Innehållsförteckning för January 2024 från Sailing Today

Neel 52 French manufacturer Neel is the only mass producer of big, bluewater trimarans and the launch of the new 52 further bolsters that range. This is a big boat that offers the possibility of six double cabins if you so wish plus a huge cockpit/saloon area. The boat has a powerful rig and this can be further augmented by a carbon fibre mast and increased sail area should you so wish. ● neel-trimarans.com More 50 More Yachts is a rather mysterious Croatian boatbuilder that originally came into being to provide yachts for its own charter fleet. Its designs are often sporty and reasonably innovative but also affordable. The new 50 is the latest addition to the range and has been drawn up by Cossutti Yacht Design. The new 50…

We always plan our summer cruise for the month of June, the main reason being the marinas and anchorages heading west tend to be less busy, making for a more relaxed cruise rather than the scramble for berths in July/August. The middle of May saw a constant northeasterly air flow which was unusual. We were hearing of boats stuck in the West Country waiting to head east. Indeed, some friends from our club had been in Falmouth for a week or so. Our summer cruise is always flexible and although our main aim was to get to The Isles of Scilly, which is at the top of our favourite destinations, it is not set in stone. Our original plan was to visit Cherbourg in early June and do the tour…

It was a simple plan. To sail from Scotland to Greenland via Iceland, and possibly the Faroes, so that the Wild Bunch, my climbers from previous expeditions to west Greenland, could climb a new route in east Greenland. It was not so simple in execution. After a delay waiting for barrels from Amazon for stowing the immense amount of gear climbers need these days, we departed Oban at 0830 on 27 June. A reasonable wind took us up the Sound of Mull and onwards to the north. There were some strange tidal anomalies around the northwest headlands of Skye, but we passed the Shiants and Stornoway the next day and cleared the Butt of Lewis. As soon as we did things got a lot more frisky though the wind was…

Buyers Guide – Electric motors When the world’s biggest boat builder begins turning to electric powered boats, you know that change is afoot. Earlier this year, Groupe Beneteau pledged to offer ‘alternative propulsion’ on its entire product range by 2030, ranging from hybrid to pure electric. And it started by launching the First 44e, equipped with twin 12kW Torqeedo pod drives and 20kWh of lithium batteries. Beneteau’s head of boats, Gianguido Girotti declared: “The transition is under way. The entire industry will have to transform itself. We can’t force customers, but we can convince them.” Just a few stands away at Boot Düsseldorf, another boatbuilder was doing the same thing. At the semi-custom end of the market, Contest Yachts was launching its new 49CS and 50CS bluewater cruisers with a…

The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers truly is a phenomena. Every year it seems to get bigger as more and more sailors dreaming of escape finally grasp the nettle and head out into the big blue, following in the path of Christopher Columbus in search of adventure and the thrill of the unknown. As the event has expanded year on year, the organisers – World Cruising Club (WCC) – have been obliged to become increasingly innovative in their manner of handling the simply vast number of entrants. It’s tricky because if you send yachts out into the Atlantic too early, you are still in the tail end of the hurricane season and the weather can be, well, volatile. One solution that the WCC has hit upon is to send a first…

Brits shine in storn tossed TJV race Storms Ciaran and Domingos lashed the Atlantic coast in late October and wrought havoc on the carefully laid plans of the race organisers responsible for ensuring a clean start for the biannual Transat Jacques Vabre. These two brutal storms delayed the start with only the giant Ultim class got away cleanly and blazed a trail south away from the weather systems down to Cape Verde, across to the Brazilian coast and then northwards to Martinique. In the end it was the hugely experienced team of Armel le Cleac’h and Sebastien Josse who prevailed in the Ultim class with their Banque Populaire XI taking line honours. UK interest was most prominent in the IMOCA class where the British/French team of Sam Goodchild and Antoine…

Last summer I was in Denmark when a forecast for a heavy westerly gale came through on the internet. Over there, it’s generally safe to rely on five days warning for this type of event. People start talking about it in good time. “Going to blow like hell at the weekend,” they say as you yarn on the dock, and they’re generally right. As it happened, I was cruising the Little Belt at the time. This is one of the three passages into the Baltic through the many islands that form the State of Denmark. The western boundary of the Belt is the land mass of Jutland, so I had plenty of lee available. Inspection of the chart revealed the town of Haderslev on the Jutland shore. It lies at…

Fifty miles up the coast from Vancouver, just off a marine highway that in summer is busy with cruisers heading to and from popular Desolation Sound, is a maze of islands and channels that caught the attention of Captain George Vancouver in 1792. He was searching for the Northwest Passage. The channels converge and become a deep, steep-sided fjord that zigzags in a northerly direction, cutting deep into the snow-capped Coastal Range of British Columbia. Vancouver named the fjord (well after the fact) Jervis Inlet for his patron, Rear Admiral Sir John Jervis. It doesn’t reach as far as the North Atlantic, alas. But this is one of the most spectacular cruising destinations you’ll find anywhere and is a favourite of ours. A good starting point for a venture up-inlet…

Boat test – Italia 11.98 In my formative years I was taken to the cinema to watch the Dead Poets Society featuring the late Robin Williams. The film had a profound effect on me not least because I was told it was a comedy and emerged from the cinema in tears. In addition to the film leaving me with a lingering desire to smoke a pipe, read more Byron and stand on my desk at school, I was struck by one line from the film in which Williams asks his pupils why we write poetry. ‘To communicate’ one pupil chirps up. ‘No!’ Williams replies “It’s to woo women.” Now that is a line that perhaps hasn’t aged so well but it occurred to me as I was out sailing the…

Those cold, blustery, damp days that are upon us as we reach the midway point of winter in the northern hemisphere act as a perfect reminder to check out what’s on offer for that dream sailing holiday for the forthcoming season. With new destinations, a fresh look at itineraries, and a host of interesting packages to choose from among the huge array of sailing holiday companies, there’s something for everyone. Picture the crystal clear, turquoise waters, steady warm breezes, and far-flung white beach-lined islands and you’ll get an idea of what to expect when you sign up for a charter or beach-based sailing holiday. As far as destinations go, Greece and Croatia, and the Caribbean continue to be firm favourites not least because of the almost guaranteed glorious sailing weather…

‘The energy requirements of a cruising yacht are fundamentally different from a powerboat’ Anew industry wide report on de carbonising the marine industry has delivered an intriguing verdict. But behind all the Jargon, what does it actually mean? In November International Commission of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) released a report entitled Pathways to Carbon Emissions Reduction in In Recreational Boating. ICOMIA is an international trade association responsible which works with national associations such as our own British Marine to provided a more powerful lobbying voice on the world stage. So far, so dull. What they do have is access to a greater amount of data on the industry than anyone else. So when they release a report into how we can de carbonise the industry, then it’s worth looking beneath…

Two more diverse winners of the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards it would be hard to imagine. Tom Slingsby won the men’s category after guiding his AustraliaSailGP to a third consecutive title, ensuring he is still the only skipper to have won the SailGP trophy. He is also skipper of American Magic, who put in a good showing at the first warm-up event in September in the AC40s before the main show in AC75s at next autumn’s America’s Cup in Barcelona. “There’s no doubting the continued appeal of the Moth, but at those prices it’s not exactly the people’s foiler” Much less well known is the female winner, South African Kirsten Neuschäfer who became the first woman to participate – and finish first – in the solo Golden…

This year is promising to be a big year in sailing, with three headline events in our sport taking place: The Olympics, swiftly followed by the 37th America’s Cup and then the start of the Vendée Globe in November. Throughout the year, we will once again see the top British sailors taking on these massive feats, inspiring others, and (hopefully) achieving glory! Yet how did the likes of Ben Ainslie, Ellen MacArthur and Alex Thomson actually reach these dizzying heights? It’s a question that many people have asked, particularly relating to the world of offshore racing, where there are few structured pathways. Now that I’ve started to build a career in offshore racing myself, I’ve begun to appreciate what these careers look like, and the highs and lows involved in…

Cape 31 Europeans Hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, the inaugural Cape 31 Europeans were won by Russell Peters and his team on board Fanatic. It was an impressive win in an event that attracted 22 entries – including from Ireland and the Netherlands. That this was the only Cape 31 event that Russell entered this season makes his win even more notable given it is currently the Solent’s hottest fleet. Sizzling in fact, when you consider the UK race circuit was only established in 2021 and regular racers already number 20+. A mixture of pro and amateur sailors, the class holds equal allure to those from both small boat and big boat backgrounds. As a strong supporter of the class since it was first introduced to the UK, Russell…

Wild teak is now so hard to get hold of that even some hardened fitters are moving away from the wood. And the quality of farmed teak is distinctly suspect, according to Chris Groves of Eco Marine Deck in Plymouth. “It is grown faster than wild teak,” he says. “It splits and moves and costs more to machine out the problems. That means the longest planking you can get is around 6ft because the grain isn’t straight.” This in turn pushes up the costs, because so much wood has to be rejected, and there can be remedial works required after fitting. Luckily, there is a whole clutch of alternative options available. The most common is PVC decking, like Permateek and Flexiteek, shaped and coloured to resemble teak. Groves himself swears…

SWEDEN YACHTS 50 PAPER MOON Timeless good looks by Peter Norlin and Jens Ostman grace the Sweden Yachts 50, Paper Moon, exuding 90’s glamour. She has recently undergone a nautical makeover, with almost every aspect receiving an update, yet she retains her classic charm. Major upgrades include a new Yanmar 110hp engine, a new Flexiteek deck, replacement of the standing rigging, and, of course, sublime sailing aided by her new 2022 North Sails. Paper Moon is exceptionally well-prepared and turnkey ready for new owners. Year: 1990 LOA: 15.25m (50’) Beam: 4.35m (14’3”) Draft: 1.98m (6’6”) Displacement: 14,500kg Keel type: Wing Hull Construction: Glass fibre Engine: 1 x Yanmar 4GM, 110hp Designer: Peter Norlin/Jens Östman Accommodation: 9 berths in 3 cabins Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Contact: bertoninternational.com craftinsure quote: £POA BAVARIA VISION…