Tabla de contenidos para January 2023 en Yachting Monthly

The former managing director of Discovery Yachts Group Ltd, Sean Langdon, has been ordered to personally pay £1.21 million to a couple who sued after buying a defective Discovery 58. Andrew and Maria France bought Elusive for £1.5million in October 2015 with the intention of sailing around the world. But the yacht had numerous significant defects when it was delivered in January 2017, including leaking deck hatches which flooded parts of the yacht, affecting its stability. Mr France sued Discovery Yacht Sales Ltd and Discovery Yachts Group Ltd in London’s High Court in December 2019 and won. Discovery Yachts Sales Ltd was ordered to pay Mr France £911,113, while Discovery Yachts Group Ltd was ordered to pay him £262,957. After the judgement, both Discovery Yachts Group Ltd and Discovery Yachts…

When it comes to changing your engine’s impeller, it is better to do it early, unless you don’t mind fishing around in your cooling system to remove odd bits of broken impeller, not to mention an engine that could overheat. I’ve always changed impellers myself, and so can you since it’s a straightforward job with the right tool, and should not take longer than an hour. Start by buying the right impeller. I have found the Johnson impellers very reliable, and they now come with a thread on the inside edge of one side. The impeller should be installed with the thread facing the outside which makes removing the impeller very straightforward with an impeller puller tool. Removing the impeller then becomes a matter of screwing in the outside bolt…

Q I’m after some advice please. I am about to start a circumnavigation of the world but I have been unable to find an underwriter for the trip. Would any of your experts have any advice for us please? Mike White A Jeremy Wyatt, from the World Cruising Club responds: Finding blue-water cruising insurance can be a struggle. In recent years the number of companies in the market has reduced and those remaining have increased premiums and added more conditions. Your own nationality/residency and the flag-state of your boat may also restrict your choice of insurer. As you’ve not stated where you are, I will assume that you are in the UK. For round-the-world cruising you should always go with a broker who understands the type of sailing you will…

Many boat owners have come to the awful realisation that the outward tube from the loo is blocked with a solid white precipitate that’s really hard to remove. Bacteria love urea, converting it to ammonia, and the consequent alkaline conditions allow the formation of insoluble salts such as struvite. Pumping the head 20 times works to keep it at bay, but how often do you need to do this? The bacteria takes hours to produce enough ammonia so a regularly used loo, with some long pumps, should be fine. Alternatively, squirts of lavatory cleaner with acid and bactericide will work, along with citric acid or 10 per cent hydrochloric acid. You could also simply ventilate the outflow tube, for example, with an aquarium pump, to remove the ammonia. The biggest…

‘It is almost a physical enjoyment to feel Galiana move and to steer her through the waves; I feel part of the boat’ Galiana romps along like a thoroughbred racehorse, her newly white hull gleams under the Baltic sunshine as she cuts through the waves cleanly, leaving foaming sea in her wake on our voyage from Kajholmen island back to her home port in Helsinki. This most classic of Swans is almost spiritual to sail; you are overwhelmed by her beauty and performance, especially upwind. If you were not converted to Swans before, you certainly are after a few hours of sailing in the Gulf of Finland. Designed by the pen of Olin Stephens, the Swan 55 was first launched in 1969. Galiana was built in 1970. Initially called Barbarossa, and…

Send your sailing gossip, diary dates, cruising news and club or owners’ association updates to Katy Stickland at katy.stickland@futurenet.com Cadets pay it forward Members of the 2022 Great Britain Cadet World Team have pledged to pay it forward by sharing their personal commitment to helping the environment or finding ways to widen sailing participation. The event was organised by one of the team’s sponsors, Golden Duck Publishing, which is financially supporting the team in December’s world championships in Australia. Pledges included litter picking, planting trees and helping people to start sailing. Amelie Whitehouse, 15, has committed to collecting rubbish from around Frensham Pond in Surrey, where she often sails. ‘I have chosen my pledge as I have grown up near the pond and love walking and sailing there. I hate…

Boats are the natural habitat for power tools designed to work ‘off grid’. To be unencumbered by cables and the need for constant mains power voltage is an essential part of getting any kind of job done onboard. This could be while you are sailing or just as likely when you are in refit or winter layup mode, working your way down the never-ending to-do list. Sooner or later, no matter how competent or incompetent you think you are with a power tool, you’re going to be wishing you had a cordless tool of some sort. Sometimes you need a tool to go up a mast with you and other times you’ll need a tool to head into a dark locker or bilge recess and reach an awkward place at…

If you want to tell us why you love your boat, get in touch by email yachtingmonthly@futurenet.com or by post Future PLC, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, Paddington, London, W2 6JR John Raynor, 54, has been crewing on other people’s boats since 2009 and regularly sailed on a friend’s Sadler 29 and Lloyd’s of London Yacht Club yacht Lutine. He lives in Surrey and works in finance payments technology. Since buying Dreamtime in 2021, John has sailed her from Pwllheli to Portsmouth and cruised the regular Solent haunts as well as taking her west to Portland. For John Raynor, sailing is a way to get away from the pressures of work; unlike his other hobbies, it’s a non-competitive pastime. ‘For me, ownership is not about trying to push the envelope. It’s about being a pleasant…

Solo sailor rescued after 24 hours in liferaft Golden Globe Race (GGR) sailor, Tapio Lehtinen, says he has no idea why his Gaia 36, Asteria, sank in the southern Indian Ocean. The 64-year-old solo skipper spent 24 hours adrift in his liferaft before he was picked up by fellow race competitor Kirsten Neuschäfer and then transferred to the Hong Kong registered bulk carrier, Darya Gayatri. The Gaia 36 was 450 miles south east of Port Elizabeth in South Africa when she began rapidly taking on water. ‘I woke up to a big bang. Although I was sleeping, I do react to the movement of the boat and I am 99 per cent sure we didn’t hit anything. The bang came from the deck or inside the boat. I felt no…

Sailing to Ireland with a dog or cat ‘remains essentially impossible’, says the Cruising Association (CA). Since Brexit, sailors from the UK who want to take their cat or dog to Ireland, have to ensure the animal is vaccinated and certificated immediately beforehand and then apply online to the Department of Agriculture for permission, which will be granted. However, the yacht must arrive at a designated Traveller’s Port of Entry at Dublin, Rosslare or Cork. The commercial port areas of all three are out of bounds to yachts. ‘It’s essentially impossible to take a dog or a cat to the Republic of Ireland on a yacht,’ said a CA spokesperson. ‘The Dublin area’s marinas are one to six miles away from the port, and in the case of Cork, further.…

Eight sailors had to be airlifted to safety from a yacht off west Cornwall during Storm Claudio after the vessel began sinking. The crew of the 12m (39ft) French registered boat reported that a port side hull window broke at the water line, and they started taking on water fast. They had also lost their mainsail and were drifting towards rocks, two miles south west of Porthleven. Initially, the skipper issued a Pan Pan before it was upgraded to a Mayday, and the crew of the Penlee RNLI lifeboat were deployed in Force 10 winds to assist. The volunteers attempted to evacuate the crew but, with the rough and stormy seas, it proved impossible to get the vessel alongside. Despite establishing a tow line, the lifeboat could not pull the…

A national inventory of saltmarsh in England has revealed the habitat has increased by 7% in 10 years, according to new data from the Environment Agency. Saltmarsh restoration projects at Steart Marshes on the Parrett Estuary, Alkborough Flats on the Humber Estuary, Medmerry near Selsey and Hesketh Out Marsh on the Ribble Estuary contributed 37% of this gain; saltmarsh on the Thames grew 8.3%. The study was carried out between 2016-19, and updated the previous inventory which took place between 2006-2009. England now has 35,504.85 hectares of saltmarsh. A brand new national seagrass map has also been published by Natural England and the Environment Agency which identifies surveyed inter-tidal and sub-tidal seagrass habitats in England. It draws on historic data to reveal how seagrass habitat has changed over time. www.yachtingmonthly.com/seagrassmap…

Over the last few weeks I have received a number of emails asking about weather helm and thought I might share three basic principles based on a masthead rig. When it comes to directional stability, any course change is due to the hull pivoting about the keel or centre of lateral resistance. Visualise your boat from abeam and it is readily apparent that too much sail area aft of the keel will cause the hull to weather cock to windward. Fighting this tendency with the rudder leads to weather helm. If extreme, the rudder will be overwhelmed, inducing a broach. Immediate action is to ease the main, but if this is a permanent requirement more fundamental changes are called for. It might seem trivial as you do it but it’s…

SPECIFICATIONS MAKE/MODEL Oyster 495 PRICE FROM £1,275,000 ex-VAT DESIGNER Humphreys Yacht Design BUILDER Oyster Yachts Following an era which saw Oyster yachts getting progessively bigger and bigger, the iconic British boatbuilder has shifted its gaze back to the sort of boats that made it famous. And the first fruit of this welcome development is the comely 495. The best part of £2 million all told, she is eye-wateringly expensive. So why sail her? Well, this iconic British brand has long set the standard when it comes to offshore and ocean luxury cruising yachts, so it’s worth seeing, if only to measure other boats against. Even if you haven’t got that kind of loose change in your pocket, it’s nice to dream, isn’t it? Freshly designed from the keel up, this…

Often when we are in a hurry, we sometimes forget that we are on a yacht, and getting on and off the boat is not the same as stepping into a building or car. Yachts move, decks can be wet and jetties can be slippery. We also have to negotiate guard wires, which are specifically designed to keep us on board. Therefore, when embarking or disembarking, I make it a two-step process. When getting off, I first step over the guard wire (preferably while holding on to the rigging) and only then do I step ashore. When getting back on board, I do the same in reverse order. This might be second nature to regular sailors, but not for family and friends with no experience. Make sure you tell them…

Power supply in marinas is not always first class! This electrics box (pictured) near Thessaloniki, Greece, may look one of the worst but did eventually work – unlike many other non-functioning boxes we have met. Some sockets don’t work at all and it takes a lot of irksome shouting back and forth with my mate down in the saloon to discover if power is arriving down to the boat. Previously I’ve used leads connected to an inspection lamp but stored in the confines of my boat locker the bulb gets easily broken. The solution are 240V LED work lamps that are robust and cheap. It was a 3-minute job to wire this to a marina 16A plug at a cost of £15. Result: an easy search for live sockets and…

www.yachtingmonthly.com/books Lis Andersen was 11 in 1929 when her family set sail from Copenhagen on the 18m ketch, Monsunen. Late in November they left the Cape Verde Islands, crossed the equator and headed for Brazil. It was so hot now that we had to wear hats so as not to get sunstroke, and we usually had shower-baths twice a day. When we were about to have a shower-bath we would quickly get out of our clothes. They were only a pair of knickers, but Jan and Ture usually wore a thin vest as well. When we had a shower we wore neither bathing-cap nor bathing-costume because they are not necessary at sea. […] Then Christmas came. We had a Christmas tree because Karl bored holes in an old oar and…

SARCH S8 Spanish yard Sarch builds small, innovative yachts on the Mediterranean coast near Valencia. Aggressive styling and innovative design mean this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but a trailable cruising yacht that is Category A rated is an interesting concept. Using carbon and epoxy resin infusion, the boat should be very stiff and light, giving it reasonable performance, with promises that it should plane and easily exceed hull speed. Cat A rating is achieved with the deep bulb keel, with the option of this being retractable, and there are twin rudders, though probably not a boat you’d want to take the ground in. She comes with a square-top mainsail and a neat folding bow sprit. Rig and keel loads are taken by a vertical steel frame below…

A board his sailing barge, Pudge in May 1940, Bill Watson was at London’s Millwall Docks when he received orders from the Naval Control Service to take the tow rope of the tug Ocean Cock, bound for Dover. He had been about to load wheat for Ipswich, instead he was now ordered to load soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk. A day later, a stick of explosives dropped from a Stuka dive bomber sank the tug, killing 17 of her crew and sinking two other barges. Pudge ‘went up in the air but by the grace of God came down the right way up,’ said Bill whose story is recounted in a new book Pudge… A Survivor (Thames Sailing Barge Trust). After rescuing some crew from the other barges, Pudge…

James Stevens, author of the Yachtmaster Handbook, spent 10 of his 23 years at the RYA as chief examiner Do you still lee bow after a windshift? Q Jackie is returning to the West Country from a visit to southern Ireland with her teenage son and daughter on board her 11m cruising yacht, Altair. She is intending to visit the Isles of Scilly on the way back. Her current position is about 75 miles from the islands which bear 140° True. The wind is Force 4 on the nose, not ideal for family sailing but they are looking forward to a few days’ rest on arrival. The tidal streams in the Celtic Sea are quite weak, 0.5 knots, but stronger near the islands. All three of the family are competent…

Struggling in light winds against the streams of Little Russel, north west of Platte Fougere, we were barely making any progress as we sailed towards Alderney. It was the worst time for the engine to overheat on our Wing 25, Mariposa. With a foul tide, we tacked away from the nearest rocks, back towards St Peter Port, waiting for the tide to turn whilst keeping clear of the vicious overfalls in the north of the Russel. Eventually, we sailed through the pier heads and one of the harbour launches nudged us onto a waiting pontoon. We were in Guernsey, having sailed from our home port of Cardiff. Now both retired, my wife, Liz and I have the luxury of no time constraints when it comes to planning a summer cruise.…

Electrical propulsion has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. An expensive folly not so long ago, some companies now report small electric outboards outselling petrol equivalents at a rate of five to one. Here are two more entrants to the market, which we hope to test soon. More and more yachts are changing their inboard population to electric too. Silent, lightweight, clean, with almost no vibration or maintenance, there’s a lot to like. As things stand, a new electric propulsion system is roughly three times the price of an equivalent diesel system, once you take batteries into account. There’s also a difference in the range. A top-end spec electric fit out on a 35-40ft cruising yacht will, anecdotally, give you 50 miles or so at 6 knots,…

DUNCAN KENT has been testing boats for more than 25 years and is a technical and features writer for nautical magazines, including YM Should you ever suffer total loss of power, the obvious place to start troubleshooting is at the batteries. Older boats with several previous owners will have had many extras added over the years and, inevitably, some won’t have been installed to a proper standard, which can cause all sorts of problems when trying to track down a fault. If your battery terminations are corroded or covered with acidic residue (often caused by lack of ventilation), loosen and remove all connected cables, taking care to mark their designation first. The key to easy troubleshooting is to label every cable indelibly, ideally adding this information to the boat’s wiring…

FOLLOW THE SERIES HERE… www.yachtingmonthly.com/howitworks EXHAUST TURBOCHARGER The air system of a diesel engine is deceptively simple – but any defects can have major repercussions. The system comprises of the air entering the engine compartment, the air supply via the air intake, and the exhaust system. In effect, the diesel engine is a large and efficient air pump that is capable of huge suction at the air intake. A 30hp diesel engine running at 3,000 rpm will consume around 1,000 litres of air per minute, even when it is developing little power. That’s a box of air 1m x 1m x 1m every minute. On leisure craft we must allow this flow of air into the engine compartment. When an engine is running, the correct fuel-air ratio will be maintained by…