Tabla de contenidos para May 2024 en Yachting Monthly

A boat owner from Devon caught on Falmouth Harbour’s CCTV system travelling at almost three times the six-knot inner harbour limit during a busy summer’s day in July 2023, has been ordered to pay £3,061 in fines and costs by magistrates in Truro. The man, named as David Morgan from Newton Abbot, pleaded guilty to navigating a RIB over the speed limit, unnecessarily navigating through moorings and failing to navigate with care and caution. Evidence showed that the vessel was speeding through the inner harbour and that the driver was not using a kill-cord and that no one aboard was wearing a lifejacket. It also showed Morgan using his mobile at one point. ‘The safety of all Falmouth Harbour water users is at the heart of our operations and as…

Yacht builder, Cornish Crabbers, faces an uncertain future after a virtual meeting of creditors convened by Managing Director Peter Thomas on March 13. The Wadebridge-based group reportedly owes over £1m in bank loans and taxes and other debts. The market is currently tough for small boats although crabbers remain popular. Cornish Crabbers began business in 1979, building on the foundation of Westerly Boats, and by 2001 was the leading producer of gaff-rigged boats with over 10 sailing boat designs.…

Yachting Monthly’s marine environmental journalism award is being launched for a fourth year, with two £2,000 cash prizes up for grabs. The Brian Black Memorial Award was established in 2021 to commemorate Brian and Lesley Black who were trailblazing sailors, daring small-boat explorers and passionate story tellers. A film-maker and broadcaster, Brian used his boat to capture first-hand footage of melting glaciers to tell the story of global warming decades before it was in the public awareness. The award aims to encourage other sailors to use their boats to share the stories of the places and wildlife they encounter on their voyages with the wider world. REDUCING OUR IMPACT This year, the judges will be looking for entries that focus on ‘treading lightly’ in the marine environment; how we can…

Giles Coren, the mischievous Times columnist, wrote recently about objects which gradually vanish from familiar use, either because they are outdated in the modern world, or because they were always a bit useless. It all began when a science journalist queried the role of the plastic washing-up-bowl, causing an outbreak of defensive bowlophiles on X (Twitter). In the outdated category Giles put gentlemen’s hats, carphones, watch-pockets in jeans, china pie-birds, and those anti-lightning strips on the back bumper of cars. In the ‘they always were useless’ heap he cited U-shaped fluffy mats round the base of lavatories, curly-wurly straws, cake forks and jam spoons. Plenty to disagree with here, I suppose: every time I watch an old episode of Endeavour I wish that all men wore hats like Inspector Thursday…

Send your questions to our experts at yachtingmonthly@futurenet.com for the chance to win a bottle of Chilgrove gin Forecasts are just guesses It helps to remember that a forecast is just a prediction. No one knows the future; even though we have numerous models that are more precise than we’ve ever had, the old ‘five-day Biscay window’ rarely exists. These days, in particular, shifting weather systems and seasonal patterns are not as regular and predictable as they used to be. A weather forecast is no more real than the chart on your plotter screen. Therefore, I find my own forecasting is increasingly important, and is a large part of the skipperly duties for which I am responsible. We need to observe and assess the weather we are seeing in real…

Could you squeeze into this tight berth? Q Jane is on a cruising holiday on board Storm Petrel, her 10m yacht. The boat has a long fin keel and skeg. When engaging astern there is a strong prop kick to starboard but once the yacht is moving astern it is reasonably easy to handle. Jane has been the owner for five years. She has two crew who are both quite experienced. She is approaching a marina where she has been allocated an overnight berth A2, port side to if bow in. The marina is full except for her berth. To reach A2 she has to pass between pontoons A and B almost to the landward end and then turn into the berth. The wind is about 13 knots and is…

‘I’ve put the dinghy pump back in the car,’ said Chris. ‘We won’t need it again, will we?’ We’d just inflated the dinghy to row out to Nimrod and transfer her from her summer mooring at Weir Quay, on the Tamar, down to her winter berth in Plymouth. Since we were going to the luxury of a walk ashore berth, we wouldn’t need the dinghy at the other end, and could deflate it en route. ‘Well,’ I hesitated, not wanting to be too pedantic, ‘you just never know.’ We were both unconvinced by the rationale, but he returned to the car to fetch it. It was a glorious autumn day, bright-skied and light-aired, but Storm Ciaran was lurking out in the Atlantic, and I was anxious to move the boat.…

A few weeks earlier, I’d had a masterclass in boat handling under sail when I joined the engineless Thames Barge, Blue Mermaid. It was the final match of the barge racing season on the River Colne in Essex. Built in 2019, she’s a replica of the last Thames sailing barge ever built. She’s operated by the Sea-Change Sailing Trust, which gives sail training to young people, with bursaries for those who need it. Her full-time crew, Richard Tichener and Hilary Halajko, were the masterminds of the build. Not content with the challenge of going diesel-free, their vision was also that she’d be capable of carrying cargo and she’s rated to take 110 tonnes in the hold. Blue Mermaid can replace four articulated lorries for journeys around the Thames Estuary, Kent…

Now in his 82nd year, my father Ewen reluctantly ended a nearly 50-year relationship with his much-loved and well-used succession of yachts as the last of four Black Velvets went to a new owner in the spring. This emotional event, sad as it was, freed up her mooring on the tranquil upper reaches of one of the most beautiful estuaries in the south west of England, the Yealm. The river is upstream from the bustle of Noss Mayo and Newton Ferrers, but only half a pleasant hour to the open sea – this delightful area is Equinox’s new home. Another event coinciding with this was some unexpected inheritance passed on to me from my grandfather who died more than 40 years ago; considerably boosting the modest Equinox fund. An enjoyable…

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1 KNOW THE ENTRY REQUIREMENTS A good agent will make clearing in and moving between the main ports quite straightforward. We hired Seamasters Galápagos and paid $1,400 USD total for two people and our 10-metre boat. The paperwork took five weeks to process. We do not recommend making an unplanned stop; in all likelihood you will be required to pay the entry fees anyway, and sent packing immediately afterwards. We DO recommend looking carefully at the list of entry requirements that your agent gives you, and following them to the letter. 2 ANCHORAGES AND PORTS Cruisers can anchor in three main ports: Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (Isla San Cristóbal), Puerto Villamil (Isla Isabela), and Puerto Ayora (Isla Santa Cruz). To explore further afield you need to join a tour or pay…

www.yachtingmonthly.com/books When Jon and Babs Tucker and their five boys arrived at the Chatham Islands, 430 miles east of South Island, New Zealand, on board the ketch New Zealand Maid, they were delivering an emergency basket stretcher donated to the islands by their local Lions service club. In return they were offered the chance to visit the breeding programme saving the black robin from the brink of extinction. Big swells and foul weather are a fact of life in these waters. It’s a 90-mile return trip between Waitangi and South East Island, doubling Cape L’Eveque, crossing Pitt Strait and rounding the south end of Pitt Island. The local lack of enthusiasm was hardly surprising. When our yacht showed up in the lee of South East Island on the final day…

Boatbuilding as we know it is not a sustainable process. The dawn of mass production GRP boats from the 1960s onwards fuelled an explosion in sailing participation and boat ownership. Rather than building each boat from scratch, as wooden boats have been since time immemorial, GRP boats can be laminated and popped out of a mould at speed, their fair lines cloned from one single plug tens or hundreds of times. The cost of buying boats tumbled and allowed many to get on the water for the first time, and for that, fibreglass is to be lauded – a miracle material that is immensely strong, light, robust and virtually maintenance free. Boat building is big business, with an estimated six million leisure boats now bobbing around in Europe and 10,000…

SPIRIT YACHTS ‘Building a boat in wood, you don’t need a new plug and mould for every boat you want to build, so there is much lower setup cost, and less waste,’ says Spirit Yachts’ Adrian Gooderham. ‘A large part of the cost is in the skilled labour. ‘First, we make a strong back on which to build the boat. This is in pine, and that timber will be used multiple times in the build of that or other boats. Eventually, it will be too small to use again, and we then either donate the wood, or our staff use it as firewood. ‘Spirit yachts are built with plank-on-frame in either yellow cedar or Douglas fir, and are then strengthened with two opposing diagonal veneers of 3.2mm thick khaya laminated…

Just as with electric cars, whenever anyone whose vessel is equipped with a conventional diesel falls into a conversation about electric propulsion for boats, the first question is almost always, ‘How far will it go on a charge?’ Well, the answer I’m afraid is simply, ‘It depends.’ How far do you want it to go? Are you willing to toddle along at four knots, or do you want to charge around from port to port like a Greek charter yacht? I get that it’s not for everyone and, being a mature seafarer myself, I dread to think about losing all power whilst halfway through the Portland Race in the dark. But as with pretty much anything to do with navigating a vessel, you just need to plan things out carefully…

Most PED systems on small to medium-sized yachts utilise a 48V battery bank. Although there are some that still use deep-cycle AGM battery technology, the only realistic battery chemistry currently available for marine PED systems is lithium-ion. The safest of the li-ion group is lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4). While not the most energy dense of the lithium-ion group, they have been proven to be the safest type of li-ion cells to install into a boat, where a battery fire would be catastrophic. Originally, many professionally built and installed marine electric drive systems utilised other, more volatile types of li-ion batteries such as nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) or lithium manganese oxide (LMO). These types of li-ion are commonly used in the automotive industry for their high capacity, but are wholly reliant…

PV LOGIC 20W SEMI FLEXIBLE Lightweight semi-flexible solar panel that’s fully waterproof thanks to its six-layer, heavy-duty laminate finish. Designed with a ‘self healing’ dimpled top surface should wayward crew step on it. Comes with a controller for both 12 and 24V systems and a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) charging system for efficiency and battery life. Includes LED battery status and 4m of cable. Can be bonded to flat or curved surfaces. £139.95 www.force4.co.uk RENOGY 175W FLEXIBLE Flexible solar panel that can be glued to virtually any surface. Capable of withstanding cold conditions and strong winds, and built with multi-layered sheet laminations to enhance cell performance and ensure a long service life. Bypass diodes minimise power drops caused by shade and ensure excellent performance in low-light environments. Dimensions: 1,262 x…

The situation could not have looked brighter for skipper Simon Curwen and his crew aboard the Swan 65 Translated 9 on Leg 3 of the Ocean Globe Race, writes Barry Pickthall. Only 12 miles separated the Italian yacht from Marie Tabarly’s pacesetting French maxi Pen Duick VI as they rounded Cape Horn. With the worst now seemingly behind them, it looked certain that Translated 9 would extend her three-day lead on IRC handicap during the final 1,000 miles north to Punta del Este, the third stop-over port, and hold on to first position in the race. But two days later, when north of the Falklands, the crew uncovered cracks in Translated 9’s glass fibre hull. At the time, water ingress was not of major concern. The worry was whether the…

Send us your questions in less than 200 words by email to yachtingmonthly@futurenet.com or by post Yachting Monthly, Future PLC, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, Paddington, London, W2 6JR Opaque ICOMIA The first reaction of nearly all fossil fuel-using sectors is to identify biofuels as their key and most promising solution to the pressure to respond to climate change. It therefore isn’t surprising that ICOMIA/Ricardo’s report reaches this finding too. But it’s a standard failing of any study that looks ‘one sector at a time’ because it omits that the same finite and constrained supply of biomass isn’t sufficient for the combined needs of trucking, aviation, leisure marine, merchant shipping, agriculture, steel, cement etc, even before wider pressures on that biomass (feeding a growing population, substituting oil in plastics, creating negative emissions)…

You’ll either love it or hate it. There is little doubt that the Sunbeam 32.1 is a Marmite boat, and that’s exactly what her creators set out to build. With a chiseled-out bow that’s more than a little sharklike, and wide bowsprit, or ‘flightdeck’ as Sunbeam are calling it, and an interior that is closer to a Bond villain’s mountain lair than a traditional yacht, this is one of the most radical-looking cruisers to hit the water in recent years. So what is it, and why does it look like that? Well, after 70 years of building everything from dinghies, through stylish-but-understated lake sailors, to 53ft blue-water cruisers, Sunbeam has a new hand on the tiller. Andreas Schöchl recently took over as the third generation to run the family shipyard…

For those aboard a cruising yacht sailing without an engine due to breakdown rather than choice, the learning curve is going to be steep. In open water, it’s normal sailing, you’ll just be trying to make progress in conditions when you might have opted to motor, such as light winds or beating up a channel. It’s a good incentive to get your sail trim right, your telltales flying, and tacks as smooth as possible. Close-quarters handling under sail, however, is a skill worth practising. Find a mooring buoy in open water and sail up to and away from it, stopping the boat, then getting underway again – it’s a surprisingly fun way to spend an hour on the water. MOORING BY SAIL It’s entirely possible to sail onto a hammerhead…

WORTH £1,329 WITH Zhik, the pioneering sailing brand, are proud to sponsor the Spirit of Adventure Award. The Award celebrates the most inspiring cruising adventures undertaken in and around British and Irish homewaters. Whether crossing the English Channel, cruising the Scottish Isles or tackling micro adventures close to home, we’ll publish the stories we feel encapsulate a true Spirit of Adventure. Share your tale in words and images and we will pick the best one each month. Then, an expert panel from Zhik and Yachting Monthly will pick the best article at the Southampton Boat Show in September 2024. The winning author will receive a suite of sailing kit, including the CST500™ Jacket, Salopette and Seaboot 700, packed in a 45-litre waterproof duffel bag on stage at the boat show.…

The sound of bubbles playing over the hull woke us – a soft whoosh that felt at once mellow and playful. The source of the bubbles was soon discovered: two sea lion pups, swimming around the boat in joyful loops and spirals. We had dropped the hook in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, on Isla San Cristóbal, the day before and the famed natural world of Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands was immediately surrounding us. We had arrived aboard Wild Rye, our 1971 Wauquiez Centurion 32, after a 10-day, 1,000-mile passage from Panama. In an attempt to avoid the worst of the doldrums, we had set a southerly course out of Panama City to take advantage of the strong northerlies that funnelled across the isthmus, motoring through two days of flat calm as we…

Draycote Water wins RYA Club Of The Year Draycote Water Sailing Club (DWSC) has been awarded RYA Club of the Year at the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show in February, with the trophy presented by Olympic gold medalist Eilidh McIntyre. DWSC, one of 14 finalists, also won Young Person’s Club of the Year, one of four new awards categories. ‘It’s brilliant,’ said Draycote Commodore William Whittaker. ‘This is 10 years of hard work, and we are now seeing the youth and junior sector enjoying sailing on a daily and weekly basis. The kids will be very proud because they’ve contributed to this success.’ RYA panel member Janet Viney said: ‘We were impressed with how DWSC hasn’t stood still. By introducing new groups and new opportunities, their membership has kept coming…

Yachts built in the Cornish town of Looe are being invited to return home to celebrate the coastal town’s remarkable history of boatbuilding. The new event is being organised by the Looe-based Cornish Lugger Association, which has been staging biennial regattas for wooden, sail-powered fishing luggers since 1989. Many of the luggers are more than 100 years old. The Association is working with Looe Sailing Club, Looe Rowing Club and the Looe Boat Owners Association. The Looe Harbour Commission is waiving mooring dues for the duration of the weekend. To register your interest, please email Paul Pengelly at: office4luggers@btinternet.com. Made-In-Looe Reunion Regatta Timetable ALL WEEKEND: There will be crab pot-making and oar-making demonstrations as well as refreshments and more. There will be historical and photographic displays at Looe Heritage Centre,…

Processes are changing too. Resins and vacuum infusion is notoriously wasteful, as excess resin cannot be reused, and the plastic sheeting for the infusion bagging is also single-use. While this is hard to get around, Spirit Yachts has switched vacuum bagging material to DTC’s carbon-neutral vacuum bag/bleed film and breather cloth. ‘This is actually cheaper than the product we were using before and buying it in bulk helps too,’ added Gooderham. Even the pots in which the resin is mixed, which used to be used once and thrown away, are saved and the epoxy removed once set and then reused multiple times. ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS ‘Our boats do contain synthetic resins – we exclusively use the West System with their 105 epoxy, and they are always working hard on meeting the…

There are hundreds, if not thousands of yachts still sailing with 40-year-old diesel engines emitting smoke and pollutants, so is now the time to replace them with a clean, low maintenance, pure electric drive instead? The more I’ve looked at sailing yachts that have been converted from diesel to electric auxiliary drive, the more I wonder why you wouldn’t do it, especially now that the cost of hi-tech batteries and solar charging has dropped dramatically. The immediate advantage of changing to marine pure electric drive (PED) systems is that they’re clean, quiet, smell-free and require minimal maintenance, all of which is very appealing if you’ve ever owned a boat with an ancient, clunky diesel. PEDs offer other benefits too. Their reaction to the throttle is instant, which is a boon…

Having a much lower internal resistance, li-ion batteries will charge more rapidly than lead-acid batteries because they can accept a much higher rate of charge. A good quality battery can usually accept a charge up to its own capacity, meaning a 100Ah battery can be charged at 100A. This is called a capacity acceptance rate (CAR) of 1C, and is important when it comes to charging overnight, with the intention of continuing your cruise early the next day. It also enables various different methods of charging to be accepted simultaneously, provided the combined charge doesn’t exceed 1C, so you can be using solar to its max while also charging from shore power. Another advantage of using li-ion over lead-acid batteries is the BMS can be networked to all charging sources…

RIGID Rigid solar panels currently on the market remain the most efficient and well-suited for mounting on larger boats with flatter surfaces. However, they are heavier, more awkward to mount, and can’t be walked on, so unless you have a hard top or dedicated gantry aft, you’re better off choosing a more resilient semi-flexible option. Rigid solar panels are covered with impact-resistant glass in a metal frame, and often require hardware to install. Over time, the hardware and frame can corrode in unforgiving marine conditions, so it’s important to choose one with added weather protection. FLEXIBLE Flexible solar panels, meanwhile, have become increasingly popular with yacht owners due to their versatility and adaptability. While not yet as efficient as rigid panels, they do offer a more eco-friendly and cost-effective option…

French solo sailor Charles Caudrelier was first across the line in Brest, France, on 27 February to win the Arkéa Ultim Challenge Brest, the first ever solo around-the-world race for foiling multihull boats. Sailing aboard the giant foiling trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Caudrelier took 50 days, 19 hours and seven minutes to sail 28,000 miles (51,000 km) around the world, dramatically outpacing the other survivors from the six-boat fleet. Thomas Coville was second on Sodebo, finishing two days later, and Armel Le Cléac’h crossed the line in third place, five days later, aboard Banque Populaire XI. Although the race was ‘non-stop’ with no scheduled stopovers, Caudrelier was the only skipper not to have made a technical stop for repairs by the time he reached the North Atlantic. His nearest…

A grey seal pup, which was recently born on the Beaulieu River, is believed to be the first of its kind in Hampshire waters. Conservationists have been keeping a watchful eye and the Buckler’s Hard Yacht Harbour team has been guarding the pup from disturbance by river users. Other organisations such as Natural England, the Seal Alliance, British Divers Marine Life Rescue and Wild New Forest Guided Tours have rallied round to help protect the pup. Harbour Master Wendy Stowe said: ‘This is extremely exciting news, as grey seals don’t usually breed in these waters and we believe it is the first pup to survive here. We would like to thank all of our river users for acting responsibly and helping us to keep the seal pup safe and undisturbed.’…

Circumnavigator, Rob Hart, poked the glowing embers of his coal stove, set a cup of tea in front of me and said: ‘You know the best thing about a concrete boat?’ I had to confess I did not. ‘The worst ones are at the bottom of the sea,’ he added. ‘Concrete’ as a material for a sailing boat is quietly looked-down upon by some who see it as a cheap, corner-cutting route to a large offshore craft. It is both of those things, but such pragmatic vices, if that’s what they are, cannot take away from the aggregate’s offshore virtues. We were sat aboard Barbarossa, the 49ft ferro-cement, gaff-ketch that Rob started to build himself 50 years ago on the banks of Benfleet Creek in Essex. Her 68-year-old skipper was…

VERDICT I was very impressed with the quality of build and finish throughout. Though in some ways this is a simple boat, she is far from basic. With a price tag of £313,000 as tested, you’d expect her to be nicely built, and she was. I half expected the boat to be as radical a sailer as she is in appearance. If you want rocket ship, there are plenty of options out there, but this isn’t what the boat is about. The juxtaposition of radical design and conservative displacement and performance at first seemed jarring, but the concept makes sense; a refined and reassuring sailing experience with commendable performance and plenty of enjoyment. The steering system could do with a little tweaking to improve feel on the helm, and the…

In 2021, RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews were called out to 1,968 recreational boats; in 2022, this rose to 2,081. The biggest number of RNLI call outs were to boats with machinery or equipment problems, including engine failure. The RNLI was launched to 1,007 vessels with machinery or equipment problems in 2022 – 591 of them were motor boats, 411 were sailing yachts. The operational figures for 2022 also reveal that RNLI lifeboats were launched 9,312 times in 2022 between Jan and Dec 2022, compared to 8,868 times in 2021.…

If you can’t secure the vessel, sail to safe water or resolve the engine problem, it’s time to raise the alarm. Depending on the circumstances, making a prompt call for assistance might be your highest priority. It’s particularly vital if you’re on a lee shore. In October last year, the Humber lifeboat and Catzero, the 72ft sail training vessel that I co-skipper, took part in a joint towing exercise. The RNLI recently completed a Lines Under Load project, and one outcome is that they now carry a comprehensive towing kit, including a selection of Dyneema strops, and long polyester tow line. Despite being better prepared than ever for towing, they’re not a salvage service; their primary objective is to save lives. ‘We don’t undertake a tow lightly,’ explained Humber lifeboat…

Dirty, wet and hungry; riding 30ft waves on a boat which was permanently tilted at 45°, I realised that this experience wasn’t quite what I’d been sold on that induction day in Gosport, months ago. There is no such thing as a pleasant place to be on a boat like Garmin, in the conditions we were up against. Sitting on the deck involved cramming yourself into an awkward angle in the pit, constantly soaked by sea spray. Up on the helm, you were fighting with the wheel to keep the boat from slamming into waves, trying to predict the unpredictable in the hope of a smoother ride. Below deck was a death trap during bad weather; a twisting tumble dryer churning up the crew as if we were each a…

1 BUY YOUR GUIDES Do buy the excellent Imray RCCPF pilotage guides to the Isles of Scilly by Graham Adam, the Channel Islands equivalent by Peter Carnegie and the appropriate Imray paper charts – C10, Y50 and C33A are an absolute must. 2 BIG SCREEN ENTERTAINMENT A large screen chart plotter, clearly visible from the steering position, and having a competent crew to add to the eyeball navigation, will enhance your exploring and make things so much easier. 3 FLOOD TIDE TIMINGS Use the first 2/3rds of the flood tide. If not sure of your route through and between the islands and in the Isles of Scilly, try to be comfortable with having only a metre or two of water under your keel. 4 PLAN AROUND NEAP TIDES Plan your…

FOLLOW THE SERIES HERE… www.yachtingmonthly.com/howitworks TYPICAL SETTINGS Masthead rig 0.5–1° (b = 0.9–1.75cm/m) Fractional rig 2–3° (b = 3.5–5.25cm/m) NB! More mast rake leads to more weather helm! It is important to have a correctly tuned rig. Boats that have poorly tuned rigs are slower, point lower, heel more, make more leeway and may be more difficult to steer. Making changes can be dramatic on any class of boat. They will reduce crew fatigue, widen the skipper’s options and improve their reputation. Boat value is enhanced and things will be safer in extreme situations. RIG TYPES The Bermudan rig is the most widely used rig in the world. It may be split into two main groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig is relatively easy to…

While not strictly related to building in wood, Spirit Yachts has applied the same approach to much of the rest of its supply chains. Raw materials and parts are sourced as locally as possible, from electrical switch panels and solar panels – all made in the UK – and recycled materials, such as recycled PVC cable ducting, are used wherever possible. Waste from both the boats and the general yard, whether it’s wiring offcuts, toilet rolls or food waste, are separated, reused, donated (such as old sails and ropes to local schools for projects), or recycled. Plastic is minimised with cardboard and brown paper sheeting used for protecting boats being worked on rather than single-use plastic sheeting, and paint trays, previously single-use plastic, are now sourced in biodegradable cane sugar…

A diesel engine can provide heaps of grunt when you mistime the tides and want to escape an oncoming storm, provided, of course, that choppy seas haven’t stirred up the inevitable gloop at the bottom of your diesel tank and blocked up your fuel filters. It’s also fairly simple tech, so, if you’re mechanically minded and have all the tools and spares on board, you can usually keep it turning over. Fuel can also be carried in jerries too, so if it takes a bit longer to thrash your way back into port you can top it up along the way. You can also leave the boat for months, even years, on end without much harm coming to it and without needing an umbilical cord permanently attached to the shore…

Keeping your batteries topped up without having to run the engine is a continuous challenge for cruising sailors, especially those who are highly conscious of their carbon footprint or just wanting to cruise ‘off grid’. Solar panels have been a good option for sustainable sailing in sunny conditions for some time, being almost maintenance-free and, unlike wind generators, silent. However, maritime conditions are a harsh test for even the best of them due to the incessant exposure they face from saltwater spray and, ironically, ultraviolet (UV) energy. Now, though, new solar panel technology coming over the horizon promises further improvements in both their efficiency and ease of use. SILICON CELLS Most solar panels use silicon-based photovoltaic cells, with the most efficient type within this class being monocrystalline cells, made from…