Table of contents for January 2017 in SAIL

When you’re sailing in the Aleutians, Kodiak, and Prince William Sound, common wisdom says you need to be out of the Gulf of Alaska by September first at the latest before the hurricane-force winds of autumn arrive. So, you could just head south to Mexico, escape the band of ice and snow, and set sail for a margarita. Or you can settle in for the winter. At 60 degrees north, the endless light days of summer start closing in rapidly. By late October, there’s a skim of ice in some anchorages. there’s no one around. We can hear the howling of coyotes in the forest and the snuffling complaints of sea otter pups as they drift by the boat. As sunset approaches, we look at the sky with a critical…

Some months ago, we ran a series of photographs in SAIL’s multihull issue showing a full-foiling catamaran crashing into a media boat on Lake Garda. Imagine our surprise when we discovered the shooter was a 17-year-old kid named Oscar Lindley Smith, whose nom de guerre is “Phantom of the Oscar.” Not only that, it turns out Oscar is currently looking for funding to help him break into the Flying Phantom and A-class circuits with an eye toward eventually sailing in the America’s Cup. We recently caught up with Oscar to see what makes him tick. SAIL: What has prompted you to follow the path you’ve followed thus far? Oscar Lindley Smith: My passion for sailing started at the age of seven years old and has resulted in many years of…

With this, the fift h model in Catalina’s “5” series of cruising boats, head designer Gerry Douglas has taken a second bite at the competitive 40-42ft market segment. the original Catalina 42 went through several iterations to become one of the most successful boats ever in this size range, with more than 1,000 built. In today’s shrunken marketplace the new 425 is unlikely to repeat that feat, but it is certain to carve out a niche of its own. DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION You won’t find any faddish features like twin rudders, hull chines or T-keels on a Catalina; quite the opposite. With thousands of boats to his name, Douglas has a good handle on what makes for an all-round cruising boat. the 425’s hull form is moderate and efficient, designed…

Sailors Run rockets away from the Horn with 35 knots of wind on the port beam, thanks to a low that is creeping along just to the south. the strong north wind promises to hold us down to this more southern and colder route, though I hope to escape and get farther north to 48 degrees south, where life will surely be more comfortable. Icebergs are located not so far ahead of me and a bit further to the south, and these babies are huge, like 17 miles long and six to eight miles wide. Toward the end of day 49, I notice several tears have appeared in the genoa. On closer inspection it looks as though there is no way the sail can tolerate being partially rolled in on…

I started the refit of my boat, Passion, with a simple plan. Just as my geezerly body has needed a few parts replaced and some other repairs to keep me going strong, so too did my ageing 1980 Pearson 40 to get her prepared for her future life as an long-distance cruiser. I bought Passion knowing she had been neglected and needed a lot of refurbishment. My surveyor identified a number of “older systems” needing replacement as well as some other more significant issues like blisters and an ageing engine on its last legs. I planned a modest two-year refit project to rejuvenate her, based on the surveyor’s recommendations and my own desired upgrades and improvements for extended cruising. I thought it was a reasonable plan. that reasonable refit plan…

The Sailing Scene Are you out there sailing, cruising and living the sailing life? If you are, share your experiences with us. Send your photos and a brief description to sailmail@sailmagazine.com with the subject: SAILING SCENE for a chance to have your sailing memory featured. I took this shot on board Aeolus, a classic Bristol 40, during the Friday night casual, non-spinnaker pursuit race series in Marblehead, Massachusetts. As you can see, the emphasis is on casual fun, but our skipper might consider upgrading the whisker pole this winter. — Dan Rabin, Beverly, MA This photo was taken in Nicaragua. We were sailing from San Francisco, California, to Punta Gorda, Florida, aboard La Zuccherina, our 59ft Alden designed ketch, built by Hodgdon in Boothbay Harbor, Mainbe. As a native of…

Gary Jobson is an America’s Cup-winning sailor and one of the most vocal—and opinionated—supporters of the sport. His story is an inspiration to sailors young and old alike. How did you know you wanted to make a career in sailing? The defining moment was when I was 12. I got a little dinghy called a Penguin. Family came over and were thinking of getting into sailing, and I was this 12-year-old explaining what sailing was and giving them lessons. At that moment, I thought, gee, I could get people enthused about sailing. I’ve been on that mission ever since. It’s rare to turn a passion into a career—how did you do it? In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, it was very uncool to be a professional sailor. People didn’t…

Before leaving for Les Sables d’Olonne on the southwest coast of France this past November I told some curious non-sailing friends of mine that I was off to witness the start of the most popular sailboat race in the world. “You mean the America’s Cup?” they asked. “Oh no, this is much bigger than that,” I answered. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to see a Vendée Globe start, you know this is true. For three solid weeks every fourth calendar year a veritable Woodstock Nation of sailors and non-sailors alike gathers in this otherwise innocuous resort town to pay tribute to a select group of individuals poised on the cusp of our sport’s greatest adventure: a nonstop race around the globe, singlehanded, in high southern latitudes, aboard some of…

PROPPED UP Danish propeller maker Gori has introduced a new version of its three-bladed folding prop. The new single pitch propeller is identical in appearance, but the blades have been repitched, meaning it does not have the “overdrive” function that’s unique to Gori’s folders. The low-drag prop will be available as an option for those sailors who do not need the overdrive function. It is available to fit either shafts or saildrives, in diameters from 15in to 30in, and in left or righthand configurations. $POA. Gori-propellers.dk POD LIFE It’s all very well having your plotter and instruments mounted in a fixed pod on your binnacle, so long as you’re always behind the wheel—otherwise you can’t see them. If you want to take shelter under the dodger on a wet and…

What better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of an iconic model than to introduce a brand-new design to succeed it? the original Dehler 34 achieved near cult status with 1,300 hulls launched, so replacing it with a fresh design suited to the tastes and needs of today’s racer-cruisers was no small task. Luckily, it was done with aplomb as evidenced by the all-new 34-footer that is poised to succeed it. DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION Part of the Hanse Group, Dehlers are designed by Judel/Vrolijk, a firm renowned for its performance hulls and sleek decks. Construction includes a vacuum-infused core sandwich with an integrated carbon-reinforced “cage,” as Dehler calls it, which provides stiffness while adding minimal weight to the overall hull structure. the fractional rig supports a tapered, keel-stepped Seldén mast…

Something’s wrong. Something doesn’t sound right. What had jolted me out of my on-watch daydreams? I listened carefully; the steady rhythm of the engine faltered again. I was alone in the cockpit, in the darkest part of the night, and our engine sounded as if it was about to die. We had been battered by Superstorm Sandy, dismasted by the crane that righted us, and now, off the New Jersey shore with the wind rising and the seas steepening, the last thing we needed was for our aging Nissan diesel to withdraw its vital services. Just 12 hours earlier, our 40ft aluminum sloop, Folly, had been launched at Staten Island on a bitterly cold December day. An English cruising boat, 3,000 miles from home, we had been held by financial…

After a successful revival in 2016, the Conch Republic Cup is poised to hold another series of off shore and inshore races beginning January 22. the regatta kicks off with a 110-mile race from Key West, Florida, to Varadero, Cuba. this is followed by a 100-mile coastal jaunt from Varadero to Havana, where the fleet will stay at the Hemingway International Marina. While there, the fleet will mix things up with an inshore race before setting out on a 90-mile sprint back to Key West. “The winner of the Conch Republic Cup is the team with the best combined overall performance in the four races that comprise Key West Cuba Race Week,” says Conch Republic Cup executive director Karen Angle. “Balancing race days with lay days also gives participants time…

If you’re looking for a boat show that’s a little different from the standard offerings, few can compete with the magnificent Grand Pavois held in La Rochelle, France, every September. The rugged Atlantic coastline of western France is an outstanding cruising ground, scattered with craggy estuaries, mostly navigable rivers and down-to-earth harbors. The inhabitants of this rugged coastal region have the sea and sailing in their blood. Most of France’s most famous sailing celebrities were born and bred in this area and were brought up messing about on the water with their parents. Every sailor is familiar with brands like Beneteau, Jeanneau and Dufour, but there are many smaller builders as well whose approach is distinctly out of the mainstream. Boats that are designed, built and sailed around this area…

It’s just another day in the San Blas islands. We are in the dinghy, heading out with our snorkel gear to a site we’d heard about called the Hollandes Caves. As we make our way through the gin-clear water of the channel to the shallow back reef, a 4ft wide southern stingray bursts out of the water a few feet ahead and flies effortlessly in front of us for a few seconds before a dip of a wing sends him shooting out of the channel and into the shallow water of the flat. As we approach the reef, the sandy channel ends and we idle along in waist-deep water, watching for coral heads and occasionally sticking a paddle in the water to check the depth. It’s so clear that the…

Dacron sailcloth has two natural enemies—sunlight and chafe, both of which are found in abundance on the typical sailboat. there is not much you can do to stave off damage from ultraviolet light except to keep the mainsail covered between excursions and make sure the sacrificial strip on the leech and foot of a furling genoa is in good shape. Chafe is another matter. Anything that stands proud of the sailcloth— such as stitching—is susceptible to wear as soon as it comes in contact with anything else, be it cloth, rope, wire or metal. Oft en, chafe goes largely unnoticed until the damage is done. If you have your sails valeted each fall your sailmaker will have found and repaired any damage; if not, it’s easy enough to inspect your…

“Scalpel,” I said, an open hand waiting. Phillip passed me the unwieldy angle grinder we were about to use to cut into the stringers under the mast on Plaintiff ’s Rest, our 1985 Niagara 35. I couldn’t see what I was supposed to be cutting, but I could feel the tool—hot and humming in my hands —kick when the blade sank in. the smell of rot and chalk filled the cabin as I hunkered over the surgical site, Phillip hoisting the shop light over me. the operating theater was cleaned and draped, and a selection of rudimentary tools—a chisel,ametal grinder,ahammer and a ShopVac—were laid out beside us. Okay, so we’re not doctors, at least not of the medical kind. Having left a law practice a few years back so I…