Yachts & Yachting magazine April 2022

THIS ISSUE IS the 300th edition of Sailing Today - obviously Yachts & Yachting is on far more but, still, it's something to shout about in its own way. For me it's quite significant as it gave me pause for thought and made me realise that I have been working on the magazine since 2009 when I started out as Deputy Editor under the auspices of the mildly eccentric Jake Frith. I then switched to freelance in 2012 before coming back onto the magazine full time in 2017. If you were to ask me what has changed during that time, the biggest one is the background noise; in 2009 off the back of the financial crisis, the magazine seemed to be in an endless state of flux, with the publication…

Leading sailors called for more action to protect the world’s oceans at the One Ocean Summit in Brest, with Vendée Globe racer Pip Hare addressing the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian. Hare joined 73 other seafarers at the summit, hosted in February by French President Emmanuel Macron and the United Nations to agree initiatives to protect marine ecosystems, fight pollution and promote better governance of the oceans. Vendée Globe winner François Gabart, Yves Parlier, Alan Roura and Charlie Dalin were some of the other leading sailors who signed a Seafarer’s Appeal for the Ocean, calling on governments around the world to act now. 11th Hour Racing Team co-skipper Charlie Enright (pictured) also addressed the summit, saying: “Across the marine industry, we have to reduce our footprint by 50%…

Emsworth Sailing Club in Hampshire has become the first club to be awarded a new Bronze Certification that rewards “responsible and innovative practices” over single-use plastics. The new standard was launched at last year’s Southampton Boat Show by The Green Blue and Final Straw Foundation. Emsworth SC commodore Jane Mellor said: “We are extremely proud to be the first club to be awarded the Bronze Certificate following on from some of the early work we have done guided by the teams at The Green Blue and The Final Straw Foundation. “As the sea is our playground, we have embedded the control of our environmental impacts into the work of all our committees, but there is always more to do so continuous improvement is constantly on our minds. We are now working hard towards…

The latest attempt to break the westabout, non-stop, round the world sailing record came to grief when the trimaran Use It Again! ran aground in a remote area of southern Chile. Frenchman Romain Pilliard and his Spanish co-skipper Alex Pella were sailing the boat in which Ellen MacArthur broke the solo round the world record in 2005. Pilliard refitted the boat over two years according to the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ principles of the circular economy, using second-hand kit and materials where possible. Use It Again! was well ahead of the outright record (crewed or solo) of 122 days, set by Jean-Luc Van Den Heede in 2004 on a monohull. Romain and Alex passed Cape Horn in early February and had sought shelter in Cook Bay, Chile, while a big depression passed out at sea. But…

Eric Tabarly’s daughter Marie is looking for crew to help her race Pen-Duick VI around the world. Volunteer crew would join Marie in the 2023 Ocean Globe Race, a recreation of the early Whitbread Round the World races and the innaugural edition featuring some of the boats that took part in the first Whitbread, in 1973. So far 24 boats have entered the Ocean Globe Race and many are looking for amateur crews. Marie Tabarly has been sailing Pen-Duick VI for years, as the flagship of her Elemen’Terre Project. The 73ft ketch, built for Eric Tabarly’s entry in the 1973 Whitbread, has become “a floating think tank, a place of exchange and meeting, to reflect on social issues and environmental protection”. Marie said: “The decision to take part in a crewed round-the-world race is…

The RYA has launched a LGBTQIA+ network, aiming to “make equality and inclusion for those that identify as LGBTQIA+ a reality in the sport”. The network is open to the wider boating community and will welcome “anyone who is an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community” as well as those who identify as part of LGBTQIA+. The announcement follows the RYA’s Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity Strategy, launched last year, the RYA’s plan to develop a sailing culture that is free from discrimination and prejudice. Mel Hide of the RYA said: “Inclusivity and equality should be at the heart of boating.” Email equality@rya.org.uk for more.…