Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2025 i Yachting Monthly

The Cruising Club of America organised a highly successful Western Isles Cruise in July, welcoming around 60 boats and over 250 people from six yacht clubs. Several boats sailed across the Atlantic to join the fleet on the west coast of Scotland and other American and Canadian sailors chartered boats locally and flew over to join the gathering. The Ocean Cruising Club, the Royal Cruising Club, the Royal Highland Yacht Club, the Clyde Cruising Club and the Irish Cruising Club were all participants in the two-week cruise, which saw yachts form a spectacular ‘sunflower’ in Loch Drambuie near Tobermory. A challenging itinerary saw an initial race from Oban to Tobermory for those who wished in a dying breeze, a visit to the Talisker distillery in Loch Harport on Skye, a…

The World Cruising Club (WCC) has launched a new cruising rally for 2026 – ARC Baltic. Open to sail and motor yachts, ARC Baltic takes place over 28 days in July, cruising almost 1,000 nautical miles and visiting five countries around the Baltic Sea. Starting in Kiel, Germany on 3 July, the fleet of up to 25 boats will visit Stralsund (Germany), Bornholm (Denmark), Gotland (Sweden), Tallinn (Estonia), Helsinki (Finland), the Åland Islands and the Stockholm archipelago, concluding in Bullandö, Sweden on July 31. The longest passage is only 200 miles from Bornholm to Gotland, making the rally ideal for family cruisers, motor-sailers and trawler yachts, the WCC said. To visit smaller harbours and enjoy wild anchoring, the fleet is limited to 25 boats between 8.23m and 15.24m (approx. 27-50ft).…

Having eaten dinner, I was down below washing up. Outside, wind was lashing rain across Yarmouth Harbour where we had taken shelter for the night, while our children entertained themselves with Lego and the baby slept. If a family of five on a 28-footer on a stormy weekend sounds like the recipe for disaster, you might be surprised. We were on board the brand new Bente 28, which is unlike almost any other 28-footer I’ve sailed. I wouldn’t normally test a boat with my whole family on board, but I’ve been looking forward to getting out on this boat for almost a year and a half after I first saw her at the Düsseldorf boat show in 2024. Taking a family of five cruising for a weekend of mixed British…

‘BROADEN MY SAILING HORIZONS AND LEARN FROM PEOPLE I HADN’T SAILED WITH BEFORE’ We’re all different. We have diverse aims, agendas and ways of getting there. All of them are right. So, what holds people back? A large number get their Day Skipper with the sole intention of bareboat chartering in the Med. That’s fine, but it may not lead to much further progression. Some people go sailing to race, cross the Channel, or gain a qualification. Or being able to skipper your own boat may simply be a way to reduce the cost of holidays, improve safety, to get the exercise of being on board, or even provide social or even dating opportunities. I feel a strong desire to progress in my sailing – to become a better all-round…

If you would like to recommend a marine charity doing great work (including care for the environment) contact julia@golden-duck.co.uk During a fund-raising tea, hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club, Suezanne Tyrwhitt-Williams, director of Wetwheels Hamble, described a phone call she’d received from the husband of a care home resident. His wife was living with dementia and no longer recognised him. A Wetwheels-organised trip had been transformative. ‘My wife and I have been nattering away together about things in our lives. She hasn’t known who I was for the past two years, barely spoken to me. I feel like you have given me my wife back.’ It hadn’t been easy persuading the care homes to try something new, but it had worked. ‘The power that being out on the water…

Our journey to Shetland provided great lessons that contributed to our successful crossing. We had two miserable legs – from Inverness to Wick and from Orkney to Fair Isle. Both times the problem wasn’t the wind or current weather – it was the sea state, recovering from weather that had since passed. By the time we got to Fair Isle, I was seriously considering flying to Norway with our youngest. We decided to invest in the upgraded PredictWind – what a tool! (I assure you I have no relationship with them). Its departure planning function predicts how much the boat will roll side to side, how much it will move up and down and how much it will slam – and the likelihood of those factors causing seasickness or affecting…

Send your sailing gossip, diary dates, cruising news and club or owners’ association updates to Viv Herzum: viv.herzum@futurenet.com Exmouth sailing charity Sailability awarded prestigious King’s Award The Exe Sailability Project, a sailing charity in Devon, has been presented with the King’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK. The King’s Award was presented at a special event that brought together the Exe Sailing Club’s commissioning groups, committee members, sponsors, supporters and Club members. Rear Admiral Chris Snow presented the certificate and commemorative crystal to chair of the executive committee Becky Brooks, who is also one of the blind members of the Sailability sailing team. Brooks commented, ‘Sailability is a great opportunity to get out and try something new and I encourage everyone,…

www.yachtingmonthly.com/books In 1975 Rozelle Raynes was faced with the prospect of selling her beloved yacht, Martha McGilda. Instead she decided to use her to teach sailing skills to a group of young boys in the care of Newham social services ‘What’s up, Miss? Spot of bovver wiv the old motor? Won’t we be going out on the river after all, then?’ He was small, dark and elfin-faced, with fierce grey eyes that probed mine like a searchlight. He sat on the edge of the pontoon plunging his new plimsolls up and down in the scummy water of the Royal Albert Dock Basin. Behind him crouched three more children – pink and white cherubs with neatly trimmed hair and round expectant eyes, each wearing a T-shirt announcing the theme that was…

The Southampton International Boat Show returns from 19-28 September. New this year is the Boating Academy with a full programme of speakers throughout the show, including many hosted by Yachting Monthly. We would love it if you could join us at the following events: Friday 19 September 1430 YM Editor Theo Stocker will host the Brian Black Memorial Award prize giving and the Zhik Spirit of Adventure award (time TBC). Saturday 20 September 1030-1100 YM Books Editor Julia Jones shares stories from her book, Stars to Steer By, celebrating women who went to sea in the 20th century. Wednesday 24 September 1325-1420 YM Deputy Editor Heather Prentice hosts a video interview with world-class ocean racer Justine Mettraux, the record-breaking first woman in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe. 1525-1550 Heather and Judy Evans from the…

Classic gaff-rigged cutter and prawner, Spray, was relaunched at Morecambe Bay in July, some 130 years following her first launch, after being saved and restored by the Morecambe Bay Prawner Trust. Once part of a fleet of over 200 fishing boats – known locally as ‘Prawners’, or ‘Nobbies’ – which plied the coastal fishing grounds off Lancashire and Westmorland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Spray was built to sail in the dangerous waters, rushing tides and strong winds of Morecambe Bay. These fast, sturdy boats would head out to reap the harvest of the bay and return as quickly as possible. They provided the burgeoning markets of Morecambe, Blackpool and Southport with holiday delicacies: potted shrimps. Spray, built at boatyard Crossfields of Arnside, spent much of her…

The Holy Loch Marina at Sandbank on the Firth of Clyde has been sold by the Downs family to the Tingdene Group, which now expands its marina portfolio to 12 sites across the UK, property adviser Christie & Co said. This marks the company’s second marina acquisition of 2025, and its first expansion into Scottish waters, significantly broadening the group’s national footprint. The 250-berth marina is well placed for sailing the Firth of Clyde and offers a starting point for sailing through the Crinan Canal to the Western Isles. In the late 1800s, the Holy Loch was the location of two local boatbuilders, including Morris & Lorimer, and was utilised as a British Navy submarine base during the Second World War and as a US Navy submarine base from 1961…

Being on the water is how I find solace, which comes in many forms. One of which, new to me, came after an invitation to go salmon fishing in a remote area of British Columbia. It’s a place that’s long been on my list as a sailor, and so it was fishing that opened the door to a remarkable recce. The scale and remoteness are breathtaking. Access, without time and a liveaboard boat, makes for mind-boggling logistics. An hour’s flight north from Vancouver is followed by a helicopter for the final hop. Something that we would baulk at but seems bread and butter to the locals. A marked drop in temperature heralds Alaska, which is clearly visible above the horizon. The flight north offers a bird’s eye view of the…

CONSIDER YOUR CRITERIA Put together a ‘want’ and ‘avoid’ list. What do you really want to experience? What do you have to offer (it may be skills outside of sailing too, like photography, tech help, ace cook). Do consider opportunities outside the UK as international travel maybe more practical and affordable than you think. Be honest about your skills and learning objectives and about what kind of people you want to hang out with. Are there any training opportunities? What are the skipper’s qualifications? It’s fine to dip your toe in gently – or throw yourself in at the deep end. Just think about what would make you feel comfortable or uncomfortable in terms of management style, duties, boat safety, personal attitudes. A video tour of the boat at this…

If you want to tell us why you love your boat, get in touch by email yachtingmonthly@futurenet.com or by post Future PLC, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, Paddington, London, W2 6JR NIC COMPTON grew up on boats in the Med. He has owned six yachts, half made of wood and half GRP. He now owns a Freedom 33 cat ketch OWNERS’ PROFILE NICK ROYLE is a retired surveyor. He has cruised the UK, France and Med extensively. His daughter Jo is a professional sailor turned environmental activist. After racing Mini Transats, Class 40s and Open 60s, she led the Plastiki expedition, building a 60ft catamaran from recycled plastic bottles and skippering it from San Francisco to Sydney. SWIFT IN LIGHT AIRS The forecast did not look promising as we headed out of…

Electrical wire used on boats should be tinned (covered in solder) along its whole length. However, this is an expensive process, so most production boats have ‘automotive-type’ wire, which allows corrosion to spread along the strands of wire under the insulation. This makes it impossible to remake joints successfully. Where one end of a wire is located in a damp atmosphere, tinned wire should always be used. Unless it’s unavoidable, don’t run wires through the bilge where their condition will deteriorate. RUNNING WIRING Use a push wiring threader to run wires through conduits and pipes. Insert one end into the conduit or gap through which you need to run the wire, and push the threader through. Then use the threader to pull the electric wire all the way back through.…

HMRC has extended by six months the period for which a non-UK VAT-paid private vessel can remain in Great Britain without incurring VAT and customs duties (known as ‘temporary admission’ or TA). Private use by a non-UK resident can be for up to 18 months in Northern Ireland and was, in July, extended to 24 months from 18 months in Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). To qualify, the yacht must be registered outside the UK, be for private use, and be identifiable. The owner must also be resident outside the UK. Unfortunately, this increase does not affect the corresponding period of TA available for non-EU VAT-paid boats in the EU, which remains at 18 months. HMRC is still unwilling to make UK TA available to boats on which VAT was…

Cornwall Wildlife Trust is urging water users to be careful around marine wildlife after receiving distressing footage showing multiple injured dolphins around the Fowey area. Images recorded by crew on the Mevagissey to Fowey ferry on 3 August, show that at least five dolphins within the pod filmed had injured dorsal fins. Three dolphins had dorsal fins damaged or bent over and two had them completely severed. Veterinary pathologist James Barnett from the Cornwall Marine Pathology team judged that the injuries had most likely come about from impact with high-speed watercraft or propellers. Cornwall Wildlife Trust has received a number of reports recently of boats going straight towards and even through pods. Rebecca Allen, Marine Conservation Officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: ‘Over the last 10 years we’ve had increased…

EXCLUSIVE YMTICKET OFFER SAVE 27% £24 for a single adult ticket instead of £33 VISIT: www.southamptonboatshow.com PROMO CODE: YMSIBS2025 The Southampton International Boat Show returns this year at the end of the season, wrapping up another summer on the water, and giving sailors a chance to see what is coming over the horizon for next year in terms of new boats, gear and clothing, as well as seeing all the main equipment suppliers in one place, with the chance to grab a bargain, or make your choice for what your boat needs next – new sails, electronics or lifejackets. It won’t be a surprise that the show is smaller than in previous years, as the marine industry wrestles with an ongoing cost of living crisis and global uncertainty. The show…

G’day Skylax. You haven’t done many miles today!’ Our greeting from the Aussie Border Force team rang out clear on the VHF radio. We hadn’t seen another vessel for days, and so the cheery voice, sounding so clear it could have been alongside, gave us quite a start. When you ask people about cruising Australia, most talk turns to the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays and the like. What you don’t hear so much, but is unsurprising given its vast size, is that outside the popular sailing hubs, you will likely be on your own for large stretches. And so it was for us. Cairns had been kind to us as a place to get some repairs done and spares re-stocked, and as a base to explore a small chunk…

From Lefkada, on the west coast of Greece, it’s 150 miles to Aegina, on the other side of the Peloponnese, via the Corinth Canal. You pass through the Gulf of Patras, visiting the pretty fortified town of Nafpaktos, collecting your prophecy from the oracle at Delphi, and motoring through the Corinth Canal. An easy one-week cruise. Or you can do it the difficult way: 300 miles around the exposed south coast of the Peloponnese, passing the three capes: Akritas, Matapan and Malea. On the way, you pass countless shipwrecks, the entrance to the Underworld, ruled by Hades, and the very place where Odysseus met his downfall in a mighty storm. You then have to fight your way up the east coast of the Peloponnese, against the prevailing winds, to reach…

The north-east corner of Scotland might seem remote but it has a long and rich history as a trading hub. The oil and wind farm industries are now very evident, but stretching back into pre-history these coastlines were on the trading routes into and out of the Great Glen. Even before the Caledonian Canal, this was an important through route. Much of the landscape is soft, rolling and agriculturally productive. Harbours large and small were built to support trade in fish or fertiliser, wood or stone. Substantial historic houses and civic projects are testament to some of the wealth that has been generated in this region over a very long period of time. But all of this human history still leaves space for nature. The UK’s largest group of bottlenose…

KETHVOZ KE-866B DIGITAL WINDSPEED METER www.amazon.co.uk This neat little handheld anemometer is a sensitive device. Put two AAA batteries into it, then walk slowly around a room, and its 6.5cm impeller will start turning straightaway. The impeller gives it excellent low-speed accuracy. I tested it against an in-situ Garmin masthead cup-type anemometer. The Garmin read 5% more, which is what you’d expect at the top of a 30ft mast. The lanyard unscrews and, usefully, it has same thread as a standard camera tripod thread in the base tripod bolt, so I’ve often been able to put it in Average Speed mode on a tripod for a few minutes to get a good idea of mean windspeed. A simple, easy to use device: buttons shift it easily through mph, knots, m/s,…

BENETEAU 411 This was the alternative the Royles considered, and very nearly bought, before settling on their Sweden Yachts 390. And it’s not hard to see why they were seduced by its spacious, modern look and family-orientated design. Indeed, they weren’t the only ones: the Bénéteau 411, in its various forms, was the company’s best-selling design, selling 1,200 boats in just eight years, which equates to 150 boats produced per year, or around three boats a week. No wonder the model Nick and family looked at was called the Bénéteau 411 Celebration. The Bénéteau 411 has a more modern shape than the SY390, carrying its maximum beam much further aft to free-up space for two double cabins in the stern, as well as creating a big, family-friendly cockpit. However, the…

All marine toilets have a functional similarity about them. The traditional method is to pump the waste directly into the sea. It’s only acceptable to pump out sewage into the sea at least three miles offshore, as the waste will be quickly diluted and dispersed by wave actions and currents. However, increasingly there are areas where this is illegal and heavy fines can be imposed. The other approach is to store the waste in a ‘holding tank’ until it can be pumped out ashore or discharged into waters where it will disperse and be unlikely to offend others. It’s important proper sanitation-grade hoses are used. Lesser-grade hoses are more permeable and will release unpleasant odours. You can identify the permeable type by wiping the hose with a rag dipped in…