Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2022 i Yachting Monthly

Sailors cruising off the coast of Spain are being reminded that it is illegal to use Acoustic Deterrent Devices (ADD), known as pingers, to ward off orcas. Since 2020, orca interactions with small yachts off Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar have risen, leaving some boats damaged and requiring a tow. Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has confirmed it is illegal to harm, annoy or disturb cetaceans in territorial waters, and stated that ‘using an engine and propeller to reverse a boat towards an orca, the use of “noise makers”, “pingers”, Acoustic Deterrent Devices (ADD) attached to boats, and throwing of pyrotechnics, flares, etc at approaching whales’, are forbidden by Spanish law. The clarification comes following a request from the RYA.…

Sitting on the forward bunk I’m taking a few minutes out for a metallic cup of tea from my faithful old flask that has seen its battered way through many a project. There’s a sense of industry in the air with jobs being signed off above, below and in front of me. As I look up Colin is knelt before the switch panel with seeming religious fervour as he starts to decipher a tangle of wires. Wires that will bring life to a complex system that has starburst throughout the boat. Access to this constellation of equipment isn’t linear and so has caused us to spend the last month wriggling into spaces that don’t look big enough. That or prodding away with a mousing rod and blind hope as we…

The Neel range of trimarans is one of the most eye-catching of modern multihulls. The basic philosophy is hugely appealing – use performance trimaran hull shapes to create a platform for a spacious cruiser, while keeping the boat as simple as possible. Weight is also minimised, but in a practical way that doesn’t resort to eye-wateringly expensive high tech solutions. I sailed one of the first 43s from La Rochelle last summer and found it a surprisingly rewarding boat to sail, with a feel on the helm akin to that of a monohull, yet it was significantly faster. On a reach in 14 knots of true wind we made a very relaxed 10 knots of boat speed reaching under only mainsail and jib. When the breeze picked up to 16-17…

Although launched last year, this model started life as the Lucia in 2016. However, it benefits from updates including a revised helm station that increases stowage – a move welcomed by many potential buyers looking at a boat for long-term cruising. It’s raised up on the starboard side, with the wheel next to the halyard and sheet winches, making sail handling a simple matter when on watch alone. Steps up from the helm station give access to the hardtop for handling the mainsail, but there’s no option on this model for sunbeds up there. There’s a large cockpit aft under the hardtop, with a substantial table on the port side. The foredeck has provision for sunbeds, but not a full forward cockpit. Stowage on deck is more restricted than on…

This 20-year-old French-run but Tunisian-based company is one of the few that has actively addressed the market for smaller catamarans. The 37 is a semi-flybridge design with a big aft cockpit. It was launched a few years ago and is aimed at cruisers who want a spacious boat in a relatively compact package. Nevertheless a key design criteria was an ability to sail at 7 knots in only 10 knots of true wind. The spacious accommodation includes lots of stowage, which includes a small walk-in wardrobe in the owner’s suite on three-cabin boats. SPECIFICATIONS PRICE €237,500 ex VAT LOA 10.9m / 35ft 9in BEAM 5.94m / 19ft 6in DRAUGHT 1.2m / 4ft 0in DISPLACEMENT 7,900kg / 17,400lb www.aventura-catamarans.com…

When lifejacket manufacturers started to stitch some twist and shape into their jackets about 10 or 15 years ago, it was more than just a fashion statement. Nobody’s torso is a flat board, and designing the casings so they curve to follow the body’s contours was a big step forward in lifejacket comfort. The most important benefit of this simple tweak is that the collar of a quality, ergonomically designed lifejacket is kept clear of the wearer’s neck, avoiding the undesirable effect of a salt-encrusted lifejacket collar eating into the skin due to friction from turning the head. Comfort is critical for safety because when something is comfortable, people will wear it. Deeply sculpted, ergonomic lifejacket designs do have their downsides over the flatter, more traditional (and usually cheaper) styles, though. They…

James Stevens, author of the Yachtmaster Handbook, spent 10 of his 23 years at the RYA as chief examiner Q Ben and his wife Kate are enjoying an early season cruise in April in the Isles of Scilly. Their boat is a much-loved Contessa 32. It is Friday and they are currently on a mooring between Bryher and Tresco, the most sheltered spot for the forecast southwesterly Force 4. Their plan is to make use of this favourable wind on Saturday to sail 60 miles back to their home port of Falmouth, although poor visibility is forecast. On Saturday night a cold front will pass over and the wind will veer to a northwesterly Force 4 to 5, but windy weather is forecast for Monday and the rest of the…

PETE GOSS is a world-renowned racer and adventurer, and has sailed over 250,000 miles. He now cruises with his wife Tracey Navigation and boat handling are all well and good, but overlook the practicalities of keeping your crew fed, warm, safe and healthy and you risk putting a big hole in morale and standing yourself into danger. Whether you are a skipper, mate or crew, the role of purser, responsible for victualling the ship is of vital importance on board. A good purser ensures that there are spare batteries, the toilet rolls never run out, and there is a spare wash bag for the crew member who forgets theirs. Pencils, eraser and sharpener are in the chart table, there’s a spare set of thermals and hot water bottle handy in…

When the true wind speed drops, when going upwind, the apparent wind moves forward and so the initial impression is that you have been headed. The automatic reaction is to bear off, but you must do this gradually so that the yacht does not lose momentum as a result of large rudder movements and disrupting the airflow over the sails. When the true wind speed drops on a reach, the apparent wind also comes forward, so you’ll need to sheet in or bear away to keep the sails pulling. One of the common reasons boatspeed suddenly drops is because of wake from powered vessels. The first response is to try and minimise the effect of the wave by steering accordingly. As the yacht’s speed drops and apparent wind moves aft,…

Send your sailing gossip, diary dates, cruising news and club or owners’ association updates to Katy Stickland katy.stickland@futurenet.com Grants to open up sailing to everyone Grants are now available for non-profit organisations, OnBoard and Sailability venues in England as part of efforts to make sailing more accessible. The RYA has been awarded £195,000 of National Lottery Funding from the Sport England Together Fund, which will be allocated for projects which engage with lower socio-economic groups, disabled people, those with long-term health conditions and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. Previous projects have included sail sessions for a group of young Sudanese refugees at the Norfolk Schools Sailing Association, and a programme of activities at Cobnor Activities Centre in Chichester for clients at Stone Pillow, a charity helping homeless and vulnerable…

The only harbour with safe, all-tide access in Cardigan Bay is Fishguard, as I discovered while cruising down the Irish Sea and becoming trapped for several days at Aberystwyth in strong southwesterlies. The bay was one long lee shore and making any progress towards the south would have involved a tiresome dead beat. Then a brief wind shift to the west offered us a long, close fetch on starboard tack, although it was predicted to back again to the southwest within a few hours. On the bay’s shallow areas, the sea state was horribly confused and we steered by hand for 40 miles, corkscrewing over breaking crests until, finally, we were able to work into the shelter of Strumble Head. After all the turmoil, Fishguard’s square mile of flat water…

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If you have a news story to share, contact News Editor Katy Stickland Email Katy.Stickland@futurenet.com Tel 0330 390 6738 Restoration work has begun on Sir Francis Chichester’s classic ketch, Gipsy Moth IV. The yacht’s new owner, Simon Oberholzer, is restoring the boat’s original features, and is in the process of collecting them back from clubs and museums. Work to repair her topsides, hull and engine is already under way, having been damaged from months sitting on the hard, collecting rainwater in her cockpit. The Cape Town-born sailor, who lives in The Netherlands, bought Gipsy Moth IV earlier this year; she has been recently towed from Buckler’s Hard on the Beaulieu River to the Elephant Boatyard in Bursledon which specialises in bespoke wooden yachts and was responsible for the restoration work…

The SITraN Challenge Race, which will be held as part of the build-up to the 2022 Golden Globe Race, is to start from Gijón, Spain. For the 2018 edition, Falmouth was the host of the SITraN race to mark the anniversary of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s start in the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. The 2022 event celebrates Bernard Moitessier, who started the 1968 race from Plymouth. Golden Globe Race organisers had hoped to hold events at a UK port but have chosen Spain due to a lack of interest from UK ports. Out of the 23 skippers signed up for the 2022 race, six are from the UK and one is from Ireland. The voyages of Sir Robin and Moitessier in 1968-69 inspired thousands to take up sailing and…

Fine summer rain had stilled what little wind there was and, with the limp sails of my Heron sailing dinghy hanging uselessly over my head, I shipped the oars and rowed towards the great black hull of a motor-barge which had arrived off my home Thames Estuary town. Although Leigh-on-Sea was still, in 1965, served by steam trains, it was the barge traffic bringing timber into the wharf that I was drawn to. I was a barge spotter. I rowed up to her giant transom to read the name: Olive May, launched in 1920, one of the last Thames sailing barges built and also one of the biggest. Suddenly on deck appeared a figure in baggy trousers, a beret and an old suit jacket. ‘Would you like to come aboard?’…

The major catamaran builders largely disregarded boats under 40ft for many years; however, there are welcome signs this attitude is changing. The Excess 11, unveiled at the 2020 Düsseldorf boat show, is a 37-footer by a new Groupe Beneteau brand that’s aimed at a younger audience than typical buyers of this value. It’s Excess’ first all-new design – the earlier 12 and 15 were based on the bottom third of Lagoon hulls, although almost everything above the waterline was new. As with the two older models, there are helm stations aft in each hull, with wheels positioned right above the rudder stocks to produce the most direct feel possible. The boat also has excellent visibility from the helm and is noticeably better in this respect than most cruising catamarans. Interior…

This innovative boat set new standards when it was first launched and was a key influence in establishing the DNA of the open concept, with a big indoor/outdoor area aft under a hard top, combined with a smaller saloon forward. The effect is to create a huge outdoor living space that provides shelter from the elements – whether intense sun or rain. Today’s version still has the original hull shape, marrying this with an updated and restyled deck, plus improved interior design. Twin aft helm stations that provide excellent visibility by multihull standards are also an important element. They also enable easy contact with the rest of the crew while you’re steering and there’s little barrier to stop them pitching in to help with deck work. This is therefore a…

This 2020 design is another model that’s extremely popular in charter fleets. However, they are also sought after by private buyers and the numbers in the hands of individual owners will of course swell dramatically when they are sold on from charter operators. As soon as you step on board this cat, it feels like a big boat for its size, with plenty of options for easy circulation of people. There’s arguably more separation between interior and exterior spaces than on many catamarans. However, the Leopard 42 has a feature that few others offer in this size range. A full height door in the front of the saloon gives direct access to the large forward cockpit, which opens up the accommodation in a different way to most. This is also…

Reflecting back on our three months in Costa Rica – months that were by turns mellow, adventurous and frustrating, but most definitely worthwhile – it would be easy to forget that we had never actually planned to go there at all. My partner Liam and I had our sights firmly set on the South Pacific when we began our cruise from Canada’s west coast in 2019. In the spring of 2020 we were in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, mere weeks away from making the leap into the big blue. Wild Rye, our Wauquiez Centurion 32, was packed to the gunwales with spare parts and provisions. That, of course, is when the COVID-19 pandemic rearranged our priorities and thoroughly scrambled our tight three-year-circumnavigation itinerary. After spending the remainder of 2020 back…

Some of the lifejackets on test failed to roll all our (simulated) unconscious casualties every time in pool testing. This will come as no surprise to anyone involved in the maritime lifesaving industry. It’s actually a very tough ask for lifejacket manufacturers to control all the variables at hand to the point where they could guarantee righting of an unconscious casualty in all circumstances. This is why they cannot offer such guarantees. A wearer’s weight distribution and therefore where they carry their natural buoyancy differs widely, and clothing, especially waterproofs, can trap air in places that fight against the bladder’s designed direction of rotation. It’s this fact that means that the buoyancy you require is defined more by what you are wearing than your weight or size. Sailing in lots of…

Bragging about my cock-ups doesn’t come naturally, but I want to share this one, as it might help other readers to avoid a similar unpleasant and potentially disastrous situation. It was serious and I feel bad about it, so maybe a confession will be cathartic for me too. I’m an old bloke in my early 80s – perhaps not as nimble as I used to be, but fit in body and sound of mind. I’ve been messing about in boats for most of my adult life and have been a serious sailor for more than 30 years. I’m the holder of an RYA Yachtmaster Offshore qualification and have owned and sailed Sable, my Hallberg-Rassy 36 for the last 16 years. I’m a cautious sailor who is becoming more risk-averse with…

www.yachtingmonthly.com/books Peter Padfield was working for P&O when he began reading Conrad and dreaming of escape from steamships. Alan Villiers’ project to recreate the voyage of the Mayflower in an authentic replica gave him his first opportunity. It all started towards the end of 1955. I was sitting in the wardroom of Strathmore, sipping gin and water and glancing through a magazine which had a short article about the building of Mayflower II to cross the Atlantic under Commander Alan Villiers. I had always been interested in sailing ships. This one was more fascinating than most, and I hastily wrote a letter to Villiers and posted it at the next port. I think it was addressed ‘Commander Alan Villiers, Mayflower II, London’. But it found its target and I received…

SOUTHERLY 135 Given the Southerly 42’s particular blend of attributes, few boats are directly comparable. Most of those that might be seen as fulfilling broadly the same purpose are built of aluminium or have more than one hull. If you’re attracted to the 42 but can’t find one (or can’t find the cash, as they’re not inexpensive), probably the most likely alternative is another Southerly: the 135. The 135 was the first Southerly designed by Rob Humphreys and the first to move away from Dick Carter’s ‘wedge-of-cheese’ shape of keel found on earlier models to one that was deeper, of higher aspect ratio and more efficient. It gave the 135 a lower centre of gravity, better upwind performance and a less intrusive keel case into the bargain. Designed in the…

The Jubilee Sailing Trust needs to raise £1.2 million by the end of September or face closure. The Southampton-based charity, which offers tall ship sailing experiences to disabled people, has blamed the COVID-19 pandemic, increases in the cost of living and a decrease in income for its cash flow crisis. It said it had lost £1.4 million in income since the start of the pandemic in 2020. The trust had applied for a Government COVID recovery loan, but this was unsuccessful. The Jubilee Sailing Trust was last threatened with closure in 2019. It managed to raise £1 million in five days following an emergency fundraising effort. The charity’s ship, Lord Nelson, is currently up for sale, and there is an interested buyer who has submitted a letter of intent for…

It was with great interest, I read the ‘Man Overboard retrieval for couples’ article in the March 2022 issue of YM. It was a very good ’test’ and another warning to skippers to do everything NOT to fall overboard. Everything in this article is of course very valid. The equipment was thoroughly tested under mild circumstances. This can be very different if you are sailing in the open sea with a strong wind blowing and a matching sea state. I think in this scenario the chances of recovery are quite slim, especially when the skipper falls overboard and an inexperienced friend has to do the work. However, what would be wrong in manoeuvring the boat closely up wind to the victim and launching the life raft? This would be easy…

South-west Ireland is one of my favourite cruising grounds. As I write, I am on a low-season, landbound visit to this beautiful area. Down Pier Road I can see the harbour, with a fresh south-east wind curling and fretting the grey water. A single early yacht is rolling, fishing boats chopping at the waves. I have swum today, and shivered back into my clothes at speed like a weary stripper after a long night’s gig. But the chill reminded me of when the Irish rule came in, 19 years ago, that yachtsmen must wear a lifejacket to go ashore or come back aboard by dinghy. It began in 2003, under Dermot Ahern as health minister, following drownings from an angling boat with no lifejackets aboard. There were mixed feelings: we…

The chances are that if you’ve sailed multihulls of around 40-44ft at least one of them may have been a Lagoon. More than 800 Lagoon 42s have now been delivered, with the model proving equally popular with private and charter owners. It offers lots of space, even by multihull standards, in three-or four-cabin layouts. Large platforms aft make boarding from a pontoon, quay or tender easy, while the big cockpit has multiple seating areas and plenty of space for easy circulation of people. There’s also a neat lifting system for the dinghy. The boat is sailed from a raised helm position on the port side, which has direct access to the winches. The two-person helm seat is configured to work well both when seated and when standing. While this ease…

A criticism often levelled at catamarans is that they lack feel on the helm and therefore aren’t fun to sail, but that’s not universally true. Lightweight boats with easily driven hull shapes can be both quick and rewarding, with little of the noisy turbulence at the transoms and lack of pointing ability that can be associated with overweight models with grand accommodation and inefficient shallow keels. This is the smallest in a range of three performance catamarans and was originally named the TS42. All three boats have direct tiller steering, combined with comfortable helm seats. They provide a great view of the sail trim, though the coachroof partially obstructs the view to leeward. Despite offering 20-knot performance and the ability to cross the Atlantic in only 10 days, these boats…

This French yard set a standard by which all multihulls have subsequently been judged when it launched the Bali 4.3 Loft. It blends indoor and outdoor areas into a single vast space that can be closed off with the garage door-style aft bulkhead. Since then the format has been greatly refined and the 4.2 offers impressively spacious layouts in both charter and owners’ formats. There’s also a full-size door to a spacious forward cockpit, with sunbeds extending the entire length of the solid foredeck. SPECIFICATIONS PRICE €424,780 ex VAT LOA 12.84m / 42ft 1in BEAM 7.07m / 23ft 2in DRAUGHT 1.22m / 4ft 0in LIGHT DISPLACEMENT 11,400kg / 23,100lb www.bali-catamarans.com…

Until just over a decade ago, I never wore a lifejacket. Throughout the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s I casually went about never wearing one and never worrying about it. Until one day I was rowing out to my mooring with my dog after a long day at work in the city, in a 2.4m round-tail dinghy. In the dark. A friend and sailing instructor commented on my lack of lifejacket. ‘Ebb tide runs fast through here,’ he said in his estuary Essex accent. ‘I know,’ I replied belligerently, ‘but I’ve never fallen in. Ever.’ ‘But it’s dark and your boat is a good half hour row away,’ he countered. ‘I’ll be careful,’ I replied defensively. But the seed of doubt had been sown. I had a word with myself. After…

With this test team we were pleased to be able to call upon combined experience of over 100 years in wearing, comparing, observing and on some occasions surviving in a variety of coastal and offshore lifejackets. All remained resolutely upbeat despite getting repeatedly wet and sometimes cold while putting together this lifejackets group test. They were: Alex – Professional skipper from Charlestown Harbour. Tony – Ex-lifeboatman and professional skipper from Charlestown Harbour. Phil – Professional skipper and Principal Personal Survival Skills Instructor for Western Maritime Training. Paula – Chief at Charlestown Harbour. Mike – Poolside Safety Coordinator and Personal Survival Skills Instructor. Anna – Clipper round-the-world sailor. James – retired GP and experienced offshore sailor with AZABs, Fastnets and Triangle races to his name. Yachting Monthly team-members Toby Heppell and Fox…

We learned in this extensive test that body types differ widely, and that this can be the most important factor in lifejacket comfort. This is one reason we ran this test with such a large team. Sometimes a jacket was pure bliss for one tester, but an instrument of torture for another. Go by trusted tests such as this one for in-water performance evaluation, but where you can, rely on actually trying several out to evaluate how you’d get along with any lifejacket long-term. But trying one on is no easy feat, even at bricks and mortar stores where lifejackets, as a safety-critical product, are sold in heat-sealed plastic to prevent any pre-sale tampering. This is where sailing friends, forums and sailing clubs come in. Try a friend’s lifejacket, wear it…

While all of the lifejackets on test here performed well according to basic safety standards, they all have different strengths and weaknesses that will vary depending on the intended usage and the unique dimensions of the wearer. HORSES FOR COURSES For light weight and no frills you really can’t go wrong with the Seago Seaguard, Waveline or TeamO Compact. They weigh so little (from 800 grams) you will forget you’re wearing them. For regular sailors who enjoy their weekends in the sun in relatively sheltered coastal water, then the Spinlock Deckvest Lite was a solid choice for our testers. For women, the Baltic Athena is a great choice for regular coastal sailing. The Crewsaver 180 Pro is a premium choice for coastal sailing after dark. If you’re heading further offshore,…

Gusts are formed in a variety of ways, but in open water, a gust is likely to have been formed by a downdraught around a cumulus cloud after a cold front. If this is the case, the wind direction of the gust may be the same as the higher-level wind direction. In the northern hemisphere, this will typically be veered compared to the sea-level wind. The result is that if you are sailing on starboard tack, you may get a lift to windward, while on port tack you would be headed. It’s slightly more complex than this, however, as downdraught gusts fan out as they hit the water and so it helps to identify where the yacht is in relation to the gust fan so that the change in wind…

Upon the dark green waters of the Benguela current, west of Cape Town, the Royal Navy was out on patrol in the last week of August 1942. Watch officers sighted a 31ft Marconi-rigged ketch, running east in the heavy swells under storm jib, trysail and freshly patched mizzen. The yacht was duly closed on, sandwiched between ship and submarine and spoken with. Was this boat a Japanese or German trick to distract from the battle in Madagascar? An errant Vichy Frenchman or Italian? Everyone was confused, until the skipper began rapidly to explain himself in Spanish. This was Vito Dumas, a middle-aged Argentine of Italian and French descent. This was his first human contact since casting off in Uruguay the month before. He was neutral, his mission peaceful: to be…

Like fixed marine VHF radios, many modern handheld VHFs now offer DSC features including a Distress Alert ‘red button’ and direct MMSI calling. Some even have built-in GPS and AIS receivers too, although handheld VHFs don’t have the range of fixed radios due to their limited power and low antenna height. Many are also submersible (IPX7/8) and float with water-activated strobe lights to simplify recovery if dropped overboard. When buying a handheld radio, make sure it has 1W and 5W (or preferably 6W) transmit power options and all 57 international marine channels. All good VHFs will also offer all-channel, priority, dual and/or tri-watch scanning too. These days they all sport Li-ion rechargeable battery packs. But while all come with a 240Vac charger, only a few include a 12Vdc charger lead…