain for charity Eastbourne skipper Mike Hopkins is preparing for his first circumnavigation around Britain. He is planning a clockwise passage, north of Orkney and Shetland, aboard his 1986 Moody 31 MkII, Sea Wanderer to raise £20,000 for the palliative, neurological and bereavement support charity, Sue Ryder. He aims to set off in June to complete the 3,500-mile voyage in three months. Mike was inspired to support the charity following the death of his mother in April 2008, which coincided with his 50th birthday. ‘My mum’s death knocked the stuffing out of me. Five months later, my wife, Amanda, bought me a weekend trip across the Channel with a sail-training company. My response to the trip was immediate and powerful. I loved the weekend, and my sailing career…

NEW NAVIONICS+ CHARTING www.navionics.com Garmin has improved the look and feel of its Navionics+ charting and introduced a raft of premium features. Those who already use the Navionics data on a Garmin chartplotter will particularly benefit, but other Navionics customers will also experience limited improvements. Garmin says it has added greater detail of coastal and inland features, with colour palettes that are more vivid. The result is more intuitive navigation. The company’s Autoguidance+ course plotting algorithm has also been made faster and more detailed, giving you more points along the way, and including air draught calculations. The charts are now updated on a daily basis – Garmin says it makes up to 5,000 changes every day. And all users will find that the alignment between coastal and inland charts now…

A consistent approach to the management of personal watercraft around the UK has been recommended by the Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents after a fatal collision between a RIB and a personal watercraft (PWC). Andrew Moll said while many harbour and local authorities ‘manage their waters to provide safe areas for all water users, there is an inconsistency of management around the UK coast, which can lead to conflicted interests and confusion’. He has now recommended to the RYA and the Personal Watercraft Partnership that a cross-industry forum be formally created for the nationwide management of personal watercraft. This will include the adoption of nationally consistent launch site signage relevant to PWC and consideration of a nationwide voluntary registration scheme. Moll said personal watercraft are ‘high performance machines, not toys’…

Sailors who moor or berth their boats at Falmouth Harbour should expect to pay 30% more this season. The port’s harbour commissioners said the price rises were due to increasing costs, market forces, price inflation and global economic instability caused by COVID-19. The CEO of Falmouth Harbour, Miles Carden, said the increase would ‘ensure the port’s commercial and environmental viability for the future’. He insisted that the increases – most of which have been limited to a maximum of 30% – will ‘rebalance historically low charges while keeping them competitive, fair, and in many cases still less than market levels’. Falmouth Harbour said it aimed to maintain future charges around the rate of inflation. Elsewhere, Fowey Harbour Commissioners has introduced £20 harbour dues for paddleboards (SUP) and kayaks. Craft will…

Hampshire’s Emsworth Sailing Club, the marine recruitment firm Marine Resources and Berkshire marina Val Wyatt Marine have become the first organisations to receive bronze certification in the Single-Use Plastic Free Accreditation scheme. The scheme is run by The Green Blue and Final Straw Foundation. To achieve the bronze accreditation, the organisations had to ban the use of plastic straws, polystyrene food and drink containers and appoint a Plastic-Free Ambassador. Visit www.yachtingmonthly.com/plastic for details.…

Imagine your 18-year-old son has just returned from a cross-Channel cruise and, while enjoying a few beers in his local yacht club, has made derogatory comments about Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A totally unremarkable incident, you might say. Imagine next, that as he leaves the yacht club he is arrested by the police, taken to the Outer Hebrides and made to work in a kelpgathering prison factory for 10 years. It sounds like fantasy and indeed will hopefully remain so in a free country like the UK. But that is almost exactly what happened to the father of an Estonian sailor I met some years ago while writing a report for YM on that country’s huge, but relatively unknown cruising ground. As a youth and in his cups, this man…

Dismasted in a tidal race. What would you do? Q Mike is on a coastal passage from Weymouth to Dartmouth. His boat is Antares, a 10m cruising yacht with three crew. The wind is westerly Force 4. Mike has opted to take the inshore passage around the main navigational hazard, Portland Bill. The waters off Portland Bill are notoriously rough and dangerous with tidal streams of seven knots at springs, but today Mike reckons that the calmer water close inshore will be navigable if he arrives soon after the stream turns in his favour. Antares has a deck stepped mast with a masthead rig, roller furling headsail, backstay, cap shrouds and lower shrouds. The halyards and kicker are led back to jammers and winches in the cockpit. On arriving at…

When I was asked to write about my experiences of UK sailing with small children, I couldn’t believe anyone would find us interesting. But it’s true that we meet depressingly few other families on the water while cruising mostly West Country waters. So I have agreed to share a little of what has helped us to raise two little boys who, just like Ratty, love nothing more than messing around in boats. If I can inspire just one family to give sailing a go this summer, then I’ll consider this to have been a brilliant use of my time. Our eldest, Barnaby, was an autumn baby and came sailing the following spring at six months old; the youngest, Blaise, was born in April and came sailing over the May bank…

Sailing was a very different sport 40 years ago. There was no GPS, no chart-plotters, no AIS, no EPIRBs, and no Gore-Tex. What was also lacking, at least for Mediterranean waters, were proper sailing guides with maps of harbours and details of local facilities. There was of course Henry Denham but, wonderful as they were, his books were more romantic narratives than practical guides. That all changed when the first Greek Waters Pilot appeared in 1982. In one move, Rod Heikell transformed the parameters of the cruising guide and created a modern, fit-for-purpose, comprehensive pilot that anyone could access. It’s no exaggeration to say that his pilots (for the Greek edition was soon followed by editions for Italy, Turkey and France) helped democratise the sport and encouraged a new kind…

Batteries are in many ways anathema to sailors. They are heavy, finicky things, whose performance wanes with time, requiring an elaborate system to keep them in good shape. They are also, when you get down to the level of individual cells, thoroughly analogue – even if a host of clever digital battery management systems have grown up around them. As consumables, they need regular replacement – perhaps as often as every five years, depending on how kind you are to them and how much they are used. So in one sense, at least, sailing is the process of turning a steady flow of new batteries into waste, which, like all waste, has to be dealt with. It is something of a dark art to know when your lead-acid batteries need…