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GO FURTHER I SAIL BETTER I BE INSPIRED
SAILIN
G TO
DAY
TV ANTENNAEDon’t miss a minute with our group test
RACE TUNINGTurn your cruiser into a Cowes Week winner
POCKET CRUISERSailing a gunter-rigged Norfolk Gypsy
POO
LE TO SC
ILLY • LOFO
TEN ISLA
ND
S • ALLU
RES 39.9 • CO
RK • A
IS VS RA
DA
R
AUGUST 2013 sailingtoday.co.uk £4.20
AUG
UST 2013 – ISSU
E No 196
Get away in the go-anywhere Allures 39.9French leave
BOAT ON TEST
Hidden gemsA creek-crawler’s guide to the secret West Country
How hostage couple put pirate ordeal behind them
Sailing freeINTERVIEW
CRUISING
AIS vs radarWhich is the best
collision avoidance system for you?
CORK HARBOURGull’s Eye crosses the Irish Sea to Cork
WIN £1,500
WORTH OF SAILS
ST196_001FC_V10.indd 1 17/06/2013 16:52Cover promo text.indd 1 19/06/2013 12:09
At the heart of Rustlerʼs philosophy is a firm commitment to developingtruly unique yachts that are distinctive in looks, design and performance.Rustler yachts stand out in a sea of clones. They are beautifully built.Built for real sailors and real situations.
Beautiful yachts, beautifully builtRustler 42
Principal Dimensions: LOA: 12.81m Beam: 4.06m Draft: 1.82m Disp:11791kg Ballast: 4671kg
Tel: 01326 310120 | www.rustleryachts.comRustler Yachts | Maritime Buildings | Falmouth | Cornwall | TR10 8AD
Rustler 44 | Rustler 42 | Rustler 36 | Rustler 33 | Rustler 24
NEW 7
Rustler Sailing Today Mar 2013 v2:Rustler 4/4/13 14:49 Page 1
Untitled-10 1 15/04/2013 07:41
Welcome
August 2013 sailingtoday.co.uk 3
the blue peter is flying. All hands (well, both) are to return to ship as we make ready to catch the tide for France. Vittles are laid in, sails bent on, the decks scrubbed and all is neatly squared away below.
Or at least that was the case until the Shipping Forecast this morning: “Portland. South, veering southwest, 4 or 5, increasing 6 or 7. Moderate or rough. Occasional rain. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.”
Belay that order! Strike the pennant, batten down the hatches and crack open a bottle of something warming. Now, there are two things I want to say about this. One is a philosophical point – that as sailors, we are subject to the climate and what it throws at us in the way of weather.
The best-laid plans are always subject to change, and even a long-planned, two-week cruise, jemmied in between editorial
deadlines after a frantic relaunching the week before, cannot trump the elements. We had initially planned to head for the Frisian Islands in Riddle of the Sands territory, but in the teeth of an easterly, we changed our minds. Next it was Brittany and the Channel Islands. Now it looks as if we may have to content ourselves with Poole Harbour – not in itself a bad thing, but a little too much ‘on the doorstep’.
The second point is this. Something queer has happened to summer. It’s too soon to say for sure whether this is more than a blip, but the jet stream of high altitude winds has shifted south, allowing marauding low pressure systems to cartwheel in one after another over the British Isles from January to December, with no let up for summer. If this proves a long-term trend, it spells bad news for British sailing.
Hopefully, by the time you read this, I’ll be returning from a balmy 10 days of Brittany cruising. Otherwise, I’ll have to content myself with the summery tale of one man’s cruise down to Scilly and back, nudging into some of the West Country’s forgotten creeks and anchorages (pp22-31). Or perhaps the fortitude of kidnapees Paul and Rachel Chandler, back to bluewater sailing and interviewed on pp32-33.
Elsewhere, we have 27 pages of boats and gear in this issue – from the aluminium Allures 39.9 to the classic lines of the Norfolk Gypsy; TV antennae to wet weather gear and lightweight outboards. Enjoy!
sam Fortescue, managing editor
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Mark Covell won silver in the Star class at the
Sydney Olympics in 2000 and sails Collective Spirit
BoB Shepton has led many adventure sailing
expeditions to Greenland and the Arctic
howard Steen took early retirement in 2008
and moved to Germany to cruise the Baltic
Contributors
Skipper’s Viewafter the bustle of getting afloat, i hope the gales and rain are no more than a spasm in the summer weather
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Strap book
may 2013 sailingtoday.co.uk 05
Regulars10 newS14 new boatS16 readerS’ letterS Splicing genes, Hammar, which tack?
18 wHat’S on19 win £1,500 of SailS20 broadSide66 bookS76 riding ligHt102 diSpatcHeSJacky and robert black head for corfu
Cruising8 round tHe iSland photos and stories from the rtir
22 mudlarking creek-crawling from poole to Scilly
32 interviewpaul and rachel chandler set out again
34 gull’S eye fold-out guide to cork, ireland
40 Secret placeS avoid the crowds in poole Harbour
48 lofoten iSlandSSailing in norway’s island playground
74 cruiSing clinic
Boats42 allureS 39.9 “outre-mer” to test an aluminium cruiser
56 copperbottomed westerly’s most popular? ocean 33
78 norfolk gypSy neil thompson trailer-sailer on test
Gear58 tv aerialS don’t miss a minute with our group test
64 new gear66 gear teStedHenri lloyd, coast torch, cleaner
Practical70 race tune pimp your cruiser for cowes week
82 aiS vS radarwhich system keeps you safest?
6
22
82
Contents
boats27 pages
and kit
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ST196 ContentsV3.indd 5 19/06/2013 11:56
The Round the Island Race on 1 June presented a sunny contrast to last year’s squally event. A pre-dawn start to catch the tide and a N-NW wind made the fi rst leg to the Needles a fast downwind ride. The race was a success for Sir Ben Ainslie in his AC45, shattering the outright race record in a ‘back for breakfast’ 2hrs 52min 15sec. In this, the 76th running of the ‘biggest yacht race in the world’, 1,459 boats entered with only 52 retiring. Read overleaf how ST’s correspondents got on.
St Catherine’sPhoto by Ian Roman/onEdition
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sailingtoday.co.uk August 2013 42
On test
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August 2013 sailingtoday.co.uk 43
Aluminiumattraction
French-built Allures cruising yachts simply bristle with clever features. Duncan Kent reports on the newly launched 39.9
Allures Yachting has been building aluminium cruisers for 10 years and has so far launched over 100 boats. The 39.9 is its
latest design created by Berret Racoupeau, after taking the many existing Allures owners’ experiences and wishes into account.
Allures owns two other boatyards, including Caen-based Garcia Yachting, where its hulls are built. Garcia is expert at alloy fabrication and its hulls are phenomenally strong, yet comparatively light. Once complete, the bare, round-bilge aluminium hulls are delivered to the Allures yard in Cherbourg, where they are burnished, painted and insulated before fitting out. Unlike her bigger sisters, the 39.9 has a GRP deck and superstructure, giving less weight, more headroom below and a smoother, warmer finish.
The interior joinery is outsourced, but built to CAD drawings created by Allures’ own layout team, so no further sawing, planing or sanding is needed. If any custom parts are required, they will be put through the same design process and the drawings supplied.
“Slutter” rigA mixture of cutter and sloop, the Allures’ sail plan has two headsails for ease of sail handling: an overlapping genoa is on the foremost stay with a smaller working jib on the inner. They are not intended to be hoisted together
Allures craftsmen then put the whole lot together, knowing exactly what fits where and how, thanks to the precision of the 3D design images, which can be rotated through every angle.
The 39.9 is designed as a bluewater cruising yacht, although some have bought her for local sailing as well. She can be quite heavily customised – especially in the starboard quarter, which can be a cabin, technical room, workshop, or a clever combination of all three by using the workbench as a berth and the space below for storage.
There’s also a large area behind the engine, which will house a good size generator, watermaker, extra fuel tank or anything else for long periods offshore. Access to both areas is very good. A plethora of panels in the sole gives excellent access to all areas of the bilge for regular inspection and there are no no-go areas hidden behind mouldings where problems might arise. This is particularly important with an aluminium hull, as a metallic object dropped into the bilges can cause serious corrosion problems.
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Howard Steen chose both, using his Vancouver 27 as a
mobile ski refuge in the Lofoten Islands of Norway
SAIL OR SKI ?
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August 2013 sailingtoday.co.uk 49
Lying in my sleeping bag with the cabin temperature barely above freezing, I wondered if my friend James would be the fi rst to get up and
put on the kettle. Sadly, the lack of activity from his bunk suggested he considered this to be the skipper’s duty. We’d arrived in Tromsø the previous day, 6 March, enjoyed a fantastic fi rst display of the Northern Lights but aft er a bitterly cold night, the sea was icing up in our sheltered corner of the harbour and the small electric fan heater struggled to dispel the deathly chill. An urgent priority that morning was to re-commission the diesel cabin heater!
I reminded myself that at this time of year most sailors have sensibly left their boats to a long undisturbed winter sleep, but here we were in the freezing Arctic, aiming to use the boat as a fi xed and sailing base for several weeks of ski mountaineering activities. We didn’t plan to sail south for Bodø until May.
Long in the makingTh e 2,500nM to Tromsø from Baltic Germany were sailed over the previous two seasons, assisted by family and friends as crew. We’d enjoyed the fascination of sailing along the scenic Norwegian coastline using the ‘inner lead’, a series of sheltered channels protected by layers of off -lying islands. All my early fears of Norwegian sailing – deep fj ords with unfathomable anchoring depths, unpredictable winds, a hazardous rock-strewn coastline – had been pleasantly dispelled during the fi rst season, so I was happy to take novice crew on some of the voyage.
As a sailor who also enjoys both mountaineering activity and being able to sketch and paint mountain landscapes, I’ve found that sailing in west and north Norway is hard to beat. Th e unique atmosphere of the Arctic region with its spectacular Lofoten Islands, glaciers which almost reach sea level, midnight sun in summer and the Northern Lights in winter is a good enough reason to make the eff ort to push this far north, though few yachts do.
Wintering afl oat in the west and north is practical because the Gulf
Opposite: At 20m, the Svartisen Glacier has the lowest snout in mainland Europe
Above: Author’s painting of Martha anchored by the Jokelfjord Glacier
Stream ensures the sea does not freeze at the coast. However, the boat must be protected from snow. Tromsø can get up to 2m, so I’d constructed a strong cover of reinforced plastic to keep snow off the decks. During heavy snowfall we could hear from below the reassuring sound of mini-avalanches sliding off the ‘roof ’. Th e side decks became a good place to store skis and when the sun rose high enough to strike the boat, the cockpit ‘conservatory’ became a welcome extension to our living space.
Arctic winter delights A lively university town of some 60,000 people, Tromsø enjoys the accolade ‘Paris of the North’, perhaps due to its large selection of bars, cafes, museums and galleries. Set on a small, low island on the inner lead, superbly sheltered by large islands and surrounded by mountains on all sides, it is a deservedly popular destination for exploring and enjoying the local area. Access to the mountains and skiing opportunities of all kinds is excellent. An extensive network of fl oodlit cross-country trails on the island lies only 15 minutes walk from the harbour, while a short bus ride across to the mainland side accesses
Wildlife checklistSea eagleHaliaeetusEncompassing eight diff erent species, these fi sh eaters can weigh up to 9kg (20lb)
ReindeerRangifer tarandusWidely hunted in Nordic countries, they have also been domesticated to pull toboggans in Lapland
Sea otterEnhydra LutrisAt 45kg, they are the heaviest members of the weasel family. They have recovered from extinction but are still on the endangered list
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On test
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It is a quiet Saturday evening, riding at anchor somewhere remote, and the promised summer weather hasn’t materialised. If your thoughts on a chill night aboard are turning from
stargazing to X Factor, you’ll need a proper digital TV (DVB-T) antenna that is capable of receiving signals from the nearest TV transmitter.
Unless you are desperate not to miss a single frame of TV, then you’re unlikely to want to spend £1,000 or so on a tracking dish antenna. Terrestrial digital TV signals can be picked up from a good number of transmitters, both those on the coast and some inland masts as well, with a simple omni-directional passive antenna. � ere are plenty that will do the job, but what makes a good one?
Wideband or directional?In order to be able to receive a good range of stations, a TV aerial for a cruising boat needs to be of the type commonly known as a wideband antenna. � is is distinct from a directional domestic antenna, which is designed to point towards a speci� c transmitter mast.
In Britain, TV signals are broadcast from Ch21 to Ch60, or 474MHz to 786MHz in frequency terms. Technically, this is quite a wide range of to be able to tune into with any accuracy, so for this reason all wideband aerials are somewhat of a compromise and the clarity of reception in more remote areas can leave something to be desired!
In a domestic situation your TV antenna will be tuned into your nearest (or most powerful) terrestrial TV transmitter by pointing it directly at the mast. However, if you’re
DON’T MISS A MINUTE ON BOARD
WANT TO RECEIVE TERRESTRIAL DIGITAL TV ON BOARD? DUNCAN KENT TESTS A SELECTION OF THE MOST POPULAR
ANTENNAE TO SEE WHICH PERFORMS THE BEST
cruising along the coast, stopping at di� erent destinations each night, you’re not going to be able to � ne-tune your aerial unless you know exactly where the nearest mast is located. Besides, it’s quite a � ddly job tweaking a unidirectional antenna to � nd the best signal and, of course, if it’s at the masthead for the better reception, that’s pretty much out of the question.
Unfortunately, directional aerials are usually quite long (2½� – 3½� ), heavy and not ideally suited to masthead mounting, so the sailing yacht owner is limited in choice.
Power up For this reason, most mobile TV installations use a wideband, multi-directional antenna that is capable of receiving signals from any direction. For practical reasons, they also need to be reasonably small and be protected from the elements. Unfortunately, small usually means a weaker signal (less gain) and the e� ect of � tting an ampli� er or ‘booster’ is limited.
In general, an omni-directional TV antenna is never going to give
you as good a picture as a domestic one, unless you’re close to a transmitter and you have a correctly polarised (see below) aerial. In fact the gain of most mobile antennae is negative, usually around -3dB, as opposed to the +7dB gain of a typical directional antenna.
Furthermore, having a beamwidth of the full 360°, an omni-directional aerial is more likely to be a� ected by interference between adjacent transmitters, especially in weak signal areas, so you’re unlikely to get a perfect picture at all times.
All TV receivers have a built-in signal ampli� er that will increase its sensitivity if the signal is weak. So there is o� en little bene� t to be had by incorporating a separate signal ampli� er with a pushpit rail- or coachroof-mounted antenna. However, it’s a di� erent story when the aerial cable is long – in the case of a masthead-mount antenna, for instance. Long cable runs can cause an in-line loss in signal strength, so an integral ampli� er can de� nitely help to improve the strength and clarity of the signal.
PolarisationTo work e� ectively, a TV antenna must also be ‘polarised’ to match the transmitter from which it is receiving its signal.
Although all the main broadcast transmitter masts are horizontally aligned, some repeater masts (o� en used in poorer reception areas) can be vertically polarised to minimise channel interference.
For the best reception, you will require an aerial with vertical elements and even then, you might still su� er from ‘ghosting’ in a poor reception area.
Main: Even with a good TV antenna on board, don’t expect the same quality as home
Below: We tested the antennae on a boat moored on the River Hamble
ST TIP Good quality coaxial cable is paramount for the best reception. Only use a proper coaxial plug and socket to join cable runs – never terminal blocks. If your coaxial cable has been bent tightly or pinched, reception can be severely degraded
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Pint sized
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Gypsy magic
In the first of a new series reviewing the best small boats built in Britain
and on the near continent, Sam Fortescue sails a Norfolk Gypsy
A gust catches our little boat before I can sheet out the main, and I am again surprised by the ease with which she wears it. It is a keen
easterly blowing a fishy scent over the sand from the colony of seals that lie basking in the April sun at Blakeney Point, north Norfolk.
I’m in a 20ft (6.1m) gaffer, built last year by Neil Thompson Boats to a design first sketched by the prolific Andrew Wolstenholme in 1989. She has a pleasing classic workboat look to her as we approach, and indeed, Neil is building a lot of motor-only Gypsies at his yard a few miles from Morston Quay. The Gypsy’s bold sheer, short bowsprit and tan sails belie the fact that she is built in glassfibre using modern laying-up techniques – the cabin deckhead is very light balsa GRP sandwich, for example, giving buoyancy, insulation and strength.
Camper-sailerIn essence, she’s a heavy little day-sailer, who could be pressed into occasional service overnight with two slim-cushioned V-berths. Her real strength is as a shoal-dodging camper-sailer whose 1,300kg (2,870lb) displacement makes her easily trailable. Neil Thompson takes pride
in the weight of her construction, which keeps her rigid and stable – something I’m grateful for repeatedly as our fingers numb in the chill wind and reactions slow.
Despite never having set foot on one of these boats before, we find her gunter rig a doddle. The jib is rolled up on a furler, with the mainsail neatly sandwiched between the boom and the gaff. It is the work of seconds for one man to raise the two halyards – one fixed to the middle of the gaff, the other to the gaff jaws around the mast. With the main up, we back the jib to clear the mooring and set off on a beam reach across the shallows.
In fact, the most complicated thing about getting under way is the boom crutch, which steadfastly refuses to come undone after the winter and makes helming, tacking… pretty much everything rudder-related, difficult. “Normally, they just stand on the coaming,” says yard worker, Pierre. “They’re never usually attached.” No matter: with his help to keep the wooden attachment clear of the tiller, we have few problems.
Thanks to her lifting centreplate and rudder plate, the Gypsy draws no more than a foot when everything’s up, so running downwind, I am able to gybe from one side of the harbour to the other. But hardening up as we c
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Although Gypsies have been taken up and down coast, and as far as Holland and France, the boat’s strength is as a day-sailer
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