Practical Boat Owner January 2021

To receive the editor’s monthly email newsletter, go to our website: www.pbo.co.uk Alone again, naturally! Solo boating has always been an important part of the pages of PBO, but this new era of enforced social distancing has got everyone wondering about coping with a life less connected to others. It may just have pushed our regular columnist Dave Selby over the precipice, but thankfully he’s on absolutely top form these last few issues – this month (page 16) tending gently to the stowaway that has made its new home aboard Marlin. At the opposite end of the scale is dinghy sailor Ken Fowler whose quest to sail around every single island in England and Wales has been severely restricted due to the virus this year. But on the upside, he’s found time to…

Sailing schools which offer sail and motor cruising courses have been ‘severely hit’ by restrictions introduced to control the spread of COVID-19. But the RYA says there has been an increase in people studying shore-based courses online and personal watercraft and powerboat courses. The uncertainty surrounding overseas travel has contributed to this rise, with more people holidaying in the UK. Many schools offered online shore-based courses during the first England-wide lockdown between March and June. But the delay in allowing commercial passenger vessels to operate meant sail schools were unable to run on-the-water courses until August. The RYA has also temporarily removed the requirement to live aboard for the Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses to assist training centres in offering secure courses. Some schools have also been able to access Government assistance to…

Boaters are being urged to fit carbon monoxide alarms to their vessels after two men died on board the 9.14m motor cruiser Diversion on the River Ouse in York. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has issued a safety bulletin warning of the dangers of carbon monoxide as it continues its investigation into the deaths of Ronald Vincent Holmes, 60, and Stephen Jewitt, 63 on 4 December 2019. Initial findings have revealed the boat’s second-hand cabin heater had never been professionally checked or serviced. The fuel/air mixture was burnt in the heater and the exhaust gas was discharged outside, via a silencer, through an adjacent hull fitting. This silencer was not approved for marine use, was not gas tight and its connection to the exhaust pipework was loose, allowing carbon monoxide to build…

Legendary solo sailor Jon Sanders has made landfall in his home country of Australia as he nears the end of his 11th world circumnavigation. The 81 year old moored in Bundaberg, Queensland, on 22 October before being required to self isolate on his Sparkman and Stephens 39, Perie Banou II while waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test. The solo skipper received a quarantine exemption from Queensland Health, subject to a negative test result, as he’d spent more than 30 days alone at sea since departing his last port of Tahiti. This last leg of his voyage saw him sailing through three large Pacific storm systems, with winds exceeding 65 knots. Despite sailing bare poled and dragging a car tyre to keep the boat facing into the wind and waves, Perie Banou…

Production is under way in France on what is being billed as the world’s first truly recyclable, solar-electric boat. The LBV35 catamaran is being developed by Ibiza eco-charter firm La Bella Verde and Les Sables d’Olonne boatbuilder Innovation Yachts, which is run by former Vendée Globe skipper, Norbert Sedlacek, and Marion Koch, who designed the prototype for the Open16 racing yacht. La Bella Verde’s founder, Maarten Bernhart, said the marine industry worldwide had to start looking closely at its impact on the environment which is why it was turning its attention to the materials, construction and lifespan of vessels. “There are currently around 20 million recreational vessels in the European Union and the United States of America; all built with highly toxic and nonrecyclable materials. All of these boats will end up on…

Natasha Lambert is attempting to become the first person to sail across the Atlantic using sip and puff technology on her Bavaria Nautitech Open 46, Blown Away. The 23 year old, who was born with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, will be sailing with the 2020 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), which was expected to have departed from Gran Canaria on 22 November bound for St Lucia. Her father, Gary, has developed the control system for the multihull, using open source software, and incorporating a sip-puff system that utilises a single straw, allowing Natasha to control both the helm and the sails. During the summer, Natasha and her team sailed Blown Away from her home port of Cowes to the Canaries, initially making short day sails ahead of the 1,008-mile passage from Brest to Gibraltar,…