Yachting World July 2022

Online www.yachtingworld.com YouTube Yachting World Facebook @yachtingworld twitter @yachtingworldmagazine Often on these pages we extol the virtues of a slow pace of cruising, and the good sense and seamanship in allowing time to choose an optimum departure date, or a choice of places to while away the days if conditions worsen. But sometimes outside factors dictate that what you really need to do is just sail on. This month we have two cruising stories featuring couples who decided to point the bow to their ultimate destination and sail non-stop. A ‘Do Not Pass Go’ approach is not for everyone. It requires complete confidence in your yacht, and your co-skipper. If you have the choice of stopping, as Med cruisers Phil and Roxy Johnson did, then you’ll need to dismiss any…

Round Iceland Race for 2023 The Royal Western Yacht Club will be running a new race from Plymouth around Iceland in May 2023. The course is to leave Eddystone Lighthouse to starboard, Iceland to starboard, and finish at RWYC. The Category 1 race will be open to solo, double-handed and fully crewed yachts in mono or multihulls from 27-65ft. See rwyc.org All female Jules Verne bid Vendée Globe skipper Alexia Barrier is putting together a campaign to create an all-female Jules Verne Trophy crew. Known as The Famous Project, the campaign has secured the commitment of many top-flight female offshore racers, including Marie Riou, who was part of the Dongfeng-winning Volvo Ocean Race team, American offshore sailor and mountaineer Sara Hastreiter, and Dee Caffari. The last all-female attempt at the…

British microyacht sailor Andrew Bedwell has launched a campaign to cross the Atlantic in the tiny 1m/3ft 3in vessel Big C. Bedwell will attempt the crossing in 2023, hoping to break the current record which was set by American sailor, Hugo Vihlen, in 1993 when he crossed in a 1.63m/5ft 4in yacht. Bedwell has a history of extreme sailing challenges. He completed the Jester Baltimore Challenge aboard his 23ft Hunter 707, Outlaw, in 2015, then sailed around Britain single-handed in his 6.5m (21.3ft) Mini Transat 241 Blue One in 2016. He also sailed the Mini Transat from Cumbria to Iceland and into the Arctic Circle and back in 2019. His craft for the transatlantic challenge was designed and built by Liverpudlian sailor Tom McNally, a legend in the microyacht world…

The planned single-handed non-stop solo race for the giant Ultime trimarans now has a title sponsor, long-term offshore racing backer Arkea, and a host port, Brest in France. The solo around the world race is scheduled to take place in 2023. The Ultimes have been relaunching this spring with modifications for solo sailing, and six are planning to enter the Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race this November. Among them are the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, which will be skippered by Charles Caudrelier. The Gitana trimaran has just finished a refit with modifications including a third generation set of foils and a new ‘skate wing’ central dorade foil. Changes for going solo include a single fixed seat in the cockpit cuddy, replacing one of the pedestal winches, with a very…

The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and Royal Yachting Association (RYA) are expanding a new rating system designed to encourage keelboat and cruiser-racer sailors to enjoy racing, particularly relative newcomers to the sport taking part in club or local regattas. The RYA and RORC have joined forces with the South West Yacht Time Correction Factor (YTC) rating system to roll out the (lengthily named) RYA YTC, powered by RORC Rating. The YTC rating system was developed by volunteers in the south west of England, initially around Falmouth but since more widely adopted, to rate the wide variety of cruiser/racer designs which take part in local events so they can race against one another fairly and competitively. The new rating system will be developed working with the YTC team, but bringing…

Panama Canal Administrators have proposed a new series of tolls from 1 January 2023, to increase each year until 2025, which if applied will result in raised fees for all small boat categories. For a yacht of 65ft LOA or less the charges will rise from the current rate of $1,600 to $1,760 in 2023 and $2130 by 2025. While overall the number of toll categories will decrease, for sailing yacht owners there remains <65ft, 60-80ft, 80-100ft and >100ft categories. For vessels over 100ft the tolls will rise to $5,000 in 2023. For more detail on the associated costs of a Panama Canal transit – and expert advice on how to do it enjoyably – see last month’s issue of Yachting World. Meanwhile the Suez Canal Authority is working to…