Innehållsförteckning för February 2025 från Practical Boat Owner

WITH THE EDITOR Faster and faster… Solo monohull 24-hour speed records have fallen multiple times in the current Vendée Globe. As I write, Sébastien Simon holds the record having clocked 614.25 nautical miles in 24 hours aboard the IMOCA 60, Groupe Dubreuil. And this record could fall again before the race winner crosses the finish line off Les Sables d’Olonne. It’s hard to fathom sailing at over 25 knots when most cruising boats average around 5. I was lucky enough to be on the start line in November, where light winds saw the yachts ghosting along, sometimes going backwards. But I’ve also experienced a more full-throttled performance, having sailed on Pip Hare’s Medallia which hit 20.5 knots while sailing from Poole to Cowes. As the yacht is stripped out for…

Athletes from the British Sailing Team are protesting against a £150million waste incinerator approved to be built close to their base in Dorset. Some have written to the Government to raise concerns about the risk of pollutants from the incinerator burning household rubbish on the Isle of Portland. A letter to Environment Secretary Steve Reed and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy states: “We fear that the damage posed by an incinerator could force us to consider leaving Portland altogether.” Signatories include Olympians Ellie Aldridge, Emma Wilson, Anna Burnet, John Gimson and Saskia Tidey. The RYA has recently been granted planning permission to build a state-of-the-art training base within the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) grounds to replace its Portland Marina base of more than a decade. In September, the…

Two yachts got tangled in fishing gear on the first leg of the ARC+ rally, causing a skipper and crew to have to dive overboard in the Atlantic. Kristian Hægeland, skipper of Najad 520 Christina, was about to say goodnight to his children when he noticed ‘a veil’ in the water. A GoPro camera and flashlight tied to a boathook revealed the net had disabled the rudder and the propeller. Without the ability to steer, Christina was being hit side-on by waves. Kristian raised the alert and Nauticat 43 Frenesi, another rally yacht, an hour and a half away responded. Kristian and his wife, Tone, together with crew Bjørn and Sebastian, managed to partially free the net and secure it to the bow, out of harm’s way. They attempted to…

Three new emergency ladders designed by deputy harbour master Adam Lewis and the Beaulieu River team have been installed at Buckler’s Hard Yacht Harbour. While the previous provision of emergency ladders at the yacht harbour exceeded guidelines, the team have added improvements to make rescues easier. The new additions are mobile, available for anyone to use and long enough so users can stand on the bottom rung without having to bend their legs upwards. Adam added: “What we made, in the end, was a 2m-long, lightweight ladder which has an additional ribbed stainless steel flat bar on the top to allow it to be hooked over a cleat on a pontoon, so you are never more than 4m from where we can put the ladder. It is also slightly angled…

The naming of boats is a difficult matter, as TS Eliot didn’t quite say, and we’ve got all the different themes represented in our marina. There are the traditional fishing boat names, the kind I remember from Fisherrow Harbour in my youth, wooden boats with names like Day Dawn, Lively Hope, Harvester and Morning Star. Another Morning Star was the committee boat for many Aith regattas, there is a Hope, and one of the salmon boats by the pier is Vesper. The beautiful wooden yoal built for the younger teams is Rising Star. The two Yell ferries have the Shetland version of dawn and dusk: Daggri and Daglien. Then there are names invoking divine protection: Neptune, Poseidon and the various wind gods: Aeolus, Boreas, Zephyrus and all the rest –…

Sabre 27 | Macwester 26 and 27 | Jaguar/Catalina 27 Kingfisher 26 | Snapdragon 27 | Jeanneau Sangria The most popular British-built sailing yacht retains an enthusiastic following, yet can be picked up for a very attractive price; even the best examples rarely fetch more than £8,000. In total, 2,620 boats based on the Centaur hull were sold between 1969 and 1980, including 97 fin keel Pembrokes and 79 centre cockpit Chieftains. There are many good reasons for the boat’s success that still resonate with buyers today. Although the big boxy coachroof is far from sleek, its big windows flood the interior with natural light in a manner that was exceptional for its era. The Centaur also broke new ground in Europe compared to the standards of the late 1960s,…

Derek Lucas bought his flat-pack Cruiser Kits 38ft ketch for £6,000 in 1982, not long before the company went into liquidation. A carpenter by trade, he had the skills and the tools, but it still took him nearly 14 years to build, initially in his garden at Ryarsh, Kent, before finishing it off at Medway Bridge Marina. AnnJilly (named after his daughters) finished up as a motor cruiser rather than a sailing boat. “By the time I finished it my wife had gone off boating so I never put the masts on,” he says. Perhaps because the company was close to shutting down, not all the interior panels fitted as well as they might have done, and Derek ended up remodelling the interior. He also raised the aft cabin coachroof…

EZraft has introduced a new version of its extra lightweight inflatable dinghy based on the technology used for inflatable paddle boards. The most obvious improvement is the use of two smaller diameter central tubes to give a deeper cockpit, improving comfort and ergonomics, while also making it more secure when carrying kit bags and other cargo. The new model also has a stronger transom, more handles and reflective edges for improved visibility in the dark. It still retains the key benefits of the original version, including the very light weight and the self-draining cockpit design. The Q model is available in five sizes, with the smallest three-person 2.4m (8ft) model weighing just 12kg (26lb) and measuring only 85x30x30cm when deflated. The largest 3.6m (11ft 10in) version carries up to seven…

Captain Bill Pinkney and Captain Teddy Seymour both passed away last year leaving a legacy that should be welcome applause to a point in history that sees too much conflict and division. Their legacy could be said to be without a chance: they became the first African Americans to have sailed around the world single-handed. Why emphasise African American in place of just sailor? Good question that I hope to answer in this article. “I started sailing in Puerto Rico and I loved it from the start,” Captain Bill Pinkney nods and continues, “I think it’s the independence of it. In sailing, you have absolute sovereignty. You have an opportunity to at least temporarily capture nature and bend it to your will. I say temporarily because nature changes. The sea’s…

The boat featured here is a 15ft Fletcher speedboat. It was purchased by a couple new to boating who were sadly sold a boat with such hull defects it almost sank on their first voyage. It’s easy to assume that the days of the ripoff merchant are over, unfortunately not. I became involved while looking for a suitable boat on which to test a GRP repair and was therefore able to right the wrong perpetrated on these newcomers, thanks to the generosity of Wessex Resins who supplied not only the materials but also an expert who performed much of the work while I stood back and took the photographs! The main problem was there were no clear signs of where the boat was leaking. The floor was bonded-in, making it…

The allure of a mirror finish on a boat’s hull is undeniable—gleaming surfaces reflecting the sky and sea, turning heads in every marina and port. Getting that flawless, glassy shine isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s also about protection and ease of maintenance. A well-finished yacht resists the elements, ensuring that it looks as good in a decade as it does today, reduces prep for year-on-year re-coating and could even add value to your vessel. Here’s a step-by-step guide for those thinking of refinishing a tired gel coat with paint or simply achieving that mirror finish on their classic. We also look at keeping it singing for seasons to come, all achieved with a brush. Before diving into the nitty-gritty of how to achieve a mirror finish, it’s important to understand…

Anodes to many boat owners are straightforward – attach a few zinc blocks onto the bolts provided and off you go. But how many ever look at what is going on internally from the back of the anode block fastenings, or understand how to check their effectiveness, or even know the right metal for the type of water their boat is floating on? Sometimes when surveying I hear owners say that the anodes have been on for a few seasons, look almost like new and will possibly need changing next year – rather missing the point that if the anodes aren’t corroding then something 1 UNDERSTAND THE RULES OF PROTECTION To understand how anodes work, it’s important to understand the rules of nobility of different metals. The periodic table will…

Passage planning With this being my first extended trip on Victoria, having Dennis of Up River Yacht Club (URYC) sort out the passage plan for all the members of our cruise was a godsend. I studied the route he created and got my head round the choices made in terms of tides etc, as a learning exercise. Dennis had provided three options, we mostly went with Option A, but instead of visiting Titchmarsh we ended up in Woolverstone and obviously, we didn’t make it to Ipswich and Levington marinas, and instead returned early to Burnham: Option A ◼ 30 June depart Osea 0800 destination Walton/Titchmarsh, two nights.◼ 2 July depart Titchmarsh 1100 destination Ipswich (16 miles), two nights.◼ 4 July depart Ipswich 1130 destination Suffolk Yacht Harbour (Levington), one night.◼…

Women outnumber men on the Boat Building Academy’s flagship 40-week course for the first time in 28 years. The latest student cohort at the training college in Lyme Regis, Dorset, comprises eight women and seven men. The four wooden boats they are building from scratch will be launched next June. The most women enrolled previously was four – and for two years there were no female students at all. The rise is credited to a new diversity and inclusivity mission, launched jointly by the BBA and Women in Boatbuilding founder Belinda Joslin. A five-day Women’s Workshop and female bursary scheme now run annually.…

Minehead Sailing Club has stopped operating after 64 years due to a price hike in council charges introduced at the harbour. Until 2024, the club paid an annual fee of £120 for all its members to use the public slipway in the harbour at Minehead. A new fee, introduced last April, of £198 per member to use the slipway or £16 per person a day, has resulted in 25 people leaving the club. Commodore Iain Cobb said losing half of the club’s membership made its financial position as a charity untenable with annual running costs of around £2,500. Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead, Rachel Gilmour, has been campaigning for answers on the club’s behalf. A Somerset Council spokesperson said: “As the Statutory Harbour Authority, we run Minehead Harbour on…

In praise of trim tabs I enjoyed your article about wind vane self-steering gears (PBO, October 2024), but you forgot an important variation. Although they can only be fitted to a boat with an outboard rudder, wind vane gears driving a trim tab in the rudder are cheap to make, robust and effective. Transomhung rudders are, anyway, easy to maintain, well-supported and robust and the trim tab mounted on them has the same advantages. Unlike servo-pendulum gears, they don’t snag floating objects such as abandoned fishing gear or kelp and, being so close to the rudders, are much less vulnerable in close quarters. Experts will tell you that these gears are less efficient, but personal experience has proven otherwise. A boat I sailed for over 100,000 miles, had servo gears…

Einstein had a theory, and I’ve got one too. But unlike his mine’s not about relatives. Mine is that speed is slowing down. The revelation didn’t come to me in the bath, where most of my great thoughts take place, but in my 1989 Volvo 240 estate as I sat fuming with rage, gridlocked in London traffic with my Sailfish in tow. I’m not normally one who’s prone to unreasonable levels of fury but Gardener’s Question Time was on, and the only thing in the world that makes me angrier than that is The Archers. Volvos of the vintage of mine come factory-tuned to BBC Radio 4, so I had no alternative but to switch it off, seethe in silence, and think. And here’s the big thought. Sailing, for me,…

Solo sailing isn’t just for the elite Vendée Globe athletes or the sailing loners of the Golden Globe Race. It’s an adventure waiting for anyone with the drive to challenge themselves and the desire for the freedom to sail whenever they choose crew or no crew. With the right preparation, a few smart modifications, and a determined mindset, solo sailing is achievable and rewarding. Think in small steps Starting solo sailing can feel overwhelming, but set yourself a challenge by beginning with short, local trips to build your confidence over time. My journey to sailing alone started with a bit of a challenge: I signed up to participate in the 2022 Golden Globe Race despite having exactly zero solo sailing miles at the time. My first solo passage was a…

France was by no means the only European country to produce a cruising yacht that outsold the Centaur. The long keel 27ft Albin Vega from Sweden was the most commercially successful of all, with almost 3,500 boats built between 1965 and 1979. Designer Per Bröhall took much inspiration from the older 25ft Folkboat design, but added more beam, freeboard and a notably longer waterline, resulting in a boat with significantly more internal volume. Bröhall and his wife spent months living on board the prototype to optimise the interior and stowage. Therefore, although it’s a lot smaller internally than the Centaur, the boat is well laid out and benefits from generous berth lengths, even if maximum headroom is only 5ft 9in (1.75m) and narrower beam limits volume in the saloon. One…

The Balmain Bug is a 1.83m (6ft) Australian skiff class dinghy, of which just two remain in existence. First raced in 1899 at Balmain in Sydney, the fleet expanded throughout the 1900s, until it was overtaken by the larger skiffs, including the iconic 18-footers. Ask any Sydneysider what they know about the ‘Balmain Bug’ and they’ll probably tell you about the primordial, lobster-like creature at the Sydney Fish markets. Few residents of the Emerald City – most sailors included – would know of the other Balmain Bug, a tiny historic wooden skiff replica with a 6ft-long hull and an absurdly oversized rig that trebles her length overall. Looking for all the world like a children’s toy that a couple of adults have hijacked for a laugh, most people’s reaction to…

Among those who race small boats, ratchet blocks are well known for helping reduce loads on lines such as sheets that are controlled by hand, without the use of winches and for which purchase systems aren’t appropriate. They can also be a big benefit to day boats and smaller lightweight cruisers. Allen’s new Pro Ratchet 40 has an aluminium sheave that improves the grip on the rope, which translates directly into reduced loads when you’re trying to sheet in when it’s windy. It’s available in four different versions designed for lines of 6mm diameter and has a maximum working load of 180kg. ALLEN PRO-RATCHET 40 Price: From £68.22 Contact: allenbrothers.co.uk…

Since we bought our boat three years ago the cockpit floor has looked pretty shabby. The caulking is peeling, and some of the planks are chipped and ripped. It’s cork, which for my money is the best material for outdoor flooring. It’s a pleasure to walk on barefoot because it’s spongy and doesn’t get roasting hot in the Caribbean sun, it’s hard-wearing and grippy even when wet. It won’t last as long as teak but it’s obviously much cheaper. The big downside with cork is that it holds the dirt. No matter how often I scrub and hose it down, grimy water still flows off it. It’s so grubby that there’s no three-second rule if you drop a biscuit in our cockpit. While in Guatemala I got quotes for a…

I had a hole in my 15-year-old Excel SD230 inflatable tender, and the first stumbling block to repair was removing the valves to enable an inside patch to be applied. To do a permanent and durable repair, it is better to first patch from the inside and then put a cover patch on the outside once the tubes are inflated. A polythene bag can be placed behind the patch to prevent the tubes from being glued together when pressing and rollering the inside patch on. I tied a string to the bag so I could pull it back out through the valve hole once completed. However, the plastic valve wrench bought specifically for this job snapped when I attempted to unscrew the valves from their seats. I guess years of…

Luxury motor yacht firm Sunseeker Ltd has been ordered to pay £358,759.64 for using teak imported from conflict-torn Myanmar to build some of its vessels. At Bournemouth Crown Court on 22 November, Judge Jonathan Fuller KC imposed a £240,000 fine, a confiscation order for almost £67,000, prosecution costs of £51,000 and a £190 victim surcharge, for 11 specific imports. The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), which first investigated Sunseeker’s use of illegitimate Myanmar teak in 2018, described it as a ‘landmark case in the UK courts’. EIA forests campaigner leader Faith Doherty said: “These sentences send a clear and unequivocal message to other luxury yacht manufacturers, both in the UK and around the world, that using blood teak from conflict-torn Myanmar is totally unacceptable.” Sunseeker is based in Poole, Dorset,…

The tragic death of a liveaboard boater, who drowned after falling into a marina and struggling with a pontoon ladder, has prompted a hard-hitting coroner’s report asking for ‘industry-wide changes’. Catherine Forbes, 57, a teacher who died on 31 March 2023, was the ‘third person to drown in similar circumstances’ at Thames and Kennet Marina at Caversham, near Reading, since 2016. The Tingdene Group-owned marina held The Yacht Harbour Association’s (TYHA) 5 Gold Anchor award at the time of Ms Forbes’ death. An inquest last April was told that after an evening in the marina bar with friends, Ms Forbes walked back to her boat alone, ‘moderately intoxicated’ at 11.12pm, in heavy rain and winds, and fell into the water. In his Prevention of Future Deaths report, published 19 November,…

SOUTH COAST & CHANNEL ISLANDS Harbour plans Plans approved for the redevelopment of Elizabeth Harbour will provide ‘improved segregation of commercial and leisure marine traffic’ for boats visiting Jersey. The redevelopment will also create the opportunity for more all-states-of-tide access berths within the main harbour, enhanced safety features for all harbour users and new ‘public realm areas’ for islanders. Ports of Jersey chief executive officer, Matt Thomas, said: “We are delighted that the planning committee has approved our plans for the redevelopment of Elizabeth Harbour. This marks a significant milestone for the island, reflecting our commitment to enhancing our maritime infrastructure.” Work is expected to begin in the winter of 2025. Double success Plymouth’s Mayflower Marina has achieved the five Gold Anchor status for the sixth year running and its…

Away they sailed last month, those Vendée Globe folk, pursued by the good wishes of an enormous crowd in Les Sables d’Olonne, bound for the worst waters in the world, toothbrushes sawn in half to save weight. As we walked away from the screens after the start it was easy to think about the bravery, grit and effort that had taken each of them this far in his or her campaign, and about the bravery, grit and effort that lay ahead. But as I beckoned the waiter for the evening steak frites I was thinking about their nutrition: the first fresh meals seguing after a week or so into months of freeze-dry and foil-pack… Still. Food for racers has always been more to do with fuel than delight. For cruising…

One of the great advantages of owning a well-known traditional cruising dinghy is belonging to an owners’ association. These associations provide a network for advice to owners and arrange events around the country with good launching facilities and helping hands to launch and recover heavy cruising dinghies. They also arrange dinners, socials and events where you can make new friends, help and get involved with arrangements and meetings. One such association is the Tideway Owners’ Association that I have belonged to for some years now and in June 2024 I went to one of their get-togethers at the wonderful village of Bosham, a little gem lying in Chichester Harbour. The meet was arranged in conjunction with the Bosham Sailing Club which also has a fleet of Tideways and helped to…

When I bought my plywood centre-cockpit Santa Barbara 32, Seven Summers, I’d never heard of Charles Greene or Cruiser Kits. That changed on the pontoon at Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight where, by pure chance, I met Malcolm Fieldhouse. He’d been a teacher at the school next to the home of Seven Summers’ builder, the late Louis Louth-Davies, and had watched him build the ketch in his Barnham garden. It started a quest to learn more about the company and the designer. A true innovator Cruiser Kits was founded by yacht designer Charles Greene – a name now sadly little known. Yet in the 1950s, Greene was the pioneer of modern plywood boatbuilding. In its heyday, the company was incredibly successful, selling hundreds of kits and partially-completed boats in…

My wooden motor cruiser Marabou was hauled out so I could start repair and renovation work. Being retired, the budget is fairly tight so I plan to use every opportunity to reduce the cost but without compromising anything. Due to her size, age and engine power, Marabou must undergo rigorous inspection every five years and she has to be hauled out for the task. Among many other requirements, there must be a bilge water alarm installed, and for Marabou that means having two bilge alarm switches (or floats) installed: one in the engine area under the cockpit and another in the bilge under the main cabin. A quick look at some online chandleries confirmed that bilge floats are not cheap – anything from £20+ to £60 – and that’s for…

The marina at St Katharine Docks is quite special to me. My friend Chrissy and I had a posh little lunch in one of the fancy restaurants near there some years ago. We pulled a neat little student trick and ordered ourselves starters and glasses of tap water because there was no way we could afford the mains! I remember looking down at the water and wondering if I’d ever be able to do it. To actually be the other side of the shining black iron barricades that separate the great unwashed from the yacht owners on the other side. I honestly didn’t think I could. But now I have. I very much would have liked to take my Microplus into the marina because the contrast between the superyachts and…

YACHTS The best boat to sail round the coast of Britain? Q I’m a keen sailor in the planning phase of sailing around Britain to raise awareness and funding for a rare liver condition. Do any of your experts have advice on a suitable yacht? Sigismund Solly Duncan Kent responds: It’s a long sail right around the coast of Britain and you’re likely to encounter almost every type of weather and sea state. So your yacht must be seaworthy and able to keep its crew safe and comfortable regardless of the conditions. The boat must be tough enough and capable of beating easily upwind with minimum leeway, while still enabling its crew to get on with life on board. This usually means a relatively full-bodied hull, longish fin keel, high…

For a while, life seemed to get in the way of sailing: terrible weather near the end of summer 2023 foiled a Blackwater cruise I’d planned with my dad, and then my looming GCSE exams meant my Jeanneau Sun 2000 Victoria remained dormant. However, as soon as I strode out of my last exam in mid-June 2024, getting Victoria launched and ready for the season became my top priority. We took the mast down, adding a lazyjack system for the stackpack that a skilled family friend, Sue, had made, as well as fitting a NASA wind indicator. Other jobs included installing a new – to me – Raymarine E7d chart plotter on a swinging board and safety netting on the guardrails, assisted by my friend Sharu. In a rushed few…