January 2020

Yachting Monthly

Yachting monthly is at the heart of the British yachting market and is for people who actively sail their boats - whether cruising across the channel, around the coast or further a field in blue waters

Yachting Monthly2 min read
A Great Skipper?
Is it the ability to pull off impressive feats of seamanship and come alongside with aplomb that makes the best skippers? Or does it have more to do with navigating the rocky coastline of interpersonal relationships within the narrow confines of a sm
Yachting Monthly3 min read
Demands For Yacht Defect Accountability
The International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS) has launched a campaign to set up an international database of known yacht faults. It is also calling on the industry to do more to highlight latent defects, rather than waiting on boat owners to
Yachting Monthly2 min read
Maiden To Compete In Whitbread Retro Race
Tracy Edwards’ 58ft Bruce Farr designed maxi, Maiden will be taking part in the 2023 Ocean Globe Race. Edwards made history when she entered the yacht in the 1989-90 Whitbread Round the World Race with an all-female crew, winning two legs and coming
Yachting Monthly1 min read
MAIB Wants Guidance On Keel Maintenance
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) wants all yacht manufacturers to provide mandatory guidance on the inspection and maintenance of keels. Currently International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) standards recommend guidance on kee
Yachting Monthly2 min read
Record Breaking Figure 8 Voyage
American skipper Randall Reeves has become the first person to solo circumnavigate the American and Antarctic continents in one season. The 57-year-old sailor completed his Figure 8 voyage aboard his 45ft, flush deck, aluminium expedition sloop, Mōli
Yachting Monthly5 min read
Letters
The letter of the month wins a bottle of Pusser’s Rum, produced to Admiralty specification and served daily to every sailor in the Royal Navy for more than 300 years (UK residents only) www.pussersrum.com We had departed Dunstaffnage and sailed throu
Yachting Monthly3 min read
The Wonders Of A Windvane
That last sail of the season, taking Wild Song to Hayling for a repaint, was a fast run (a lot faster than our dawdle along the Spanish coast earlier). We positively stormed up from Dartmouth with a brisk southwesterly up the tail. It was predicted F
Yachting Monthly3 min read
Why I Have Torn Up My Insurance Policy
I have been sailing for more than 50 years and have owned 10 sailing boats. I have cruised them from the Dutch Frisian Islands to Cherbourg and from the Solent to the River Humber and into most ports, anchorages and rivers in between. These boats hav
Yachting Monthly3 min read
In Praise Of Centreboards
Out of the blackness a breaking mid-Atlantic crest makes itself known with a glow of tumbled phosphorescence as it roars past. Another wave lifts the stern, the boat slows as I sense the bow bury. It’s that pregnant pause when all sorts of forces com
Yachting Monthly8 min read
Red Sea Delight
The warship lingering at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden was a soothing sight as our Nicholson 32 Blue Eye tentatively tiptoed into the waters that precede the infamous Red Sea. Red and Sea. A decade ago these two words were synonymous with one thing.
Yachting Monthly2 min read
SKIPPERS’ TIPS & YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Most yachts are fitted with a diesel engine. As many of us know, diesel engines consist of four system components: a fuel system for power; an oil lubrication system for lubricating the mechanical parts; a water cooling system to cool the engine; and
Yachting Monthly2 min read
In-mast Change?
Q I have a beautiful Westerly Oceanranger 38, hull and deck laid at Waterlooville but beautifully finished by Meridian Trust in Portsmouth. She wasn¹t launched until two years after Westerly last went under in 2000. She has in-mast furling which I th
Yachting Monthly9 min read
Salona 380
MAKE Salona MODEL 380 PRICE FROM £207,500 inc VAT DESIGNER Maurizio Cossutti BUILDER Salona Yachts If any sector of the new-boat market is tough to break into, it’s the one for the 38ft performance cruiser. Look at the builders who are there already:
Yachting Monthly2 min read
A Question Of Seamanship
James Stevens, author of the Yachtmaster Handbook, spent 10 of his 23 years at the RYA as chief examiner Q Tom is skipper of Binnacle, a Contessa 32 which he has been cruising with three friends. They have just completed a 90-mile overnight trip and
Yachting Monthly15 min read
How To Run A Happy Ship
Toby Heppell is the Sailing Editor for Yachting Monthly. He has been sailing all his life and has been writing about it for more than 15 years. Good leadership sounds like something required of the Navy, or a perhaps a committed race team and not som
Yachting Monthly5 min read
‘As The Engine Spluttered And Conked Out, Panic Resumed’
Cruising on the notoriously rocky yet stunningly beautiful north Welsh coast is not exactly the most ideal starting place for a young, naive couple, who’ve watched too many YouTube videos, to learn some lessons from the sea. We’d bought an old 28ft 1
Yachting Monthly4 min read
MAN OVERBOARD Tactics That Really Work For Couples
Toby Heppell is the Sailing Editor for Yachting Monthly. He has been sailing all his life and has been writing about it for more than 15 years. Finding yourself in a man overboard (MOB) situation probably ranks near the top of every sailor’s list of
Yachting Monthly4 min read
What Needed Changing?
With a casualty in the water, the instinct is to let rescuers know and indeed, a DSC and Mayday call are listed in the RYA process for MOB. On our first attempt at picking up the casualty singlehanded, we followed the procedure to the letter. Anyone
Yachting Monthly3 min read
Our Conclusions
However much you approach this sort of testing with an open mind, we still had some preconceptions. We knew that continuously pointing at the casualty was going to fall by the wayside and were certain going below would prove unwise – though we had un
Yachting Monthly1 min read
Kit Usability
It should go without saying that safety-critical kit for a MOB situation should be ready to go at a moment’s notice. Checking this should be a part of your leaving harbour checks. Throughout the course of the day there were a few things we noticed th
Yachting Monthly1 min read
5 Ways To Get A Casualty On Board
If it isn’t too rough and the casualty is conscious, a bathing or rescue ladder is a quick way out of the water. In rough weather, going to the stern is a bad idea and a casualty may be too weak to climb out. Winching someone up a mast is hard work.
Yachting Monthly3 min read
The View From The Water
Though the focus of our test was on getting the boat back to a casualty, there were some points of note that are worth flagging up should you find yourself in the drink. We had three sailors for the day, Luke Hamble, Point Sailing School Skipper, Yac
Yachting Monthly7 min read
To Baltimore With The Jester Boys
Pippin ascended a particularly big wave, like an elevator to the 30th floor, and somewhere around the 15th my breakfast porridge ejected across the cockpit. This wasn’t sea sickness; I felt fine before and after, but it continued at regular intervals
Yachting Monthly7 min read
SHETLAND & FAIR ISLE
As we crossed the 24-mile stretch of water known as The Hole, the horizon started to blur and the outline of Fair Isle ahead of us faded. We motored on as our companion yacht, Reach North, a mile behind, became indistinct for the first time since lea
Yachting Monthly4 min read
Yourcruising Community
Despite just three days of planning, Neil Peters has successfully sailed around Britain the wrong way round in a £50 Laser 1. The 53-year-old, who has been sailing lasers since he was a teenager, left Eastbourne on 17 July before crossing the finish
Yachting Monthly4 min read
Slow Cruising With The Angels Of The Ocean
Jeff Wrinch, 57, owned a Southerly 135 before buying the Privilege 435 catamaran, Rock ‘n’ no Roll which he cruises with his wife Melanie and dog, Woody My attention was diverted away from the helm as I noticed something flopping about in the water 1
Yachting Monthly3 min read
Curiosities At The Chart Makers
‘Great Andaman where Inhabitants are said to be Cannibals’. These ominous words hang in the air, which is thick with the smell of old paper, ink and dust as we gingerly leaf through piles of ‘blueback’ charts in the basement of Imray, Laurie, Norie a
Yachting Monthly4 min read
Adriatic Adventures
The storm rolled in with 45-50 knot winds and large waves smashing directly into the breakwater at Slovenia’s Piran Harbour and reaching the stern of Willow, showering our new Hanse 455 with spray. My son Alfie, 11, and I stayed in the cockpit for a
Yachting Monthly5 min read
Homesick at Christmas
MAID MATELOT Lady Rozelle Raynes First published 1971 by the Nautical Publishing Company. Most recent edition Castweasel 2004 (currently out of print) In December 1943, 18-year-old Wren Stoker Rozelle Pierrepont and her friends had been sent to HMS A
Yachting Monthly2 min read
The Man Who Discovered Antarctica
Sheila Bransfield, Frontline Books Edward Bransfield was kidnapped by a Royal Navy press gang from Ballinacurra, County Cork in 1803. Sheila Bransfield has researched the logs and muster rolls of every ship in which he subsequently served. Bransfield
Yachting Monthly2 min read
Ultra Anchor New-style Anchor
Anchor design is always evolving and Ultra Marine claim its new design is the best yet. Theo Stocker tested the 12kg model, with the Ultra Flip Swivel, on his Sadler 29. At first glance the anchor is similar to a Spade anchor, but with curves on thre
Yachting Monthly7 min read
Keeping Your Boat Dry
When we went looking for our first yacht, many boats never made our short list. The reason? They smelt damp, mouldy, unloved and uncared for. We certainly did not want our boat to end up like that, particularly as we like to sail outside the summer m
Yachting Monthly2 min read
New Gear
Mara EFS has added an affordable 10-tonne buoy to its range of deck-level mooring systems. It is aimed at small to medium-sized boats and has been re-engineered to make it more affordable for the average leisure buyer. The new buoy has a 10-tonne bre
Yachting Monthly2 min read
Controlling Moisture What’s Hot, What’s Not
The traditional form of dehumidifier uses a compressor to create a cold surface inside a box. The warm moist air is drawn over this surface and as it makes contact, the moisture condenses into liquid water – in exactly the same way as it might on a c
Yachting Monthly3 min read
Overhaul Your Steering Compass
Coming back from Devon this summer, I needed to steer an easterly course to clear the Portland Race, but as the sun emerged from behind the clouds, I realised I could barely see my compass card. The domes of both of my steering compasses (our boat wa
Yachting Monthly2 min read
How To…
Find a landmark at least three miles distant. Close to slack water, motor round slowly in a circle, checking the bearing of the object on a hand bearing compass. If it remains the same, you are free from interference and can proceed with checking you
Yachting Monthly2 min read
Small Family Cruiser For Under £20K
Duncan Kent, yacht tester for 25 years, checks out the used boat market Erik and Diani both did a little dinghy sailing with their family in their early teens but neither has sailed out of sight of land. Inspired by a recent visit to the Southampton
Yachting Monthly2 min read
Jaguar 27
PRICE £5,000-£10,000 YEAR 1971-1985 Designed in the US as the Catalina 270, the UK-built Jaguar 27 hull is solid GRP, well reinforced around the keel, while her deck and coachroof are balsa sandwich. She was offered with fin or twin keels and tiller
Yachting Monthly2 min read
Westerly Merlin
PRICE £15,000-£18,000 YEAR 1984-1993 Launched in 1984, the Merlin was Westerly’s second Ed Dubois design, after the successful Griffon and was intended to be a comfortable, easy-to-handle small family yacht with a reasonable turn of speed. Available
Yachting Monthly2 min read
Moody 27
PRICE £12,500-£17,500 YEAR 1981-1986 The first of Moody’s long list of Bill Dixon designs, the Moody 27 was launched in 1981 and became an instant hit among young families wanting a stable and comfortable cruising yacht that wasn’t too expensive to b
Yachting Monthly2 min read
Sadler 26
PRICE £5,000-£10,000 YEAR 1981-1988 With a pedigree dating to the legendary Folkboat, the unsinkable Sadler 26 makes an excellent pocket cruiser with well-proven offshore credentials. Though similar in shape to the earlier 25, the 26 is beamier and h
Yachting Monthly3 min read
The Old(er) Seadogs
It’s a dilemma that affects people of a certain age who thrive on activities that are more often the preserve of the younger and fitter: at what point do you start looking for something less demanding, probably less risky? Back in the day you’d see t
Yachting Monthly2 min read
The Confessional
UK residents only The Confession of the Month wins a Standard Horizon HX210E water-proof VHF radio worth £134.95. It boasts a water activated strobe, 6W transmission, largest-in-class screen, an FM radio and more. www.standardhorizon.co.uk Christophe

Yachting Monthly

More Issues From Yachting Monthly