Table of contents for April 2024 in Sailing Today

Saare 47 Saare Yachts is not particularly well known in the UK but it is an Estonian boatbuilder which has established a fine reputation over many decades for producing yachts of a Scandinavian quality at Estonian prices. The results are generally a beguiling blend of performance, conservative styling, beautiful fit out and seaworthiness. The company’s latest launch is the Saare 47 which was unveiled at Dusseldorf and is currently in build in Estonia. The boat is its biggest yet and takes over from the 46 as the flagship of the range. This is a centre cockpit bluewater cruiser with an easily driven hull that points to strong performance. The interior is spacious with a big stateroom aft, generous saloon and good sized double forward cabin with an ensuite. ● saare-yachts.com…

Handicap racing may not be as pure as one-design racing. But, to mangle Sir Winston Churchill’s observation about democracy, perhaps handicap racing is the least worst form of competition available to us. At first glance, the huge choice of different sailing dinghies in the UK seems like some kind of utopia - until you see how diluted each of those fleets has become. Organising decent fleets of one-design competition is achievable for probably only the top 10 most popular dinghy classes. The remainder are struggling for scraps Typically we see more than 80 different classes competing in the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series, the annual circuit which I have been running since 2009. The Series consists of eight handicap racing events from November through to the end of February, where pretty…

Michael Blackburn’s Olympic journey began in 1993 when it was announced that his home city of Sydney would host the 2000 Games. At the time he thought that selection as the Australian Laser sailor for the intervening Atlanta Games in 1996 would be too much too soon, but that Sydney would be a more realistic target. As it happened, however, he not only qualified for Atlanta but he finished in fourth place, just two points outside the medals. For the next four years he was involved in full time training, frequently sparring against Robert Scheidt and Ben Ainslie who had taken the top two medals in Atlanta. “It was a fantastic experience,” Blackburn said, “and I think the competition between me and them(with them mostly beating me) taught me a…

Cruising – The River Fal Not only does the Fal Estuary and its surrounding areas provide a myriad of amenities for visiting sailors who want to moor up and spend time ashore, but it also offers beautifully sheltered waters with various rivers and creeks for enjoyable exploration. But before going to Falmouth itself, you might be tempted to spend some time in the Helford River, particularly if you have arrived from the direction of Britanny or the Isles of Scilly. Sheltered in anything other than easterlies when an uncomfortable swell can enter the river, there are various mooring and anchoring options. You can anchor in the mouth of Gillan Creek (albeit space there is very tight), on the south side of the Helford River itself up to the Voose north…

Sri Lanka A radiant full moon casts its glow over the azure waters of Negombo Beach, heralding the dawn of another day for Mohamed Sulfigar and his three companions aboard their catamaran, Sunami. As the rhythmic waves embrace the shoreline, the quartet, steadfast in their pursuit of shrimp, stands in testament to a fading tradition that has woven its way into the very fabric of their lives. Sulfigar, the venerable skipper of 52, bears the weight of 35 years navigating these waters, having inherited the craft from his father at a tender age of 17. Alongside him are Mirshad, Rasmi, and Anas, each entrenched in the rhythmic dance with the sea, their hearts tethered to the age-old techniques of their forebears. Despite the dominant Sinhalese and Tamil populations in Sri…

GULL’S EYE 50° 21’98 N 04° 07’96W Plymouth has been the base, and starting point for numerous epic voyages over many thousands of years including being the home port for the fleet of English ships that sailed to challenge the Spanish Armada in 1588, the Mayflower with the Pilgrim Fathers aboard in 1620. It was also the departure port for Captain Cook’s first voyage aboard Endeavour in 1768, Charles Darwin’s voyage on Beagle in 1831, and has since been a start and/or finish point for many a challenge including the global Clipper Race and the Rolex Fastnet Race. With such a rich maritime history and its convenient location along Britain’s southwest coast, it’s not surprising this area remains a maritime magnet not only as a Royal Naval base, and commercial…

Buyers Guide – Antifouling There may be snow on the ground is I write this, but it’ll soon be time to think about repainting the hull for a new season of cruising. In some ways, the antifouling options haven’t changed in years, with the same choice between a cheaper resin-based paint, multi-season self-eroding coating, or a hard racing paint. But in other ways, the market is unrecognisable with a welter of novel products and solutions to the problem of biofouling. We’ll summarise the key choices below, but one thing is certain: ever tighter regulation means that the momentum is always towards less toxic products that do far less of their traditional job of killing the nascent bivalves, molluscs, worms, plants and algae that comprise biofouling. Tin was ditched years ago,…

Drama in the Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean leg of the Ocean Globe Race dished up more than its fair share of drama as the racers ran before the mighty winds of the Roaring Forties on the Auckland to Punta del Este leg of the race. On a storm-tossed passage via Cape Horn it was Translated 9, the Swan 65 which had led the rankings on departing Auckland, which provided the main drama that unfolded after the big ketch had rounded Cape Horn and was heading north in pursuit of leader Pen Duick VI. However, on 8 February skipper Marco Trombetti reported that the yacht had sustained heavy damage to the hull of the boat following a series of broaches and two large cracks had opened up in the stern…

Wauquiez 55 Wauquiez is a marque that has been much revered in cruising circles since it first started building elegant cruisers back in the 1960s. The boatbuilder arguably reached its zenith with the Centurion 32, a quality fast cruiser that gained near legendary status in its native France. Over the years the manufacturer cemented its reputation as manufacturers of quality fast cruisers but, since the launch of the Wauquiez Pilot Saloon 42 back in 2017, things went very quiet and it appeared the boatbuilder had succumbed to the financial vicissitudes of recent years. Fortunately all was not lost and the company was acquired by manufacturing giants Exel, a French conglomerate that manufactures, among other things, agricultural equipment and the Hozelok range of hose accessories. The net result is that Wauquiez…

The Arctic Circle has always exerted as fascination for me, partly because it is imaginary, and partly because it spells the start of real adventures. My most recent voyage from Shetland to Arctic Norway non-stop, was born of this fascination – coupled with two historical failures. The first, a few summers ago, was my failure to get to Muckle Flugga, the most northerly point in Shetland (and of the British Isles), when discretion or lack of nautical valour beat me back. The second failure was the summer of 2022, when I baulked at the opportunity complete a circumnavigation of Iceland (whose northern extremity is just within the Arctic Circle) because of the possibility of ice in the Denmark Strait (being singlehanded makes ice particularly problematic). So last year I decided…

RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show The RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show takes place at Farnborough International Exhibition Centre over the weekend of 24-25 February. Featuring dinghy sailing, windsurfing, wingsurfing and foiling as well as paddleboarding, the ever-popular show brings together participants, clubs, training centres, class associations, equipment manufacturers and retailers from right across the small boat sailing and boardsports community, all sharing their water-based passions and helping more people spend more time afloat. The 2024 Show returns to Farnborough for the third time and this year has even more in store with over 170 exhibitors and an array of expert talks and inspirational stories to help you kick-start your season in style. From new boats, boards and tech, to holidays, must-have clothing and accessories, you’ll find all the latest cutting…

Boat test – Dufour 370 French boatbuilder Dufour has always sat slightly apart from rivals Beneteau and Jeanneau. Sure, they produce a similar flavour of cruising yacht but it has generally been the case that Dufour aims to be that bit different from their French neighbours. With their latest line of boats, this has meant pumping up the internal volume. This, you could argue, follows the trend adopted by all the other big manufacturers, be that Beneteau, Jeanneau, Hanse or Bavaria. That may be true but I would argue that Dufour, under the guidance of Italian designer Umberto Felci, has gone for it in the biggest way. What do I mean by all this? Well, since about 2016 there has been something of a design revolution going on when it…

Orcas In last month’s issue, I was pleased to share my account with you of what I have done to stay orca-safe during my trip from the Netherlands to Gibraltar, and how this has influenced my experience and route. In this issue, I would like to outline the recommendations that I followed from Orcas Spain & Portugal, orcas.pt, and to answer the main questions that you may have if you are considering a trip to these destinations. Hopefully this information will help you too, to have a safe and beautiful sailing experience. Who is behind orcas.pt? Orcas Spain & Portugal was set up in October 2022 and is an initiative of Rui Alves, a Portuguese sailor, in collaboration with Renaud de Stephanis, a leading international cetaceans’ researcher and the president…

EXPERTS' FORUM This dreary winter weather has me reminiscing about warm summers spent sailing. You should see my phone photo library. A total of 35,000 images of seascapes, sunrises and sunsets. I’m like a crazy, obsessed paparazzi with an uncontrollable need to take a photo of a beautiful scene. The compulsion still hasn’t abated two decades after I first started sailing. But do you know what? When I look back through all those memories, I scroll past all those photos without seeing them, and only focus on that one of a friend doing something silly, or of the crew in action. The rest of the scenery is just that. Fortunately, there will always be a beautiful sunrise to see. As a result, I’m making a conscious effort to try and…

Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily are the three largest islands in the western Mediterranean and each offer their own unique qualities that make them ideal destinations for a charter holiday. The French island of Corsica and the Italian island of Sardinia are just 9nm apart, which means there’s a huge cruising area to explore. Sicily lies approximately 260nm to the south, at the eastern tip of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean. Its off-lying group of seven islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea – off the north coast – are known as the Aeolian Islands and include the volcanic island of Stromboli. The volcano of Mount Stromboli, and Sicily’s Mount Etna, are constantly active and therefore visible from the sea, which adds a fascinating dimension to a charter holiday…

I was recently chatting with someone who participated in one of the Atlantic rallies in the 2000’s. The person in question asked the organiser, a noted old seadog sometimes prone towards being a touch querulous, ‘what are the best places to visit in the Caribbean by boat?’ to which he replied: ‘nowhere, it’s all ruined!’ Now, this is a pretty dark prognosis and definitely a bit unfair but every sweeping statement has a grain of truth and there are many corners of the Caribbean that are a touch overdeveloped. Until recently though, this was not a charge you could lay on the shores of the island of Barbuda. This low island not far from Antigua and part of the principality, is all white sandy beaches, azure waters and mangrove swamps.…

Unless they’re being peppered with rockets fired by maniacs, we don’t generally read much about shipping in the papers. The exceptions come when things haven’t gone well. Not so long ago, a container ship outward bound from Southampton grounded spectacularly in the Solent and remained lying on her bilge for several days. The crew were taken off and, realising that there was now no danger to life, every yacht sailor on the coast thoroughly enjoyed the video footage and the purple descriptions in the national press about the ‘stricken vessel’. It turned out that she had developed a dangerous list and that the pilot and captain put her ashore on the Bramble Bank rather than risk her capsizing in deep water. As strandings go, this one was unusual. More typically,…

HOW TO WIN Their jib is sheeted tight along the foot, with the top inside tell-tale permanently vertical. The main is flat and twisted, with the top batten pointing toward the leeward quarter . I look smugly at our set up: windward jib tell-tales lifting simultaneously as I luff slightly, mainsail top batten in line with the boom, with the top leech tell-tale flicking forwards around 20 percent of the time: textbook for today’s max power conditions. A subtle line up before the start reinforces our smugness: though they are slightly faster through the water, this is more than compensated by our consistently higher pointing performance. As usual at MSC we are beating against the tide, with shallower water toward the shore on the left-hand side. We opt to start…

Transat For Chris Sheehan, owner and skipper of USA-flagged PAC52 Warrior Won, winning the RORC Transatlantic Race was a dream come true. But despite incredible memories of surfing the Trade Winds under endless starry skies and the special camaraderie of a close-knit team, the race brought challenge as much as it did reward, making the win all the sweeter. This 3,000nm race was the culmination of Warrior Won’s concerted five-year campaign of offshore racing that included wins in the RORC Caribbean 600, TransPac and Newport-Bermuda races, along with third place in the Fastnet, and a fourth in the Sydney Hobart. Impressive stuff. But for Chris, this was the ultimate ambition. Speaking to Y&Y after the race, the New York-based skipper could not hide his joy, saying: “Winning the RORC Transatlantic…

As a non-sailor, I was rather alarmed when my husband dropped the bombshell that he would love to mark his 60th birthday year by embarking on a ‘dream’ family flotilla holiday, sailing around the Ionian islands in Greece. Trying hard to suppress the urge to blurt out: ‘No way! That’s my idea of a nightmare,’ I squirmed inwardly, hoping this was a fleeting notion that would rapidly vanish into the ether. Well, not a bit of it! After some rather, shall we say, interesting discussions, and reassurance from numerous flotilla aficionados telling me how much I’d love the experience, I decided to take the plunge (thankfully, not literally). On a heady, blue-sky day in August, I found myself at Neilson’s Vounaki Marina near Palairos, on the west coast of Greece,…

Buyers Guide – Clothing Competitive sailing is gearing up for one of its biggest years ever. From the Olympics off Marseille to the America’s Cup in Barcelona, and the Vendée Globe, it’s all going off. That means that there is a strong racing flavour to this year’s new technical clothing. And yet, there has still been space to launch some cruising lines as well. It’s been a very big year for Henri Lloyd, which has returned to serious marine clothing after five years in the desert. New ownership by Norway’s Monte Rosa Sport Group, with Olympian and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Knut Frostad on the board, has returned the brand’s technical focus. It is busy opening new shops and getting its gear back into chandler’s across the UK’s yachting hotspots.…

NICHOLSON 476 | SOLENT LADY From UK yachting’s finest in 1985, this iconic cruising yacht is currently under her third ownership. Solent Lady has been cherished throughout her life, and her wonderful handcrafted teak interior is very close to faultless. She comes with a Rondal furling rig and recently installed beautiful teak decks. Solent Lady holds VAT paid status in Europe and has successfully obtained Returned Goods Relief in the UK. According to the broker, she is a timeless and contemporary classic and a very special yacht. Year: 1985 LOA: 14.4m (47’3”) Beam: 4.16m (13’8”) Draft: 2.3m (7’7”) Displacement: 14,969kg Hull Construction: Glass fibre Keel: Fin Engine: 1 x Perkins 4236, 72hp Designer: David Pedrick Accommodation: 7 berths in 2 cabins & saloon Location: Lymington, Hants Contact: berthoninternational.com craftinsure quote:…