Innehållsförteckning för September 2021 från Practical Boat Owner

An 82-year-old sailor is circumnavigating the UK, including Orkney and Shetland, in a 23ft yacht. Murdoch McGregor, who bought his first sailboat at the age of 72, set off on 5 June from his home port of Alloa on the upper river Forth, Scotland, aboard his Hunter Horizon 232, Artemis. He is undertaking the 1,900-mile solo voyage for a ‘truly amazing sailing adventure’ and to raise awareness and funds for Mental Health UK. He described rounding Land’s End as ‘a happy tear moment’ for which he donned his Forth Cruising Club top: “I’m proud to be a member of the best little boat club in the world.” Justgiving.com/fundraising/murdoch-mcgregor1…

The 90th anniversary edition of the Round the Island Race (RTIR) attracted a fleet of more than 1,200 boats. Conditions included everything from flat calm to 25-knot gusts, fog and sun, and the usual impressive sight of the fleet stretched out around the Isle of Wight coast. Local Cowes boat Eeyore, an Alacrity 18 bilge keeler, secured back-to-back overall victories to retain the Gold Roman Bowl which she has held since 2019. The Alan Buchanan-designed Cherete won the Silver Gilt Roman Bowl, awarded to the first boat overall in the ISCRS divisions. Owner Brian Haugh said: “We had a great day and it felt like normality had resumed.” A light start prevented any chance of a new race record, however Peter Cunningham’s multihull MOD70 PowerPlay was first to finish with…

The one-year countdown is looming for the Golden Globe Race 2022 (GGR), dubbed by organisers ‘the longest, loneliest, slowest race and most daring challenge for any individual in any sport’. Harking back to the first ever round-the-world yacht race, the 1968 Golden Globe, which saw the only finisher and winner Sir Robin Knox-Johnston aboard his Bermudan ketch Suhaili, GGR was reinaugurated in 2018 to mark the golden anniversary of the original race. Testing the mettle of modern sailors by limiting access to modern technology and boat designs, the 2022 edition will start from Les Sables d’Olonne on 4 September. Organiser Don McIntyre had originally hoped to include a group of one-design steel ketches in the 2022 race, based on a home-build version of Bernard Moitessier’s yacht Joshua from the 1968…

GOSPORT FESTIVAL BOOST The Andrew Simpson Foundation is providing 13 vessels and an instructor to support the Gosport Marine Festival on 4 September. By providing four 18ft open keelboats, four canoes and four paddleboards, a RIB safety boat and instructor, the foundation will enable even more children and their families to get out on the water. There will be 600-plus free activity sessions afloat at this one-day festival, run entirely by volunteers from the local community. Events will be taking place at Haslar Marina, Trinity Church, Millennium Timespace and Cockle Pond. Pre-book activities at: portsmouthharbourmarine.org.uk/events/gosportmarine-festival-2021 CHICHESTER HARBOUR RAID A Swallow Yachts Raid will be held in Chichester Harbour on 20 September, open to boats of all sizes propelled by sail and oar only. Email events@swallowyachts.com SUNSEEKER PARADE Sunseeker owners are…

OLYMPIC TALENT HUB A centre for kitesurfing in the North East has been chosen as a British Youth Sailing hub for developing Olympic talent. KA Adventures at Beadnell in Northumberland is one of five venues across England chosen for the Foiling Futures project, launched by the Royal Yachting Association and the British Kite Sports Association. It follows the inclusion of kiteboarding as a sailing discipline in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Other kite schools involved are Edge Water Sports in Exmouth, The Kitesurf Centre in Rye, Paracademy in Portland and Easyriders in Poole, all in the south and south-west regions. Dinghy sailors, windsurfers and existing kiteboarders are invited to apply for the Foiling Futures programme, ideally aged 15 and under although discretionary places may be available for under-17s. CUTTY SARK’S FIGUREHEAD…

Maritime heritage I was delighted to see coverage of maritime heritage in last month’s edition of PBO. As Director of National Historic Ships UK for the last four years and owner of a 112-year-old gaff yawl, I’m guilty of being one of those individuals with a fever for ‘old boats’ described so excellently in the words of Bill Jones. As well as maintaining the Historic Ships Registers (four lists in total – the National Register of Historic Vessels, the National Archive of Historic Vessels, the Overseas Watch List and the UK Replica List), my day job involves promoting the supporting infrastructure for these vessels through the Shipshape Network, which regenerates traditional maritime skills, services and facilities. We are seen as the official voice for historic vessels, supporting every aspect of…

Flotsam and jetsam Sam Llewellyn writes nautical thrillers and edits The Marine Quarterly. He is currently patching up a 30ft ketch Earlier this year I realised that something weird was going on, remarkably similar to the events portrayed in a film by the well-known surrealist Luis Buñuel, much viewed in student film clubs, called The Exterminating Angel. In the story a group of well-heeled people gather for a party, only to find that they are mystically unable to leave, and what with one thing and another the whole lot of them are trapped for days while the canapes and drink run out and mayhem cuts loose. I was getting Dahlia ready for sea. The new strake had gone on, a charming sweep of iroko, though the Woodskin with which we…

There’s a school of thought that says, providing it has a sufficiently high angle of vanishing stability to right itself immediately, it probably doesn’t matter if a small yacht is inverted by a breaking wave. However, there are a couple of problems with this approach. The first is the risk to the rig, as the forces on it when under water are immense. It’s not feasible to add sufficient strength to mitigate this risk without adding so much weight aloft that stability is further compromised. The second is the danger to crew, either from being thrown around the cabin, or being on deck when the boat inverts. Shortly after his return Atlantic crossing Guy Waites told me he was on deck when his Corribee was knocked down to 90° in…

In 1973 this Ron Holland design was considered a radical Quarter Tonner with a relatively narrow waterline beam and rule bending knuckles amidships that created more width at deck level. While these helped increase form stability when well heeled, their main purpose was to move crew weight further outboard to maximise righting moment. After the boat’s initial racing successes – the prototype won the 1973 Quarter Ton Cup – cruising versions were built for more than a decade. A combination of the large coachroof and wide beam created excellent accommodation for a boat of this size, including maximum headroom of 5ft 8in and a separate heads compartment spanning the width of the boat between saloon and forecabin. Bilge keel versions also sail well thanks to relatively deep keels with a…

SS Sørlandet is the smallest of Norway’s three tall ships. She was built in Kristiansand in 1927, as a sail training vessel for young people, and since then has sailed throughout the world. Her length is 57m (65m including bowsprit), and her gross tonnage is 499. She has three masts, and retains her original square (ship) rig, with five square sails on the foreand mainmast, and four on the mizzen. Trainees take a full part in working the ship, under the guidance of 15 full-time crewmembers. Sørlandet is now an A+ Academy during the school terms, with up to 70 students from all over the world studying in preparation for university while also enjoying sailing the world on a tall ship, and meeting up with their families at agreed exotic…

Last month, features editor Ali Wood became the proud owner of Maximus, the new PBO Project Boat. The 28ft Maxi 84 had been on the hard standing for over two years and was in need of some repairs. Her owner, Daniel Kirtley, had two young children and, combined with his work as a corporate financier, was finding it hard ‘to do right by her.’ “I’ve compiled the list of projects needed to bring her up to scratch and it’s just too long for me,” he said. “I don’t have the time!” He generously offered the boat to PBO. Here’s Daniel’s story: How long have you owned the boat? I’ve owned Maximus for 10 years. She’s been brilliant. I bought her in Ipswich after a year of searching for the right…

Arguably the most misunderstood aspect of boat maintenance concerns the electrical systems. To make matters worse, many older boats were not wired to a good standard and many have additional equipment added in a haphazard fashion. Indeed, even some new boats are still not shining examples of best practice. This results in an unnecessarily high level of breakdowns, the potential for expensive battery banks to fail prematurely and, more worryingly, an increased risk of fire. This comprehensive course from three of the world’s leading authorities on marine electrical systems – Nigel Calder, Jan Athenstädt and Michael Herrman – is therefore very welcome. It covers all aspects of 12V and 24V DC systems, from the basics to complete rewiring projects. Content is based on ISO and American Boat and Yacht Council…

“A moisture meter is only an aid. Although we all call them moisture meters, actually they’re resistance meters,” says Ben Sutcliffe-Davies. “They show the difference in resistance between one product and another. If it’s in the red scale all the time it’s not necessarily that the boat is wet, it could be that it has something like an early gelcoat, which has bits of aluminium content in, making it more conductive. I’ve had laminates that are quite conductive so the meter is actually useless. Then you go back to 1987 again and just survey in the way you did before meters were invented. By this, I mean listening to the crispness of the hull and hitting it with a hammer. Blistering is a good sign it’s getting a bit wet…

Making your own rope is very satisfying. I’ve run the ropewalk as a public activity at a couple of maritime festivals where I do demonstrations. On both occasions I missed a trick; if I’d put a festival donations bucket out, or charged a small fee for making rope items we would have made a tidy sum for festival funds. Children and parents alike were queuing up to make skipping ropes, dog leads, dressing gown belts or just lengths to take away and work with. As well as natural twine I’d sourced skeins of coloured jute and allowed people to mix and match, sometimes putting more than one colour within each strand which can make tartan rope if you mix it right. The ropewalk itself – or ‘rope maker’ is also…

Social Distancing has rocketed to the number two spot on the Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) Top 10 Boat Names list for 2021. Inspired no doubt by global Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, Social Distancing didn’t quite make it to the top of the list – which instead is occupied by Andiamo, the Italian word for ‘let’s go’. Social Distancing in second was followed by the popular choices of Grace; Shenanigans; Cool Change; Island Time; Knot on Call – a likely choice for medical professionals; Mojo; Freedom; and Serenity. Serenity not only topped the 2020 list, but also reigned in the 2014, 2015 and 2017 polls. Past names to take the number one spot have included Second Wind; Aquaholic; Seas the Day; and Happy Ours. Each year, BoatUS tallies…

The Seahorse Trust and Portsmouth University have teamed up with boatfolk marina group to create a safe habitat for one of the UK’s native species, the Short Snouted Seahorse. The first Biohut cage system, an artificial marine aquatic nursery that provides food and shelter to many juvenile species, has been installed at Haslar Marina, Portsmouth. A specialist gauge rope has also been added to give the Short Snouted Seahorse the ideal environment to thrive, hunt and hide from prey. Neil Garrick-Maidment, founder and executive director of The Seahorse Trust, said: “When this is rolled out to boatfolk sites along the South Coast, the Biohuts will become an important habitat for so many critical species, helping to enhance and protect our natural world.”…

It is now more than 15 years since Ewen Southby-Tailyour and Trevor Leek, supported by the likes of Mike Richey and Val Howells, conceived the Jester Challenge – a single-handed transatlantic event for yachts under 30ft, with no committees, rules, inspections or fees. The concept expanded to include the Azores and Ireland and up to his retirement earlier this year Ewen had overseen 11 ocean events. To mark Ewen’s withdrawal as the ‘non-organiser’, almost 70 Jesters responded to a call to contribute reminiscences to create a book. The surprise presentation was made on 19 June at Mayflower marina, Plymouth, prior to the skippers’ dinner for this year’s Jester Azores Challenge. Wet weather failed to dampen the enthusiasm of those present, or Ewen’s surprise and gratitude.…

UNDERWATER REPAIR ROBOT An underwater robot, trialled by the Canal & River Trust on Carr Mill Reservoir near St Helens, is a ‘game-changer for reservoir maintenance’, the charity has declared. The Trust has completed a £2million-plus repair project to upgrade the Merseyside reservoir. Valiant, the tracked remote-operated vehicle, enabled engineers and contractors to do maintenance without draining the reservoir – retaining existing water levels in the lake, which is popular for boating and fishing, and saving hundreds of thousands of pounds in fish rescue fees. BRISTOL CHANNEL CHALLENGE Twelve-year-old Welsh Topper sailing squad member Flo Tovey will be setting sail from Mumbles, South Wales, on 18 September bound for Ilfracombe, North Devon. The 14-mile dinghy voyage is expected to take 12 hours. Flo is raising awareness and funds for The…

We’ve been visiting the Isles of Scilly for over 20 years now and had thought we’d seen all the flora and fauna the islands have to offer… puffins, shearwaters, seals, crabs, lobsters. So when someone called, ‘There’s a walrus in the anchorage!’ to say we were surprised was an understatement! We were in Porthcressa, St Mary’s, on board our motorboat Thea, with around 15 other boats in this glorious anchorage – a comfortable number in the steady offshore breeze. Once we’d settled to our anchor that morning we trooped ashore in the dinghy to meet up with friends for a bite of lunch at Carn Vean café, one of our favourite haunts. Trying to board dinghies Returning in the afternoon, we picked up the dinghy off the beach and motored…

Living with the sea Marsali Taylor sails an Offshore 8M, Karima S. She’s a dinghy instructor and author of The Shetland Sailing Mysteries starring liveaboard sleuth, Cass Lynch. Once a year, my big sister and I head off to a remote cottage in a remote loch in the West Highlands. It’s an adventure just getting there, west along a single-track road, then a very pot-holed road, down a series of hairpin bends on a 1:5 gradient and arriving finally at the Lodge, to pick up the cottage boat, a tough Pioner 12. With us, our gear and food for a week it’s only got about 6in of freeboard. We chug off two miles down the loch, curve round into the bay, and there’s our beloved cottage, just the same as…

In the 1940s, 50s and 60s no other design that was as seaworthy as the Folkboat had ever been produced in such large numbers. So it should be no surprise that they’ve been the first choice of boat for many intrepid sailors. Nevertheless, some crews of the (mostly) earlier examples without self-draining cockpits will undoubtedly have encountered some dramatic moments in heavy seas. A key reason behind the Folkboat’s inherent seaworthiness is the design’s massive 55% ballast ratio, which helps confer excellent ultimate stability and ability in heavy weather. Equally this gave scope for a relatively generous sail area, which combined with the boat’s slender shape, helps to boost speed in light airs, despite the high wetted surface area of the long keel. On the downside, interior accommodation is small…

Had some of the pioneering sailors that sailed Folkboats across oceans been born 30 years later they might have chosen a Mini 6.50 design instead. Although lightweight and potentially extremely fast off the wind, they have a reputation as rugged vessels, as befits any craft conceived from the outset to race across the Atlantic. More than 1,000 of these have been built since the mid 1980s, covering both production boats and one-off designs. Many of the older boats are now primarily used for cruising, with some of them completing ambitious voyages. Andrew Bedwell, for instance, took his 1999 Proto on a 2,500-mile voyage around Iceland two years ago, starting from Whitehaven in Cumbria. A few years after his transatlantic on an open catamaran Alessandro di Benedetto completed a 268-day non-stop…

French naval architect Eric Henseval offers a number of small boat designs for home building, including this 19-footer intended for coastal cruising with a family, or longer passages, including transatlantics either solo or double-handed. It has a modern high stability hull form with twin rudders, a lifting bulb keel and generous sail area. Despite the almost flush deck there’s also good accommodation volume thanks to high freeboard and the broad beam. Displacement of only 625kg allows the Aviateur to be towed by a medium size car. Skilled home builders should be able to complete the boat in around 500 hours, at a cost of about £10,000, excluding sails, trailer and electronics. ■ hensevalyachtdesign.jimdofree.com…

City-hopping along a river holds lots of unexpected pleasures for a cruising boat, and our voyage from Montreal to Gaspé via Quebec City had plenty of surprises in store, including some spectacular wildlife encounters. It was summer 2019 and we’d just transited the St Lawrence Seaway from Lake Ontario to arrive in Longueuil Marina, across the river from Montreal. Our destination was the Gulf of St Lawrence and the east coast of Canada. From Montreal we’d be running downstream in the great St Lawrence River. There were few yachts in the marina, and the red ensign on board Quilcene, our cutter-rigged Bowman 40, marked us out as rare visitors. This prompted the local river police to check us out, a friendly process as our papers were all in order. Wearing…

Inflatables are everywhere: paddleboards, canoes, kayaks, tents, kites and wings – and the technology has long been a practical option for tenders, RIBs, liferafts and lifejackets. But what the ‘new wave’ of inflatables brings to the practical boating landscape is the air floor, which makes very stable, very lightweight tenders a very practical option for people with limited stowage ie owners of cruising boats under 30ft. And the market has responded with a selection of offerings under 2.4m weighing under 20kg. So which is the best and what should you be looking for to get the most for your money? We tested nine models sold by eight different brand names. The boats were superficially quite similar, but in the accumulation of small details it was possible to pick a few…

I have owned a Westerly Centaur for 29 years and I decided in 2020 I was going to change it for a Westerly Konsort. When I bought the Konsort, which was built in 1984, I knew the bushes were worn as the rudder had some slack in it. I searched the internet and bought new bushes from ff-systems.co.uk who recommended I use PET bushes as it is harder wearing than nylon. The bush set cost £63.13 in total and they were delivered within four days. The tiller is attached to the top of the rudder by two stainless steel bolts, while the main stainless steel rudder pin also penetrates the top of the tiller stock. Before I removed the rudder pin I tied the rudder with some rope and secured…

Ever driven down a street called Rope Walk? Chances are it is very straight and about 600ft long – a cable’s length – or longer. Many towns, and not just coastal ones, would have made rope locally using flax, jute or manilla according to materials available and local customers’ needs. I live in Orkney and in the cathedral city of Kirkwall, our county town, there is a street called Rope Walk which is very straight. Looking at old maps of the area I found another, much closer to the sea. On a map from the late 1800’s it was clearly labelled as a rope walk. Today it is marked by the dead straight edge of a property with an old stone wall. Compare the pictures below, one from an Ordnance…

Great ideas and tips from PBO readers Email your projects and tips to pbo@futurenet.com or write to us at the address at the top of page 5. We pay at least £30 for each one published I often sail solo and being of an age I couldn’t face the hassle of using a spinnaker. So I devised the ‘EZE-pole’ – an enhanced version of a whisker pole, aimed primarily at the cruising sailor who doesn’t want to use a spinnaker. I’ve never seen or read about a pole operating like this. I’ve been using it for seven years on my Nicholson 35 and made several for other boats. My first pole was very lightweight, (1¾in dia x 18swg) being made from an old hang glider leading edge. The EZE-pole total…

Most Polish-built boats are finished well, have CE marking and are competitively priced, but there’s always the odd exception, as I discovered a few years ago when invited to see a new boat designed especially for inland waterways, and built in the beautiful (and relatively unknown to UK sailors) Mazury Lakes region in the north-east of the country. Motor cruisers and craft designed for inland waterways are often referred to as hausboote (houseboats). But in this instance the company – an established builder of sheds and summerhouses – had decided to enter the leisure boating market, producing a motorised version of the static houseboat/holiday home common in the UK. The company’s concept was simple: plonk one of their sheds (about 24ft long) in the centre of a 12m (40ft) raft,…

Welsh sailor Dani Rowe has been named Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Yachtmaster of the Year. The 25-year-old aerosystems engineer officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF) was presented with the trophy by Richard Falk, RYA director of training and qualifications on 14 July at RAF Wittering in Peterborough. Dani said: “I’m absolutely over the moon to have been chosen as RYA Yachtmaster of the Year and can’t quite believe it. My exam was in tough conditions, so it was great to hear that I had performed so well.” Dani completed the course in 2019 but the award presentation was delayed by the pandemic. RYA Yachtmaster of 2020 will be announced later this year. Richard Falk added: “This is an outstanding achievement and one Dani should be extremely proud of. There…

The Government has adopted and published the North East, North West, South East and South West Marine Plans – marking a full suite of marine plans for English waters. The four marine plans follow the adoption of East Marine Plan in 2014 and South Marine Plan in 2018 and mean all England’s seas, some 230,000 square kilometres, are covered. Marine Plans will guide developers, planning authorities and other decision-makers so that activities are sustainable and co-ordinated. The latest plans, produced by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, are the culmination of four years of engagement and policy development with businesses, wildlife and maritime charities, local authorities, representative organisations and individuals. MMO’s director of licensing, marine planning and…

OPEN FOR SEAGOING YACHTS The Carron sea lock, at the eastern end of the Forth and Clyde Canal system is open to seagoing vessels after nearly two years of closure. Good Dog, a Nauticat 331 being used for Mark Ashley-Miller’s Harbour Master Sailing Challenge fundraising voyage, was the first yacht to enter the sea lock at the head of the Firth of Forth since October 2019. Tommy Thomson, Harbour Master for Scottish Canals, said: “We are very pleased to welcome once again seagoing motor boats and yachts into the canal at Grangemouth to transit the canal to Glasgow and vice versa”. A mast stepping crane is operational at both Carron sealock and Bowling sealock on the Clyde. To book transit through the canal email: assisted.passage@scottishcanals.co.uk NEW INVERNESS MARINA Highland Council…

The walrus is a pinniped (fin-footed) mammal, along with the seals and sealions. But while there are many species of seal, the walrus Odobenus rosmarus is the only living member of its family, its closest relatives being long extinct. Walrus have a circumpolar distribution but of the two subspecies, the slightly larger Pacific walrus is much more numerous. The population of Atlantic walrus is around 30,000, distributed from Canada to Novaya Zemlya. Most are found in the Canadian arctic and West Greenland, but Wally probably comes from East Greenland or Svalbard. Walrus populations were decimated by centuries of hunting but were starting to recover in the late 20th century. Now the main threat is undoubtedly climate change and the loss of sea ice that they need to rest on. They…

Mad about the boat Dave Selby is the proud owner of a 5.48m (18ft) Sailfish, which he keeps on a swinging mooring on the picturesque Blackwater estuary in Essex Features editor Ali Wood, who’s just acquired a project boat, should not be disheartened or daunted by the bar-stool cynics who say that boat ownership is like standing in a cold shower tearing up £50 notes. As a self-styled budget boating evangelist I can tell you that’s simply not true; it’s plain impossible to stand up in a Sailfish 18. Neither should Ali be deterred by those naysayers who bemoan that the word B.O.A.T stands for “Bring On Another Thousand.” I’ve learnt a huge amount over the years from PBO’s practical guidance, which makes fascinating reading, and has taught me that…

Today’s boats are, on average, significantly larger than in the past, so it’s easy to assume open water passages aren’t safe for craft under a certain size or for those without an inboard diesel engine. But two or three decades ago many boats of less than 25ft crossed the English Channel, southern North Sea and the Irish Sea on a regular basis. For instance, in a post on the Corribee Owners Association website Roy Way, who owned a fin keel Mk2 in the early 1970s, says his boat: ‘regularly made the trip from Poole Harbour to Cherbourg and never gave us any cause for alarm. Basically, she was a terrific little boat, easy to handle and confidence inspiring.’ Equally in the 1970s the Quarter Ton Cup, the then de facto…

This is another of the small fibreglass classics of the 1960s and 70s that’s proved up to longer voyages in capable hands. It’s a heavy boat: despite having a waterline length almost 80cm (2ft 8in) less than that of a Folkboat, the Hurley weighs only 160kg less. The deep draught of fin keel versions places the ballast low down. PBO contributor and former chief Instructor John Simpson (right) owned one without an engine on which he completed three Atlantic crossings, despite work commitments meaning he was not able to leave the UK until late October or November each time. After a slow and very wet passage to Lanzarote on his first leg he wrote: ‘The little boat needed some TLC, but she had done me proud, looking after me well…

Not everyone wants to cross oceans or visit polar regions. There are many boats that might not be suitable for such exploits, but can still be a good choice for extended coastal cruising, plus the occasional 48-hour passage in carefully chosen weather. The GK24 is not a design that often appears on these pages, but it offers good performance and refined handling, along with a surprisingly spacious interior layout and a comparatively dry ride. Granted, when launched in 1976 the design was considered extreme and flighty by owners of more conservative Westerly models. But by today’s standards it’s very moderate, with plenty of displacement and a healthy ballast ratio, even if the keel lacks a low centre of gravity bulb. The wide beam creates good form stability, allowing more sail…

The time is 0630. I wake to the sound of the waves curling along the hull a foot from my head, and the soft pad of feet on the deck above me. The light slanting through the portholes is bright in the dim banjer. Time for this medseiler, or trainee, to get up if she wants a pre-watch shower. Unzip sleeping bag; swing legs down and feel for the edge of the table with my toes, trying not to bump into Richard, whose hammock is swinging peacefully to the movement of the ship not four inches from mine. Got it! Slither downwards, crawl under Sahid, also sleeping peacefully, and collect my washing stuff and clean clothes from where I carefully put them last night, on the top shelf of my…

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside! We all know that fresh air does us good, so it came as no surprise to read a recent item in the press that claimed the more time you spend near ‘blue spaces’ like lakes, canals and beaches the more you benefit physically and psychologically. The report, published by Aquavista.com, added up the number of lakes, canals and beaches found in each county of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then, factoring in the size of each county, ranked them in order of which contains the most blue spaces/km2. And in England Cornwall comes out top, being home to a total of 12 beautiful and unique lakes and 141 beaches. I’ve lived my whole life in various parts of Cornwall, and…

When PBO was offered a new Project Boat by reader Daniel Kirtley, the first thing I did was book a pre-purchase survey. As the prospective owner of the Maxi 84, and with three young children, I wanted to ensure she was safe. I needed to know what work lay ahead, and, importantly, how much it would all cost – hopefully not more than the value of the boat! I asked Ben Sutcliffe-Davies to take a look. A marine surveyor and regular contributor to PBO, Ben is the sort of person you can ask anything; to Ben, there’s no such thing as a ‘stupid question’ and he doesn’t mind explaining things for the camera (so be sure to watch the survey video on PBO’s YouTube channel). I met Ben at Dell…

On a night passage one of my biggest dislikes is peering forward through wobbly, opaque plastic windows, having to stick my head out into the elements every few minutes to try and pacify my increasing paranoia: ‘Where the hell is that Fl.G.2s?’ or ‘Is that red light moving off the port bow?’ I found myself looking longingly at the hard-top and cockpit windscreen designs by Hallberg-Rassy, Najad and even the occasional Bavaria thinking: maybe I could make something to fit my mid 1980s three-quarter tonner. I looked at aftermarket examples on the Internet and frankly nothing really looked like it would work on my boat to meet my exact requirements, which were as follows: ■ Standing at the helm I need to be able to see the bow ■ The…

The yacht club on the Humber was the way I liked it best. The racing crowd had chased each other around the buoys, berthed their boats, had a beer at the bar, packed their cars and departed. Then I often had the place to myself again. But there’d be no racing today, as it was a mid-week working day. I was on holiday and doing some long overdue work on my boat. I left the creosoted work-shed, walked into the warmth of the day and blinked in the sunlight, before strolling past a row of unlaunched yachts. The tide was right out and the deep and sticky grey mud was exposed. Non-boat owners and non-sailing visitors did not like the mud, but our deep keeled sailing boats were held safely…