Innehållsförteckning för July 2025 från Sailing Today

From the moment I met my husband, I found myself captivated by his dreams of adventure and sailing the world. His passion for the sea was infectious, and I quickly realized that this was a journey I wanted to embark on together. I knew sailing an ocean as a family wouldn’t be easy for us but I wanted to give it a go. It took us many years to make the decision to take the risk and buy a boat. Instead of a second home or a financial investment we chose time together, an unknown adventure in an unfamiliar wilderness in the hope it would inspire our girls, Amelia, 13, and Olivia, 7, to believe in themselves and go after their dreams. We had limited sailing experience but lots of…

My friends and I have got to the age where bucket lists deserve serious attention. Last year I teamed up with my friend Keith and his daughter Jess to take his syndicated Sigma 362 Fast Escape to the Channel Islands, and in particular to circumnavigate Jersey, which was just that bit further than I had ever managed while teaching a five-day RYA course. This year we are planning to go even further and to include some passages that will be among the longest I have ever attempted. So we will be breaking new ground and exploring the mind-set of ocean voyagers. A bit like a cruise – but without the 4,000 fellow passengers. The longest passage I have ever undertaken was as crew on a delivery trip from Ft Lauderdale…

According to the AngelNav app on my iPad, the GPS reading in my study this afternoon is accurate to less than two metres. Hooray for that! This sort of mind-blistering precision breeds innate confidence, so it comes more as a shock than a disappointment from time to time when the evidence tells us that this is patently not the case. You may have examples of your own. A pal’s plotter assured him he’d parked his yacht on the altar of the church in Figuera de Foz en route to the Med, rather than on the visitors’ berth where he was enjoying a gin and tonic. My own boat was depicted in a Polish supermarket car park when she was really at the fish dock, but my most spectacular example took…

Step into the main exhibition hall of the National Maritime Museum Cornwall (NMMC) in Falmouth and you are instantly engulfed by a huge wave of nostalgia with some of the most famous craft of our time hanging like model boats from rafters for all to see. These, together with remaining ‘flotilla’ that sit majestically at ground level, including the likes of Sir Ben Ainslie’s 2012 Olympic gold medal-winning Finn – Rita – are just a taster of what’s in store at this award-winning museum. Since it was opened in 2003 along the harbourside at Discovery Quay, the NMMC has become a popular and important attraction in Falmouth with over 120,000 visitors passing through the doors every year. In need of maintenance however, the museum has recently undergone essential work including…

Fishing offshore adds an extra dimension to passage making, not only can it provide a healthy and delicious source of protein, but it’s also good fun for the whole crew to get involved with and encourages camaraderie and banter. There’s also something really quite satisfying about being able to catch and cook your own food. Fergus, my husband, has been river fishing since he was a young boy, but when we got our boat, he found offshore fishing required different skills and tactics. There is nothing sporting about our approach to trolling, (trying to catch a fish by pulling a baited line through the water behind a boat) it’s all about filling the freezer without having to slow the boat downwind. Here are Fergus’ top tips for offshore fishing Basic…

“Most of them had only experienced this way of life via YouTube” Living on a sailboat is a crash course in adaptability. The weather may not play ball, port clearance may take longer to issue than thought, a crew member may suddenly be taken sick. Rolling with the punches and learning how to adjust to ever-changing challenges is a fundamental part of sailing education. And the more you flex that muscle of versatility, the more you start embracing opportunities and saying “yes” to things that you might not have expected. “Hey, you want to buddy-boat with us?”, “Fancy coming along to the climbing gym?”, “Shall we throw a pot-luck on the dock tomorrow?” are all questions that we met with an impromptu “yes” in order to open ourselves up to…

America’s Cup in turmoil as big hitters bow out of event The turmoil surrounding the 38th America’s Cup shows no sign of abating; its future in flux following big bust ups and the withdrawal of key players. Things kicked off with a spectacular bust up between Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ben Ainslie which saw the British Challenger of Record blown off course - as reported in last month’s edition. Yet the drama continues: first up, Swiss team Alinghi Red Bull Racing announced its withdrawal from the prestigious competition, citing financial and strategic reasons. Alinghi has been a prominent participant in recent America’s Cup editions. The team has a history dating back to the original Alinghi squad that won the America’s Cup in 2003 - the First ever European team to…

This year’s Round the Island Race takes place on Saturday 7 June, with the first start at 7.30am. Renowned as a #RaceForAll, the sheer variety and volume of boats that enter each year is at the core of what makes this annual 50nm circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight a world-renowned event. 2025 is no exception, with entries spanning the smallest day-sailers through to pedigree IRC racers, the likes of Tony Langley’s TP52 Gladiator and Arto Linnervuo’s Infiniti 52 Tulikettu. Several record-chasing multis are rumoured to be entering, as well as Sir Keith Mills’ 12M Schooner, Viveka, which, incredibly, was built in 1929 – pre-dating the race! It’s just 30 days out from race day when I catch up with Race Director, Dave Atkinson. He holds responsibility, from the biggest…

It is a quiet spring day in Eckernförde on the Baltic coast. Looking down this deep inlet past the German submarine base that dominates the harbour, there is no sign yet of the 6-8kts of wind that is forecast. It is going to be a light airs test for the new Saare 47. If you haven’t heard of Saare Yachts before, then don’t beat yourself up – this is a niche, if expanding Baltic brand. Saare has been building cruising yachts between 38 and 47ft since around 2007, but the shipyard and the people it employs go back to 1991 and the fall of the Iron Curtain. Based on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, the yard was built for the well reputed Finngulf brand and, for 13 years, has delivered…

As the demand for sailing holidays in exotic locations increases, sailing holiday companies are now embracing the move, resulting in more and more options to choose from. Dream Yacht Worldwide, Wildwind, Nautilus and Sunsail are some of the most popular with a range of dream destinations and seasonal offers that are worth investigating. Places like Thailand (with its 2,000 miles of coastline and mix of quiet bays, hidden beaches, and vibrant harbours), the Seychelles, Bali (with over 13,000 tropical islands to explore) and even Zanzibar, becoming popular winter escapes, it’s not surprising more and more holiday companies are setting up bases in these far flung destinations. However, you will find that flotilla holidays in these parts of the world are not quite as popular as they are in the Mediterranean,…

Prior to 1920, yacht cruising was an occupation indulged in by precious few. If you wanted to go sailing, you raced off Cowes with a professional crew and captain. The concept of slumming it in some scrubby little yacht with no servants was deemed as simply beyond the pale and the idea of crossing oceans in a small yacht was considered wildly eccentric. Yet two trail blazing voyages to an obscure south Atlantic island by Victorian yachtsman Edward Frederick Knight (pictured above) changed all that. In many ways his trips threw the doors wide open when it came to bluewater yacht cruising, opening up new horizons and expectations for yachtsmen. Knight was a fascinating character; on the one hand an establishment man, on the other a wild rover and a…

“Happiness equals reality minus expectations.” Does this resonate with you? When I first heard this, it sounded like a pretty good way of summing up how we feel when we look at our results at the end of a day’s racing. How did we fare compared with our expected place in the pecking order? If you did better than you’d hoped, have a beer to celebrate. If you bombed, you have a beer to get over yourself. Using results is quite a dangerous way to determine our happiness, though. It’s part of why Olympic sailors talk about ‘Process Regattas’ and ‘Outcome Regattas’. Outcome regattas are the ones where it’s all about the result, for example the annual World Championship and the biggest one of all, the Olympic Games. Many of…

I’m going to start this review with an apocryphal story about my favourite subject; myself. Please bear with me though because it is relevant to the Beneteau First 30. Last summer I was sailing my own boat, an ancient 1980s Jeanneau Selection 37, from Greece back to southern France. By the time I got to the Strait of Messina I was knackered and opted to stop at some nothing town called Reggia Calabria. I was within 10 miles of my destination and looking forward to sleeping when the wind piped up dead on the nose. I could have wept; a straightforward sail was going to end in traditional style with a hard thrash to windward and I was so sleep deprived that the prospect did not thrill. Salvation lay at…

For years, wind, solar and hydrogeneration have been the key to charging the house batteries without resorting to an internal combustion engine. Decisions about what to fit will depend on a combination of budget, cruising ground and the boat’s demand for power. If you simply want to keep the batteries topped up when you’re away, a low-wattage solar panel or something like the Rutland 504 wind turbine will do the trick for a few hundred pounds. Leading Edge also does fit-and-forget vertical axis units for mast mounting for £1,200-£1,500. But to match all your house battery needs with renewable power, a useful starting point is to work out how much power the boat consumes over 24 hours. Draw up a list of the power consumers when the boat is at…

54°40’N 5°40’W Bangor Marina, operated by Boatfolk, is based on the south shore of Belfast Lough, sheltered from the prevailing wind, and is just a quick 23nm hop across the Irish Sea to Portpatrick on the west coast of Scotland. Given the fact it’s close to the Irish Sea cruising routes also means it is an ideal location to use as a base if you are cruising the area around the delightful coastline of Northern Ireland, or further afield to places like the Isle of Man. Bangor Marina’s location right in the heart of the town means it’s within walking distance of the shops, hotels, bars and restaurants, and has easy access (with no locking in or out). Bangor is also a buzzing holiday resort just 25 minutes away by…

DUFOUR 360 | VIVA East coast-based Broker – Clarke & Carter – says the Dufour 360 is renowned for its stylish and effective design, offering excellent sailing performance while maintaining spacious and comfortable living accommodation in two separate double cabins outside of the saloon. The forward-facing chart table has a dedicated seat and the large heads compartment, there is a pull-out shower and access through to the cockpit locker. This particular shoal draft example is finished with a high specification including the more powerful Volvo D1-30 engine, and a retractable bow thruster. Viva also has central heating, electric windlass, liferaft and dinghy. A full suite of Raymarine electronics includes an Axiom 9 plotter on the cockpit table, autopilot and AIS transponder. While she is fitted with a 108% furling headsail,…