Innehållsförteckning för January 2020 från Sailing Today

Lifejackets introduced with a new range of Harbour Hounds accessories are outselling human ones in the chandlery at dog-friendly Buckler’s Yacht Harbour. Four-legged friends will be wagging their tails with delight at the popular dog ice cream, tasty treats, hydration drinks and eco-friendly toys for the maritime adventures of salty sea dogs on the picturesque Beaulieu River. The eye-catching Harbour Hounds selection features stylish canine beach robes – which are perfect for getting dogs warm and dry after splashing around in the water – trendy bandanas in a choice of colours, tick-preventing necklaces and treat pouches made from sail fabric. Beaulieu River Harbour Master Wendy Stowe said: “We welcome dogs with their owners at Buckler’s Hard Yacht Harbour, so adding pet accessories to our range of goods at the on-site…

Contest 55 CS Dutch boatbuilder Contest Yachts has a strong reputation for building top-notch cruising yachts that are a cut above your Beneteaus and Hanses. Recently they seemed to be moving into a different sphere altogether, with the launch of their 67CS followed by the whopping 85. The good news is that they have moved back down a size bracket with their all-new 55. This Judel/Vrolijk design is definitely a fast cruiser and potential clients can customise the boat to meet their needs. To this end, there is the option of a carbon or aluminium mast, along with multiple different layout options. £POA contestyachts.com Dufour 530 The Latest addition to the Dufour range lays out a slightly new vision for the marque going forward. In the past, the company has…

Earlier in the year I organised a test of a highly respected marque, which will remain nameless. The day before the test, the forecast was for 20-25 knots. Given that the test was in the Solent and the yacht was over 40ft (12.2m), that sounded ideal. Not so; the broker said it was too breezy and the test was cancelled. Now, I’m sure the circumstances were fair enough and I’m not having a go. I believe it was an owner’s boat etc etc, but every time I think of that manufacturer now, it seems somehow diminished in my eyes. The same certainly cannot be said of the Amel 60. The forecast for the day of the test was for 25-30kt increasing to 35-40 as the day wore on. Despite this,…

The essence of a good day afloat is a cracking sail, some fine scenery and the promise of a warm, dry berth when you turn in. Our maritime climate often provides the first two in the list, but the last one can be a challenge, especially on older boats. A heater can help set that straight by removing humidity from wet sailing clothes and banishing the chill of a night-time anchorage. Starting at around £1,500, if you shop around, they are relatively cheap to buy and fit, and can revolutionise life aboard, especially for less fanatical sailors who miss the creature comforts of home. And if you plan to venture north into higher latitudes, a heater is a practical necessity. There are three basic varieties to choose from. These days,…

If some marketing goon were going to give a lecture on the value of brand awareness, then I can’t think of a much finer example than Hallberg-Rassy. This is a brand that has stuck unswervingly to a blueprint of quality bluewater cruisers without blinking for decades. Multihulls? Forget it. Cruiser racers? No way. Racing yacht? Please… All that pays off, and it is no coincidence that Hallberg-Rassy is one of the only major survivors of the tsunami of bankruptcies that overtook Swedish boatbuilding in the 2000s. Hallberg-Rassy just cruised on. Yet, for all the marque’s reputation for conservatism, the latest generation of Hallbergs are (whisper it) quite radical. Take the 340, for example – although her lines are penned by German Frers (like every Hallberg-Rassy since the beginning of time),…

With the steel bow of our Tahiti cutter, Beatrice, surging into the swells, at the helm I felt a long way from the milder climes of mainland Australia, as the foreboding mass of Tasmania’s South West Cape loomed large on our starboard bow. The Pilot book describes this voyage as the ‘Ultima Thule’ of Australian cruising, so my cousin Christian and I had spent a year planning and keenly anticipating this three-week summer voyage, which would require about 300 miles of sailing. At 43°S we were amidst the fabled Roaring Forties, with very little shelter along Tasmania’s unpopulated southwest coast. The previous day’s voyage had taken us down the sheltered east coast from south of the island’s capital of Hobart after departing the Oyster Cove Marina, through a pristine cruising…

JEANNEAU SUN ODYSSEY 379 | MANHATTAN If you have a large family – or are very popular, with a lot of friends – you might be interested to know that this yacht sleeps up to nine, in a manageable 37ft (11.3m) package. Designed by Marc Lombard and built in France with a deep fin keel, this is number 221 of the popular and proven three-cabin cruiser. The slab-reefed main and furling genoa are by Hyde, with a sprayhood and mainsail cover new this year. She also comes with a cruising chute. Manual winches are by Harken and her inventory includes a Raymarine Hybrid Touch radar/GPS/plotter, Standard Horizon GMDSS Explorer VHF, Raymarine wind speed/direction instruments, diesel heating to all cabins and – usefully – an extra water tank. This…

An underwater collision with an unidentified object knocked the new Hugo Boss IMOCA 60 racing yacht out of its first race in early November. Hugo Boss is skippered by star British sailor Alex Thomson, who was racing with co-skipper Neal McDonald in the Transat Jacques Vabre when the collision took place around 380 miles northwest of the Canary Isles. According to Thomson’s report, the collision occurred while sailing at 25kts: “We’re not sure what we hit but it was something big under the water, which must have been submerged to have hit our keel and physically stop the boat at 25 knots. The keel sustained a lot of damage and it was left attached only by the hydraulic ram. “Neal and I are both physically OK. No major injuries, just…

California sailor Randall Reeves has completed an epic ‘first’ – sailing single-handed and non-stop on a circumnavigation of both the American continent and Antarctica. Reeves, 57, set off from San Francisco aboard his 45-foot aluminium sloop Moli on 30 September 2018. Heading south, he rounded Cape Horn before circumnavigating Antartica and voyaging north again along the east coast of South and North America. The Northwest Passage was ticked-off next, before Reeves and Moli sailed around Alaska and headed south once more into the Pacific and home to San Francisco. The incredible voyage has taken a year to complete, and seen more than 40,000 miles of ocean pass beneath Moli’s keel. At one point Reeve’s nearest fellow humans were on the International Space Station, and the intrepid skipper endured – or…

MOUNT GAY ROUND BARBADOS RACE BARBADOS 21 JANUARY The open-to-all-comers 60nm Mount Gay Round Barbados Race gives crews a chance to win their skipper’s weight in rum. The party vibe is legendary! visitbarbados.org CRUISING ASSOCIATION OPEN WEEKEND CA HOUSE, LIMEHOUSE, LONDON 29 FEBRUARY-1 MARCH A number of high-profile marine brands have already signed up to exhibit during this two-day event, with Tom Cunliffe confirmed as guest speaker for the Saturday evening. theca.org.uk BOOT DÜSSELDORF GERMANY 18-26 JANUARY The 50th edition of Germany’s premier boat show takes place this year, with the usual slew of new boat launches expected – as well all the latest product trends and innovations. boot.com BURNS NIGHT, HMS WARRIOR Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth 25 January Enjoy an evening of Haggis and Scottish entertainments aboard the Royal Navy’s…

While the tide can be a real pain for cruisers in UK waters, it can also be a joy, giving parts of the coastline ever-changing characters during its different states. This is certainly true of Chichester Harbour, which, due to the huge expanses of mudflats exposed at low water, has a very different feel compared with high water. Whatever state of the tide though, it is a beautiful place to sail; a sort of mini cruising ground with a good selection of picturesque villages to anchor off and secluded creeks to explore. I kept my boat here on and off for five years, so I got to know the area fairly intimately. In addition to being a lovely, sheltered place to sail, Chichester’s fairly extreme tides mean that, if you…

The first lesson of parenting is really to expect the unexpected. Funnily enough, the same can be said of liveaboard sailing. Often our travels see us going from one extreme to the other in terms of available supplies – we’ve sailed both to big, bustling, yachting-hub cities as well as to tiny remote islands, without roads, vehicles or currency. One of the challenges of life on board is to look at your plans for the next sailing stretch and try to pre-empt as many potential hiccups to your happiness as possible. And, as always, we also stock our first aid kit with some pretty thorough and helpful advice from our cruising friends who’ve travelled some of these routes ahead of us. ‘I remember feeling intimidated by the sheer volume of…

The concept of chartering in the Pacific was once relatively alien. True, this has always been noted as one of the most beautiful areas to explore under sail, but the problem was always accessibility. That changed when the first major airlines started to fly into the larger of the scattered chain of islands, which spans the Pacific from Hawaii all the way down to Australia. The problem for wannabe charterers was the distinct lack of available vessels and infrastructure. Over the years, that has changed, with the arrival of big operators such as Sunsail ensuring the steady drip feed of charter vessels into the area. Of course, there are still sections of the South Seas that are simply too remote and tricky to support a viable charter industry, but in…

OYSTER 565 This is a bit smaller than the Amel, but definitely in the same price bracket. It is also a very individual yacht, with a slightly cultish following and reputation for quality and luxury combined with similar blue water aspirations. oysteryachts.com DISCOVERY LONGITUDE 600 This centre cockpit, deck saloon luxury cruiser owes an awful lot to the Southerly 600 (another option). This is because she shares the same lines, but with a fixed rather than swing keel. Being built by Discovery, she boasts an excellent quality of fit and finish. discoveryyachtsgroup.com HALLBERG RASSY 57 Another centre cockpit bluewater cruiser and the brainchild of Magnus Rassy, a man of similarly monomaniacal tendencies as Henri Amel himself. The 57 is crammed full of clever touches and the quality is hard to…

Some people talk about having a guardian angel on their shoulder but I have to say that, on this trip, it felt more like there was a demon looking on! Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.” So says 77-year-old Jeanne Socrates, reflecting on a 340-day epic record trip around the world aboard her trusty Najad 380 Nereida. It’s a trip that has put her in the record books as the oldest person to single-handedly sail nonstop around the world, beating the previous record holder, 71-year-old Minoru Saito, by a substantial margin. The trip started and, naturally, concluded in Victoria BC and took in Cape Horn, the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, the SE Cape of Tasmania and the S Cape of New Zealand. It was not without…

Wish you were here… actually I don’t. I’d like to keep this little bit of northern Dalmatia just as it is – unspoilt and off the map for most tourists. We’ve just finished our first ever charter, booked through Helm (helm.yt), and instantly fell in love with the area. From Rogoznica Marina, we motored up to Primosten, a picture-postcard town crowned by a hilltop church, where we swam before breakfast, diving into the warm turquoise waters while church bells called the faithful to mass. The sail to Sibenik is one to savour, along a channel marked by a lighthouse on one side and a fort on the other. The medieval city that awaits you is a hidden gem – off the radar compared with hotspots like Dubrovnik, Split and Hvar.…

Hot dates for sailors Make a date for 2020 The 32nd edition of the highly acclaimed Rick Tomlinson Portfolio Calendar features 12 spectacular images from recent assignments around the world. This year’s pictures include action from the 8-M Worlds, SailGP and the 49ers in Weymouth, plus art from Round the Island Race and a beautiful Solent sunset. For a more traditional feel, Den Phillips’ 2020 Classic Yacht Calendar features a collection of breathtaking images from Antigua Classics and other regattas in the Med. £18+ £4.50 p+p. denphillipsphotos.com £19.95+pp rick-tomlinson.com Hold out for a Hero Knitwear channels spirit of Shackleton Hero and Nimrod woolly pullies from Shackleton’s new winter collection is inspired by the legacy of Polar titan Sir Ernest Shackleton himself. The expedition-grade apparel is engineered for extremes and is…

Decades ago in another life, my wife and I sailed a 12-ton gaff cutter around the oceans with no engine – but time changes all things. Our voyaging in 2020 is very different. During those years in Arcady, our only worries were hurricane seasons and the onset of North Atlantic winter gales. We had no jobs, no house, little money and no aspirations to alter this happy state of affairs. Now, we have property, family, responsibilities, bank accounts and a full diary of commitments. We still live on board our yacht every summer and run up some respectable distances but, like most folks muscling along in the manic 21st century, time is no longer on our side. Cruising with a big engine, as most of us now do, places us…

The island chain of the Cooks lies widely spread across the South Pacific between French Polynesia and Tonga/ Samoa. Almost 800 nm separate the southernmost island of Mangaia (21°S) from the northernmost Penrhyn (09°S). Atolls, raised atolls, volcanic mountains with lagoons, or just fringing reefs – their different geology alone makes a visit worthwhile. The islands’ flora and fauna are just as diverse as their climate, while friendly locals with a variety of traditions add to the experience. Due to their widespread location, most passing cruising yachts on their way west stop at only one of the Cook Islands, and find it hard to choose. We wanted to see more and spent two months during the southern winter 2018 exploring four of them. We found each destination alluring in its…

It’s always difficult to find good crew prepared to sail offshore. For some reason, people these days resent being shouted at by the captain, having to get up at all hours of the night to respond to emergencies on deck, trying to cook when the boat is swinging around madly, living in perpetually damp clothes, unclogging the head while under way. And, in the case of my spouse, suffering the self-appointed skipper’s Bligh delusions and not even getting paid for the pleasure. But it seems it was always like this. When in 1703 Captain Thomas Stradling recruited a young Scotsman called Alexander Selkirk as a deckhand aboard his privateer the Cinque Ports, it must have been with misgivings. Young Alex was already known to have a “quarrelsome and unruly disposition”.…

The Amel 60 is a very individual boat and, in that respect, it sticks to the blueprint that Henri Amel started out with. The design team has also worked hard to produce a modern yacht that retains the clever, individualistic thinking of earlier designs. The quality throughout is also absolutely superb and the attention to detail, excellent – although this comes at a price. In terms of her sailing qualities, she inspired total confidence and also entertained in wild conditions. Ultimately, this is an individual boat and, like a rather British product – Marmite – will engender strong emotions both for and against. If you’re a serious blue water cruiser though, this is a great boat to consider. COMFORT: PERFORMANCE: LOOKS:…

EAST SUSSEX 50° 47.3’N, 000° 19.9’E Not one marina, this month, but five – Sovereign Harbour, just outside Eastbourne, East Sussex, comprises five harbours that together provide more than 800 berths and make up the UK’s largest composite marina. The harbour, formed by dredging gravel pits, was first opened in 1993 and comprises a tidal outer harbour connected by two high-capacity sea locks to four inner harbours, which accommodate a mixture of Premier Marinas berthholders, residents’ boats and local fishing vessels. Through the sea locks, which are operated 24/7, are the Inner, South, West and North harbours. The Inner Harbour offers both annual and visitor berths. Lifting bridges connect it to the other three harbours, which are used mainly by residents and local fishing vessels. The chandlery, a new 60-tonne…

Last month we explored whirlpools, the vortices of water that sink down into the sea. This month we’re going to learn about the ones that rise up high into the sky – waterspouts. Although they look as though water is being sucked up into the sky, waterspouts are simply rotating columns of condensed air connecting the sea with a cumuliform cloud. Although this might make them seem less fearsome, waterspouts are extremely dangerous to small boats and can cause serious damage to a yacht. Indeed, one is believed to have hit the Mary Celeste off the Azores in December 1872, tearing up the sails and flooding the hold. The dangerous cargo of denatured alcohol meant the crew couldn’t properly survey the leak and, believing the damage was greater than it…

It’s a cruel irony that cruising sailors are frequently not as green as they really should be. This is due to the unfortunate fact that we are often slaves to our engines when the wind doesn’t blow in the right direction. With climate change right at the top of our agendas these days, that’s unfortunate. Of course, the obvious solution is to fit an electric motor. Yet, that is often easier said than done and, although costs are coming down, they remain a tad eye-watering if you’re considering binning your existing diesel and retro-fitting an electric motor. So, what other steps can be taken to reduce your environmental impact? Sailing more has to be key – buy how do I do that? Sail more efficiently Antifouling If you sail more…