Innehållsförteckning för April 2021 från Sailing Today

British sailor Pip Hare crossed the line of the Vendée Globe in 19th place on her boat Medallia after 94 days at sea. Hare, aged 47, from Poole, finished on Thursday 11 February close to midnight, making her the first Briton to finish this edition of the race, after Alex Thomson and Sam Davies retired into Cape Town after collisions. Miranda Merron was approaching the Azores as Hare finished. Hare, whose achievement was celebrated on the front of the Times newspaper, said she was overwhelmed with the messages of support, which she had only been able to read upon arriving. She said: “I’m coming to terms with how many people have been following my story and engaged with it. I’m stunned. It’s a little bit hard to comprehend. For all…

There was widespread dismay as the news broke in February that the 1902 Fred Shepherd schooner Coral of Cowes had sunk off Crete with the loss of her owner. Reports said the owner had gone down with the yacht. A police investigation was underway as we went to press, with hopes that the boat would be raised. She sunk in a shallow part of Souda Bay, on the north west coast of the island. The owner’s dog, Friar Tuck, was found clinging to the half-sunken boat. The 98ft (30m) schooner was well-known and much loved across the classic boat world, having raced extensively from Cowes, in the Caribbean and in the Mediterranean.…

SailGP this year will feature eight national teams, made up of some the sailing’s best athletes, racing in eight events across three continents. The schedule represents an expansion from five events in the league’s inaugural season of 2019 and is due to kick off in Bermuda in April. It will make for a fascinating regatta, with rivalries from the America’s Cup, which will have finished just weeks earlier, being resumed. The Plymouth event is set for 17-18 July. SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts said: “In just over three months, we’ll have the world’s best sailors lining up in equally matched boats for what is shaping up to be some of the sport’s most competitive racing yet.”…

The virtual RYA Dinghy Show presented by Suzuki takes place over the weekend of 27-28 February. The show is free, interactive and accessible to view on any device. You can visit and talk to more than 100 exhibitors, many of whom have show offers, while on the main stage and in the Knowledge Zone there is a series of great talks from top sailors and coaches – all for free. Once registered (visit the website dinghyshow.org.uk) you can visit the show from wherever you are, and there is no limit to the number of times you can log in. You don’t need to install any software. Those registered receive a copy of the show guide and an instruction guide providing step by step tips on how to navigate the show,…

While the challengers slug it out in the Prada Cup, tradition dictates that the Defender of the America’s Cup lies in wait and doesn’t show its colours until the Cup match itself. This 36th edition of the Cup has been different, in that the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, organised two regattas before Christmas 2020 in Auckland, where all four teams took part. This gave all Cup watchers a fascinating glimpse of each team’s and each boat’s relative performance – including that of the Defender. And as we know, the New Zealanders came out on top, winning the regatta. They were clearly the fastest on the water but their dominance overall wasn’t complete. They were threatened most by the Italian outfit, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. That, however, was in December.…

‘I DON’T REMEMBER A LEVEL OF ACTIVITY AS FRENETIC TOWARDS THE END OF A VENDÉE GLOBE AS WE ARE SEEING THIS TIME’ It is usually when skippers are bouncing upwind on the five to seven day starboard tack climbing the north Atlantic that they start to talk seriously about their next Vendée Globe. Jean Le Cam at 66? Never say never, he is a solo racer who – he admits – would be insufferable at home if the race were on and he were not in it. Come to that Nandor Fa, 63 when he was eighth, 67 now, would go again if Le Cam went. At the other end of the age spectrum Alan Roura is 28 at the end of February and has already two Vendée Globes under…

TOFINOU 12 A little smaller but without the long overhangs internal volume is not wildly different. This is a stylish daysailer which also has decent cabin space. Built by Latitude 46, a diesel inboard is standard but the custom nature of the yard means an electric motor is a possibility. keyyachting.com FRIENDSHIP 40 The Friendship 40 is designed and built in America and is a fine example of a modern classic. This is a very elegant yacht that subscribes to the old American school of design being relatively shallow and beamy. There is lots of internal volume making this much more than a weekender. fontainedeigngroup.com CONTESSA 32 The Contessa 32 is a tried and tested classic that remains in production – albeit in limited quantities – at Jeremy Roger’s yard…

Retired Sailing Today Editor and avid river sailor Jake Frith provides his top tips for sailing in confined waters such as the Norfolk Broads: 1) Don’t cleat the sheets . In close confines you don’t want to fluff a tack, so use the minimum of turns on the sheet winches. Make sure the lazy sheet will run out well (nobody has stood on it etc.). 2) Don’t just think about where you are trying to get on this tack, think a few tacks ahead. There’s no sense in taking a risk or losing speed by pinching to get upstream of something this tack if it means you’ll have to bear away to clear an obstruction next tack. 3) With all the excitement of avoiding objects at water level and planning…

Aceleron Essential LifeP04 The Essential is a Lithium Ion battery, which is a one size fits all leisure battery capable of up to 5,000 cycles at 50% DoD for up to 20 years. It can be fully charged in as little as two hours. It’s a lightweight battery, weighing in at 15 kg, which is less than half of the weight of a lead-acid battery of the same capability. • £1,155 • aceleronenergy.com Mastervolt MLI-E Mastervolt is one of the largest companies in the marine electric power market, with a wide range of batteries. This lithium Ion battery features an LED display on the top showing state of charge, and warning you of low voltage. It also offers an app to monitor the battery via Bluetooth. • £1,530 • mastervolt.com…

GRIB files and enhanced communications have changed the way that we use weather forecasts to plan and shape a course on a long ocean passage. Yet there are also pitfalls to avoid, as Dick explains PART ONE A new age Offshore satellite communications have improved beyond recognition over recent years. Time was when skippers had to rely on HF radio transmissions or weather fax, which were based on the same communication system, to access weather. Most radio operators, for that’s what you needed to be, would agree that the vagaries and complications of managing the equipment and the airwaves was a dark art that only dedicated radio enthusiasts could master. What’s more, most skippers accepted that once they were over three or four days out, they had to rely…

SWAN 65 | CHOUCAS III Arguably one of the most iconic and instantly recognisable yachts of all time. The evergreen classic Swan 65, designed by Sparkman and Stephens, is one of their most successful Swan designs., Choucas III offers sparkling sailing together with exceptional build quality. Perfect for serious cruising, these yachts also shine on the Regatta circuit and are rare to the brokerage market. Choucas III was launched in 1980 and she has been under her current ownership for the past 36 years. She is hull number 34 of the series which began in 1973 and ended in 1989 with 41 hulls launched. She is fitted with a ketch rig. The Swan 65 is a yacht that has an impeccable pedigree, having been designed by the legendary…

Australian yachtsman Jon Sanders has become the oldest person to sail solo around the world, aged 81, after he arrived home in Fremantle on 30 January. It was his 11th solo circumnavigation. Sanders arrived back after 455 days away. He had to extend the trip by six months because of Covid restrictions. At sea, he said he saw some of the roughest conditions he has known. His latest voyage was supported by the Minderoo Foundation, which works to combat plastic pollution in the oceans. Sanders said: “As someone who has spent more than 60 years traversing and enjoying the world’s oceans, I could not sit idly by and watch that same environment be choked to death with plastic waste. “My voyage has given me a unique opportunity to contribute to…

A new foiling circuit is being launched around the UK by the ASC Performance Academy, part of the Andrew Simpson Foundation. The circuit will be raced in the Skeeta and Nikki foiling boats. The academy says: “We aim to provide continued high-quality foiling coaching and a foiling race circuit throughout the UK. With four GP events planned for this year alone, it is the first foiling circuit specifically designed for adults, youth, and junior sailors.” The academy offers training for junior and youth sailors in a number of different classes and also has a junior and youth foiling pathway programme for sailors and windsurfers. The initiative will be delivered at Andrew Simpson Centres and partnering venues in regions throughout the UK. ascperformanceacademy.org…

Saturday 1100 Rio 2016 gold medallist and current 470 world champion Hannah Mills talks about her preparations for Tokyo 2020 and how she’s handling the current restrictions (Suzuki Main Stage) 1130 Racing tips from GB’s ILCA stars Alison Young, Elliot Hanson and Lorenzo Chiavarini (Knowledge Zone) Noon Top coach and our regular writer Mark Rushall talks tactics for the beat, run and start plus an update on the racing rules of sailing (Knowledge Zone) 1300 The winner of the annual RYA and Yachts & Yachting Club of the Year competition supported by Gallagher is announced (Suzuki Main Stage) 1415 How Quadriplegic sip and puff sailor Natasha Lambert went from keelboat sailing to completing her biggest challenge yet when she crossed the Atlantic (Suzuki Main Stage) 1500 Concours d’Elegance (Boat of…

What keeps you awake in your bunk? Small stuff, or big stuff? If it’s just annoying halyards tapping in a breeze, or the snout of the rubber dinghy nudging you awake in the small hours when the tide turns, count yourself lucky. ‘Boats don’t always do what you expect; all the elements conspire to give you hell’ I once met a chap who told me he could never, ever sleep at anchor because he would become convinced he was adrift. His solution? To ditch the anchor and always head for the security of a marina. When I told him that nights in marinas gave me more sleepless nights than any I’ve experienced at anchor, he clearly thought I was some kind of lunatic; surely no sane person would gamble their…

The ninth Vendée Globe had promised to be a lightning-fast head-to-head between two or three boats, a sprint around the globe that would surely lower the 74-day record and herald a new era in offshore racing. In the event, the two big favourites had serious collisions that ended their podium dreams before the race passed Cape Town. What we were left with was something far more open and arguably far more exciting, a group of nine or 10 boats that stuck together around the world, each successive attempt to break away reeled in by the pack. And the finish, overnight on 27 January, was as gripping as sport could be, with the closest ever winning margin and a victor that nobody could predict even in the final hours. Chess match…

According to Rule 5 of the Colregs, we must keep a lookout at all times by all available means. There’s no ambiguity there, yet the realities of short-handed sailing can be a long way from the ideals of the wise people who drafted the rules. Yachts are not alone in occasionally sailing close to this particular wind. Early in my career, I served as mate aboard a coasting ship. Out of a crew of five, including the cook, only the skipper and myself were qualified to keep watch. The deckhands came cheap but had no looking-out skills, so we two managed with alternative sessions. The Old Man liked a good spell on the Dreamland train so we stood five-hour shifts during the hours of darkness. He opted for morning and…

The work could be quite interesting. As the sole Canadian diplomat resident in Khartoum (Sudan) I had in 2000 a vicious civil war to report on that had cost two million lives and had been running for 17 years. And after 9/11 it fell to me to look after journalists who had come to see where Osama bin-Laden had got started. I would show them the chemists’ shop where he’d once had an office and we’d go out and meet his ex-cook, who’d tell us how Osama had a taste for Basmati rice and loved small children. For good measure we would throw in a visit to the site of the al-Shifa pharmaceuticals factory that had been destroyed by American cruise missiles in 1998; the custodian would show us a…

Our summer voyage was to sail to the Lofoten Islands in Santosa, a 55ft ketch lovingly built over 14 years by her owner Steve. Steve had spared no expense to make Santosa a very comfortable boat, with every conceivable labour-saving device. My personal favourite was one of those instant hot water taps you find in posh kitchens, giving us a constant supply of hot drinks, a must for any Arctic journey. Santosa’s first major voyage started from her home base in Southampton. The plan was to cross the North Sea and make Stavanger the first port of call. Having had an uneventful sail/motor up the English Channel, we rounded the corner from Dover into the chaos of the North Sea, a series of traffic separation schemes, wind farms, and gas…

On one nine-day passage from Nosy Be, Madagascar to Durban, South Africa, we had planned a stop of 12 hours at an atoll reef called Bassas da India, to dive the surrounding deep-sea pinnacles. All of the crew were experienced divers and we were all very excited at the prospect of diving this reef, which is hundreds of miles from the nearest land. After three days sailing, as we began to approach the atoll, to my great concern when I downloaded the weather charts for the next five days, I saw that a ‘weather bomb’ ( an intense but small depression ) was developing down at The Cape of Good Hope. I had been warned about this kind of weather system and had witnessed first hand the dramatic effects these…

I was sat in a café in St Raphael on the Cote d’Azur when I noticed that the wind had shifted to a more favourable quarter. I was quite comfortable in the café and had little desire to leave as the wind remained strong. Yet it was a fair breeze and I needed to get on. Besides, I reasoned, St Tropez was just around the corner – 9nm in fact - nothing. It was early evening in late September and I hoisted the sails to a very fresh breeze just abaft the beam. My boat likes a strong blow and I was in for a treat. I had endured a summer of seemingly endless light headwinds but here was something else; the boat felt totally different, alive and dragging me forward…

The Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series will run until August, after Covid restrictions prevented most of its events taking place. Only the Datchet Flyer was able to run. As the other events were postponed or cancelled, the series organisers put on webinars and online talks that proved hugely popular. Now series co-organisers Andy Rice (read Andy’s column on page 34) and Simon Lovesey have agreed with title sponsor Seldén Masts to continue to the series through to a concluding event at Rutland Water, the rescheduled John Merricks Tiger Trophy on the last weekend of August. “This is probably the first time a winter series will be taking place during the warm months of the year,” said Andy. “But the focus for me and Simon has always been to maximise participation in…

Sailors may be forced to pay for the safe disposal of flares, following a UK Government consultation that is critical of the marine industry. The Department for Transport is asking for responses before 15 March and proposes a ‘polluter pays’ concept, pointing to other industries that produce waste. In those instances, the DfT says “industry itself is legally required to have in place effective mechanisms and processes that facilitate the safe management, containment, storage and disposal of such items…and for which they’re usually obliged to pay”. “It’s perhaps not unreasonable, therefore, to encourage the recreational boating sector to adopt a similar approach in disposing of its own waste products,” the consultation says. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has voluntarily provided a free flare disposal service for leisure boat owners…

Skip Novak will be keynote speaker at the virtual RYA Cruising Conference on 21 March 2021. The Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race veteran’s presentation, ‘How excelling in basic boating skills can enable you to accomplish your cruising dreams,’ will focus on the advantages of utilising uncomplicated on-board systems when voyaging. He will draw on his own experience over the past 30 years of sailing in high latitudes. Places are free for RYA Members and £10 for non-members. Search rya.org.uk for details of how to register.…

Oystercatcher XXXV Oystercatcher XXXV joins a long line of racing yachts built for Richard Matthews – ex proprietor of Oyster Yachts. This is a latest 52ft IRC racer designed by Shaun Carkeek. The boat is beamy and powerful, featuring twin rudders that point to a yacht that will be fast and relatively easy to control on a reach, suggesting a yacht that can be campaigned successfully in offshore races. However, the design team has been keen to make this yacht as versatile as possible and, to this end, a single rudder option is a possibility. Designer Shaun Carkeek explains: “I wanted to design a boat that could be sailed by 10 offshore without giving up any performance on the coastal and 600 mile races, all the while being equally strong…

Barton Boomstrut Barton are at the show with their new Laser Kits, a new Ratchet Block and BabySplice, a dinghy rope splicing tool. Their new Boomstrut (left) is a patented flexing spring device that provides fast and constant force for the vang. The low-pro design features two flexible coated fibreglass rods which support the boom. Barton call it a ‘maintenance-free durable design that eliminates friction and sliding parts’ with easy installation and no need to replace your existing hardware – the Boomstrut mounts independently inside the existing kicking strap tackle. There are six sizes available. › bartonmarine.com Harken Marine Grip Harken’s Marine Grip is a thin, nonabrasive grip tape that you can easily stick onto a deck. It comes in different shades and sizes and you can cut it up…

‘BOB WON THE FIREBALL WORLDS IN 1966 WITH A NUMBER OF INNOVATIONS INCLUDING A LOW-CUT JIB’ Can I claim the America’s Cup for my dinghy column? After all, there’s no keel on an AC75 so technically does that make Britannia a dinghy? As I write, Sir Ben Ainslie teeters on yet another one of the many precipices that have defined his career. 4-0 down after a drubbing by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on the first weekend of the Prada Cup Final, Ben has hauled himself out of worse scrapes than this. As Shirley Robertson observed during the TV commentary: “Ben EATS pressure.” So as you read this, you will know if Sir Ben has written yet another ‘back from the brink’ chapter in his incredible life story, or if Jimmy…

The race record, set by Armel le Cléac’h four years ago, of 74 days, still stands. But another record did fall, that set by Ellen MacArthur no less than 20 years ago. Her time of 94 days, set on Kingfisher in the 2000/01 race, was broken by Clarisse Cremer, when the Frenchwoman became the first woman to finish this edition in 87 days. “For me, yes we know that being a woman in ocean racing becomes a differentiator on land,” said Cremer, downplaying the comparison. “But this is a mixed race and a mixed sport and it about the breadth of ocean racing together. There is no female classification. At sea, I am a sailor, and I don’t tell myself that the sailor in front is a man or a…

There’s no denying it when you clap eyes on the latest boat to emerge from the Ipswich yard of Spirit Yachts. There is a lot to be said for old fashioned looks. With her long overhangs fore and aft and a glowing mahogany finish, the new 44E cruiser racer is a thing of beauty. And yet, this is a pioneering boat, designed and built to cross oceans in comfort without burning a drop of fossil fuel. Compared to the pared-down, sleek lines of her larger sisters, the 44E offers more volume and therefore greater comfort for adventurous sailing. “These hulls have a little more beam and volume with increased displacement,” explains Spirit founder and head designer Sean McMillan. “Their counters tend to be a little less extreme, as the lazarettes…

The Norfolk Broads are one of those treasures of the UK that are sometimes overlooked by cruising sailors. Yet this network of slow flowing rivers and cuts which open out into the great stretches of open water that are the Broads themselves offer new challenges to the uninitiated and endless days of sailing pleasure to those in the know. The narrow river stretches force even the most experienced of sailors to feel like a novice on first acquaintance. Meanwhile, when the rivers open out into the wide sweep of the Broads, the surrounding lowlands ensure fine steady breezes on lovely flat sheets of water. The Broads themselves have an interesting history as for many years people assumed that they were a natural phenomena. However in actual fact, they were created…

A few years back, there was a question mark hanging over the common British practice of antifouling your own yacht. A failure to stick to best practice on wearing gloves, glasses and masks made the Health and Safety Executive nervous, while the Environment Agency was concerned about the amount of toxic old antifouling paint that was finding its way into marine ecosystems. There was a concerted push by the British paint industry, as well as the Royal Yachting Association and industry body British Marine to get DIY painters to up their game. They put out a confetti shower of leaflets, posters and guidance to boatowners as part of their ‘Protect, Collect, Dispose’ campaign. And the industry’s Green Blue initiative tried to raise awareness of marine pollution among boaters generally. Four…

Humans like routine and a regular activity gets done. It is habit forming, just like brushing your teeth first thing in the morning [yes believe it or not it is best to brush your teeth before breakfast to remove the bacteria before you eat]. So, let us start from the beginning. When you first wake up your body’s top priority is hydration. You need to have something to drink, since it has been many hours since you have had any fluid intake. A quick plain glass of water first thing does the trick and requires almost zero effort. This is important to keep your internal organs working well. You certainly don’t want to train dehydrated (or indeed race or do any physical activity dehydrated). Different people have different body clocks:…

Situated on the northern side of the Isle of Wight at the mouth of the River Medina, Cowes Harbour can lay a pretty strong claim to being one of the birthplaces of yachting as we know it these days. There are many reasons for this; on one level you have to look at the socio economic status of the UK in the mid-19th century and also the fact that the royal family holidayed at nearby Osborne House and happened to be keen sailors. Yet in a more simplistic reading, the success of Cowes lies squarely on its superb location. The River Medina provides all tide shelter with generous depths, while the north side of the Isle of Wight faces straight onto the sheltered waters and cruising heaven that is the…

‘The rat escaped through the perfectly circular hole it had gnawed through the metal trap’ Aloud bang from the cockpit wakes me. Followed by a fleeting, scurrying sound, then a flurry of movement up on deck, a splash and my husband, James, shouting “Give me an oar!”. “What the hell is going on?” I demand, scrambling up the companionway steps, blearily taking in the scene. But I can see from the chaos on the cockpit floor exactly what must have happened. The rat escaped. Let me backtrack a moment here. There is a long history of rats and boats. Indeed, most islands only have rats on them because they were transported by our sailing trading ships of old. And, in our pre-sailing life in London, it was said that you…