Table of contents for March 2017 in SAIL

December’s 628-mile Rolex Sydney Hobart Race was one for the record books, with no fewer than three boats breaking Wild Oats XI’s line-honors record of 1 day 18 hours 23 minutes, set back in 2012. Unfortunately, for Wild Oats XI herself (pictured here), a new record or even a finish was not to be aft er she damaged the hydraulic ram controlling her canting keel a few hours aft er the start. This marks the second year in a row the eight-time race winner has failed to finish. For more on the Sydney Hobart Race, go to Page 19.…

Magnus Rassy is the CEO of Hallberg-Rassy yachts in Sweden and the son of the venerable company’s founder. Hallberg-Rassy has a fascinating family history that Magnus is an integral part of. Andy Schell sat down with him aboard the flagship HR 64 in Sweden last year to talk about Magnus’ upbringing, his nine boats all called Rasker, Hallberg-Rassy’s surprising racing influence, the sailing culture in Sweden and more. Is it safe to say growing up in this family you’ve been a sailor most of your life? Yes. When I was a kid around the age of 3 or 4 I didn’t draw anything but sailboats. When I had time off from school, I sold Coca-Cola and chocolates to earn money to save up for a boat, and in 1981 I…

By this issue we at SAIL had been hoping to be able to publish photos of the new AC50s that would be taking part in the Louis Vuitton Elimination Series, which begins May 26, and 35th America’s Cup set to take place in late June. However, it was not to be, thanks to a recently devised 28-day blackout period, which at press time had all the AC50s either still under wraps in Bermuda (or in the case of Groupama Team France and Emirates Team New Zealand still en route) with planned launch dates in early February. The enforced ban reportedly came as a concession to ETNZ, which has had trouble keeping pace since the lack of a World Series regatta in Auckland killed its chances at receiving any government funding.…

In the world of multihulls, no brand had come so far so fast on the back of so few boats as the Gunboat line of highperformance luxury catamarans before the factory went under in late 2015. Built up from nothing by Peter Johnstone, Gunboat attained cult status for its hard-charging designs from Morrelli & Melvin and, latterly, Nigel Irens. Now in the hands of France’s Grand Large Yachting, whose portfolio includes the Outremer performance cat line, Gunboat lives on; the builders are currently tooling up to produce a gorgeous new design from multihull wunderkinds VPLP. It was no easy task to come up with a look that is both distinctive and true to the Gunboat heritage, but in tandem with styling gurus Patrick Le Quement and Christophe Chedal Anglay, VPLP…

These days much of the talk at places like the Newport and Annapolis boat shows is about “mini-megayachts.” But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still plenty of small-boat builders out there coming out with all kinds of fresh new designs as well— and one of the best is the new Sage 15. An evolution of the Sage 17, which won a SAIL magazine Best Boats award a few years back—and which was also drawn by veteran small-boat designer Jerry Montgomery—the Sage 15 boasts a number of those same features found aboard her big sister, including a moldedin lapstrake to provide additional hull stiff ness; a small but very workable cuddy cabin; a ballasted centerboard that retracts using a simple lineand-winch arrangement for easy trailering; and a springy sheer that, in…

There’s a reason New England sailors are so dedicated; New England is simply one of the world’s best cruising grounds. The southern side of Cape Cod and its offlying islands— Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, the Elizabeth Islands and Block Island—are a cruiser’s dream. The weather is usually benign, there is almost always a sailing breeze, there are plenty of anchorages and, in a cruising area encompassing Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay and Mystic in Connecticut, there is plenty to do ashore. Leaving Newport early one sunny June morning, we sailed close-hauled past the shoreside mansions and then eased sheets as we passed the Benton Reef buoy. Reaping the blessings of a good breeze and a fair current, we were relaxing on a mooring in Cuttyhunk by early afternoon—and lunching on oysters and…

“Before I ever set foot on a sailboat I sensed that sailing awakens a feeling of personal empowerment, freedom and collective well-being, both individually and for those you’re with” Feelings of awe-inspiring exuberance were in the air when my friends Spencer, Anna and Aaron and my brother Tyler walked through the door of the Zeus hostel in Athens, Greece. While the five of us have spent a lot of time adventuring together, the expedition we were about to embark upon was certain to be the most unfamiliar and ambitious to date. Six months earlier we had been living together in Lake Tahoe, California, for the ski season, fantasizing about the idea of sailing around the Greek Islands to climb rocks and explore new places. At the time, our combined sailing…

From the first time I switched on the lights on board our new project boat, one thing was certain: they would have to go. The 1987 Pearson 39-2 had been updated in some ways, but not in others—and it was obvious that interior lighting had been way down the previous owner’s priority list. Every light fixture on board was original, mostly equipped with lowwattage incandescent bulbs, though several had fluorescent tubes and several others were nonfunctional. Even with every one of the 12 lights in the saloon burning, the ambiance was gloomy— and the power draw was substantial. The obvious course was to replace them all with LEDs. Who in their right mind would swap powerhungry incandescent bulbs out with power-hungry, heat-generating halogen lights? I’ve lost count of the number…

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. This photo was taken from Nirvana, a Hunter 33.5 that was being overtaken by three J/80s during the start of the Winnipesaukee Yacht Club’s Full Moon Classic Regatta. — Chuck Healey, Laconia, NH Better days are ahead (or behind) for this traditional Bahamian boat on Man-O’-War Cay, Abaco, Bahamas. — Jim Edenfield, Ft Worth. TX Here we have ace helmsman Cory Grant having too much fun at the helm of Mojo, a Jeanneau 44DS that sails Southern Californian waters out of Marina Del Rey. — Captain James Morrison…

As a child, when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say, decisively, a marine biologist. Did I have any clue what a marine biologist was? Not really. I was only 5. But it sounded smart and had something to do with the water and seals. Today, however, as a liveaboard sailor, I am proud to say that while I may not have fufilled my childhood dream of becoming a marine biologist I can, honestly and with confidence, call myself a citizen scientist. In simple terms, citizen science is a way of converting the eff orts of various volunteers into measurable results, through the general public’s participation in scientific research. It is, essentially, people-powered research, and it is helping save our oceans. This…

Even the notorious Bass Strait can be kind on occasion, and kind it was this past December as the 88-boat Rolex Sydney-Hobart fleet covered the 628-mile course in record time. No fewer than three boats beat the previous line-honors mark set by eight-time race winner Wild Oats XI in 2012. Alas, Wild Oats XI itself was not able to enjoy the fun, as the hydraulic ram controlling its canting keel failed near the midway point, forcing the crew to withdraw from the race: the second time it has had to do so in as many years, aft er its main tore in the course of the 2015 event. Sitting at the top of the heap was the Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed 100-footer Perpetual Loyal—the former Rambler 100, which capsized in the Fastnet…

This exciting new cruising catamaran from South Africa is loosely based on a Dean 5000 cat that a Hungarian cruiser/entrepreneur, Tamas Hamor, sailed around the world and managed in the charter trade with his wife, Sara. Aft er Dean failed as a business, Hamor worked with ex-Dean designer Rudolf Jonker to develop a new 50ft world-girdling cat that incorporated all of Hamor’s ideas and experience. The result is a well-thought-out cruising machine with a very long list of standard features. The goal of Xquisite Yachts is to sell boats already equipped with everything needed for long-term live-aboard cruising and then provide owners with comprehensive lifetime service assistance. The boat and equipment conceived to realize that goal not only won the new X5 catamaran a SAIL Best Boats award for Best…

We’d been warned that there wasn’t much in the way of wind at the upper end of Vancouver Island in the summer, so as we left the Desolation Sound Yacht Charters base in Comox, headed across the Strait of Georgia toward the mainland, wewere pleasantly surprised to find ourselves close-reaching into a brisk westerly breeze. With my brother, Ian, and friend Mike as crew, I was fulfilling a long-held ambition to sail the waters of British Columbia. This was frontierland to me, a remote cruising ground where the names of the islands, channels and harbors were redolent of the Spanish and British explorers who explored them centuries ago: False Bay, Texada Island, Hernando Island, Cortes Island, Mink Island, Prideaux Haven, all loosely encompassed in the region known as Desolation Sound.…

Time was that mapmakers would append the designation “Here be dragons” to those portions of the globe still unknown to them. But the terrors of the unknown pale in comparison to the fog, tides and rock (and lobster pot!) strewn harbors of coastal Maine—or so I thought until I actually went there to see for myself. In fact, while there are certainly plenty of ways to get in trouble there—same as any charter ground you might explore—Maine is no more dangerous than any other place else you might want to try chartering. Indeed, it might even be less so, thanks to the extraordinary number of spots to run and hide—or just spend a few extra hours relaxing on the hook—in the event Mother Nature ever decides to throw you a…

It used to be simple. In the old days your sailmaker offered you one kind of mainsail, and sailors were generally happy with the result. You got a sail with a moderate roach, four battens to support that roach, a few reefs and some sail-trim devices, like a cunningham or a flattening reef. Today, however, mainsails seem to come in all shapes and sizes, with a wide variety of options. You can get a “regular” mainsail with short battens, a full-batten mainsail, or a 2-plus-2 mainsail with two full-length battens up high and two regular-length battens down low. You can have a mainsail that rolls up into the mast or a mainsail that rolls into the boom; a mainsail with a small roach, a moderate roach or a massive roach…

As part of its reorganization in the wake of the 2012 London Olympics, where it failed to win a single medal, the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team has been increasing its eff orts to develop young sailors with an eye toward creating a “pipeline” that will provide experienced, effective rosters for future Olympiads. And it appears those eff orts are starting to bear fruit, with US Sailing’s 13-member 2016 Youth Sailing World Championship Team winning no less than three medals this past December at the Youth World Championship Regatta in Auckland, New Zealand. Leading the U.S. eff ort were Wiley Rogers of Houston, Texas, and Jack Parkin of Riverside, Connecticut, who took gold in the boys 420 class. Also securing podium spots were Romain Screve of Kentfield, California, and Ian Brill…

For video of the Alerion Sport 30, visit sailmagazine.com/videos Alerion Sport 30 SPECIFICATIONS LOA 30ft 1in LWL 24ft 5in BEAM 8ft 9in DRAFT 5ft DISPLACEMENT 6,424lb BALLAST 2,650lb SAIL AREA 465ft2 FUEL/WATER (GAL) 18/16 ENGINE Yanmar 12hp with saildrive SA/D RATIO 21 D/L RATIO 197 BALLAST RATIO 41 What do these ratios mean? Visit sailmagazine.com/ratios DESIGNER Langan Design Partners BUILDER US Watercraft, Warren, RI, 401-247-3000, alerionyachts.com PRICE $236,500 (sailaway) There are many ways to go yachting, and some of the most civilized involve leisurely aft ernoons spent aboard a daysailer with classic lines, varnished teak and graceful deck overhangs. Alerion has long understood this, which is why its models exude a kind of Golden Age elegance that harkens back to a time of blue blazers and sailor caps. More recently,…

SI-TEX EXPLORER NAVPRO Got a spare VGA display or PC monitor laying around and want to convert it to a high-end navigation system? SI-TEX’s Explorer NavPro will let you do just that. Running C-MAP charts from a mini-SD card, the powerful black box has a fast processor, full NMEA 2000 compatibility, two NMEA 0183 ports and a GPS antenna port. You can also operate the Explorer NavPro from anywhere in the boat with an optional wireless remote. $699 (without GPS antenna). SI-TEX, si-tex.com YACHTSPOT 4G+Wi-Fi G3 ROUTER This new Wi-Fi router from YachtSpot boasts a 4G module that works anywhere in the world, as opposed to devices that revert to 2G or 3G when outside their home regions. It supports most LTE 4G frequency bands as well as Wi-Fi .…

It’s not every day you can run aground twice in the space of 10 minutes and extract yourself gracefully each time. Chesapeake neophytes, we were feeling our way into the picturesque harbor of Rock Hall, and as we discussed the approach to the marina the boat slowed ever so gently and came to a stop. Wheel hard over, a massive burst of throttle kicked the stern around, and slowly our chartered 40ft Beneteau eased her keel out of the clinging mud. Five minutes later the onlookers were treated to a repeat performance, except this time we managed to reverse off the mud and were soon alongside the dock. We left next morning on a rising tide and were soon romping across the bay toward Baltimore in a rousing southwesterly, with…

The Great Lakes have long gotten bad rap for everything from cleanliness to the quality of the sailing there. But the days of burning rivers are ancient history, and while it’s true the lakes are not dotted with the same abundance of islands and bays as, say, the Eastern Seaboard, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of charter of opportunities for those in search of a quick getaway. Imagine it: no air travel, no taking off your damn shoes or being groped by the TSA, no waiting for checked luggage. Just throw your flip flops, some food, a case of beer and some sunblock in the trunk, go for drive that takes little more time than a long layover in Miami, and the next thing you know you’re going through…

They say opportunity knocks, but temptation leans on the doorbell. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t resist diverting to St. John while on my last charter to the British Virgin Islands. The glorious northern bays of this U.S. Virgin are less than eight miles from the bustle of Road Town. So, armed with American courtesy and Q (quarantine) flags, I set a course for this temptation on the horizon. We boarded our Moorings charter in Tortola late in the day and arrived in Maho Bay on St. John at dusk, just in time to catch a mooring ball, make dinner and go to bed. The next morning revealed an anchorage so pristine we couldn’t help but toss in the standup paddleboards and take a lap. Maho comprises the western bight of…

As I write this the two leading sailors in the Vendée Globe, Armel Le Cléac’h on Banque Populaire and Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss, are heading up the Atlantic Ocean toward the Doldrums, and what I’m wondering is this: what the heck is Alex listening to on his iPod? In following the race I’ve noticed he’s wearing earbuds in every video he sends back to race HQ, and it has made me very curious. Just what sort of soundtrack does it take to distract you from the cacophonous madness of racing nonstop through the tumultuous Southern Ocean inside a 60ft carbon-fiber kettle drum? Do you go over the top and try to drown out the din with some superloud punk or thrash metal? Do you try to soothe your ragged…