Practical Boat Owner December 2022

Sails are the best investment you’ll ever make, I was told when I visited Bainbridge International. The factory was impressive – the cloth-cutter table longer than our yacht Maximus – and the 3D sail design program very slick. You can choose from a dazzling mix of high-tech laminates, but actually what surprised me is that your woven sail, whether polyester, nylon or any other material, employs the same technique that’s been used for centuries. Intrigued, I visited the website of Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde. Sure enough, the Vikings made sails out of wool, essentially by snaking yarns over and under each other, and varying the stretch qualities according to the weave. Sam Llewellyn (page 18) also journeys into the wonders of sails this issue, delving into the Big Shed and…

Sails are the best investment you’ll ever make, I was told when I visited Bainbridge International. The factory was impressive – the cloth-cutter table longer than our yacht Maximus – and the 3D sail design program very slick. You can choose from a dazzling mix of high-tech laminates, but actually what surprised me is that your woven sail, whether polyester, nylon or any other material, employs the same technique that’s been used for centuries. Intrigued, I visited the website of Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde. Sure enough, the Vikings made sails out of wool, essentially by snaking yarns over and under each other, and varying the stretch qualities according to the weave. Sam Llewellyn (page 18) also journeys into the wonders of sails this issue, delving into the Big…

SEND US YOUR STORIES Share your news and diary dates: email Laura Hodgetts at pbo@futurenet.com After a rough exit from the Bay of Biscay, testing sailors and boats to the limit, just 13 of the 16 Golden Globe Race (GGR) sailors were left battling the doldrums, seeking tradewinds and a fast passage south. French sailor Damien Guillou’s PRB has been making up ground following a six-day delay due to repairs, Edward Walentynowicz of Canada has pulled the plug on his GGR campaign, USA’s Guy deBoer grounded in Fuerteventura following ‘a bad decision by the skipper’, while Australia’s Mark Sinclair retired from the race in Lanzarote. Entrants can only call Race Control, not family and friends. Some demoralised GGR sailors have not been dealing so well with the lack of wind, communications, information and prolonged…

The Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) has confirmed that one of its subsidiaries – Jubilee Sailing Trust Ltd, which owns the sail training ship Lord Nelson – has been placed into administration. STS Lord Nelson was decommissioned in 2019, and since then the charity has been trying to sell the vessel. The Southampton-based Jubilee Sailing Trust, which still runs the Tall Ship Tenacious, has fallen short of its £1.2million Covid Recovery Campaign target but a spokesman praised the “absolutely amazing” £953,195 pledged or donated from individuals, groups and organisations since April 2022. This funding has helped to deliver 16 voyages and daysails, take 507 people of varying ages, abilities and backgrounds to sea, and helped JST through a major restructure in late July; the placing of one of the JST’s two subsidiary companies ‘Jubilee…

SEND US YOUR STORIES Share your news and diary dates: email Laura Hodgetts at pbo@futurenet.com After a rough exit from the Bay of Biscay, testing sailors and boats to the limit, just 13 of the 16 Golden Globe Race (GGR) sailors were left battling the doldrums, seeking tradewinds and a fast passage south. French sailor Damien Guillou’s PRB has been making up ground following a six-day delay due to repairs, Edward Walentynowicz of Canada has pulled the plug on his GGR campaign, USA’s Guy deBoer grounded in Fuerteventura following ‘a bad decision by the skipper’, while Australia’s Mark Sinclair retired from the race in Lanzarote. Entrants can only call Race Control, not family and friends. Some demoralised GGR sailors have not been dealing so well with the lack of wind,…

Online sail training company NauticEd and MarineVerse, an Australian-based pioneer of virtual reality (VR) sailing simulation, have teamed up to offer the first virtual reality sailing course. The ‘Self Mastery’ course incorporates VR gaming with sailing training techniques and programs, in a ‘fully immersive, virtual sailing experience’. It puts players at the helm and helps them learn to trim the sails, manage boat speed, and navigate. The boat reacts to wind conditions and player decisions, giving them instant feedback on how their actions impact boat behaviour. More complex modules like docking and manoeuvring within the marina, night sailing, and heavy weather are currently in production. NauticEd instructor trainer Edward O’Conner, a retired US Marine Corps Lt Colonel, said: “Just like a flight simulator, virtual reality activates the same neural pathways found in real…