Innehållsförteckning för October 2021 från Sailing Today

The British Sailing Team hopes its performance in Tokyo will inspire younger sailors, says RYA Performance Manager Mark Robinson. Robinson spoke as the sailors and shore team packed up and prepared to fly home from one of the most successful Olympics ever for British sailing. The team won five medals, including three gold, and was one of only a handful of nations to compete in the 10 Olympic classes at Tokyo. Robinson said: “Being top nation is pretty important for the British sailors. That means more gold than anyone else. “The biggest thing for the sailors is can we inspire more kids to pick up the baton for 2028, 2032 or even 2024. Probably most of the 2024 cohort are already in the British Sailing Team at this point but…

Also sailing solo round Britain this summer is 82-year-old Scotsman Murdoch McGregor, who is doing the full trip, including rounding Orkney and Shetland, in a Hunter 232. He and Katie McCabe met as they crossed paths in Scotland, pictured below. Murdoch is raising funds for mental health charity Mental Health UK and says: “I have not been a life-long sailor, only getting my first sailboat at 72. In that time, though, I sailed extensively throughout our Scottish waters and I’ve been over the North Sea and the Baltic as far east as Poland.” He adds: “The pandemic has so powerfully illustrated that no matter our age, no matter our social social status, whether we are a barrister, a bus driver or bouncer, we are all equally vulnerable to suffering mental…

An electric boat that runs endlessly on solar power has been the dream of David and Alex Borton for the last 17 years. Now the father-and-son team have completed a voyage from Washington to Alaska in their 27ft wooden boat Wayward Sun, powered 100 per cent by solar energy with no fossil-fuel combustion engine on board. Wayward Sun is propelled by a Torqeedo Cruise 4.0 electric pod drive with six Torqeedo Power 24-3500 lithium batteries. There is a separate 12-volt system for lights, electronics and other DC-powered systems and an inverter for occasional AC loads, like making waffles. The batteries are charged from a 1700-Watt array of solar cells on the boat’s rooftop. “The solar-electric system has more than exceeded our expectations,” said Alex Borton. “During the 45-day passage from…

‘One of our finest exports has been our sense of history and the only vessel to capture that is a Tall ship’ We are going to have a National Ship, or at least it’s on the cards if not yet actually on the stocks. It is to be an emblem of Great Britain, proudly flying our flag around the world, carrying a bulk cargo of well fed business people hell bent on getting that elusive overseas contract for bed springs that will make us the envy of the world. I have no view on whether this is a good or a bad use of public money, but I’ll bet you one thing - they’ll get the ship wrong. The last thing we need is a poor man’s copy of an…

As a young sailor I’d never heard of ‘tactical navigation’. When the issue first came to my notice I set it aside as being downright esoteric, yet all it often means is travelling a little further in order to arrive a lot quicker. Here in home waters north of 50 degrees latitude, it doesn’t take more than an awkward turn in the weather, coupled with a spring tide, to encourage thoughtful mariners to educate themselves, but many of us don’t give the question much consideration until supper starts jumping off the table. Strategic tacking was a shut book to me as I hacked out of Cherbourg one long-ago Easter to face a 60-mile beat home. My boat was a 22-foot centreboarder whose pointing ability in a big sea was lamentable.…

Where shall we go this weekend? This must be a common question among those lucky enough to have a boat moored within the Solent area. For me the real attraction of the Solent is the great variety of locations and sailing challenges that it has to offer, and I like to venture slightly off the well-beaten track to spend time in more natural and less frantic environments. In this article I will plan a weekend in the Solent that is based on a Friday early evening departure, and returning early evening on the Sunday. The plan is primarily intended for boats based in the Hamble, Itchen, Portsmouth and Cowes but is still viable for those based in Lymington or Yarmouth. Time to go When to go where is largely determined…

HALLBERG RASSY 50 For many, the ultimate in blue water cruising yachts the 50 is brand new and surprisingly sporty, featuring twin rudders and relatively broad aft sections. Quality remains superb. hallberg-rassy.com AMEL 50 Amel built its name on the iconic Super Maramu ketch. The 50 was a bit of a game changer for the company but retains the blue water credentials while switching away from ketch rig and also moving to twin rudders. amel.fr RUSTLER 42 Somewhat smaller, but probably closest to the Kraken in terms of hull shape and general ethos. Rustler also sticks to the ethos of sea kindly lines and a skeg hung rudder plus good levels of bespoke work. rustleryachts.com…

This year’s Rolex Fastnet Race was different to usual in many respects. As well as the longer course, with the finish in Cherbourg, it has been a long time since the race has tested competitors as severely as the first 24 hours of this year’s event. A solid 25 knots, with stronger gusts, greeted competitors at the start and more was to come, with many reporting gusts in the mid 30s in the Needles Channel and through the first night at sea. At the start there was a predictably wide mix of sail choice, with the optimistic only having one reef, but others sporting storm jibs or trysails. A 300 metre bias at the southern end of the start line meant there was plenty of action here, especially as the…

Crossing the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean can in many respects be viewed as the easy part of the trip – the downhill run if you will. Getting to this jumping off point in the first place is often far more challenging. This article explores both getting to the jumping off point and also routes across the Atlantic and has been drawn my personal experience of seven trade wind passages on four different boats. The first passage in 1956, last passage in 2005 plus more than sixty years of reading about and discussing with sailors trade wind passages to the Caribbean. As a first golden rule, all boats should try and get across the Bay of Biscay by mid September when the fall strong gales are likely…

Thousands of fans turned up on Plymouth Hoe, and hundreds of spectator boats lined the F50 racecourse in Plymouth Sound, for the sold-out Great Britain Sail Grand Prix. Tom Slingsby’s Australia SailGP team celebrated its first event victory of this second season of SailGP and meanwhile the local fans were given what they wanted with a race win for the home team. It was a spectacular weekend of racing in sun-drenched and windier than expected conditions. The natural arena of Plymouth Sound proved the perfect showcase for the exciting F50 fleet and SailGP’s style of short-course racing. After the opening rounds, the three-boat final in Plymouth was a thriller, between Australia, the US and France. Slingsby said: “We’re now three events in, we’ve had lead changes at each one with…

Visitors to the Southampton International Boat Show, from 10-19 September, will be able to see sailing yachts of every size and shape. From world debuts to UK premiers, award-winning designs and the welcome return of some of the most popular models from British and international boat builders, the show is very much somewhere you can see, try and even buy the sailing yacht of your dreams. Moored in what is billed as ‘Europe’s largest man-made marina’, built for the event every year, boats of similar ilk will be together on the pontoons and ashore, with the aim of giving potential buyers an easy comparison. British Marine CEO Lesley Robinson says: “Southampton International Boat Show is exactly that – a world-leading boat show – and our success relies upon having all…

British J/109, Trojan, to leeward, and French Figaro 2, Tuf...Tuf...Tuf, making their way through heavy Solent wind-over-tide conditions at the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race on 8 August. After the opening morning’s pasting and continued punishing conditions overnight, almost 50 boats had retired by day two. Some of those that carried on were greeted by almost windless, flat seas at the Rock. It was a two-day affair for the fastest, but for most of the fleet,this 49th edition of the offshore classic turned out to be as tough as ever. Our full report, looking at the many fascinating races within the race, starts on page 74.…

Helm take crypto UK yacht charter broker HELM has started taking crypto currencies as payment for yacht charters, becoming the first yachting holidays business globally to do so. Lonely Rock Entry opens on 15 August for the Original Lonely Rock’ race from Ryde on the Isle of Wight, around the Fastnet Rock and back to Plymouth, which will run on Sunday 17 July next year. rwyc/lrr Berthon is first for latest wifi Berthon Lymington Marina in Hampshire now boasts the latest generation of wifi connectivity, known as Wi-Fi 6, thanks to a partnership with wifi company Shared Access, giving 19 access points supplied by a 1000Mbps broadband connection. 11th Hour’s new IMOCA The racing team has unveiled its new IMOCA 60 which will be raced in the forthcoming edition of…

Following the successful SailGP Plymouth event in July, SailGP has made a £20,000 donation to the city to encourage youth sailing. The donation was made as part of the SailGP Inspire programme, which aims to make sailing more inclusive in every city that SailGP visits around the world. Operating out of the Mount Batten Watersports & Activities Centre, and in conjunction with Horizons Plymouth Children’s Sailing Charity and Plymouth Youth Sailing, the £20k funding will enable around 480 on-the-water experiences for local young people, including RYA sailing courses, club memberships and the purchase of a Waszp foiling dinghy. SailGP CEO Russell Coutts said: “Our youth are the future of sailing. Building sustainable foundations through meaningful partnerships such as what we’re developing in Plymouth, as the league continues to expand, is…

‘STRANGE TO SEE PEOPLE YOU KNEW BUT UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING MORE THAN A FIST BUMP BY WAY OF GREETING’ Working at Tokyo 2020 was one of the strangest experiences I’ve had, and certainly the strangest of the four Olympic Regattas at which I’ve reported. If I hadn’t been employed by World Sailing as a writer, there’s no way I’d have got there under my own steam. Three consecutive days of PCR tests (cost approx £400) before we were even allowed to get on the plane, let alone five hours stuck in Tokyo airport until I was ‘free’ to begin my three days of quarantine in a hotel room not big enough to swing a cat o’ nine tails. Not that I’m wanting to sound like a whinger. Because once…

Back in March 2020, the British Sailing team was riding high. Several of its sailors were world champions and team bosses Mark Robinson and Ian Walker had the confidence in the athletes to announce selection before almost every other sport, giving the sailors plenty of time to prepare. In the end, they had far more time than they wanted. Just months after selection, the pandemic changed life worldwide and put the Games back a year. The sailors were allowed special dispensation, as elite athletes, to train after lockdown#1, but travel restrictions and a lack of international competition meant that everyone would go into what was still being callled Tokyo2020 in the dark about their rivals. Uncertainty about whether or not the Games would in fact take place didn’t help, but…

Anyone who has spent a long time on passage will know that by the end of the trip, you have a list as long as your arm of ways in which the boat can be improved. It’s natural. Next thing you know, you’re sketching out a few plans of your dream blue water cruising yacht. And that, of course, is as far as it goes. There are exceptions however and Dick Beaumont, CEO and founder of Kraken Yachts, is one of them. After many years of blue water cruising, he decided to make that dream boat a reality, launching Kraken Yachts. Some years later and he now has a line up of blue water cruising yachts crammed with clever ideas garnered from years afloat. Beaumont has pursued his vision of…

I knew I was cutting it fine when I signed up for the delivery trip of a Lagoon 45 from the Grande Canarias to the Caribbean; I was hoping to make the 2500 Nm journey starting in mid-November and be back in Stockholm for Xmas. It seemed feasible. Although the initial leg would need to be southwest towards Cape Verde, the usually reliable November east Trade Wind should provide a comfortable following wind and sea for the rest of the crossing and get me to Barbados in time to catch a flight home for Xmas. The hurricane season had ended; what could go wrong? Albeit we were in the times of COVID, this was not like Love in the Time of Cholera and I trusted the skipper’s boat preparation. It…

To the novice sailor a glance at charts for both the central Solent and Southampton Water can seem a bit challenging. After all, this stretch of water has a reputation as one of the busiest in the UK. Yet this is also a well sheltered and extremely well buoyed and lit cruising ground and is popular with sailors with good reason. Obviously the significant issue with the Solent and Southampton water is the number of commercial and pleasure craft all vying for supremacy in such a small patch of water. The commercial shipping is one of the reasons so many sailing schools chose this as their Yachtmaster examinations base, working on the principal that if one can navigate in the Solent, one can navigate anywhere. However, as with any busy…

This element of offshore racing continues to grow, with this year seeing record entries, ranging from 31-48ft and including many recent competitive boats raced by top-notch teams. First on corrected time was Alexis Loison and Guillaume Pirouelle’s JPK 1030 Léon, representing Loison’s fourth double handed win in the last five editions of the race, including overall victory in 2013 when racing with his father Pascal. Henry Bomby, racing with double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson on the Sun Fast 3300 Swell was second, ahead of Olivier Burgaud and Sylvain Pontu’s JPK 1080 Aileau. Sam White and Sam North, a Corinthian team racing White’s father’s Sun Fast 3200 Mzungu, showed absolutely dogged determination throughout the highs and lows of the race to finish fourth double-handed on corrected time, first double handed…

Any sailor contemplating a transatlantic crossing in any direction should have on board Imray Iolaire chart 100. This is a gonomic (to the Americans) or conical (to the British) projection which means a straight line is a great circle course. Myself and the late Alan Wilkenson, Imray’s head cartogarapher put this chart together over 25 years ago. On the face of the chart were shown the various routes used by yachts doing transatlantic passages both eastwards and westwards. The location of ice bergs that had drifted hundreds of miles south of where ones were to be expected were also shown. If you ran into a patch of fog on a clear day there was probably an iceberg in the vicinity. On the back of the chart were wind, gale and…

Hydrovane One of the best-known bluewater products out there, Hydrovane is unique in that it requires no direct attachment to the boat’s rudder. It uses beautifully engineered gears to rotate its own rudder, which can also be used as an auxiliary in the case of main rudder failure. Can be offset and mounted on sloping transoms. . • Hydrovane.com • From c£4,769 Aries Vane Gear The original and many say, the best, servo-pendulum system out there. The wind turns a short rudder, which is deflected by the wake of the boat as it moves, pulling on lines attached to the boat’s tiller. The unit doesn’t require such heavy supports, because its rudder is much lighter, and it is suitable for boats up to 55ft LOA. • Ariesvanegear.com • From €3,600…

I had been puttering across France via the rivers and canals for what seemed weeks when suddenly I felt out of my depth. I had joined the River Rhone which, after weeks of slow meandering on canals, commenced to now push me purposefully south at remarkable speed. It was late July and extremely bloody hot. I sped down the river wafted on by the sweet scent of lavender in the surrounding fields. Every night I would collapse into my bunk in an exhausted, baked stupor, flayed by the sun and feeling like an overcooked steak, but very happy. The longed for south was here at last. I was being driven forward by a desire to see my girlfriend who was based on the coast. On this particular evening, I reached Chateauneuf…

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Dragon, Bluebottle, was the toast of Cowes Week as the newly restored boat won her class with a day to spare. Restored to immaculate condition by David Heritage Racing Yachts in Cowes, she finished the regatta on seven points, after three wins, two second places and a fourth – her first time racing in decades. The boat was acquired several years ago by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, in Edinburgh, which was behind the restoration. She will now become part of the Trust’s fleet of royal boats, comprising the last royal yacht Britannia, as well as Prince Philip’s former yacht, Bloodhound, and his Flying Fifteen, Coweslip. Built in 1947, Bluebottle was a wedding present from the Island Sailing Club. The Trust sought the Duke’s consent for…

Teenager Katie McCabe is sailing around Britain solo in a 26ft Morgan Giles sloop, Falanda. The 14-year-old, from Topsham, Devon, set off on 30 June and aims to be back in time to start the school term on 6 September. The feat would make her the youngest person to complete the trip, after Timothy Long did it last year aged 15. Katie’s father David is following a few miles behind in his own 33ft 1937 wooden yawl. Katie spent evenings after school and weekends over the winter of 2019/20 restoring the 1950 West Channel One Design, which cost £800, with her father. David, 53, is a self-taught boatbuilder who has several serious restorations to his name, including a Herreshoff, a Riva and a Chris-Craft. The family have lived afloat since…

The Cowes Classic Boat Museum, which houses many modern racing boats including Shirley Robertson’s Yngling and Ben Ainslie’s AC45, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and is set to reopen in September after a series of upgrades and innovations. The museum closed during the pandemic but volunteers have worked behind closed doors to establish a Covid-safe layout inside and also to incorporate multiple new features. The museum, which has sites in both east and west Cowes, was established in 1996 by Maurice Wilmot. He died in 2009 but his collection of unique craft and artefacts has continued to be cared for. The collection of boats now numbers 85 historic vessels of all kinds. Chairman Mark McNeill seeks funding for a major expansion plan that would see a new building created…

Twenty-eight people have signed up for the second edition of the ‘retro’ Golden Globe Race, due to run next year. The 2022/3 edition will again see competitors attempt to circumnavigate on elderly boats fitted with technology in keeping with the era of the original Golden Globe Race of 1968/9, which was won by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. There are entrants from 11 countries, including one female sailor so far. Among them is Frenchman Damien Guillou of team PRB, who worked with Kevin Escoffier in the last Vendée Globe. Also entered is Graham Dalton, brother of America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race winner Grant Dalton. Tapio Lethinen returns from 2018, as does Mark Sinclair. The only female entrant so far is Kirsten Neuschäfer from South Africa, who has “the experience to win…

‘I WAS STOKED TO SEE A YOUNG FEMALE NAVIGATOR SUCCEED IN THE WHITE HOT CLUBSWAN 50 CLASS’ Though I have to be careful where I go with this, am I alone in reaching saturation point in terms of sustainability messages and propositions arriving in my inbox from big teams and big, big events? I have to be careful because, like many others in the sailing media, the sustainability Dollar – or Euro – is an important part of the modern, forward thinking, responsible media programme. And so I am a direct recipient of such marketing budgets. But these programmes are all about the power of sport to effect positive changes and more often than not it seems to me that it is the sport aspect that is left behind, somewhere…

The first thing to say is just how incredibly welcoming the Japanese were from the moment we stepped off the airplane, to the moment we left the hotel to the final time to the airport (where I had no fewer than 12 coming just to wave me off!). I would estimate I said hello over 100 times a day, as each and every volunteer greeted me. To say nothing of the “host families” from local villages who adopted teams, showering us with presents and making our lives so much easier. Every day on the road to Enoshima Island (think like the road to Portland to the 2012 Olympic venue) locals were lined up waving flags and wishing all the competitors good luck. Since it was difficult for many to make…

Kraken’s quest to produce the ultimate blue water yacht has led to a no compromise approach that serves them well. A few years of experience under their belt and a switch to production in Turkey has also unquestionably improved the product. The quality is exceptional but so is the clever attention to detail. The boat was enjoyable to sail and performed strongly in fickle conditions and left me just wishing that I could have sailed in the 20-30kn conditions that, I suspect, this boat would revel in. From small details such as the set up of the kitchen sink and bin layout, through to fundamentals such as access to the engine and the keel and rudder set up, this is a boat that just demands the attention of any sailor…

Ocean Village is one of the iconic marinas of the yachting scene; events departing from the marina over the years such as the Whitbread Round the World Race back in the day put this marina firmly on the map and gave it a glitzy air completely in sync with the cosmpolitan vibe of Southampton itself. In fact, this is a marina that has a history intertwined with the growth of Southampton as a port itself. The marina was originally part of an ambitious expansion of the docks area of Southampton following the arrival of the railway lines in the city. The new docks were opened in 1842 and were bigger and deeper than the existing facilities at nearby town quay. They were generally used by passenger vessels right up until…

The Solent being such a popular cruising spot means there are endless places to sail to and moor, many of which have great facilities and shoreside attractions. Finding somewhere that is not too busy can be something of a challenge, however. Heading up either the rivers Test or Itchen is not to be particularly recommended on leaving a berth in Southampton as there is little of interest beyond. Those looking for an enjoyable upriver sail will fare much better heading out of Southampton Water, turning to starboard, heading a couple of miles along the coast and then heading up the Beaulieu River which offers some beautiful river sailing and views. Alternatively, with three more stunning MDL Marinas, the river Hamble is a great option for a spot of pub lunch.…

Fixed props are still the most efficient when you’re under power alone, but as sailors, we’re more interested in using wind power. With the sails up in a good breeze, a fixed prop can generate 30-40kg of drag on a 40-footer – costing you up to a knot in boat speed. But a folding or feathering prop can eliminate 95 per cent of that unwanted friction. If you are repowering your boat, it is a golden opportunity to upgrade a propeller that may well need to be changed in any case. But it’s worthwhile on its own merits. Club racing without a folding prop is no fun at all, while the prospect of 10 per cent faster passage times has obvious appeal to cruisers. What you want in a prop…

There be dragons What constitutes ‘rough water’ is a matter of personal perspective. A cracking sail for one might be a terrifying experience for another that would put them off sailing for life. Good skippers need to take the capabilities and natures of their crew into account in addition to the physical considerations of the rough water itself. A crew that has been briefed that “It’s going to be rough for about an hour until we round that headland, but then it will be a lot smoother”, will be a lot happier and have confidence in their skipper. Do your research Areas of rough water should not take anyone by surprise. They are all well documented on the UKHO charts, the Reeds Nautical Almanac and pilotage guides. I am surprised…

HANSE 418 | ARGENTA A fine example of the popular Hanse 418, Argenta is very lightly used, has a super spec and is absolutely ready to go for the 2021 season. This Judel/Vrolijk design sticks to the successful tenets of easy handling, combining a powerful rig with the easy sailing provided by single line reefing and a self tacking jib adding up to a yacht that provides minimum effort, maximum enjoyment, quick passage making and great fun. The spacious saloon can happily seat six adults around the table without squeezing and bumping elbows. Hull windows allow external viewing while seated. Argenta enjoys a stylish interior combining the popular French Oak joinery with Noce Nero Flooring and Black Quartz galley tops. Panoramic deck head panels allow the maximum of…