Innehållsförteckning för July 2017 från SAIL

July is here, and it’s officially grilling season. If you’ve ever envied friends with “a natural talent for grilling,” you may be surprised how easy it can be to turn out mouth-watering food. However, if you think that success is as simple as lighting up your grill, you’ll probably be disappointed. Like learning to sail, the “secret” to successful grilling is all in the three “P’s”: Preparation, Practice and Patience. Here’s a 13-step guide to grilling nirvana. 1. Start with a fully functioning grill. A cruiser friend once lamented that anything he grilled turned out charred and overdone. A quick look at his gas grill revealed that the burner tubes were rusted out. Make sure your grill is in good condition and has all of its parts—especially if it’s been…

The storied J class is currently in the middle of arguably its most action-packed season ever. Better yet, for fans of these towering beauties, there’s plenty of time to catch at least some of the action in the weeks ahead. Things got off to a strong start at the St. Barths Bucket regatta, with no less than six of the boats taking part, including Hanuman, Velsheda, Lionheart, Ranger, Topaz and Shamrock V. Coming out on top aft er five races was Hanuman, owned by Jim and Kristy Clark, who also own the record-breaking super-maxi Comanche. Aft er that, it was the America’s Cup Superyacht Regatta, which at press time was expected to include the same half-dozen J’s racing off Bermuda, followed by another dedicated J Class regatta on the same…

Slovenia’s Elan Yachts has been on a roll these last few years, introducing a number of new models designed by Briton Rob Humphreys. The latest is the Elan GT5, an interesting 43-footer that brings a fresh approach to the performance cruising genre. Based on the beamy, hard-chined, twinruddered hull of the sporty Elan E5 and carrying a generous sailplan, the GT5 will have plenty of zip, but it’s the accommodations and deck plan that make it stand out from the crowd. The standard cockpit is long, wide and well designed, with long benches and high coamings forward providing extra lounging comfort. Tick a few boxes on the options sheet and you can also have twin tables, a convertible sunbed, a barbecue, fridge and wet bar all built in—the same features…

Musandam, lying south of the Straits of Hormuz in the Sultanate of Oman, is known affectionately as the Arabian Fjords. There, steep glacial mountains plunge into crystal-clear water hundreds of feet deep, and numerous long, broad channels push some 10 miles inland from the Arabian Gulf. It’s a remote area, accessible only by boat, with the few visible signs of human habitation clinging to narrow foreshores. It was therefore with some excitement that my wife, Judi, the co-owner of my boat, Asli Plail, and I planned a spring cruise on Rahala (Arabic for Voyager), our Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i. As we obtained the necessary sailing permit from the Omani embassy in our home port of Dubai, we planned our departure for the third week of March, when we anticipated pleasant…

It’s often the things we cannot see that pose the greatest danger on our boats. A recent incident in Wrightsville Beach drove this point home to a world cruiser at the very beginning of his journey. Timothy Wilkinson was lucky to not be killed when his sailboat exploded, reportedly due to a faulty propane installation. The blast blew the cabintop off the boat and sent Timothy to the hospital with second and third-degree burns. Given the dangers of LPG, why do we continue to use it aboard our boats? In a word, convenience. LPG—either propane or butane—is readily available in most parts of the world at a reasonable cost. A small cylinder of propane can last many weeks and is easy to refill even in remote locations. The truth is,…

In the pantheon of mythical creatures—right up there with unicorns, hippogriffs and manticores—we have in the realm of cruising a most important one: the perfect dinghy. This of course is a very subjective concept that exists in Platonic form in every sailor’s mind, but never in reality. Personally, I’ve always favored roll-up inflatables, about 9ft long, because they are very stable for their size, can carry big loads, are very light and, most of all, can be folded up real small and stowed away in a sail bag. This last feature, I feel, is particularly important if you cruise on a monohull less than 42ft long that you are unwilling to uglify or otherwise endanger by sticking davits on the back. (See Annie Dike’s story Sometimes You Need a Hacksaw…

From the SAIL community And don’t forget to sign up for our free eNewsletter, Under Sail, via our website sailmagazine.com Here is my daughter, Kimberley, buttoning up after Wednesday night racing on Peconic Bay in Cutchogue, Eastern Long Island, New York. — Ed Mulrain, Mattituck, NY A morning anchorage at Bungay Creek, off the Chester River in Maryland. I spent several days sailing and exploring the rivers of the Chesapeake aboard Sydney, my Dana 24. — Stephen Mergens, Burke, VA I caught this glimpse of the day’s first light aboard my Hobie 18, First Day Out, in the Princess Louisa Inlet, British Columbia. — David Dilworth, Charmel, CA My wife, Marilynn, and I were docked for the evening at Egg Harbor, Wisconson, on Lake Michigan’s Green Bay, aboard Sabbath, our…

Even the best regattas occasionally get skunked for wind, but not this year in Charleston for the city’s annual race week. For 2017, the spring classic not only boasted a 200-plus fleet, but steady breezes that made for some spectacular sailing, especially for the larger boats competing on the regatta’s off shore circles. As always, the one-design contingent was an especially strong one, with a fleet of 19 J/24s taking part as well as 13 VX Ones, a score of Melges 24s and a whopping 72 J/70s. In fact, the turnout of smaller keelboats has now become so strong that organizers elected to add a fourth racing circle to already crowded Charleston Harbor. Equally important, the regatta also included a two-dozen-strong contingent of racer-cruisers mixing things up in a pair…

X-Yachts, the Danish builder of high-quality, performanceoriented sailboats, recently introduced a new X line that is positioned somewhere between its Xp racing models and its Xc cruisers. The 42ft X4 (also called the X43 in some company literature) follows in the footsteps of the X6 launched last year and should find a ready market among those who aren’t quite up to the challenge of an Xp, but would still like something with a little more pep than a classically styled Xc. The result is a mashup that I found to be more than the sum of its parts, and that is an absolute joy to sail. DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION With its vacuum-infused, baked epoxy construction and advanced M-foam coring (more expensive but stiffer), the X4’s basic structure is only 8…

For more info on the latest sailing equipment go to sailbuyersguide.com HANGIN’ ON A good hammock should never be ignored, whether you’re strapping it between a pair of palm trees after dinghying ashore or letting it rock you to sleep after you’ve strung it between your mast and forestay. Beyond that, if it’s just for you, that’s great. However, if it fits two, like the Grand Trunk Double Hammock, even better. In fact, the Grand Trunk Double Hammock takes hammocks to a whole new level with its marine-grade carabiners, attached stuff sack, starter rope kit and quick and easy setup. Although it can hold up to 400lb it weighs in at a minimal 28oz. You could practically put it in your pocket. $75. Toad&Co, toadandco.com TRUNK CALL Need a new…

“I don’t think the rudder post is supposed to move like that,” I told the captain. “It turns with the wheel,” he said dismissively, eyes closed, hands on his chest. “Starboard to port.” “I didn’t say turn. I said move. Athwartship.” Phillip’s head snapped up. That did the trick. Nautical terms usually did, although they still surprised me whenever they occasionally tumbled out of my mouth, as if I didn’t know the person who was talking. It wasn’t long ago I thought sailing was only for people who wore blue embossed blazers and said things like “halyard, forestay and yarrr.” Barely three years a sailor, and I still feel very new to it, because new things seem to happen every time we go out. Five days, four pairs of filthy…

Mine is a fishing family. Whether we are running lines off the stern, spearfishing or casting from the boat, we’re always fishing. So, of course, we were fishing while we sailed as part of the 2015 Pacific Puddle Jump. Among our mini-group of boats a competition had been arranged; the boat to catch the biggest fish would be entitled to a beer from each other boat in the group. My family was excited about this competition: so excited we kept our lines in the water day and night, during good and bad weather. It was through this determination that we achieved our biggest and best fish tale yet. It was just aft er midnight when I came off watch. I was tired and ready for sleep. Not that the watch…

It’s official, we have now truly entered a “Brave New World” of sailing; either that or the world has truly lost its mind. This past fall, SAIL magazine first covered the Brest Ultime Challenge, a singlehanded nonstop round-the-world event set to take place in 2019 between a fleet of “ultimes”—mega-tris measuring 100ft or more (2016 Fall Multihull Issue: The Next Generation). Now, as the boats destined to take part in that race start sliding down the ways they are proving to be as ultime as expected. Leading the charge are Frenchman (of course!) Sébastien Josse and the Gitana Team with their new maxi Edmond de Rothschild, which was first unveiled in April and is set to begin trials later this month. Not only is the boat big (of course!) with…

One of the fun things about being a boat reviewer is having an opportunity to experience the industry’s latest design trends first-hand. Case in point: the Jeanneau 51, which I recently helped deliver to the Miami boat show, is very much an evolution of the Jeanneau 54 that I sailed a year or so ago on a short cruise off of South Florida. As such it was fun to see how Jeanneau incorporated many of the ideas that make the 54 such a winner into a slightly smaller package. DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION The Jeanneau 51 boasts solid, hand-laid construction with a laminate schedule that includes two outer vinylester layers to stave off blistering. Bulkheads are integrated into the deck and hull structure through the use of polyurethane adhesives, while a…

Be warned. If you ever get a chance to go out on a photo boat with world-renowned marine photographer Carlo Borlenghi, what he likes best is taking dramatic shots of big boats in big waves—really big waves. It was for this reason that Carlo, our RIB driver, Claudia Tosi, and I spent the better part of a half hour bashing our way out to Pajaros Point at the eastern tip of Virgin Gorda, a chunk of land that is about as mean-looking as they come—with true fangs for rocks reaching out into a maelstrom of breakers. Worse yet, once there we spent another 20 minutes or so just wallowing around, at the same time occasionally bailing out the well of our RIB after the bilge pump apparently decided to give…

Some years ago I visited the Bavaria factory and was amused at the thought of a powerhouse boatbuilder turning out its products smack bang in the middle of rural Germany, surrounded by fields of cows and crops. This past spring I visited two factory buildings in deepest Nevada that house the most sophisticated sailmaking operation I’ve ever seen. Followers of high-level racing have no doubt noticed the increasing number of black and gray sails among the fleets over the last few years. These are 3Di sails, built at the North Sails factory—you could not call it a loft —in Minden, Nevada. What makes 3Di sails different is their construction—other sailmakers also use high-tech fibers oriented along the load paths in a sail, sandwiching them between layers of Mylar film. North’s…

In a typical year, I’m probably on charter at least once every other month, and during that time I’ve learned (and re-learned) a few valuable lessons. Common problems usually have to do with electrical systems, reefing and tenders. However, never underestimate human nature and what kind of mayhem it can introduce into an otherwise orderly vacation. VOLTAGE IS KING (AND SO ARE THE BREAKERS) Traditional wisdom says that once your engine is running, you can operate any electrical equipment aboard regardless of the battery level. However, that’s not entirely true. For example, I once had a guest with a CPAP sleep-apnea machine aboard a Lagoon 380 catamaran. The machine ran all night and drained the batteries. In the morning, therefore, I had to combine both banks to provide enough juice…