Innehållsförteckning för August 2020 från Sailing Today

Instructor Asher Robinson has called for the appointment more BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) officials in sailing, as he spoke of the racism he has experienced in the sport. Asher, who is an RYA senior instructor at the Westminster Boating Base in London, said: “If you look at the committees of sailing clubs, and if you look at the boards of the sailing authorities, there is not one BAME person on there. For me, I don’t agree with positive discrimination but there may be people from BAME backgrounds who are great sailors who are not getting the opportunities. “Separately, there needs to be sailing centres who take on more BAME people, but this needs to be supported from the source strongly. The RYA is the source. People will be…

The Vendée Globe round the world race will take place, the organisers have confirmed. Amid the Covid-19 crisis, much debate had surrounded the feasibility of holding the event, which sees hundreds of thousands of sailing fans congregate in Les Sables d’Olonne. Organisers said the layout of the start village had yet to be decided and “will be adjusted as necessary”. The race will start from off Les Sables d’Olonne at 1202hrs UTC on 8 November. There are 18 sailors confirmed so far and 35 expected. British hope Alex Thomson on HUGO BOSS has yet to finalise his entry but he is back training in earnest and has said: “HUGO BOSS is performing very well indeed!” Thomson will not compete in the qualifying race to the Arctic and back, announced last…

New Zealand has provided border exceptions for America’s Cup teams, meaning the British, Italians and USA can start the big move to Auckland and the countdown to the Cup has begun. Lockdown has ended in New Zealand and competitive sport is up and running, but a question mark remained over entry requirements for the three national teams hoping to wrest the America’s Cup from NZ. After the situation was clarified in June, INEOS TEAM UK said: “We look forward to arriving in Auckland at the end of the UK summer, completing quarantine, and taking flight on the amazing Hauraki Gulf.” The America’s Cup and its preceeding qualifying regatta, the Prada Cup, will take place on the Hauraki Gulf in January, February and March 2021. Meanwhile INEOS TEAM UK has been…

Grand Soleil 44 Performance Italian manufacturer Grand Soleil is planning to unveil the new 44 Performance at the Cannes Boat Show and if the plans are anything to go by, it looks like this is a boat that will wow the socially distanced crowds. The new boat comes from the drawing board of Mateo Polli, known as ‘the wizard of ORC’ as his designs have won three world championships and two Italian championships in ORC events since 2015. The new boat will be available in two distinct formats with one aimed at the racing market and the other more of a fast cruiser. One of the distinctive features of the boat is the positioning of the mast which is further back than on many previous models. This has been done…

‘Changing our engine’s impeller is my own private task nightmare as it’s just so awkward to get to’ There is nothing more satisfying than a boat problem solved. It’s that wonderful combination of detective work followed up by skill and potentially artistry to effectively and even sometimes elegantly install, repair or improve your yacht. However, 99.9% of the time the road to this wonderful result is a bumpy one. One where you only have metric tools to offer up to an imperial fitting; where that all-important spanner falls overboard and a well-meaning spouse (let’s face it, it’s often me) suggests too late how useful a lanyard would be; where it would really come in handy if you had the same number of limbs as an octopus; or where you turn…

It was Valentine’s Day and my husband Fergus and I were spending our first night on board, Two Drifters, a secondhand Lagoon 440 catamaran we had just purchased in Toulon in France. But it was a far cry from the romantic dream I had envisaged. We couldn’t get the heating to work, it was pouring with rain and the hatches were leaking, there was no gas to light the stove, the bilge alarm kept going off and we had just one sleeping bag and a pillow between us to keep warm. This was the start of our liveaboard life and I had never felt so disheartened. Our dream of sailing around the world suddenly didn’t seem quite so appealing. For many years, we discussed selling the business and the house,…

As well as being the capital city, London is the UK’s second largest port (after Humber), and the Thames brings the feel of the sea many miles inland, into the heart of the city. Its scope and scale makes it hard to summarise in images or words, but that very diversity is one of its strengths. In this article written for the 12 Ports project, journalist Daniel Sugarman picks up the theme of diversity and describes how strict Orthodox Jews found welcome in one of London’s satellite communities on the Thames Estuary. bit.ly/12ports-london…

GRAND SOLEIL 48 Another slippery, stylish Italian performer. The Grand Soleil 48 has greater beam than the Solaris, almost identical sail area and about 1,000kg less displacement. keyyachting.com ARCONA 465 The Arcona 465 is a Nordic take on the performance cruiser. Narrower than the Solaris and almost 3,000kg lighter, with a carbon hull, but pricier. arconayachts.com ITALIA 13.98 Another Italian manufacturer that is all about performance and panache. Arguably this is a yacht that is more serious about racing than the Solaris and slightly less about style. Weight has been kept to a very modest 9,500kg, comparable to the Arcona. italiayachts.com…

HAMPSHIRE 50° 47,98’ N 001° 25,28’ W Meandering up the Beaulieu River on the north eastern shores of the Solent is a trip of some five or so miles. Although the distance is short, you are transported not only slightly inland, but also to a place that almost seems like another dimension after the bustle of the Solent. The beautiful meandering river, surrounded by salt marshes near its entrance and in its upper reaches by dense oak woodland, has a wonderfully timeless feel to it. It’s hard to imagine that only a few miles away, the refineries of Fawley belch out fumes, while a couple of miles beyond, the city of Southampton thrums with activity. Yet the Beaulieu River has remained relatively untouched; a beautiful haven that is owned almost…

Naturalmat Naturalmat produce two types of mattress, the Natural Fibre (airflow) and the Pocket Sprung. Both use natural fillings and layers of soft lambswool, cashmere and mohair. Their sprung mattresses contain hundreds of tensioned springs. • naturalmatmarine.co.uk Marine Bedding Co Marine Bedding Company is a specialist manufacturer and supplier of bespoke, custom made boat mattresses and boat bedding. Specifically designed for use in boats, yachts, superyachts, motorhomes and caravans. • marinebedding.co.uk Made2Measure Mattresses Made2Measure Mattresses is a company that specialises in custom mattresses for caravans, narrowboats and yachts. The company offers a staggering 12 different options for marine beds, with prices starting at £99 and going right up to £549.99 • made2measuremattress.co.uk Bodymould Mattresses Bodymould has developed a range of custom boat mattresses from memory foam, especially designed for marine…

B&G Zeus³S The new Zeus³S is billed as B&G’s leading offshore sailing multi-functional display solution, specifically for sailors, allowing you to navigate, plot routes, add waypoints and see all the key sailing or racing information at the touch of a button, or the screen. Among the many features is a latest generation Quad Core Micro Processor, making it the fastest and most responsive B&G sailing system yet, a SolarMAX HD IPS Screen, offering claimed best in class visibility from all angles, with or without polarised glasses, and the full suite of B&G sailing features including SailSteer, StartLine, RacePanel, LayLines, SailingTime and PredictWind. Available from July in 9, 12 and 16 inch screen sizes • From £2,249.99 (exc local taxes) • bandg.com Bollé for sailing Bollé has a new model aimed…

The mountains could almost be the Lake District but the water is definitely not the Irish Sea. The lucky crew on these two yachts are in fact anchored off Olawalu on the island of Maui, Hawaii. On a calm day, the clear water here is a renowned spot for snorkelling, but when the swell picks up it’s packed with the world’s best surfers. The bay comes with a warning, however: it is said to be “one of the sharkiest around”. Something to bear in mind as we dream of cruising on foreign shores. British waters do have their advantages.…

RORC is organising a race around the Isle of Wight on Saturday 1 August, as its first race since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The race will replace the Channel Race and RORC says “it is open to Covid-19 compliant crews following government regulations in both the Two-Handed and family/same-household classes”. RORC Racing Manager Chris Stone said: “It’s our belief that the Channel Race may be a little too early to allow fully-crewed racing and would potentially be difficult with regulations not permitting overnight racing.” He added: “There are also more serious border and immigration issues that need to be resolved. At present, sailing into foreign waters in a recreational capacity is against regulations, but potentially, there may also be some quarantine issues to consider going forward. “Lastly, we…

Whenever I post a new video on my YouTube channel I’m peppered with comments. As long as I listen carefully and fight the natural tendency to self-justify, I learn something every week. The sea’s been good to me and I like to put a bit back so, in addition to the emails, I’ve decided to offer a regular live question session on my website. We’ll see how that works out. One query came from a chap who could not understand why I’d now opt for bermudan rig after sailing the seas with gaff for more than forty years. The truth is that what’s best can depend subjectively on your physical requirements and what stirs your juices as much as a set of hard-nosed formulae. When I bought my first ocean…

“One thing that remains very possible is for parents and kids to sail together” The more different types of boat you sail, and the more different people that you sail with, the better the sailor you will become. That is a point of view, not a statement of fact. But it’s a view that chimes with me. The opposite point of view is to focus on one pursuit to the exclusion of all else. There are, for example, some lifelong Laser sailors that see no reason to venture into any other boat. They become particularly expert at that one specific skill, even to world class level. But then there are the polymaths, students of many diverse forms of sailing, who enjoy the unique challenge of every new class that they…

While owners of cruising yachts generally aim to look after their boats as well as possible, in my experience some are unduly lax about setting up standing rigging with sufficient tension. If the shrouds flop around on the lee side when beating, they are too loose, which can lead to accentuated peak loads, especially when falling off a wave. Accurate tensioning is also particularly important to correctly support the mast of yachts with multiple swept-back spreaders. On the other hand, some inshore racers have a reputation for being on the cavalier side regarding safety. Nevertheless, given that boat speed and pointing ability depend on good rig set up, they are likely to have this element properly sorted. In addition, successful racing teams tend to be very risk adverse in terms…

The horizons of many sailors have narrowed in recent months and while the cause of this is simply dreadful, me should try to look to the positives. One such is that it gives us the opportunity to inspect our own coastline afresh. It’s fair to say that when UK-based yachtsmen think about chartering options across the world, they often overlook the fabulous cruising grounds right on their doorstep. The UK provides one of the richest and most varied cruising grounds in the world. Whether you’re threading your way up some tranquil creek and discovering the magic of the east coast swatchways, exploring the varied ports and rugged headlands of the West Country or seeing with enchanted eyes the purple hills and wine dark seas of Scotland, there is something special…

SCANYACHTS 400 DS This boat has a bit of a twin personality. She’s a Scanyachts 400 built in 1985 – but actually started life as hull Number 12 of the Wessex 390 – and wasn’t actually fitted out and completed until 1992. So she’s younger than she seems. Broker Samantha Cassell says: “She really was beautiful when I was invited onboard; loved her good condition teak deck, her stunning interior would and all the clever ideas for use of storage and flip up shelves for foot rests or further extension on berths/seating. Really well fitted out and cared for.” This is an Ed Dubois-designed bilge-keel deck saloon yacht. She’s had a lot of work done – in the past five years she’s had her hull peeled and Coppercoated, rudder bearing…

French sailor Jérémie Beyou foiling on Charal, the new IMOCA 60 he intends to take to victory in the Vendée Globe. Organisers of the four-yearly round the world race have confirmed it will start on 26 November from Les Sables d’Olonne, on France’s Atlantic coast (see p14). Beyou is considered a favourite to win the race, but among his rivals is Alex Thomson, from Gosport, Hampshire, who millions of sailing fans will not need reminding was second by a matter of hours in the last race. Beyou was third. Charal is designed to spend much of its time up on foils, giving a top speed of more than 20 knots and average speeds around the world of 12/13 knots.…

The Cruising Association is asking its members to lobby their MPs, amid fears over a change in entry rules for UK citizens cruising to EU countries. The rules governing entry to foreign countries will change once the UK has left the EU, scheduled for the end of this year. At present, the UK is offering EU citizens visa-free travel for six months out of twelve. The EU is offering only 90 days in 180, the standard Schengen arrangement. The Cruising Association says this would be an “unwelcome restriction to cruising in EU countries”. The UK government, having previously indicated it would seek parity, now says that it does not expect the EU to offer more and it does not intend to make this part of the negotiations. The Cruising Association’s…

‘I was soon dreaming of a bigger boat, not for increased speed, but the thought that one day I could stand up’ Is it true that as you get older you start to shrink? I do hope so. On every cruise I’ve been on, at every fitting out season, or when something goes wrong and needs urgently fixing, there has always come a moment when I curse my body length, and dearly wish I was a couple of inches shorter. I’m 6’1” so I’m hardly in the mega-lofty category, but I’m some way ahead of the UK average male who clocks in at 5’9”. How I long to be average; the toes would no longer scrape away at the bulkhead in even the longest berth, my head would no longer…

“It was an outstanding test...you had to be close to perfect” Cowes was to have been the venue for a very special reunion this month. But I have no doubt that the resourceful team of British offshore racing stars will find another time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Barlo Plastics becoming the first and only British team to have ever won the Tour de France à la Voile. With fellow Brit Tony Buckingham’s Easy Oars in third, Liberation newspaper called it a ‘Tour de France Britannique’, the sailors pre-dating their cycling counterparts by a dozen years! At the time, the Tour was in its absolute pomp. Barlo Plastics’ closest rivals in 2000 included Jimmy Pahun’s Region Ile de France, which had Terry Hutchinson on board, with Isabelle Autissier navigating…

Southampton is the closest major port to Nova’s point of departure, and the first of our chosen twelve. A place of arrivals and departures through history, it remains one of the UK’s major commercial and passenger ports, yet it is rarely seen as a destination in itself. In his short essay written for this project, literary historian Dr Matt Kerr celebrates the city and puzzles over its relationship with the sea. bit.ly/12portssouthampton…

Standing out amid the acres of gleaming yachts at the Cannes Boat Show last summer was the Solaris 47. Her lines, drafted by Argentinian naval architect Javier Soto Acebal, were striking for their modernity, yet the boat was unmistakably a product of the Solaris yard, founded almost 40 years ago on the Venetian lagoon. The arrival of the 47 and also a 50 has been Solaris’ response to increasing customer demand for performance-cruiser yachts aimed at the more discerning sailor. The yard produces as many as 40-50 of these models annually from a range that currently consists of nine production models between 37ft and 72 feet. Quality is at the heart of the privately owned yard’s philosophy and one reason why it has produced the iconic Wally supermaxis in the…

Lockdown was not a new experience for Elliot Hanson. The Laser sailor, selected to go to the Olympics next year, turned an ankle in a simple accident two years ago and after an operation to re-attach ligament to bone, spent more than a month in a hospital bed, barely able to move. “The difference was this time I could do some land-based training, whereas before I couldn’t do much with my leg in the air,” says Hanson with a laugh. “I did set myself a goal of leaving lockdown fitter than when I went in. Like a lot of people I was quite time-rich and the British Sailing Team has a great sports science team behind it. I had done a fitness test just before, so I knew exactly what…

Put three bluewater sailors together to discuss gearing up for long offshore passages, and you’re likely to get three very different kit lists. Nonetheless, that’s just what we did. The case studies below reflect three different cruising stories and three different routes to readying the boat for an ocean crossing. In between, we’ve curated lists of the best equipment in each category, from watermakers and windvanes to Epirbs and liferafts. Watermakers Advances in technology mean that watermakers are now quieter, cheaper and more efficient than they were even 10 years ago. They provide a key insurance policy for long crossings, or vital comfort on larger boats. Look for a unit that covers reasonable water consumption for the least current draw. All small boat systems now include some form of energy…

Traditionally for production yachts there are generally three choices of material for standing rigging. The most cost effective of the mainstream choices is conventional 1x19 stainless steel wire. This is therefore a ubiquitous choice for high-volume production cruising yachts. Historically most raceboats have opted for solid rod rigging, which reduces stretch, windage and weight aloft. On the downside, it’s more expensive and needs to be replaced roughly twice as frequently as wire, although rods can generally be re-headed once, which helps to keep costs in check. Dyform or ‘compact’ wire off ers an intermediate option. This is stronger and has less stretch than 1x19 wire of the same diameter, but has a similar lifespan. For traditional boats there’s also galvanised wire, which has more stretch than stainless steel and needs…

Techniques for sailing high The first thing is to make sure the boat is going fast. If it’s slow, winding on more power will simply stall both sails and foils. Most of the height comes from the mainsail leech rather than the jib. (Oversheeting the jib pulls the bow off the wind: the boat sails low and slow!) The amount to pull on the sheets is fairly subtle: a couple of clicks will usually be enough to increase weather helm and push the boat up to windward. Check that the top tell-tale is not stalling all the time: the flatter the water, the more you can get away with. The amount of extra sheet required to sail high is much less than the amount of ease needed to sail free!…