Yachts & Yachting magazine February 2021

IN COMMON WITH so many events in this most bizarre of years, the annual British Yachting Awards was somewhat different to normal, being held online. I think we can all heartily concur we are bored of having a relationship with our computers but, even so, there was something rather special about the 2020 Awards, largely because, this year, the adversity we have endured has been universal and it feels extra special to celebrate some of the more positive aspects of life afloat. The other thing that makes the British Yachting Awards special is that it is one of the few awards out there that is voted for entirely by the public and I do feel that this is something that adds a real importance to the results. Anyway, a hearty…

This photograph, taken in 2002 by French photographer Gilles Martin-Raget, has been voted the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image of the Century. It shows the Orma 60 trimaran Fujifilm II, with skipper Loick Peyron and crew sailing in ‘the Devil’s Hole’ off Ushant, where the Channel tide and Atlantic swell meet in shallow water. Fujifilm II sailed past safely but was destroyed by a storm few months later during the Route du Rhum. The annual Mirabaud competition saw entries from 131 professional photographers, who because of sailing restrictions over 2020 were asked to submit photos taken since 2000. For all the winners, and the winners of the concurrent Mirabaud Sailing Video of the Century, visit yachtsandyachting.co.uk…

Both British contenders for a podium place in the Vendée Globe crashed out of the race after collisions with floating objects. Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss, one of the big favourites for a win, suffered irreparable rudder damage in the south Atlantic. A few days later Sam Davies on Initiatives-Coeur also suffered a collision with a floating object, which damaged her keel structure. Both nursed their foiling IMOCA 60s slowly to Cape Town, where they were photographed talking on the pontoons. Thomson had led much of the race, setting a blistering pace down the Atlantic. Just days before his retirement, he had overcome a major setback when he discovered damage to Hugo Boss’ bow area. Describing the collision, the bitterly disappointed 46-year-old father-of-two system was jammed and all I could do was roll the…

Skippers in the Vendée Globe are making an important contribution to global understanding of ocean health, by deploying buoys and floats that gather climate information. The floating scientific instruments are dropped overboard at agreed co-ordinates and will send data back for years to come. The advantage of using Vendée Globe skippers is that they sail to areas rarely visited by commercial vessels. Martin Kramp, of OceanOPS, which works for UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organisation, said: “These instruments will help us in areas where we have little means to gather the data which goes into the day-to-day global weather forecast. This improves the safety of life at sea and helps us understand ocean currents.” He added: “The information is used for climatology and is also used in short term predictions for weather phenomena like…

There will be 20 less sailors at the Paris 2024 Olympics, it was announced in December. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) also confirmed the 470 would be sailed as a mixed gender crew. Meanwhile the IOC will review the Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat event, which is due to make its debut at the Games, sailed from Marseilles. The IOC also said a Mixed Kiteboarding event would be part of the 2024 Olympic regatta. “The IOC would like to further review the Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat Event in order to properly assess the key considerations around safety and security of the athletes,” the IOC statement said. A decision would be reached no later than 31 May 2021. The athlete quota for sailing at Paris 2024 will be 330, a decrease of 20 from…

Viewers in Europe will need to be up early to catch the AC75 racing over the next few months. The four America’s Cup teams were due to show their colours in two warm-up regattas in Auckland in December, before the Prada Cup gets underway in January. The America’s Cup match itself, between the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand and whoever wins the Prada Cup, takes place in March. As we went to press, INEOS Team UK had missed the first practice races in Auckland, leading to widespread speculation that their boat had gear failure. Commentators were also suggesting that the British team, who are hoping to win the America’s Cup for the first time in the country’s history, were off the pace compared to their rivals. By the time you read this the warm-up…