10M BERTHS

FROM

PER ANNUM*

CHICHESTER MARINA

Premier Marinas.
Because nothing similar feels quite as good.
If you’re looking for a first-class berth, luxury facilities and real value for money, you’re looking for a Premier
marina. Choose from nine glorious locations, each with a quality boatyard and a suite of marine services
to hand. Then sit back and relax as you soak up the care and attention to detail only Premier can provide.
Find your perfect berth today call 01489 884 060 or visit premiermarinas.com *Based on Eastbourne Marina.

EASTBOURNE BRIGHTON SOUTHSEA PORT SOLENT

GOSPORT SWANWICK NOSS ON DART FALMOUTH

 with

JANUARY 2021 £4.95

WIN!
RECORD BREAKER WINTER TASKS
Get your boat in
YOUNGEST Raymarine
Axiom + 9 MFD ip top condition
ROUND-BRITAI
worth £1295

SOLO SAILOR Prep for your

dream voyage
Cruising
Africa's
hidden
paradise

BEN
BOAT TEST
Salona 380
The cruiser
racer redefined AINSLIE
Plotting a course to
GOING GREEN victory as Cup racing begins
FLAX 27 ON TEST NEW How to make
Is hemp the new OUTREMER 4E your boat more
fibreglass? The world's energy efficient
greenest
multihull?
 Rustler 57 | Rustler 44 | Rustler 42 | Rustler 37 | Rustler 33 | Rustler 24

The New Rustler 57

At the heart of Rustler’s philosophy is a firm commitment to developing

truly unique yachts that are distinctive in looks, design and performance.
The Rustler 57 is the new flagship for the Rustler brand.

Beautiful yachts, beautifully built

Rustler 57
Principal Dimensions: LOA: 17.40m Beam: 5.00m Draft: 2m- 3.5m Disp:27200kg

Tel: 01326 310120 | www.rustleryachts.com

Rustler Yachts | Maritime Buildings | Falmouth | Cornwall | TR10 8AD
REGULARS
10 News
26 Paul Heiney
28 Andy Rice
30 Andi Robertson
38 Tom Cunliffe
Tom reflects on what it truly means to be
environmentally friendly
98 Jess Lloyd-Mostyn

UNDER SAIL
20 Round Britain at 16
A chat with a record breaking teen
42 Ben Ainslie
The Team Ineos leader discusses the
prospects going into the America’s Cup
52 Madagascar
Discovering a hidden corner of Africa
66 Round the world plans
How to keep your crew happy
80 Gull’s Eye
Whitehaven marina

BOATS
18 New boats
32 Outremer 4E
The world’s greenest production yacht?
48 Flax 27
A revolutionary day sailer
56 Salona 38
An exciting cruiser/racer
90 Three of the Best
Three of the finest brokerage boats currently
on the market

GEAR
78 Launched 78 60
60 Buyer’s Guide: Green kit
72 Winter refit
Jobs to do while your boat is out of the water
92 Books
94 Shortlist: Electric outboards

MASTERCLASS
86 How to Win
Mark Rushall takes a look at the updated
Racing Rules of Sailing

COVER IMAGE: TRYSTAN GRACE

 30.000 miles

carbon footprint.

Outremer introduces the 4.zero

Its first 100% electric prototype will be
sailed around the world by sailing legend
Jimmy Cornell.
The 80 year old is more determined than
ever to revolutionize sailing.
And Outremer is extremely proud to be
part of the adventure.

Follow the progress on

catamaran-outremer.com/4-zero
Groupe Grand Large Yachting
 Welcome

EDITORIAL
EDITOR
Sam Jefferson
020 3943 9261
sam.jefferson@chelseamagazines.com
Skipper’s View
YACHTS & YACHTING EDITOR
Georgie Corlett-Pitt
georgie.corlett-pitt@chelseamagazines.com NEVER HAS THE FREEDOM THAT SAILING ENCAPSULATES SEEMED
GROUP EDITOR
Rob Peake
MORE VITAL OR SACRED
ART & PRODUCTION EDITOR
Gareth Lloyd Jones
PUBLISHING CONSULTANT
Martin Nott UNBELIEVABLY THIS ENDLESS cycle of lockdowns and the like drags on
PUBLISHER
Simon Temlett albeit these days there is a touch of light on the horizon. Anyway, as the
simon.temlett@chelseamagazines.com latest range of restrictions was unveiled, I was offered two pinpoints of
ADVERTISING hope that encapsulate what sailing can supply in a manner few other
ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER
Jodie Green sports or hobbies ae able to - and that is a very real sense of freedom.
020 7349 3722
jodie.green@chelseamagazines.com The first was watching the grand depart of the Vendee Globe Race. It's
Mark Harrington always a stirring sight to see the sailors making their emotional farewells
020 7349 3734
mark.harrington@chelseamagazines.com to friends and family and then pointing their bows into the unknown - yet
ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION
Allpoints Media Ltd
this time around it had real power - weeks of social distancing and
allpointsmedia.co.uk nagging, moreale sapping worry replaced with a visceral exhilarating
CHAIRMAN
Paul Dobson charge down the Atlantic into the jaws of the monster that is the
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Southern Ocean. The other event was the somewhat unexpected
Vicki Gavin
DIRECTOR OF MEDIA departure of the 2020 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. A fleet of sailors remained undaunted by the uncertainty that
James Dobson
awaited them in the Caribbean after their crossing and set sail from the Canaries thanks to the unstinting efforts
CHELSEA CREATE
MANAGING DIRECTOR of the World Cruising Club to deliver a rally. Again, It was strangely moving to see the boats lining up to depart
Steve Ross
across an ocean that, in recent years, has become almost a conveyor belt but now, once again, seems wild and
PARTNERSHIPS DIRECTOR
Lyndall Beeton uncertain. Their departure whispered freedom, escape. These fleeting glimpses of liberty made me realise just
Published by: what a privilege it is to be able to get in your boat, point the bow to the horizon and be able to say 'I'll go there'.
The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd
Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, It's a privilege that we have taken for granted. It's also worth noting that the freedom for huge numbers of
London, SW3 3TQ
Tel: 020 7349 3700
people to sail pretty much anywhere they wished is a relatively new phenomena. Chat to anyone from Estonia
© The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2020. where the coastline was essentially off limits to civilians during the Cold War and they will underline how
All Rights Reserved. ISSN 1367-5869 (print)
ISSN 2059-9285 (digital) fortunate we have been to enjoy what we view as a basic human right. Anyway as our freedom is restricted, I
Subscriptions and hope that this is the last time it ever happens. Freedom is a word that is bandied about too casually by the
back issues leaders of what is termed the free world but the open ocean and the beckoning horizon encapsulate what it
Tel: +44 (0) 1858 438769 means - and what we have temporarily lost - perfectly.
Annual subscription rates:
UK £69 ROW £81
Email: sailingtoday@subscription.co.uk
Online: subscription.co.uk/chelsea/Solo/
Stay up to date with the latest issues,
update your own personal details, facebook.com/ twitter.com/ editor@
and even renew your subscription SailingToday SailingTodayMag sailingtoday.co.uk
with just the click of a button.
Post: Sailing Today, Subscriptions
Department, Chelsea Magazines,
Tower House, Sovereign Park,
Lathkill Street Market Harborough
LE16 9EF CONTRIBUTORS
No part of this magazine may be reproduced without
permission in writing. Every care is taken to ensure
the accuracy of information in Sailing Today, but no
responsibility can be accepted for the consequences
of actions based on the advice portrayed herein.
The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd makes every
effort to ensure that the advertising contained in
this magazine is delivered from responsible sources.
We cannot, however, accept any responsibility for
transactions between readers and advertisers. For
the Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd full set of terms
and conditions please go to
chelseamagazines.com/terms-and-conditions

Also part of the

Chelsea Marine Magazines family:

SAM FORTESCUE is an TOM CUNLIFFE is an author, MARK RUSHALL coaches

ex editor of Sailing Today journalist and TV presenter, at the highest level of the
chelseamagazines.com
who has decamped to and one of Britain's sport, from Olympic dinghies
Germany to write a novel best-known cruising sailors to big boat campaigns

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 5

 Home comforts
We are fully in the grip of winter now and sailing may seem like a distant dream for many
of us but the fortunate few may be able to slip down to their boat on a crisp day and
enjoy a winter sail. At this time of year there are few more magical places to sail than the
Lake District, where a spot of sunlight can reveal the breathtaking beauty of this stunning
corner of Cumbria. This lovely anchorage on Windermere has to be a standout.
Photo: Nirian/iStock
 Going it alone
Frenchman Charlie Dalin’s Apivia takes the start of the 2020 Vendée Globe Race. The
33-strong fleet set sail from Les Sables d’Olonne on 8 November, with British sailors Alex
Thomson, Sam Davies, Pip Hare and Miranda Merron among them. This is the ninth edition
of the race and could well be the fastest yet, with the newest foiling boats like Apivia
capable of average speeds around the world in the high teens at least. As we went to press
there had already been one dismasting and the Atlantic threw up plenty more drama
besides. See our full report on page 12.
Bernard Le Bars / Alea
News

Ebb and flow

EVENTS | NEWS | TALES FROM THE SAILING COMMUNITY

NZ launches radical AC75 to

win the America’s Cup
The fourth and final AC75 was launched in
November in Auckland and it was a moment
worth waiting for, as the New Zealander’s
America’s Cup race boat has taken a different
design path again to that of the rival teams,
almost resembling a multihull in its attempt to
span the contradictory hydrodynamic and
aerodynamic requirements of these foiling
machines.
“Not a traditional looking hull shape,” said
Emirates Team New Zealand head of design Dan
Bernasconi, with some understatement. “It
points to the clear aerodynamic emphasis given
to the design. We’ve been searching for the Bernasconi continued: “An AC75 that was After day one on the water, helm Peter Burling
perfect balance between hydrodynamic and optimised purely to accelerate and take off said: “It was great to get commissioning
aerodynamic performance.” would look very different to one which was underway. The boat felt really nice. We’re happy
This is the boat that the New Zealanders will optimised for steady-flight – and that’s with day one, but have got a lot of hard work
use to defend the 36th America’s Cup presented reflected in the huge variation we see between ahead.”
by Prada in March. The three challenging teams, our competitors’ yachts in the fleet. The boat was christened Te Rehutai, which
Ineos Team UK, American Magic and the Italian “Te Rehutai is designed to excel in both means ‘where the essence of the ocean
Prada Pirelli Luna Rossa team, are all on the domains – the water and the air – and we’re invigorates and energises our strength and
water and have been training from Auckland for confident she’ll be competitive across the range determination’ in Māori.
some weeks. of wind-speeds that we may see.” See our America’s Cup preview on page 36.

Great Britain wins eSailing worlds

Great Britain beat Spain 6-3 to win the inaugural
eSailing Nations Cup – effectively the World Cup
of virtual sailing. After a month-long competition
between 13 national teams, Great Britain,
captained by Mike O’Donovan, aka
@dejavusailing, convincingly beat Spain across
the nine-race series that featured different
classes, fleet sizes and racecourses to test the
teams’ expertise. The final was streamed across
the Olympic Channel and across World Sailing’s
channels. Each team of 10 had to include at least
one male and one female, two certified sailors
and the top four sailors from each country’s
national championships.
Team captain @dejavusailing said:
“It was some really tight racing. There
were some high heart beats.”

10 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting


Tall Ships for Falmouth 2021
The tall ship fleet will be coming to
Falmouth, Cornwall, in August 2021.
The historic harbour will host the start of
a Tall Ships Race commemorating the first
circumnavigation of the world 500 years ago by
Magellan and his second-in-command Elcano.
It will be the sixth time Falmouth has
hosted the tall ships since 1966.
Organiser Sail Training International and
local Falmouth authorities said that given
the likely health restrictions, the event
would be ‘operationally innovative’.
There will be around 40 vessels arriving prior
to the 19 August race start date, with the Class
A square-rigged vessels anchoring in the Carrick
Roads. Further Class A and Class B ships are likely
to anchor in Falmouth’s inner harbour, while Class
Natasha sets sail with 35th ARC
As the 35th Atlantic Rally for Cruisers
fleet cast off from Las Palmas on 22
November, heading for St Lucia, among the
sailors was Natasha Lambert, born with
quadriplegic athetoid cerebral palsy, which
affects her limbs and speech, who will be
using her ground-breaking ‘sip and puff’
method to sail the 3,000 miles ahead.
Natasha’s father Gary developed the system,
which allows Natasha to control a boat using her
breath and tongue. She has used it in a series of
extraordinary voyages in home waters including
across the Channel.
Now her biggest challenge lies ahead and her
family has spent the last two years adapting a
Nautitech N46, named Blown Away, for the
transat, which was inspired by a gift from Dame
Ellen MacArthur of a pilot book to the Atlantic.
Natasha is raising funds for the Ellen
MacArthur Cancer Trust, RNLI and the MissIsle
School of Sip Puff Sailing. The aim is to raise
£30,000 to share equally between the three
C and D will be berthed at Port Pendennis Marina.
The 2021 event will see the introduction
of water-based inner harbour tours
to view the tall ships out in their
‘natural’ surroundings, as there will be
no public access onto the ships.
A parade of sail will take place around the bay.
Paul Bishop, Race Director for Sail Training
International said: “Falmouth is an ideal start
point to cross the Bay of Biscay and the team
there has built up a great reputation for hosting
the races and regattas over the past decades.
“I am sure that the crews will be
given a very warm welcome.”
The Tall Ships Race follows a course from
Falmouth to La Coruna in Spain, then to Portugal’s
capital Lisbon, before finishing in Cadiz, Spain.
charities. You can donate via missisle.com
We’ll be catching up with Natasha in the Caribbean and
reporting on her voyage in full.
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
NEWS BRIEFS
Jules Verne Trophy
The Gitana team, on the 32m trimaran
Edmond de Rothschild, was standing by for
an attempt on the Jules Verne record, as we
went to press. They are aiming to beat the
record of 40 days, 23 hours and 30 minutes,
set by Francis Joyon and his team in 2017.
Sailing Video of the Century
The 2020 edition of the Mirabaud Sailing
Video Award, adapted to reward the best
videos filmed since 2000, was won by
French producer Martin Keruzoré, for his
video Vues du Large, selected by the
international jury, which included Sailing
Today with Y&Y group editor Rob Peake.
Watch the winning videos on our website
yachtsandyachting.co.uk
SailGP diary
SailGP 2021 will kick off in Bermuda in April,
before moving to the southern Italian city of
Taranto in June. Travel restrictions forced a
rejig of the series calendar, but the Great
Britain Grand Prix in Plymouth is still on
for 17-18 July.
Helm gets Dufour
London-based yacht charter broker Helm
has become the official UK sales and
charter agent for Dufour Catamarans.
Dufour catamarans are built by the JJL
Catamarans shipyard in Italy. Helm is
offering Dufour 48s for sale and charter in
the UK and overseas, and can offer charter
management packages on request. Contact
info@helm.yt or +44 (0)207 632 7567.
Join Tom’s club
Renowned sailor, author and our columnist
Tom Cunliffe has launched his own online
‘sailing club’, where for £15 a year members
get access to a range of Tom’s practical
advice including articles and videos on
yachting history, current sailing events and
much more. tomcunliffe.com
Electric Spirit
Spirit Yachts has successfully delivered its
new Spirit 44CR(e) to her Canadian owner.
Based on the Spirit cruiser racer design, the
44CR(e) was commissioned for a customer
who set Spirit Yachts the goal of ‘near total
energy self-sufficiency’. The ‘e’ denotes the
yacht’s electric drive system.The project is
the first fully electric yacht to be designed
and built by Spirit. She has zero
hydrocarbons onboard and is the first yacht
in the UK launched with solar panels
integrated into the main sail and deck.
World Sailing award
World Sailing has won the inaugural GAISF
Sustainability Award, for its Sustainability
Agenda 2030, outlining how sailing will
contribute to the United Nation’s
Sustainability Development Goals. The
award is given by the Global Association of
International Sports Federations.
SailJuice dates change
The Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, set to
be the opening event of the Seldén SailJuice
Winter Series 2020/21, has been moved to
6-7 March 2021, due to lockdown
restrictions. The Bloody Mary in January has
been cancelled but organisers of the
Seldén-sponsored series plan online events
on the dates when sailing cannot take place.
See sailjuiceseries.com
11
 Vendée Globe: the cruel Atlantic
It was baptism of fire for the 33 skippers
taking part in the Vendée Globe.
After an emotional departure from Les
Sables d’Olonne on Sunday 8 November,
they enjoyed two days of favourable
conditions before sailing straight into a
45-knot front, with gusts over 50 knots
and waves of seven metres. Even for
these experienced sailors, it was a
battering that left many of them shaken.
Boris Hermann on SeaExplorer/Yacht
Club de Monaco admitted he spent most
of the night “consumed by doubts” over
whether he was pushing too hard in the
conditions. Sébastien Simon on Arkea
Paprec was seasick for the first time in
his life. Clarisse Crémer sounded close to
tears. The storm caused damage across
the fleet, notably for Armel Tripon on
L’Occitane en Provence, one of the new
foiling yachts launched this year. He
turned for Spain to make repairs, but
after considering the difficulty of picking
up a mooring on his own in an IMOCA 60,
thought better of it and turned south
12 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
again with the rest of the fleet, hoping to ABOVE LEFT
port by more people than had been
make repairs on the go. All the skippers The normally packed allowed, under French lockdown, to see
canal out of Les
reported having had little or no sleep Sables d’Olonne was
the fleet off. His team worked round the
since the start. bare due to French clock to repair Charal and he was duly
lockdown and local
But the big news was yet to come. On residents had to wave
cheered out to sea again, on race day
the morning of day three, the race from their windows nine, with the leaders almost 3,000 miles
tracker showed that Charal, the boat of to the south. The Vendée Globe’s history
ABOVE RIGHT
Jérémie Beyou, was taking an unusual Never short of a is full of great comeback stories, but the
course. A few minutes later his team Union Jack, Alex Frenchman admitted he now had a very
Thomson shows his
confirmed that Beyou, touted by many colours as Hugo Boss different race ahead of him.
as the favourite, had sustained serious heads out to the start Meanwhile the other big favourite,
damage and was returning 600 miles to BELOW LEFT Alex Thomson from Gosport, on Hugo
Les Sables d’Olonne for repairs. Their The emotion shows Boss, was sailing like a man possessed.
as Finnish Ari
statement said: “It started around 2pm Huseela, 58, walks After an entertaining duel with popular
on Tuesday when a sheet block tore off, to his yacht on the Frenchman Jean Le Cam, aged 61, who is
morning of the start
which sprayed carbon all over the racing an older boat, Thomson snuck
cockpit. Jérémie had to do a little repair, BELOW CENTRE ahead early one morning as his rivals
Jean Le Cam is a
he got in the boat to get it all set up, and French favourite slept. He was where he liked to be, out in
while he was inside the boat he hit front, but serious rivals Charlie Dalin on
BELOW RIGHT
something. In so doing the boat gybed it Repairs for British Apivia and Thomas Ruyant on LinkedOut
ended up on the other side. He then sailor Miranda were no more than 70 miles behind and
Merron on Campagne
realized that the starboard rudder was de France chasing hard, Ruyant later putting in the
damaged.” first 500-mile day of this edition of the
In emotional scenes three days later, race. “The intensity of the race is insane,”
Beyou was cheered back into the French Thomson commented.

“It’s shattering but pretty interesting, I
can tell you.”
Also in the top 10 were Briton Sam
Davies, on Initiatives-Coeur, and her
French husband Romain Attanasio, on
Pure-Best Western Hotels and Resorts.
Just a few miles separated the husband
and wife race rivals.
Towards the back of the fleet, a battle
formed between Pip Hare, from Poole, on
Medallia, and the boats around her
including fellow Briton Miranda Merron,
on Campagne de France. Hare, relishing
the experience after years of chasing a
Vendée dream, said simply in her first
video report: “I am so happy!”
But there was another blow to come
– subtropical storm Theta lay ahead,
promising 60-knot winds and waves of
six metres. As most of the fleet sailed
sharply west to avoid the worst of it, the
front runners made a beeline for the eye
of the storm, coming within 70 miles of
the centre. Thomson sent back
remarkable footage and his team later
revealed: “70 miles from the centre with
consistent wind of 50 knots and five
metre waves, the boat violently
broached. Whilst the boat was on its side
and head to the wind, Alex decided to sail
‘There have been changing
weather systems and a
tropical storm... it’s been tough
with very little sleep’
away from the storm’s centre in a south
westerly direction.”
It was a dramatic moment even in the
history of the Vendée Globe and a
reminder of how fearlessly the race is
contested between those gunning for
victory.
Those towards the back of the fleet
did not escape the high winds. The
Finnish Ari Huusela, aged 58, on Stark
(Dee Caffari’s old boat Aviva), suffered a
knockdown as the wind swung round
100 degrees. He said the conditions were
the worst he’d ever seen.
Having gybed away from the trouble
and with a useful 30 knots on the beam,
the foiling boats took off and literally flew
down towards the equator, splitting the
fleet further, over a distance of 1,600
miles.
Despite flatter seas, the boat speeds
of over 20 knots were hardly relaxing
News
and Boris Hermann, the race’s only German
entrant, admitted life on board was “quite
stressful”.
Nico Troussel, sailing one of the new
foilers, Corum L’Epargne, was another one
touted as a podium contender. But as he
sped south in the gusty conditions, sailing at
22 knots under a single reefed main and
ABOVE LEFT fractional code zero, his mast crashed down
Nicolas Troussel on
Corum L’Épargne
while he was asleep. “It was just before
gets a good start, sunrise and I went up on deck and saw the
but he dismasted a
few days later off the
damage. My priority then was to get the
Cape Verde Islands mast off and away from the boat because
ABOVE RIGHT
the sea was quite choppy. Then you realise
The Charal team that it is all over,” he said in a disconsolate call
makes desperate
repairs on the pontoon
to race HQ a few days later. Troussel is a
after favourite Jérémie double winner of the La Solitaire du Figaro
Beyou turned back
and there was dismay as he motored slowly
BELOW towards the Cape Verde Islands.
Thomson’s route Alex Thomson was first across the
overlaid onto a
synoptic chart, equator and reflected: “I definitely expected
showing how he took the start of the race to be tough but it’s not
Hugo Boss to the eye
of storm Theta, before normal for it to be that intense, that’s for
gybing out with a fast sure. Normally you wouldn’t have to
wind angle; footage
he sent back of racing negotiate all of these changing weather
through huge seas systems and then a tropical storm; that’s
never really happened before. So yes, it’s
been tough with very little sleep.”
Ruyant and Dalin were hot on Thomson’s
heels, while just 10 hours behind the leader
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 13
News
and grabbing the headlines was the
61-year-old Le Cam, doing his fifth
Vendée Globe. His laid-back personal
style belied his speed and the official
commentary said: “The undeniable reality
is that Le Cam is still showing a posse of
younger, fast-foiling IMOCA boats, and
their much younger skippers, the way
down the south Atlantic.”
Le Cam is sailing a 2007 Farr design,
which won the 2008 Vendée Globe in the
hands of Michel Desjoyeaux. “I have
always said since before the start that I
am in the Renault 4 category, not in the
Ferrari one,” laughed Le Cam, who has a
huge following in France, “but I realise
that the little R4 is very well-tuned! The
good news is I had a great night’s sleep.”
Britain’s Sam Davies, on Initiatives-
Coeur, crossed the equator in ninth place,
keeping pace with a group of similar-
generation boats.
Almost 1,500 miles behind her but
having an incredible sail on Medallia was
Pip Hare, in 20th place, despite being on
the second oldest boat in the fleet and
arguably the slowest design. “So far it’s
been a race of ups and downs, literally,”
she said. “I’ve had to climb the mast –
14 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
something I hate doing – and I’ve had
some fabulous, fast sailing, and I’ve
battled through the doldrums. The
hardest part so far has been the lack of
sleep over the last few days.”
As the trio of Thomson, Ruyant and
Dalin extended their lead into the south
Atlantic, Vendée Globe watchers were
settling down for an extraordinary
match-race between three of the most
advanced yachts ever built through the
Southern Ocean.
But a cruel twist was yet to come. On
the evening of Saturday, 21 November,
the news was broadcast that while doing
a routine inspection Thomson had found
a “possible structural issue” on his yacht
Hugo Boss.
He put the boat downwind, slowed to
four knots, and went to sleep for six
hours while his team worked out a
solution.
Later he reported: “It was a bit of a
shock at first but obviously it could have
been a lot worse. It’s repairable and we’re
not yet in the Southern Ocean. The first
part was to stabilise the hull, so that
involved some cutting, gluing and bolting.
That’s done now and it’s been laminated.
ABOVE LEFT
The next part is to get the rest of the
Clarisse Crémer is on repair prepped. I need to get all the
her first Vendée Globe,
having apprenticed
materials together and do as much of
with Armel Le the cutting now while it’s still light.”
Cléac’h, who won the
race four years ago
Around 800 miles off Rio, Thomson
worked on alone in the near blackness
ABOVE RIGHT and stifling heat of Hugo Boss’ bow area.
French-German
Isabelle Joschke at the “I’m disappointed obviously, but this is
height of the storm the Vendée Globe,” his report read. “This
BELOW LEFT is what it entails. You’ve got to be able to
Who will win? deal with this stuff.”
Romain Attanasio
and Sam Davies, There was an unhappy symmetry with
both taking part in this moment in the race four years ago,
the race, are watched
by their son Ruben when Thomson was leading, only to hit
an underwater object and break one of
BELOW RIGHT
Pip Hare is having his foils. As we went to press, he was
the race of her life sailing again, but only time will tell if his
in one of the oldest
boats in the fleet repair will hold and be strong enough to
withstand the Southern Ocean.
Meanwhile Dalin and Ruyant were
racing ahead.
Follow the race on our website
yachtsandyachting.co.uk and we’ll have
another gripping update in our next
issue, which comes out on New Year’s
Eve, by which time the fleet will be deep
in the Southern Ocean and the front
runners may be approaching Cape Horn,
with a finish around 20 January possible.
 VOTE FOR YOUR
CLUB OF THE YEAR
2021
THE 2021 FINALISTS
Bolton Sailing Club

V
Chelmarsh Sailing Club
Debdale Outdoor Activity Club
oting is open in the RYA and The 2021 Club of the Year will be
Emsworth Sailing Club
Guernsey Yacht Club Yachts & Yachting Club of announced at the RYA Virtual Dinghy
Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club the Year competition, Show 2021 (details to be confirmed).
Port Dinorwic Sailing Club / Clwb supported by Gallagher. RYA Programmes Manager Michelle
Hwylio Y Felinheli Voting closes on Monday 25 Gent said: “A huge congratulations to all 10
Prestwick Sailing Club January 2021. Club of the Year
Ripon Sailing Club The annual award finalists. This has
Strangford Sailing Club recognises the been an especially
Four of the finalists were also recognised for their achievements of sailing challenging year for
particular achievements in the following areas: clubs across the UK, clubs and the people
promoting the hard involved in the
Bolton Sailing Club - ‘Inclusive and Open to All’
work and dedication running of these
Debdale Outdoor Activity Club - ‘Modern and
Innovative’ that goes into running organisations have
Emsworth Sailing Club - ‘Sustainability’ a successful club. The worked tirelessly so
Port Dinorwic Sailing Club / Clwb Hwylio Y RYA Awards Panel has that others can safely
Felinheli - ‘Heart of the Community’ selected the finalists, get afloat. Now it’s
Special commendations go to Cowes Sailability for representing the RYA over to you!”
its work connecting with isolated members; and Regions. Yachts & Yachting editor Georgie Corlett-
Llandudno Sailing Club for becoming an integral You now have the chance to vote for the Pitt said: “We had some great entries this
part of the North Wales Ysbty Enfys and enabling sailing club you think deserves to be RYA year and now it is up to you to vote for your
members to get sailing as quickly as possible. Club of the Year 2021. favourite – it won’t be easy!”

The overall winner will be announced

at the RYA Virtual Dinghy Show “It’s just fantastic as it’s the
culmination of a lot of effort.
It’s a tremendous honour for
Find out more information and cast your vote us and our members.”
Jim Atkins, Commodore at Christchurch Sailing

at awards.yachtsandyachting.co.uk/rya Club, 2020 winners

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 15

 IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Position

No. 611 Walkin’ the dog

For those who are unwilling to unleash their boat’s potential
PHOTO RICHARD LANGDON/RYA

A
bit of a double whammy here; first up there is the classic if somewhat DIFFICULTY RATING: 4/5
undignified cliff clamber/dry capsize going on which is always a
pleasure to see. Yet if you take a look further astern there is yet more One yank on the
compelling action going on with the other crewmember appearing to
believe she can take control of the boat in much the same way you leash and that should
would control an unruly mutt. One yank on the leash and that should bring the
troublesome dinghy to heel. Certainly this seems to be an object lesson in what
bring the troublesome
happens when you refuse to unleash the full potential of your boat. Down boy! dinghy to heel

Quote and buy online at www.noblemarine.co.uk

or call us on 01636 707606
Authorised & regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

16 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

 Start your
Grand Tour
A uniquely stylish, capable and
comfortable fast cruising yacht
for discerning sailors.

WHY BOATS Deacons Boatyard

UK Elan Yachts Representative Bridge Road
andrew@whyboats.com Bursledon, Southampton
T: 0044 (0) 2382 120000 SO31 8AZ
M: 0044 (0) 7850 114761 www.whyboats.com
 New boats Baltic 68 Café Racer

DESIGNS | LAUNCHES | PROJECTS Baltic Yachts has in recent years favoured

building larger semi – custom yachts and this
theme certainly continues with the new
Baltic 68. For the uninitiated, the term Café
Racer was taken from the motorbike world
and referred to fast, stylish motorbikes that
you hooned around on between alpine cafes
and the like irritating the general populus. For
whatever reason the terms was adopted by
yacht manufacturers and there is a whole
fleet of fast weekenders with no pretensions
of being actual racers. The 68 takes that to a
new level as it is not often you get a 68’
weekender. The new boat is also highly
sustainable, as Baltic Yachts has been
researching new eco-friendly materials and
techniques for yacht building. They are using
naturally grown flax to reinforce this yacht’s
Solaris 40 hull and reduce the yacht’s carbon footprint.
More than 50% of the hull structure will use
Bcomp ampliTex flax as a reinforcement,
Solaris Yachts has spent the last few years moving methodically into the big boat
which sounds like it has been made up but
market. It is therefore refreshing to discover that they have a new ‘entry level’ 40
apparently has excellent sound deadening
footer on the drawing board. The new 40 fits the template of all the recent
properties. The yacht will also feature electric
launches by the yard, being stylish with a nod towards racing but also an eye kept
power. Although this is ostensibly a
firmly on the fast cruising market. The 40 has been drawn up by Soto Acebal and
weekender, it does feature pretty luxurious
has substantial beam to provide internal volume.
accommodation to be fair.

l solarisyachts.com
l balticyachts.fi

LBV 35
The LBV 35 is the brainchild of Ibiza based La Bella Verde (LBV). The concept to
produce the most sustainable yacht ever seen. To this end, the LBV35 is a 100%
recyclable composite boat. LBV has also committed to a sustainable ‘loop’
recycling model whereby the company will buy back the composite materials and
reuse them for future builds. The boat will feature solar/electric propulsion but this
yacht promises to be no slouch under sail, with her manufacturers promising a top
speed of 22kn, making this a fun, fast daysailer/weekender.

l labellaverde.com

18 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

Foily Peacoq
French-based company Foily
is launching Peacoq’ for Spring
2021. The concept behind this
14’ dinghy is that it is a simple,
uncomplicated boat that can
also foil. The aim is to be able
to introduce relative novices
to the joys of foiling. There will
be two versions, the Peacoq
Club – aimed at sailing
schools – and the Premium
which is a touch more
sophisticated. The hull is
stable and powerful thanks to
MCM, Tripp Design and The owner, an experienced sailor, delivered a
clear mandate: “I want a yacht that is notable in
the scow bow, and the Peacoq
Rockport Marine 45
this size range. It should have some classical
is equipped with self-levelling elements, but the design should also convey
J foils. If you aren’t ready to foil, Naval architect Bill Tripp has founded his
speed. Ease of sailing, both short-handed and
the appendages can be reputation on building fast, innovative yachts and
single-handed is also important.”
removed and the Peacoq can his latest project promises more of the same.
The result is a 45 footer due to hit the water in
operate as a non foiling boat. This new 45 footer promises to be a strong
early 2021.
performer and is the last word in wood-
composite construction. As such, carbon and
l peacoq.fr foam core layups are standard, l trippdesign.net

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 19

Cruising ~ Around the UK

Teenage dream
When 15-year-old Timothy Long decided to sail around Britain solo, he was
looking for an adventure. He got a lot more besides

M
idnight in the middle
of the Bristol Channel,
a stretch of water
renowned for
sandbanks, shipping
and big tides. Tonight, to make ABOVE hand in front of his face. It’s a
Timothy at the
matters worse, thick fog has end of his trip, situation to test the nerve of any
descended. Skipper Timothy Long, which he is using to yachtsman, however experienced,
raise funds for the
navigating a yacht solo across the Ellen MacArthur but Timothy is just 15 years old.
channel north to south, can’t see his Cancer Trust He is making the crossing from

20 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021


Milford Haven to Padstow as part of
a solo sail around Britain, a personal
challenge that somewhat to his
surprise, later in the summer, will see
him make headlines around the
world.
Timothy doesn’t know that yet and
he certainly doesn’t want to make
any headlines now – he is focussed
on the shipping movements he can
see on his AIS.
“It was not fun and I’d be lying if I
said I didn’t get scared,” says Timothy
today. “You do get scared at sea and
that wasn’t the first time. It was so
disorienting. I literally couldn’t see
my hand in my front of my face. It
was that bad. When you’re put in that
situation you have to get on with it.
You don’t have a choice.”
In the wake of Ellen
Timothy Long first sailed a boat aged
nine, when he did his RYA Levels 1
and 2 on an Optimist at Bowmoor
SC near Lechlade. “It was freezing
cold all week, but I just completely
loved it. As soon as I got on the boat
and felt the freedom of sailing, it just
hooked me. My dad is the one who
got me into it all.”
Dad Nick grew up sailing
Redwings and a wooden family yacht
on the Fal estuary, then years later
was part of a group that chartered a
Farr 65 to do the Fastnet and finished
as the first amateur crew.
When Timothy’s mother Sue
landed a job in Italy, the family
decamped and it was there that they
ABOVE LEFT
Fog in the Bristol
Channel
RIGHT
Timothy’s first
command, an
Optimist dinghy
bought a Beneteau Oceanis 34. The
yacht gave a young Timothy the
chance to hone his big boat skills,
helming and navigating in family
holidays, as well as helping with the
maintenance.
Fast forward a few years and the
family was back in the UK, with a
now sailing-mad Timothy the proud
owner of a Hunter 19, Isabella, which
he started sailing solo on Rutland
Water. He began looking around for
a bigger sailing adventure – and kept
coming back to one idea. Timothy
had read Ellen MacArthur’s Taking
on the World, featuring her solo sail
around Britain in a Coribee in 1995
at the age of 19. He also found out
about the Ellen MacArthur Cancer
Trust and was keen to write to Ellen
to tell her about his sailing ambitions
and ask if he could volunteer with
the trust. After overcoming initial
hesitation, telling his parents “I can’t
write to her…she’s a Dame!”, he sent
Cruising ~ Around the UK

an email and was astonished when Marshall Award was given by the ABOVE only once solo – the previous day.
The Hunter Impala
two weeks later he received a letter Royal Cruising Club, as well as was an upgrade on his Lockdown had scuppered all his
with advice about how to get into awards from the Hunter Association previous, smaller boat planned training, although it had
sailing, together with a copy of Ellen’s and Hythe Sailing Club, and given him the chance to do an online
BELOW
second book, Full Circle, and a sponsorship from kit manufacturers. Timothy had Day Skipper theory course. Once
baseball cap, both signed by Ellen Boat shows were visited to research paper charts as Alchemy was finally put into the
well as various
with the words ‘Go for it!’. the best gear, pilot guides were pored electronic options water in mid-June, the pressure was
With those words of over and a winter of planning took on to get the boat fitted out with all
encouragement ringing in his ears, up every moment outside school the necessary safety and navigation
Timothy’s idea to follow in Ellen’s time. Having completed an RYA Sea equipment. This included two
wake and do the round Britain trip Survival course, as soon as spring EPIRBs, an AIS transceiver, a new
himself crystalized into a firm plan 2020 arrived, Timothy intended to be Raymarine Axiom Pro chartplotter,
for the summer of 2020. on the water, on his new boat, in addition to a Garmin plotter that
In 2019, he embarked on a training in earnest for the biggest was already on the boat as a back-up,
summer of solo and double-handed challenge of his life. Then the as well as Navionics charts on an
trips, covering 750 miles in all. pandemic struck. iPad and traditional paper charts for
Having moved Isabella to the Solent, every section of the coast. He then
a highlight of the season was Time to go had to sail from Ipswich, where
competing in the Round the Island When Timothy set off from Hamble Alchemy had been purchased,
Race as the youngest skipper in one at the start of his round Britain around to Cowes to get specialist
of the smallest boats. voyage, he had sailed the 28ft Hunter Giga wind turbines fitted, before
His experience that summer, in the
tidal waters of the Solent, made him
realise that before setting off around
Britain, something had to change.
“The Hunter 19 was a great to sail on
short trips, but I got very wet! I
realised I would need a more
substantial boat, to reduce fatigue,”
he says. “I found that fatigue takes a
huge toll when you are solo sailing
– if you are tired, you don’t perform
well and can make the wrong
decisions. Alone, you have to rely
completely on your own judgement.”
After much searching, he traded
up to Alchemy, a Hunter Impala 28,
and with his big decision made,
Timothy began telling people what
he was aiming to do. He launched a
crowd-funding exercise and sent off
emails asking for support. A

22 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021

finally setting off from Hamble Point
on 16 July, one month later than
originally planned.
Taking a yacht out to sea on his
own was not new for the 15-year-old
and the first stages of the trip, from
the south coast round Sussex and
Kent, were parts of the coast that at
least he had already sailed.
To be on his way was a thrill. After
consulting many experienced sailors
about the trip and amassing advice
on every aspect of the weeks ahead,
now he was alone and happy to rely
on his own wits. “When I was sailing,
I had a rule that no one could call me
unless in an emergency,” he says. “I
don’t like to have my parents call me
when I’m sailing and I didn’t call
them. A lot of the time you can’t
anyway, when you’re in the moment,
deciding what to do.”
For the longest and most testing
passages – such as those across the
Thames estuary, the Humber estuary
and the Irish Sea – he would file a
passage plan with the Coastguard
and report back to them upon
arrival.
Back at home, mum and dad
followed him on a tracker and met
up with him in port when they could.
As he sailed anticlockwise around the
coast, a full night sail through the
shallows and shipping of the Thames
estuary would prove his first big test,
but there were less obvious
challenges, such as waiting days in
Lowestoft for the right conditions to
set off on the 24-hour passage to
Grimsby, that showed he was far
beyond his years in seamanlike
ABOVE decision-making.
Slipping through the
Caledonian Canal As he headed north, his online
following grew and he was met in
BELOW Scarborough by members of the
A working cabin
town’s yacht club, who invited him to
a hot meal at the club.
In Hartlepool a couple greeted him
on the dock with a homemade cake.
Timothy posted eloquent thanks on
his Facebook page. In North Shields
he was visited by none other than
veteran circumnavigator and high
latitudes explorer David Scott
Cowper.
Speaking of the trip now, Timothy
looks back on several key legs that he
says were “turning points in my
confidence”.
“After the Lowestoft to Grimsby
leg, 100 miles, I felt a lot more
confident in handling fatigue and
managing myself.
“After Eyemouth to Stonehaven,
where we had very light airs, I felt
better about handling the boat in
those conditions and getting it to
move along in two knots of breeze.
“A big confidence boost was
getting the spinnaker out on Loch
Ness. It was quite a handful, but I felt
chuffed to get it up. With Loch Ness,
the further I got down the loch the
windier it became, so a gentle eight
knots became a Force 5 and we were
ploughing along at seven knots.
“The west coast was tough. We had
two named storms and were stuck in
port for 25 days overall. From Troon
to Loch Ryan we had more wind
than was forecast and it ended up a
Force 7. It was rough, short chop and
I ended up hand-steering for seven
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 23
 hours straight on a lee shore.”
Reflecting on the leg at the time on
his Facebook page, he called it the
“hardest thing I have ever done”.
Nevertheless, the next day he was off
again, across the Irish Sea to Bangor,
another long and testing passage.
He was glad he had upgraded the
boat: “Alchemy was the boat to do
the trip in, a great sailing boat and a
great sea boat. Just having that extra
waterline length, not so much the
weight, as she is still quite light at 2.5
tons, but to not be pushed around as
much in a choppy sea state, like we
had in the Irish Sea, was good.”
Held up again for five days in
Bangor, he was “spoilt rotten” by staff
at the Boatfolk marina and others
who invited him for meals, took him
paddle boarding, showed him
around the RNLI station and Royal
Ulster Yacht Club and even arranged
for him to meet the mayor. Yet by
now it was early September, the
school term had begun, and he was
keen to get to the English south coast
in hope of better weather.
Then he found himself waiting for
the fog to clear in Milford Haven.
“It was at the end of what had been
quite a tiring three days, making the
most of the weather window and
trying to get from Pwllheli to
Padstow before the weather closed
off again,” Timothy recalls. “Although
I thought the fog was going to lift
when I set off from Milford Haven at
midnight, I was quickly found myself
in the estuary with no visibility at all.
“We had a ferry that was entering
and even though I couldn’t see it, I
could hear it and it’s quite daunting
when you can hear its foghorn going
24 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
and it’s slowly getting closer and
closer. Thankfully, Port Control in
Milford Haven was helpful and kept
tracking us on AIS and giving me the
exact ETA for when we’d pass each
other.
“As it turned out, the fog continued
all the way across the Bristol
Channel. It is just so horrible because
you completely lose your senses. You
can’t pick up any navigational lights.
It really wasn’t fun.”
“We just got through it I guess”,
referring, like so many solo sailors, to
himself and the boat as fellow
adventurers. “A lot of my training
kicked in, especially having to pick
up navigational lights – you only see
them 30 seconds before going past
them – then matching that with your
pilotage plan, so you can pinpoint in
your head exactly where you are.
“I was hand steering because you
couldn’t leave the autopilot on for
long, in case something came out of
the dark.
“What made it better for me was
that I knew I was going out into open
water, where you’d have more time to
act on things. Getting through the
night was a big milestone in my head.
The visibility improved a bit and I
knew I was in open water. In the end
the land is your enemy.”
“Coming into Padstow was a huge
relief,” Timothy says of his arrival after
the 17-hour slog. “I’ve never moored
up and gone to sleep so quickly.”
In his online blog, he broke down
the three previous days into
numbers: “175 nautical miles
covered; 37.5 hours on the water; 21
hours of fog; 12 hours total sleep (2
in the last 40 hours).”
ABOVE (L-R) Home stretch
Tim with Dame Ellen The toughest legs were surely
Macarthur; late night
arrival in Bangor, behind him – or were they?
Northern Ireland Land’s End is hardly a walk in the
park, then there is the Lizard,
Portland Bill… There is no
mystery as to why the most
experienced sailors call the round
Britain trip one of the most
challenging you can do.
“I managed to get the tides a
bit wrong on Land’s End,” says
Timothy. “That wasn’t a lot of
fun. Then I came in too close at
the Lizard. I should have been
further off. There are so many
really tough headlands that are so
easy to get wrong. I didn’t feel I
was on the home straight. That
doesn’t start until Hurst
Narrows.”
As he made his way east
towards the Hamble River,
Timothy was able to reflect on
the key influence in his sailing
life. “I’ve learned almost
everything I know from my dad
with sailing. There are some
other friends who took me out on
their boats and showed me, for
example, how they made their
passage plans. But really, it’s my
dad. When we were training, he
was on the boat, but he would sit
there and watch what I was
doing, what my sail plan was,
then sometimes he’d just say: ‘Are
you sure about that?’, which had a
big influence in building my
confidence in making key
decisions.”
The penultimate leg took him
to Cowes, where another big
influence, a local resident, came

to meet him. Dame Ellen MacArthur
wanted to say congratulations – and
also thanks, as Timothy’s sponsorship
thus far stood at more than £10,000 for
the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.
“It is an incredible achievement for
anyone to sail single-handed around
Britain,” says MacArthur, “but to do it
at 15 really is something else. While
Timothy will always have the personal
satisfaction of that achievement, the
legacy of what he’s done will be even
more far-reaching in terms of helping
to change the lives of young people in
recovery from cancer.”
The fundraising money came at a
crucial time for the Trust, which has
lost out during the pandemic and
whose young beneficiaries, recovering
from cancer treatment, have been more
vulnerable than ever.
It was a poignant finale, but the trip
had one more surprise in store. When
Timothy pulled up to the pontoon in
Hamble, greeted by his parents and a
television crew, he was shown recorded
messages of congratulations from Alex
Thomson and Sir Robin Knox-
Johnston.
“It was amazing,” he says. “I couldn’t
believe it! It was quite weird finishing
because you don’t want the adventure
to end. Equally, I had done it. it was
strange coming back into Hamble,
thinking I had left there 11 weeks
before. I ended up missing a few weeks
of school, so it was straight back there a
few days later, which was quite a shock.
I’m in my GCSE year, so you just have
to get on with it!”
Timothy’s fundraising page, for the Ellen
MacArthur Cancer Trust, is open until
the end of 2020 at justgiving.com/
fundraising/roundbritain2020
The story from mum and dad’s perspective:
Timothy’s father Nick says: “Looking back, I think
it’s more worrying now than it was at the time,
thinking about the enormity of the passages he
was undertaking. Seventeen hours in thick fog is
not something anyone would want to do.
“He certainly had nothing like as much sailing
with his boat as he was hoping to have before
setting off.
“He and I sailed the boat together from
Ipswich to the Solent before he set off, and on
that trip I was a silent partner. The only time
Timothy had actually sailed her alone was the
day before he left, about a mile from Hythe to
Hamble Point.
“So he set off on a vertical learning curve in
terms of getting to know the boat and in terms
of what he was undertaking.
“The first bit he’d done before, but the
Thames estuary is always challenging and
when we met him in Shotley he was exhausted,
because the concentration is absolute on that
one.
“We are proud of him. Hugely. Anyone who
sails must realise the enormity of what he’s
achieved at 15. It’s been an incredibly maturing
experience for him, both in terms of his sailing
skills and what he has learnt about himself. The
changes are marked.”
Timothy’s mother Sue says: “His most important
piece of safety equipment was his own level head
and common sense. We wouldn’t have agreed to it
had we not been confident in his abilities and
judgement.
“Of course, your heart is in your mouth,
especially for me as a non-sailor, but it was very
clear in the first few days that he was making
good decisions, and he sought a lot of advice
from people as well.
“There were quite a few sleepless nights. On
the tracker we could see where he was, but we
could only tell if he was going in the right
direction.
“It is lightly reassuring, but tells you nothing
about the actual conditions that he is dealing
Cruising ~ Around the UK
with, and in any case there is nothing you can
do.
“After the Thames estuary leg, I’ve never
seen him so tired. He said he was glued to the
charts the whole time, double-checking that he
was where he thought he was.
“Later he said some of the passages down
the west coast – Troon to Stranraer, the Irish
Sea, Bristol Channel, Land’s End – if those had
been in the first few weeks, he would have
struggled, but by then his experience had come
on so far that he understood what he and the
boat were capable of.
“The record was incidental and it wasn’t the
main driver for him. He was inspired by Ellen’s
book and eventually he wrote to her and asked
if he could volunteer for the Ellen MacArthur
Cancer Trust, saying: ‘I’ll scrub the decks, clean
the heads, I’ll do anything!’
He was too young at the time, but from that
he started following the whole sailing world and
began to think what he could do as an
adventure.
He came up with the idea of the round Britain
trip himself. It was only when he started
researching it that he found the name of
[previous record-holder] Tom Webb and then
realised that he’d be the youngest to do it. In
fact, when Timothy put up his Round Britain
JustGiving page, Tom Webb’s dad Gareth was
one of the first people to get in touch and give a
donation. He said he hoped it would be as
life-changing an experience for Timothy as it
had been for Tom…and it certainly has been.
“It’s about having that spirit for adventure
and passion for sailing. As Robin Knox-Johnston
said in his message, it’s about encouraging
young people to get out there, not necessarily
to try to break a record, but to find out what
they are capable of.
“Lots of people have commented that it’s
great to see a young person doing something
like this, and Timothy himself wants to inspire
others to follow their dreams and – in Ellen’s
words to him – “Go for it!”
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 25
 Paul Heiney
Strange fluctuations in the Gulf Stream lead Paul to the conclusion that the arrival of a depression can
not only affect the weather but have a far more profound effect on the human psyche

T
here’s nothing OSTAR can do that to you- at a point
quite like the somewhere to the south east of
words ‘warm Newfoundland. The sudden
sector’ to bring appearance of land on the chart
on a depression, makes it a deceptive kind of place
in me anyway. because it looks as though you’ve
As soon as I hear those two cracked it and are almost at the finish
apparently innocent words, when, in fact, you’ve still got over
I’m heading for the dumps. 1,000 miles to flog. This realisation
I don’t think we appreciate how does not make you happy.
much our mood is affected by the But there’s another little annoyance
weather. We know to reef when it about the place, and it is that
blows, look sharp when the fog hereabouts two of the world’s major
comes down,  break out the tea ocean currents meet. The first  is the
and digestives when the sun Gulf Stream which brings a strong
begins to shine. But those are flow of Caribbean hot, soupy water
things that we know we have to eastwards; and colliding with it is the
do; I’m talking about how the south-going Labrador current which
weather makes us feel, and how has started life amongst the icebergs
our spirits are as important as our of Greenland and all points ice-
senses when it comes to having a bound. You can tell which you’re in
great cruise. by looking at the water; the Gulf
My spirits have been very low
recently. We had a ridiculously mild
‘Our spirits are as important Stream looks a bit like washing up
water because of the richness of
spell a few weeks back as we became
mired in one of these treacherous
as our senses when it comes marine life in it; the Labrador current
is blue/green and chilly, a bit like a
‘warm sectors’. It’s not the to having a great cruise’ polar bear’s bathwater.
temperature I object to, it’s what goes The curious thing is that the two
with it. For me it means sweaty don’t mix. I discovered this having
misery with clammy skin, stale air that fogs the mind, the gone to my bunk dressed in thermal layers and oilskin
sort of day that begs you to sleep through it. I hate the jacket to keep out the cold. I woke perspiring like a
word ‘mild’.  Television forecasters use it as if there was a running pig. I thought I was ill. Off came the layers and on
treat on the way  ‘..at least it will be mild.’  What about went a T shirt. A couple of hours later, having tacked, I
those of us who hate lousy mild?  When do we ever hear, started to shiver and my breath steamed in the cabin and
‘at least tomorrow will start with an invigorating, frost, the suddenly the sea boot socks looked inviting again. I had
air will be crystal clear and you’ll feel on top of the world’? sailed through what they call ‘the wall’; the interface,
No, all we are allowed to enjoy is mildness which, clearly defined, between the two streams. In fact, so well
incidentally is not the same as hot. Strangely, I don’t mind defined is this boundary  that lengthy ships when crossing
hot;  it’s the blandness of mild I can’t stand. it have reported a temperature difference between the bow
If you imagine a low pressure area, then you’ll know it is and stern of up to 12 degrees. 
formed of warmer and cooler air, the difference between Needless to say, as I tacked back south into the Gulf
the two creating the energy that spins it along. The warm Stream, morale dropped with every minute of latitude as
sector is that wedge of air between the warm front, which the air became foetid and overheated, like a dog’s breath.
arrives first, followed by the cold front which may arrive When tacking north to meet the frigid Labrador waters, it
several days later and in extreme cases, like a few weeks HAVE was as if a spark had been lit inside me. I cooked, I cleaned,
ago, never at all. I think of it as a pizza. Most of it is juicy YOUR SAY I navigated and shrugged at the thought of the thousand
How have you
and crisp, except for the miserable flabby, tasteless bit - the miles yet to go. Life felt good.
ILLUSTRATION: CLAIRE WOOD

overcome moments
warm sector.  It sticks in my throat. of frustration? That was when I first learned how much the
I first appreciated how much my mood was dictated by facebook.com/ environment shaped my mood. For me it was like the
the the air around when I sailed the north Atlantic some sailingtoday difference between day and night. And to those who speak
years ago in the Singlehanded Race. There comes a point @sailingtodaymag with affection of ‘warm sectors’, I suspect them of spouting
where you arrive - if you haven’t lost your mind yet for the sailingtoday.co.uk a load of hot air.

26 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

 WIN!
Competition

A Raymarine Axiom+ 9 MFD

WORTH
£1295

l A powerful new multifunction navigation system from Raymarine. With the all
Your chance to new LightHouse 3 operating system, and blazing fast quad core performance,
get your hands Axiom+ will transform your time on the water.
on the latest
l Axiom+ is expandable, so its capabilities can grow, as needed. It supports the full
cutting edge range of Raymarine accessories, including Quantum radar, CHIRP Sonar, FLIR
multi function thermal cameras, audio integration, instruments, cameras, and Evolution autopilot.
display from
l Standard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity allows connection to the latest
Raymarine Raymarine apps for tablets and smartphones.

l Axiom+ includes surface and trunnion mounting kits, mounting hardware, power/
data cable, and installation instructions.

Go to sailingtoday.co.uk/axiom
to enter
Closing date is 15 January 2021

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 27

 Andy Rice
Racing and regattas may be in short supply at the moment but that doesn’t mean you have
to stop learning and improving. Just ask Kiwi dinghy racing legend, Hamish Willcox

S
ailing is a great sclerosis. Together Barnes & Willcox
teacher of hard lessons won three 470 World Championships,
in life. Our power the first of them when Hamish was
supply - the wind - just 19 years old. They were the
is more unreliable Burling and Tuke of their day.
than anything else I can think A lack of money forced Barnes &
of in any other sport. We try to Willcox to do all their training and
remember that we can control the tuning at home in New Zealand.
controllables; everything else is just They had to sell their cars and pretty
needless worry or pointless effort. much everything they owned to
And if ever there was a reminder afford the trip to France. There wasn’t
that sailing teaches us resilience and the luxury of being able to go to
self-reliance, it’s the Vendée Globe.  Europe and learn their trade on the
As I write two weeks into the international regatta circuit. They
race, pre-race favourites Jeremie had to turn up ready to win, or at
Beyou and Alex Thomson have least be in a place where they knew
been hit hard by boat breakage, they were giving it their best shot.
while the early dismasting of Since 2012 Hamish has been
Corum L’Epargne was a massive ‘THEY HAD TO SELL THEIR coach to Pete Burling and Blair Tuke.
blow for Nicolas Troussel. What
a cruel sport sailing can be. But
CARS AND PRETTY MUCH With six world titles and a 2016
Olympic gold in the 49er, clearly it’s a
the never-say-die attitude of the EVERYTHING THEY OWNED TO partnership that’s been working well.
Vendée competitors is a great
inspiration to all of us and a great
AFFORD THE TRIP TO FRANCE’ But on his tour of the circuit, Hamish
also sees plenty of teams that show up
advertisement for the sport. at major championships still not able
Self-reliance is something youth to master the basics of boathandling. 
sailors can learn very early in their careers, provided they’re Just a few weeks ago at the Nacra 17 and 49er European
not being hovered over by ‘helicopter parents’ of course. Championships in Austria, I had dinner with a coach
I heard a story of one 29er team that won the RYA Youth who had been hired to work with a 49erFX team. They
Nationals and were selected to compete at the ISAF Youth went to Kiel Week in September and couldn’t bear the
World Championship (as it was called then). When they boat away at the windward mark. So their homework
arrived at the venue in the Far East and were presented with that evening was to watch as many videos on YouTube
a brand new 29er still in its wrapper, they didn’t know how to learn the basics of the manoeuvre. You don’t have
to rig it. I’m sure there’s a few of us that can relate to that. to hire a coach at 800 euros a day or more (before you
When I spoke to RYA Youth Manager Mark Nicholls about even factor in accommodation, travel, food, rib hire and
helicopter parenting a few years ago, he pointed out that fuel) to learn how to do a bear away on YouTube.
they make it as clear as possible that the RYA wants the kids According to Hamish there is a sequence of items that
to work it out for themselves. “If they forget to pack their you must do in the right order if you care about succeeding
buoyancy aid, we don’t want Mum or Dad reminding their at the highest level. More than 30 years ago he wrote a book
child and getting it for them,” was the gist of what Mark told aimed specifically at Olympic campaigning. Trouble is, it was
me. “They need to work these things out for themselves.” only ever published in Japanese! Having got to know Hamish
While those 29er kids who went to the Worlds over the summer, he asked me to help him put together
were clearly very good sailors around the race track, an online course, a 12-week roadmap on how to mount a
they hadn’t yet learned the self-reliance that is an world-class campaign, and it’s called the Road To Gold. 
absolute must for running a strong campaign. While the course is aimed at any Olympic aspirant, the
It’s a subject I’ve been discussing at great length with mechanics of a winning campaign are the same for pretty
PHOTO ROBERT HADJUK/SHUTTERSAIL

Hamish Willcox from New Zealand. You might recall that much any competitive sailing project. While regattas are
I wrote about Hamish in this column a few months ago. ANDY RICE
in such short supply, it doesn’t mean you have to stop
That first conversation on Zoom soon blossomed into a As a sailing journalist learning. Yes, I’m biased, so take my enthusiasm with a
and TV commentator
much longer partnership. For me to be working with one Andy has unparalleled
pinch of sea salt. But whatever boat you sail, whatever
of my childhood heroes has been incredibly exciting. knowledge of the level you’re at, if you love your racing then please take
dinghy sailing scene,
Unfortunately just a few weeks ago his great friend Dave from grassroots to
a look for yourself at this 12-week course and see if it’s
Barnes died at the age of 62 after a long battle with multiple Olympic level for you. Find out more at www.roadtogold.net

28 JANUARY 2020 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

 Experience unique sensations with your boats that we design to best DUFOUR 530, A VERSATILE CONCEPT
balance seaworthiness and comfort, making no compromise on quality
PERFORMANCE, OCEAN OR EASY
to enhance your pleasure to sail.

Because we believe that the pleasure of sailing comes from the feelings
of freedom an peace of mind, we have designed for you a new level of
quality.

For you to start “instinctive sailing”.

www.dufour-yachts.com
©Jerome Kélagopian

Discover all the models of the range in the Dufour Virtual Marina:
www.dufour-yachts.com/marina/
| 310 | 360 | 390 | 412 | 430 | 460 | 530 | 61 |
NEW NEW
 Andi Robertson
Things have moved on since the first Vendée Globe in 1989, but
the French flavour of this epic race will never change
H
ere I am back on
the front line with
the Vendée Globe
and as I present
the regular news
shows for the
English-speaking side of the race
website, I can’t help noticing
that some things have changed.
For starters, the latest
IMOCAs might get round
the world in 59 days.
Secondly, our access to the
onboard experience, as armchair
viewers, has skyrocketed.
When, on the first edition, the
skippers might make a call home
once a week, once a fortnight
‘IT IS A MARKETEER’S DREAM
or once during the race, now WHEN IT WORKS, BUT IT TAKES
they have WhatsApp. And as
some of you might have seen,
CONVICTION TO MAKE IT
often we get a clearer line to WORK WHEN IT GOES WRONG’
the south Atlantic than we
do on Skype to Chichester.
Yes, things have changed. But in other respects
the song remains the same, and now social media
channels make the refrain even louder: “Why can’t
the Vendée Globe be more international? Why is
there not more translation, more subtitles?”
I return time and again to the same aspects. The
Vendée Globe is owned and run by a French region.
More than ever the partners involved in the race are
French companies. At the top level Apivia are an
insurance division of the Macif Group, aDvens are
a Paris-based IT security company, Jean Le Cam is
backed by Best Western Hotels in France and a Breton
bank. The PRB building products company logo is
the first and last big brand marque the solo sailors
see as they leave to race round the world and when
they come back into the Les Sables d’Olonne channel,
the logo is painted large on a cement hopper in the
shipyard. And these are before you consider the meat
companies Charal and Maitre Côq. The exception is
probably L’Occitaine, a proper global French brand.
Hugo Boss, Medallia and Boris Herrmann’s
Kuehne+Nagel are the only international significant
brands or companies from outside France.
So, once again, you see the picture. The priority is
always the home market and, in terms of marketing,
the international aspects are very much secondary.
And that manifests itself behind the curtain. To
PHOTO DG
my mind it would make so much sense to allocate an
international budget to have the international media
30 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
output made separately
to the French, but that is
never going to happen. 
While it is immediately
apparent what a larger than life
character Jean Le Cam is and
extraordinary ocean racer he
is, a beacon of inspiration for a
not-so-older generation, there is
no chance of anyone generating
an international subtitled in-
depth piece on him. Jérémie
Beyou speaks good English but
there no requirement to have
him do anything other than the
rudimentary soundbites. At the
same time Sam Davies and Miranda
Merron become part-French. 
All that being said there is
considerable passion in France
for Alex Thomson. A recent poll
in France has him as the people’s
favourite. Knowledgeable race
ABOVE fans appreciate his approach to
French skipper technology, his passion for the race and his ability.  
Nicolas Troussel on
Corum L’Épargne “There are many people in France who would love to
motors into the Cape see Alex win,” explains my young French counterpart
Verde Islands after
dismasting while lying Antoine Grenapin. “It would be great for the race. The
in seventh place in thing is that Francois Gabart set a level which will
the Vendée Globe, an
early exit for a high not be surpassed by a French skipper, at least not in
profile campaign the near future. He won as a 27-year-old first timer,
setting a rhythm which no one could match, least of
all Armel who won it next time. So yes, Beyou, Dalin
or Ruyant could win, but in sporting terms in the eyes
of French people they would not match Gabart.”
It is impossible to predict what this race will
deliver. As I write the three leaders are setting up
to hook into a system like Alex and Armel did four
years ago. Predictions are they could be two days
ahead by Cape of Good Hope. Logic and statistics
say one of those top three won’t make it to the finish.
So how exciting will it be in a month’s time? 
And, bigger picture? Rewind up the page. L’Occitaine,
first time sailing sponsors, put let’s say €6-8m into a
radical scow which does not get past Cape Finisterre.
And Charal, spending north of that, have had a
decent return but now have no chance of winning.
The Vendée Globe is a marketeer’s dream when it
ANDI ROBERTSON works, but it needs a lot of conviction and a lot of
An offshore sailing
expert, few people
hard work to make it work when it goes wrong.
can match Andi’s Meantime Pip Hare is astounding, telling just the kind
insight into the big
boat world, both in
of stories from the front line that we all want to hear.
the UK and globally Some of them are even being translated into French! 
 Kick start
your sailing
season and
join us at
the show!

Live
talks and
coaching
sessions

Halls filled
with your
favourite
exhibitors

FREE tickets for all visitors available soon

OFFICIAL
MEDIA
PARTNER www.dinghyshow.org.uk
Boat Test ~Outremer 4E

32 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

Green dreams
Jimmy Cornell’s challenge of sailing around the world on a boat
powered solely by wind and sun has given birth to a new Outremer;
the 4Zero. Sam Jefferson takes a quick test sail
R
egular readers of
this magazine will
be familiar with
the challenge that
the adventurous
octogenarian Jimmy
Cornell has undertaken (see ST&YY
October). For the uninitiated,
he opted at the tender age of 81
to attempt a round the world
trip following in the footsteps of
Ferdinand Magellan. He isn’t the first
man to circumnavigate the globe
via the Magellan Straits but, what
makes this challenge a little different
is that he selected a boat, Elcano
Zero, which was entirely powered by
electricity (and of course the wind);
no back up diesel generator, nothing.
In my previous article, I explored
the human and practical side of
this venture but I was also fortunate
enough to go out sailing with Jimmy
and,as such, run the rule over Elcano
Zero. This is handy, because the boat
is the prototype of a new yacht in the
Outremer range; the Outremer 4E.
Before we get started, it’s probably
best to clear up a few things. The
4E is a pioneering new model but
the hull and basic layout is taken
from the Outremer 45, originally
launched in 2018. What makes
this boat different is the set up of
the motors and power generation
system which are obviously radically
different from the standard twin
Volvo 30hp diesels. But to start
with the absolute basics; this is a 48’
catamaran designed by the Barreau
Neumnann team. Displacemnt has
been kept modest and, as with all
the current models in the Outremer
range, this is a yacht designed for
fast cruising. As such, she carries
daggerboards and her twin hulls are
relatively skinny and clearly designed
with speed in mind as opposed to
simply providing high volume.
Outremer’s record on strong,
safe construction is excellent and
there is no question that this is one
of the things that attracted Cornell
to the French boatbuilder in the
first place. The hulls and deck are
built in vinylester with a divinycell
core but beneath the waterline the
manufacturers have switched to
solid fibreglass to increase strength –
particularly in the case of grounding.
Carbon is used in the high load
areas and there are reinforced ‘crash
bulwarks in the bows to ensure
that the boat remains afloat in
the event of a head on collision.
So you might think this was one
of the big reasons Jimmy Cornell
selected the Outremer for his round
the world trip. In one sense you’d
be right, but there was much more
to it than that, as he explains: “I
needed a boat that could move fast
enough to provide significant power
from hydrogeneration (using the
propellers to generate power while
under sail), the Outremer ticked
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting DECEMBER 2020
that box. It was also important
that this was a boat that could
present a high surface area to
the sun for recharging purposes
and a multihull was therefore the
obvious option. Outremer’s also
have a pedigree so I could approach
the project with confidence.”
On deck
Step aboard and you wouldn’t
recognise the boat as being overly
different from a run of the mill 45;
there’s a roomy cockpit with the
helm station set to port and ample
seating as you’d expect from a
catamaran with an L-shaped seating
arrangement to starboard and
decent sized dining table. There are
davits for the dinghy aft and above
this the space is used to mount
1300W worth of solar panels which
provide a significant chunk of the
electricity generation for the boat.
The side decks are nice and wide
and access is substantially easier
than on some other models that I
have sailed on, with the relatively
low coachroof meaning that it’s just
three steps up to the helm station
which still feels nice and involved
with the main cockpit. The helm
station is very well thought out
with two electric winches to hand
plus push button control at your
feet – which frees things up even
more. Elcano Zero had the optional
extra of a pair of outboard tillers
complete with a bucket seat. This
means that, if you wish, sailing
really can take on a truly thrilling
‘dinghy’ feel that is rather frequently
missing in cruising multihulls.
Out on the side decks, there was
a real feeling of space and there
were plenty of decent handholds
to help you on your way. The
33
43
Boat Test ~Outremer 4E

running rigging is straight from the

45, featuring the twin electric winches
at the helm station which control the
mainsheet and headsail. The mainsheet
traveller runs the width of the aft end
of the seating area. The only other
lines to complicate things are the two
control lines for the daggerboards
which are run aft into the cockpit area.
There is substantial storage forward
too, both in the fore part of the nacelle
where the water tanks are located
and also in the fore part of the hulls,
where there was ample space for an
electric outboard, extra stores etc.
The rig differs from the standard
Outremer 45 and takes the concept
of a rotating rig seen on the larger
Outremer 4x and scales it down for
the 4E. This is basically to maximise
upwind performance which may
prove vital on the tough beat through
the Magellan Strait. The mast and
boom are also in carbon as a further
weight saving measure. In terms of This is the three cabin version with ABOVE
The 4E incorporates
Under Sail
the sail plan, the standard version the entire starboard hull being used a rotating rig which I carried out a test sail on Aventura
has a self tacking headsail but this by the owner who enjoys an ensuite. optimises upwind Zero at La Grande Motte,
performance
is augmented on Elcano Zero by To port there are two rather more France, where Outremer has its
a Code Zero and also a Parasailor modest double cabins for guests who BELOW headquarters. The boat was not
The light, well made
which Jimmy explained to me he had share a centrally positioned heads/ interior is equally fully laden at the time of testing, but
always found to be a hugely practical shower room. The forward berth well thought out Jimmy and the crew were getting
sail on his previous yachts but, so had an extra fold down berth. there so it was a good indicative
far, had not proven very popular on The saloon features an L-shaped test. The breeze was a good solid
multihulls. He hopes to change that. galley to starboard and opposite 18-20kn with a few extra gusts
this forward is the nav station for good measure. The breeze was
Down below with the dinette to port. The offshore and this made for very
Down below Elcano Zero is 100% quality throughout is very good flat water. Leaving the berth was
an Outremer 45. This means it is and there is a nice feeling of space a pretty tight operation thanks to
a thoughtfully laid out boat with a plus the distinct feeling that the the extraordinarily tricky mooring
decent mount of space but perhaps space – certainly in the saloon has post system and almost total lack
not quite as much as you’d enjoy on been used much more efficiently of any breathing space. However,
a Lagoon or something of that type. than on some other models. these were negotiated in silence

34 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting


thanks to the electric motors
and the high levels of torque and
responsiveness were a definite boon.
Getting the sails up was simple
and the decision was wisely taken
ELECTRIC POWER
What makes 4E so special is the fact
that this is a boat powered exclusively
by sun and wind – there is no backup
generator. This, therefore, the key to
what makes this boat so special.
Jimmy explained to me before
departure: “There are four essential
factors in an electric sailing boat, and
they are all dictated by the need to be
able to generate electricity not just by
passive means (solar panels, wind and
hydrogenerator) but also active sources:
the movement of the boat under sail.”
Hydrogeneration
It was with this in mind that Jimmy
approached Finnish company Oceanvolt,
which has been working on electricity
regeneration for the last 20 years and has
produced an ingenious system based on
its ServoProp variable pitch propeller.
The ServoProp’s unique feature is the
possibility to turn the propeller blades more
than 180°. The software-controlled variable
pitch saildrive adjusts the pitch of the
propeller blades automatically so the power
generation and power output are optimal.
Combined with uniquely designed
that conditions were too marginal ABOVE
Jimmy Cornell and
for the Code Zero. This meant we his team all set for
were down to the self tacking jib and their latest adventure
full main. We were soon blasting
along at speeds in the high nines
with very little effort at all. The helm
was well balanced and you could
let go of it altogether without any
worries without using the autopilot.
It’s never going to be as responsive
as a J/24 or something like that,
but by multihull standards, it was
exceptional and the addition of the
blades this delivers optimal efficiency in
forward, reverse and hydrogeneration.
With the blades set to the neutral sailing
position, the propeller creates extremely
low drag similar to the drag of a feathering
propeller. The ServoProp is capable of
generating an estimated 1 kW
at 6 to 8 knots.Given that
the Outremer is capable of
sailing at around 4kn in 5kn
of wind and you have a boat
that can generate electricity
in all but the lightest breezes.
On top of that, the ample
square metreage of solar
panels which are capable of
generating 1,300W worth of
solar power and you have a
system that Jimmy believes
generates enough electricity to
do without a backup generator.
Emergency backup
Jimmy has opted for a tried and tested
B&G Zeus package of instruments. This
time he has made certain modifications
as he explains: “B&G has agreed to my
suggestion to use the new boat as a test
twin tillers is an inspired touch. She
was also noticeably closer winded
than other multihulls (admittedly
aimed squarely at the charter
market) that I have tested earlier
this summer. In light airs, I was
assured she performs beautifully
too. As it stood, we never fell below
9kn once we got the sails up.
Is this the sort of boat you could
take around the world? Definitely.
Via the straits of Magellan?
Well, let’s wait and see…
bed for possible solutions in such common
emergency situations as lightning strike,
autopilot failure or power blackout. This
was one of the main concerns expressed by
cruising sailors who took part in a recent
survey among short-handed crews. This
was a perfect opportunity
to test the feasibility of
such an arrangement.
“As I am setting off on
a 32,000-miles voyage I
want to be confident that
we shall be able to deal
with any emergency. An
essential part of such self-
sufficiency is having a separate
emergency electrical circuit
not connected to any of the
boat’s networks, and thus
protected from possible
lightning strikes. It consists
of an independent autopilot
processor, with its own compass, Triton
display unit, and wireless wind sensor.  An
emergency 1200 Ah battery, charged by a
Sail-Gen hydro-generator, would supply
electricity not only to this emergency
arrangement, but also to the service circuit.”
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 35
Boat Test ~Outremer 4E
SAM’S VERDICT
Outremer produce, fast, well
balanced cruising catamarans,
end of story. The 4E is no different
in that respect. It’s also strikingly
good looking for a multihull and
performed admirably during the test
sail. The interior is well fitted out
and, although relatively moderate
compared to cats in the charter
THE SPEC
LWL: 44’ (13.41 m
Beam: 23’ (7.01 m)
Draft: 2’ (0.61m) daggerboards up, 7’2”
(2.19 m) daggerboards down
Displacement: 11,000 lb
Sail Area: 1,141 sq/ft (106sq/m)
Contact: catamaran-outremer.com
36 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
features basalt laminates which reduces the
market, is still roomy and comfortable.
Ultimately, this is a great all rounder.
The electric power is a more expensive
but alluring option. Will it work? Well,
someone is about to find out for us!
PERFORMANCE:
LOOKS:
COMFORT:
that is fully electric with no generator. Two
extensive use is made of circular materials,
ECO FRIENDLY
ALTERNATIVES:
WINDELO 50
The Windelo 50 probably comes closest
to matching the Outremer. This is a high
quality fast cruising catamaran. The hull
carbon footprint while hybrid power gives
the boat impressive range. Hull number
one due for completion in November.
SPIRIT 44E
Ok, a different concept in some respects
but ultimately this is a 44’ cruising yacht
large solar panels are integrated into the
back deck and hydrogeneration further
increases the boat’s range under power.
VAAN R4
Still more in the prototype stage,
the Vaan R4 is a 42’ catamaran that is
electrically powered. The hull is made
out of 50% recycled aluminium and
including recycled aluminium, cork, and
plant-based alternatives for leather.
GIVE A SUBSCRIPTION
THIS CHRISTMAS
THE PERFECT GIFT FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS

SAVE
UP TO
29% FREE
worldwide
delivery

UK EUROS REST OF THE WORLD

£41.95 €71.95 £63.95

Order online www.chelseamagazines.com/CSTOXM20

Call +44 (0)1858 438769 (quote CSTOXM20)
Pricesdisplayed are fora 1year(12 issues) subscription
Tom Cunliffe

Tom Cunliffe
Tom takes a refreshingly straightforward look at how to reduce your carbon
footprint while out sailing - starting in the galley

W
hen we’re sun-drenched bliss, but I still feel describes how to operate a paraffin
cruising my humbled when a football stadium- riding light. The main argument in
wife Roz often full of hoary sailors tune in to my favour of this - conserving battery
grabs the salty efforts. power - has had a knock from
entry-level SLR It’s interesting that you can never the growing availability of super-
camera, waves tell which topics are going to grab eco LEDs at affordable prices,
it in my direction, and says, ‘Come an audience. As you’d expect, storms but nothing beats the romance of
on, let’s make a quick movie.’ We post at sea are a sure-fire winner, yet, trimming a wick, filling the reservoir
LLUSTRAT ON: CLA RE WOOD

these on my YouTube channel where
they clutter up the internet for free.
Our videos don’t get the ‘views’ that
youngsters with bronzed bodies
achieve as they sail around in
inexplicably, a ten-minute session
about the benefits of a solid fuel stove
in a modern cruising yacht excites
almost equal interest. Another
offering that cranks up the ‘clicks’
with ‘Esso Blue’, giving the dioptric
PODCAST lens a polish, then hoisting the
Catch up with Tom’s antique lamp on the staysail halyard
columns now and
in the future at
and tweaking the downhaul to
sailingtoday.co.uk ensure stability. This rigmarole takes

38 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting


‘I mean, what sort of Philistine drinks malt
whisky from a plastic glass? ’
place after bringing in my colours
at sunset. A handy little LED might
be brighter and cheaper, but my
procedure has morphed into a ritual
and there’s emotional security in a
routine that has served you well.
A couple of summers ago we were
having breakfast in the cockpit in
a quiet Swedish anchorage. I was
pouring the coffee when Roz spoke
up. ‘Aren’t you glad you’re drinking
from that ancient china mug of yours
instead of some plastic thing with
a crummy non-schooner on the
side?’ She was right, and before we
washed up we’d made a new video
about the subject. I’m delighted to
advise that it’s still going strong.
The editor tells me that this edition
of ST has a ‘green’ flavour with a
light touch, so I thought that, rather
than preach about composting toilets
and electric-powered drive units, I’d
write instead about an area where
plastic infests the lives of many of
us and where we can rid ourselves
of the stuff with no trouble at all.
Take my mug, for example. I know
when I bought it because it was in
Mystic Connecticut and I’d just sailed
across from the UK in my 1911
pilot cutter. I remember it was 1983
because I’d cashed in my house to
buy the boat. The white mug carries
a fine image of USS Constitution
in blue with a blue ring around
the top. It’s exactly the right size,
fairly squat in shape, which is what
you want on a pitching deck, and
I picked it up for a quarter (about
20p) in the American equivalent
of a car boot sale. I’ve had it ever
since and heaven only knows how
many miles it’s done. The only plus
I can think of for plastic mugs is
that they’re unbreakable, yet ‘Old
Ironsides’ still isn’t even chipped.
Roz has a rather up-market china
affair featuring a yellow giraffe. It
came from Douarnenez back in
the late 1990s to replace one she’d
accidentally kicked over the side.
The remaining four mugs hang
out with these two, dangling from
ABOVE LEFT hooks under the galley where
Hoisting the much
loved paraffin they’re safe and come instantly to
riding light hand. They’re all different and each
ABOVE RIGHT
can tell a tale of some sort. New
Tom’s trusty crew are allotted their own mug,
china mug
so if the going gets tough there’s
no need to wash them if we don’t
feel up to it. This saves both water
and trouble in one fell swoop.
These china and earthenware
mugs are a joy to drink from. So
are our whisky and wine glasses. I
mean, what sort of Philistine drinks
malt whisky from a plastic glass?
The whisky tumblers and shot
glasses are all individuals, but I must
admit to buying the wine glasses as
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 39
Tom Cunliffe
‘Sliding your
spoon around a
melamine bowl
trying to get
some traction
with the rhubarb
crumble and
custard is no fun’
TOM CUNLIFFE
a job lot in Paimpol. I feel strongly
about whisky tumblers. My favourite
was handed over to me by the
previous owner of my pilot cutter. A
Scotsman by birth and inclination,
this veteran yachtsman was in the
distilling business and knew about
these things. The glass had never
been notably distinguished, not
even in its youth. By the time it
reached me it was discoloured by
a history that must have been rich
but was never written down. When
I took delivery of the boat I found
it on the saloon table with a bottle
of his best product and a note to
the effect that this was the Skipper’s
Glass, and I’d better look after it. I
did, for fifteen years. I passed it on
when I sold the vessel and I fear its
luck may have subsequently run
out, but I had fulfilled my duty. Its
replacement is a lovely, parallel-sided
glass engraved with an excellent
facsimile of the great Laeisz Line
4-masted barque Passat, now
restored and which I once visited
in Eastern Germany. I thought the
glass expensive at the time, but I
was assured that every Euro went
to the ship, so I did my bit and
stumped up gladly. As for stowage,
I’ve screwed half a wine rack into
a locker next to the booze. They
snuggle down there in perfect safety.
Right. That’s got shot
of all the plastic from the
drinking department. Now,
what about the eats?
Roz and I were married almost
fifty years ago, shortly before we
set out for the horizon in our first
40 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
ABOVE blue-water yacht. We only had
Wooden plates are
ideal for dinner at three people at the ceremony, my
sea - or a breakfast old shipmate, Roz’s flatmate and
of bacon and eggs
for that matter her dad who paid for the lunch.
As a result, we didn’t suffer from
an avalanche of food mixers and
other gifts inappropriate for a young
couple living afloat. Some relative
with foresight, however, sent us a
fine service of Denbigh earthenware
dinner plates. We took them onboard
to use mainly in harbour. We still
do. After five decades which include
one or two major knockdowns
in deep water, only one has been
broken. They get good protection
from the fact that at sea we always
eat from wooden plates. These are
a delight to handle. The food stays
hot, and because we had someone
make them for us, a big lip could be
ordered to keep the gravy in. They
are, of course, unbreakable. They
even float if you happen to toss one
over the side with the washing-
up water. What’s not to like.
So, no plastic there either. By
TOM CUNLIFFE eliminating the stuff from the whole
Tom has been mate on commissariat department of our
a merchant ship, run
yachts for gentlemen, boat, we have made a miniscule
operated charter boats, contribution to saving the planet. It
delivered, raced and
taught. He writes the doesn’t add up to much in the big
pilot for the English picture as I fill my diesel tanks and
Channel, a complete
set of cruising text polish the GRP hull, but what I have
books and runs his certainly achieved is to jack up my
own internet club for
sailors worldwide at standard of living by several notches.
tomcunliffe.com Contrary to the jolly pictures we see
in advertisements for yachts that
seem to sail on permanently flat
seas in 12 knots of wind, the going
out there can get tough at times.
Pleasures then are few and hard to
find, so eating and drinking soars
straight to the top of the list. Trying
to scoop in a five-day stew off a flat
plastic plate with a picture of a reef
knot on it is a sorry experience as
the yacht falls off the next available
ten-foot sea. And sliding your spoon
around a melamine bowl trying to
get some traction with the rhubarb
crumble and custard is no fun
either. Compare the happy mariner
with his oak trencher as he tucks
in to the mystery of what the cook
found in the bottom of the locker
on Sunday night then transformed
by a stroke of genius sourced from
the spice locker. And the sheer joy
of a well-designed ceramic bowl
that’s a pleasure to hold, whose
curvature fits your dessert spoon,
and which, protected by sensible
stowage arrangements, has already
crossed the Atlantic several times.
It’s not all blood and bullets
either. On those silken twilights
on passage or at anchor when a
sundowner is the only civilised end
to the daylight, splashing a finger
or two of 10-year old Laphroaig
into a glass that is an old friend
gives new meaning to the phrase
we hear so often, ‘quality of life’.
 Travel outboards
Ultra silent direct-drives
The whisper-quiet, direct-drive technology of the
best-selling Travel 1103 is now available in a lighter,
more affordable package: the brand-new Travel 603.

Lightest outboards in their power class, from 15.5 to 17.3 kg complete

Highest overall efficiency
Quietest electric outboard
Most dynamic motor response
Onboard computer with GPS, remaining range, charge status and
additional functions
Easy handling, fast battery swaps, simple to transport

2 HP
3 HP

equivalent equivalent
uk@torqeedo.com 01502 516224 torqeedo.com

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 41

Interview~ Ben Ainslie

42 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021

Up for the Cup
Sir Ben Ainslie tells us how he is preparing to rule the waves, as the
final countdown to racing for the 36th America’s Cup gets underway
with the World Series event in New Zealand later this month
A
s they launched
Britannia II in Auckland,
New Zealand, last
month, the British
Challenger for the 36th
America’s Cup - Ineos Team UK
– finally revealed to the world their
second generation AC75 – the 75ft
foiling yacht that they hope will
bring them the ultimate sporting
victory.
More than 90,000 design hours
and some 46,000 construction hours
have gone into this boat – a
phenomenal undertaking. As the
product of a symbiotic relationship
between designers and sailors,
Britannia II is awe-inspiring in
appearance and the epitome of
attention to detail – some 17,300
component parts make this boat fly.
Yet whether the boat is capable of
fulfilling the long-held British dream
of bringing the Cup home remains to
be seen. Of the three second
generation AC75s to have hit the
water to date, Britannia II shows the
most radical design jump, surprising
many with her aggressive bow and a
significant bustle running the length
of the hull.
As Team Principal, Ben Ainslie has
overseen the design every step of the
way. He describes their second boat
as “a significant evolution” from the
first, and he’s clearly both proud and
pleased with the result. The many
obvious major changes suggest that
much has been learnt by the team
over the last 12 months – triggering
alarm bells perhaps, until you
remember the revolutionary nature
of these extreme yachts.
Ainslie acknowledges: “Over the
past two years our fundamental
capabilities as a design group have
evolved immeasurably and that’s
resulted in this remarkable new race
boat.
“Since developing our first AC75,
the race area and condition limits
have been clarified, and we have had
the opportunity to sail an AC75 for
several months which, as the end
users of the boat, has enabled us to
be much more specific in our
requirements as a sailing team.
So what’s the standout difference?
“The most obvious difference to the
naked eye is probably the noticeable
bustle on Britannia,” he says. “That
has two main functions in that it
helps lift the boat off of the water
during the take-off phase but also,
when the boat is foiling, it closes the
gap between the hull and the water
surface, blocking the airflow going
across the boat, and ultimately
increasing the efficiency of the sails.”
As for her competitors, even
though the Rule for this Cup has
enabled plenty of design freedom,
particularly in the hull and foils, both
American Magic and Luna Rossa
have, to a degree, adopted a similar
bustle or skeg design. American
Magic - the first to launch - is
thought to be the least radical,
boasting a flared bow and short skeg
in the forward section of the hull,
with an overall streamline shape
designed to maximise aerodynamic
efficiency. Luna Rossa, meanwhile,
splashed a few days after the Brits,
and takes things another step further
with super-sleek hull lines designed
not only to minimise drag but also to
generate lift, and a skeg running
nearly the whole length of the hull.
As Y&Y goes to press, the Defender,
Emirates Team New Zealand has yet
to show their hand, and is still to
launch their second generation
AC75.
Continuous
improvement
Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour and
the Hauraki Gulf beyond may be
busy with teams testing on a daily
basis, but with any sort of close
boat-on-boat training prohibited by
the protocol, the first true indication
of race-track performance will come
later this month, when the solitary
America’s Cup World Series event
gets underway there on 17-20
December.
With the Cup as much about the
design race as the skill of the sailors,
it’s a given that teams will pushing to
the limit through this warm-up and
beyond - even once Cup racing gets
underway for real – seeking every
last drop of performance. Therefore,
the ACWS will be crucial as a test
event for sailors and designer alike.
Ainslie explains his team’s focus
Interview~ Ben Ainslie
‘We expect a lot of
manoeuvring on
these tight courses,
so the boat
handling and
teamwork will be
critical, but the boat
is designed for that’
will remain tight throughout the
event, despite the tantalising
prospect of ‘real’ Cup racing mere
weeks away: “A big part of the design
is committed, take the hull and deck
layout, for example. There are,
however, various different elements
which we’ll be able to test and tweak
throughout the ongoing training
period in Auckland and even
throughout the racing period,
including new foil packages, systems
and more.
“We have been working closely
with Mercedes F1’s Applied Science
department on our wing foils, which
have been manufactured at the team’s
HQ in Brackley. Their resources,
exactness and attention to detail have
really pushed our foil wing
programme to the leading edge and
we hope to see the performance
benefit of that over the coming
months.
“As you would expect, the rig and
sail development will be continually
improving as we spend more time in
the boat.”
The format for the ACWS will be
fleet racing – unlike the Prada Cup
Selection Series and the America’s
Cup itself, both of which will be
44 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
match race formats. And, unlike the
ACWS events of the 35th America’s
Cup, this time teams cannot score
points or carry results forwards to
the actual Cup rounds. Nonetheless,
Ainslie is clearly excited at the
prospect of competing in the ACWS
and the insights it will bring, and his
response is one that any racing sailor
held up by 2020’s dramas would
identify with, when he admits: “I’m
definitely itching to get racing again!
He adds: “The last time I raced was
in SailGP in Sydney early this year
and you always want to be out on the
water competing at the highest level.
“The ACWS event in December
will be particularly interesting, of
course, as it will be the first time we
will be racing against our
competitors in these AC75 boats.
ABOVE Though a lot can change between
Auckland’s Hauraki
Gulf is a stunning December and the Prada Cup
test ground starting in mid-January, it will be a
good barometer of how all of the
BELOW
Britannia II features teams are performing.
a radical ‘bustle’ “In terms of the racing itself, it will
running the length of
the hull which helps be a steep learning curve for all the
lift the boat out of the teams, but I have no doubt that it will
water in take off phase
be a great spectacle for the fans. We
expect a lot of manoeuvring on these
tight courses, so the boat handling
and teamwork will be critical, but the
boat is designed for that.”
A gruelling time
Since relocating to Auckland in late
September, undergoing the
mandatory two-week quarantine on
arrival, the team has been enjoying
the freedom of ‘normality’, no Covid
restrictions to navigate - a factor that
has allowed them to transition
smoothly and speedily press ahead
with operations. It’s a benefit that has
naturally been appreciated by all
involved. Ainslie says: “We have a
great base and set-up here, purpose-
built for us as a team, and watching
reports from back home in the UK
definitely makes us appreciate how
lucky we are now to be in a country
where you can move about and
interact with others in a ‘normal’
way. New Zealand have done a
brilliant job with Covid-19.

“At the same time, of course, we are
mindful of those back home who are
living through more difficult
circumstances and it’s up to us to put
on the best show possible for them
come racing time.”
The team base is a large, specially
constructed warehouse style building
on the waterfront at Wynyard Point;
Ineos Team UK’s base sits adjacent to
that of American Magic, with Luna
Rossa and Emirates Team New
Zealand located further along the
waterfront. Britannia II arrived there
at the end of September, after being
flown from the team’s UK base in
Portsmouth. The team wasted no
time in completing the final fit out,
getting her christened and on the
water for testing.
Since then, it’s been non-stop,
with everyone putting in plenty of
long hours and throwing everything
into these final few weeks. So far so
good, as boat two was delivered on
schedule and on weight, but there’s
no doubt the intensity of the
campaign is at the point of
notching up day by day. As Ainslie
remarked at the boat’s naming
ceremony, quite literally, every
second counts.
He says: “This is definitely a
gruelling period for the team, if it
wasn’t already. A lot of the team have
been part of America’s Cup
campaigns before, however, so they
know what to expect in terms of long
hours and days in this period.
And what of the feeling among the
team? “It’s an exciting time and you
can feel that in the team,” Ainslie
BELOW
says. “A good day on the water
Luna Rossa splashed
a few days after reverberates throughout the whole
Britannia and features team, everyone is buzzing. The trick
a skeg running almost
the length of the hull for us is to keep a level head and not
let the emotions run too high or get
too low. We’ll be enjoying the small
gains but trying to keep cool.
“There’s a great saying that ‘luck is
preparation looking for an
opportunity’ and I think that’s true. If
we have done every bit of preparation
that we possibly could then the rest
will take care of itself. In the end,
until we have won the Cup, we
haven’t achieved our goal, so that’s
what keeps us focussed.”
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
America’s Cup World
Series, Auckland -
Battle lines drawn
Taking place from 17-20 December,
the PRADA America’s Cup World
Series Auckland and the Christmas
Race will be the first – and only (after
cancellation of ACWS events in April
(Sardinia) and June (Portsmouth) –
opportunity for all the teams to line up
against each other, before the
Challengers begin the battle in
earnest with the Prada Cup
Challenger Selection Series (15
January to 21 February, double check).
The winner of that series, of course,
goes on to the actual Match for the
36th America’s Cup presented by
PRADA on 6 March.
The ACWS is a fleet race format, and
teams will line up in their AC75s –
whether they use their first or second
generation boat is up to them – tough
choice of preserving equipment or
use as a vital training opportunity.
Unlike the 35th America’s Cup, points
scored in the ACWS this time do not
carry over, leaving the question of just
how hard teams will be prepared to
push. Nonetheless, it should make for
spectacular viewing and be the best
indication yet of likely performance,
the first time ever these incredible
boats take to the race course, while
teams take every iota of feedback
from the boats, sailors, race course
and of course their comeptitors to
make their refine their final designs
and make any changes in the final
countdown to the Prada Cup – more
details on this next month.
Meet the teams
The Defender
Emirates Team New Zealand
Challenger of Record
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
The Challengers
Ineos Team UK
American Magic
How to watch
Sky Sports and the BBC will show
the America’s Cup World Series,
Christmas Regatta and Prada Cup
Challenger Selection Series, before
culminating with the 2021 America’s
Cup Match. Bear in mind the
broadcast times will be 3-5am UK
time, best set an alarm clock!
45
Interview~ Ben Ainslie
Putting on a show
From what we have seen of the
action on Waitemata Harbour so far,
it will truly be a spectacle when these
incredible boats do finally get to line
up against each other. Speeds of 50+
knots are possible, when the yachts
are in full flight, with just their
leeward foil and rudder skimming
the water and plenty of tight
manoeuvring anticipated. It will be a
fantastic opportunity for Auckland to
showcase why it is known as the ‘city
of sails’. From the outset, the kiwi
defender was determined that this
America’s Cup would be played out
live in front of the crowds, and
despite a question mark cast in recent
weeks by the Challengers regarding
the legality under Cup rules of using
the innermost courses, that has since
been dismissed.
Unfortunately, the Covid crisis
means that supporters other than
those of the home team could be thin
on the ground. Yet Ainslie is
determined to be as optimistic as
possible, when he says: “We don’t
really know how many supporters
will be able to travel from overseas.
Recent news of a successful vaccine
may mean that by February next year
the borders will have opened up and
people can start to travel again, let’s
hope so.
“As it currently stands it will be a
shame that the passionate British
sailing fans won’t be able to come out
in great numbers to Auckland to
watch the racing. Sailing is a major
sport out here in Auckland though,
and the hype is building, so I’m sure
it will still be a huge spectacle.
“Then, for our fans back home
there has been significant investment
in improving coverage and appealing
PRO-KIT FOR SAILING ATHLETES
46 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
to a wider audience through TV and
social channels alike, fortunately fans
and supporters in the UK will be able
to follow the action from the comfort
of their own homes on BBC, Sky
Sports and YouTube.
“We will of course miss having
supporters out here with us, but New
Zealand is a long way from home
and irrespective of COVID I think
we would have been mindful of
those back at home and made a
concerted effort to on put on a great
show for those not able to join us.
Final countdown
Now, as the final few weeks tick
down, the time approaches when
Ainslie needs to narrow his focus
on the sailing side of his role, and
steering his team to Cup victory.
Although the design side of any
Cup campaign never
switches off, Y&Y
wonders if is there ever
a point he gets to just
‘go sailing’ and let his
leadership role take a
back seat? “Yes, I guess
I still get a kick out of
the sailing but the
ABOVE America’s Cup is the ultimate team
Achieving take
off early in the sport and we all rely so heavily on
testing phase one another. I’m really fortunate to
have Grant (Simmer) to work
alongside me as our CEO, it means I
can focus on the sailing and know
that he’s got things covered. Once we
get into the competition it’s
important that the whole team are
focused on their jobs and that the
communication between the team is
spot on.”
Speaking to Ainslie, you get the
feeling that there really has been no
stone left unturned in this bold,
confident campaign. He and those
around him have come a long, long
way since he first formed his own
Cup campaign back in 2013. This
time, with three well-funded,
experienced teams to race against, it’s
unlikely anyone will have an easy
ride; but if the audacious design of
Britannia II is anything to go
by, and a cool-headed
skipper who knows every
detail of his boat and
campaign inside out,
there’s a good chance that
the Brits will bring the
Cup home.
henrilloyd.com
OFFICIAL TECHNICAL CLOTHING SUPPLIER
TO INEOS TEAM UK
 N
FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF
THE

EW
SAILING TODAY WITH YACHTS & YACHTING

SAILOR’S ANNUAL 2021

The Yachting Year is

YACHTING
essential reading for all
sailors, whether your 2021
season is likely to see you
cruising your local waters,
RACING | CLASSICS | CRUISING YEAR exploring further afield, or
racing around the cans in a
yacht or dinghy.
We feature all the latest
gear to be launched
in 2021, while our

2021
experienced editors write

SAILOR’
about how the sailing
world will look over the

ANNUA
next 12 months for cruisers
and racers. We also
FULL
PREVIEW
preview the America’s Cup
INSIDE and the Olympics.
America’s
Cup
PLUS
l Stunning sailing
photography
l Latest yachts and
HISTORIC YEAR AHEAD The kit you really dinghies for sale
Sailing records set to fall need for your boat l Best cruising destinations
to inspire you
DREAM YACHTS VENDÉE GLOBE CRUSING IDEAS YEAR IN REVIEW
34 amazing boats Four British hopes Plot your next trip How sailing coped l All the latest gear
for your sailing

The perfect read for ONLY … ALSO

every sailor this Christmas £7.99
PLUS P
INCLUDES
FULL AMERICA’S
&P
TO ORDER: CUP PREVIEW!
www.chelseamagazines.com/yachting-year
+44 (0)207 349 3700 (Mon - Fri, 9am - 5:30pm GMT)
Published by The Chelsea Magazine Co. The Yachting Year will be published and mailed in December 2020
Boat Test ~ Flax 27

The Flax of life

Is fibreglass yesterday’s material? Sam Fortescue takes the exciting new Flax
27 for a spin and discovers a cleaner, greener form of construction

P
lastic is not in vogue
at the moment. As
oceans and lakes fill
up with our waste,
there is a certain irony
to the fact that many
of the boats that we sail are also
broadly made of plastic – whether
it be polyester, vinylester or similar.
Some have long held wood to be the
sustainable alternative to building
boats from GRP, but there may now
be a third way, thanks to the tireless
efforts of German boatbuilder
Friedrich Deimann, and for now,
it takes the form of the Flax 27.
As the name suggests, this is a boat
whose chief component is flax fibre,
instead of energy intensive glass.
After a decade of R&D at his firm
Green Boats, Deimann has refined a
system for building strong, durable
hulls from flax fibre and epoxy
derived from plant sources. “It’s not
rocket science to build with these
materials, but it does take a learning
ABOVE curve – you can’t simply substitute
In addition to being a
very green yacht, the
synthetic for natural materials,”
Flax 27 is no slouch explains his associate Paul Schirmer.
For light weight and strength, he uses
foam sandwich construction, like
many others, except that his ‘foam’
is made from recycled PET drinks
bottles or cork. The decking is cork
strips, and you can see her flawless
flax fibre through the transparent
gelcoat. It adds up to a boat that is
more than 80 per cent sourced from
sustainable materials – and proud of it.

48 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

Take to the water
That, then, is the hook. But in the
end, a boat is a boat, and must
perform as such to be attractive.
My test unfurled on an autumn
afternoon on the Wannsee lake,
near Berlin, with a fluky 10-knot
wind eddying round the forested
shoreline. Host and owner Michael
Ernst, the pioneer who paid for
this project, brought us carefully
out of the marina box using the
2.2kW Torqeedo Cruise pod.
For the moment, the throttle is
not mounted – it remains loose
on the end of a wire and can be
stowed below when not in use.
With a weight of around 1,350kg
empty, the boat is light for this size
of motor, which quickly got us up
to around 5 knots at full pace. A
small solar panel keeps the 3.6kW
lithium battery topped up, so that
it only requires a couple of full
charges per season. Being a day-
sailer, she feels like an overgrown
dinghy in some respects. The
19 square metre main goes up
easily by hand and the jib unfurls
with a smart tug on the sheet.
At first, we ghosted away from
the shore in just a few knots of
wind. I perched on the side deck
with the main sheet in one hand
and the smart powder-coated tiller
in the other. The Flax 27 responds
quickly and intuitively to the helm,
as you’d expect for a small boat,
but there is quite a lot of friction
in the mainsheet block system
which means that you often have to
help the boom out with a shove.
Her hull is designed by renowned
design team of Judel/Vrolijk, with
a plumb bow and sawn off counter
stern offering a seductive blend
of traditional and modern looks
with strong performance. As we
discover in the first gust of wind.
The boat heels dramatically, but
very quickly turns that force into
headway, leaping forwards and
levelling up. I ask Michael if he’s
ever capsized the boat, but he just
looks at me as if I’m mad. There
is a lead bulb keel on a 1.4m fin,
and he is a big man too. Even
dramatically over-canvassed later in
the day, flogging along at 7 knots, a
capsize never feels remotely likely.
ABOVE (L-R)
Performance lived
well up to expectation;
the very modest
coachroof is also built
in flax laminates
BELOW (L-R)
The decks are made
from cork oak - a
materiel that is
sustainably harvested
without killing the
tree; The lifting keel
mechanism in action
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
Easy sail handling
Sail handling is easy. The main sheet
emerges from the cockpit sole and
through a rotating jammer. With
my toe, I simply flick the line out
of the cam to sheet out. Trimming
the jib upwind requires a pair of
Andersen 28 winches mounted
on the coaming, but it’s all pretty
easy to manage singlehanded.
Only later do I feel that a reef in
the main wouldn’t go amiss, in
gusts of some 12 knots or more.
The sail and deck fittings are all
set up for one, but Michael hasn’t
quite got round to fitting it yet.
A nice touch is the flax and rubber
cushions Michael ties to the side
deck, which stops the slight cockpit
coaming pressing into the back of
your leg as lean to windward. You
don’t really hike out on this boat
– she’s got enough ballast in the
keel, but it makes the perch more
comfortable. There is a slightly
raised strip running down the centre
of the cockpit sole which provides
a surprisingly adequate footrest.
This first boat has little in the way
of accommodation below. Michael
49
 Boat Test ~ Flax 27

THE SPEC
LOA: 8.2m (26’9”)
LWL: 6.9m (22’6”)
Beam: 2.25m (7’4”)
Draught: 0.60-1.40m (1’9” – 4’6”)
Displacement: 1,350 kg (2,976lb)
Sail area: 20.5 m2 (220ft2)
Designer: Judel/Vrolijk
Builder: Green Boats
Price: €120,000 ex-VAT
green-boats.de
stands over 2m tall, so he didn’t
see the point. But if you wanted to
make her a camper-sailer, you could
squeeze in a couple of tight berths
with stowage for some creature
comforts underneath. Much of the
space below deck is occupied by the
lifting mechanism for the keel, which
is hauled up a frame in the middle
of the boat under the influence
of a manual hydraulic pump.
As we motor back into our berth,
I ask Michael about the heavy price
tag for the boat – some £110,000
ex-VAT. He shrugs. “I wanted a fast
boat that looks nice,” he says, before
explaining that he has time and
money on his hands at the moment.
Green Boats says that its natural
fibre design is not more costly
than GRP – especially if you price
in “environmental externalities”.
That may be true, but it’s a still an
expensive boat. The aim is to show
what’s possible, not to set up a
high-volume production boat yard,
explains Paul Schirmer. “With us you
get something quite unique. If we sell
five boats a year, we’re super happy.”

SAM’S VERDICT
This boat is a proof of concept. She
demonstrates that you can build
boats sustainably from modern
materials and to modern designs.
She is expensive for her size, but
she looks wonderful, sails well and
is easily trailered. She occupies a
sophisticated market niche alongside
Eagle Yachts and Saffier makes her
very hard to look beyond indeed.
PHOTOS: GREEN BOATS

LOOKS:
PERFORMANCE:
VALUE:

50 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 51
 Cruising ~ Madagascar
I
awoke to that feeling of ‘where am I?’ As my
ears adjusted to the environment, the
recognisable hum let me know I was at 35,000
feet and I instantly recalled where I was bound.
I reached over to the window, my eyes still a
blur with sleep as I slowly lifted the blind. The
sun was lazily peaking over the horizon, an
ethereal red glow so often seen with the African
sun, dissolving into the dark blue void above.
Down below, a dark mass, devoid of lights
loomed out of the sea and I realised I was staring
at where my journey would end but where the
adventure would start - Madagascar.
The last few days were a blur from the moment
I picked up the phone to hear Dick Beaumont,
owner of White Dragon, a Kraken 66 which was
the subject of my photo assignment, on the other
end of the line ecstatically telling me that he had
just made landfall in Madagascar after a ‘cracking
sail’ across the Indian Ocean and asked if I was
available to fly over from Hong Kong to
photograph her in this truly remote paradise.
Madagascar: The Jewel of the Indian Ocean
Mad World
Photographer Trystan Grace describes a
sailing trip and photo assignment which
gave him a fleeting glance of one of the more
exotic cruising grounds of the world
52 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
Before I knew it, I was confirming my flights and
meticulously packing my suitcase with the
camera equipment I would need while my dog
stared with forlorn eyes at me and my suitcase.
After a long overnight flight to Johannesburg
and a short skip over Mozambique, the small
jet descended over the azure blue waters and
made the final approach to the tiny airport
of Nosy Be, at the northwest point of
Madagascar. We taxied off the runway
and turned towards the lone terminal
building, or shack might be a better
word to describe it. You would be
forgiven for thinking that, with a
small airport, the process to collect
your bags and leave would be quick
and easy, alas, this was not the
case. As well as buying the visa
on entry (an eVisa can now be
bought online), my passport
was checked by five members
of staff before I caught a
glimpse of the exit. I made for the doors
with a confident stride, only to be stopped
by a final gentlemen who smiled, checked
my passport and said ‘Do you have anything
for me?...’.
No sooner as I stepped into the Malagasy
sun, I spotted the unforgettable figure of
Dick beaming and walking towards me with
an extended hand. ‘Good trip? Let’s get to
the boat’. We jumped in the nearest taxi and
sped off through the wilderness. We wound
our way around the twisty roads, venturing
through thick foliage as Dick yarned about
the sail across the Indian Ocean.
Welcome to Hell-Ville
White Dragon was anchored at Hell-Ville,
an aptly named place as it is the more
industrial port of Nosy Be (I later
discovered it was named after the French
governor to Réunion, Admiral De Hell).
Dick had cleared in to Madagascar on the
eastern coast at a small town called
Ambodifotatra on Isles Saint Marie. If you
arrive and Nosy Be is your first port
of call, all the formalities should
be done in Hell-Ville. You will
need a cruising permit, at
the time of writing
this, it is free of
charge. You do
however need to track down the right
officials, check noonsite.com for detailed
information.
After a night at anchor we set off to scout
some locations to film and photograph the
yacht. I set up the camera gear and my
drone as we slowly motored away from the
town. We decided to sail into Russian Bay,
laying between Nosy Iranja and Nosy Be.
This excellent sheltered bay with many
anchorage options, boasts unspoilt, coconut
lined white sandy beaches as though out of a
postcard. The bay was so good in fact that
during the Russo-Japanese war, a Russian
warship anchored here from 1905. They had
orders to attack any passing Japanese ships
however the crew, upon reaching this
remote paradise decided they did not want
to fight a war, or indeed return to Russia.
The crew stayed in the bay and the ship
eventually ran out of fuel and sank years
later. The crews graves and the remains of
the ship still rest in the bay today.
The bay itself is beautiful and has a rich
level of biodiversity. Below the waves you
will find dolphins, whales, sharks and manta
rays whilst on land, you will find the playful
ringtail lemurs that are so famous to
Madagascar as well as wild pigs, bats and
rare birds. The lemurs, with their saucer like
eyes are very tame from years spent living
with the villages. They climb up onto your
shoulder in the hope you will deliver them a
tasty treat.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch and pulled
up the hook to leave the sheltered bay, only
to be met by a stiff breeze. Almost like
clockwork in the region, calm mornings at
anchor are replaced by excellent sailing
conditions in the afternoon. The crew
sprang to action, Dick hoisting the mainsail
and the crew unfurled the large Genoa. I am
always surprised at how White Dragon
leaps off the line as she picks up the wind.
The 44 tonne bluewater beast that so
effortlessly skipped across the Indian
Ocean, through 60 knot winds and heavy
seas does so with your feet up, reading a
book as if traversing a mill pond. I launched
the drone and circled the yacht, capturing
her slice through the rich blue waters. We
were not the only sailors out enjoying the
breeze. Local fishermen waved as they
passed us in their classic Malagasy Dhows.
These boats, of Arab origin over 1000 years
ago are quite captivating with their timeless
lateen sails and strong wooden
construction. The larger, usually carrying
supplies sport bright hand painted hulls
whereas you usually find children fishing
from the simple smaller craft. Although
my main quarry was of
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 53
Cruising ~ Madagascar

course White Dragon, I could not canoe. With a wink, Dick stepped ABOVE LEFT masterfully skipped around the large
The peculiar small
help capture a few shots of these down to the transom to greet them. island of Nosy Kivinjy galley, chopping, frying and pulling
fascinating boats. Speaking in broken English and out a wonderful collection of spices
After the excitement of the sail, the French, one of the boys picked up a BELOW he had collected from his travels. I
Dick passes over
crew decided to cool off by scuba hessian sack which slowly wriggled an ice cold Coke to was not disappointed as he appeared
diving next to a sheer cliff island, in his grip. He reached inside and some local visitors at the companionway with a bowl of
Nosy Kivinjy, which stuck out of the produced a large crab which he fresh Cantonese Chilli Crab. As soon
turquoise water like a sore thumb. I presented to Dick for approval. Five as it touched the table, the crew dived
flew the drone high over the island minutes later the two boys paddled in like a pack of ravenous hyenas. It
and aiming the camera straight back to their village smiling and Dick was the perfect end to a perfect day
down, capturing the yacht in an went to work washing and preparing of cruising.
idyllic scene from this unusual two large crabs. The next morning I jumped out of
perspective. As Dick had spent many years in my bunk at the crack of dawn to
Hong Kong doing business with catch the sun rising above the calm
Honey River mainland China, I did wonder if bay, the first rays of light almost
Whilst we waited, I skimmed the these Cantonese influences would struggling to penetrate a light mist
local chart with Dick, deciding where manifest in his cooking. For the next which hung above the mirrored
to anchor for the night. Further hour the fragrant smell of chill and water. A large dhow edged away from
down the coast was an inlet called ginger frying in a wok wafted out of the village, barely moving in the still
Baramahamay Bay (known to the cockpit port-light. Dick conditions. The crew, bleary-eyed
cruisers as Honey River) known for...
yes, local honey which is usually sold
or traded in old soda or wine bottles.
Once everyone was back onboard,
we made the short sail down the
coast towards Honey River. Sailing
past the small island of Nosy
Antsoha as the sun lazily sank
towards the horizon, we heard the
the peculiar high pitched wails of the
lemurs on the island.
We lowered the sails as we
rounded the headland, motored the
last mile and dropped the anchor in
front of a small village just in time to
break out the sundowners to indeed
catch the beautiful sunset which
kissed the horizon beyond the
entrance to the bay. No sooner had
we anchored than two teenagers
paddled towards us in a small dugout

54 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021

and with coffee in hand joined me on
deck to take in the crisp morning air.
We raised the anchor and slowly
made our way towards the mouth of
the bay. With the drone still in the
air, we passed by the large dhow,
exchanging smiles and waves with
the villagers, obviously making a sail
for supplies. I captured the two boats,
side by side, a stark contrast between
the two worlds and of how far boat
design has come in 1000 years. This
image was eventually chosen for the
front cover of the issue.
We left the bay and followed the
coastline north back towards Nosy
Be. I had mixed emotions knowing
my time in this wonderful place was
almost over, a fleeting glimpse of a
remote paradise few of us get to visit.
A week ago I did not know about the
trip, now I found myself, halfway
around the world, aboard a luxury
bluewater yacht capturing a portion
of its odyssey from east to west. You
might think I was tired and in truth,
I probably was, however with the
excitement of adventure, there is no
time for jet lag.
As Nosy Be crept ever closer on the
horizon, I packed my gear and
prepared to make the long trip home.
We anchored in Crater Bay, a far
more relaxed anchorage than
Hell-Ville and Dick ran me ashore to
the Yacht Club de Nosy Be. We
stopped for a drink while we waited
for a taxi to the airport. This little
yacht club has an excellent restaurant
and bar, made from old train
ABOVE (L-R) carriages. It is very much a cruiser
Anchored in the
Honey River; hangout with salty patrons swapping
motoring back yarns of their various escapades. A
to Nosy Be
few minutes later I was sat in the
BELOW back of an old taxi being rocked side
Evening sunlight to side from the bumpy potholed
looking out towards
the Mozambique road. As the tarmac fell away below
channel from me, I once again found myself being
Honey River
carried into the night sky on wings
made of aluminium and I reflected
on this wondrous island. Even
though my love affair was short lived,
I felt transported to a different time
and another world which lacked the
chaos of modern life and boasted a
rich colourful tapestry of the local
culture. I pondered when I might
return, hoping the next time I too
would be carried by the waves after a
pilgrimage across the Indian Ocean.
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 55
Boat Test ~Salona 380
Salona ranger
Croatian boatbuilder Salona has been producing excellent cruiser/racers for
many years now yet remain relatively unknown in the UK. Toby Heppell
explains why that needs to change
T
he words performance
cruiser can, to a degree,
mean anything to anyone
and are often deployed
by manufacturers to
add a little pizzazz
to an otherwise fairly ordinary
cruiser – and widen the target
market. Is it a cruiser, is it a
performance cruiser? Why not both
the marketing department cries!
The phrase, then, tends to be
something of a red flag when
you read it in marketing bumph.
But as much as the term might
lack sufficient definition to easily
categorise boats as either cruiser
or performance cruiser, there
56 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
is an element of ‘you’ll know it
when you see it’. Stepping onboard
the Salona 380, it is easy to see
performance is very much baked in.
The Croatian marque, though
popular in the rest of Europe broadly
and the Med in particular, has
never achieved quite the reputation
here they have elsewhere. In fact
the UK seems to have erroneously
dismissed the brand as a bit cheap
and cheerful - at least that seems
to be the reaction I usually come
up against when discussing them
on home-shores. Some might
argue it stems from the quality of
the interior finish, which has not
always been their best selling point.
ABOVE
The 380 is narrower
Deck and build
aft than many Whatever the reason the UK
contemporaries has not given the brand enough
and this points to a
designer prioritising attention, the Maurizio Cossutti
performance designed 380 really does grab the
over volume
attention from dockside with sleek
lines, retractible carbon bowsprit
and a flying bow delivering a
performance-oriented look.
Stepping aboard, this impression is
enhanced by the deck fittings; large
primaries, two coachroof winches,
a proper German mainsheet with
twin winches next to the helm and
a cockpit width full traveller. The
fact these all come as standard for
the base model, really does go to
show that Salona are setting out
their stall in delivering a true
performance cruiser. Although the
full width traveller running across
the cockpit floor might feel like
it would get in the way for some,
there are measures to deal with
this and she comes with inserts
to cover the traveller when not
sailing, which will prevent people
accidentally stumbling over it.
Unseen features come thick and
fast too; a stainless steel frame in
the hull to distribute the loads
from the rig and keel, vacuum-
infused hull with PVC-cored
topsides laid up with vinylester
resin and clear gelcoat beneath the
waterline. There is a decent level
of customisation on offer too.
It is particularly noticeable
that in modern terms she has
a relatively narrow beam aft,
eschewing the extreme beams
carried aft we have seen dominate
the market in recent years in
order to create more space
below. This points to a design
which has been conceived first
and foremost to sail well.
All this comes at a price point
that is very impressive, especially
when you consider just what
comes as standard. When you
look around the rest of the market,
though you can see that she does
need to be priced competitively.
Sporty or performance oriented
cruisers that come in at a
smidge under 40ft is possibly
the most competitive section of
the yachting market at present,
so the Salona will be going up
against a plethora of options.
only achievable from starboard tack.
This might be a small gripe,
but the rig setup felt good and
responsive with the mast offering
much in the way of flex should
you want it, or stiffening up via
the lowers. With that in mind, it
would be great to be able to access
the backstay easily while sailing on
either tack to depower the main.
However, it is worth bearing in mind
the 380 is not designed as an out
and out racer and here was the first
evidence of a cruising compromise
I had seen. The split backstay does
mean that there is plenty of room
to hop aboard over the transom
with nothing in your way.
As an option to make the boat
racier, you can opt for a carbon
mast and laminate sails. The
latter would certainly take a bit of
weight out of the rig all up, but I
was impressed enough with the
responsiveness of the alloy mast,
that the weight saving would be the
key gain in performance terms.
ABOVE The headsail measures in at
A carbon retractable 36sq/m and is on an under-deck
bowsprit and
Dreadnought bow furler keeping the tack nice and
point to the Salona's close to the foredeck, offering plenty
racing credentials
of horsepower upwind. Headsail cars
BELOW and tracks are mounted on top of the
A well thought out
and light interior
coachroof, which offers a relatively
close sheeting angle, all of which
points to promising performance
upwind. The fully battened mainsail
measures in at 44sqm giving
80sqm total upwind sail area,
which compares relative favourably
with other boats in this class.
Our test boat also featured a
high clewed, flat cut, top down
furling asymmetric, which the
owner had chosen as a good
option for shorthanded cruising,
which measured in at 90sqm
and set from the bowsprit.
Down below
As mentioned Salona has not always
had the best reputation for their fit
out below decks but here the 380
offers plenty to like. It’s not mind

Rig
The 380 features an aluminium
fractional twin spreader rig with
adjustable backstay either as a
rope and purchase or hydraulic
system. The boat we sailed had the
optional bathing platform, which
will presumably be most popular
in the Med, but without that
option she futures an open cockpit.
With either option the backstay
(whether rope and tackle or
hydraulic) terminates on one side
of the boat, meaning quick and
easy adjustment of the backstay is

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 57

 Boat Test ~Salona 380
blowing but a well thought out fit
out and a very light interior thanks
to a number of portlights running
the length of the hull. These are not
to everyone’s taste, I know, but they
certainly manage to flood the saloon
and forward cabins with daylight.
The interior comes in three
optional layouts: two doubles aft;
a double and large lazerette with
the heads close to the saloon and
opposite the galley; or with the
heads tucked further aft a smaller
lazerette but a nav table space.
Our test boat had the the larger
lazerette option and I would suggest
this version or the option with
smaller lazerette will be popular.
Without a great deal of beam
running aft, two doubles aft would
probably be a bit of a squeeze
and I suspect might be the option
favoured by the charter market.
There is always going to be
compromise to some extent on a
boat that is under 40 foot and on
our test boat the heads was probably
the biggest one. It was plenty roomy
but there is no getting away from
the fact that it opens more or less
into the galley. The large lazerette
is impressive but I’d be inclined to
forgo the space, have a heads set
slightly further aft and get a space
from which to navigate properly.
There are plenty of handholds
to help when down below under
sail and a few nice little touches.
Nothing below is particularly
outstanding or class leading, but
then I cannot think of a cruiser I
have been in this sub-40 category
recently that would elicit a very
different response. It works, has a
few nice touches and generally looks
to be well built and thought out.
Under sail
Our test took place in pretty
variable and gusty conditions.
Early on we saw mid-high teens,
occasionally hitting the 20 knots
apparent upwind. Later on the wind
PHOTOS: CLOSEHAULEDPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
was slowly dying and we finished
our test in some 8-10 knots. Given
our test ground of Southampton
water, the sea state was negligible
with a very small, sharp chop
being the worst we encountered.
Upwind with full sails up
58 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
and 20 knots over deck, we were
understandably hard pressed, but
the 380 coped extremely well, never
putting a foot wrong. Obviously
in these slightly overpowered
conditions, the traveller really
comes into its own and with plenty
of backstay to flatten the mainsail
she never felt much of a handful.
In fact, I was quite pleasantly
surprised by just how responsive she
was on the helm even when this hard
pressed. It was extremely easy to get
her sailing in the groove and with
a bit of traveller down in the bigger
puffs she was easy to keep driving
and remained impressively light on
the helm. Often keeping a boat on
her toes and driving through big
ABOVE gusts can feel like a bit of a wrestle
Upwind in 20kn of
breeze, flat water and but no such problems here. She
full sail, the Salona easily sailed in the mid 6 knot range
was hard pressed
but well behaved boatspeed and sometimes hitting 7
knots at an AWA of around 32-35º.
BELOW The twin wheels offer a good
Fingertip control
off the wind as the vantage point for helming and
breeze dropped off though our test boat was temporarily
without foot rests - the owner is
in the process of moving them to
their preferred position - with these
refitted sitting to weather would
make for a good spot from which
to helm. Twin wheels is not my
personal preference on something
this size, but I can’t particularly
fault them here, offering a decent
helming position and great response.
Sadly by the time we got round
to setting the chute and heading
downwind, the breeze had already
started to moderate, turning what
I hoped might be something of a
blast into a slightly more relaxed
downwind experience. This
sensation was almost certainly added
to thanks to the relative flat cut of the
asymmetric spinnaker and it’s high
clew making it a little underpowered.
That is not to say that the 380
didn’t pick up her skirts and make
for fun ride downwind, particularly
when the last few of the day’s
dwindling puffs blew through. She
managed to regularly sail at a little
over 6 knots boat speed in around
10-12 knots at 120º AWA, which
is impressive enough, and felt she
would be an absolute joy to sail
with a slightly bigger downwind sail
Boat Test ~Salona 380

THE SPEC
and/or in a little bit more breeze.
Hull length: 38’1” (11.6 m)
Once again the helm was very
light downwind and was real ‘finger Waterline length: 32’10” (10m)
tip control’ stuff. All in all she Beam: 12’2” (3.72m)
felt very responsive here too. As Draft: 6’11” (2.1m)
someone who started out racing Displacement: 13669lb (6200kg)
dinghies, it is rare that you get to
Upwind sail area: 861 ft² (80m²)
sail a yacht not built as a pure racer
Price: (base) £179,700 (as tested)
that offers you the sort of feedback
£209,730 - both prices ex-VAT
you get from a dinghy, but the 380
was certainly getting close to that. Contact: salonayachtsuk.com

Motoring
The 380 was well behaved under
engine and was easy to manoeuvre
both under sail and under engine.
I was a little surprised to see she
was fitted with a bow thruster and
enquired about this. The UK dealer,
Russell Hodgson, explained the
flying bow did mean she was liable to
being picked up by the wind a little
more than she would be without, so
the bow thruster option would be
something he would recommend.
I can’t help but think this is a TOBY’S VERDICT
shame. Something sub 40ft with
a single rudder, really should be Under sail it is hard to fault the Salona 380 well thought out and built to a good standard.
manoeuvrable enough not to need if you are after a sporty sub-40 foorter. She She has clearly been designed and built to
a bow thruster. I suspect it would was an absolute pleasure to sail upwind and, hit the performance cruiser market and, as
not be absolutely necessary; one though there was very little for her to contend such, does offer a couple of compromises in
always gets to know the foibles of with in terms of seaway, I feel certain that with terms of outright comfort, but this is exactly
your own boat over time. The flying her relatively (compared to very wide recent what I would want from a sporty boat. If that’s
bow does reduces wetted surface boats) narrow beam aft and flying bow with not what you are into, then this would be
area but provide greater waterline knuckle clear of the water, she would cope the wrong boat for you. But if you are in the
length when heeled, increasing the with much bigger waves very well indeed. market for something around the 40ft mark,
performance of the boat particularly Downwind she could well offer no end of fun which offers a scintillating sailing experience
in lighter winds, so maybe this is a and would deliver you to your destination then you would be hard pushed to look much
compromise that is worth making. quickly and with a smile on your face. further than the 380. And that is before you
Down below this probably represents a bit of consider the price - especially when you
Our thanks to FlexiSail for the use of a step forward for Salona and everything seems consider the level of fit out in the base model.
the test boat and RIB flexisail.com
RIGHT
The three
different layout
options available

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 59

Buyer’s Guide ~ Green Kit
Green power
Sam Fortescue rounds up the best in renewable
power to reduce your dependence on the donk
G
reen marketing works
best when the idea of
environmental benefit
is matched by
performance benefits.
And when it comes to
renewable power on board, the
upsides are obvious. Keep your
battery in good shape, stay out of
port for longer and reduce your
dependence on costly fossil fuels by
fitting some renewable charging
capacity to your boat. We explore the
best of wind, solar and hydro-
generation.
Wind turbines
Wind turbines are still popular
because they work even when the
boat is stationary (unlike hydro-
generation) and in poor weather
when solar panels have a poor
60 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
output. There are many different
brands, using slightly different
technology, and suiting different
installations. There is a whiff of snake
oil about some of the marketing in
this sector.
Siting is critical, as the blades must
be above head height, and yet it’s
good to keep heavy copper cabling
runs as short as possible – for the
sake of cost and efficiency. Each
manufacturer takes a different
approach to regulating the current
coming out of the turbine; braking it
in excessive winds; and charging the
battery itself. These are complex
topics. It’s no good having a hyper
efficient turbine that pumps out 10A
if it won’t also trickle charge your
batteries when you’re away from the
boat. Likewise, you won’t get far if
your turbine only generates
meaningful power in winds above 15
knots. Downwind sailing on
Tradewind routes also produces
lower apparent wind.
With that in mind, sit down before
you start hunting for a turbine and
figure out exactly what you want it to
do, and how it needs to interact with
other charging devices on board.
Check the start-up wind speed for
the unit, and compare output at the
10- or 15-knot mark for real-world
conditions. Also bear in mind that
noise and vibration is a bigger issue
for longer blades, where the tips are
spinning at phenomenal speeds.
D400
This British-built turbine uses five
smaller blades for slower rotation at
the tips. This in turn reduces noise
and vibration, even when putting out
600W or more of power. The
advanced alternator contains no iron
parts, so there is no ‘cogging’ which
can also cause vibration. You can
connect it directly to the batteries,
but a separate charge controller is
advised. This diverts excess charge
into two dump resistors and allows
individual charging of two separate
battery banks – all at an extra cost of
£330.31. Founder Peter Anderson
says stepped charging from an input
“in a continual state of flux” is
impractical. In 10 knots of wind, it
generates around 32W.
 From £1,672.03
 eclectic-energy.co.uk
LE-300
A good-value unit with lower output,
also British built. It is fully marinised,
with aluminium and stainless steel
components to avoid corrosion.
Cogging is also addressed in this
unit. Output is around 25W in 10
knots of wind, but it only reaches its
maximum 300W output in around
40 knots. Step charging requires a
separate charge diverter (£255.90).
 £739.95
 leadingedgepower.com
LE-450
Leading Edge also offers a more
powerful five-bladed version of its
300W unit that can generate around
35W in 10 knots of wind, or up to
450W. The charge diverter system
costs an extra £432.85.
 £998.95
Rutland 1200
This is Marlec’s new generation
turbine, producing up to 500W from
a three-blade system. Its wind/solar
charge controller (included) uses
so-called Multi Power Point Tracking
(MPPT), which Marlec says can
boost the power from the turbine.
Meanwhile, Pulse Width Modulation
gives multi-stage battery charging for
two separate banks, and brakes the
turbine as the batteries come up to
charge. There is also a remote display
(£140) so you can keep an eye on
performance from elsewhere on
board.
Produces 40W at 10 knots, and
automatically regulates in winds
above 27 knots to top out at 500W.
 £1,295
 marlec.co.uk
Rutland 914i
A familiar sight in marinas (and on
land), the 914 is Marlec’s long-
standing six-blade unit. It is quiet
with a medium output, that uses
MPPT technology to increase
efficiency. It can be attached directly
to the battery, but for safety’s sake, it
is better to use one of Marlec’s
controllers. The HRSi (£84.95)
works with a single battery
bank, while the HRDi
(£159.95) can charge two
separately, and manage up to
160W of solar. Produces 27W in
10 knots of wind.
 £689.95
 Marlec.co.uk
Superwind 350
This is a well-engineered turbine that
combines robust German build,
quality materials and an ingenious
ABOVE (L-R) system for managing excess charge.
The LE 300,
Silentwind; D 400 Uniquely, the three blades actually
and Air Silent X feather in winds above 25 knots to
reduce output and prevent damage
BELOW
The Rutland 914i from ‘overspeed’. This is coupled with
a charge controller that offers step
charging and diverts excess power
into dump resistors (£462 extra).
Output around 20W at 10 knots
wind speed.
 £2,012
 mactramarine.co.uk
AIR
America’s Primus now sells the AIR
range of turbines, which include the
Breeze and the X for Marine use.
They use almost identical parts, but
the Breeze is governed to top out at
around 250W, thereby avoiding the
noise issues that were reported for
the faster-turning Air X on boats.
Both use electromagnetic braking
and have a distinctive, relatively
lightweight design. Both also survive
extreme winds. However, you really
need a standalone charge diverter if
you want to use these turbines
effectively for multistage charging,
and to prevent stop-start operation
when batteries are full. Also available
with the famous blue carbon blades
for further noise reduction (£200
extra). Both models produce around
20W in 10 knots of wind.
 £1,250
 ecopowershop.com
Silentwind 400
Built by the same Portuguese
company as the ‘silent’ blue carbon
blades, this unit comes with a Hybrid
Boost charge controller, which offers
Bluetooth connectivity to monitor
output remotely, as well as input for
up to 300W of solar panels. Overall,
the unit produces some 25W in 10
knots and tops out over 400W.
 €1,857.30
 silentwindgenerator.com
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 61
Buyer’s Guide ~ Green Kit

Solar panels rope. Better panels can simply bypass

Even a relatively small panel can
generate the 100-milliamp trickle
charge needed to keep a 100aH
battery topped up. For example, a
semi-flexible 14W Sunware panel
from Marlec measures 47cm x 24cm
and can put out 720mA in the heat of
the day. Scale that up to a 100W unit
measuring just over 1m by 69cm and
you can get 5.75A out of it.
Reckon on getting about 10 per
cent of your panel’s stated power over
a 24-hour period in the UK. For our
14W panel, that would equate to
around 3 amp-hours per day, or
20aH for the bigger one. Cheaper
panels will show a much bigger
drop-off when even a single cell is
shaded, even if it’s no more than a
the non-performing cell(s). For the
best charging potential, panels need
to be run through a charge controller,
just like a wind turbine. Different
manufacturers use different
technologies, which affect price,
efficiency and longevity. In general,
buy a well recognised brand, such as
a Solbian, SunWare or Solara because
they are designed for marine use, and
can stand up to the rigours of the
high seas. Polycrystalline silicon is
the cheapest option, but also typically
less efficient, converting perhaps
15-18 per cent of the sun’s energy
into power. Monocrystalline silicon
can be up to 25 per cent efficient, but
there are developments in the
pipeline which promise to raise that
further. Most marine panels will be
semi-flexible, allowing them to curve
slightly with the deck they’re fixed to.
Rigid panels are heavier, having
metal frames and glass covers, but
they are well engineered and cheaper.
They will need to be installed on a
frame or gantry, however. There are
numerous suppliers but IMP
(improducts.co.uk) products is a
good one stop shop for a good
selection. Otherwise, here are some
more options.
Sunware,
High quality monocrystalline panels,
available in three formats. The TX
has a fabric trim, the Series 20 has
the cable junction box on the front,
while the Series 40 has it on the back.
 from £249.95
 marlec.co.uk
ABOVE Spectra
A selection of
Solbian panels Marlec’s own brand of cheaper
polycrystalline units are ideal for
BELOW
Twelve Solbian solar
keeping batteries topped up.
panels custom fitted Available in powers from 5W-35W.
into the deck of a
cruising catamaran  from £62.95
 marlec.co.uk
Solbian
Different ranges run from the 24%
efficiency of the Sun Power units
down to 20% for the cheaper SX
units. All are mono-crystalline with
bypass diodes, so that a shaded cell
doesn’t eliminate output. 50W-144W,
 from £345.70
 barden-uk.com
Solara
Another German manufacturer,
offering both mono- and poly-
crystalline panels. The M-Series is
semi-flexible in poly, while the
M-Series Power uses more efficient
mono. Both available in outputs from
12-110W. Rigid panels are also
available in aluminium frames with
non-slip glass.
 from £238.25
 barden-uk.com

Case-study: hydro-generation at 24V. These do not make the generator

Discovery 55
Berthon refit project
The owner of the yacht came to Berthon asking
them to fit a Watt & Sea 600 regeneration pod
to the underside of the hull. “It was felt the
fixed unit was more robust with less hassle
of deployment and retrieval than the other
units on the market,” explains refit manager
Nick Legg. “The requirement was to produce
power in conjunction with solar already fitted
when yacht was under way to maintain battery
levels to reduce use of the generator.”
The boat already has four 200W Uniteck
solar panels in frames on the stern of the
boat, feeding into a 500aH gel battery bank
obsolete – the boat has air-con and an electric
cooker - but they do reduce run time.
Installation was relatively straightforward, with
the pod outside and wires running through the
hull to the regulator inside, then on to the batteries
with the necessary fuses and relays. The key is
siting the generator itself for efficiency: “Watt&Sea
recommends behind the keel on the centre
line, to give clean water flow over prop. This did
cause a little trial in finding space inside hull with
access to bolts and a wire gland on this particular
design of boat, but was achieved successfully.”
Total cost was some £3,500 for
the pod and an additional £1,000 for
installation, depending on access.

62 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

Experience the freedom of fully www.hydrovane.com

charged batteries on board...

FEEL THE FREEDOM
Rutland 1200 Turbine With Hydrovane: Your Independent
Self Steering Windvane AND Emergency Rudder
Silent Your best crew Have confidence Install off center,
Tri-namic™ profile blades ...steers 24/7 for all scenarios with davits & gear

Jeanneau SO 43 Rustler 36

Powerful W n W d !

HYDROVANE
Wind & solar MPPT

Reliable
Over 100,000 Rutlands
sold worldwide Panda 34 Hallberg Rassy 39

Marine Solar Panels

Discover proven wind & solar energy solutions from

the UK’s oldest renewable energy company at Hydrogenerator

www.marlec.co.uk or call 01536 201588 STEERING THE DREAM

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 63

Buyer’s Guide ~ Green Kit

Hydro-generation
Hydrogeneration or regeneration is
the ability to convert a small part of
your boat’s momentum into
electricity as it sails. Simply put, you
lower a propeller into the water
which rotates in the flow of water
under the hull and spins a small
alternator to generate power. You can
have a dedicated fixed pod attached
to the hull, or use your main prop by
inserting an electric motor into the
drivetrain, but most common is a
lifting device that is transom
mounted. Output tops out at around
600W, but the technology is robust
and well proven on some of the most
arduous races in the world. Most of
us won’t manage the double-digit
boat speeds seen in the Vendée
Globe, but cruising boats can still
generate 80-120W at 5 knots,
depending on the size of propeller
they use. Drag is marginal, typically
well under 0.25 knots.
Watt&Sea Cruiser
The most visible of the various
brands, thanks to its sponsorship of
some high-profile French racers,
Watt & Sea comes in either a 300W
or a 600W cruising variant. Choose a
dedicated pod version for permanent
mounting on the hull, or a transom
bracket with a variable length leg.
The leg with the propeller on it
swings up or down into the water as
you pull on one of two ropes. A
regulator controller allows two
separate battery banks to be charged
at 12V or 24V using multi-stage
charging. Three different propeller
sizes are available – the smallest
200mm favouring fast boats, and the
largest 280mm suited to slower
cruising boats.
 £3,504.10 (300W) or £5,010.41 (600W)
 wattandsea.com
Swi-Tec
Rated at 600W, this Italian-made
product has a propeller whose blades
can be manually re-pitched to suit
your boat speed: either 6 knots, 10
knots or 12 knots. The idea is that the
power output is always at its best that
way, and Swi-Tec claims the unit can
generate 110W at 5 knots. The
system includes a 1kW regulator
which can accept up to 400W of solar
ABOVE (L-R)
The Watt & Sea
input. When the batteries reach a
and Sail-Gen preset voltage, the regulator puts the
hydrogenerators
system into freewheel mode. The
BELOW pod is transom-mounted and raised
The Swi-Tec on a 4:1 purchase line, so the unit
hydrogenerator
can be deployed and recovered at
speed.
 €3,411.39 (c£3,070)
 swi-tec.com
Sail-Gen
Generating some 80W at 5 knots, or
around 350W at 8 knots, the Sail
Gen looks a little different to the two
options above. It is a rigid welded
aluminium frame that houses an
impeller on a carbon-fibre driveshaft,
while the alternator is housed out of
the water where the unit attaches to
the transom. A ‘dive plane’ controls
the impeller’s depth in the water and
adjusts for sea state. It is larger and
heavier than the competition, but
there are two different propeller sizes
available for fast or slow boats.
Intriguingly, a third variant is also
available – the Duogen (from
£3,313.12), which can serve as both a
hydrogenator or as a wind turbine.
 £2,464.69
 eclectic-energy.co.uk

BEST OF THE REST

Windvane steering
Many systems out there that
reduce draw on the battery
but there are a number
of UK manufacturers:
Hydrovane - hydrovane.com
Hebridean -
windvaneselfsteering.co.uk
Seafeather - sea-feather.co.uk
Neptune - windvane.co.uk
Bilgeaway
An in line filter you can fit to
your bilge pump that captures
toxic waste before it hits
the waer: bilgeaway.co.uk
Marlow BlueOcean ropes Bilge sock
Range of performance ropes Absorbs hydrocarbons
made of recycled PET bottles. in bilge water so you can
marlowropes.com pump out with equanimity
asap-supplies.com
ONESails FORTE 4T
Continuous yarn technology Ecoworks cleaners
means these sails can Green cleaning from the
be recycled in your heads to teak decking
household rubbish ecoworksmarine.com
onesails.com/uk
Marine 16 cleaning product
Synthetic teak decking Biodegradable bilge
One to weigh up: made of virgin cleaner digests oil
PVC, but fully recyclable. Marine16.co.uk
flexiteek.co.uk,

64 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

 Mark your anchor!

Self-Adjusting
Anchor Buoy
Always directly above the anchor
A tensile strength of up to 500 kg
Function as a tripping line
Stainless steel V4A
Belt length up to 20 m
Self-rolling strap mechanism
Edge Protection
Safety Reflector 3M
Practical accessories available

Buy the buoy and get for free:

Anchor prohibition sticker

Boat name lettering

UK Distributor
Unit 13 Worle Ind Centre, Worle, Weston super Mare, BS22 6BX
Tel: 01934 517288 • Email: info@mactramarine.co.uk
www.mactramarine.co.uk

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 65

Sailing the world ~ Port Preparation
SAILING THE
WORLD
Dick Beaumont spells out what
you won’t find in the almanac
There are many factors that make for a
successful blue water voyage but there
is one certainty; if you have an unhappy
crew, you will end up having a miserable
passage no matter how stunning the
sailing or how beautiful the destination...
PART THREE
Port Preparation
O
ne of the most common
mistakes that voyaging
sailors make is
committing themselves
to finite departure dates.
This imperative is often created by
the requirements of crew departure
from the intended arrival point and
date, but it must be avoided where at
all possible, as sailing vessels run to
tide tables NOT time tables.
I have been coerced into accepting
that a crew ‘just has to be back by
XYZ date’, but all it will do is tempt
Zeus* to throw problems in your way
to ruin your carefully calculated
passage plan.
If you can induce your crew to sail
on the basis of ‘I’ll see you when I see
you’ so much the better.
Crew
It’s important that all crew know
what is expected of them and those
66 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
specific duties are appointed before
leaving port.
By sharing out duties, everyone has
a role, feels valued and becomes part
of the team.
Clothing
The skipper should make sure all
crew members have good, sound
heavy weather waterproofs with
them. This should be checked several
days before departure, so you’ve got
time to get them if they haven’t.
Many people greatly underestimate
how cold it turns at night at sea, so it
is equally important everyone on
board has warm clothing despite the
tropical latitude you may be sailing
in.
The skipper should also inform the
crew of the footwear they are
expected to use on deck: hobnail
boots, heeled shoes are the enemy of
laid teak, even worse are Flip-Flops
ABOVE or ‘thongs’ as Aussies call them,
An experienced Zeus* watches over their wearers
skipper knows
that the key to a covetously, hoping for a trip up and a
successful voyage is MOB.
achieved in the most
part before departure I don’t allow bare feet on deck,
nasty injuries can be caused to
OPPOSITE PAGE
Fig 1: Emergency
unprotected feet by blocks, cleats,
tiller set up and tracks and stanchion bases.
liferaft stowage area
Safety Equipment
Briefing
It’s vital that all crew are fully briefed
on where the life-raft, lifejackets,
flares and emergency grab bag are
before leaving port. It’s also very
good practice to discuss with all the
crew how the life-raft may be
launched if needed. It’s important
that everyone on board understands
the plan before you’re in an
emergency situation.
Get out and fit and test your
emergency steering system. Then
re-stow it where you can easily access
it! It won’t be fun trying to dig it out
from the bottom of a lazarette that’s
crammed with ropes, fenders, BBQ’s
and all the paraphernalia a cruising
yacht must carry. On Kraken Yachts,
one of our latest innovations is a
dedicated storage area which is
directly accessible from the transom
deck, for both the emergency
steering system and the life-raft.
Before leaving port crew should be
familiarised with the life jackets and
select their own lifejacket having FIG 1
adjusted it to fit. It’s a good idea to
tag each lifejacket with a different
coloured cable tie.
Ask the crew if they have any
particular dietary requirements.
Emergency Tiller holster storage
On one trip, one of the crew
informed me as I served my
speciality chicken curry on the first
night of a 10-day passage, that they
would only eat free-range chicken,
which wasn’t so easy to source in the
Philippines, and that they preferred
not to eat pork or beef either.
After losing a bit of weight during
the first couple of days, hunger
overcame this moral dilemma as Dedicated Life Raft Locker
sailing is hungry work!
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 67
Sailing the world ~ Port Preparation

Cockroaches lay their eggs in the

Food Provisions fluting. It’s also a good idea to
Before you go shopping, work out immerse fruit and veg overboard in
how many meals you must cook the sea to wash off bugs which do
and how many cups of tea or coffee not, as a rule, like saltwater.
will be drunk. Lastly, fill and stow at least 20 litres
Crossing the Atlantic from the of drinking water in containers, so
Canaries to Antigua on a 50ft yacht you have an emergency water supply
can reasonably be expected to take in case your tank water is fouled or
18-21 days, add three more for lost. That won’t be enough for more
contingencies and with a crew of than 7-10 days but you are bound to
only four, you’ll need provisions have other fluids on board too, eh !?
for almost 300 meals!
Don’t forget you’re sailing with a Prepping the Yacht
crew on watch 24 hours a day, so ABOVE with the motion of the yacht it will I won’t go through the exhaustive list
Freshly baked bread
night time snacks will also be is a real boon keep being knocked back and won’t of checks that determine whether
needed on top of the daily rise properly. your yacht is suitable and seaworthy
requirement. Most of the Kraken Team have for the passage intended, but there
That’s a lot of food and a lot of been making our own bread whilst in are a few issues that should be
space is required to stow it. lockdown, Fil Sochaj’s recipes have checked on every yacht before
Wide-open apartment-style been pretty successful so we’ve leaving port:
accommodation looks very nice included his basic sourdough bread Turn off each bilge, if you can, and
but on a cruising yacht you need recipe further below. flood each bilge with a hose, then
lots and lots of cupboards, lockers Get used to long-life milk and buy pump out, ensuring all floats, pumps
and draws, not open spaces. five more cartons than you think. and manual pumps are fully
It’s better to split your When you discover that two of the operational.
provisioning into at least three crew prefer muesli or cornflakes for Run every system, engine, gearbox,
sections, and only buy half the breakfast the milk store will rapidly generator, water maker, aircon
meat and fish at a time so that you deplete. autopilot, navigation equipment and
can : The same thing applies to fruit and refrigeration. Technicians are in
Get it frozen down efficiently veg: buy half then go again. You will short supply 500nm out.
whilst onshore power before you need ‘veg hammocks’ made of Check the state of your antifoul
leave. netting to keep the produce well and particularly check and scrape the
Evaluate how much space you aired, otherwise it quickly rots. prop. If you can dive yourself, great,
have left in the fridge or freezer Just a quick side note here, don’t but otherwise get a diver to clean the
before it’s too late and it doesn’t fit take cardboard boxes onboard. hull. Make sure he shows you the
in.
If you don’t have enough freezer
space you’ll need to supplement
fresh provisions with a canned
product.
Carrying enough bread for an
ocean crossing isn’t really going to
work. 20 loaves will take up your
whole freezer space, so get into
baking your own bread while on
passage. There are two choices,
either use a bread maker, which is
a pretty bulky item or go the whole
9 yards and create a sourdough
starter and bake by hand. The
former is easier perhaps but the
latter is far more satisfying.
You’ll need 5-7 days to get the
sourdough starter going, so you
need to put it down well before you
leave port.
One tip here; put the bread
maker or proving bowl on the
gimballed cooker hob, otherwise

68 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 69
Sailing the world ~ Port Preparation
photos of the work he’s done. Just a
little fouling can seriously reduce
your speed and efficiency. A 20-day
crossing can easily be increased to 25
or even 30 days if the hull and prop is
fouled.
Check the steering, if it’s cable
steering take up the slack in the wire.
Spares
The general rule is you can’t have
enough spares, and that whatever
you have, it won’t be the thing that’s
broken. Remember Zeus* is
watching.
You should have at least four spare
water pump impellers for the engine
and the generator, three spare fan
belts for each fan belt in use, 12 of
every size of jubilee clamp from 1cm
to 6cm diameter but also check for
all the larger sizes you have too.
You need spare oil, fuel and air
filters for both engine and generators.
Check over your engine and
generator and keep a spare for every
sensor.
Carry enough oil for two oil
changes and lots of coolant.
Check every flexible pipe/tube
diameter and buy a metre of each
size going from the largest to the
smallest diameter pipe, such that
each pipe fits inside the next one up.
This will mean that whatever pipe
bursts, even if it’s a shaped engine
pipe with different diameters, you’ll
be able to configure a pipe to fit it
(see fig 2, above).
Buy every size and length of cable
70 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
FIG 2
ties and at least two big rolls of gaffer
tape and make sure you have a
multi-size set of wooden bungs.
Tools
Start at the bow of the yacht, both on
deck and below deck, and check that
you have the type and size of tool that
is needed for every single fitting.
Lift every floorboard and hatch.
This will take a lot of time but you
only need to do this once and it’s the
only way to go. Knowledge of your
yacht and its equipment is
paramount.
Once you have all the tools needed,
put them into several toolboxes that
can be carried to the problem area
rather than into lockers that need
hunting through.
Then clearly label each toolbox
with the type of tool that’s in it, so
that everyone can see what tools are
in what box without opening and
hunting through each box.
Again this is laborious work, but it
will make it so much easier for the
crew who aren’t familiar withFIGthe4
yacht to locate the correct box
containing the required tool quickly.
Remember, it’s highly likely that you
may need the tool you want fast.
You should draft a daily check-list
and have it printed out. It should
include, oil level checks for engine
and generator, coolant level, fan belt
tightness and condition, fuel filter
check, bilge water level check, sea
chest/strainer check of debris.
Navigation
1. Check that your chart chip covers
the area you will sail in.
2. Carry hard copy charts for the
whole trip but ensure you have large
scale detailed charts for the places
you may arrive in.
3. Put a handheld GPS in the grab
bag with plenty of extra long-life
batteries.
4. Whatever communication systems
you have onboard I suggest you carry
a hand-held satellite phone which
can be carried on a life-raft.
Check the weather, clear out and go,
but tell the local coastguard (if there
ABOUT THE is one) where you’re headed and,
AUTHOR: very conservatively, when you expect
Dick Beaumont
is the CEO of to arrive.
Kraken Yachts
and a bluewater
cruiser of some note *Zeus, the god of screw-ups at sea.
having sailed over
250,000nm on a
range of yachts. He Next month: On passage
currently cruises In the final part of the series, Dick
his own Kraken
66, White Dragon. looks at watches, crew psychology,
krakenyachts.com ships log and daily checks at sea.
 Sillette
THE BEST YOUR AT CAN GET

Join Endeavour Sailing in Lanzarote for year-round

sunshine and perfect sailing conditions!
Tailor made packages, RYA qualifications, Ladies only
courses and Skippered Charters offered.
www.endeavour-sailing.co.uk
Sillette.co.uk +44(0)1202 621631
Tel: 0034 628 478 400
stephanie@endeavour-sailing.co.uk

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 71

Buyer’s Guide ~ Winter maintenance
Winter
refit
Dinghies
B
oat work can be a little
bit like injury: people
often don’t think about
it until it stops them
sailing. Preventative
boat work takes far less
time (and therefore ensures far more
time on the water) than waiting for
something to break and then fixing
it. That said, winter often brings
more time on shore, making this a
great time to get your boat in tip top
condition so you can enjoy the
rewards with confidence once you
get back on the race course.
The winter months are also a great
time to get ahead on jobs that you
know will need repeating, are
looking for consistency, or where you
will need a spare. For example, when
making up tapered spinnaker sheets,
rather than making one at a time,
why not make two? Another good
activity is to make an inventory of
72 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
What can dinghy owners do now to get ahead?
Jon Emmett breaks down some key tasks
your equipment to see what needs
replacing and decide what equipment
to downgrade from racing to training
use.
Hull
It pays to get into the habit of
washing the boat down after every
sail to keep it clean and salt free. This
helps prevent corrosion, especially
around rivets. At the same time,
BELOW check for scratches that need sanding
Clean and polish the
hull - two polishes and note any repairs required.
within a month of Cleaning the boat can often be
each other should
last you the season easier if the boat has been polished
(check your class rules for what is
allowed). This is especially good for
keeping diesel/petrol fumes from
sticking to the boat, even if the boat
has an under cover and is on the
roof! Two polishes within about four
weeks of each other at the start of the
season, should last the year.
Remember, a leak free boat is dry
inside to touch; water in the hull can
seep in and even the smallest amount
can gradually increase the weight of
the hull. So, any water inside the hull
needs to be investigated and fixed as
soon as possible, and the boat needs
to be emptied ASAP after sailing.
Leaks are most likely not from a
hole, but from a fitting. Every screw
means a hole in the boat, and every
hole is a potential leak. To identify
any leaks, wash the boat with soapy
water whilst putting air into the bung
hole (with all other holes taped over),
then look for bubbles. In any case, it
may be worth resealing all the fittings
in one go, because if one piece of
sealant has aged out then it is likely
to be happening in lots of other
places. Use good quality marine-
brand sealant, which will be long
lasting and have a slight amount of
movement in it.
Repairs
Whether you are using marine filler,
gel coat, or epoxy, the area needs to
be clean and dry. Rough-sand lightly
so that there a good surface the filler
can adhere to.
Temperature is important: too hot
(not a problem in the UK winter!)
and it may set too quickly, too cold
and it may not set at all. The answer
is not just to add more hardener,
because in the long term this creates
an inferior bond. Instead, stick to the
exact ratios, using measurement
syringes to be precise or pump-
packaged products. To increase the
strength of epoxy I recommend using
microfibres; if it is cold outside try to
bring the job inside.
To avoid a mess always tape the
surrounding area and eliminate the
excess. Use a variety of grades of
sandpaper to get that perfect finish
gping from 400 grade to 2500 grade
(or even rubbing compound), and
then give a final polish.
Covers
Having perfected the hull, you now
need to protect it. Top and bottom
covers are a must while travelling or
if leaving the boat for any length of
time. Accept that covers have a finite
lifespan, and should be replaced
when they no longer repel water
effectively. They are not a luxury, they
are the first line of defence.
Ropes and blocks
Ropes similarly have a finite lifespan
and should be replaced, not shortly
before they break, but before their
condition becomes detrimental to
performance.
The technology in ropes has
improved no end and so there really
is something suitable for most tasks.
Ropes should be as short and thin as
possible for the task they do - there
are very few exceptions to this,
adjustable toe straps being one,
where you want to create as much
friction as possible to stop the rope
slipping on itself. It may be
appropriate to taper ropes; in some
places you are looking for super low
friction whereas others you need to
ensure that the rope does not slip in
the cleat. It really is a false economy
to try and make savings here.
Investing in good blocks that are,
again, appropriate to the task, can
help prolong the life of your rope.
Replace regularly, and stock up on
spares of key components.
Sails
The conditions of sails are not
binary: fast or slow, racing or
training. It is a gradual progress from
perfect (or as good as they get) to
useable. Keep a diary (can be app
ABOVE (L-R)
Fibreglass work can
be tricky in winter due
to low temperatures
but go for precise
measures rather
than adding more
and more hardener;
a cover is your first
line of defecnce from
decay and should be
checked regularly and
replaced if necessary
BELOW
Check ropes and
replace where
necessary
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021
based, very easy to do) - just record
how many strong wind regattas a suit
of sails does and note their condition.
Sails wear out at different rates, with
those sails which flap more like
spinnakers and jibs tending to have a
shorter working life than mainsails,
for example. The useable life varies a
lot from class to class and is not just
about usage; it depends upon the
material of the sail, its construction,
etc. Talk to your sailmaker for more
advice.
Toolbox
A fully stocked toolbox is a must!
Having everything required to be self
sufficient saves you time having to
borrow equipment - and worst case
scenario - not being able to borrow
when you need it! Items like rivet
guns, electric screwdrivers and even
the drill bits are well worth buying to
a high standard. Unfortunately
though, tools can and do go missing.
Now is a good time to replace them
and to have a spare for the most
important components.
If you aren’t going to be using it for
while, remember to allow power
tools to completely discharge lithium
batteries.
Trial and error
Whether training or club racing,
winter is a great time to review your
boat set up and try new things. For
example, you could try to reduce the
purchase in a system to create less
rope; change where blocks and cleats
are positioned to get better angles; or
maybe if you have been struggling to
get the adjustment you need, add
purchase.
Use boats at the front of your fleet
as a starting point, but remember
there is often more subtlety,
depending on your crew weight,
sailing style and preferences, so take
the time to work through variations.
73
Buyer’s Guide ~ Winter maintenance
Yachts
W
hether it’s a
racer, cruiser
or somewhere
in between,
don’t be
tempted to
wrap your yacht up for the winter
without considering the work that
will be needed for commissioning in
advance of next season. A bit of
careful attention at this time of year is
the key to quick and hassle-free
preparation for next summer.
Most marine trades are very
seasonal businesses that are quiet at
this time of year, yet are invariably
fully maxed out with work from early
spring to mid summer. In addition,
many marine manufacturing
companies operate on small margins,
so only hold limited stock, which
means any spare parts needed may
not be immediately available.
Waiting until March to book in
essential work therefore inevitably
results in delays. While maintenance
should be a continuous process with
a constant eye kept on anything that
may need attention, the winter period
offers a chance to cover anything that
may have been missed earlier and to
delve into greater depths to identify
any potential unexpected problems.
Sails
Checking sails out is a great excuse
for a late season sail in sunny
weather. One of the best times to see
damage, especially to spinnakers, is
when there’s sun behind the sail.
In any case, even on a cruising
yacht it’s worth removing the sails at
74 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
Rupert Holmes looks at key maintenance tasks for yacht
owners to check out at this time of year
least once a year and giving them a
really good check over. Look for
chafe on stitching – or even weak
stitching due to sun damage. If it
succumbs to the pressure of a
thumbnail being dragged across the
stitches the seam clearly needs
resewing.
Also check the leech of sails
particularly carefully – these are the
areas that experience the greatest
flogging. The inboard end of batten
pockets can also present issues, as
can the edges of reinforcing patches,
such as reefing points, especially on
high tech sails.
Rig and deck gear
Even a boat that doesn’t get used a
great deal should have a full rig check
each year, covering both standing
and running rigging. Offshore
raceboats that are pushed hard in
heavy weather ought to do this both
before and after each event.
With wire rigging pay particular
ABOVE (L-R) attention to where the wire enters the
Hull cleaning and
rig checking swage – this is the most common
place for strands to break. Also check
BELOW
Check sails for chafe all terminals and fittings for visual
and weak stitching condition and security, paying
particular attention to spreader roots
and rigging attachment points. At the
masthead check the halyard sheaves
run smoothly and lubricate them
sparingly.
Every few years it’s also worth
taking the rig down, dismantling
components and removing spreaders.
Everything can then be cleaned to
inspect for hairline cracks, while any
broken strands of wire may be more
obvious.
At the very least, other deck gear
should be washed thoroughly with
fresh water to get rid of the salt and
grit that can cause corrosion and
wear. Check the operation of winches
and windlasses – if they need
servicing now it won’t pay to leave
them over the winter. This is
particularly true for windlasses,
which are rarely used, yet live at the
wettest end of the boat where they
are frequently dunked in salt water.
Hull and deck structure
A regular polish and wax will help to
keep mouldings looking like new –
this is especially important for
coloured gelcoats, which tend to fade
relatively quickly. Large areas on
badly faded topsides are best done
with an electric polisher. At the same
time as doing this it’s worth keeping
a careful eye open for any dings and
scratches, or cracks that may be a
sign of more significant damage.
Traction Made Beautiful...
The high performance non-skid deck coating.
See ou
r
Worldwide shipping English
For all your Navionics Channel
chart s
and Garmin Charts
NAVIONICS UPDATES NAVIONICS +
Your old Navionics+, Gold or Navionics chart with SonarChartTM
Silver card and cards from other Community Edits* Advanced
brands can activate one new Features including Dock to dock
preloaded Navionics Updates card Autorouting* and Plotter Sync*.
of any area or format. Activate
the new Updates card when you
PLATINUM+
Same great Navionics charts with
are a ready to use it and start the
Satellite overlay, 3D view and
12 month period of free updates.
panoramic pictures*.
Keep your old card as a backup.
Platinum+ cards may be part GARMIN
exchanged for new Platinum+ Garmin g3 and g3 Vision; the best
or Navionics+ cards. of Garmin and Navionics data
combined. Buy new or update
yachtingsoftware.com your existing Garmin chart - you
can also upgrade from g2 to g3 -
Made In New Zealand
E: sales@yachtingsoftware.com
email us with your requirements.
T: 07710178995 *available features dependent on type of chart plotter.

Unit E4 Fort Wallington, Fareham, PO16 8TT. Tel 01329 232360 Navigation Planner Winning Fishing
Save your Navionics chart to your PC Record, sort and view your catches
sales@vitessemarine.co.uk www.vitessemarine.co.uk/kiwigrip navigationplanner.com winningfishing.com

www.uml.co.uk

Life Jackets, and in

particular the inflation
mechanism should be
checked at least annually.

HAVE YOU
CHECKED?
Check the expiry date on your
cartridge and replace with a
new cartridge from your local
chandler or service agent.

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 75

Buyer’s Guide ~ Winter maintenance
Safety equipment
All safety gear should be given a full
check and service over the winter.
With yachts becoming ever more
complex in this respect, and different
items having different service
intervals, it can be hard to keep track
of every element. Are the flares up to
date? Lifejackets, including their
lights, PLBs and personal AIS units
serviced? Are the bilge pumping
arrangements up to scratch and
working? What about the gas and
carbon monoxide alarms? When
does the liferaft next need to be
serviced? Are charts up to date? For
most yachts this is now an extensive
list that requires a methodical
approach.
Engine and other
systems
Diesel inboard engines will benefit
from a service including changing
oil, oil filter and fuel filters
immediately before the winter lay up.
The engine should also be winterised
at the same time – it’s important to
ensure that raw (salt) water cooling
systems are flushed through with an
anti-freeze mix to prevent damage in
sub-zero temperatures. Fuel tanks are
best left topped up full, as this
reduces the condensation which
We Clean your Sails and Covers
to find out more visit www.tiptopsails.co.uk
76 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
enables the bacteria that have
potential to block fuel filters to thrive.
It’s also important to consider what
to do with fresh water systems in the
event of a hard frost. Draining tanks
(including the hot water calorifier)
and ensuring there’s no water
remaining in electric pumps, will
ensure they cannot be damaged.
Keels and rudders
Keels and their supporting structure
should be examined for damage every
time the boat comes out of the water,
whether or not it has been aground.
The first place to look is under the
floor – if there are cracks around the
ribs near the aft end of the keel this
indicates a serious structural failure
due to the aft section of the keel being
pushed upwards into the boat.
ABOVE (L-R)
Motors should be
Any evidence of such damage
winterised if your needs to be investigated by a
boat is fully laid up;
with the boat on the
surveyor and repaired professionally.
hard, it's the ideal Similarly, any sign of water ingress
time to tackle noisy
jobs rather than in
around the keelbolts also requires
a marina berth immediate professional advice. An
early tell-tale sign of problems is
BELOW
Winter is the ideal often external rust stains in way of a
time to sort those keel bolt.
chores that can get
overlooked through Any play in the steering reduces
the summer season feel and control and adversely affects
control so should be rectified as
quickly as possible. Linkages, cables
and other elements of wheel steering
systems should be checked for wear
or slack due to stretching and
adjusted or replaced as necessary.
It’s also important to check rudder
bearings for play. This can be done by
moving the tip of the foil from side
to side with the boat well chocked
up. Anything more than the tiniest
amount of play needs to be
investigated further. For offshore
racing in Category 3 races such as the
Rolex Fastnet there’s a forthcoming
requirement to have the rudder and
keel checked by a competent person.
This was due to be implemented for
the 2021 season, but has been put
back by 12 months. Anyone planning
major works or a survey over this
winter would be strongly advised to
bear these requirements in mind.
 Yacht Mattresses,
Upholstery & Bedding

RS aero
UK & European Coverage with Bespoke Service
Call our knowledgeable, experienced
advisors on +44 (0) 3704 464 233
www.ShipShapeBedding.co.uk
Mattresses - Upholstery - Deck Cushions - Shaped Bedding -
DRY-Mat Anti-Condensation Underlay - Galleyware

RYA Sail and Motor Cruising

Training Centre
Chatham Marina on River Medway 45 mins from London

RYA Sailing & Motor Cruising Courses

Competent Crew • Day Skipper • Coastal Skipper
Yachtmaster • Helmsman
Shorebased Courses
Day Skipper • Yachtmaster • On-line
courses with on-line video classes
Plus
Around Britain Adventure Sailing • Milebuilders
Fast-track Yachtmaster • Own Boat Tuition • ICC
Join the
Elite Sailing Club
Follow-on sailing,
discounts & events

Call us: 01634 890512 elitesailing.co.uk

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 77
 Sailing calendars
Beken: six classic yachts, each pictured in colour today and
in sepia as it was in its heyday. £16.99. nauticalia.com
Ingrid Abery: regatta action from around the world,
including the English south coast. £20. ingridabery.com
Classsic Sail: 12 classic yachts shot in the US, UK and Med
by Kathy Mansfield. £12. tide-mark.com
Rick Tomlinson: wall and desk calendars, featuring TP52s, Fast
40s and more. Wall £19.95, desk £7.95. rick-tomlinson.com
Den Phillips: b&w shots, an international regatta calendar and an
English east coast calendar. £18 each. denphillipsphotos.com OF COWES

Calendar of Wooden Boats: photos by US classics specialist YACHTING

Benjamin Mendlowitz and captions by wooden boat historian
CALENDAR

Maynard Bray. 2021

LAUNCHED
$17.95 woodenboatscalendar.com

THE BEST NEW KIT

Gill jacket
As part of the OS2 20th
anniversary, Gill has created an
Nautical Top Trumps ‘Offcut Edition’, using repurposed
surplus material. An extra
Featuring boats ranging from the Cutty Sark to 50 jackets are now available
warships to the latest superyachts, with stats to worldwide from the surplus
compare including age, size, speed and more. material. 20% from the overall
sales of the jacket will be donated
 World Famous Ships Top Trumps is available on Amazon.co.uk to Plastic Oceans to aid in the fight
RRP £5.99 against marine plastic pollution.

£299

gillmarine.com
Paul Wyeth images 

Photographer Paul Wyeth is offering a 20% discount on print

orders of his shots. Enter the promo code PWP20 when
you checkout to receive your discount. If you can’t find
the image you’re looking for, contact Paul to search his
extensive archives. He says orders placed by 19 December
should be delivered in time for Christmas in the UK.

pwpictures.com
 Watch supports the RNLI
For every RNLI special edition watch bought,
Elliot Brown pays £35 in support of the
charity. Elliot Brown’s RNLI Kimmeridge
watch uses nautical features including the
RNLI rope and anchor logo. The watch also
features small white and blue circular dial
indexes, positioned outside the hour batons,
as a reference to the white and blue boat
hooks carried by every RNLI offshore vessel.

Men’s and women’s versions £365


elliotbrownwatches.com

78 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
 Baltic Extreme
Baltic’s newly developed 50N
buoyancy vest is designed
to be suitable for ‘all types
of sailing’, with a ‘nice snug
fit’ and ‘manufactured with
softer panels and mesh back
for a light and airy feel’.
Features a secure front zip
pocket and a cross body
zip for ease of entry.

£79.99

baltic.se

Nautical wallpaper
Surround yourself with this atmospheric gaffer-
and-Cornish-cottage scene, which is brought to
us using environmentally friendly paper and inks.
For every roll of wallpaper sold, the manufacturer
plants a tree in conjunction with ‘One Tree Planted’.

Price £69

Wood-covered fionahoward.com

notebook
We featured these wooden-
covered notebooks last month and
we make no apologies for doing so Boss the world
again, this one carrying a nautical
design, available from English Vendée Globe followers will have spotted
company Bark & Rock. The family Alex Thomson looking smart in his Hugo
company sources sustainable Boss kit, including items from the brand’s
woods from around the world as new ‘Sailing Capsule’ collection, made using
well as from its local environs in the ‘responsible materials’. The eight pieces in the
south of England. Each notebook capsule collection, presented in the colours
arrives beautifully presented in a of the Hugo Boss yacht, are made from
luxury package. It is hand-crafted recycled polyester and organic cotton. Their
with fine details throughout, reduced use of resources is said to mirror
yet is designed for life, with the the design ethos of Hugo Boss the boat.
pages refillable. Special editions
include silver and 24-Carat gold  alexthomsonracing.com/the-hub/shop-
personalisation and wood inlaying. the-capsule/

Priced from £190


barkandrock.com


Unbreakable glasses
When things get lively on board,
these large polycarbonate wine
glasses should remain in one
piece, whatever the condition
of the sea or of your guests.
A set of six with a heart, 11oz.

Price £23.50

athomeinthecountry.co.uk

 APPROACH
The approach channel dries
at 1.4m above chart datum
so most yachts have a couple
of hours either side of HW
NORTH PIER

WEST PIER

GULL’S EYE

WHITEHAVEN MARINA
CUMBRIA
54˚ 33.18’ N, 03˚ 35.82’ W

As the gateway to the Solway Firth and the Lake District,

Whitehaven is a popular base for sailors in the North West,
and for visiting yachts. Chris Rosamond reports
 W
S N

HARD STANDING

TOWN CENTRE

HARBOUR OFFICE

LOCK GATES

MARITIME MUSEUM
Whitehaven Marina

P
erched on the edge of
the Cumbrian coast
where it provides a
safe and welcoming
refuge from the
rigours of the Irish
Sea, Whitehaven has a long and
fascinating history as a trading port.
The origin of the town’s prosperity
is based on the export of local
Cumbrian coal from the 1600s, but
as the port developed through the
1700s it also profited from trade in
tobacco from America, and trade in
sugar, wool and cocoa from Barbados,
Antigua and St Lucia.Whitehaven
was also a key link in the lucrative
slave trade, with ships plying routes
between Africa and America and
greatly adding to the town’s wealth
– an historical blot the town council
felt obliged to apologise for in 2006.
From the 1800s, Whitehaven’s
importance began to be overtaken
by the deep water ports of
Liverpool and Glasgow, and in
more recent times the place began
to feel distinctly down at heel – in
spite of its unique and extensive
Georgian architectural heritage.
EU redevelopment funding
has been part of the solution, and
nowadays Whitehaven is considered
PHOTOS STOCK/ALAMY
the doorstep, the town’s proximity is
one of the great attractions to berth-
holders at Whitehaven Marina.
Whitehaven’s geographical location
means there are plenty of other reasons
for basing a boat here, or for cruising
visitors looking for ports worthy of an
extended stopover. The Lake District is
within easy reach, offering spectacular
scenery and destinations to explore
ashore, while the Solway Firth offers
appealing sailing with a selection of
fascinating ports worth a visit – albeit
mainly drying – set against backdrops
of beautiful Cumbrian scenery to the
south, and Scotland to the north.
ABOVE
A fine view of the
outer harbour
and the lock
RIGHT
Looking down on the
inner harbour from
the maritime musem
54˚ 33.18’ N, 03˚
35.82’ W

an architectural gem as a planned

Georgian town with 170 listed
buildings. With welcoming pubs,
restaurants and shopping literally on

82 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

HARBOUR GUIDE
Whitehaven Marina was created by
the town’s Harbour Commissioners
in 1998, and it was taken over by
Gosport-based Marina Projects
in 2009 who continue to run
– and invest in – the facility.
It is located in the large harbour,
including the Old Quay built in
1633, and the Bulwark Quay built in
1711. The outer harbour, West Pier
lighthouse and Queen’s Dock were
constructed later in 1800s, while
a sea lock was the last significant
addition to the infrastructure in
1998. It was designed to protect the
town from tidal flooding, while the
marina benefits from permanent
deep water and good access for all
but a couple of hours at low tide.
Facilities at the marina are of good
quality, with 400 pontoon finger
berths, all with electricity, water and
Wi-Fi laid on. The marina – and sea
lock – are staffed round the clock,
and Whitehaven can accommodate
yachts up to 65m with a 5m draught
with larger vessels berthed alongside
the quay walls. Other facilities
include holding tank pump out and
a 24/7 fuel berth, while gas refills
are available from the marina office.
The office block also provides access
to PIN protected shower, toilet and
laundry facilities for berth-holders.
Whitehaven is also a great location
when you need to carry out essential
maintenance, laying claim to what
it says are some of the most modern
yard facilities in the region. There’s a
45-ton lift and a one ton mast/engine
crane, and as well as its extensive hard
standing Whitehaven also boasts
a large boatshed allowing staff to
complete antifoul, varnish or paint
FACTFILE
WHITEHAVEN MARINA
Website: Whitehavenmarina.co.uk
Email: enquiries@whitehavenmarina.co.uk
Marina Office +44(0) 1946 692435
‘Whitehaven Sea Lock’ VHF Ch 12
Sea Lock control +44 (0)1946 694672
Tides: Standard port Dover +0020
Water and electricity to all berths
Fuel: Fuel berth has diesel 24/7
Toilets, showers, laundry, Wi-Fi
45-ton boat hoist
1-ton crane for masts/engines
ABOVE jobs in a warm, dry environment.
the distinctive
aluminium ‘wave’
There are marine engineering,
divides opinion electronics and rigging services
but it is a symbol
of the regeneration
on site, as well as a brokerage and
of the area chandlery. If you want to use external
services or work on your own boat,
the marina operates an open yard
policy to keep things simple.
Car parking on site is free for
berth-holders, although if you’re
travelling by car keep in mind
it’s an hour’s drive from Jct 40
of the M6. Whitehaven Station
is only a five-minute walk away.
Slipway
Maiden Marine Chandlery +44(0)1539 488050
UK Marine Electronics +44 (0) 1946 693847
UK Docks Marine Services +44 (0) 1914 569375
Berthing charges
Short stay (up to 15m LOA) £2.65 per m (day)
Annual (10.1m-12m) from £237.55 per m
Annual (12.1m-15m) from £240.75 per m
Monthly Apr-Sept (13m) £39.00 per m
Electricity: metred for all berths
Car park: free for berth-holders or £5 per day
Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 83
Whitehaven Marina
PASSAGE PLANNING
Pick your weather and you can ensure that the notorious Doom Bar presents no problem
If you’ve made it as far as the
northern end of the Irish Sea,
you’ve done most of the hard
work as far as planning your entry
to Whitehaven is concerned.
There are no dangers charted on the
approach to the harbour, no matter
what direction you’re coming from.
The harbour lies a couple of
miles north of St Bees head which
stands out on the coastline, and
there are charted tall chimney
stacks to the south of the town.
There are red and green lights
marking the ends of the North and
West Piers, and it’s advisable to keep
closer to the North Pier to avoid the
sands that radiate from the Western
arm. The marina pilotage notes
suggest closing towards the North
Pier light until you’ve lined-up with
the axis of the sea lock, at which
point you’ll be sure of a clear run in.
The outer harbour approach channel
dries at 1.4m above chart datum,
84 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
so most cruisers will have a good
three or four hours of water under
their keels either side of high tide.
You’ll need callsign ‘Whitehaven
Sea Lock’ on VHF12 as you enter
the harbour, and must not venture
into the lock itself without the
lock-keeper’s permission and three
stacked green lights. Three reds
mean no entry, flashing reds signal
CHARTS
Imray C62
Admiralty 2013, SC5613
The Cruising Almanac 2020 by
the Cruising Association/John
Calver
an emergency and require you to
divert. As well as paying attention
to the lights, it’s a requirement that
lock users monitor channel 12 at all
times during arrival and departure.
BELOW Inside the lock, you’ll need to
Visitor’s berths run secure to the cleats provided and
the length of Lime
Tongue quay use a spring line to relieve the effect
of surging. Once inside the basin,
you’ll find a maintained depth of
7m, while the inner sill of the lock
is 1m above chart datum. Once
inside, steer a little to starboard for
the visitor finger berths facing the
length of the Lime Tongue quay.
CRUISING GROUNDS
Whitehaven sits at the southern
gateway to the Solway Firth, and
while the extensive stretch of water
and sand isn’t quite the Solent when
it comes to anchorages and lunch
stops, that’s not to say there aren’t
plenty of interesting destinations
to keep cruising yachties happy.
The Irish Sea can be challenging
when the weather decides to play
up, and care needs to be taken with
local tides, so regular cruising from
Whitehaven isn’t necessarily ideal for
faint hearts. However, those who take
on the challenges will be rewarded.
Possible day trips include
Maryport, Workington and
Harrington which are all accessible
on the Cumbrian side, while the
ABOVE Galloway coast on the Scottish side
The Isle of Man is a offers Kipford, Kirkcudbright and
long day sail away
Stranraer at the cost of a few hours
BELOW sailing. Of these the pretty river
Anglesey with the hills
of Snowdonia in the
port of Kirkcudbright is the most
background uplifting choice, but all the Solway
ports are limited by tides and will
require a degree of careful planning.
You can head south down
the Cumbrian coast too, with
Barrow-in-Furness, Piel Island and
Morecambe Bay before Liverpool
and the north coast of Wales
and Anglesey come into view.
Head out into the Irish Sea, and
31
NEXT
MONTH
Fecamp Marina in
beautiful Normandy
the Isle of Man is definitely on
the cards for a weekender, with
the port of Douglas offering the
bright lights, while the rest of the
island is a festival of wildlife and
spectacular scenery. Ireland itself is
a cruising jewel too, with Malahide
offering links to Dublin and Howth
full of folksy craic for sailors.
Heading north beyond the
mouth of the Solway Firth,
Whitehaven cruisers also have
the delights of the western isles
in Scotland on the doorstep –
relatively speaking, at least.

USEFUL CONTACTS
RESTAURANTS
Zest Harbourside +44(0)1946 66981
Anna’s Café +44(0)1946 695454
Casa Romana +44(0) 1945 591901
Akash +44(0)1946 691171
TRANSPORT
Whiteline Taxis +44(0)1946 66111
National Rail Enquiries +44(0)3457 484950

SYSTEMS SOLUTION
The

• Quality engineering
for WASTE WATER
t: 023 8045 4507
• Innovative design

e: SAL ES@ V ET US.CO.U K

• Competitive pricing
• Guaranteed compatibility
• Unrivalled warranty W W W .V E T U S . C O M

ENGINES | STERN GEAR | FUEL | INSTRUMENTS | FRESH WATER | WASTE WATER | MANOEUVRING | ELECTRICAL | STEERING | HATCHES | VENTILATION

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 85

How to Win ~ Racing rules of sailing, 2021-2024

New rules
The major review of our racing rules
traditionally occurs every four years, to
coincide with the Olympic cycle. Mark
Rushall talks you through the latest updates

T
he postponement of the
Olympic regatta this year
means that competitors
at next years’ regatta will
be sailing to the new
rules: fortunately for
them, as well as for those of us sailing
at home, few changes affect the rules
as we apply them in practice.
However, there are many rule
number changes, and things have
moved around a little. In this feature,
I’ll take a look at the significant
changes to the main body of the rules
that apply to dinghies and crewed
keelboats in fleet racing situations,
and also a general look at the
structure to help you to find your way
around the latest rule book.
The rules are available to view and
download from the World Sailing
website: www.sailing.org, and the
printed version, complete with RYA
prescriptions, will be available from
the RYA bookshop in December. I’d
highly recommend the integrated
e-book. This enables you to click on a
defined term to get to the relevant
definition instantly, and also cross
references the rules to the casebook.
What is the casebook? It’s a
compendium of interesting cases,
that are published to clarify the
meaning of the rules in question, for
the future.
Introduction
The introduction explains the
structure of the rules, and gives
meanings to a few of the key terms.
One of the most important
statements in the introduction is that
terms other than those listed as key
terms, or included in the definitions,
are “used in the sense ordinarily
understood in nautical or general
use”: that has not changed and is
relevant to the new definition of

86 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

 and finish. We now start when any
part of the hull crosses the line from
the pre-start side. So, on an upwind
start, a trapeze crew could feasibly be
on the course side of the line at start
time with no need to return: handy
for spotting transits! Hull is not a
defined term: time will tell whether
racks, gantries, etc come to be
considered a part of the hull in the
“sense ordinarily understood”.
 Similarly, we will now finish when
any part of the hull crosses the finish
line: you can now claim as
convincingly as you like that you
normally sail with the spinnaker
halyard eased 3 metres, and it will
make no difference to your finish
time!
 This change is also reflected in
rules 29 and 30 (recalls and starting
penalties). It is only the hull, not the
crew and equipment, that need to
return to the prestart side of the line,
or cause a boat to be penalised
through the I, Z, U or black flag
rules.
 The other changes in definitions
are mainly clarification of current
starting.
One small change to the
introduction, is that where a hail is
required by the rules, the hail does
not now have to be in English so
long as it is reasonable for it to be
understood by everyone involved.
Definitions
Any italicised word in the rulebook
is a defined term: if you are not sure
which side of the boat is the
PHOTOS: RYA OR J/70 WORLDS
windward side when you are head
to wind, you’ll find out in the
definitions!
 The most significant changes
here are in the definitions of start
understanding rather than changing
any meanings.
 Mark definition is clarified to
include any object intentionally
attached to the object or vessel, apart
from the anchor line. A committee
boat attached to the mark is a part of
the mark, the remains of the
spinnaker of the boat ahead are not.
 The Mark-room definition did not
explicitly include room to avoid
touching the mark: it does now!
 There is a new definition: that of
“sailing the course”. Creating this
definition means that rule 28 (Sailing
the Race) is now much simpler. This
definition is also used in the scoring
appendix and a significant change to
this appendix is that the race
committee can now score a boat “Did
not sail the course” without a
hearing. This was not previously
permitted. If you are scored DNSC,
and want a hearing, you’ll now have
to request redress.
 The definition of proper course
now specifically mentions sailing the
course: again, a clarification rather
than a change in meaning.
sailingtoday.co.uk JANUARY 2021 87
How to Win ~ Racing rules of sai

Fundamentals
“Sail safe, sail fair, and follow the
rules” is a rough summary of the six
fundamental rules. Some have
changed number and moved around
a bit, but the biggest significance is
that the penalty for breaking the fair
sailing rule (rule 2) is now once again
a non-discardable disqualification
(DND), as it was before 2017. A
typical rule 2 violation would be not
taking a penalty having knowingly
hit a mark: counting a disqualified
could make a big dent in your series
score in that case!

When Boats Meet

Now we get to the interesting part of
the rulebook: very few meanings situations where a boat might be BELOW the mark rounding rule (18). It is
Rule 16.2 now
have changed here. exonerated from breaking a rule, only applies on the now clear that the rule no longer
 Section A is titled “Right of Way”. including this one, have been starboard tack applies when mark room has been
I dislike this description because of elegantly scooped up and put in new given according to the mark room
the implication that one boat has the rule 43. definition. This may allow a boat that
right to plough on regardless. This is  Rule 16.2, the anti-hunting rule, is just clear astern to stop the boat
not the case: we are always required now only applies to a starboard tack just ahead gybe-setting onto port
to avoid contact with another boat if boat that is on a beat to windward, tack on the exit.
reasonably possible. (rule 14). I i.e. when the proper course to the  There are no changes in meaning
prefer to think of section A and some next mark is close hauled or above. to the “Room to pass an obstruction”
of section D (“Other Rules”) as keep In fig 1, Red is keeping clear by rule (19).
clear rules: whenever two boats get sailing to pass to leeward of Green.  A significant change to the “Room
close to each other, there is always a Green must not bear away if that to tack at an obstruction” rule (20), is
keep clear rule that will apply would require Red to immediately that if a hail may not be heard, a boat
between them. change course to keep keeping clear. needs to make a signal that clearly
 The well-known keep-clear rules  Section C: “At Marks and indicates a need for room to tack, or
(Port starboard; windward leeward; Obstructions”, is the catalyst for the a “you tack” response. The rule also
clear astern clear ahead; tacking) are most interesting club bar rules allows other methods of
unchanged in text and number. The discussions. As above, it is important communication such as VHF to be
more specialized keep-clear rules to remember that these rules do not specified in the Notice of Race.
(starting errors; taking penalties; override the keep clear rules: they  Section D is headed “Other Rules”.
backing a sail) have changed in may add an obligation to a keep clear It includes the specialized keep clear
number only, apart from one small boat or limit the actions of a right of rules mentioned above, the
but significant word. A boat way boat. requirement to avoid a capsized,
returning from an early start is now  There are very small changes to anchored, or aground boat if
keep-clear boat only until her hull is
completely behind the line.
 Section B is headed “General
limitations”.
Fundamental to the understanding of
the rules is that these rules don’t
change which boat in any situation is
the keep clear boat, they either place
an extra requirement on the keep
clear boat, or limit the actions of the
other boat in some way. This section
includes anti-contact, situations
where right of way changes, changing
course, and sailing above a proper
course.
 Rule 14, the anti-contact rule, has
not changed in its application, but all

88 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

possible, and not to interfere with a
racing boat when not racing, or a
boat taking penalties or on another
leg. None of these have changed.
Conduct of a race
This part of the rules summarises
what a competitor might expect a
race to look like, and what they need
to do to get a finishing position.
The Notice of Race must now be
available before a boat enters. It does
seem sensible that competitors know
what they are letting themselves in
for before they commit to joining in!
A new safety rule, 37, requires
boats, where possible, to monitor the
race committee channel when flag V
is flying.
Other requirements
while racing
This self-explanatory section is now
much easier to find your way around
as it has been split into two sections:
general and equipment related. As a
result, the rules have moved around a
bit so is worth a browse: Here are the
most significant changes.
l You are now permitted to pump
upwind as well as downwind.
“Lowriders” can pump once to
promote surfing or planing; foilers
any number of times to promote
foiling.
 The conditions when a boat can be
exonerated for breaking a rule in the
“when boats meet” section, are now
all included in rule 43.
 The only change in meaning, is
that previously you could not be
exonerated from hitting a mark
unless you were compelled to hit it
by a keep clear or give room boat: i.e.
there was no option to bail out. Now
you can simply be exonerated if you
hit the mark as a consequence of the
other boat’s actions.
 The anti-trash rule, now rule 47,
also applies to support persons. And
it cannot be changed by the Notice of
Race or Sailing Instructions.
If you fall out, you no longer have to
be back on board before you
continue sailing towards the next
mark. Holding on to the gunwhale is
good enough!
 Quick release trapeze hooks have
been on the horizon for many years.
From 2023, any quick release trapeze
hooks must be to the ISO standard,
and must be fitted unless the class
rules specify otherwise.
Part 5
This part of the rules covers all the
off the water processes that deal with
rules infringements. Again, most
changes clarify current practice.
 A boat, race committee, or
technical committee can report
misconduct under rule 69, or a rule
infringement by a support person, to
the protest committee.
 You have always been able to
request redress if your score has been
affected by damage or injury caused
by a boat breaking a rule of part 2.
Now, your request will fail unless the
other boat has taken a penalty or is
otherwise penalised.
 Requests for redress normally
have the same time limit as for
protests: a request for redress based
on a protest committee decision must
now be delivered within 30 minutes
of that decision being posted.
 As far as the hearing itself is
concerned, there is improved
clarification for the protest
committee which everyone involved
should read carefully before getting
started on a hearing. Two or more
protests involving the same incident
can be heard together (except for a
69 hearing), hearsay evidence shall
be considered, irrelevant or unduly
repetitive evidence excluded. The
protest committee is directed to give
appropriate weight to the evidence
presented, and in most situations,
decisions should be made on the
balance of probability.
 A request to reopen a hearing
must now be in writing. If the
request concerns new evidence, the
protest committee should be the
original one if practical: if it is based
on an error, it should have at least
one new member.
Entry, Qualification,
Race Organization.
 There are no big meaning changes
in the final two parts of the main part
of the book, apart from a new rule
that allows the notice of Race to set a
time on the last day after which no
race or series score can be changed.
 The rules have never been so
accessible. So why don’t you choose
your media, make some cardboard
models, and use this quiet time
inside to have some fun working
through the rules structure and
planning domination on the water.
sailingtoday.co.uk JANUARY 2021 89

Threeofthebest
BROKERAGE | BOATS FOR SALE
X YACHTS | XP44 - KIYA
Kiya is a lovingly maintained and
beautifully presented example of the
award-winning X-Yachts Xp 44 from
the Danish yard’s ‘Xperformance’
range. Designed to incorporate the
very latest technologies in weight
saving, strength, and quality, all in the
quest of effortless speed, Kiya is just
perfect for those that like to cover
ground quickly, easily and in comfort.
Her current owners have been
thoroughly impressed: “Kiya sails
like a dream – upwind, no one beats
her and downwind is a lot of fun.
She offers spacious cabins for us,
our grown up kids, and friends with
wide berths throughout and further
90 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
£4
(Ta 10,0
x p 00
aid
)
racing berths in each aft cabin.”
This one owner since new X-Yachts
Xp 44 has been lightly used for
fast, family cruising. Professionally
maintained regardless of cost,
ready to go and EU VAT paid.
Cabins: 3
LOA: 13.29m (43’6”)
Beam: 4.07m (13’3”)
Displacement: 8650kg (19,070)
Berths: 8
Engine: Yanmar 39hp
Lying: Svendborg, Denmark
grabauinternational.com
craftinsure quote: £1,815
5 m )
6 .7 aid
£ xp
(Ta
SOJANA
One for the dreamers this, but worth a look anyway; Sojana
was designed by Farr Yacht Design back in 2003 and this
114’ dreamboat is designed for serious fast cruising. This
is a yacht that owes a lot to some of Farr’s latter maxi
yacht designs that took part in the Whitbread Round the
World Race. As you’d expect from a Farr design, Sojana is
also a multiple race winner, having picked up honours at
Antigua Race Week, the St Barths Bucket and the Rolex
Transatlantic Challenge. Despite this impressive racing
pedigree, the ketch rig ensures that this is a yacht that can
be handled relatively short handed. As you can imagine, the
interior is also suitably sumptuous and can accommodate
between and 12 guests. She also enjoyed a complete
refit in 2015 and is presented in excellent condition.
Length: 35.0 M ( 114’8” )
Beam: 7.7 M ( 25’2” )
Draft: 4.5 M ( 14’8”)
Hull Material: Carbon
Engine: IVECO C87ENT 62.10 450 HP
Displacement: 96 tons
Lying: Monaco
ypiyachts.com
craftinsure quote: £POA
 (Ta£450
x n ,00
ot 0
pa
id)

HANSE 588 | ARABELLA

The Hanse 588 is towards the top end of the Hanse range
and this Judel/Vrolijk design has proven to be a big hit over
the last few years, combining sporty performance with
acres of internal volume. No question, this is an exceptionally
easy to handle, comfortable fast cruising yacht and Arabella
has to be one of the finest examples around. The boat
features a very high specification including generator, air
conditioning, engine upgrade, four electric winches, bow
and stern thruster and upgraded B&G navigation suite,.
Lightly used with less than 500 hours on the clock
and immaculately maintained and serviced. The boat is
lying in Gocek, Turkey and the VAT has not been paid,
this is a very rare opportunity for non EU residents
to find a purely privately owned 588 tax free.

Cabins: 3
Year: 2017
Length:17.2m (56’4”)
Beam: 5.2m (17’)
Draft: 2.85m (9’3”)
Engine: Volvo150HP
Lying: Gocek`
michaelschmidt.co.uk
craftinsure quote: £POA

Insure your yacht with

Craftinsure - boat insurance
at the touch of a button.
Get a quote online or call
today: craftinsure.com;
0345 2607 888

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 91

 TIME OUT
SAM JEFFERSON REVIEWS SOME BUNKSIDE READS, AND
THUMBS THROUGH THE LATEST REFERENCE PUBLICATIONS

Around these Islands in 12 Ports – Exploring maritime

Britain and Ireland by Sail – Jonathan Winter

Regular readers of Sailing Today will be familiar with Jonathan Winter as we have
featured a serialised taster of his book in the last four issues. For the uninitiated
though, Around these Islands is the narrative of Winter’s trip around the UK aboard
their 35’ yacht Nova. The book, however, is far more than a simple narrative of
the voyage in the ‘and then we went to hull, and then we went to Scarborough’
meaning. Winter instead uses the framework of the voyage to explore the many
varied aspects of life around the coastline of Britain. Winter also uses other voices
to provide interesting historical insights into the many ports visited along the
way. He also doesn’t shy away from visiting some of the more rustic corners of
the British coastline. All in all, it’s a thoughtful and rewarding read. To make things
that bit better, the proceeds from the book will go to the Mission to Seafarers.

£25
www.12ports.com

Future Blue podcast

Sailing Yacht Design – Kim Klaka
Australian journalist Kim Klaka has written a series
of articles for Sailing Today on various aspects of
seamanship and this book is a handy beginners guide
to the basics of hull design and shape. Given that
Klaka was a naval architect for more than 40 years, he
approaches the subject from a position of authority.
Fortunately he also manages
to not get too bogged down
in baffling terminology and
remembers that his readership
might not be as au fait with
the finer points of yacht
stability as himself. It makes
for an interesting read. I should
prerhaps add that it helps if
you have some interest in hull
form otherwise the method
for calculating STIX may well
seem a bit irrelevant. However,
working on that premise, you
will find this an interesting and
informative read that will be of
use if you are looking at different yachts and hull forms
and deciding which is best for the sort of sailing you do.
£8.99 (Kindle edition)
Amazon.com
The number of good podcasts about sailing is pretty limited – which is a shame
really - particularly when you consider that there are about 50 on the subject of
football alone. Anyway, Future Blue is a new one that has been put together by
a pair of keen sailors and entrepreneurs in the form of Alexis Eyre (Green Eyre)
and Ceri Hurford-Jones (Business on Board). According to the promotional blurb
this is a podcast that ‘will tackle key sustainability issues with a view to inspiring
behaviour change in the global marine industry. It is geared towards those
employed in the marine industry worldwide, from shop floor to board level.’
The podcast also has a green sort of theme – fitting for this
episode of the magazine. Interviewees so far include Dee Caffari
MBE through to representatives from Amnesty International, The
Ocean Race, 11th Hour Racing, British Marine and Marlow Ropes.
You may have gathered that this is quite a sort of ‘marine industry’ based
podcast – although the presenters, who have a reasonably easy relaxed style,
are not afraid to meander off
the main subject if something
interesting turns up. That said,
this isn’t crammed with seafaring
yarns. If you want something
more salty should we say, try Tom
Cunliffe’s podcasts. Nevertheless,
there are some interesting
topics discussed and, with the
podcast in its embryonic stage
at present, it will be interesting
to see how it develops. You can
download it through Spotify
or by going to their website.
anchor.fm

92 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

RYA New racing rules for sailing 2021-24/Racing Rules
Companion 2021-24/Rules in Practice 2021-24 By the edge of the sea:
Not so much a review as an update for reader with a racing bent that the latest
Essays and semi-true
edition of the Racing Rules For Sailing is out. It’s updated every four years so it’s worth
stories after 50 years on
getting hold of the latest version. I’m not going to bore you with details of my favourite the sea - Rod Heikell
passages from this worthy publication – nor for that matter am I going to tell you which
rules have changed or wade into an angry tirade about the latest rule amendments. I By the Sea is a short selection of tales from
will therefore leave it at the fact that is the only publication available that also details Rod Heikell which he has put together and
the RYA National Prescriptions, essential for understanding racing in the UK. published on Kindle and ePub. It’s not a full
We are all aware that rules can be confusing – Just ask any government blown book but it is a pleasant and sometimes
minister – so the RYA also publish two further titles to help sailors understand revealing read from one of the most
and reference the rules with ease. The RYA Handy Guide experienced
to the Racing Rules 2021-2024 (RRP £4.49) cruising
Also in the series sailors of our
is RYA The Racing Rules Explained 2021-2024 generation.
eBook (order code E-G80, RRP £17.99) written Heikell draws
by Trevor Lewis, former Chair of the RYA on many years
Racing Committee, a World Sailing International of sailing and
Judge and acknowledged rules expert. also his own
Fernhurst has also released two revised development
guides as an upshot of the revision; Rules in from keen
practice is an in depth look at the rules and amateur to
how to use them to your best advantage weathered
while the Racing Rules Companion is a expert in order
useful pocketbook that can be quickly to put together
referred to out on the race course. a charming
selection of
RYA New racing rules: £10.99 short stories.
rya.org.uk
Rules in practice: £17.99 £3.52 (Kindle Edition)
Racing Rules Companion: £7.99 taniwhapress.com
fernhurst.com

Classic Choice
Mr Midshipman Easy –
Frederick Marryat
Frederick Marryat is one of the forgotten
heroes of a somewhat more glorious age for
Britain. He served in the British navy during the
Napoleonic wars, serving under the notorious
Thomas Cochrane and also had the distinction
of both inventing an internationally adopted
signalling technique for ships (Marryat’s
Code) and had the obscure footnote of
bringing news of Napoleon’s death back
from St Helena and making the last sketch
of the Corsican Battleaxe on his deathbed.
He was also almost permanently broke, so
to round off a varied career and also to earn
some much needed cash, he took to writing.
Most of his books were about the navy –
although his biggest hit was probably the
children’s classic Children of the New Forest.
Yet the fact is his naval fiction is absolutely
first class. This is largely because, while it is
part fiction, it is certainly not the product of
a febrile imagination, instead being garnered
from many years spent aboard ships actually
engaging with the French navy for real.
This gives the narrative a very real tang of
authenticity that later imitators such as
Patrick O’Brien and the like could never hope
to achieve. Even better, Marryat was both a
notable wit and an embittered cynic who was
only too aware that – at times at least- the
Navy was a flawed institution and at times
the term ‘lions led by donkeys’ was all too apt.
This means that while he is patriotic to an
extent, he never falls into the rather tedious
trap of many Victorian novelists of writing
rather overblown hubris of the type that might
keep Jacob Rees Mogg happy but would bore
the rest of us. Midshipman Easy is arguably
Marryat at his finest. Given that this is a book
published in 1829, the style of writing is both
accessible and, at times, extremely droll. The
themes are also startlingly modern, with a look
at the basis of equality, race and wealth. Much
of the narrative will make you guffaw while
the action scenes are generally gripping – not
least because you know Marryat is describing
something he experienced first hand. The
book tails off a bit at the end towards a rather
feeble denouement but the early chapters
are an absolute tour de force of sneering
cynicism, clever wordplay and slapstick.

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 93

 Shortlist |Electric outboards
SHORTLIST
ELECTRIC OUTBOARDS
Bison 55ft/lb outboard
This lightweight outboard in the Bison
Neraus Series is an affordable electric
motor option and is reported to have
a good power to battery life ratio.
Weighs in at 9.3kgs and comes with
free spare propeller. Designed for salt
and freshwater use it comes with five
forward and three reverse gears.
 Amazon.co.uk
 £165
Epropulsion Spirit 1.0
Plus
The Spirit 1.0 Plus easily matches a
3hp petrol outboard and provides
more than sufficient propulsion for a
10 ft tender, or can work as auxiliary
power for a daysailer of up to 1.5
tonnes. The Spirit 1.0 includes one
large 1276 Wh battery, the largest for a
motor of this size.
 Epropulsion.com
 £1500
Elco 5
Elco is a US based manufacturer of outboards in
the 5-50hp range. The 5hp model features
tiller or top- and side-mount throttle control and
long- or short shaft models
The design is much like a traditional outboard
with with a standard aluminum casting so
replacement parts are readily available. A
water-cooled system that prevents over-
heating and there are multiple other safety
precautions including over speed, overload,
temperature, over-voltage and over-current
protection.
 elcomotoryachts.com
 £1958
94 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
MORE
SHORTLISTS
We keep this list and
others like it bang
up-to-date online at
sailingtoday.co.uk
Torqeedo Travel 1003
The Torqeedo Travel 1003 provides the
equivalent power to a 3HP petrol
outboard. It features an inboard
computer with GPS based calculation
of remaining range. It's also solar
rechargeable – including during the
voyage and it can be easily dismantled
for transport and space-saving
storage.
 torqeedo.com
 £2050
EZ Outboards
EZ Outboards is a Chinese company
that has specialised in electric motors
for the last 12 years. The motors range
from 3HP all the way up to 20hp and
feature an easy to use battery system
and three speed mode smart control
panel.
 goldenmotorcz.en.made-in-china.
com
 £2100
Watersnake Saltwater
Venom
Suitable for saltwater and freshwater,
these 34lb and 54lb in the 26” short shaft
design are perfect for canoes, tenders,
inflatable boats and small dinghies.
These upgraded Venom SX motors
feature a new sleek modern design, a
built-in power meter plus eight speeds:
five forward and three reverse.
 Stcstores.co.uk
 £199 (34lb model)
To advertise call +44 (0)207 349 3787 or email mark.harrington@chelseamagazines.com Holidays & Schools / Classified

SKIPPERED CHARTERS BAREBOAT CHARTERS

CARIBBEAN ALL INCLUSIVE OPTIONS RYA SAILING COURSES

o u c h ers
V
Gift 200.00
£ he
From entitles t off
is also t
Th scoun i
t o 5% d g holiday
r n
holde
p e o f saili
y
any t

SAILGRENADINES.COM SAILIONIAN.COM

CLOTHING CLOTHING
WETSUIT ‘SHORTS’ BLACK. Wet Suit
‘Shorts’ Black [TRADE]. £15 Tel 0161 793
1787 / 07975 901478 (MANCHESTER)

DINGHIES
MIRROR 14 (MARAUDER) 14 foot
racing dinghy with spinnaker & trapeze.
With launching trolley and boom-up
cover. £200 Tel 07913 604 574 / (STAINES)

visit sailingtoday.co.uk

DRYSUITS

a e to easure r t s Drysu ts

ProSail Atlantec CoreTek

Inshore Drysuit £545.00 Offshore Drysuit £800.00 Undersuit £120.00

We a l s o R E PA I R a l l m a k e s o f D RY S U I T
hammond-drysuits.co.uk 01474 704123
To advertise call Mark 020 7349 3787.

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 95

Classified To advertise call +44 (0)207 349 3787 or email mark.harrington@chelseamagazines.com

ENGINEERING INSURANCE

0% *
Interest

Always available

Smooth Sailing Get a quote

0151 473 8000
Comprehensive boat insurance policies
www.gjwdirect.com
Competitive premiums
GJW Direct is a trading name of Groves, John and Westrup Limited.
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm
reference number 310496.

* Applies to annual policy premiums over £100 - subject to status WORKING TOGETHER TO PREVENT DROWNING

INSURANCE

We have a
new look

Boat Insurance made easy

Get a quote in 20 seconds Marine insurance with
On cover in 2 minutes a personal touch

Low on-line premiums

Noble Marine is a specialist in providing boat insurance
for a wide range of vessels and marine craft.
Policies and claims are dealt with in-house by our
Get the App - craftinsure.com/app knowledgeable staff giving unequalled levels of service.

craftinsure.com Quote and buy online or call us on 01636 707606

03452 607888 www.noblemarine.co.uk
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

DINGHIES
MERLIN ROCKET - 3760 Winder
Canterbury Tales built late 2013. Selden
mast, boom and spinnaker poles with
Winder pole launch and Ronstan cleats
on the mast. Rod rigging. Winder lifting
rudder with carbon tiller 3 jibs,2 mainsails,2
spinnakers all HD Sails. West Mersey road
base. Lots of photos on request. . £13000
Tel 07903 993588 / (CHICHESTER)
Instant on line quotes and cover I Tel: 02392 754000 TIDEWAY SAILS Tideway Sails by Jeckylls
Quality Policies for all kinds of Dinghy, Yacht and Multihull, from Sailors to Sailors. in White Terylene Main - 1 row of reefing
points fitted. (No battens supplied) Genoa
- some staining, nylon twist Hank’s on luff
dinghyinsurance.com is a trading style of WH Insurance Consultants which is authorised Jib - brass piston Hank’s fitted to luff All in
and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority good useable condition. £100 Tel 07887
771451 / (FAREHAM)

96 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

To advertise call +44 (0)207 349 3787 or email mark.harrington@chelseamagazines.com
Classified
KEELBOATS DINGHY COVERS

www.rainandsun.co.uk rain
Dinghy covers .co.uandsun
Tel:
023
k
803
4 88
54

Call Philip Bull on 023 8034 8854

ENDURANCE 38 DECK SALOON
Beautifully light maple interior
by Blondicell Southampton. Safe
comfortable Grp criusing yacht with
raised saloon for all the family and
friends,6 berths.Only lightly used.Fin and
skeg hung rudder.Radar,Autohelm,GPS,
Navtex, Heater,240v,Battery charger.
Any offers or share considered. £69950
Tel 07770 860730 / (PLYMOUTH)
FLYING 15 - 3827 Built August 2005 by
Carbon Composites Cowes, Carbon
deck, flyaway spinnaker pole system,
carbon spinnaker chute, adjustable jib
cars, fully faired hull, keel, rudder. Full
amount of correctors. Lovely looking
boat in off white. Comes with full set of
Pinnell and Bax sails. Road trailer. Lying
Grafham SC. . £5000 Tel 07816 836245 /
(HUNTINGDON)
KEELBOATS
HALF TON CLASSIC 1979 Mistral 31
- Hull No 1. Taken from the mould
of the legendary Rollercoaster.
A gorgeous and seaworthy Rob
Humphreys design with blistering
pace. Good condition, fully loaded,
ready to race. £19995 Tel 07971
809294 / (BRADWELL ON SEA)
SWALLOW YACHTS BAY CRUISER 23 Bay
cruiser 23. Built 2015.Very good condition.
Includes a braked trailer. . £39000 Tel
07770 860730 / (CARDIGAN)
KEELBOATS SAILS
T: (01929) 554308
The Sail Loft,
16 Sandford
Lane Ind Est,
Wareham, Dorset,
BH20 4DY
31 FOOT CRUISING YACHT A www.kempsails.com
Sparkman and Stephens designed
sailing sloop, with a black GRP hull,
teak deck, beautiful lines and shape. TRAILERS
Fully equipped for sailing, roller reefing
DINGHY TRAILER. 3.8m x 1.5m. Suitable
and GRP/Radar installed 2011. New
for boats up to 12’. Well maintained and
Nanni 21 hp engine and seacocks.
Down below: 4 berths, leather in good working order. Bearings recently
upholstery, cooking galley,separate serviced. Reduced for a quick sale. £190
toilet and washing area. £15000 Tel Tel 07928 082128 / 02380 732868
028302 60600 / (NEWRY)

KNIVES STORAGE / WORKSHOPS

30432
WORKSHOPS/STORAGE
UP TO 24' (7.3M) LONG
Great for use as a garage/
workshop or storage area ZIP CLOSE DOOR
for boats, projects, etc
Tough, triple-layer,
waterproof cover Fully UV
treated for long-term protection
“Great product and would highly Heavy-duty, powder-coated
recommend it, great value. steel tubing Ratchet
Installed on my driveway to
house my old car and does the tightening to ensure drum-tight
job brilliantly.” cover Includes ground
See www.machinemart.co.uk anchoring system
MODEL SIZE (LxWxH) EXC.VAT INC.VAT
FROM ONLY CIG81015 4.5 x 3 x 2.4M £239.00 £286.80
CIG81020 6.1 x 3 x 2.4M £289.00 £346.80

LENGTH UP TO 24'
£
239 .00
EXC.VAT CIG81216
CIG81220
4.8 x 3.7 x 2.5M £279.00
6.1 x 3.7 x 2.5M £349.00
£334.80
£418.80
MODEL SHOWN CIG81220
£
286 .80
INC.VAT CIG81224 7.3 x 3.7 x 2.5M £429.00 £514.80

5 EASY WAYS TO BUY... SUPERSTORES TELESALES

NATIONWIDE 0115 956 5555
CALL & COLLECT CLICK & COLLECT ONLINE
AT STORES TODAY OVER 10,000 LOCATIONS www.machinemart.co.uk

MULTIHULLS YACHT DELIVERIES

DIAM 24 - 2014 OD TRIMARAN

Professionally prepared (ex Team
BP) and perfectly maintained. Little
sailed. Complete pack includind
Torqueedo engine, 2 set of sails,
launching trolley, covered road
trailer. Revised in ADH yard 2017,
ready for leisure or season 2019/2020.
Visible South of France. £20000 Tel
+33 607341149 / (MONTPELLIER)

Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting JANUARY 2021 97

 Jess Lloyd-Mostyn
Sea monsters have been an essential part of sailors lore since humans first took to the water.
2020 saw a very modern kind of monster wreak havoc on blue water sailor’s plans

A
good sailor quickly and a slew of restrictions.
learns to accept Families were split apart,
a certain amount crews were grounded, and all of
of flexibility in us became glued to our screens,
his plans. We are watching and waiting for the latest
forever at the news and what it meant for us. Our
mercy of the weather, storm host nations were fire-fighting, the
seasons, cruising rules and regulations on visas, immigration,
regulations and once you begin cruising permits and customs
cruising you discover that your shifting and changing day by day,
own agendas will always come meaning that to be a good guest
second to these larger forces. and follow the rules was like trying
However, not even the wisest to walk through quicksand. Or
of old salts could have predicted perhaps more like treading water?
the particular storm that was to There have been many forced to
befall the worldwide cruising fleet put a border between themselves
in 2020. All manner of boaters and their boats, many forced to
have been affected by the global stay put in the wrong place, in
shutdowns due to Covid-19. the wrong season, facing months
Casual day-sailors were unable to
get to their boats; liveaboards were
‘This is as good a time as any to ahead of tropical storms, dashed
plans, lost years. And though
forced to stay put in marinas or address the elephant in the room, we all nurture an acceptance of
harbours; and for some an entire adaptability as part of the sailing
sailing season or year was lost. or perhaps more of a kraken’ life, the coercion and constraints
But none have been more that we are now obliged to abide by
affected than those of us who go offshore, the voyagers, is so at odds with the core principles of life on the water.
the long-term global liveaboards for whom the stakes have We seek out the wilderness of the ocean, the
been far higher than simply missed time on the water. undeveloped coastlines, the uninhabited islands, the
If you are a regular reader of this column you may secluded anchorages because we have the freedom to do
have noticed that I’ve not mentioned the Corona so. This liberty is a fundamental belief of all sailors and it’s
situation so far, keeping it limited instead to my separate one of the many joys of choosing a mode of travel where
contributions to the magazine. I tend to view this there are no roads to follow, no time restraints, no one
platform as one of amusing and optimistic vignettes set way of being a cruiser. What new future do we face as
of sailing life. However, I think that the close of 2020 sailors? Countries that once welcomed visitors with open
is as good a time as any to address the elephant in the arms may view us with fear and alarm, others so eager
room. But, as we’re talking sailing here, perhaps it’s for tourism to replenish their struggling economies that
more of a formidable kraken-esque sea monster? they may open their borders earlier than advised. Yes,
Never before, other than in war times, were worldwide it’s certainly not the year any of us expected or wanted.
sailors forced to be so desperately reliant on the But where there is water there is a way. A yacht that
sympathies of our host nations. All across the globe travels at a mere 5kts teaches us how to be patient, how
pockets of the cruising community banded together to play the long game and look at the big picture. Of
and pooled their information and stories, setting social course our previous freedoms have taken a hit but much
media flurrying and all manner of speculative gossip as we would want it otherwise and squeeze our eyes
spiralling around like whirlwinds. It seemed as though tight to wish ourselves awake it has happened. But bit
everyone afloat that I was in contact with was facing by bit we will get moving again, and in the meantime
some degree of peril. There were boaters forced to JESS LLOYD- there is always love to give back to the boat and the
MOSTYN
ILLUSTRATION: MICHAEL PARKIN

repatriate, flying “home” to countries they’d left decades Jess and James left the
sea. From the sanding and varnishing projects if you’re
ago, while their yachts lay abandoned in overpriced UK in 2011 in their on board, to the route-planning and island-dreaming
Crossbow 42 and have
marinas, on unattended moorings or in exposed sailed halfway round
if you’re not, to the day-by-day baby steps of visa
anchorages. There were voyagers caught out mid-passage the world, growing negotiation and temperature testing required even for
their crew en route.
in the Indian Ocean or the South Pacific, arriving at a Follow their journey
small moves in some places, it will get better. The sea
destination only to be welcomed by a sea of red-tape at water-log.com will be waiting for us and we will get back out there.

98 JANUARY 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting

 RUGGED CRUISING CODE ZERO WITH U/V STRIP

Simple to furl, set and stow

Furl and set from the cockpit
Ideal for short-handed sailing
Apparent wind 40-140 degrees
Hoist before leaving
your mooring
Good all-round visibility
High-tech durable laminate
Deck stowage bag included
165% overlap for
maximum power
Set on normal
Tri-radial cut
spinnaker halyard
Free-flying
Gybe like a genoa
Easy furl
No complicated
spinnaker poles

Designed, cut and finished by craftsmen in our UK loft

CRUSADER SAILS The Sail Loft Hatch Pond Road Poole UK BH17 0JZ
Tel: +44 (0) 1202 670580 E-mail: info@crusadersails.com Web: www.crusadersails.com