Yachting World September 2020

I am sure this will not be the last you’ll read from me in the pages of Yachting World, but it’s the last you’ll see of me here. The time has come for a change of watch. It’s a wrench, for sure, to leave the team of lovely and dedicated people who make this magazine, especially after such a long and very happy time. During my years here, I’ve worked with some great writers (and raconteurs) whose knowledge was enormous and generously shared, and their exploits would often have us all in gales of laughter. But, if anything, I’ve learned more from you, our readers, whose backgrounds and adventures are so varied and fascinating. This crazy year has had so many of us reassessing our lives. As I became more…

Oyster takes on 100 people With a full order book, British builder Oyster Yachts is to take on more than 100 people to work at its shipyards in Southampton, Wroxham and Ashmanhaugh, as well as offices in Palma and the US. It will take the company’s headcount to over 400 employees. Auction for good causes Yacht charter company Sunsail has raised £20,538 for two organisations: the UK’s NHS Heroes and Turn to Starboard, a charity that uses sail training to support those affected by military operations. Sunsail raised the funds by running an online auction. Respect the destination Scotland’s tourism industry has called for sailors to consider their destination while cruising this season. Launching an initiative called #RespectTheDestination, it is asking crew to plan ahead, respect local restrictions, wear face…

Cruising sailors voyaging between countries in the Med or Caribbean, or sailing round the world, are facing new levels of complexity and costs when entering countries because of new COVID-19 protocols. Requirements for testing, and possibly quarantine, will stay in place for an indefinite period in many islands and countries along popular cruising routes. Testing is likely to become a way of life for voyagers. In the Caribbean, cruisers must take a test on entry to each island, but can cruise without separate quarantine periods within CARICOM countries such as Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. Islands not in this organisation, such as the British Virgin Islands, are outside the cruising ‘bubble’. Islands in the Pacific require tests on arrival and some also…

Plans by World Cruising to run the annual ARC transatlantic rally from Gran Canaria to St Lucia in November have been given the green light by governments on both islands. However, with uncertainty about what freedom of movement will be possible through the Caribbean, many owners have postponed their plans and the rally will have its lowest entry list in almost 20 years. Andrew Bishop and his team of rally organisers have been working with authorities in both countries to allow the rally to happen, but there will be changes this year. “We’ve kept a positive attitude but it relies on the support of the authorities at the start and the finish so it needs to be COVID secure, and respecting all the local protocols in place.” The rally fleet…

The Ocean Race, the successor to the Volvo Race, has put back the next round of the world race by a year. It will start from Alicante in October 2022 and finish in Genova in Italy, in summer of 2023, allowing more time for teams and sponsors to muster. It will, as planned, be open to fully crewed entries in the V065 and IMOCA 60 class. “The world has changed with COVID-19,” says Chris Nicholson, who co-founded the W-Ocean Racing team and has raced in the VOR six times. “We have all lost significant time right at the crucial moment and this change is the right move. This will now allow us the time again to refocus our efforts. “We’ve been looking at the future of The Ocean Race and…

Informants, a scam and ‘a highly orchestrated attack… by people with questionable motives’: Emirates Team New Zealand’s (ETNZ) CEO Grant Dalton came out fighting in June when the team was hit by a controversy over missing money and its financial affairs. Dalton sacked contractors working for the team, alleging they had leaked information over a period of months, while admitting the team had fallen victim to an email scam and paid NZ$1m to a bank account in Hungary. The New Zealand Herald reported that a police investigation is under way into how a hacker posing as a European TV contractor convinced Emirates Team New Zealand to send a large financial payment to the Hungarian bank. Allegations of mishandling of public money were hotly denied by Dalton: “These people have made…