After nine months of racing, Dongfeng Race Team has won the closest ever Volvo Ocean Race

BREAKING NEWS: After nine months of racing, the Volvo Ocean Race was undecided until the final cross this afternoon.

The short last leg to The Hague was littered with traffic separation zones one the final few hundred miles. Dongfeng made an audacious tactical call to split from their equal rivals Mapfre and Team Brunel, heading east and inshore, with no-go TSS zones dividing the waters between them and the main pack.

As Dongfeng reached into the final mark with three headsails flying, Brunel and Mapfre were gybing in on a lower course. It wasn’t until the final hour of the race that the verdict came in: Dongfeng crossed in front, the Volvo Ocean Race was won.

The fleet had set out on Thursday 21st June with an unprecedented points tie – a three-way tie in a dead heat on the overall leaderboard. The finishing order between MAPFRE, Team Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team at The Hague would determine their place on the overall race podium.

Each of those three teams led at various points on the leg and had their opportunities to grab the prize.

But Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier and his team made a bold call on Saturday evening to take a coastal route to the finish, pinned against the shoreline by a series of Exclusion Zones. It hurt them in the short term as they tumbled down the leaderboard.

However, by Sunday morning, with less than 100 miles left to race, weather routing projections had the top teams finishing within minutes of each other. None had been able to breakaway, despite the significant splits on the race course.

At 15:22:32 UTC, Dongfeng Race Team, flew down the coast from the north to win the leg, and the race.

Leg 11, from Gothenburg to The Hague. 24 June, 2018.

It was the closest finish in the 45-year history of the race and the first win for a Chinese-flagged team. It was also, remarkably, the first leg win for Dongfeng, who had scored consistent podium places but missed out on the leg 1st place throughout the event.

“It has been an amazing opportunity to lead this dream team, and I am so proud to realise their dreams,” said an emotional Caudrelier shortly after the start.

This is the second Volvo Ocean Race win for Caudrelier, who previously won as a crew member with Franck Cammas’s Groupama in 2012 before leading Dongfeng Race Team to 3rd in the last edition.

Leg 11, from Gothenburg to The Hague, day 04. Helicopter shots taken as the fleet blast south to The Hague. 24 June, 2018.

The final results were 1st Dongfeng Race Team, 2nd Mapfre, 3rd Team Brunel, 4th Team AkzoNobel, 5th Vestas 11th Hour Racing. Sun Hung Kai Scallywag and Turn the Tide on Plastic are currently tied on 32 points apiece for 6th place, a split which will be decided by the result of the in-port race series. The final in-port race takes place in The Hague on Sunday 1st July.

Look out for a full report, as well as an in-depth look at the future for this legendary event, in next month’s Yachting World, out 12^thJuly.

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Volvo Ocean Race organisers have confirmed that the 2021 edition will be held in IMOCA 60 designs. We spoke to sailors and team organisers about what a change of class might mean for the race:

After months of speculation – Yachting World broke the story than the IMOCA 60 class were in the final stages of negotiation with the Volvo Ocean Race back in April – organisers have confirmed that the next edition of the crewed multi-stage round the world race will take place in IMOCA 60 class yachts.

In the very final days of the race, a confidential Educational Session for interested parties was held around the IMOCA Class Rules in The Hague last week. The announcement was only publically confirmed yesterday, after the prizegivings for the 2017-18 event had been held and the Volvo Ocean Race teams and sponsors dispersed.

At the session, sailors and team managers from the most recent Volvo Ocean Race and IMOCA events, along with yacht designers currently involved in construction of new IMOCA Class boats such as Guillaume Verdier and Juan Kouyoumdjian, discussed the changes.

Co-President of the Volvo Ocean Race, Johan Salen, presenting at the IMOCA 60 partnership information session in The Hague, 28th June 2018.

“This is a first step of many in preparing for the next edition of the race in 2021,” said Johan Salén , co-President of the race. “There is an ongoing co-operation process to put in place the elements we need to make the next race a success from a sporting and business point of view.

“This is a complex matter with many perspectives, and we are respectfully welcoming continuous input from all key stakeholders, from World Sailing to individual sailors, teams and partners. We are confident that this is the right way forward.”

Organisers are certainly likely to receive plenty of input – during my visit to the last stage of the Volvo Ocean Race, before the announcement was made, I spoke to numerous sailors about the possible choices of boat for future editions of the race and found almost no consensus.

Team Brunel skipper and eight-time race expert Bouwe Bekking was a big proponent of the IMOCA 60 plan. Peter Burling, helmsman on Brunel, speculated: “I’m not sure if the exact IMOCA rule would work well for the Volvo, maybe a variant of that rule. For me it’s just got to be fast and modern, and I think they’ve got to make the race shorter as well.”

David Witt, skipper of Sun Hung Kai Scallywag, told me: “I think the IMOCA 60 would be a mistake. I have a feeling their [organisers’] motive is to try and get the Hugo Bosses and big corporates to come in from the Vendée Globe.” Witt was concerned the move might make the Volvo Ocean Race a second-tier event in the IMOCA calendar to the single-handed Vendée Globe.

Chris Nicholson, watch captain on Team AkzoNobel and a veteran of six Whitbread/Volvo races, supported using the one-design 65s again. He was among those that raised concerns about the robustness of the existing IMOCA design.

“A current IMOCA boat won’t handle a crew of four or five, so that has to be a complete structural redesign,” Nicholson said. “I wouldn’t sail around the world in an IMOCA boat with five of us Volvo-type sailors. If you had a race like we’ve just had, I don’t believe it would handle it.”

Bruno Dubois, team manager for winners Dongfeng Race Team, felt that the race needed to modernise: “I think if we go with a boat with no foils we are in the Stone Age,” he said.

“We have to be at the forefront of what’s going on. I think IMOCA are strong boats, they would have to be modified to sail with crew, but it is a way to go to get development.” Dubois also suggested using the 65s as a ‘B’ fleet, restricted by a gender, age or nationality rule. The future of the Volvo 65s is yet to be announced.

The current crop of IMOCA 60s more usually race single- or double-handed. ‘Fully crewed racing’, with four or five crew, is limited to a few events such as the Rolex Fastnet Race are. Photo Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex

In yesterday’s press release, organisers say a joint committee is being formed to draft a specific section of the IMOCA class rules for a crewed IMOCA 60, “respecting the spirit and intent of the partnership, which includes cost control, security and sporting fairness”.

The committee will have to consider factors such as whether any more components are made one-design to reduce costs, and any necessary structural modifications to ensure the boats’ reliability – many have speculated that the race could once again be dominated by rig failures, after just two rig breakages in 14 circumnavigations by the robustly over-built 65s across the last two editions of the race.

Critically, the rule relating to crew numbers on board the IMOCA class is still to be determined and among the items under consideration. Organisers say they have “the goal of retaining an On Board Reporter role”.

One issue with the IMOCA 60 plan is that it is likely to greatly reduce the number of crew racing at any one time – although sailors may be rotated in a squad. This could put one of the biggest legacies of this race, the gender crew rule that saw 23 women sailors racing in mixed crews, in jeopardy, although organisers have said it is a trend they hope to continue.

“Moving the race into foiling monohulls under the IMOCA class will motivate more sailors, teams and the wider marine industry to prepare for the next edition,” Salén commented in the press release. “Partnering with the existing IMOCA infrastructure means the professional offshore sailing calendar becomes more unified and efficient, this helps the sport as a whole and helps to build a sustainable business model for teams and sailors.”

Tough audience? IMOCA designer Guillaume Verdier talks to sailors and team managers in The Hague.

Part of this plan is likely to involve extending the calendar of events beyond a single round the world race every three or four years. “It has been quite difficult, and also not sustainable, to build a boat that is not very well adapted to use for other events,” Salén told me by phone before the announcement.

“So we are trying to get more continuity for the teams. To achieve that the IMOCA class is a very attractive option because there is so much in place already. The teams can go to a sponsor with an agenda with events every year and a four-year cycle, much more continuity and a much better resale value for the boats.”

Salén says they are considering options that include a round Europe race to cover key sponsorship markets, as well as ocean courses, such as a transatlantic, but the current IMOCA calendar is governed by the next Vendée Globe, starting in November 2020.

Winning skipper Charles Caudrelier of Dongfeng Race Team has competed in the IMOCA class previously. “This change is very exciting,” Caudrelier said in the event press release. “The Open 60s are just amazing boats. I really enjoy sailing on these boats and I think when people see it, they will enjoy it. If the two best offshore races in the world are going to join the same class, to me it’s good news.”

“I think as a sailor, this is very exciting,” said Bekking. “For the younger generation of sailors, they’re all about foiling and surfing and going fast and you have to get the best sailors involved in the race. With the Open 60s, they’ve nailed it, because this is what the sailors want.”

“We’re trying to make a boat for the future that is capable of doing both short-handed and fully-crewed races,” said the highly successful IMOCA designer Guillaume Verdier. “My opinion is that it is doable with a bit of compromise from both worlds to meet in the middle.”

Nick Bice, who has been running The Boatyard shared maintenance department for the Volvo 65s, is leading the development of the new rule.

“The process is just starting,” said Nick Bice, who is leading the project to develop the Open 60 rule for the next race. “We’ll forward everyone’s input to the joint committee and get started on developing the rules that will be used for Open 60s to participate in the next race. Our goal is to have this ready to go by the end of the year.”

We look at more of the questions surrounding the future of the race, including opportunities for female crew and possible future routes, in the August issue of Yachting World, out on Thursday 5^thJuly. We also have a personal account from Dongfeng Race Team’s skipper Charles Caudrelier and shoreside navigator Marcel Van Triest of how the final leg and overall race was won.

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A glorious start for the 26 superyachts competing at the St Barths Bucket 2018

St Barth did what it does best and turned on the perfect conditions for Bucket racing around the outlying rocks and islands surrounding this idyllic island. And in return for the welcoming hospitality and weather, 26 superyacht owners and their armies of crews helped bring some much-needed glitz and tourism back to an island still finding its feet after the devastation of two hurricanes last November.

A Force 4–5 (15 knot average) trade breeze, cloudless skies and sparkling seas gave the competitors the ideal conditions to open the three-day regatta with a counter-clockwise race around the island. It was pursuit racing at its best, with the yachts in multiple classes split by seconds on the finish line after 20-25 miles of racing – bravo to the ORC Superyacht Committee.

The SW102 Farfalla slices to weather off St Barth – by Michael Kurtz

I sailed with Farfalla for that first race, a Southern Wind 102 that is being increasingly campaigned, including at the recent RORC Caribbean 600. With a competent owner-driver and a highly experienced afterguard, she sailed a very clean and very enjoyable race.

Onboard Farfalla, chasing down Danneskjold at the St Barths Bucket

Ian Budgen’s tactics and Nacho Postigo’s wily navigation (taking the shortest route where possible and making use of our slightly lower draught) combined to help us sail through three of the five in our class.

And the final beat, trading tacks with the slightly larger 112ft Frers Spiip (the former Unfurled and current holder of the bucket), provided the exciting finale. Just two boat-lengths separated us on the line.

These performance 32-35m yachts, which includes Nilaya, Farfalla, Danneskjold, Sojana, and Spiip at the Bucket, show how well these designs can adapt to superyacht racing and why its an increasingly popular size for new builds. They are manouvrable enough for a tight-nit racing and fun for the crews to hoist code sails and A-sails, keep a sweat on between marks and earn their keep.

The latest J Class Svea is turning heads at St Barth and is leading the Js – by Claire Matches

It is a rousing sight to see the incomparable 78m sloop M5 (ex Mirabella) racing for the first time at a Bucket. And the Js, always a magnet for the spectating boats and the crews on the rails, are enjoying some close racing.

There are only three Js this year, the two newest in Svea and Topaz, and the 1934-built original Velsheda. Again, just seconds separated the boats in the first three races.

A success story of this edition is the six strong corinthian class, a white sails only fleet that is also enjoying some close racing despite a variety in ages and sizes of yachts. The top three boats, Koo, Q and Missy, were separated by just 30 seconds in the opening race.
I joined Missy for the second race and enjoyed the triumphant feeling of starting last and finishing first as we managed pick off the larger competitors on the final beat. The new Malcolm McKeon designed 33m fast cruiser was designed for family world sailing but is competing in her first regatta.

Congestion at the bottom mark/rock, from onboard Missy

She certainly has a turn of speed to match her sleek looks. A first victory in that race will doubtless encourage her owner to enter her in more friendly racing events.

The traditional ‘Yacht Hop’ after the first day’s racing cemented the friendly nature of this event and reinforced how the assembled owners are here to support an island in need.
It’s an event unlike any other – all crews and guests of the bucket are invited to join drinks parties aboard those yachts docked stern-to in Gustavia. I cannot even imagine such an event taking place anywhere else – only in St Barth!

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Oyster Yachts has been bought by a British software entrepreneur, with plans to resume boat building in Britain immediately and potentially launch a range of smaller yachts in future

Oyster Yachts has been bought from administrators by British gaming software entrepreneur Richard Hadida. Hadida won the bid from a shortlist of seven bidders. He is a keen yachtsman who has chartered Oysters and sails with motorsports boss Eddie Jordan on Jordan’s Oyster 885 Lush.

Oyster went into administration in February with the loss of around 380 jobs after the Dutch backers, HTP Investment, decided not to continue to support the company financially. The company had its largest ever order book totalling £80m, but also an unsettled £7.3m claim relating to the loss of the Oyster 825 Polina Star III from a total keel failure in 2015.

Hadida won’t disclose what he paid to buy Oyster, but he outbid a group that included four other high net worth individuals. He now owns the assets, tooling and IP, as well as the subsidiary brokerage, after market and events companies, but minus liabilities relating to Polina Star.

Hadida says the aim is “absolutely” to keep Oyster Yachts in Britain. While he admits he has no experience in boatbuilding, Hadida says he “brings some business skills and commonsense” and has surrounded himself with an experienced management team.

The Oyster 675 during her Yachting World boat test last year

Kim Stubbs, an operational restructuring expert on secondment from PwC, has been appointed as COO. Stubbs previously helped turn Sunseeker from a loss making operation to a profitable business by means of cost reductions, renegotiation of supply chain contracts and the introduction of production efficiencies such as modular fit-out, thus reducing man-hours and time to market.

Also a key part of the team is Paul Adamson, an experienced professional skipper and former captain of Oyster 885 Lush. Three former directors, including MD David Tydeman have, Tydeman said: “been told our services are no longer required”.

The initial focus of the new team is to complete the work in progress on 26 builds that had stalled, including Oyster’s first 118 superyacht, due for launch later this year. On the day the contracts were signed, Hadida promised: “We are going to get them built as soon as possible, starting tomorrow.”

Oyster builds will continue in the UK , “Wroxham for the smaller yachts and Southampton for the larger yachts,” says Hadida, but the range will be thinned out. “I think there were some questionable decisions made in the range strategy, where models were very close together such as the 825 and 885, which require different tooling, and we will refine a smaller range.

“We are also actively looking, with Rob Humphreys, who is integral to this, at a couple of 40-something footers in the range, possibly a super high quality 42, because there’s an enormous market there. They would have all the mod cons and the seascape [hull] windows that Oyster is famous for.”

Oyster Yachts’s facility in Southampton

Hadida does not foresee the Oyster range extending at the upper limit beyond Oyster’s current 118 superyacht and says: “There is no point in having anything between the 885 and the 118.”

While aiming to reduce costs but maintain margins through new build processes, Hadida is adamant that the aim will be “safety first, always”.

“A Polina Star cannot happen again, no question. But you can introduce efficiencies and still have a safe build process,” he says. “We also need to build more quickly and make the sales cycle shorter. Eddie [Jordan] and I talked about getting a 118 but there was a four-year lead time, which is just impossible. It was so enormous I gave up the conversation. So we are losing people to sailing through that.”

New Oyster owner Richard Hadida has sailed on Eddie Jordan’s Lush many times

Meanwhile, Oyster founder Richard Matthews, who was among the initial bidders, withdrew his bid and teamed up with Oyster’s former after sales manager, Sarah Harmer, and former quality manager, Will Taylor-Jones, to form Ipswich-based Fox’s Yacht Services which will provide a complete after sales support service. This is now in competition with the new Oyster management, a move Hadida describes as “opportunistic”.

“We have all the working drawings and IP, and we will focus on the Oyster community and after market,” he says. “I plan to bring every part of the business back to life. I am not looking to flip it, there is no exit planning, I am in it for the long run, it will be a lifetime business.”

“I see myself as a custodian of the brand and I am here for the long term. I love Oysters and the Oyster community and I think it is a heart thing, this family.

Richard Hadida

Who is Oyster’s new owner?

Richard Hadida, 52, is the co-founder and chairman of Evolution Gaming, a €100bn company specialising on live casino gaming on digital platforms. The company is headquartered in Stockholm and employs around 3,500 people, mainly in Latvia and Malta.

His interest in Oyster is more personal. “I’m a guy who loves sailing,” Hadida says. “I totally fell in love with it 25 years ago and took my [RYA] Day Skipper course and then did some bareboat chartering. Then I had two boys and as soon as they could swim I chartered Amanzi, an Oyster 56, in the Caribbean and we had the most amazing time.

“The next year I chartered Oyster 82 Ravenous and I always aspired to own an Oyster. I got close to Eddie Jordan and have done lots of sailing with him on Lush, probably 40 days a year in the last two years. I looked at buying myself and we looked at bigger boats, but none matched up to Lush – the 885 ticks every box.

“I had no idea the company was going into administration but I actually heard about it when I was on holiday with Eddie and I felt it was my calling.”

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Caspar Craven dreamed of a two-year voyage with his family. How could he make it happen?

Surreal. Not a breath of wind tonight. The sea’s surface is flat and unbroken. The sky is utterly cloudless and filled with stars. A half moon lights up the entire picture. It’s so still it’s unbelievable. We are six miles north of the Equator and on the cusp of leaving the northern hemisphere. Nichola and the children are excited. This is their first crossing of The Line. Given we will cross around 2330, King Neptune in all his finery is on ice until the morning. The crossing of the Equator ceremony presided over by King Neptune (in this case me, as I have crossed several times before) will try each of the crewmembers for crimes in court. Inevitably, they will be found guilty and buckets of cold water will be dispensed over each of them.

Yesterday, we had our first Galapagos visitor. A large, unidentified bird (later identified as a red-footed booby) landed on the bows in the afternoon. It perched on the pulpit and didn’t bat an eyelid as four of us stood taking photos of it. It was content to just sit there and hitch a lift. We estimate it was about 40-50cm long – a big bird.

He left this morning and we’ve had various other birds visiting during the day. It’s one of the features of Galapagos animals that they have no predators and are fearless; they come right up to you. We’re hoping to experience more of this tomorrow as we should arrive in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz by mid-morning tomorrow.

The schooling has been all about South American geography and biology. Our two eldest children, Bluebell and Columbus, re-watched David Attenborough’s Galapagos this afternoon and made pages of notes. They are on their way to becoming child experts on the islands. Columbus, who has been slow to get going with his writing, is making great strides now and writing at length. It’s really great to see.

I’m about to wake Bluebell to join me on night watch. She loved the night watch last night and chatted non-stop for two hours while we lay in the cockpit gazing at the stars and steered Aretha by our angle to Orion’s Belt. I think we can see the Southern Cross now but we are going to double check that tonight.

We are all looking forward to landfall. Spirits are high, in no small part due to showers all round and cooler temperatures on board. Our next post will be from the southern hemisphere and with tales of the Galapagos.

Team Aretha, out.

A long-term plan

In the early summer of 2009, life had been very different. Nichola and I had been married for five years and we had two children, Bluebell (4) and Columbus (2).

I was co-owner of a small consultancy business in the technology sector. I was working long 80- or 90-hour weeks and barely seeing Nichola and the children. By Friday evening I’d be exhausted. Nichola used to joke without much humour that all that was left of me by the end of the week was the pith of the lemon.

We had plans for what we really wanted to do in life: to travel; to explore; to live first class. But that was all some day in the future. ‘When’ was something we were never quite sure about.

A seed was planted in our minds on 13 June 2009. We were at a birthday party in Kent. Over a picnic my brother-in-law told us about a family who sailed around the world and then went on to say what a ridiculous idea it was. Nichola and I looked at each other. Something had clicked in both our minds.

Our world was about to change.

Over the next six months we spent just about every weekend scribbling with pen and paper what we wanted to have in our lives. I wanted to sail around the world again (In 2000-01 I crewed on the BT Global Challenge ‘wrong way’ round the world race) and Nichola wanted to do more travelling. At this stage in her life, Nichola had sailed on a boat just twice.

Piece by piece, we created a vision to sail around the world for two years. It was captured in a mission statement, like something straight out of the corporate world, that we tacked to the kitchen wall next to a huge map of the world with our intended route on it. We involved our children, Bluebell and Columbus, in the planning and made it a regular part of our conversation.

There was one fly in the ointment. Well, several: one a big one and lots of other slightly smaller ones. The biggest was money. It costs a lot of money to sail safely around the world, especially with young children.

The cold reality is that we didn’t have the money to do it. Nowhere even close. What we did have was a compelling vision of the future, time and lots of energy.

Right from the start, we set our departure date. It was to be 1 August 2014 and we were leaving from Dartmouth, eight miles from where I had grown up, close to Start Point lighthouse. That gave us five years to create the wealth we needed to make it all happen.

Completing the ARC

Back then, Nichola worked as an HR manager and I worked in my own business providing data analytics and consultancy as a managed service. The returns were thin and I used to joke I’d have earned more stacking shelves in the supermarket for the hours that I put into my own company.

Once we were fixed on our vision, we then told everyone we knew about it. We became known as the family who were going to sail around the world. Reactions varied from scepticism as to whether we would actually do it to ‘you are utterly crazy’.

We didn’t have to look far for all the reasons as to why we shouldn’t do it. Most people were kind enough to point them out for us. The main ones ranged from medical concerns to how would we do home schooling, to pirates, to the fact that Nichola couldn’t sail and got seasick when she had been on a boat. Plus the fact we’d never owned a boat.

Our approach was that rather than these being reasons for us not to press ahead, they were things to take account of. We noticed that so many people expressed strong opinions. But they were just that. They certainly weren’t facts.

Nichola and I had both been professionally trained in our careers, Nichola as a barrister, I as an accountant. We weren’t in the habit of being cavalier when it came to risk. We worked through each of the different areas, researched extensively and came to our own conclusions.

At a crossroads

By 2012, we were three years into our five-year plan to get the finances in place to be able to head off sailing. What was frustrating beyond belief was that our financial situation had not meaningfully changed.

We were at a crossroads. We had to do something dramatically different. Einstein famously said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That summed up the previous three years.

The answer was to immerse ourselves in learning, namely, learning the skills required to grow a business and to make money. As soon as I learnt new things I’d implement them in our business and test and measure.

There were many things we changed. It started with our lifestyle. We re-examined how we used our time, how we managed our energy and made conscious decisions around what we allowed to influence us.

In my business we grew the team, we launched new products, we tested myriad sales and marketing approaches and adopted an ego-free mantra of ‘it doesn’t matter who is right, it only matters what is right’. I re-learnt how to be a leader and heavily relied on values-based leadership which I implemented in both the business and at home.

We went on to launch multiple new ventures – online marketing sites and 500 niche dating sites – some of which crashed and burned. But some of them were successful. The next few years proved to be very intense as piece by piece we built the businesses that would enable us to fulfil what we set out to do.

The family made a poster of the values they wanted to take on their voyage

While creating money was an important part of it, there were many other things we had to do as well. We had to get a good amount of sailing in to acclimatise the children and Nichola and make sure they liked it. We went on flotilla sailing holidays in the Med and made certain we chose places with the least wind and waves so we could allow Nichola and the children to form happy memories free from any scary experiences. Bad experiences early on would have been a deal breaker for the overall plan.

We had many other areas to focus on simultaneously: how to become medically self-sufficient so we could deal with medical emergencies (which we would later on); how to do home schooling. We had to learn in depth about boat maintenance and repairs, radio licences and so on. It was a long list and weekends were full with training, learning, planning and researching as well as building businesses.

Cutting loose

By spring 2014, Nichola and I were working hard in both our businesses. Not only that, but two children had become three and we now had Willow, a very energetic two-year-old.

In my business, I was virtually out of the day-to-day activity. We’d strengthened the team and transitioned the CEO role from me to my business partner and at the same time had hired an experienced chairman to help guide the business. Nichola was working hard to build her business and had hired an excellent general manager to start running it in her absence.

There was just one thing missing. We still didn’t have a boat. When we attended an ARC seminar, the most common question we got was: “What boat do you have?”

Sea trials for Aretha

The reactions said it all. People didn’t believe we would be there and be ready in time.

Many people we knew were looking at us and asking if it was really going to happen. It’s too late to get a boat now, they said; you won’t have time to get properly prepared. Surely you’d be better off delaying by a year?

When deciding on our boat, we had spoken to people we trusted and focused on recommendations. What had become apparent very quickly was that Oyster Yachts was one of the leading brands for building safe and solid bluewater cruising yachts.

What also became apparent in all our conversations was just how much work we’d have to do fixing our boat and learning about the maintenance of an ocean-going yacht. We heard one story after another of how Oyster responded quickly with advice on how to fix whatever problem you had, and arranged for parts to be shipped to wherever in the world.

The decision was easy and we spent very little time looking at other boats. We decided that, as there were five of us, we wanted a 50ft-plus boat to give us plenty of space, a boat that would sail fast and was rock solid and safe.

That April, we blocked out a Saturday and arranged a series of back-to-back boat viewings of some 11 boats. We had the children with us and it was set to be a full day, starting with the first viewings at 0900.

As the day wore on, we hadn’t found anything that felt right and the kids were getting increasingly fractious. We arrived at the final viewing of the day on the Hamble. By now Bluebell and Willow had had enough and just wanted to stay in the car.

Columbus and I went on ahead to view Aretha. She was the very nearest boat on the pontoon, painted in a stunning blue. She instantly stood out as a special boat. As we stepped on board, I had a feeling that this was the one.

She had four berths including a bunk room which would be perfect for two of the children. She would need some adapting and upgrades to get her ready for what we wanted, and some of the things like the pristine cream seats weren’t so practical as we knew they would be magnets for Marmite-covered children’s hands.

Aretha worked her magic as we explored. Nichola and I knew then and there that we had found our home.

Continues below…

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Disaster strikes

By early May, we had completed negotiations, done sea trials, a survey, and had finalised the purchase of Aretha. We had a good amount of work to do refitting her and getting her transformed from a boat that had been used to the English Channel to one that was about to sail around the world. Everything needed to be fully serviced, safety equipment needed to be beefed up, satellite comms installed and watermaker brought to a fully functioning state. There was a lot to do.

Equally important, we learned how she sailed and took her out for a test sail. I gathered a crew of three experienced sailors, guys I’d sailed with a lot in the Med and in mid-May we slipped lines from the Hamble for seven days, heading west to stretch Aretha’s legs and see how everything settled at sea.

Only a month earlier I had completed the London Marathon. I’d had some back pain and leg pain during the first 20 miles of the run. In the final six miles it developed into excruciating pain and during that last stretch along London’s Embankment and up to the finish line I was stopping every half mile to stretch and get physiotherapy. Fired by the energy of the crowd I pushed myself way further than I should have done.

In the weeks that followed I needed lots of physio and was taking things carefully to manage the pain, taking a lot of ibuprofen. It was uncomfortable but manageable.

We tied up alongside in Weymouth for our first night. Walking around the town, I could feel my right leg tightening in a way that it hadn’t before. Five days later, heading back, we stopped at Brixham and I took a walk along the quay with my good friend Jani.

Suddenly I was doubled over in pain and immobilised “Jani,” I called out to him. “I can’t walk.”

It was as though I had hot coals covering my leg and back. I’d never felt pain like that before. It brought tears to my eyes.

It was only ten weeks before our long-planned departure date. At a stroke, our plans were in very real danger of not happening. We had our boat, our business plans were coming together and now I couldn’t walk.

So many things flashed into my mind: how could we carry on? I’d be a liability; it would all be impossible.

Read on here: how the Craven family set about their world cruise plans and their advice and tips on how to follow in their footsteps.

Caspar Craven first sailed round the world in 2000-01 on the BT Challenge yacht Quadstone. He now speaks on teamwork, leadership and how to make things happen. His book ‘Where the Magic Happens’ is out in May, and available for pre-order from Amazon now.

The post How this family made their two-year round the world sailing dream happen appeared first on Yachting World.

Team Sun Hung Kai Scallywag crew member John Fisher was lost overboard in the South Pacific on Monday 26 March

Following the tragic loss of Volvo Ocean Race sailor John Fisher yesterday, Team Sun Hung Kai Scallywag has issued the following update on what happened:

On Monday, 26th March, Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag lost John Fisher overboard in the Southern Ocean, approximately 1,400 nautical miles west of Cape Horn.

Despite conducting an exhaustive search in gale force conditions, he has not been recovered.

“This is the worst situation you can imagine happening to your team,” said SHK/Scallywag Team Manager Tim Newton, who has spoken with skipper David Witt and navigator Libby Greenhalgh about what happened on Monday.

“We are absolutely heart-broken for John’s family and friends. I know for David, he has lost his best friend. It’s devastating.”

Newton says he asked the crew to put together a timeline of events to ensure accurate reporting on the incident and it follows here:

• On Monday, 26 March, SHK/Scallywag was racing in Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Auckland, New Zealand to Itajai, Brazil, approximately 1,400 nautical miles west of Cape Horn
• Weather conditions were 35-45 knots with 4 to 5 metre seas with showers reducing visibility. It was 15 minutes before sunrise
• The team was sailing with a single reef in the mainsail and the J2 jib. The Fractional 0 (FR0) sail was hoisted but furled
• At roughly 1300 UTC SHK/Scallywag surfed down a large wave leading to an accidental crash gybe
• John Fisher was on deck, in the cockpit. At the time, he was moving forward to tidy up the FR0 sheet and had therefore unclipped his tether
• As the mainsail swung across the boat in the gybe, the mainsheet system caught John and knocked him off the boat. The crew on board believe John was unconscious from the blow before he hit the water
• He was wearing a survival suit with a wetsuit hood and gloves and a lifejacket
• The JON buoy and the horseshoe buoy were thrown off the back of the boat to mark the position
• It took some time to get the boat under control and motor sail back to a position near where the man overboard occurred
• At 1342 (UTC), the team informed Race Control, by email, that there was a man overboard and they were returning to the MOB position to start a search pattern
• With input from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and Race Control in Alicante, a search and rescue operation was carried out for several hours but there was no sign of John, the horseshoe buoy, or the JON buoy
• With weather conditions deteriorating, a difficult decision was taken to abandon the search and preserve the safety of the remaining crew

Newton says the team is distraught but has a clear focus on getting the crew and boat back to shore.

“This situation isn’t over yet for our team,” Newton said. “The conditions are extremely challenging, with strong winds and a forecast for a building sea state over the next couple of days. Our sole focus, with the assistance of Race Control in Alicante is to get the team into port safely.

“Once we have achieved that, we have time to de-brief more fully and ensure that any lessons that can be learned from what happened to John are incorporated by the rest of the fleet going forward.

“That would be a tremendous legacy for John, who spent so much of his time passing the learnings from his lifetime of experience at sea onto the younger sailors on our team.”

British Volvo Ocean Race sailor John Fisher lost in South Pacific

John Fisher, a crew member on the Volvo Ocean Race entry Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, was reported as a man overboard yesterday afternoon, Monday 26 March, approximately 1,400 miles west of Cape Horn. Team Scallywag was some 200 miles north-west of the remainder of the fleet at the time and conducted a lengthy search but was unable to find him.

Some ten hours after the MOB was first reported, and with conditions forecast to worsen, organisers reported that the race team on the Volvo 65 had made the heart-breaking decision to call off their search and head towards South America. Conditions at the time were 35 knot winds, with 4-6 metre waves and the water temperature was 9°.

This morning Richard Brisius, the President of the Volvo Ocean Race, issued the following statement:

‘I am extremely sad to inform you that one of our sailors, John Fisher, from Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, is now presumed to have been lost at sea.

‘This is heart-breaking for all of us. As sailors and race organisers losing a crew member at sea is a tragedy we don’t ever want to contemplate. We are devastated and our thoughts are with John’s family, friends and teammates.

‘Yesterday, just after 1300 UTC, Race Control for the Volvo Ocean Race were informed of a man overboard situation by Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag.

‘We immediately coordinated with the team as well as the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, who have located a ship and diverted it towards the scene. But at current speeds it remains over a day away.

‘With the rest of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet approximately 200 miles downwind, sending them back upwind to assist, against gale to storm force winds, was not a viable option.

‘The Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag team conducted an exhaustive search for several hours in extremely challenging weather conditions, but they were unable to recover their teammate.

‘Given the cold water temperature and the extreme sea state, along with the time that has now passed since he went overboard, we must now presume that John has been lost at sea.

‘All of us here at the Volvo Ocean Race organisation send our heartfelt condolences out to John’s family, his friends and his teammates and we will do everything in our power to support them in this very difficult time.’

‘Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag has now resumed heading in a north-easterly direction. In fact, the team is currently in a challenging position – the weather is deteriorating and is forecast to be quite severe over the course of today.

‘The crew is, of course, emotionally and physically drained after what they have just experienced. Our sole focus now is to provide all the support and assistance that we can to the team.

‘We are sure that there will be many questions about how one of our sailors was lost overboard yesterday. We can address those after the team has been fully debriefed.

‘Today, our thoughts and prayers go out to John’s family and the entire Scallywag team.’

In an earlier statement, race organisers confirmed that ‘Fisher, was on watch and wearing appropriate survival gear when he went overboard. The remaining crew are reported safe.’

John Fisher with team mates on Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag during the previous leg to Auckland

Lee Seng Huang and Sun Hung Kai & Co, the owner and sponsor of Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, also issued a statement:

‘We are devastated by the news involving our crew member, John Fisher, following a man overboard incident early on Monday afternoon UTC.

The Volvo Ocean Race teams were on Day 9 of Leg 7, a 7,000-mile race from Auckland, New Zealand to Itajaí, Brazil. Just two days previously they had passed ‘Point Nemo’, a theoretical point in the South Pacific which is the most geographically remote place on the planet.

Our thoughts are with John Fisher’s family and friends, Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, and the Volvo Ocean Race sailors.

The post UPDATED British Volvo Ocean Race sailor John Fisher lost in Southern Ocean appeared first on Yachting World.

Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel wins the double-points Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, and Team Scallywag vows to resume racing

In what has been one of the most challenging Volvo Ocean Race stages of recent editions, Bouwe Bekking’s Team Brunel took the double-points Leg 7 win from Dongfeng Race Team.

Bekking, who is competing in his eighth Volvo Ocean Race, held his nerve to skipper Brunel to a nail-biting win over Charles Caudrelier’s Dongfeng Race Team. After racing nearly 7,800 nautical miles over 16 days, the margin at the finish between the two boats was less than 15 minutes as the breeze shut down on the final approach to Itajaí.

Over the final 30 miles of racing the two boats were separated by just two miles, with boat speeds dropping to just over 1 knot. The final outcome seemed to rest on a zephyr, but in a well-timed improvement in form, Brunel scored their first podium finish with a first place in the double-points Southern Ocean leg.

Arrivals of Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race in Itajai, Brazil. Brunel takes first place closely followed by Dongfeng in second. 03 April, 2018.

After starting from Auckland, New Zealand, Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race took the teams deep into the South Pacific, with an amended Ice Exclusion Zone set at far south as 60-degrees south latitude.

The Southern Ocean stages dealt the teams relentlessly challenging sailing conditions, with steady gale force winds of 30-35 knots, and 4 to 6 metre seas for days on end in the ‘Furious Fifties’. Temperatures plummeted to just above freezing and snow on deck was a frequent occurrence. Experienced Volvo Race sailors such as Simon Fisher on Vestas 11^th Hour Racing commented that it was the toughest stage they had seen for several years.

A celebratory cigar for Bouwe Bekking as Brunel passes Cape Horn. 29 March, 2018.

As the boats gybed along the Ice Exclusion Zone, Brunel emerged with a 20-mile lead, a lead they nursed all the way to the finish line in Brazil.

The brutality of the Southern Ocean environment was brought home on day ten of racing, when Team Sun Hung Kai Scallywag reported the loss of crewmate John Fisher overboard.

The tragic loss of John Fisher at sea affected every crew. As the teams rounded Cape Horn many paid tribute to a much-liked member of the Volvo Ocean Race family.

Speaking to the media after crossing the finish line, a visibly emotional Bekking said: “The whole team are deeply touched by the loss of their opponent and fellow sailor, John Fisher, who went overboard last week on Team Sun Hung Kai Scallywag.”

“Although we have won the leg, the team aren’t in a mood to party, which is understandable. The loss of John Fisher has been felt deeply by everyone. Nevertheless, it was a great feeling to finish in first place.”

Snow in the Southern Ocean on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. 26 March, 2018.

Brunel’s leg win means the team has collected all 16 points available for this leg (14 for winning the double-point leg, a one point bonus for Cape Horn and a one point leg win bonus) and nearly doubled its point total from 20 to 36 points.

“We always wanted to aim for the maximum points this leg, as it means we would most likely be top three [overall],” Bekking said. “From now on it will be a matter of just chipping away. We’ve seen stranger things happen in the past in this race so I think we’re now in great shape to go for the finish in The Hague.”

Team AkzoNobel completed the podium, finishing two days after the leaders in third.

For Dongfeng, a 2nd place finish and 12 points won may be enough to take the overall lead from Mapfre, who have led the race overall since Leg 2.

Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, day 12 on board MAPFRE, The boat next to the ketch ”Kat” in a little bay close to Cape Horn to repair the main sail and the mast track, 30 March, 2018.

Mapfre paused racing for 13 hours shortly after rounding Cape Horn to repair damage to their mast track and a luff-to-leech mainsail tear.

Team Vestas 11th Hour Racing was also forced to retire after being dismasted some 100 miles south of the Falkland Islands, they now have a race against time to make the delivery to Itajaí in time to step a new mast and be ready to restart Leg 8. They were not the only ones to suffer damage during the punishing stage;. Turn the Tide on Plastic had to slow at one stage to repair spreader damage, while Team AkzoNobel also had to contain a leak to their keel box.

After returning to the race, Mapfre is currently in 5th place, some 200 miles behind Turn the Tide on Plastic and still with over 600 miles of racing to go. AkzoNobel looks set to finish in 3rd place, while both Scallywag and Vestas 11th Hour Racing have retired from this leg.

Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, day 14 on board Vestas 11th Hour. 30 March, 2018 immediately after their dismasting

“It’s a fantastic result for us. We have managed to come back into Mapfre after plenty of frustration on the previous legs,” said Dongfeng skipper Caudrelier. “This time we’ve managed to keep them back and far away and if Turn the Tide on Plastic can hold on we have a chance to take the overall lead.

“But the first thing was to finish the leg with everyone on board and safe,” Caudrelier continued. “Of course we are thinking about what happened to Scallywag and John Fisher… I’m so sad for his family and the whole Scallywag team. That is a fantastic team and they lost one of their own.”

Sun Hung Kai Scallywag safely made landfall in Puerto Montt in southern Chile on Tuesday 3rd March, and this afternoon announced that they intended to resume racing for Leg 8, from Itajaí to Newport, Rhode Island.

In a statement posted on social media, skipper David Witt wrote: ‘Our delivery crew have arrived and we are now in a race against the clock to make the start in Brazil for the next leg. We are all hurt but we are not out!! Scallywags never ever give up!!

‘We will make the start, we will look after each other, we will finish the race and do the best job we can for all Scallywags in John’s memory and honor.

‘On behalf of all the team I would like to thank all our supporters for all the messages of support it has helped us enormously in this difficult time.’

John Fisher, 1970-2018

In the days following the loss of John Fisher, many members of the sailing community around the world shared their memories of him.

One such tribute came from his local sailing club in Adelaide, Christies SC. The club posted online:

‘John came to our club around 10 years ago and immediately injected his passion for the sport of sailing which was picked up by all of our sailing members, especially our juniors. It soon became evident that this man could sail a bath tub with a handkerchief as a sail and could still out-sail anyone.

Leg 6 to Auckland, day 12, John Fisher on board Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag

‘His passion for all forms of racing was insatiable and his love for offshore racing was infectious to the point that we all believed that we all could do it. Unfortunately, only an elite few can.

‘Although John was one of the top sailors in the world, he was not an elitist, he chose our club to sail at as it fitted with his passions: family, sailing, and lifelong friendships.

‘John had raced in the Fastnet, Sydney to Hobart and Trans Pac, in fact almost every major regatta around the globe, but the Volvo Ocean Race was his holy grail. He told us that he used to watch the Volvo (Whitbread as it was formally known) leave Southampton from where he grew up and thought “One day I will do that race”.

‘John had great love and compassion for his family, a man of his word, a true gentleman in every sense and the camaraderie that he showed for all that sailed with him was extraordinary.

‘In our club John will be sadly missed for his infectious personality, his love and passion for the sport and his wealth of expertise. He was a true friend. He has enriched our club and we are blessed to have shared in his life.’

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Casper Craven and family set themselves 5 years from deciding to sail around the world to doing it: here's how they made the leap

We approached Cocos Keeling at first light and had to pick our way through the coral to approach the anchorage in the lee of Direction Island. Safely through the pass we were greeted by the most amazing colours – the deep turquoise blue of the anchorage, the brilliant white sand and the rich green of the coconut trees on this island, which has no inhabitants.

In a voyage worthy of many superlatives with stunning paradises where each one seems to better the last, we decided that Cocos Keeling wins hands down; in fact the best tropical island that we have visited.

Cocos Keeling has a fascinating history having been owned by the Clunies-Ross family from Scotland since the 1700s with a history of a thriving copra business here. Darwin visited in the Beagle and formed his theory of atoll development here.

Clearing Customs is a relaxed affair. The police officials dinghy over to Direction Island and, sitting under one of the three covered shelters, they clear you in on the beach, checking immigration forms and stamping passports. Once the formalities are over and we are officially cleared in, Andrew, the police sergeant, advises us on the best place to go snorkelling.

I think his job is officially one of the better jobs in the world – there is no crime here and it’s a relaxed, charming way of life on this tiny dot of an island in the vastness of the Indian Ocean.

The afternoon sees us snorkelling the famous rip. Running around one end of the island, there is a continuous flow of some 2-3 knots through a channel, which has a gully. Dinghy to one end, jump over the side and the current sweeps you along for some 300 metres or so, flying past white tipped reef sharks and copious quantities of fish. We spot eye-catching unicorn fish, napoleon fish, parrot fish and moray eels; some absolutely huge, bigger than our daughter Willow. We glide over acres of coral. In the pristine turquoise unpolluted waters the colours are stunning and unblemished. Without doubt this is the best snorkelling I have ever experienced.

The idyllic anchorage at Cocos Keeling

For the next week, this island paradise is our home and the children revel in it, swimming and playing on the beach, hopping between boats and exploring the island. We make several trips to Home Island, one mile away by dinghy, which you can only do by day – the coral is everywhere and you have to pick your route very carefully.

My favourite place is Prison Island – a tiny island with four coconut trees and four deck chairs (from Ikea!), which someone kindly left there. You sit here surrounded by a sea the same blue colour as a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin and you have your own private desert island.

A number of evenings are spent on the beach sitting around a fire, having a barbecue and sharing stories over beers with our fellow sailors. Many memories are made which will last a lifetime.

And then it was time [for the World ARC rally] to move on – an exciting start with all the yachts leaving in a great spectacle as we rounded Horsburgh Island, leaving it to port and headed west again. Two days out we had plenty of wind and were making great speed topping out at 14.1 knots surfing the waves…

Fifteen months earlier

It was hard to reconcile sailing the Indian Ocean with the situation we found ourselves in 15 months earlier when our plans were in real danger of not happening at all.

It was June 2014. Me, my wife, Nichola and our children, Bluebell, Columbus and Willow had just completed our first shake down sail on board our Oyster 53, Aretha, and a back injury I’d picked up on the London Marathon came back to haunt me.

I was referred to a back specialist, who gave me two options: I could grit it out, taking ibuprofen to reduce the swelling and pain and taking some physio, on the basis that 50 per cent of these conditions sort themselves out; or I could have the operation to take some of the pressure off the nerves at the base of my back.

I went home and discussed it with Nichola. We were set on our plan. On the other hand I could do long term damage to my back if I pushed too hard.

It was an agonising choice and it wasn’t one Nichola or anyone else could make. It was my decision. I slept on it for a few days and decided to go for the operation. The wheels were put in motion and we adjusted two parts of our plan.

Firstly, we delayed our departure date by three weeks to give me sufficient recovery time. Secondly, for the first part of our passage to Portugal, we’d take two crew with us and only take the two older children, leaving Willow, our two-year-old, at home with family. My brother Max and my good friend Ian were our crew – both experienced sailors who’d be extremely helpful for the first part of the passage, the tough Bay of Biscay crossing.

The operation was a success and attention was refocused on our departure date and making sure everything was ready.

The final few days before we departed were intense. When I had done this with the BT Global Challenge, I was one of 18 people getting everything done with full on-shore support. This time round, it was just Nichola and me – with family and friends.

We worked late into the evening packing everything away and by midnight the boat started to look less like a jumble sale. Aretha felt a little like a tardis as everything or almost everything found a home.

Alarms were set for 0500 and on 20 August, 2014 we slipped lines just before 0600 to catch the tide heading west. Wow. This is really happening, I thought as we glided out of Universal Marina. There was a slight mist over the water as the sun rose in a blue sky with wispy white clouds. We motored down the Hamble, down Southampton Water, past the Isle of Wight and out into the English Channel.

Our vision statement had started with the line: ‘On 1 August 2014 we are setting off to sail around the world.’ Here we were, five years since we first inked those words with the world before us. We were 19 days after our planned departure date but we were underway.

It was an incredible feeling as we switched off the engine in the Solent and felt the wind filling the sails and starting to power us along; standing at the helm and steering our ship, knowing that we’d be leaving these waters for two years and off to experience the world. All those 0500 starts on freezing cold mornings when I’d visualised standing at the helm of our boat sailing around the world. And now here we were. Our dream was truly becoming our reality and we were off. It was the biggest buzz you can imagine. We had done it.

For the next two years, we experienced life as a tightly knit team and with friends along the way. Our route would take us from the Solent down the European coast before our first big ocean crossing, the Atlantic. From here, across the Caribbean Sea to Panama, then a magical six months crossing the Pacific before arriving in Australia. Indonesia and the magical islands of the Indian Ocean led us to South Africa and then back into the Atlantic with stops in St Helena and Brazil before crossing our outbound track in Grenada. Not just content with circumnavigating, we then sailed back to Panama and turned right sailing to San Francisco, closing this part of our adventure by sailing under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

The experiences flew thick and fast: from the Panama Canal to the Galapagos, the fast hip-shaking dances of French Polynesia, the warmth of the people in Vanuatu, Tonga, and Fiji, the raw beauty of Australia, though the Indian Ocean, to the wildlife in South Africa, and the fast pace of life in Brazil. We shared the storms, the stunning sunsets, the fast downwind exhilarating sailing, the fish, the medical emergencies and a boat that continuously needed attention; all part of life at sea.

We continued to run our businesses while we were away and I’m delighted that we successfully sold my data analytics business as we crossed the Pacific Ocean, celebrating at Bloody Mary’s restaurant in Bora Bora. It was certainly an experience negotiating the sale and purchase agreement in 35-knot winds in the middle of the night over the satellite phone miles from anywhere in the South Pacific.

This plan, that once seemed so distant and so hard to achieve, had actually been achieved and we’d done exactly what we set out to do. Having gone full circle and arrived back in St Lucia, I reflected how grateful I was for spending every day of the last two years with my wife and three children. From the start, the reason why we went to extreme lengths to create our adventure was to have magical life-changing experiences both for ourselves and for our children.

Back in our old world, what was I teaching our children about what I knew of the world and what I believed to be important? Precious little. I thought of the nights I had spent lying on deck with Bluebell and Columbus debating what was out there, the days we spent learning about the planet, the stars, the sea, the weather. We had experienced different cultures, met people from different walks of life, shared time together, laughed, played and seen the world.

One of the most common questions we are asked is around our children’s schooling and what were they getting from this experience. Were we the best parents in the world or the most irresponsible parents?

In response, I share a favourite story from my logbook from when we sailed the Indian Ocean, which made me smile and feel good about our choices:

‘Last night Columbus and I were on deck watching the stars and talking. I’d made hot chocolate for us both – for Columbus in his favourite Taronga Zoo mug with a koala on the front.

‘We fell silent after a while (unusual for Columbus) and he asked if we could put Desert Island Discs on. In particular he wanted to listen again to Sir David Attenborough.

‘At the end, he picked up on one of Sir David’s comments that when he was ten he had started a museum of fossils and a snake skin that he had collected.

‘Since watching Blue Planet and visiting many amazing places, Columbus over the last week or so has announced he’d like to become a zoologist. Columbus is a serious boy and he doesn’t make statements like this lightly. So much so, it provided some super leverage: “Columbus if you want to become a zoologist,” we’d say, “you need to up your game with writing and documenting what you see.”

‘Up to this point, getting Columbus to write had been like pushing water up hill. The past week it was transformed. Every day, he added a page or two of notes and drawings to his journal and with little pushing.

‘At 4pm today, we were all presented with a small piece of paper. It had a drawing of a common wombat and was an invitation to Columbus Museum.

‘On the table he had laid out all the artefacts he’d collected on our travels and proceeded to talk through with great passion on each and every item: names and details that I had long forgotten; the fossils, shells, semi-precious stones, the coral – all were treasures to him. He was in his element. The wealth and depth of knowledge he’d acquired left Nichola and I catching each others’ eyes as we marvelled at how much he has learned.’

It feels seeds are being planted for the future. It feels that what we are calling our real world education is having an impact. I remember Bluebell’s words: “At school we’d only be reading about this in books, but we’re actually out here seeing it and doing it.”

Continues below…

How this family made their two-year round the world sailing dream happen

Surreal. Not a breath of wind tonight. The sea’s surface is flat and unbroken. The sky is utterly cloudless and…

Baby on board: a parents’ guide to the challenges and rewards of sailing with children

Like any couple on the brink of starting a family James and I would talk about having a baby, but…

How much does it cost to sail around the world? The real costs of liveaboard cruising

Two years ago my partner Nick and I set off from the UK to fulfill our dream of sailing around…

Caspar’s Top Tips

Create your Vision of the future

•   Take the time (ideally with your partner) to understand what you (both) truly want to do. It took us six months working on this to create a shared vision of our future

•   In this time, the reasons why you shouldn’t go for your vision will show up. Most people will be kind enough to point them out. Note them down but don’t fixate on them. Now is not the time for the ‘how to’ stuff.

Fix a Date and Make it Public

•   Whatever your vision, fix a date and be certain that you mean it. Nothing ever happens without a deadline. Once you have your date locked down, share your plans with everyone and work backwards covering all the things that you need to do.

Managing Businesses and Money

•   For many people, managing money and resources will be one of the biggest challenges. Work out what finances you want for your adventures and err on the side of caution. It’s always better to overestimate how much it will cost that to underestimate it.

•   Learn ruthlessly and accept you’ll make lots of mistakes as you work towards your goals. Surround yourself with people who are doing what you want to be doing and become a sponge for information and insights.

Frequently asked questions

Isn’t it Dangerous?

•   Everything in life has risks. We considered a huge variety of risks including of course the obvious ones like health and safety with the children at sea, how to run and manage a boat etc. For each risk area we researched, we reached conclusions we were happy with.

What about schooling?

•   We spent months researching the national curriculum and left with a vast stack of materials and school plans. Every day we ensured the children did reading, writing and maths. We were surrounded by learning opportunities and incredibly talented people from all walks of life. Our children thrived in this environment.

How much does it cost?

•   Your living costs can be as low as £2,000 a month depending on how you choose to live. Your boat can cost anywhere from £50,000. Only you can decide how much boat work and maintenance you can do yourself, how much you eat out and whether you stay in marinas or at anchor. We found that 10 per cent of boat cost as annual running cost was indeed a pretty good rule of thumb.

Caspar Craven first sailed round the world in 2000-01 on the BT Challenge yacht Quadstone. He now speaks on teamwork, leadership and how to make things happen. His book ‘Where the Magic Happens’ is out in May, and available for pre-order from Amazon now.

The post Sailing away: how to turn dreams into a successful family circumnavigation appeared first on Yachting World.

The jury has retired to consider its verdict in the trial of Douglas Innes, who is charged with manslaughter by gross negligence after the Beneteau 40.7 Cheeki Rafiki capsized mid-Atlantic in 2014 causing the deaths of four men

The jury in the trial of Douglas Innes, the former boss of Stormforce Coaching that managed the Beneteau 40.7 Cheeki Rafiki, which capsized mid-Atlantic in 2014 causing the deaths of four men, has retired to consider its verdict this afternoon.

Innes is charged with four counts of manslaughter by gross negligence following the deaths of Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham, Surrey, James Male, also 22, from Romsey, Hampshire, Steve Warren 52, and Paul Goslin 56, both from Somerset, who were all lost at sea.

In a lengthy retrial at Winchester Crown Court, the jury heard how Cheeki Rafiki capsized after losing her keel on the return delivery from Antigua Sailing Week in May 2014.

In his summing up of the evidence the judge, Mr Justice Teare, said the prosecution alleged that Douglas Innes twice breached his duty of care to the men onboard, in failing to have the yacht surveyed at some point before it departed Antigua for Southampton on 4 May 2014, and that he failed to give appropriate weather routing and passage planning assistance to the yacht from 12 May until contact was lost on 15 May.

Expert witnesses had been called to give their opinion of whether the keel failure might have been caused by previous groundings and a subsequent debonding of the keel matrix from the hull, and if any such internal damage would have been picked up during surveys or coding inspections.

The court was shown photographs taken by an underwater diver, Sam Connolly, showing damage to Cheeki Rafiki’s keel in 2007 and 2008, which was incurred before Stormforce Coaching took over management of the yacht in 2011. Douglas Innes was only made aware of the images in 2016 after Connolly heard media coverage of the criminal case and made contact with Innes.

The photographs showed damage to the keel’s leading edge, and a crack to the keel-hull join in 2007, which were subsequently repaired. Photographs taken in 2008 show gouges to the front of the keel, described as “looking as if the yacht had hit a gravel bank”.

The court heard that Cheeki Rafiki had also grounded in 2011, hitting Ryde Sands on a training day. Among the witnesses on board there was disagreement whether the yacht was doing 2.5-3 knots through a tack, or 5-6 knots.

There were two further groundings in 2013, one being what was described by witnesses as a “very soft impact” when the yacht touched the mud bottom while motoring out of Shamrock Quay at 1-2 knots. The second was after a corporate race day when the engine had failed to start so the yacht was sailed up Lymington River and the Beneteau 40.7 again touched the mud. This was also described as a “low speed, light touch”, although the yacht had to be towed off the mud and back to Shamrock Quay due to the engine failure.

Photographs of the upturned hull of Cheeki Rafiki

Neither of the 2013 groundings, which occurred after Cheeki Rafiki was coded to Category 2 for commercial work, were reported to the coding authorities or surveyed following the groundings. The MCA guidance states that groundings should be reported ‘In the case of major groundings… or minor groundings that are detrimental to the safety of the yacht’. There was disagreement as to how that should be interpreted, and whether every grounding should be reported.

The court heard that in 2012 a second yacht managed by Stormforce Coaching, Jedi Knight, had its keel removed and repairs made to cracking around the keel-hull join by Stormforce Coaching staff, in conjunction with Willet Marine. This repair was also not reported to the certifying authority, and Justice Teare said that Douglas Innes accepted that it should have been.

The court heard that Cheeki Rafiki’s Category 2 coding had lapsed before Antigua Sailing Week in 2014 because Stormforce Coaching had failed to arrange for her mid-term inspection in March of that year. Innes had refunded customers for the training days before the Antigua regatta, with guests instead spending two to three days sailing on the yacht ‘as friends’, before going on to compete at Antigua Sailing Week (racing is permitted for commercial vessels out of code under the ISAF Special Regulations) where Cheeki Rafiki won her class.

In his summing up of the evidence given by expert witness yacht inspectors and surveyors, Teare explained that the mid-term inspection is an in-water check designed to ensure all the equipment for a Cat 2 coding is in order.

The court heard that the mid-term inspection is not a structural survey and that inspectors are not required to, or advised to, carry tools or undertake tap-testing or torque adjustments of keel bolts during the inspection. The mid-term inspection may be carried out by an authorised person who is not a qualified surveyor, and there is a reasonable amount of variance between how different coding inspectors would conduct the survey.

Cheeki Rafiki competing in the Round the Island Race in the UK

Cheeki Rafiki’s return delivery trip from Antigua to the UK was understood to be a non-commercial voyage, with the four crew contributing to food costs only. Details of emails between Innes and staff at the MCA were read out in court explaining how that decision was arrived at.

The court heard that one member of the delivery crew, James Murphy, decided not to take part in the delivery after arriving in Antigua. Justice Teare recounted how in evidence he had initially spoken highly of Stormforce Coaching, saying that Cheeki Rafiki was “kept in a pristine condition”.

But Teare recounted how later in evidence Murphy said that he was “not happy with the yacht’s overall condition”, specifying a leaking forward hatch, a loose starboard stanchion, and sun-damaged jackstays. Murphy had criticised Doug Innes as “not professional with his drinking” and said he “had a gut feeling” about the yacht.

Other customers of Stormforce Coaching also gave evidence. Justice Teare recalled Simon Marshall, who joined Cheeki Rafiki for Antigua Sailing Week, saying the yacht was “in tip-top condition”.

For the defence, Karim Khalil QC said that the prosecution had been “throwing mud in the hope that some of it might stick”.

In his closing speech yesterday he stated that there was conflicting evidence from expert witnesses and nobody could be sure why the keel failure had occurred.

He said the regulatory bodies oversaw “a chaotic system of conflicting advice” that was “hopelessly muddled” on issues such as whether every grounding should be reported.

The MGN 280 standard applied to small commercial vessels is a marine guidance note which was drafted to go before Parliament but never became statutory legislation. Khalil said: “The MCA has been misleading the yachting community for 14 years, because they have been asserting that MGM280 has been in statutory force. They are wrong.”

He added, “Hundreds of ARC yachts are sailed back by owners or pro crew. That’s how it’s done, and yet Doug Innes is criticised for doing what everybody else in the yachting community was doing.”

Screen shots taken during the search and rescue effort to find Cheeki Rafiki on 20 May 2014

Regarding the second alleged breach of duty, the court heard different approaches to routeing and passage planning for a east-bound transatlantic. Justice Teare summed up the evidence from Simon Rowell, a highly experience meteorologist who had provided weather routeing for Cheeki Rafiki’s out-bound Atlantic crossing with the 2013 ARC.

In his evidence Rowell had told the court that 48-hour forecasts for the 14 to 16 of May 2014 showed two low pressure systems potentially joining and moving towards Cheeki Rafiki’s position, with significant wave heights forecast to build from 3.5m to 5.5m and wind speeds building from Force 6 to gusting Force 9. He said if he had been routeing the yacht he would have advised it take a south-south-easterly course to get away from the area of low pressure.

In his summing up of Doug Innes’ evidence Justice Teare said that Innes accepted Rowell’s advice to go south for a better angle to the waves was “good seamanship”.

On 15 May the yacht sent an email to Doug Innes with the subject heading ‘Urgent’ which read:

“We have been taking on a lot of water yesterday and today. Today seems worse I think stbd water tank has split so that it is drained checked hull and seacocks for damade [sic] but cant see any. I will go for a swim when weather improves in about 24 hours we are currently monitoring the situation horta is 900 miles away our position is Position 38deg 38 N, 048 deg 59W, thoughts from your end I will check emails in 2 hours.”

Justice Teare said that Doug Innes agreed that the email showed that the crew of Cheeki Rafiki was “oblivious to what they were sailing into”.

The case continues.

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Negotiations are advanced into adopting the IMOCA 60 class rule used for solo and short-handed ocean races for the next fully crewed round the world race...amid rumours the Volvo Race may be for sale...

Final negotiations are underway between the IMOCA class and the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) to adopt the IMOCA 60 as the design the next fully crewed round the world race.

An announcement is expected to be made before the end of the VOR race in June.

Proposals for the race to adopt the IMOCA 60 rule (formerly Open 60) used in the major solo and short-handed ocean races such as the Vendée Globe and Route du Rhum been discussed for several years. The IMOCA box rule, which has incorporated developments such as wingmasts, canting keels and now foils, is the most successful and enduring rule in ocean racing, and has led to a vigorous secondhand market for these one-off designs.

An agreement could make it possible for teams to do both races with comparatively minor modifications to an existing or new yacht. It would also reduce VOR team costs by whittling down crew numbers; an IMOCA 60 is considered fully crewed with four or five people.

VOR has declined to comment on the discussions at this stage.

An agreement would supersede the concept of a ‘Super 60’ one-design for the VOR announced by former CEO Mark Turner last year. It would have been adaptable for the Vendée and other IMOCA events, but at a high cost – the design had a bigger mast, longer keel and trim tabs. Turner quit the race last September among rumours that the Volvo board had baulked at the costs of creating the new one-design fleet.

The adoption of the IMOCA 60 would mark a big change for the Volvo Race, which moved to a one-design and operates strict rule management and centralised refit and maintenance. The IMOCA rule is democratically decided on by the class association, and anyone who owns a yacht in class automatically becomes a voting member – it cannot be controlled by commercial interests, past skippers or a race organiser. Many skippers own their yachts, and so have a vested interest in ensuring boats evolve (winners need a faster boat), but not so radically that the secondhand value is diminished.

150416- Entrainement en solo au large Lorient pour le monocoque 60 pieds IMOCA Banque Populaire VIII, Skipper, Armel Le Cléac’h.

Alex Thomson, who is on the IMOCA class board, says the vote to allow the VOR to adopt the rule was “nearly unanimous. Only three out of 80 were against it.

“We talked about it with VOR and we expect some announcement, but the ball is firmly in their court.

“The IMOCA rule has the only sustainable ocean racing fleet in the world – and it works.”

Safer and greener

Thomson says the next VOR would benefit from a greater number of entries; the race struggled to get seven this time, and a number are said to be non-commercial. “Loads of teams in IMOCA would have an ambition to do the VOR,” he says. “And I can tell you from our side that any IMOCA skipper that wants to do the VOR is already selling it, especially now Barcelona World Race is gone. It is another race in our calendar that has more history and is more valuable.”

The Vendee Globe 2016 – 2017
British yachtsman Alex Thomson skipper of the ‘Hugo Boss” IMOCA Open60. He finished 2nd in the Vendee Globe solo non stop around the world yacht race. Shown here in the Sables d Olonne port celebrating. He completed the solo non stop around the world race in 74days. 19hours and 35 minutes
Photo by Lloyd Images

Thomson, also president of the class’s technical committee, has encouraged other changes to the class, such as the use of new radar technology he believes will make racing safer. He has worked with Raymarine to extend the use of software that will turn a radar on and off at regular intervals to ‘keep watch’ if a skipper is asleep or on deck, and alert them to target via an external alarm.

The IMOCA rule is also being changed to incentivise skippers to use renewable energy. Until now, designs were measured excluding fuel weight, but including solar panels or hydro generators, effectively penalising renewable energy sources in performance terms. Now the rule has been changed so that devices providing energy from the sun, wind or water are removed from the measurement, but fuel is counted. “This should open up electric and hybrid engines,” says Thomson.

He agrees that managing a class that spans solo and fully crewed races, each following very different routes, could be a challenge and says: “We need to think if this design will be substantially different and how to cap costs. Until we know the route of next VOR, it is hard to think what boats will be like. If the next VOR route is very different then it’s very much a possibility we will see boats designed just for that, but this is something the class recognises and we want to keep boats close together.

“The best way this works is if one platform works for both with minor modifications and are not too far away from each other.”

Volvo Race for sale?

Meanwhile, the Volvo Ocean Race could be close to being sold, according to several sources close to the event. We understand that at least two companies are undertaking due diligence checks before making a potential bid.

The race is currently jointly owned by Volvo Cars and Volvo Group, and that joint ownership may be set to split. Volvo Cars is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding, while Volvo Group, often referred to as AB Volvo, whose products include busses, construction vehicles and marine engines, remains a Swedish owned company based in Gothenburg.

The race is currently headed up by Richard Brisius, who is also CEO of the company running Sweden’s bid to host the Winter Olympics in 2026.

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Bavaria Yachts, one of the world's largest production boatbuilders, is in financial trouble after US investors decided to withdraw support for the company

German builder Bavaria Yachtbau sent out shockwaves among owners and the industry last week when it declared insolvency. According to German magazine Yacht, US investors Oaktree Capital Management and Anchorage Advisors pulled a day after the sacking of Bavaria’s CEO, Lutz Henkel.

The investors are said to be giving Bavaria a ‘soft landing’, guaranteeing three months of operation until the yard closes for its annual summer holidays.

The news took dealers and suppliers alike by complete surprise.

The insolvency is said to affect the manufacturing arm of the company building Bavaria monohulls. Bavaria Catamarans, formerly Nautitech, is not said to be affected. Bavaria purchased Nautitech from French owner Bruno Voisard and partners just over two years ago.

The catamaran market has been booming with sales outstripping demand, while mid-sized production monohull sales, which slumped in 2008, have never fully recovered.

UK Nautitech dealers Key Yachting Ltd, said: ‘To this day, the catamaran business remains in Rochefort, France. It is an independent French company with its own employees, suppliers and bank accounts. Seen as the “jewel in the crown” of the Bavaria group, the well managed and profitable catamaran business is already attracting interest from potential buyers.

‘While we understand that both the Catamaran division and the struggling German operation will probably soon be under new ownership, or indeed ownerships, the operation of the Catamaran business is completely unaffected by the situation in Germany. Therefore trading, delivery and after sales service continue as before.’

Bavaria has been through several chapters of ownership. Buyout firm Bain Capital bought the company in 2007 for €1.3bn and handed over two years later to debt investors Oaktree and Anchorage in a huge debt-for-equity transaction in which the two specialists wrote off 90 per cent of Bavaria’s €960m debts.

The company has sought to expand into larger yachts with the launch of two new larger and more luxurious cruisers, the C57 launched last year and C65 that on show in January at boot Düsseldorf. Bavaria is one of the world’s largest volume production manufacturers, oeprating out of a huge plant in Giebelstadt, near Würzburg, where it builds around 4,000 yachts a year.

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It is over 40 years since the first crewed round the world race, the Whitbread Round the World Race, now now the Volvo Ocean Race. Barry Pickthall remembers the early days

The Whitbread round the World race

Sailing pioneers Francis Chichester, Alec Rose and Robin Knox-Johnston had already done it single-handedly, but a race round the world for fully crewed yachts was thought a step too far in the 1960s. Any number of blazered armchair sailors said it could never be done.

Yet a meeting between the Royal Naval Sailing Association and brewery boss Sam Whitbread in a Portsmouth pub led to 17 disparate crews on the start line for the first Whitbread Round the World Race in September 1973.

Only 14 went the distance and a heavy price price was paid in lives and broken boats. But lessons from this and subsequent Whitbread races held every four years for the next three decades pioneered many of the advances now commonplace on cruising yachts.

Preparation

In 1973, preparedness meant making it to the startline with the crew and food on board. When Sir Alec Rose fired the cannon from Southsea Castle, many crews were too busy still finishing their boats to think about what lay ahead.

Aboard Les Williams’s Burton Cutter crew were cutting wood to make berths as they sailed out of the Solent. The 80-footer was built in Poole by a company more used to making fuel tanks than boats and there had been no time even to hoist her sails before the race. For Peter Blake, then a keen but green 25-year-old, the experience was a baptism of fire. “We had a big drum of rope in the cockpit and I was cutting off the sheets to size each time we hoisted a new sail,” he recalled years later.

Improvisation was the key. Arriving late for measurement at HMS Vernon, Burton Cutter was found to be floating down by the bow. Skipper Williams was at a loss as to how to reballast her in the short time available. Not so owner Alan Smith. A West Country businessman who was more hunting and shooting than sailing, he simply rang up his gunsmith and arranged for lead shot to be poured into her skeg.

Burton Cutter was first into Cape Town, pioneering an upwind route through the South Atlantic High when others chose the longer trade route to Brazil. But the boat began to break up soon after heading into the Southern Ocean and only rejoined the race on the last leg from Rio back to Portsmouth.

Four years later, few lessons had been taken on board. In 1977 Williams co-skippered the British maxi Heath’s Condor with Robin Knox-Johnston. Again, little time was left for sailing before the race and the crew were still rigging her experimental carbon fibre mast on the eve of the start. Little wonder, then, that they lost it overboard during the first leg.

Contrast this with the efforts of an then-unknown Dutchman, Cornelis van Rietschoten. After commissioning Sparkman & Stephens to design a boat to beat Ramon Carlin’s 1973-74 race winner, the Swan 65 Sayula II, he embarked on a transatlantic crossing to test the boat and crew, plus a return race (which they won) and a Fastnet. Flyer and her crew were honed to such a high level compared to the rest of the fleet the race was almost won already.

Van Rietschoten returned with a second Flyer four years later, this one a Frers-designed maxi built expressly to win line honours. Again preparation paid off – the crew became the only team in the history of the event to win both line and handicap honours.

Van Rietschoten not only repeated the pre-race trials, he funded a research programme that had far-reaching effects. First, he commissioned Britain’s National Weather Centre to condense a century of weather statistics. These went into a computer program to predict the likely local scenarios, particularly in the Southern Ocean.

The program wasn’t a complete success, but the lessons learned from the research, along with coaching given by weather guru David Houghton, meant the crew only got the weather ‘wrong’ once. In the previous race the first Flyer crew found themselves on the wrong side of pressure systems 14 times – and still won.

During the first two races crews suffered badly from colds and flu in the Southern Ocean because short bursts of activity led to sweating that then chilled on the body under layers of fleece and oilskins. The challenge was to ‘wick’ sweat away from the skin. Working with Musto and the National Aerospace Laboratory at Farnborough, the Flyer crew helped to develop the first three-layer system, which went on to revolutionise how manufacturers made their sailing clothing.

The third improvement centred on rigging. During the first two races, yachts were rigged with 1×19 wire. By 1981 rod rigging was in vogue, with the rigging bent at the spreader tips. Van Rietschoten, an engineer at heart who was reluctant to change from a ketch to a sloop rig, was unconvinced.

He commissioned Dutch Aerospace laboratories to develop a discontinuous rigging system with individual rods between spar and spreader tips that could articulate at each connection point. The industry thought this was over the top until three maxis lost their rigs early that season. Navtec took up the idea and offered it as standard.

That was too late for Peter Blake’s first New Zealand entry. Ceramco New Zealand set out from Portsmouth with continuous rod rigging and off Ascension Island it failed at a spreader tip, leading to her crew making the longest voyage in history under jury rig.

The Whitbread round the World race 1985/86

Watch systems

The first Whitbread races were laissez faire events compared to today’s full-on racing. Crews tended not to fly spinnakers at night for fear of mishandling them and watch systems on some boats were very laid-back. Of Burton Cutter in 1973, Blake recalled: “We had a game of backgammon running below and anyone still in the game was excused watches. It put a lot of pressure on the losers, who finished up not only out of pocket, but doing more than their fair share of the work.”

Parties

They knew how to hold parties during the early years. With none of the crew and PR regimes that police Volvo raceboats today, hedonistic events were fuelled by the sponsor’s brew and an ethic among crews that what goes on on tour stays on tour. In a libertine era, life ashore was played out to the full.

The most notable parties – or at least those that can be written about – include a riotous affair at a local yacht club during the 1973-74 race, when Clare Francis led a conga straight into the swimming pool. That night ended in a haze of tear gas as riot police charged into this millionaire’s oasis to clear out the prostitutes.

Peter Blake inaugurated the Garden Party aboard Ceramco New Zealand in 1982 at a stopover at Mar del Plata, Argentina, but the most memorable event was on Lion New Zealand four years later during the penultimate stop, then changed to Punta del Este, Uruguay. Called on to bring a plant to the boat, guests excelled themselves by denuding hotels and restaurants of every potplant not bolted down. One crew even arrived pulling a palm tree behind their VW transporter, having ripped it out of the harbour boulevard.

Fatalities

Death is never mentioned yet never far from any crewman’s mind, especially when yachts are riding on a knife-edge between windswept and wipeout in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties. But ultimate danger also heightens the challenge for these sailors – it is what has always attracted a special breed of sportsmen and women to the Whitbread/Volvo Ocean Race.

The dangers quickly became apparent when untested crews entered the Southern Ocean in 1973. Paul Waterhouse was the first to lose his life. He was lost overboard from Tauranga 12 days after the fleet left Cape Town. Four days later co-skipper Dominique Guillet disappeared overboard from the 60ft ketch 33 Export. On the ninth day of Leg 3, Chay Blyth encouraged his Great Britain II crew to make more sail after a southerly buster passed. Tidying up the foredeck, Bernie Hosking pulled on a sail-tie caught in the forestay. It gave way and he too was lost. Three deaths in that first race were three too many and the race might have ended then had the Press had its way.

There have been two more deaths since, both from falling overboard. Each was tragic, but the Whitbread and Volvo races have been responsible for huge strides made in safety equipment in the four decades since. Lifejackets, harnesses, MOB tracking devices, immersion suits and sprayhoods have helped to extend life expectancy from just a few minutes to half an hour or more in the Southern Ocean, a legacy that overshadows the best parties.

This is an extract from a feature in the November 2014 issue of Yachting World

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Doug Innes, boss of Stormforce Coaching, has been found not guilty of manslaughter - but the Cheeki Rafiki trial has raised questions about safety advice following groundings

Douglas Innes, whose company Stormforce Coaching managed the Beneteau 40.7 Cheeki Rafiki, has today been cleared of manslaughter by gross negligence. Cheeki Rafiki capsized mid-Atlantic in 2014, leading to the deaths of four men.

Innes was charged with four charges of manslaughter by gross negligence following the deaths of Andrew Bridge, 22, James Male, also 22, Steve Warren 52, and Paul Goslin 56, all of whom were lost at sea when Cheeki Rafiki’s keel ripped off on the return delivery from Antigua to Southampton in May 2014.

Andrew Bridge, 22, James Male, 22, Steve Warren, 52, and Paul Goslin 56 were all lost at sea when the Cheeki Rafiki capsized

The acquittals bring to a close four years of proceedings by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) who sought two failed prosecutions. After a six week trial in 2017, Innes was found guilty of failing to ensure the vessel was operated in a safe manner, contrary to section 100 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the manslaughter charges. Innes awaits sentencing on the Merchant Shipping charges.

This year a second, lengthy retrial saw the jury reach a verdict of not guilty on 25 April.

Having observed stretches of both the trial and the retrial in Winchester Crown Court, it is clear to me that there are no winners in this case. Certainly the families of Andrew Bridge, James Male, Steve Warren and Paul Goslin have gone through months of listening to conflicting accounts of the events leading up to their loved ones’ deaths, repeated again and again.

Continues below…

What happened to Cheeki Rafiki? Key findings from the official Marine Accident Investigation Branch report

A series of earlier groundings and the detachment of the internal structure in the area of the keel fastenings are…

Cheeki Rafiki verdict: operator found guilty of failing to ensure yacht’s safety

Douglas Innes has been found guilty of failing to ensure the safety of the yacht Cheeki Rafiki, which capsized mid-Atlantic…

Cheeki Rafiki jury retires to consider its verdict in manslaughter trial

The jury in the trial of Douglas Innes and Stormforce Coaching, operators of the yacht Cheeki Rafiki that capsized mid-Atlantic…

The case has brought no clarity on many of the issues raised in it. A single line of the Maritime Guidance Note 280, on whether coding authorities should be notified in the event of a grounding, was subject to very different interpretations by expert witnesses called by opposing sides.

The advice specifies that the authority should be notified ‘in cases where the vessel suffers major damage…’ or ‘minor damage, detrimental to the safety of the vessel’.

Four years after the Cheeki Rafiki capsized, there is no updated advice on whether every grounding should be reported, or whether owners of non-coded yachts should haul out, inspect or survey after every grounding, no matter how light.

In an unusual move, the jury requested permission to comment on the maritime guidance note, telling the judge it was “deeply concerned” about it, and hoped it would be reviewed and tightened to help improve safety.

The case highlighted the loopholes in coding legislation that require a yacht to be Category 0 coded – with higher level safety equipment – for commercial offshore sailing, but not for trans-ocean racing, or deliveries.

It brought to light the fact that some of the MCA’s own legislation did not have statutory force. Defence counsel Karim Khalil QC said in his closing speech that the regulatory bodies oversaw “a chaotic system of conflicting advice” that was “hopelessly muddled”.

Khalil added: “The MCA has been misleading the yachting community for 14 years, because they have been asserting that MGM280 has been in statutory force. They are wrong.”

Maritime and Coastguard Agency Chief Executive Sir Alan Massey speaks outside Winchester Crown Court

Reacting to today’s verdict, Alan Massey, CEO of the MCA, said: “This was a horrific and tragic incident in which four people lost their lives.  And of course, the impact of those losses on their families remains devastating.  The Maritime & Coastguard Agency carried out a thorough and extensive three-year investigation into and around the circumstances of the loss of yacht Cheeki Rafiki in May 2014.

“The sea can be an extremely hostile place. Make sure your vessel is safe, in strict accordance with its certification, and make sure it’s properly maintained and fit to be at sea.  You could otherwise find yourself facing serious charges in court.’

Cheeki Rafiki racing in the UK

Regarding the jury’s comments about the MGN280 guidance note, he was quoted on Press Association as adding: “They have made some recommendations. We are going to follow those up. Of course, if we need to review or even amend the terms of that guidance notice, we will.

“[We need to] look and ask ourselves ‘is there enough legal force in these regulations as they stand to be able to follow through cases of non-compliance?’”

Outside Winchester court today a spokesperson for the four families said:“We have lost our loved ones and our lives have been changed forever.  Nothing was ever going to bring Andy, James, Paul and Steve back.  They will never be forgotten.

“It is clear from the jury’s comments that there is a need to tighten up marine guidance so that the regulations cannot be misinterpreted.  This will help to make our seas a safer place…a fitting legacy for our four men.”

Douglas Innes. PA Photos

Listening to the evidence, it was striking how every incident the prosecution used to suggest that Innes was slapdash or unprofessional – the meetings in the pub, the delivery miles advertised for free, the bucket of cola to clean rusty tools – sounded damning read out in the coldness of a courtroom, but are entirely unsurprising to anyone in the sailing industry.

Most haunting were the final emails sent from the boat, informal and jokey, but revealing the danger the crew was in: “Why is my rum floating? James just hit a bit [sic] wave hard and it fixed the stereo.”

Four years on, there is much greater awareness of the danger of keel failures, but the industry – both operators and legislators – also needs to establish exactly what is best practice when it comes to surveying and coding to keep yachts seaworthy.

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British billionaire’s company is fully funding Ben Ainslie’s second America's Cup campaign, with a two-boat campaign in new foiling monohulls

Anglo-Swiss chemicals and manufacturing company Ineos will fully fund Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup team in what is the biggest – and fastest – sponsorship investment in British sailing. The £110m deal, aimed at winning back the Cup for the first time in 167 years, was signed a mere four weeks after Ineos founder, chairman and majority shareholder Jim Ratcliffe met Ainslie in a pub and chatted over a beer.

The company will back the Ainslie’s BAR team through to the America’s Cup in New Zealand in 2021, replacing Jaguar Land Rover. The scale of the deal means Ainslie will not have to find other backers. It will allow his team to build and test two boats for the new AC75 rule and, crucially, allow Ainslie to focus on performance decisions.

Getting it right

“Three things you have to get right: you have to have a great skipper, a great design team and you have to be fully funded,” Ratcliffe said at the surprise announcement in April.

“The reason we decided eventually to put our hand in our pockets — which doesn’t happen every day — is because we’ve got the Usain Bolt of sailing, [chief executive] Grant Simmer and designer Nick Holroyd. The objective is to get a boat to the start line which has as good a chance as any.”

“Jim was straight on to the fact that we needed to build two boats and the commercial challenges and the budgets required for that,” said Ainslie. “This will allow us to build on the foundations from the last campaign and I can take this forward with Ineos Team GB.”

The speed of the agreement with Ineos, vital to give Ainslie’s team critical development time, also says a great deal about the decisive role of Ratcliffe, who intends to be very involved in the campaign.

“I’m not an afficionado of sailing at all, no,” he admits. “I just met Ben through a mutual friend to have a beer, nothing more,” he told us, “and it wasn’t to talk about the America’s Cup. It’s taken four weeks [from that] to saying ‘We’re on.’”

When I remark that it’s probably the quickest sailing sponsorship in history, as well as one of the biggest, he laughs: “Yes probably.”

Technical challenges

A chemical engineer who became an investment specialist before founding the chemicals giant in 1998, Ratcliffe has built Ineos into a multinational company that reported a profit of €4.4bn in 2016. He says the campaign’s technical challenge is an attraction, despite the new AC75 rule being so ambitious – and potentially risky. 

“I wouldn’t say that [the risk] doesn’t bother me, but I recognise it as a technical challenge so we need to find a way of making sure we’ve got good answers.”

Ben Ainslie with Ineos founder, chairman and majority shareholder Jim Ratcliffe, the new title sponsor of the BAR America’s Cup challenge

Asked he will be playing a key part, he replies: “Yep, I will. It will probably be a day a month for the next three or four years, so it is quite a time commitment from me.

“But we’re only there to help, not to tell them what to do. We do big capital projects which are quite a lot bigger than £100 million normally; they can be half a billion or a billion. So we are used to managing big programmes with a lot of mechanical things and there might be things we can bring to bear that could be helpful.”

As Ineos Team GB, Ainslie’s team aims to launch its first 30ft scale test foiling monohull this summer, and work towards a first AC75 next spring.

The first 30ft test boat “will look very much the same [as the AC75 renderings],” says chief designer Nick Holroyd. “When foiling, it will behave very similarly. But what happens with smaller boats is that the reaction time is less – at times it might exceed human reaction times. So we are probably flirting with that edge at a smaller scale.”

The new rule is hugely ambitious and although experienced designers understand a great deal about foils, the AC75 is very different platform – a monohull without a keel – and that places teams at the start of a steep new learning curve.

Short runway

“Intellectually, it’s a really interesting boat,” says Holroyd. “When you put a multihull off foils down on the water, at the point where you have one hull flying that’s kind of your maximum righting moment really and that’s a fixed number.

“With the foil out to the side generating [it], your available righting moment becomes a function of speed so it’s quite a complex relationship in terms of how much sail power you have to accelerate the boat, and the process of getting the boat to accelerate to generate more righting moment.”

Ineos BAR chief designer Nick Holroyd

“We have a very short runway,” Holroyd adds. “The hull design is a very open part of the rule. So therefore to build a boat to be at a regatta in September next year and the logistics of getting it to Italy plus time on the boat – the problem is sitting in your lap right now.”

To date, there are four confirmed teams for the 2021 Cup: defender Emirates Team New Zealand; challenger of record Luna Rossa; Ainslie’s Ineos Team GB; and the American Magic New York Yacht Club challenge. There are also rumours of possible Australian and Chinese teams.

The post Ainslie gets £110 million backing from Ineos for second bid to win America’s Cup with BAR team appeared first on Yachting World.

Promotional feature with Bavaria.
The new Bavaria C65 is the company's largest yacht to date and combines home-from-home comforts with sparkling sailing performance

Make no mistake: luxurious it may be, but the Bavaria C65 is a sailor’s boat. It’s not hard to imagine sitting at the helm with the sleek teak deck stretching ahead of you.

The wheel is light in your hand as you slice to windward, the boat heeling gently to an evening breeze. On deck, it’s just you, your partner, and maybe a couple of friends, but really you could be sailing this boat single-handed – it’s designed to be easily handled by small crews.

Whether you are looking to trade up to a larger yacht or you are a first time owner, this is a boat worthy of serious consideration. Equally, motor yacht owners will be pleasantly surprised that heading to sea under canvas doesn’t mean sacrificing space and comfort, and this is also likely to make the C65 popular with charter operators.

It’s certainly got the elegance to turn heads in harbour.

The new Bavaria C65 on show in Palma in April

Combining home-from-home comfort with genuine sailing performance is no easy task, and most boats will tend towards one or the other. Arguably, Bavaria has pulled off a genuine balance of the two with smart design and state-of-the art construction in this fast cruiser.

See a 3D tour of the yacht.

Weight has been saved in build with the use of carbon fibre reinforced bulkheads, hull and stringers, while stiffness and safety have been built in with a stainless steel keel frame. Bavaria’s own vessel management system uses the latest in connected technology to make controlling the boat and its systems a doddle, and the sail handling systems make short-handed sailing almost effortless.

Light enough for calm-weather sailing and stable enough for heavier weather, the C65 offers reliable and fast performance across the conditions. In 16 knots true breeze, you’ll be sailing to windward at over 8.5 knots, and off the wind with the 288m2 gennaker set, you’ll be up to nearly 12 knots.

Comforts of home

With speed and comfort like that, it’s the perfect boat for easy day sails in the Mediterranean with friends and family, or for taking on the more serious challenges of blue water cruising. It is clear that Bavaria’s design team are enthusiastic about proper sailing and they have made a yacht for those that share their enthusiasm for the feel of wind and water.

That’s not bad for a boat that is finished to a very high quality and provides all the comforts of home. Details like the full-sized upright fridge, biggest-in-class work top area in the galley, a TV that rises from behind a settee in the saloon, and generous double beds make this yacht at least as comfortable as home, if not more so.

Owners can customise their boat to a high degree, with numerous layout options available below deck, making each boat truly unique.

Stepping aboard, a number of features and innovations are immediately apparent: the dinghy garage inside the large fold-down bathing platform sits below a wet bar and barbecue/grill; a large cockpit seating area with two separate tables and sunbathing areas is the largest in class.

Below decks, Bavaria claims its luxurious owner’s cabin, as well as the bathroom and galley, are all largest in class. The saloon and cabins are all flooded with plenty of natural light, thanks to the rows of hatches running along both sides the coachroof, as well as generous hull windows.

This is the largest yacht Bavaria has built to date and is their new flagship. They have done an impressive job that takes the marque into the next level of luxury. It’s a strong showing in the 55ft to 75ft size range, in what is a flourishing sector for new yachts.

Those in the market for this type of boat will be pleasantly surprised by its price tag. Given the level of fit out and finish, the C65 can certainly be seen as good value. The C65 is already in stock and ready to test sail in the UK and in Spain, where Clipper Marine is the official Bavaria dealer and delivery can be made this season.

More details of the Bavaria C65 are available from Clipper Marine

The post Meet the Bavaria C65, a performance cruiser flush with home comforts (Promotional feature) appeared first on Yachting World.

The SuperFoiler is a brand new three-hulled foiler designed to bring the 18ft Skiff concept into the foiling era, Crosbie Lorimer finds out more

The boundary between control and carnage aboard was thoroughly tested on the inaugural SuperFoiler Grand Prix season this spring with a multi-event circuit around Australia featuring these radical new designs.

For a sense of the insane levels of skill and speed of reactions needed to race the new designs, watch here:

In 2013, inspired by the spectacle of the America’s Cup in San Francisco, the Australian father and son team of Bill and Jack Macartney made the bold decision to revisit the highly successful 18ft Skiff Grand Prix concept they’d masterminded in the 1990s, creating a new multi-venue event from scratch, boats and all.

“The extraordinary spectacle of those 72ft America’s Cup catamarans suddenly rising up out of the water was like nothing I’d ever seen before. All of a sudden we saw there was a whole new dimension to it,” said Bill Macartney, “It was at that point that Jack and I said: ‘Look, this is too good to not do something about’.”

SuperFoiler Grand Prix in Adelaide in February 2018, Photo Andrea Francolini/SuperFoiler

Thrills and spills

Twenty years of advances in digital and communications technology since the peak of the 18s circuit has also allowed the Macartneys to bring the onboard thrills and spills of sailing onto screens of all sizes. While the 18s were famously on prime time TV in Australia, for the SuperFoilers event coverage has moved up to a new level with fan zones, open boat parks, drone coverage, live feeds from crew on board, online live-streaming and free-to-air television all forming key elements of the event package.

The costs of designing and building the boats, then putting together such a national roadshow is significant: criss-crossing the continent with four shipping containers and a team of 62 personnel to set up for three days of sailing in five separate venues over seven weeks calls for high level investment and sponsorship; hence the international profile of the six current boat sponsors.

The Macartneys’ design philosophy for the SuperFoiler embraced two core objectives: the boats would be designed from the foils up (rather than adding foils to an existing design) and, as importantly, they’d have three crew, all on trapeze, with an all-up weight of 240kg.

The latter objective sought to combine the physicality that was a hallmark of the 18-footer Grand Prix circuit with the challenge of controlling the rudder and daggerboard foils from the wire. There are no America’s Cup-style sheltered cockpits and video game box controls for these crew!

The helmsperson can assess the degree of rake on the rudders by a 4:1 purchase string pot calibration on the stern of the centre hull. A similar system on the mast displays the rake of the daggerboard foils. Photo Crosbie Lorimer

The resulting craft has a lean, businesslike look that is less concerned with Concours d’Elegance pretensions than in packing in ingenious design that is both complex and simple enough to allow a 26ft, 370kg three-hulled craft to achieve steady, foiled flight in as little as 7 knots of true wind.

Working with the design team of Morelli & Melvin and the Australian builders Innovation Composites, the Macartneys also called on the experience of the world’s best foiling sailors to create and evolve a SuperFoiler capable of 25-plus knots in upwind mode, and a blistering downwind performance that has seen speeds in the high 30s recorded at the early regattas.

All of the foils are directly controlled by electric actuators (there is no stored power nor any hydraulics on board). Rudder rake moves through 6 degrees and daggerboards through 9 degrees and neither rudders nor daggerboards can be canted. Note the emergency air bottle attached to the tiller stock. Photo Crosbie Lorimer

Although the computer design programs employed by Morelli & Melvin greatly condensed the foil, platform and rig design iteration process, evolution continued as the first boat was tested. Sail configurations and daggerboard cassettes particularly received attention to gain sufficient rigidity and power in the cassette to minimise foil flex and offer immediate control on foil rake when it’s needed – all while minimising any extra weight. 

Sail evolution mostly centred on finding the optimal ratio of mainsail area to jib (each boat has a large and small jib option), resulting in an increase to the mainsail area, which is central to ride height and control, with reductions to the larger jib sizes which tended to lose flow at higher speeds.

Hull skin thickness as little as 2mm in places has also kept the shore team, led in its early phases by Softbank Team Japan’s former shore manager, Tyson Lamond, busy with overnight repairs and tweaks to keep the six boats on the water for the three-day regattas.

Morelli and Melvin’s sail design iterations included lowering the rig height to lower the Centre of Effort while ‘endplating’ the bottom of the sails to improve flow across the hulls and platform; a trend that reflects recent designs in Moths. Photo Andrea Francolini/SuperFoiler

The upturned J shaped, non-canting daggerboards offer steadier flight than the L shaped foils commonly seen in the America’s Cup boats. Keeping a smooth trailing edge on the foils remains a major challenge given the manually operated lifting and lowering through the cassettes. Photo Crosbie Lorimer

Maintaining waterproofed circuitry on a boat that quite regularly capsizes and inverts – particularly as the crews learn to master the foil controls – has been an area of focus for the shore team and designers. Some smart and cost effective solutions, such as 3D printing of minor componentry, has all but eradicated post-capsize downtime and also permitted the team to modify the design on the run as they analyse previous component failures.

The six teams that race the SuperFoilers include crew from five countries (Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland and the USA) and range from the ‘dream team’ of Nathan Outteridge, Glenn Ashby and Iain Jensen through to Olympic Silver medallist Olivia Price, who’d never sailed a foiling multihull prior to the lead-up for this event, but teamed up with 2012 Moth World Champion Josh McKnight. Luke Parkinson, skipper of tech2, took a break from two legs of the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race to take part in the SuperFoiler series.

Despite the calibre of sailors crewing on the SuperFoiler circuit, spectacular wipeouts, crashes and gear failure were a frequent occurence. Even the best were aware they were sailing on something of a knife-edge while they came to grips with their wild rides.

Outteridge commented: “If we hadn’t sailed the America’s Cup boats I would be petrified; you are just on the trapeze ready to get catapulted… it is a massive learning moment. This is the 18-footer on steroids!”

Listen to Outteridge here:

Daggerbord and rudder foils can be controlled from the tiller extension while on the trapeze. A single tap moves the foils in half degree increments. Holding down the buttons provides continuous foil movement, typically used to set foils to a neutral position going into gybes or tacks.

Specification

DesignerMorelli & Melvin

Builder Innovation Composites

LOA 7.97m 26ft 3in

Main hull length 7.9m 25ft 11in

Outrigger length 4.5m 14ft 9in

Beam 5.15m 16ft 11in

Draught (daggerboards down)

1.52m  5ft 0in

Displacement 370kg 816lb

Sail area (mainsail) 27.6/32.6m² 297/35 ft²

Sail area (headsail) 7.8/9.3m² 84/ 100 ft²

The post When skiffs get radical: the high performance new Superfoiler appeared first on Yachting World.

It's been announced that the 2021 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will be under the Atlantic Ocean Racing Spain's ownership

The Volvo Ocean Race‘s 2021 edition will be under new ownership, it was confirmed  on its website today (31 May).

Atlantic Ocean Racing Spain will be the next organisers of the race, taking over from Volvo Group and Volvo Cars after 20 years.

Atlantic Ocean Racing Spain, led by Richard Brisius, Johan Salén and Jan Litborn have already been involved in seven Volvo Ocean Races in the last 28 years, given them plenty of experience.
Brisius and Salén competed in the 1989-1990 race, and later became team managers. As managers they looked after winning teams, such as EF Language (1997-98) and Ericsson 4 (2008-09).  Most recently, they managed Team SCA, the all-female entry, in the last edition of the race.

Brisius and Salén are respectively President and co-President of the current edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, having been appointed last November.

“The history of this round the world race is inspiring and the future is very promising,” said Brisius. “This race is about people and I am humbled by the prospects to serve some of the finest athletes and sport professionals in this world as well as leading partners to the race and host cities.

“I have been fortunate as many of my dreams have come true. First my dream to sail this race, then my dream be a team manager, followed by my dream to manage the race, and now the dream to be able to steer the future of the race.

“We are in this for the long run and we are determined that the race will go from strength to strength as a sustainable premier world event. I look forward to being part of evolving this unique race by co-operating together with the teams, cities, Volvo and all our key stakeholders.”

The Volvo Ocean Race website writes that the new organisers of the race are considering having two classes of boats racing in 2021, “potentially with the existing Volvo Ocean 65 one-design class and another class, yet to be determined, competing in the same race.”

“We will continue to innovate, and it is promising that from day one we can think long-term as we have the resources secured to deliver the next race already,” said Salén.

Volvo Cars will continue to sponsor the 2021 race and the new owners are already discussing potential host cities and new sponsors.

The 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante last October, is scheduled to finish in The Hague on June 30.

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The post Volvo Ocean Race: new ownership announced for 2021 edition appeared first on Yachting World.

Top Australian navigator Adrienne Cahalan shares some expert tips on using currents on bluewater passages and ocean races

There are a number of yacht races around the world in which strategic decisions on whether to go into or out of ocean currents can have a significant impact on how the race is won or lost.

Ocean currents can be driven by wind (surface ocean currents), tides (estuary or near shore) or other factors such as water density. The Coriolis effect which deflects winds to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere also deflects major surface ocean currents to the right in the northern hemisphere in a clockwise spiral, and to the left in the southern hemisphere, counter-clockwise. These major spirals of ocean-circling currents are called ‘gyres’ and are found in the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific and Indian Ocean.

On the east and west edge of the gyres are boundary currents. The California, Humboldt (Peru) and Canary currents are examples of eastern boundary currents, which are characterised as shallow, broader and slower flowing. Western boundary currents such as the north-flowing Gulf Stream and Kuroshio (Japan), the south-flowing East Australian Current and Agulhas (South Africa) are characterised as faster flowing, deeper and narrower.

Information on the rate and direction of ocean currents via the Global RTOFS (Real-Time Ocean Forecast System) model is easily accessed through navigation software programs that download data in GRIB format.

Once you have obtained the current data the race strategy decision-making begins. In a Sydney Hobart Race, for example, if you are in a 100-footer then current as a percentage of boat speed is negligible; so sailing 12-15 miles further off course to get into current that will assist you at up to 2-3 knots may not be beneficial in the overall strategy of the race.

Another important consideration is the effect on the sea state of wind against current. The East Australian Current has broken many boats when warm waters in a 2-3 knots south-flowing current meet cold, south-westerly winds as cold fronts travel up along the New South Wales coast, generating short, steep seas that can snap masts and delaminate hulls.

For smaller boats in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race there can be a clear trade-off between extra mileage and sailing further to find favourable current.

Once racing, it is up to the navigator to monitor the current relative to the observed conditions and forecast. When observing current on board, it is useful to know that there are differences in the way data is calculated and displayed through different instrument systems (eg B&G, Ockam) or navigation software packages (eg Expedition, Deckman, Adrena).

Current/tide data is displayed as knots for rate and degrees for direction. Nick White is the software designer and owner of the tactical racing software program Expedition. He explained that Expedition calculates tide/current direction and rate from data output by the instrument system. There are pre-set current and drift calculations in Expedition, however these are for use where the instruments don’t provide it. In his experience the instrument system (eg H5000) has more precise and timely data.

Mike Sugden from Navico, which manufactures the H5000 and B&G products including Deckman for Windows, explains that B&G and Deckman calculate tide and drift differently. On B&G Instruments tide is calculated from the difference between boat speed and SOG/heading and COG, whereas in Deckman the tide is calculated by comparing dead reckoning (course and boat speed) and the GPS fix position. In this case, it is really important to have calibrated boat speed, heading and leeway (if enabled). In Deckman the output can be adjusted to average over a specified number of minutes depending on the user’s preference.

Leeway can be taken into account in current calculation but is not necessarily measured on a simple instrument or software package. However, when more boat speed devices come onto the market that can measure leeway accurately, there will be improvement in tide and drift calculations.

An NOAA image of the Gulf Stream current which can be overlaid in a navigation program such as Deckman for Windows or Expedition so the boat position can be placed on the image relative to the current

In or Out?

How to work out whether to take a loss to go into current?

1 Calculate the time lost sailing away from the rhumb line and compare it to the gains made once the yacht is repositioned in favourable current. You need to take into account best and worst case scenarios of wind shifts and wind speed. One way to do this is to run different routes in your navigation software using different scenarios.

2 Consider the time that will be spent in the current and its potential effects on hardware: steep seas, risk of breakages or structural failure. This may mean weighing up the potential of winning against the goal of finishing the race.

3 Make sure the information you are getting from the instruments matches what is happening in real time using observations such as comparing course/COG and boat speed/SOG yourself, looking at navigational buoys, wave disturbances for current or tide lines, and observing the colour of the water or cloud lines.

About the author

Australian navigator ADRIENNE CAHALAN has raced 26 Sydney Hobarts, winning line honours six times and overall victory twice. A pro sailor since 1988, she has sailed with Whitbread and Volvo teams, and round the world record breaker Cheyenne. She practises as a consultant maritime lawyer and climate adviser.

The post Pro navigator’s tips on how to use the ocean’s currents for an offshore advantage appeared first on Yachting World.

Just three points split the top three boats in the Volvo Ocean Race - the in-port races might yet decide the winner. We report from Cardiff on how the race is winding up to its conclusion in the Hague in two weeks' time

Dongfeng Race Team won today’s Sky Ocean Rescue in-port race in Cardiff today. At the beginning of this edition of the round the world race it looked like the in-port series might be an interesting sideshow to the main event. Now it might just become a deciding factor in determining who wins the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race.

With two offshore stages to go (in fact, for the VO65s they are closer to a long coastal race and an overnighter, first 1,300 miles to Gothenburg and then a 700-mile hop to the Hague), the top three boats are separated by just three points. With two bonus points also up for grabs for the Leg 10 and 11 wins, there are a lot of mathematical combinations which could see a tie at the top when the seven teams finally arrive in the Hague later this month. If that’s the case, then the in-port race results suddenly become critical as the tie-breaker. Potentially letting things really go to the wire, there is a final in-port race in The Hague after the last offshore has finished.

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 06 on board MAPFRE, speed record day. Xabi Fernandez holding on the aft pedestal. 25 May, 2018.

Each of the three teams on the leaderboard podium – Dongfeng Race Team, MAPFRE and Team Brunel – has their own demons to shake off. Charles Caudrelier and Dongfeng made no secret of their ambition to win the race. Their whole team structure was changed from the previous race to give them the best chance of achieving that whilst still having a Chinese crewman on board for every leg.

Dongfeng is the current overall leader, but has not yet won a leg. It’s entirely possible to win the Volvo Ocean Race by hammering out 11 consistent results, but missing out on the bonus point for every leg win will be making the job harder for the Chinese-flagged team.

MAPFRE took the overall early lead, only losing it after a poor 5^th in the Auckland to Itajaii double point leg. Then it happened again, on the double points transatlantic leg. They have wrestled solid results from poor placings – their 5^th to 1^st comeback into Newport being the most impressive – but Xabi Fernandez’s team will want to avoid putting themselves in those situations. With the next leg running to just 1,300 miles there is also no room left to make such a dramatic recovery.

Watch Rob Greenhalgh, watch leader on MAPFRE, discuss the last two legs here:

Team Brunel’s form turnaround has been the most dramatic in the race. Expectations were high that the seven-times Volvo Ocean Race veteran skipper Bouwe Bekking would be an early contender, in fact the first half of their race was decidedly lacklustre, with a 6^th, 4^th, 4^thand 5^th. But Brunel suddenly had a change of form on the massive Auckland to Itajai leg, winning for double points. Then again, as MAPFRE faltered, Brunel soared, taking the double points transatlantic win. You cannot count any one of these three out right now.

Other factors may come into play though. Watching the practice race in Cardiff Bay earlier this week it was surprising that, even after close to 40,000 miles of sailing these boats and all the weather forecasting and navigation power the teams can muster, several teams hugely over-stood the top mark layline. Simple mistakes can still win and lose points here.

Fatigue is setting in amongst some teams – and some are wearier than others. Some teams have rotated crew more than others throughout the race, making a trade off between consistency and fresh energy. MAPFRE has retained the same crew the whole way round, Brunel solidified their team in the latter stages of the race, while Dongfeng is continuing a planned programme of crew rotation into the final stages. For the next stage three of the 12 crew will switch, including the addition of Fabien Delahaye, who is very experienced in performance analysis and navigation. Having a second navigator may prove to be a strength on these short, stressful, sleep-deprived final stages.

As the unstoppable Volvo Ocean Race juggernaut rolls towards its conclusion, the move back to Europe has also amped up the sponsor activity for many teams. I was a guest of Helly Hansen and MAPFRE in Cardiff, and one of the reasons so many of the Helly Hansen office was in town was to get feedback from the crews. It’s too late to amend anything for this race (the team have already had five iterations of kit from Helly Hansen, subtly improved for their very specific demands over the course of the race) but it’s the last chance to get the sailors’ comments for ongoing product development before they all disappear off to the America’s Cup, maxi Med circuit, kiteboarding road trips, or simply turning all their emails off for a well deserved break.

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 09 on board Dongfeng. 28 May, 2018.

There is a slight end of term feeling to the race. Friendships have been solidified, many of the younger sailors are grabbing the opportunity to enjoy everything this bizarre round the world circus has to offer before it’s time to say goodbyes – for example going on a mass outing to the Beyonce and Jay-Z concert in Cardiff.

Spending time in the MAPFRE base it was interesting to see how an easy familiarity has developed – Blair Tuke casually leaning on skipper Xabi Fernandez as he delivered a safety briefing to guests on deck. “Very Latin” was how one team member described the MAPFRE atmosphere – warm, with plenty of affectionate teasing evident, and no doubt the odd explosive moment behind the scenes.

What happens after term ends is also on everyone’s mind – the teams have their key stakeholders in their team bases or top of their contacts list right now. In just two weeks’ time the CEOs and CMOs who make the decision whether to sign, or not to sign, for the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will be gone, back to accounts sheets and boardroom negotiations. Now is the time to capture enthusiasm for the race, to share what it can offer. Unsurprisingly, there is plenty of speculation about what format that race might take – we’ll look at this in more detail in the next issue of Yachting World, out 12th July.

The post Who will win the Volvo Ocean Race? With two legs to go it’s tense at the top appeared first on Yachting World.

The Volvo Ocean Race is set up for a fairytale finish, the closest in its history - but the real magic is how we've been able to watch it unfold live

There was a moment during yesterday’s live broadcast from the Volvo Ocean Race final day that left the normally loquacious commentator Conrad Colman momentarily lost for words. I gasped watching.

It was the moment the helicopter hovered next to Dongfeng Race Team, but as the camera panned out you could see Turn the Tide on Plastic nose to nose with the red boat. It was a single shot which said so much – about the incredible tension there must have been onboard Dongfeng as they fought desperately to cling to their lead, about the equal fight Turn the Tide were putting up, scrapping for every place.

Helicopter footage captured some of the deciding moments of the race in Leg 10, with Dongfeng battling Turn the Tide on Plastic as they raced to stay in contention for an overall win

It captured the two ends of the spectrum of this epic race, the immaculately prepared, hugely experienced, two-race campaign of Dongfeng being challenged hard by the late entry with the mixed experience, gender balanced crew flying their environmental message.

Dongfeng came into this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race as one of the fastest boats with hours of preparation behind them. Turn the Tide on Plastic have been learning every mode, every set-up, every trick and tweak out on the racecourse. As the camera followed the two boats, Turn the Tide actually looked to be a click quicker.

The moment had huge implications for the overall outcome of the race. Dongfeng and Turn the Tide were racing for 4^thplace. If Turn the Tide came out on top in the Cardiff to Gothenburg penultimate stage, that would knock Dongfeng down the points and off their overall lead going into the race’s final leg. For sporting tension, this was up there with Federer match point down in a Grand Slam final, or Mo Farah turning into the final straight surrounded by Kenyan jerseys. And, uniquely for an offshore race, we could watch it unfolding before our eyes.

Onboard footage from Brunel captured the moment they sailed past MAPFRE en route to a leg win and equal 1st place overall

There was more; the now constantly live tracker matched with drone and onboard video captured Brunel demonstrating an outrageous turn of boat speed to blast over the top of MAPFRE into the lead – a decisive moment which ultimately lifted Bouwe Bekking’s Team Brunel to win Leg 10 – as well as the now customary live coverage of the finish itself, with just boat lengths separating Brunel and MAPFRE as they gybed for the finish.

In the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race we enjoyed helicopter footage of the fleet blasting past Gibraltar because it was a rare chance to watch this type of offshore yachts racing in full pelt conditions. Just a few weeks later this was emphatically surpassed by drone video shot from the boats deep in the Southern Ocean, giving views of ocean racing competition we’ve never been privy to before.

This edition of the Volvo has had its problems, and the event has its share of critics, but as the competition reaches its denouement yesterday’s live broadcasts definitively proved that offshore racing can be a gripping spectator sport. I’ve had to wait up for plenty of ocean race finishes (the first rule of offshores being they usually finish in the middle of the night!); this one I couldn’t tear myself away from. If you weren’t watching, go and take a peek at what you missed at www.volvooceanrace.com

The scene set for the Leg 11 grand finale now couldn’t be better scripted. When Team Brunel won into Gothenburg late last night, they took the maximum score plus the leg winner’s bonus point, which moved them up to 65 points. As MAPFRE finished in 2nd, they too moved up to 65 points.

Dongfeng held off Turn the Tide for 4^th(after AkzoNobel took 3^rd), which leaves them on a final total score of 64 points. But there is a bonus point for the team with the shortest elapsed time over the entire Volvo Ocean Race course, which will be awarded to Dongfeng Race Team. That leaves three teams tied on 65 points each, with one leg to go. Whoever wins the 700-miles final stage from Gothenburg into The Hague will win the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race.

A victory by any of these three teams would deliver a fairytale finish. Xabi Fernandez’s MAPFRE has been the stand-out performer for much of the race, there is a real warmth among the team and they have the most passionate supporters. Dongfeng Race Team want this so badly, a win would be the culmination of so many years of hard graft for this incredibly tight knit squad.

Team Brunel celebrate winning Leg 10, from Cardiff to Gothenburg. 14 June, 2018.

And for Bouwe Bekking a Volvo Ocean Race victory would be the perfect swansong to an incredible career that has now seen him race around the world eight times, finishing in the runner-up spot twice, but he has never held the trophy. Could Brunel end on a home win in The Hague?

Skippers’ quotes: “We did a fantastic job as a team and of course the result was better than we could have dreamed,” said Team Brunel skipper Bekking. “We wanted to beat the two red boats but a win to get the bonus point is really nice…

“The pressure was on but we knew we just needed to sail the boat the best we could and not do any crazy things. Very happy how it all ended up.”

MAPFRE skipper Xabi Fernandez: “It was a very good leg for us and a good result as well, but a little bit painful the way it happened.

“We felt we did the hardest part of the leg, up the coast of Scotland, and managed to be in the lead there, but we just couldn’t hold Brunel on the tight reaching… They’ve been improving a lot on the last legs, but it was a surprise to see such a speed difference.”

Dongfeng Race Team skipper Charles Caudrelier: “For the fans it’s going to be an exciting last leg. And for us as well. We will give all we have and try for our first leg victory. But really we just have to be ahead of the other two. We can do it!”

Yachting World will be in Gothenburg as the teams prepare for their final Volvo Ocean Race showdown next week.

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