Here - Polynesian Catamaran Association

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C o ntents 

A w ord in yourear 

Association News 

The Loss of Fritz 

The boatm oving traum a 

The Boatyard 

Good G lueing 

Beam Lashing System 

Overwhich horizon did you sail 

Surfsong to Ho land 

North sea novitiate 

Round Britain in Areoi 

Gone w ith the w ind 

n dvertising 

3 R ates 

4 

Quarlerpage 

7 Halfpage 

9 w holepage 

11 

Backpage 

13 

ls Published tw ice yearly in M ay and Decem ber 

E15 

f30 

E50 

E55 

1* copy:1s1ofm onth preceedingpublication date 

18 

Q1 

Q* SMA LL ADS FREE TO PCA M EM BERS 

2 

Crosswordanswer:PITCH 

AIIarliclesCopyrightof'The Sailorm an'

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Editor:B ichard Bumpus 

% ' EditorialAssistant:Maggie Bumpus 

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.d SeEroOuv: 

Robin Fautley ,I1Park Street, 

Southend-on-sea,Essex,U K. 

.4 V 

Treasurer: 

GD (BilIjCartwright 

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Sailing Secretary : 

M ike Briggs 

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Chairman: 

Bob Ev ans 

, ' z .g,' p ub1ished by : 

THE POLYNESIAN CATAMA RAN ASSOCIATION 

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r I printedby:DEREKSMITHPRINTERS 

r 

HighStreet,Brompton,GiIlingham ,Kent. 

Liferafts are costly to buy and Iam told a certain geography of Ho land musthelp this.Catdesigner Lars 

number do not infIate when sent back to the m akers Oudrop sailed his Havkat 18 down from Denm ark.The 

for testing. lf it doesn'twork when you need it,it is meeting wasmostsuccessfulin term softhe num berof 

unlikely that you willget a second bite at the apple. boats attending.Hina's,Hinemoa's,Tane's,Tangaroa's, 

W ithin the PCA and AY RS people have come up w ith Narai'S, Ariki's, Telstars, Iroquois, Apache's and 

ideasforliferaft-tenders.Itm akesa Iotofsense to have Hirondelswereexamplesofm ulti'spresent,includinga 

a Iiferaft that can be propeled ifsudden disasterover- Havkat. 

takesyou in m id ocean faraway from shippingIanes.If 

you Inaveany constructive ideasonthesubject,dropa TaneSailorandjazzfiendJellevanderZeespeakingat 

lineto m eorMikeE IisonofAY RS.ThereisIbelieve,a the CTC prize giving evening during a light hearted 

governmentaldepartmentthatwillfund projectsin the moment,reckoned thatif 'Windsurfersdo itstanding 

smalIboatworld i.e.notcomm ercialshipping. up'', then 'zcat sailors do it twice !''.M U LTIHU LLS 

magasinehasa badgewith asloganthatSays(amongst 

ThePCA AGM istobeheldattheRichmondCommunity othersj''Multihulssailorshavemorefun''.Perhapsone 

centre, 4 Sheen Road, Richmond, again on the 6th could go on to say that 'Catsailorshave tw ice asmuch 

January,1979.Facilitieswi11be open to usfrom about funr' . 1suppose it would be true to say ''1've done it 

2 p.m .on asusual. twice asfastand had morefun m ore often'' . W ell,when 

you consider that Surf Song's hu lspeed is about 5.6 

knots(J 19x 1.25)on a19ft.waterIine,severaltimes 

Robin Fautley,our hard working Secretary who has thisYearshehasbeenuptothetwelveknotmark (and 

done much thisyearto furthertheinterestsofthePCA, thatwason fIatwater),and thatwasloaded with beer 

Wishes to stand down.1hopethere isan adm inistrator and goodiesforweekending and holidays. 

am ongstyou dearmembers,w ho wilcomeforward to 

take his place.W ithout a Secretaw ,the PCA cannot W hen sailing with a three yearold nephew during last 

continue to function properly. 

summer,though notatany greatspeed,when asked 

whathethbughtofsailing,he replied,''Ithink itisa 

W e sailed to Ho land th isIastJuly,withtheintention of Iittle bitnice!''. 

arriving at the 10th anniversary meeting of the Dutch 

Catamaran and Trimaran CIub (CTC)atEnkhuisen.To Thanksto those ofyou who havecontributed inform. 

an outsider, anyway,the Dutch multihilscene seem s ation on sheathing. IstiIlawait information from the 

to be much m ore integrated than thatofthe U.K.The experiencesofothers. 

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n ejournalof 

@ @ T H E PO LYNESIAN CATAMA RA N AK OCIATION @ @ 

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1. Lack ofself-steering thatworked in allconditions. 

2.Lack of preparation time. ''Yentraccam' had on Iy 

done 2500 m iIes when IIeft New Plymouth which 

wasn 'te noughto ironouta IIbugs. 

3.Lack ofwingdeck clearance.'YENTRACCA M 'fIoats 

6'below hermarksatthe Stern and rightonthem at 

the bow.Adm ittedly She is 1'w ider and thiscould 

. * partly explainwhy she isaIittleheavy and very wet.' 

l 11 

from John Mccartney,areasecretary ofN.Z. 

Pete Kerrod ofW iIma Road,Surfdale,W aikeke Island, 

Auckland,N.Z.sentalong photosofPeterCrawford's ,.jn uittle shoalBay (Auckland 

, Ithink),where I 

cutter rigged Tangaroa POH UTAKAW A ,George Free- m oor,t jaare are usually 4 ot'5 otherW h arram cats.W e 

gard's Oro and a photo ofhisown Oro.Pete saysheput jaave qu ite a good 

, Iittle com munity,as 3 of us were 

the 42'mastup al1by himself.Thesailsshould besorted living on ourboats 

. They include :Ted Barry'sAR IK l, 

outby now.Otherwork included fitting a W ankelrotary BjqjG j.r EyEs 

, which recentlv changed ownership (a 

engine of 20 hp. between the huIIS underneath the TANGA ROA which TrevorTutte sailed from England to 

centraldeck cockpit.Thewholeunitshould pivotso as xew zealand) 

, Ron and Sandy M alatios'AR IKI,Wade 

to drop ihto oroutof the water.The sternsofPete 's B Oro are ratherlike IOR racingkeelboats.Launching was JamesKingsailed rough's TAN GARoA,the outfrom the NA U R AI (TAH IA),which 

.K.and PeterCrawford's 

dueaboutNovem ber-Decem ber. TANGA ROA for a short time 

, and a H INA called 

'SUPER B' STRONG and TOUG H',plus my boat (a 

RA KA, cafhed Y E NTR ACCAM , wh ich is Maccartney 

NEWS FROM NEW ZEALAND 

speledbackwardsl.' 

Extractfrom John M ccartney'sletteraboutthe 'rjnefîrstTangoroa m k 4 to be builtwhich wasshown 

single-handedTasman Race 

off by Jim at Portland about two years ago (professionaly 

builtby Viken Boats),and wasfeatured on 

'The race across the Tasman was a fantastîc tjae front cover of the Dec . 76 Sailorman,was sailed 

experience,butm y finalposition wasabitdisappointing. 

crossto the West lndies by K .C.Jensen.TANGOROA 

lwasîn the lead forthe first 4 days,covering640 ajiasSW EETN ESS aliasSW E ET AS hasnow been bought 

m iles,untilcyclone Howe hitthe fleeton the 5th day. b 9 carlKreuter 

, ofSt.Thomas,U.S.Virgin Islands. 

Although the wind wasonly SE 50-60 knots,theseas 

were very mean.M y self-steering relieson shockcord and 

balancing the sails,butwith only storm jibsetIcould scAN D 1NAv IAN MU LTIH U LL MEETING 1979 . 

notgetherto selfsteer. 

uars oudrop , Danish catam aran designer very kindly 

After 2 days the wind went around to the south sent us details. The meeting will take place in the 

which resulted in a very m ean cross sea.W aves were harbour of Bogense on the island of Fyn from Friday 

breaking up through the wing deck and eventualjy I 13th to Sunday 15th July,1979.The main purpose of 

started to have piecesofthe decking beingsmashed out. the m eeting isto getvisiting multihullsto the meeting, 

Forthe safety ofthe boat Ihoveto forappr.36 hours from otherEuropean m ultihulIclubs.More detailsIater. 

Y forethe wind dropped sufficienty to startsailing again. 

Iwasthendecalmed1day (80miles)offMooloobaba 

where the race finished.Ieventualy came in 9th outof The W hitsun m eeting at Queenborough, Isle of 

15,taking11daysforthecrossing. 

Sheppey,enjoyed good weatharcomparedto Iastyear. 

The winnerwasa 30'Gary Mu ldesigned keelerwith Fivecatsarrived forthe meeting.The m eeting consisted 

trim tab self-steering.Hetook justover8 dayswhich ofIocalsand afew others.Theprizeforthebestbuilt 

wasa new race record.5 ofthe first6 boatshad knock- boat and the Iongestdistance Sailed to the meeting was 

downsto where them asttouched thewater. 

won by TAHAK Ia Tangaroa from the RiverCrouch, 

Therewere3 casualtiesintherace.A 24'1/4tonner owned,sailed and builtby C.J.Palmerand R.F.Peck 

Iosthermast,a30'keelerIostherm ast,capsized 5 times ofBedfordshire. 

- twiceend overend.Herskipperwaspicked up and the 

boateventually washed up on FraserIsland. 

George Payne dropped a Iine to say the Plym outh 

BillBelcher,the winnerofthelastracehitMiddleton meeting at the end of August was very successfulin 

reef and was picked up after 10 days in his liferaft terms of numbers of boats that arrived.AI1were good 

drifting towardsAustralia. 

examplesoftheirkind. 

At the tim e ofthe race,anotherboatwassunk 200 

NW ofNew Zealand,and there isstilaboatmissing that 

IeftNelson the same day the racestarted. 

M ike and Velm a Fiorentino of SUN R lSE FA R M 

This givesyou some ideaofthe severity ofthecon- BOATS, RT I Box 154A, Morriston ,Florida,32668, 

ditionsthatwere encountered.Although Iwasvery wet U.S.A.,haveseveralacresofwooded farm land incentral 

and uncom fortable during the storm lsurvived,and to Florida.They have cleared aspaceto build theirmulti 

me thatisthe thing thatcounts. 

on.To help coststhey wi11rentpartoftheirsite to other 

Looking back on the race,Ithink the following are builders for a reasonable sum . Ifyou are Iooking fora 

the reasonsIhad to stop whilethe otherskeptgoing: sitedown Florida way,w hy notcontactM ike. 

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HAVING A SPOT OF BOTHER (OR WHY lCAN'T 

GO SA1LING)byWeeD.Huls 

R oly Huebsch kindly sent us an account of the Lake Hullshad 

ln April1975 and June,1976 SA ILORMA N W ee D. 

Ontario 

sail-in.Itwillappearin the nextissue aswehave incompetance 

a lotofbotherwith hisSailing.Becauseofhis 

no further room this time.Roly does say that at the 

he gave a num ber of reasons for not 

Toronto taking hisboatout: 

Multihull Cruising Club there are now two 

M auis,tbree H inas,one Hinemoa,one Raka and anOro. 1 

Th ere are also fiveNaraiswelunderconstruction w ithin 2 

. Too windy 

100 . M ustcutthe lawn 

milesofToronto. 3 , 

. Thewife doesn tlike it? 

J 4.Theenginewon'tStart 

ohn Galewho Iivesin theCanary IslandssentusSom e 5 

. 

newsaboutPolycatslooking forfarhorizons.Thesecats 6 

Theelectricsare outoforder 

. 

wereseenatPuerto R ico : 

Too much to do atthe office 

D 7.He istaking a caravan holiday 

S ate:28.6.78.N am e:LEH AV A H A YA M (FIam eofthe 8 

. He can'tbebothered . 

ea).Skipper:Paddy W arren.Type :Narai.F rom :PIy- 9 . 

to getup early to catch the tide 

. 

mouth,E ngland.Bound for:Freetown,W .Africa. He'stakinga co leaguedown foragin and tonic on 

D ate:23.10.78.Name :LUCKY.Skipper:DieterLudw ig. Su n day mo rn in g 

Type:Tangaroa.F rom :TheHague,Ho Iand.Bound for: 10.Hecan'tswim 

W estIndies. 

11.He 9Ot a nasty fright when the weather blew up 

1n the Iastissue wem entioned thatTE H IN 1wasnow sudden Iy Iastweekend 

on charterfrom Ireland to theW estIndieṣ Shehasnow 12.Thefamily Iovehorses 

arrived safely. Hannes W harram haswritten an account 13.Itwould spoilhisdolly bird'shairdo 

ofpartofthetrip w hichwewillpublish Iater. 14. He gave thehelm smanthereciprocalofthe intended 

course,and consequently putthe boataground 

15. Stilfittingouttheboat 

16. Hehassimply lostinterest 

,à. *. *. *. .à. .à. *. 

SAlLORS SIL LY CROSSW O RD 

I 1 * J Across: 1.Tar 

2.Fore and aftm ovementofaboat 

a 

3. Footballfield 

4.Setup atent 

6.Throw 

Down : 1.Vegetables 

2.W hatyousee with 

*. a Mak e fu n of 

4.Oceans 

5 5.W hatCockney'sdrop 

See page2 forthe answer. 

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by Nick Hurk,a Dutch Californian 

lttook me three yearsasan am ateurboatbuilderto case upon insistance from the boatswain.Having been 

build m y 5 lft.Tehini.Finally lcould sail,and sailIdid. under way forseveralhours,the seas became rougher 

A beautifulboat,and even asan amateursailer Ifound and higher and sometimes 'Fritz'' went diving into 

hereasytosai1. 

green waterinstead ofoveritbecauseofthehawser(a 

lhad crew troublein Floridaarld itwasmidnightas thousand feetofwethawserisofconsiderableweight). 

1saiIed outalone into the GulfofMexico,nota smal 

job being alone forthefirsttimeonsuchaIargeboat. lwasbelow when thefirstbeam snapped offlikea 

Once out in the Gulfwith Iots ofsea room itwaseasy m ere m atchstick . Irushed on deck with 'm y strobe and 

going and l Sailed w ith 900 ft.of sailup,until8.00 signalled the ship butbefore itcame to acomplete stop 

a.m ., when I anchored at Key West, Florida. Going them astwentoverboard and severalstainlesssteelbolts 

through the channel at 14 knots realIy showed the broke in the other beams . 1could hearthem give wav 

boatoffatitsbest. like pistolshotṣ Iwas puled alongsideand everything 

Ispent two days in Key W est.There wasvery Iittle of value was taken off the boaṭ There was food and 

wind and m ostofm y time wasspentcheckingthe boat waterfor6 months- Iwasheavily laden.Theseaswere 

out, doing Iittle adjustments to the rigging,a Iittle suchthattheycameovertheafterdeckofthefreighter 

fishing and resting up forthe nextleg to Miam iBeach . - itwasrealrough . W e cleared 'Fritz''ofaIIballastand 

From there l planned to go to the Bahamas for 6 then Istepped on board theRussian ship . 

m onths. 

Thecrew worked to hold the two huIIstogetherwith 

Ihad nam ed by boat Fritzvan derRyk aftera friend rope and Splints . The U.S.CoastGuard arrived and was 

who has Iosthislifeatsea.''Fritz'Sailed again two days standing by. It had been a very exhausting day foral. 

later, Novem ber 10th, 1977, in the early afternoon. Ihad dinnerand wasassigned abed,where Isleptfor 

There wasa 12 knotbreeze,perfectsailing weather.The a few hoursuntiIIwasawakened by the R adio Officer, 

radio had warned me ofwindsup to 22knotswhich did who told m ewhathad happened with tearsin hiseyes. 

not botherme in the leastas 'Fritz'is acapable boat. 'zFritz' had broken completely apar't.The two Iovely 

My log,wh ich wasfouled som ewhat,read 14 knotsat hullswerefIoating inthewaveslike two dead whales. 

7.30 p.m .Iwas getting tired and started to steerfora The Coast Guard finally took me on board near 

cay where Icould anchorand resta bit.AlIwentwell M iamiBeach.AIIIhad Ieftin the world wason my boat 

until Ifouled three Iobster Iines.Itied thetiIlerdown oron the deck of thefreighter.Everthingon theafter 

and anended to the lobsterlines,whicb Ihauled up with deck waswet.Theonly items 1saved were thesextant, 

grappelhook and winch.As lcut the Iast Iine to free radio,ship'sbell,m y watercolourbrushesand paper,and 

'Fritz',thetiIlerbroke,rightontherudderso Idecided afew ofthe beautifulteak blocks. 

to anchorasIwasonly a m ileortwo offshore.lIetout Everything above deck on 'Fritz''was316 Stainless 

my anchor,40 ft.chain and 30O ft.ofnylon %''rope. Steeḷ ItwaSa beautifuland very good sailboat,butwas 

The boatswung into a current,and thewind (coming too much forone manof54 yearsold.However,Ienfrom 

thecoaslwaSonthebeam .ThesaiIswerealIlashed joyed ''Fritz' untiIits eaf'ly end.A beautifulShape, 

down and Ihad to waituntildaylightto effectrepairs. strong and fast . Now Ineed a smaller boat,again a 

lwastired,and thesea wasrough.Nevertheless,Imade w harram design . Ithad to be large enough to crossthe 

coffee and sat in the cuddy entrance to think th ings Atlanticwith acertainamountofcom fort . 

overabit. 

ltis much more than adream afterone hassailed for 

Suddenly,one oftheshroudsbrokeIoose and started atime . Ilove to sailalone butperhapsitismuchbetter 

swinging across the deck and into the m ain m astand on a smallboat . 

boom .Asitwasso rough,a1IIcould do wasto tie the Iam Sorry to reportthisIoss . Itisnotbecauseofthe 

Iine down so it would notSwing the two dead eyesall design orstrength ofm y boatthat thishappened , but 

overthe deck.Ibecameworried asthewind blew 20-24 the abnorm alpulling . A sailboatis nota barge,and it 

knots,Theseawassteep and choppy,and itwasalm ost should only be sailed . 

impossible to stand up on deck.Isaw some Shipspass 

by,butthey did notrespondto my fIares.My radio was - -- 

out.Ihung a strobeIightin the mastto attractattention. 

I was safe, so 1went to sleep.My position was Lat. 

24 f:l -24 ,-4N , Lo.81 O -28 ,-3W . 

W aking at 7.00 a.m .to the sound ofshipsengines,I 

wenton deck to find thatthe sea wassm ootherand a 

freighterwas circling around m e.Itw asa Russian ship Narai planș com plete, ro led, unusued and in good 

MV Karaganda,from Houston ,Texas with a load of cond ition S 175.00 U .S.Den isD iekhoff,1100 W 24th 

grain to Leningrad .Aftersome form alities,the Captain Streeț M inneapolis,M innesota,U.S.A.55405. 

took me in tow to M iam iBeach.A Iarqe hawserwas 

a ttach ed to a b rid 1e and an ex tra lin e a ro u nd th e m ast 

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by DAVID LEW IS 

The most anxious.and traumatic m om ent in boat- brought any spreaders to prevent localised crushing of 

building is the day thecontractorarrivesto moveyour the hul1.W hen Ipointed outthathe had notprovided 

many yearsofhard work totheIaunchingsite.Thisis properequipmentforthejob Iwasforceably inforrned 

a sideofboat-buildingwhich israrely mentioned,mainly thathewasaprofessionalwith m an: yearsofexperience 

I believe because boat-builders wish to forget the and thathe only needed my co-operation.Buthow does 

occasion. 

Oneco-operate in themakingofam iracle !Heeventried 

My wife Joan and Ihave spentfouryearsbuilding our to get me to teIIhim not to go ahead w ith the move. 

41'foam sandwich catamaran and we were anxiousto Although sufferingextrem e anxiety and angerIretained 

ensurethatourcreation should bemoved from ourfront enough controlovegmyselfto tellhim thatitwasup to 

garden efficiently and without damage.W e tberefore him to say whether hecould carry outthe contractor 

obtained quotationsfrom three established boatm oving not. 

firms.The contractorwe finaly chose washighly recom - The first hullwaslifted and lowered onto the lorry. 

mended and to make surethere were no difficultiesor After m uch fiddling around with the supports it was 

misunderstandings aboutthe actualmove we insisted obviousto everyone thatitwasjustnoton.Theconthatthecontractorcame 

and assessed the situation.We tractor then said it wou Id be unsafe to carry on and 

explained to them the construction materials and the thathewould haveto ccme back anotherday with the 

method and equipm entneeded forthemove.Thism eant trailerwhich should havebeen used in thefirstplace and 

using wideweb Iiftingslings,spreadersto ensure thatthe forwhich wehad contracted . 

deck edgewasnotcrushed,that acrane wasused which M y analysisofthe situalion after lhad calmed down 

could handletheIoad ofeachindividualhul(1:4tons) wasthatthepropertrailerhadbeenusedforanotherjob 

and had sufficientreach.The result ofthecontractors and that the contractorhoped to getaway with a long 

exam ination ofthe boatand site wasan assurance that fIat bed Iorry .I in fact suggested at the time thatthis 

the movew ould be apieceofcakeand thattheirtrailer was the position.He did notanswerm y question.The 

was entirely suitable.Ishould have realised there and crane driver was very com petent and experienced at 

then thatcakeisforslicing-up! 

Iifting boatsand wasin no way responsibleforthe fiasco. 

Thetraumathenwentintohighgear.At9.15p.m.on Ialso believethatthecontractoralso knew hisjob but 

the evening before m oving day the contractorrang to waSnotprepared to acceptthe impossibility ofwhathe 

putthe move back haifan hour,and Statedhistrailer had in mind.The costofthecranehire (E57plus8% 

wastoo wide fortheapproach Ianeto DelQuay Boat VAT) was my responsibiIity but naturally lwas not 

Yard. lknew im mediately when Joan told me of the willing to sufferthislossand expecled thecontractorto 

telephone callthatwewerein forahard tim e.Thecrane coverit.Theabortive attemptwasnoneofmv doingbut 

arrived at9 a.m .,the time previously arranged between thatofthe contractor.Thisaspecthasstillto besorted 

the crane hire firm and the contractor.Tbis added to Outatthetime ofpenningthisarticle. 

my anxiety thatthingswere going wrong.The GPO Iine- The purpose behind thistale ofwoe isto warn other 

man arrived dead on time to take down aneighbour's boat-buildersofthe periIsofboatmoving.Forewarned is 

telephone Iine which crossed our garden and which forearmed.A friend ofmineexperienced an even worse 

would be in theway.The contractorarrived 15 m inutes experience so Iwas not unaware of the traps Iying in 

late with a long Iorry and not a trailer. He had no wait.Iwould advise thatfirst use a reputable firm of 

materialsto makecradlesto hold thehullsbecausehe experienced boat contractors (mine were),second get 

assumed that theSupportswe had holding ourhu lsup them to inspect the'site and explain alIaboutthe boat 

in the garden would be suitable.Thiswastransparently and any difficulties you can think of , third put in 

notthe case.He had seen the supportswhe'n he came to writing to them aI that you have discussed and the 

view theboatbuthadnottakenmuchnoticeofthem at equipmentto be used (Ididn't!);fourthtry to getthe 

the time because he had arranged to usehiSproperboat responsibility forthe crane hire placed with them oving 

trailerwith itsownintegraladjustablesupports. contractor(Ididn't!). 

Even though hecould seethe supportswe had would Ihope thatby the time thistaleispublished ourboat 

notbe suitable he carried on with preparation forIoad- wi1 be safely afIoat and we wil have forgotten the 

ingahullon the fIat-bed Iorry.Thisdespite the factthat traumaand beableto look back witklamusement(some- 

Ipointed out thatthe supports would notbestrong thingwedo notfeelatthemoment).Weshouldbeable 

enough.ltalso turned outthathe had notbroughtweb to dine offthestory forsome tim e and with ourmany 

slings butwire with rubber tubinq overit.Norhad he experiences of boat m oving - our own and other 

peoples- we could even go into the businessourselves. 

lexpecthoweverthatwewillbetoobusyenjoyingourselves 

in the Mediterranean to concern ourselves with 

''Th esaiIorswife,thesailorsstarshalbe.' 

such aworrying business. 

''Torch:casefordead batteries.'' 

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K ' I ts '1 

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Last year 1heard ofa very interestingstory abouta The sham bles eventually sorted itself out and she 

monohul1.MonohulIs!Ican hearthescoffsnow ;don't, managed to pick up anotherm ooring and lay there.The 

itcould havebeen a multihu land Ibelieve would have bow was badly dam aged and with ittheattachmentfor 

been m ore likely. 

the freestays,shewaSastemhead sloop. 

A monohullwasgoing out into the channelto take The crew then spent severalm iserable days aboard, 

som e young sailorsforaweek'sAdventurousTraining in whilst it blew a Northerly hooligan.They couldn'tget 

November, last year. There was to be a skipper ashore becauseitwastoo rough. 

(experienced in the sea and the particularboat),two To go overthe story again,the accidentstarted to 

mates(bothoffshoreticketholders)andsixyoungsailors happenwhenthesecondmatecriedoffontheThursday. 

(very green).The Thursday before the Saturday de- ltthen progressed whensomeonehalf-inchedtheboatparture 

one of the mates cried off;the Queen wanted hook.Itprogressed furtherwhen the decisionwasmade 

him elsewhere. 

to go to Alderney with a Northerly in the offing and 

The plan wasto feave Portsmouth andsailto Cher- finally accelerated with frightening speed when theji6 

bourg;obtain duty freegrogand thengo on down to St. sheetwentround theprop. 

Malo returning by thefollow ing Saturday orSunday.It 

didn'twork outthatway. 

The Friday before theD turday sailingthe boathook The finalcrunch did no1happen - itwasmade - by 

washalfinched (stolen).Notveryseriousyousayand I aseriesofsmallmishapswhichwhentaken asawhole 

agree with you,only in isolation.The sailto Cherbourg m adeitinevitable. 

wasm ade ingood timeand the'duty free'wasobtained. 

Theday afterarriving atCherbourg itwasplanned to sail 

to Alderney.A shorthop,with apleasantharbouratthe 

end,w ithgood wateringplaceslike theDivers . 

The wind was in the North towards the end ofthe 

passage to Alderney and getting fairly fresh.The plan 

wasto havethe engine ticking overbutsailin and pick 

up on the mooringsinsidethe breakwater. 

Thatwasthe time thingsstarted to go wrong.One of 

the jib sheetswentoverthe side and fouledtheprop. r.- 

The coupling from the gearbox to the shaft failed. '. . 

understandably,so the boa'twascom m itted to sailin. 

This she did under main alone as the jib had to be 

handed ixcause ofthe fouled sheet.The boatwas not 

very manoeuvreable undermain a1one and had ahabit rjjy 

ofgoingintoironswhencomingabout.Anaproach nljrjj.k j. j 

wasmadetoabuoybutfailed;therewasno boathook 

and the Iad draped over the bow did not have Iong 

enough arms. By this time the boat was almost 

slationary and shepaid of'fand madeway headingfor 

''1t:y.2 

1@11$ .-,LIkàjyj -!j)gjḳj.-. 

l zrthe 

breakwater.An attem pt to get aboutfailed so the 

skipper put the helm up to bear round but the main Here is a tip for . 

Sheetwasiammed.One oftheyoungsailorshad taken those w ith Iittle space. * 

the end to use asastern line and secured itto acleat. 

Beforeitcould beloosened orcutthe boatrammed the 

Double-up an ordinary 

deck mop by putting a 

breakwater- CRUNCH. boathook head on the . - - -- 

otherend! N ï 

k 

''MY wifedoesn 'tIikesailing.W hatsha'lIdo? 

- Getanotherbeforeitistoo Iate.'' 

'Can you recom mend Suitable areas forwhite slavery? 

- In view ofthe marketsituation,thisIetterw illbe 

answe red confidentialIy .' 

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New cabintopsforFAOILEAG (Tangaroa) 

by Tony Perridge 

aI round. Six half-round notches are cut into the 

coam ing to receive three piecesofgalvan ised waterpipe, 

I put new cabin tops on Faoileag. Apart from laid acrossthe hatch like barson a cellw indow.AIIthat 

possibly being the lowestcabinsfitted to apolycat,they remainsto be done isto m ake acanvashatch cover,and 

are quitestraightforward,and haveim proved 1he Iook of attach the pieces of pipe to it with tapeș orwhatever 

the boat im mensely.The hatches,howevel,may be of takesyourfancy . A fIap isputon to the back ofthecover 

interest.Having had hinged,foldinghatcheson the oId to screw itto the cabin roofand stop itescaping. 

cabîn tops,1would notwantto have them again.True, The resultisa hatch thatcan be opened on any one 

they are easy to build and make realy water-tight,but of three sides , depending on the weather, to alow 

climbing in and outof them in any sortofa breeze is ventilation,butwith virtually no ingressofrain orspray , 

likeiy to gain you a clump on 'the head asthewind canberoled back and securedoutofthewayeasily , or 

catches the hatch.So l decided to have conventional ifyou're realy desperate- can besweptasidewith an 

sliding hatches.Alas,thegrisly spectre ofFinance reared arm ifyou need to geton deck in a hurry. 

its head, and no m atter how Iscrounged and bodged As to how it would stand up to being hitby green 

(and Iconsidermyselfsomethingofaspecialistinthose water, (heaven forbid!), lcan't honestly say,but I 

arts),itwasstillgoingtocostafew bob forslidesand reckon that stout canvas with three reinforcing bars 

screwsetc. 

should stand a bit of punishm ent.However,Imean to 

So I came up w ith the fo lowing set-up,involving m ake a thick plywood panelto Sit on the ledge inside 

only some canvas and galvanised pipe,both ofwhich 1 the coam ing forthatsortofeventualitv.Ihope Inever 

happened to have Iying about.Icutthe entry into the heed it! 

cabin roof, 19'' x 19 ' on my boat. with nice wel 

radiused corners and surrounded itw ith a coam ing 2 ' 

high,Ieaving a Iedge inside the coam ing of about 1% ' 

9

e al0r an 

Dave and Elaine Jennings of Kaw akawa, Bay of The beamsare madeof14 Iam inationsto giveafinal 

Islands,NZ.write to tellusaboutprogresson theirfoam dim ension of5 x 10% inches . Bulkheadsare made of%'' 

sandwich NaraiM k.1V.Thehullshave been profession- m arine ply. Deck and coach roof are to be of balsaally 

builtand the Iam inatesconsistof: 

sandwich,because Airex foam hasshotup in price . Dave 

Outside: 154oz.m at 

saysheintendsto build on an inside steering/navigation 

compartmenton one huḷ Coachroofson both hu lswill 

9 oz.woven rovings extend from second main beam to the aftermostmain 

1'/aoz.m at beam . 

18 oz.woven rovings 

lomm.Airexfoam 

''I am convinced tha't an enclosed steering area is 

essen tial(afterhavingexperiencedmanycoldwetmiseṟ 

Inside: 1% oz.mat 3ble Sails),especially aflersailingin LAA MAO MAO 

16 oz.woven rovings of3d baving firsthand experienceofJames Briggs'inside 

steeringarrangements' concludesDave . 

Enthusiastic com mentsfrom W harram builders mention 

Iightness and strength. 9''of tanalis'ed kahikatea has 

been slassed in around the bulwarks which apparently 'He who wishes to give himself an abundance of 

wilsim plify chain plate attachment.Kahikatea,a very trouble, Iet him equip these two things , a ship and a 

lighttimber,hasbeen included in thekeeland stem and wom en.No two thingsinvolve man further , forneither 

stern posts.The beam oftheNaraiwillbe 20'. iseversufficiently adornedl' Anon . 

NCI-I-F '. 

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by Bob Evans 

tem ptation ;it needs sanding.Now thisdoesn 'tmean a 

Iick and a prom ise with any o1d bitoffine paper . lhave 

AII our boats and oursalves rely on good glueing. found an OrbitalSander idealwith coarse paperin iṭ 

Without good glue ioints we could al1end up in the Look at the two diagrams below which represent a 

waterwith a Iotofexpensivewood fIoatingaround uș a blow-up of the surface of wood , the Ieft having been 

waste ofgood Iives,good wood,and a hallofa Iotof only planed and therightplaned and sanded . 

effortonsomeone'spart.A wellgluedjoint,whetherit 

ix ScarforIap,requiresr- G LU L . 

w x -.t 

t . 

. 

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. h x' u $ N . . * 

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a . A good fit. . 

. - - . . . 

b . v . 

(,;.- 

Goodpreparation. f.x .- ) 

c. The rightgluem ix. - - 

d.Enoughpressure. 

e.Correcttemperature. 

' 

f.Enoughtime. 

GOOD JOINTS 

These can be hard to com e by.They willrequire a 

fairdegree ofski11bu1are not beyond the scopeofthe 

average joiner.Take a simple case of pIy lying on a 

stringer.Thestringermustnotbebowed Iike this:- 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

orthis 

k 

A!R 

PLANED ONLY 

PLANED AN D SANDED 

The planed piece has fibres which have been bent 

overatthe top and thesehavetrapped airwhich hasnot 

allowed good penetration.Thiswilgive a weak joint. 

The planed and sanded sam ple hasfibreswhich aIstand 

up and hence there is better penetration and a far 

stronger joint. One caution though, when you have 

sanded do getrid ofthe dust;an idealthingforth isisa 

quick run up the surface with the suction end of a 

vacuum -cleaner.Rem em bercleanlinessalso.Do nothave 

any oil,paint,greaseorwateronthesurfaces. 

yjjE R jo jj.y u jx 

Thisisasim portantasanything Ihavesaid before as 

wi11after .W hen you mix yourglue,Resorcinal,Aerolite, 

Cascam ite - get the m ix correct.Some you mix water 

and powder,som e resin and powder,butin aIIcasesthe 

correct proportions are always on the side of the 

The contact area is drastically reduced and the package.Bead and obey them;itwi11probably saveyou 

Strength of the joint with it.Yourplane should be much pain in thelongrun.ForResorcinalwork lhave 

Straightand w ithoutacurved blade.Itissurprisinghow boughta pairofscalesand Ibetthey paid forthem selves 

easy itistogetacurvededgeonaplaneusinganoIdoi1 atthefirstgluedjointImade.Theywîllalso saveyoua 

stone.So heed yoursharpening and heed yourstones. Iotofm oney in thatyou wilprobably m ix Iessgluefor 

Scarf joints are more difficultand require a lotmore a given job and end up withIesswastageattheend of 

attention.There is an article on scarfing in an earlier the day.W hen you m ix glue do watch outforaeration . 

Sailorm an so Ishallnotrepeatithere.Personally Ihave Do notuse oneofyourwife'swhisks . ltgoesdown like 

gotawaywithbuttjointsinstrinyrsbyputtingdoublers a lead baloon with her and yourglue wi1be very 

inside.These are 3''x 1''to match 1he slringerand are aerated with tiny bubblesin ilwhen i'thascured . Airis 

9'Iong.Anything much Iongerwi11tend to flatten the not a good adhesive so use a Stick or spatula . For 

stringerand you won'tgeta faircurve between frameṣ Resorcinal, give a gentle stirand another a couple of 

Good jointsrequire CARE - theskilyouwillquickly minutesIater.Aeolitecan take longerand Ihavebeen 

pick up. 

known to m ix the previous day ;however there is a 

wrinkle.A coupleofdropsofmethsinthewaterwhich 

PREPA RATION 

isto be added wi11preventa 1otofaeration . Thishasthe 

effectof reducing tbe surface tension ofthe waterand 

ltcould besaid thatthisisaIpartofagoodjoint. the mixinq process is easier and quicker,hence less 

Howeverthere are one ortwo wrinkles.W hen a pieceof aeration . 

wood hasbeen planed,down grain,itfeelssm 00th and ABOVE A L L R EAD TH E DIRECTIONS ON THE 

silky.Howeverit isnotready forglue yetso resistthe PACKAGE

e aIor Oj an 

DIF F E R E NT GL U ES 

RESO RCINO L 

Resin based. 

pnEssunE A powder hardener is m ixed with resin by weight . 

Temperature sensitive ,i.e.Minof15OC . 

theeffectofforcing 

To getagoodjointyouwillrequirepressure.Thishas T 

the glue down into thewood fibres 

endsto Ieave a red stain when ithasrun so itcan 

t o give you decent penetration.The airtrapped in the 

be a nuisance when oneisfinishing with varnish. 

fibres w i11be com pressed.Clam psare superfor sm alI MY experience with itisthatitappearsto be Y tter 

J'obsbut 1haven'tcome acrossoneyatwhich willget onexposedupperdeckjointsthanAerolite. 

into them iddle ofan 8'x 4'sheetofply.Notonly that, 

the num berrequired would be Iarge and terribly expen- AE ROLITE a06 

sive.For pressure you m ust rely on fasteningssuch as 

screws or barbed ring nails- 'gripfast'.Ordinary nails urea Form aldehide . 

wiII not exert the sam e pressure so don 't use them. 

Steel Screws wi1 rust and produce iron stains so A goWderism ixed with waterby weightorvolume 

prefe ra b Iy don't use those. If you do have to,use a znd tends10 aeration. 

Iittle grease on each. Brass screws are better but One wrinkle isacouple ofdropsof methsto Iower 

expensive, whereas gripfast nails are corrosion free, thesurface tension 

being bronze,and are quick to put in,butstilexpen- Tjae mix wi1Ikeep forseveraldays . Hardener isa 

sive.lfyou have to go forsteel,use grease and make so lution offormic acid (antbite) . Thiscan be had 

sure the head is wellcovered by 'plastic padding'or in variousstrengths which alterthe cure tim e 

, iae. 

some other filer.An 8'x 4'sheet of p1y m ay need jaotclimates 

, a slowerhardenergivîng you areasonsomething 

like 124 screws so use a pum p screw driver abje shuffle tim e 

. Put the glue on one surface and 

with !he correctsize bitt so thatitfitsthe screw head tj: jaardaneron the otheṛ 

exactly.You won'tbe quiteso likely to slip and take a 

bitof pIy out alongside.For large screws2''x 10''or N0tS0 atem peraturesensitive 

more,use a bit and brace,the bit being a screwdriver cleanerto use,no ugly stains 

one which also fitsthe screw slotexactly.Iused both, M 

mainly so as to give m yself a rest.The pump gavem e y experience isthatithasbeen good on hulm ain 

bli sters in the palm and the brace gave m e a bruised 

structure which isnotexposed 

chest.The pitch ordistance between the screwsornails CASCAM ITE 

is also im portant, because if it is too wide apart you 

lose pressure . I used a m aximum pitch of 5'on Iow 

,, 

stressareasbut4 on highstressareas. 

By-productofdried m ilk 

Powder mixed w ith water by weight.Pot Iife 3 

hoursapprox. 

Temperature sensitivebutm inimum of10OC 

TE MP E R ATU R E AN D TIME 

Ihave Iittleexperience ofthisglueasIhave just 

Nearly aIgluesrequire a certain tem perature and aI Started to useit 

requiretimeto hardenorcure.Themajorityofmarine First impressions good.Itisfairly clean and easy 

glues don't like curing in Iow temperatures.Resorcinal to use 

doesn , t Iika cooking off below 16 OC , so watch vour 

therm ometerand ifyou glue below that BeYeWarned. SUM M ARY 

This meansthatone isIookingfora heated shed.Ican 

hear you groan but hang your life on a poorlv glued Selectyourglue forthe conditions 

joint at your peril.The higher the temperature the 

shorterthe ' shuffletime ' an d Curingtime.Shuffletime H3VO' GOOdaccuratejoints 

is the time thatyou haveto getthetwo piecescorrectly 

Sanded,cleansurfaces 

positioned when you putthem together.Forinstance,the 

'rherightm ix 

Impact adhesives (rubbery ones) it is NiIand with 

Aerolite itcan be 15 m inutes . Atthe end ofyourshuffle Usepressure 

time you should havethejointtogetherproperly posi- clean up afteryou have glued beforetherunsgo 

tioned, with pressure on - 10Q plus screws to go in solid 

within 15 m inutesishard work.Yourm uscleswillache 

and the sweatwilbe in youreyes,hencespeed and the ABOVE ALL READ TH E DlRECTIONS ON THE 

rightScrewdriverforthejob. 

PACKET 

12

e al0r *j an 

I I t 

by P.Strings 

IM PORTANT 

The Beam must be 1Xainchesclearofthedeckwhen 

One of the m ost important features of Polynesian making hole for the centreline bolt.Thusthe beam 

Catamarans is the connection of beam to hull. The can rock slightly around thispivotpoint. 

standard system untilthe Areoicame along incorporated 2.Bolt m ust be % inchesin diameterand passthrough 

strongly made and relatively heavy boltsand angle plates raised beam chocks. 

including padsofrubberto actasshock absorbers.The 3.Chain plate on side of hull must be secured by 

time spentin making thesefittingsand the costisquite through boltswellbeefed up on the inside together 

considerable.TheA reoidoesnothavethesefeaturesbut with a pIy knee reinforcinghu lside . 

reliesuponIashings.Itisaverysimplebuteffectiveidea 

and hasproved to beadequatein practice forthe Round 

4.On the Iargerdesigns,overlap thehorizontaljoinin 

the skin ofthe hullwhere there isany tendency for 

BritainRace. 

the Iashing system to 'pulopen'theiointaboutthe 

The following diagrams show the lashing system stringer. 

adequate fortheTangaroa using thedimensionssuitable 5.Check the Iashingsforexcessstretch especialy whilst 

forthatsizeofcraft. 

''running in''. 

SO T IN 

KQLWNRK 

3/'BobTs $ Io. 

% gw kx 

% 1 1ND 

IASqI/G 

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G 

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FouR M tls 

!' Hotpl/G drlzAlë -PLM E 

To sIpE OFlœ kt . 

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LASHINGS - - - - -0 - - - 

/% LT5 N 

PLY KNFFG 

* 1xquk- sz 

FO R SA LE 

* 

35ftAR EO I,foam sandwichconstruction,succesfuly 

' )r.'. 

completed the Round Britain Race.E13000.James 

.t J' * 

Wharram Associates(InternationaljLtd.,Kilowen,New - , 

Ross,Co.W exford,Ireland, 

- FO R SALE 

y 

22f1:Hina - goes1ike a bom b.Availablewith amooring. 

John B rown,74 London Road,BurgessHill,W estSussex. 

o 

' 

13

e al-lnr an 

r - 

t1I 

by Pelerand Fay Reed 

Sandwich M arina, 

Sandwich, 

Kent. 

It'ssurprisinghow time flies,itdoesnotseem asifitwas buildersofCatsare charging in excessoff 30 , 000 fora 

three years ago thatwe decîded to sellour lovely 21' boat ofcomparable size,accom modation and performcruiser 

and plunge into the world of boat building. ance.M any visitorswho comeaboard eitherfrom casual 

Although we contem plated the buildingofourO RO for interest or maybe they are contemplating building a 

nearly ayearbefore comm encem entone doesnotreally W harram, the inevitable question alwaysarises . W ould 

appreciate the m am outh task taken on.Asa fam ily we you do it again? Yes,we consider it to be quite an 

havealwaysbeenkeensailorsandbeingaServicefamily 

we have had the opportunity ofsailing in British waters 

achievementand justly proud ofamuchadmiredCatin 

thisarea butthereare fargreaterachievementsto come, 

to the South ChinaSeas,wegathered m uchexperience on when we departfortheW estIndiesnextAugust. 

our travelsw hich in turn Ied to fire ourambitions.W e 

now Iive onaslightly stretched O RO of48'afterridding 

Specification 

ourselves of,fourwalls,a roof and a garden that had 

seen better days. At the time we chose Jim s design LOA 14.5m Berths 9 SailIockers 2 

because of its simplicity, cheapness in relation to Beam 

financialcostand easeofconstruction,and on reflection Draft 

6.5m 

lm 

Rig Cutter 

Colour. Red 

Toiletcom p 1 

W orkshop 1 

we would choose itagain forthe same reasons.However , 

bU ls 

ifone decidesaswe did,to make ita floating home Displacement (Cascover) 

witbout Iosing any of itssailing attributescosts can be 4.2 ton Black Nav Com p 1 

quite high.Having said that,we firm ly believe thatitis 

Bulwark 

possible to build an ORO forunder4000.Vega Gulhas 

Deck 

cost approx. f8,000 to date excluding engine and 

(Cascover)White and Grey 

instruments.where we are Y rthed professionalboat 12MoltduallightingWater(Midships) 160 gals. 

(RedNatural) bo'thhulls 

' 

,/47, // ,' z/' . .a 'I?.',A swwsw 

.- ïs- 

. . 

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u.g . ws I* 

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M 

M H 

FORSALE 1970 

. 

TangaroaMkI'Mehitabel'.Launched 

li./J 

36ft.loa.27ft.6'Iwl.4berths.Galeywithgas .'/'.'1 lp 

cooker(2burners.grilandoven ),Basinwithfreshwater 

pum p.Separate headsaftw ith fIushing m arine Iavatory. ' 

Between huIs cockpiț wheel steering. Cutter rig, N ,.'. $T 

aluminium mastandboom.Smithswindspeedindicator, & ' ! '. 

Wasp speedo/log,Smithsspeedo.SaiIs by Elvstrom, 

.,',Y 

ArunandRockali.Chartroom 6ft.headroom andfuI / i,J ; ). 

z l ê 

spzecharttable.Lloyds Registered.CraftatpresentIaid ' ' . 

up ashore at Loch EiI.Price E4,000 com plete .W ould .- ''u 

- . . s. ' considerselingjusthulș deck,cockpitand crossbeam s i u- u . 

' 

f'e . , 

forf 2,500. -,:e--.-- . ,. . 

'- ' -' 

Graham Rates, - 

= - 2.-.:,.- tji w 

A cindaIieu. - ' -'- ! m'ï. 

FortW illiam , ' . . - 

Inverness-sh ire,Scotland. 

. - - . . v - 

w/ 

. 

w-L.r Q 

14

e alor *j an 

@ 

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From An lrish Polyca:Sailor. 

Visualise the scene, it is a hazy August % turday Bound the Iast bend and w eare atitagain,2 m iles 

ahernoon,the gentle South Eastforce 3 isofftheland. to go and rightinto the eye ofthe w ind .Evenw ith our 

Blue Tana isreaching easily overashortish swelcom ing 20 'draft Ifeelit isonly w ise to stay insidethe perches 

in from theNorth East.The softgreen slopesofDonegal which m ark the channel.A know ledgeable ownergoes 

are alm ost Iost in the haze astern,to starboard is m ile astern and alowsusto tack underhisbows,then everyafter 

m ile of golden beach,broken up here and there body wavesdelightedly to the puristswho scorn the use 

by frowning black basalt that has stood against the of an engine w hen there is a breeze. The % turday 

battering ofthe North Atlantic for 10,000 years.Port- afternoon sailors motoring sedately dow n m id channel 

s'tewart Bay is a beautiful place.Prospective Buyer is in their dinky cabin cruisersare adifferentm atter.My 

seated at the tillerand making the occasionalguarded frustrated roar 'getout of me road''tels itsown tale 

but notuncom plim entary remark .Hedecides it istim e as does the petrified goggle eyed stance ofthe ow ner 

to go hom e.W e tack and head forthe mouth of the when we luffsmartly and knife pasthi:stern atfrantic 

River Bann, known Iocaly as the Bar Mouth . It is speed w ith scantfeetto spare.How lwould have Iiked 

timeto seehow sheperformsunderengine.Downcome to be on board one ofthem just to see Blue Tana, 

the sailsand llock dow n theIong shaft. 

Ieaning a little furtherin the gustsand bearing down at 

H alfan hourIater0Id faithfulhasconclusively show n maybe 10 knots under a cloud of canvas apparently 

that he is going to be quite unfaithful.Desperately I intent on decapitating owner,boat and crew w ith the 

try one moretime.Outcome the plugsand into a cabin bridge deck. 

w ith the m atches.Heattransferin a fridgeisawonderful Com ing back across the river,w eboth see the weed 

thing butbare plugs,baref ingersand short matchesare beads and know that there are very hard Iittle rocks 

a very accelerated form ofthe sam e phenomenon.ltis directly underneath.He is pinching her,there isa Iull 

no use.AI1right!You InfernalInternalNon-combustion betweenthegustsjustaswegoabout.% ewon'tmake 

Contraption!!!Wehavegotsails. 

it this time. The jib startsto fiIIagain.Freeing the 

A s anyone w ho knows Iittle ornothing aboutPoly- sheet 1dash forward,grabbing theclew ,1hurlmy 220 

, 

catswiltellyou they can tgo to windward,and to put Ibs outboard . Glancing dow n I see the weed beads 

it m ildly are difficult to tack . 'W ind getting up a bit Qlonoside and we are going astern , Reverse helm , j 

saysProspective Buyer.Ithasgota Iittle darkerand we 

shout.Totalincom prehension.Ah Well,how could you 

can hearthegustsin the rigging now 

. AIIthe whileBlue expecta mono-huller to understand thatone.A glance 

Tanahasbeen drifting in thegeneraldirection ofIceland upstream shows her head iscom ing through thew ind. 

on the Iastofherebb.Previously the thoughtoftacking Beef has its uses at tim es.Rushing aftlthrow aslngle 

inside 

the training walsofthe BarMouth even athigh 

turn 

in 

on thew inch,itscream sand 175 sq .f1.aresheeted 

waterwasenough to givem e nightm ares.Know ing fu l tight and drawing usoutoftrouble.Greatstuffthis 

wellthatatIow springsthere willbe placeswherewe adrenalin.A glanceaheadtojudgethespotforthenext 

wil have about 60 yards to tack in Ihead for the m anoeuvre and m y attention is caught by a clum p of 

h alyards muttering fearfuly to myself 

.,o . 

j: . 

jets see Alder in the m iddle distance moving rapidly down 

if , , jrjo for Stream followed more slowly by the green slope beyond. 

we can put an eye in the goat (thats Just Iike looking out of a train window but it isBlue 

attemptingtheimpossible). 

T ana thatisgoing Iike a train. 

Back undersailBlue Tana headsforthe BarMouth One lasttack and sheknifessw iflly towardsa smal 

atagoY 8 knotsw ith thatsmooth easy motionwhich is space in an expensive Iine of gleam ing topsides.Every 

such a delight. Slipping the adrenalin pump into Marine Mariner's eye is glued to us.They haven'tseen 

overdrive and w ith a ''You can m issthese rocksby 20' anything Iike this since Adam w asaw eefelow .Come 

but over yonder they run out m uch further under to think of it lhave neverseen anything biggerthan a 

water'webead forourmooring 3 milesup riverand dinghytackupriveratanytime.Thejibiseasedtoslow 

dead to windward.Tack,tack and tack again she never her down.One sharp com mand and she rounds up 5' 

failsonce.Coming to avirtualfulls'top eachtimeher from Gleaming Tupperware in front. lsaunler (read 

head comesthrough the wind.shesagsoffto leeward, stampede)forward,pick up (grab)the boathook and 

but within a boat length she is accelerating,hastaken with onedeftm ovementthe mooringIineisaboard.Her 

a grip on the water and is once m ore eating herway stern sw ings dem urely in ahead of Oiled Teak moored 

windward.A bend in the rivergives usa little respite. astern.W earehom e. 

Prospective Buyer is heard to say ''Handles almost Asthe Iocalshave it 'M un do isaquarefela'. 

Iike a dinghy'',which for a 31'x 14'Polycat isquite 

a statement. 

15

e al0r -j an 

IF S - j5, to egca- T . 

tlr 1 

by Maggie and Richard Bumpus 

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Early in 1978 we boughta Sumîog.So whatbetter Sunday,2nd July,dawned overcast and drizzly and 

way to spin thefiguresaround itsfacethan to pay avisit the sea wasgrey and lumpy.At 1Q.00 hoursweheaded 

to the Dutch Catamaran and Trimaran Club's (CTC) outfortheShipwash Lightvessel,15milesdistantand 

10th anniversary meeting at Enkhuisen in July,by way from there our destination was Den Helder in North 

ofthe Fresian Isles. 

Ho land. 

Preparation included theusualIong listsoffood and Before leaving Harw ich,Maggie had been busy with 

gearthat had to be checked through.W hen we Ioaded food preparationswhich consisted offlasksofsoup and 

Surf Song at Queenborough,herdecks were so fullof stew, sandwiches, cake, biscuits and fresh fruit. This 

stores and gearthat Iwondered where and how every- preparation was wellworth while,since it meant that 

thingwould fitin !So did everyoneelse lookingon. neitherof us had to attem ptto cook while underway 

July 1stwasasunny m orning with a gentlewesterlv because thisisvery difficultifyou arefeeling seasick.AS 

breeze- idealfor a passage to Harwich,since we were it turned out neitherofus were seasick butwe could 

to sailwith thetide.Aboutan houraftersetling sail,I nibblew heneverwefeltlike it.W e had plenty to drink 

hoisted the 30 sq.f1.topsail, the sheet tied itself in the space beneath m y bunk wasfullofbeerand coke, 

amazing knots around the top end ofthe sprit because besidesthe 5 galonsofwateron deck.A1Ithe food was 

ofmy slownessin taking up theslack and the spritand underMaggie'sbunk.Ourclothingon the trip consisted 

mainsailhad to come down in orderto untangle the of Hely Hansen polarwear(topsand trousers),shirt, 

offendingsheet.A secondattemptatsettingthetopsail corduroy trousers,two jerseys,two pairs of woolly 

met with success and with the spinnaker set too,we socks,orpolarsocks,towelsaround ournecks,woolly 

chuckled along up the W estSwin.TheW hittakerBeacon hats,oiliesand boots. 

Stood Skeleton-like and m otionless as we passed by By the time we reached theShipwash wehad the topheading 

forthe Swin Spitway.We reached Harw ichwith sailand spinnakerset again and the breeze wassouth 

a rising wind and darkening skv aftera pleasanl9 hour westerly about force 4. Our track to Den Helder 

Sailfrom Queenborough. 

was 155 milescovered in 27 hoursto give an average 

speed of 5.7 knots,on a 19ft.waterline.W heôeverthe 

speedometer dropped below 6 knots,we prayed for 

more wind.A1Iwe got wasm ore rain.Thecloud Iayer 

remained low,butourspiritshigh. 

16

17 

e al -I0r an 

The shipping was fairly Iight a1 the way across. Afterpassingthrough theMarsdiep,we arrived atDen 

Maggie did mostofthe steering wh ich Ieftme free to set Helder at 1400 hours along with briliantsunshine,a 

and adjustsailsandtocopewith thenavigation.Every humming wind,anebb tide,asogged-outSeagulland a 

time the tide turned,we ji% d,and thiszig-zag tactic tired but satisfied feeling ofhaving 'gotto the other 

alowed us to stay on a m ore or less direct track of side'.Den Helderisa navalbasethatwi11accom m odate 

078M from theShipwash to Den Helder.W hen thetide quite a few yachtsand thehotshowersatthenavalclub 

rannorthwesailed onstarboardjibeandwhenthetide were great.We looked around thetown includingthe 

ransouthwesailed onportjibeto bringthetideoffour market which was great fun and where we bought 

portbow.Depending on ourcourse,with the SW w ind, smoked m ackeral 'brodes',cointreau crepes and fresh 

we tacked the jib down to one orotherbow to give fruit.Wealsoreplacedadefunctradio. 

moreprojectedareatothewind. 

On Tuesday,4th July wegavetheSeagulloutboard 

About 1700 hourson Sunday a weary pigeon circled an airing,having dried it out and got itworking again 

SurfSong,flew into thejib and thenfelonto theup- withthehelpofaGermanpolycatbuilder.Atthattime 

turned inflatable dinghy lying between the bows.On the Ihad to confessm y ignoranceofengines- even Seagu ls! 

dinghy was a sw irling puddle of rain and saltwaterin W emotored acrosstheTexelstroom to Oudeschild about 

which the pigeon sat with fluffed up feathers for 12 6 m ilesaway on the island ofTexel,the mostwesterly 

hours before taking of'f forsome unknow n destination of the Fresian lsles.The following day we took a bus 

when wewere 30 m iIesfrom theDutch coast. ride aIloverthispretty and interesting holiday isle. 

Very gradually the darkness of Monday morning On Thursday we IeftOudeschild forthe ljsselmeer. 

Iifted and the w ind strengthened to send us scurrying W e would haveIiked to have goneon to Terschellingbut 

alongat9 knots.The topsai1wasstruck,followed soon tim e wasagainstusso we sailed acrossa sloppy W adden 

afterby the spinnaker,with no reduction in speed.The Zee to the Iocks at Den Oever.As we approached the 

waves,Iike black hills,slowly becamevisible in the over- Iockswe brailed the m ainsailand tried to startthe outoast 

darkened dawn. At about 0500 heurs Maggie board butluck wasagainstusand theengine would not 

sightedawel-head inthegloom toportwhichmeantwe start.Maybe Iwasjustinept.Webarepolesailed in to 

were righton coursewith the Iog reading accurately.lt the Iocks at 2 knots and having paddled outthe other 

wasgoodto know thataII'thoseestimatedposition (EP) side,we setsailforHinderloopenontheeasternshore. 

that had slowly creptacross the chart had been fairly Atone stage Ithought 1m ightsetthespinnakerbut. 

accurate,and Ifound thisvery satisfying after100 m iles Iooking behind atthe seastate,Idecided againstit.Five 

with no fix.From thewel-head we headed dueeastfor minutes later, we were running eastwards at 6 knots 

30 milesto make a clearsighting ofthe Dutch coast, underjib alone.The sailing waswelterthan theNorth 

rather than pass Texeland end up in Denm ark.The Seabecauseoftheshortsteep seasin about16'ofwater. 

visibility was notgood asthewind piped up giving usa Maggie steered through 'the narrow entranceto Hinderrough,wetride. 

loopen with grim determ ination and a Iittle fear.The 

Under mainsailand jib wesailed mostly at 10-12 entrancesideshavebeenreinforcedwithpilesandrocks 

knotsand ouraverage speed turned outto be 9 knotsfor and there was a nasty moment when I obscured her 

the30 miles.Onceortwicethespeedo needlestuckon visionofloweringthejib.Oncewehadtiedupwewere 

the 15 knot mark as we surfed - perhaps we even told that it was blowing force 7 - the wind certainly 

traveled at16 or17 knots.SurfSong(an steadily with howled in the rigging.W e were m ade very welcome by 

b0th hu ls firmly in thewaterbutsittingon the bridge thebig broad smilesofJelle van de Zee and Annem ieke 

deck was like sitting in a shower.In spite ofwearing Kempe who had arrived aIittle earlierin theirTanefrom 

my oilies and calflength boots,my arm waswetup to V lieland. 

my elbow and 1had a bootfuIlofwater- so don'ttell W e spentthe nextday and halfin very pleasantcom - 

me about rough water! Twice Maggie was a1I but pany undera Iarge deck tentontheTane,Aloha,whom 

knocked from the steering cockpitinto the stern safety we had tied up alongside.W hile a depression raged over 

netting by breaking waves.On hearing a roaring sound the North Sea and Norway we a1e strawberries and 

behind m e,Iturned around to find m yselfsitting on the cream and drank rum and coffee.W ith amoderatingwind, 

after deck covered with an inch or so of water,as l we sailed in com pany forthe CTC meeting atEnkhuisen 

helmed.IwonderwhatSt.Brendan did foroîlieswhen on Saturday,7th Jusy.Aswe approached Enkhuisen,the 

he sailed the North Atlantic many centuries ago?You Iand gave us a Iee from thewesterly wind and smooth 

m ay ask why we keptfu lw orking sailup when itwasso water enabling us to reach along at a steady 10-11 

wetand we sailed atspeed.Sim ply - itwasthrillingand knots.Although we arrived too late forthe racing we 

wehad confidence inourboat. 

made fast alongside two barges with Aloha and m any 

Having nearly surfed up the beach because of poor otherm ultihulls and were able to watch the return of 

visibility and having looked anxiously atthe Iogwhich theboatswhich had raced. 

overread by 2 m iles,we sighted the Dutch coastwith a Saturday evening was festive occasion - aboard the 

'hotelconspic'and 'chimneys'.W e turned north along barges the crews of 27 multihu ls tucked into an 

thecoastandcontinuedunderjib alone. 

enormoussaladwithwine.Afterthiswewentashore(47

e al-lnr an 

about to open,there was a scram ble to castoffbreast 

ropes,springsand wet tea towels.W e drifted into the 

Iocks with otheryachtsmotoring in neutral.We shared 

the Iock with a Iarge barge and m any otheryachts so 

there was a considerable amount offending off to be 

done. 

A ridœ ofhigh pressure from theShetlandsstretching 

over the North Sea provided a contrastto ourprevious 

ofusmotoringaboardan Ariki!)for'theprizegivingin crossing . For the first 60 m iles the northerly F3 wind 

Enkhuisen,whereajazzband caled 'MartinsRenewed gaveus6 knotswithtopsailand fIyingjib setinaddition 

underwear' played. A Telstar won the first prize on to tj aemainand jib.Ourcoursewas2600M backtothe 

IOM R rating.Evewoneenjoyedtheeveningverymuch. shipwash . ln contrastto ourcrossing overto Den Helder, 

On Sunday,after many farewells,we m otored through the shipping this time was fairly heavy. W hen we 

the Iocks at Enkhuizen into the Southern partofthe eventualy saw the Gp.F1 (4)sequenceofthe Outer 

Iisselmeer. 

GabbardIightship,wethoughtwewerenearlyhome,but 

Ournextstop wastheSix Haven oppositethe Central aflatcalm and ebb tide soon caused usto feelfrustrated, 

Station in Am sterdam . After a much too brief look and itseem ed lo beages G fore wesaw 1heShipwash in 

arO und , 

we m otored for 4 hours along 1he North Sea the m orning Iight.Eventually we romped into Harwich 

canalto Ijmuiden.Haveyoueverhad aSeagullbuzzing at 1300 hours feeling very tired.Aftera mealand 3 

inyourearsfor4bours'?!Ijmuidenisindustrialanddoes hourssleep,we sailed up the Orwellto the Buttand 

notcaterforyacbts- you justhaveto tie up atthe OysteratPin Mil.Whileon 1heriverwesaw twoDutch 

quavside nearthe Iocks.W hereverwe tied up,SurfSong Yachts- onewe had seen atDenHelderand the otherat 

always attracled a great dealof attention,possibly Iimuiden- wewavedIikemad. 

because of her sprit rig and her apparently dav-sailer Afterthe successofthisyear'sholiday,anotheryear 

accomm odation.w hen word spread thatthe lockswere we'd Iike to see m ore ofFriesland and the Islands. 

r 

* * 

ItI 

- O R HINA FROM HARW ICH 

By Nick Arm slrong 

ln Novem ber 1975 two ofusboughta Hinawhich was should never have m anaged to sailthe boatto itsnew 

lying in its m ud berth at Manningtree on the River hom e. 

Stour.ltwasa rash move forneitherofushad enough Manningtree at this tim e was Iike a Wharram cat. 

cash and between us there was very Iittle sea-going m arina. Moored alongside Quest was a ketch-rigged 

experience. 

Tane with enough heavy fittingsto grace a Centurion 

'Quest',ournew toy was a fine Iooking specim en tank and a few yardsdownstream was a rather mothpainted 

white with black uppers and fibre-glassed eaten looking Tangeroa which was being repaired after 

practically everyw here. The boat sporled a cabin on an argument with the harbour walls at Harw ich .Our 

each hulw hich was over eightfeet Song and two feet Hina looked quite pretty beside its Iargerrelativesand 

high.Even on shore it Iooked justa bitexcessiveand with its Bermudan rig,strong aloy mastand enough 

suggested thatw eshould sufferfrom too much w indage hatches fore and aft to make it almost a Hinemoa it 

when actually sailing. Stil it did m ake for a 1ot of seem ed to usthebestpossiblevalueforf530 . 

usefulstorage room on a boat which is not renow ned Priorto launching we stepped the mast , stowed m ost 

for,itsaccom modation. 

ofthe gear,fitted the seagulIoutboard on and dug two 

Neitherof ushad ever sailed a W harram cat.before channelsin the mud so the waterwould fIoatQuest .On 

although Ihad been Iooking for one forsom em onths the big day the tide began to creep up steadily and 

afterreading a few com mentson thedesign in a number although itwould reach the boat it was doubtfulifit 

of yachting m agazines. My sea time had been very would fIoat it w ithouta heave ortwo . W ith only two 

lim ited and though Phil,m y partner,had actuallv taken of us this was a problem . Then with Iess than ten 

aCoastalCruising(RYA)GradeIIcertificate,hetoowas minutesto high tide men seemed to materialise from 

not m uch m ore experienced. We did have plenty of nowhere and the concerted shoving of ten shoulders 

confidence and optimism (afteraIllhad been asailing gotusoff.We picked upatemporary mooringin midinstructor 

on day boats forseveralyearsand the sea is stream and although we had forgotten to infIate the 

onlvIikeavastgravelpit- 1maintainedbrashly). rubberdinghy,thetidegurgledoutsofastthatwewere 

W e fitted outQuesta'tManningtreepriorto launching 3blet0 Walk back to shorethigh deep inm ud w ithin half 

her on 'the high spring tide of 17'th April 1976 . As an hourorso.Essex mud isvery clingy and odiferous. 

m embers of the Humberm outh Y.C.,Philand Isailed Two weeks Iater Ioaded with supplies and esential 

Questto the Humberwith theassistance ofBillHather , items such as radar refIector, flares,safety harnesses, 

HM YC'S Tane ow ner and W harram cat. expert. His com passes , anchors and brand neW char'tsto coverthe 

experience and toughness were to be essentialto the East Coast,we em barked . Ittook usthree hoursto set 

ultim ate success of the delivery and without him we sail and cheerf ully we passed through the Harw ich 

18

e alor *j an 

estuary approachesasthe tide turned and thewind died. 

sailing backwardswith great skillwe picked up aspare 

mooring,nearlv Iosinn.a rudder in the process,and wesettled 

down forourfirst night aboard at the eastern 

extrem ity of Harwich.The great benefit of the Hina 

accommodation was the coffin-like interior whicb 

embraced one so tightly thatthe wash ofIarge shipsdid 

littleto disturb onessleep. 

leftusexhaustedsw et,and stilloppositea large chim ney 

Early next m orning w esetofffor Low estofton the in GreatYarmouth.W ealso learnt a Iotaboutthe boat. 

ebb with the seagullworking and no wind at all.By W itb 3ilHatheron board the trim ofthe boatsuddenly 

930 a.m .we were North of the Deben in a flat calm QSSLIY GI an im portance we would have overlooked. 

arxl clear sunlight.A m ornings motoring iaad depleted 

'-Bit 

di 

down by tiae nose isn't she?-' 'rue bows w ere 

gqing in abit,tlne seawasfairlv rougiat,the wind was 

oursmal,fuelsupply.The 

blew m ildly a.t first from the 

wind 

East.w 

turned 

e 

up 

se1 

atIastand 

tho Iarr.o bang on the nose. I looked in the forward hatch 

genoa (exDragonjibborowedfrom BilHather)Jn'-d'C-r itWasdecidedlywetinthereandinthemainbilges 

was even wetter.lpum ped severalgalonsoutand, 

thefirsttimefeltthejoyofafast-reachingwharram in a moderatesea.ourIogconsisted ofatennisbailand cat. b'ad down in the bilges, felt tbe nearest l'd been to 

Iine affairwhich reoistered foverqpvpralrnrac!nr-xn-xa rc being seasick.w e returned to Yarmouth and dried ou! 

knots. By m iuday -we had -passe-d- o' -' 

- ''- 

-' 

* '= 

r 

f' o 

d '' 

r n e ss 

k'J eCin-'n ' aGzin.Depresionse1inoncemore.Timewasrunnino 

Wide and avoiding mostof the shallows ata'b out 

-lo J Ob'tandthecoastGuardweatherforecastwasforWa 

tide.Lowestofthere wecome!we should have known Steady NE increasing to 7/8 forseveraldays. 

better;the wind backed to NE then to North and blew Cprtain sbort-com ings were evident in Quest. The 

stronger.wechanged totheworkingjib,reefed themain highandlongcabinsgaveherthewindwardperformance 

and got wet beating into choppy seas.The tide turned Ofa Sick dugong and the butterfly ventilatorsinstailed 

and by the time we were within a m ile or so of in the cabins by the previous owner Ietin more water 

Thorpeness power station our Iong tacks were making than air when on the wind.The forehatches Ieaked 

almost no forward progress.ouestwasuselesson tbe enthusiastically and the elegant hinged tils (to clear 

wind making w orsethan 110Ofrom tack to tack . 

Wehad 1beOutboard)wereshowingsignsofaheadache. 

over-reefed the main and even reefed the jib out of A Week later Biland lreturned and leftearly in 

excessive caution. Tlae wind was not realy strong 1he morning on the ebb and had a splendid day'ssail. 

(F 4/5), the seas were not very heavy and in our BV 2.00 p.m.we were off Wefls-next-the-% a with a 

inexperience we failed to take the right action- we Strong NE increasing rapidly,a deepiy reefed main and 

could easilyhavecarried fullmainand jib.Aftergetting the smaliib.ThehatcheswerestilIeakinganddespite 

entangled insomeinshorefislainglinesand losingground Severalold socksso were the cabin ventilators (more 

rapidlytothetideweturned back to orfordHaventhe QUP3SV ptlmping).Theweatherforecastwasunpromising 

nearest fifteen m ifes in reverse. Lesson No.1- when and tbere wasa distinctswellbuildingup.ltwaSnota 

sailing do notever expectto arrive ata destination on QO0d tim eto go in to w elsw ith an on-shore wind and a 

time - patient resignation and a phlegmatic approach nasty bar. However,w e did not fancy a night at sea 

are necessary ataIItim es.orford Haven welcom ed us With a Ieaking boat and a gale coming so in we went. 

despite a sloppy dropping of the m ain which took the Bill's experience was invaluable here.Lesson No.3 - 

gooseneck offthe m ast and an engine tbat would not Stick to the m arked channeland don':take shortcuts 

start- keep its head in a plastic bag on deck next aCrOsS a bar. 1appreciated hiS caution when w e got 

time!'rhe rubberdinghy which Iaad been kept on tlae in among tbe surf whicb was exciting and alarm ing. 

forward netting inad chafed lhrough and now Ieaked AIlwould have been welifthe tillershad notdecided 

and so extra work was needed with the pum p.w e to break atthat mom ent.4wasstandingup by them ast 

felt tired and depressed - so much for our estimate rolling out a bitofm ain to give usm ore controlaswe 

offourdaysto HumberMouth. 

were in the main ciaanneland pastthe worstofthe surf 

Next morning Bij Hatber cam e abow.d and wben I found myself Iooking down into the water 

optim ism revived;the wind was sw force 4 and off Over the top of the starboard cabin.w e had broached 

we went. we suaed most of the way to uowestoft Violently in the surf because the starboard tiller lnad 

feeling on top ofthe world.As we entered uow estoft broken.The boatrapidly rolled back the rightway and 

aboutmid-afternoon withthewindwellabove Forces 8illwasnow sittingon tlneporthull.Ijumped backand 

and raininq laard,the main halyard stuck tightand the grabbed the starboard tillerstump and we steered with 

mainsailwould not com edown.w eiaad to remove tiae a rudder each and Iaasa spaedy and exlailarating tim e 

boom and wrap the sailround tbe m ast,something I around the marker buoys before qettinq to tiae river 

sometimeshadtodo when reefingauaserbutnotwhat and anchoringwelloffto thesouthern sidejustoutside 

lexpected witla tlae Hina. Luckily the engine started W elsharbour.Lesson 4 - ittakesagreatdea)to capsfze 

firsttim e. 

a w harram cat.This incident bolsterd m v faith in the 

Rain and Iigin,w indspersisted aspiailand Iwen,out Hina considerably.untiltlaen lhad alway'sbee n sliglatly 

on theebb to Greatvarm outhm otoriogup riveron the apprebensive about its capsizing potential. xot any 

flood and mooring just by varmoutia bridge.Ats.oo more.However the coastguard assistant on duty at 

am .nextday we wentouton tlne last of tlae ebb to W eldswasnotso optimîstichaving seen usbroachto and 

beatagainst astronq X E wind and a flood tide 

iaoping guttbe lifeboaton standv-bv apparently as a '-couple 

to m ake some slight progress and then benefit , 

from Of plankstie togetherw ith boxeson top was having 

the miduay ebb. uesson xo.a - work tiae tidesifyou 

realy do w ant to go anywhere.Five Iaours of beating 

a bit of fun in the surf'.The Harbour Master also 

muttered a few unkind words next dav. we spent a 

colc. and very windy night in wels, Billinsisted on 

19

IRe -allor an 

seas and by 3.00 p.m .we were five m ilesoutside the 

Humbermouth moorings.Delighthad by now givenway 

to am ixture ofstoic resignation coupled with occasional 

touchesof positive fearasw ithatiny scrap ofmain and 

a storm iib we progressed ataboutP.kknotagainstthe 

wadingacrosstheicy riveratIow tideforafew rumsin wind (now Westerly and gusting strongly). Luckily 

the Iocal- 1 could hardly chicken out but I'm sure I thetide wasm ak ing so w ewerecarried in slowly . Every 

gotfrostbite in my little toethat night!Once more we third wave seemed determined to drown us and the 

had to leave the boat for a week untilthe weather spray was w hipping off the tops of the crestswhich 

im proved . 

seem ed to my inexperienced eye to get higher and 

Returning at 3.00 a.m .w ith Philand BilBartleltwe higher. It was probably never m uch m ore than force 

Iefton therisingtideat6.00 a.m .ltwasmisty and flat 6/7 butitfeltlikeahellofalôtmore. 

calm and remained so untilwe had crossed theW ash and Three hours later we tacked in with the increasing 

arrived off Skegness,having motored mostoftheway. fIood and picked up our mooring undersailwith the 

The transistor radio was notworking so w em issed the careless nonchalence of hardened veterans.Only when 

morning and lunchtime forecasts,which was justas we had derigged and started to stow allthegeardid I 

well. The morning's calm had been deceptive; the notice the end of the main halyard stream ing out at 

forecast,we Iaterdiscovered,wasforSW 6 increasing 8 right angles to the mast head in the risinggale.lthad 

in the Humber region. Innocently we turned up the to stay Iike that for several days, procaliming our 

coast,hoisted the sails in an increasingw ind and rising novitiate slatusto aIIand sundrv . 

1 

(191h-26thAugust,1978) 

by Ruth W harram 

anewcom erto 'Round thebuoys'racing' 

rl 

tt 

Brighton Regatta,sponsored by Schweppes,wasm y W e could have done betterhad we sailed the boat 

first participation in 'Round the buoys' racing,from longer,with a bigger genoa and spinnaker,but under 

whichInotonly learntaIot,butalsoverymuchenjoyed. RichardWoods'(MOTHchampion)excellenthelmsman- 

ArrivingatBrightonadaytooearly,theoutermarina ship (forSkipperMaggie and Navigator Ruth,it waS 

was completely empty,the facilities minimaland the theirfirst 'round the buoys'race')and thanksto the 

costsenormous (E8 perday fora 35 ft.catamaran), help of other Polynesian Catamaran owners (Richard 

though we did cometo acomprom ise with themanagers. and Maggie Bumpus, Robin Fautley,John and Ruby 

There were no charges during Regatta week and the Cork and PhilWrestler)we did ratherwel:two cups 

'Marina Yacht Club'which made ushonorary m em bers for2nd prizes,twice third and fourth overall. 

duringourstay wasvery hospitable. 

Now 1 know what counts in racing:every m inute, 

lt was the first racing event at Brighton.The race every pound and everything causing resistance. Five 

coursewasbadly displayed attheBreakwaterand thare- minutes late over the line the first day - though we 

fore difficultto see,and the placingofthe buoys- not were not the only onesand touching the buoy at the 

num bered orm arked - caused much confusion,so that startin an alm ostcalm orm issinganotherbecauseaboat 

# couple of tim es severalboats,and once the whola is'tacking in ourwater'Iostusquitesom etime. 

monohulIfIeet,wentthe wrong way.On theotherhand. As one of the few crews who lived aboard we had 

alIthismadeitpossibleto taketheracesnottoo seriously, more weight. Richard waS horrified when be boughta 

and to gathereach evening in the big tentfordrinks,a week's supply of food the first day,and in the light 

chat and the prizegiving - wh ich included a big case of winds we had too many crew.Assailing with friends 

Schweppesdrinksforthe first 3 winnersofaII4 classes wasoneofthe pleasantthingsduring thisweek,and as 

- 

madetheweekvery enjoyable. onepersonatIeastwasusualy neededtojumparound, 

W ith 6 trim arans and 5 catamarans,a1lbutAQUA heave and haulthiswa5unavoidable. 

B LU E between 25ft.and 35ft.Itwasagood selectionof As for resistance and disturbance,we should have 

varioustypesofm ultihulls;and with 3 daysofm oderate cleaned the bottom of the boatbetterbefore the race. 

to fresh onshore and 2 daysofIightoffshorewinds,one but only found the idealspot afterwards.*See below . 

could compare performances in differentw ind and sea In spite of this , it was so often touch and go and 1 

conditions.On Something Iikethe 'Round Britain Race', believe A R EOI is capable of beating alI these comonce 

you are in front- orbehind - your com petitors petitors apart from R UNARAOU ND and GAZE L LE . 

you usualy stay there.ln Brighton,every day gave you 

anotherchance. 

20

e aIor *j an 

The races themselves now seem to merge into one .w 

another,exceptthatthefirstthreeraceswithforce4-5 A 1 

SW on shore windsm eanta lotofwork with constant 

saiIchanges and the necessity of early reefing of the 

main sail(see Graham Rates'account ofthe 'Round 

Britain Race'j.Thelasttwo daysmeantlittlesailwork 

but many frustrations in the Iight or non-existing 

w ind conditions. 

Italwaysamazed me when,on a windward Ieg,no 

boats seemed to be in sight,but atthe next mark we , 

alI met surprisingly close together,or,when Ieft far 

and eagerto entera weeks races on their own boats. 

b ehind by the 

, spinnaker bovs,came 

, a reach and the 

W ith a cruise in company to the event and anotherat 

spinnakerswere down,we shotahead with ourdrifter. the end,itcan beawonderfulholiday. 

In the evenings m uch tim e was spent on each 

others , boats.On Thursday evening MOC BA ja ad a get. Participantsin :he races: 

6 Trimarans:SUSUM I,a 25ft.Nicholdesign,SIRIUS,a 

26ft.zTelstar',SW INGALONG,a 'Swingwing'design 

and three Kelsalldasigns:-GAZE LLE,28ft.,RUN- 

AROUND,35ft.and AQUA BLUE,39ft. 

together on COMANCHE and on Fridav,at the Gala 

Dinner and Dance, the prizes were awarded to the 

overalwinners.The 'RosesCup'forthe m ultihullswent 

to w alter Schofield of SCA R LETT O'HA RA, a 28ft. 

catamaran designed by a Mr.Parkerasaone-offdesign 

butmuchimprovedbvWalterSchofield.Heknew and 5Catamarans:2'Iroquois'CHEQUITA VandTHELKEN 

I sailed the boatextremely wel,foritsappearancewas aCOMANCHE,SCARLETT O'HARA andAREOI. 

! ratherdeceptive,andnobodyhadexpectedittowin. 

; k Summ ing up , Ihope Brig hton w eek willbecome an 

I annual event, and that next year we wi11 see more N OTE:EastHead attheentrance of ChichesterHarbour 

il p o l9 

nesian catam arans there 

, for quite a few of the is not onlv a beautiful spot to anchor,swim and 

I ownerswho sailed with us,became Iike me enthusiastic picnic.butidealforscrubblhg the bottom . 

. . . x . #' 

rI1 I I r I byGrauam nates 

Throughoutthisarticle Areoiwi11bedescribed asthe was almost idealforourpurposesw ith the w ind NW 3 

prototype of the new 'Pahi'range ofJam esW harram rising to 5 and then dropping to 3 again in the English 

Associates designs. This is not,however,strictly true Channel. Apart from the usual complaints to be 

as the prototype was 'm iniAreoi'. She was a 23ft. expected from acrew used to ocean crossingsina Iuxury 

modelbuilt from foam sandwich in 1976 to testthe 50 foot craft beingconfronted w ith shortsteep coastal 

new hulIshape as realisticaly aspossible without1he seas in a spartan 35 footcraft,the trip wasuneventful 

expenseofa fuIlsizeversion.W ithaspritrig taken from apartfrom when the fam ousdesigner'sknitted hatwent 

aHinem oashe wasraced againsttheolder23ft.design in overboard and disappeared in a flurry of foam as we 

Milford Haven and having proved hersuperiority on all reached toward Penzanceattenknots. 

points of sailing the decision was made by JW A to The trip from Penzanceto Plym outh wascom pleted 

produce a fuIIsize version of35ft.Ioa with a cutterrig Iargely in thick fog,again reaching in fairly sm oothseas 

in time to be tested inthe 1978 Round Britpin Race.As and showed up two faults.Thefirstwasthattruewater 

this decision coincided with the one to m igrate from depth was75% ofthatshown on the echo sounderscale, 

W ales to Eire there were occasions when it appeared and thesecond,thatthe wheelsteeringwasnotsensitive 

doubtfulwhethertheobjectwould be achieved.How- enough for the helmsmen to get the best speed and 

ever early April 1978, found Ruth, Lesley and self course out ofthe boat.Fortunately therewere a couple 

shivering in asparklingnew boatwith icein deck setting ofdays in hand before m y co-skipperJohn Thewlisand 

offforthequalifying trip demanded in the Race Rules- the ''come down and give you a hand in Plym outh'' 

in spite ofaI1the problem sJW A had gotAreoiready to team ofAlastairand Macarrived,So a tillersystem was 

teston time. 

devised and made up before thefinalpre-Race session. 

Unfortunately with S.E.Eire beinga long way from Thisfinalsessionconsisted ofchecking theecho sounder 

theNorth WestHighlandsofScotland (whereIIive)the again and confirmingthattheoriginalerrorwasconsisnextchance 

Ihad ofsailing Areoiwas to take her to tent, swinging the compass, checking log Speed and 

Plym outh from Eire forthe start of the Race.Jam es, distance over a measured m ile then beating, running, 

Hannekeand Lesley aIIshowed unshakablefaîth ofJW A reaching,heaving-to and saiIing backwards.Thissession 

in their own designs by clam ouring to come on this lasted two daysand took place in w indsofup to 25 kts. 

firstopen seatrip and aftera quick trip downtheR iver and showed up no nasty handling problems but- m ost 

Barrow we sailed pastHook Head Iightand aim ad atthe unfortunately as it transpired - without a pacer boat, 

Seven StonesIight 14O m ilesto the South.Thecrossing windward perform ancewasdifficultto assess. 

21

e al0r -j an 

afternoon our only Race com pany was Gipsy M0th a 

coupleofmilesto windward and even she justcaused 

confusion as we were quite pleased to be keeping up 

with a 50 ft.monohullto windward. ltjustdid not 

occurto us that at thisstage she wassim ply doing as 

badly asus.In the early evening she tacked onto port 

W e arrived in M ilbay lnner Dock on Tuesday 4th and at about 8 p.m .we decided to do thesame asthe 

July feellng fairly sm ug,knowing thatwehad very Iittle wind seemed to be shifting.W e stood in on acoursefor 

work to do to prepareforthe starton Saturday the8th the Llzard Light as darkness fel several unidentified 

- 

justtheformalitiesofscrutiny,checkingofequipment yachtspassed insightaheadandasternonstarboardtack. 

and m easurementforhandicap,theIuxury itemssuch as Atone in the m orning wetacked onto starboard to clear 

tilerextension,backstay tensioner(both madeupfrom the Lizard and atthesametimeseveralpistonhanksdescrap 

lying aboutthe dock )and variouscleverbitsof tached from the Yankee,thesheetsfouledand parted, 

stowagenetting and hooks.Thenwe weremeasured and and , thoroughly fed up,we decided to keep going for 

our34'10'boatwasfound to be 35'2 '- both hulls , the niqhtundersingle reefed m ain and staysailonly.As 

beautifuly builtatexactly the sam eSize.PoorHenneke dawn broke on the 9th July we saw where ourcum ulacamealongwithahacksaw 

andcarvedjustover2inches tive errors ofthe previous16 hoursbad putuswhen 

offeach stern - we now had ouranswer to any smart Galway Blazercame into view ahead and upw ind , and a 

alec who asked which wasthe front,aswe could reply few hourslater Frygga storm ed acrossourbowson port 

'the pointed end,of course'.The restof ourtim e at tack when we had expected to be 20 m ilesahead ofher 

Plymouth was spent chatting with other com petitors , at Ieast,having been pointing higherand going fasterat 

a fairly ful socialwhirland in answering the endless the starṭ At10.15 wetacked againonto port(340OM 

stream ofquestionsfrom interested onlookers.Inote a degreesm ),finished repairing theYankeeand hoisted it, 

comm entfrom the shlps Iog thatwe felt attim eslike then setaboutdeciding whatwe were doingw rong . We 

zoo animals- perhaps to be charitable some onlookers knew we could qo wellto windward when therewasnot 

did not recognize the Eire ensign and assum ed thatas more than 20 kts.ofw ind and equaly thatabove that 

'foreigners'wedid notunderstand English. 

we were making a nonsense . W eknew thatwe pitched 

By the start day on 8th July,we weredelighted to and we wondered ifwe wererightto useonly thewindclear 

M ilbay dock - away from the crowdsand dirt , ward dagger board - this seemed reasonabde from both 

though sorry to say qoodbye to Alastairand Mac who the safety and Sailing pointofview.Howeverwhen we 

having worked away with us on 'A reoi'' were Ieft reversed the procedure it was obvious that far greater 

Iooking damp on the quay aswe were towed ouṭ The Ioading came on the board ifthe leeward oneonly waS 

startitselfat 11o'clock wasprobably themostfrighten- used - lesson one. By now it was 16.10 hours and as 

ingpartofthe whole race.ThesightofThree Legsclose the wind wasdropping from F5 to a m arginalF4 we 

manoeuvring,while G .B,IItried to creepby withsails hoisted the working jib and stilwith the reefin the 

fIuttering,othercraftshooting by apparently underonly main she im mediately felt fasterand happier- lesson 

moderate control,and the occasionalbewildered spec- twO She needed aII the headsail possible to reduce 

tatorboat underengine,aIImade asham blesand Isti1 gitching.M orale Ieapt,soggy clotheswere strung outto 

do notunderstand whythere wereno collisions. drY,theSciliesweresighted at17.25 and so wasGalway 

We Started undermain and working jib only a Blazer,behind usagain.Wethenhadafrustratingtime 

Westerly breeze of Force 4,put up the staysailto get trYing to round Bishop Rock against the tide in com. 

going,found m'e wereoverpressed and single reefed the panY With 'Nimonic'and (probably )'Bird'.We heard 

main which w asaboutthe Iastthing we did righta1lday . 

after the 00.30 shipping forecast that the first boats 

JanofSantaCruzhadstartedjustaheadofusandwent arrived inCrosshavenataround 14.00 hours- wewere 

away in greatStyle.W ewere approaching theEddystone Stunned! During the night of the 9th- 1Oth July the 

at 12.30 and were very pleased w ith ourselvesasonce Wind swung NW and droppedto between F0 and F2 and 

we had got into clearwindaftertheturbulenceofthe theOnIY joYwasaschoolofporpoisesrushingaboutin 

start we found ourselves Ievelwith,though downw ind flurries of phosphorescelce.The daysof the 10th and 

of, Mezzanine, Comanche , BP Catcrackerand Telstar, 11th are betterforegottenasthey werejustfrustrating 

and m oving ahead of Lara,Anglia Pipedream , Haigri Wdth Calms and headwlndsand forecastsof''variable Iess 

(Rival38)and FryggaofCymru(Bob EvansNarai).Ob. tharlF2''.By 21.30onthe11thourestimatedposition 

viously there were otherboats butthese we could iden. was80 m les South ofCrosshaven.Duringthatday we 

tify readily.W ith only five catam arans in the race we Were twice overtaken by fulm ars,swimm ing!By 3 a.m . 

were mainly concerned with doing wellin relation to On the 12th a Iight breeze had come in from the East 

Comanche,BP Catcracker(Iroquois),AnqliaPipedream and we Y gan to movedirectlytowardsCrosshaven for 

(Atlantic Proa)and Fryggawhile bearing in mind that thefirsttime,wind strengthwas1or2only butmorale 

the majorobjectivewasto completethecourseWithin Was certainly Iifted.By 10.35 hrs.the wind had died 

thetim eIim it. 

again and we were workingoutwaterrationing,butwe 

The w ind increased to Force5 overthe nextcouple had covered an amazing 20 m iles in only 7 hrs.The 

ofhoursand we started pitching badly ,andweremorti- breeze then came in atasteady F2justNorthofEast 

fied to seeourerstwhile rivalsdisappearing rapidly and and with aIsailset,drifterand spinnakerwhen possible 

others com ing up from astern.W ith one reef'already in we m ade very satisfactory progress.The day wassunny 

the main I (wrongly)decided to change down to the butvery hazy andwewerehappily congratulatingour- 

Yankeefrom theworkingjib.Bythetimethiswascom- selveson getting boatspeed equalto windspeed in the 

pleted the seawasalmostclearand wehad received our early afternoon when we found weream ongstacollection 

firstlesson in the foolishnessofnotgetting race practice Of rigs,tugs and supply vessels.Asthe afternoon wore 

before this race.As we sailed S.W .at 5 kts.into the On,thewind began to dieand we w ere very relieved to 

22

e al0 -1 r an 

hear Roche Point fog horn apparently almostahead at 

20.00 hrs.We stormed on in a raging force 1 to creep 

across the finish line at 21.06 on the 12th July.Four 

daysand tenhoursplusforthefirstleg(250milesona topend ofF3from theNW andweweregivenademondirectcourse)- 

we feltthatatIeastwe could notdo strationofhow well'Areoi''could go whenconditions 

worse on theensuing legs.W e metseveralboatsstarting were rightand we concentrated,aswe covered 200 nm 

their second Ieg as we came in and m any m ore started in the next 24 hours.At05.45 on the 18th July we 

during the nightand early nextm orning.W e wereseventh single reefed them ain while avoidingan oilrigthatwas 

from theend and were partofa sm alland selectgroup directly on our course and as the w ind increased to a 

in Crosshaven.Of our rivals Com anche was 57 hours solid NW 4.Ourspeed now varied between 7 and 10 knots. 

ahead and outofrangeCatcrackerwas42 hoursahead, Theonly problem we found inthese otherw iseidealcon- 

Pipedream 39 hoursahead and Frygga 18 hoursbehind. ditions was the am ount of concentration needed to 

We rested and relaxed,fixed the masthead 1ightwhich really keep ''Areoi'going atherbest,whichm eantthat 

had gonewrongand had a third row ofreefpointssewn any watch overtwo orthree hourswasexhausting.At 

into the mainsail(by Richardand Maggiefrom JWA as 12.00 onthe18thasailcameintoview deadaheadand 

theIocalsailmakersaid hewastoobusy !) 

at13.15 weovertooktheRival34 HaijiBaba.Shehad 

Ourstart on the second Ieg waSa Ionely affairwith left Crosshaven 25 hours ahead ofusand thiswasour 

only 3 boats starting in the previous 24 hours, the firstevidence thatwem ightbe closingthe enormousgap 

nearest one being no less than 18 hoursahead and the between us and our rivals.We overtook her in a rain 

closestbehind being 16 hoursaway. 

Squallduringwhich the mainsailwasdropped fora while 

One of the tasks com pleted in Crosshaven was the asboatspeed seemed excessive.At17.00 hoursweagain 

fittingofascu lingframe on therearnetting beam and it dropped the m ain in a squal.The wind had increased 

im mediately came into use as the Southerly wind that generaly through the afternoon to NW 5 and we were 

had been blowing aIl day dropped away.We Sculled expecting to getsightoffam iIiar coast Iineaswe estiacrossthe 

line against the tide and keptsculing from mated ourposition atlessthan 50 m ilesoffBarraHead. 

about 21.00 to 23.00 when a just perceptable Iand As the wind increased the visibility decleased so that 

breeze setin.Th iskeptup from between NE and NW to hopeproved unfounded.From ourDF weknew wewere 

take us past the OId Head of Kinsale at 04.30,Seven heading at Berneray Island which was sufficient.At 

Headsat06.00 and Galey Head at07.35 hoursaveraging 22.30 we passed close to SuperAchileswho had left 

2% kts.The wind then came into the EastatF 1 So we Crosshaven 31 hoursahead ofus.Barra Head Iightwas 

hoisted ourspinnakerand held itfrom 1000 to 1400 as sighted and we had our first positive fix for alm ost3 

the wind wentw i'th the sun and became SW 2.As we days. By m idnight we had rounded Barra Head with 

approached the Fastnetthewind came m ore ahead and two unidentified yachts under our Iee and rushed up 

we were close hauled as we rounded,very close for towardsCastlebay atasteady 10 kts.in the calm waters 

photos,at16.00 hours.By 17.00 thewind wasNW 3 and in the Iee oftheislands.Onceround Muldoanichwehad 

we were beating towards Mizzen Head,which we were a final beat to the line and then to the entrance at 

offat18.30 hours.Thew ind then swung into theW est Castlebay.We crossed the Iine at02.10 on the 19th and 

and died which waseven m ore ofa disappointm entafter shortly afterward had a Ioud argumentwith an outgoing 

such a wonderfulsunny day m ostof which had been fishing boat skipper who seemed unaware that sailing 

spent sailing in the direction required. W e m anaged boats cannot go straightup wind !Asweanchored and 

6513m in 22 hourswhich wasMery good by comparison sorted ourselvesoutin theearly morning Iightwewere 

with previousdays.Overnightthew ind puffed and died delighted to see a veritable forest of m astssilhouetted 

from most directions and we crept past BulRock at against the town Iights.W e had Iogged 500 nm forthe 

03.30 hours and at 10.15 16th July were off Great second Ieg and com pleted it4 hoursfasterthan thefirst. 

ShelIaig - average back down to 2 kts.The wind then Thisperformance moved usup from 67th to 58th place 

steadied and came from between N and NN E fora solid and put us now 6 hours behind Catcracker, 3 hours 

24 hours durîng which time we stood out from the Y hind Pipedream and 2 hours behind our friendsthe 

coastin adesperate search fora steady breeze ofabout Russellsin the Rival38 Haigri. 

F2!(Outto12degreesW )coveringover100 milesinthe Jim Wharram,Hanneke and PatmetusinCastlebay 

period.W e actually feltquite Ionely with no ships,Iand and so we were able to ge1perform ance assessmentof 

or even birdsin sight.At 10.00 on the 17th we tacked their newest design straight offwh iIe itwasstillvivid 

onaheaderforBarraHead 250 m ilesaway and soon had in our m inds.ltwaspleasantto chatin Castlebay with 

an escortofdolphinswho stayed aboutforsome hours. other com petitors whom we had pot seen since Ply- 

Weatherwas now overcastwith occasionalshowers but m outh.W e feltthat we were in a race again.Ouronly 

good visibility and at 16.10 sighted Iand which m ust Work in the two dayswasshopping,checking the boat 

have * en the m ountainsofConnem ara about50 m iles and having thebattery charged - hardly energetic. 

away .At17.00 hoursthe wind increased slightly to the For1he third Ieg we fervently hoped thatthe North- 

23

e al-I0r an 

erly wind would change,and itdid.We sculed acrossthe carried on under bare poles through a very noisy , w et 

start Iine again and seemed to have sculled m ostofthe and uncomfortable night and delayed making sailtoo 

way to BarraHead - weactually sculed abouthalfway. long.W e hoisted thereefed staysailat09.35 when speed 

It was novelforusto be able to counta dozen sailsin had dropped to 4 kts.- had we known ourboat better 

sightand felt like racing.Once the sunrosethe weather we would probably have put itup fourorm ore hours 

wasvery hotand visibility wasextreme with Rhum ,Eig: before.W e estimated ourposition as30 m ilesW ofthe 

and the Cuilens of Skye visible from nearM uldoanich Butt of Lewis.Asthe morning wore on we tentatively 

Island.From the start at 02.10 to 10.30 the wind was increased sail,shakingoutthe reefand thenhoisting the 

variable to unnoticeable,butthen itstarted to come in Yankee at13.45.We aimed atkeepingat6 kts.average 

from the SE.OffSandray we were overtaken by a buII untiltheseaswentdown abit- with hindsightwe were 

andcow KillerWhalesIookingmajesticbutsinister,and too cautious,butweweresailingaprototvpe!At18.00 

fortunately keeping theirdistanceand ignoring us. weestim ated we were clearofSulaSgeirand wealtered 

At 10.30 we were close hauled between M ingualay course forM uckleFluggaabout200 m ilesahead,hoisted 

and Bernera and at 11.30 we rounded Barra Head and double reefed main and saw thedistinctivesailshape of 

hoisted the spinnaker in a SE1 breeze.At 13.50 hours Ron Glason the horizon to Iee.The wind wasnow SSE 

wewererom pingalongin aS3 on abroad reach w ith the 5 with three distinctwavepatternsmakingforabum py 

sun blazing when agale warning wasreceived and we ride.We overtook one yacht (Iateridentified asWest 

began to calculateourchancesofgettingpastSt.Kilda Wind)aswemadefineprogressatbetween8and10kts. 

beforeitarrived.During theafternoon the w ind increased Ron Glas Iagged behind when we managed 10 kts.but 

steadily, the cloud developed and thickened and the Ioomed on the horizon if we dropped below 8 kts.By 

seas rose. The rest of our im m ediate fIeet were left 08.00 on the 23rd July the wind was down to force 3 

behind as our speed creptup to 10 kts.and beyond. and ourestim ated position was 100 nm SW ofM uckle 

W hen the wind rose to force5 we began to fearforour FIugga- we both felt very damp and quite tired as 

Iightspinnaker.Boatspeed wasreaching 15 kts.although watch changeswere very frequentto keep ourspeed up. 

indicated apparentwind waSbetween 5 and 7kts!How- Itwasavery pleasantday,the windsteadied atforce3, 

everwe knew thatwe only had to slow down once and the sun shone and we dried out.We also metourfirst 

ourspinnakerwould be in shreds,so at 16.10 hourswe GreatSkuas- a sure Sign thatwewere approaching the 

hoisted ourdrifterto take Some ofthe pressure offher Shetlands. At 16.45 we sighted Rhona's Hill poking 

and whipped the spinnaker into the sail locker. At through the m ist and at 23.25 hours rounded M uckle 

18.45 with the wind atforce 6,the swelgettinq quite Flugga. 

big and the speedo hovering between 15 and 17kts.we I suspect that there is a generalfeeling that once 

repeated the perform ancew ith thedrifter.W eweremost round Muckle FIugga the race is alldownhilland th is 

im pressed with theway she handled atspeed asno vices bringsatendency to relax .W e certainly feltthisand felt 

were apparentexcept that the ruddershape made the very hard done by asthe wind died,the swelstayedand 

tiIlervery heavy.TheEasternedgeofHirta(theIargest wewereslattingaboutforhoursgettingnowherewhen 

island intheSt.KiIdagroup)had been sightedthrough we should have been dashing the Iast 60 miles to 

the m istat18.10 butwewere stillunsureofourrelation Lerwick .We aclually took 12 hoursto Iog35 m ilesbut 

to ourturning pointofSoay Island attheWesternedge asthewind wasdead on the noseand variableinstrength 

of the group.By 20.30 the wind wasup to force 7 the notmorethan 20 m ileswereinthe direction ofLerwick . 

seaswere very steep and ugly.We weredown to staysail Fortunately, shortly after m idday the wind came in 

only and more interested in keeping our speed down steadily from the SW atbetween force4 and 5 and tackbelow 

10 kts.than going fast!Aswe rounded Soay at ingwellinshore pasttheOuterSkerriesto getthebestof 

22.00 hours it was obvious we were in foran exciting the tide we made good progress southwards. Several 

nightand we decided to pulinto the Iee ofHirtato reef boats had overtaken us in the Iight windward work 

the staysail.AsJohn wentforward to do so wewerehit earlier in the day but we swopped placestwice w ith 

by aslamm inqgustofftheIand thatregistered 50 kts.on Haigriovertaking then finaly as we came pastBressay 

the wind speed indicator and after two m ore sim ilar Lightand beatthem to the lineby 1Xam inutesat19.11 

gustsreqistering45kts.wediscoveredthatAreoiandwe hours(twelvehoursfasterthanourpreviousIeg). 

were perfectly happy underbare polesbroad reachingat The reception in Lerwick wasalmostoverwbelm ing , 

E;to 51,$ kts.Controlwasgood and therewasIittle attrac- not only were we met , berthed and welcom ed buttaken 

tion in going faster as the seas were very large with offto befed , bathed and Iaundered.The Shetlandersare 

breakingtopsand plenty ofspray oncewewereclearof perhapsunique inthattbemajority oftheirsmalboat 

the Iand.St.KiIda had Iived up to itsreputationand we sailorsare fishermen.Certainly theinterestshown inthe 

were thankful to be reaching ratherthan beating.W e boats and crews by people who appeared to know what 

24

e al-I0r an 

they were talking aboutwasamazing.W eweredelighted nose as we threaded ourway through the oiIplatform s 

to seewhen checkingthe resultsthatwe had overtaken for the next 36 hours- not unpleasantsailing except 

b0th Pipedream and catcracker on this 1eg and had thatwe had a Iong way to go.The wind died by m idworked 

ourway to 42nd a gain of 16 places.While in night 29th July when we were off the East coastof 

Lerwick lactually visited otherboatsasouronly tasks Scotland (probably)then to our amazement came in 

were freeing a courlesy flag jammed in the staysail from South ofEastatforce 2 to 3and werattled off 

halyard and replacing ourgascookerwhich had developed 100 miles in the next 15 hoursthrough thick fog and 

leakswhich threatened to incinerate uswestof Muckle were then becalmed again. Throughout the night of 

Flugga.80th Telstarand Ludney Maid werevisited and 30th/31StJuly therewerethunderstormsa1Iround and 

b0th seem ed quite luxurious.Imuststate categorically the breezecame from aIlquartersatnotm ore than force 

that 1didn'ttouch Telstar'sm astand itwasn'tm y fault 1.W e were m ost surprised at the numberof flies and 

thatitbroke on thenextIeg. 

waspscom ingaboard asw hilewe had nothad a decent 

w e Ieft Lerwick two hoursIaterthan ourstarttim e fix in three days we knew we were near the Dogger 

on the 26th July asthereseemed Iittle pointin heading Bank and well offshore- it was presumably the upstraight 

into a force 6 when Sumburgh Airportassured draughtsofthestorm s.From about10.30 in themorning 

us it would drop.w e had ourdoubts a5we beatout of the 31st July the wind cam e in from the NW ,by 

through Bessay Sound againstsomefiercegustsbutonce 15.00 it was force 5 and we had a wildly exciting sail 

clear,having overtaken Catcrackeron thestartline,the through the fog atan average of7 kts.passingclose to 

wind wasonly 3 or4 with dreadfulvisibility.We took a Dudgeon Light Vesselat 21.45 which gave usa very 

Iong tack in the direction ofNorway in aslowly rising good fix.At01.00 on 1he 1stAugustwe werebecalmed 

South wind untilm id day,then tacked towardsScotland. offHaisburgh,then the wind swung South and we were 

By midnightwith the wind atforce 6 and quitebigseas beating for a change.At 06.00 we saw both our first 

we decided that to get any realrestwe would haveto sailfor days and our first Iand and shortly afterwards 

heave-to.W ith no headsail,triple reefed main and tiller had two frantic raceson ourhands.Thefirstwasagainst 

Iashed shewasquitehappy so theTilley wasIefton deck the tide which we reckoned turned at Lowestoft at 

and we had six hourssleep.The 28th wasbrightand 11.00 and the second againstOcean Beetle.Haigri,Elena 

sunny and thewind had dropped to force 5 butwasstill and one unidentified yacht.Ocean Beetle gave a conin 

the South when we sailed at 07.00 after breakfast. vincing dem onstration ofhow wela m odern halftonner 

During the m orning Pyledriver crossed our bows and goesto windward and took 40 minutesout ofus in a 

wefeltvery enviousoftheirdeep cockpit,spray dodger few hoursbutwe m anaged to retain ouradvantageover 

andselfsteering- wealsofeltwetterandmoreexposed the otherthreeand finished at11.12 withthetidejust 

than ever.At 15.00 the wind veered and dropped and having turned - on theline. 

then to our fury hauled ahead again S2,smack on the 

A TLM D 

IQR S 

Le- ck 

O rra 

Gscseakw e-tq 

e wc bw 

Plxpvv ot 

25

e aII0 

a 

* * 

l 

I 

by Mike Briggs (Sailing Secretary) 

ltisnow justoverayearsincetheSailTrainingFacility B. TheEquipment 

held its first ''work-up weekend''. The idea of these 

occasions is that experienced multihullsailors should 1. Forldenlification 

mee't, afloat, and spend two davs hard sailing and Note By thetimethe panic hasdied down and (e.g.) 

talking as equals w ith a view to developing a greater spinnakers Iowered,the boat is likely to be some way 

understandingofparticularaspectsofmultihullseaman- from the victim t14 mile not impossible)SO: LONG 

ship and,w here possible, producing a report on con- and SHORT rangeidentification isneeded . 

clusions reached for publication in the SAILO R M AN. LONG RA NGE : There is no substitute for a pack 

On the first 'work-up' nine P.C.A. members gotto- of''MinifIares'.Thevictim should firetheseatintervals 

getheron board Bob Evans'Narai''Frygga ofCym ru ' VE RTICA LLY to pinpoint his position .On seeing a 

and James Briggs' ''Bluefin'' in Portsmouth and the flare,the boat should reply by firing one.Thereafter 

Solent, and gave their attention to the fo lowing : the victim CONSE RVES his supply by firing only on 

Going About, Man Overboard (see below),Swinging demand from theboati.e.when he seesanotherflare 

Compasses,Mooring in a tideway,Anchoring,Tow ing, from the boat. These should be carried by each crew 

and,ofcourse,drinking......Muchofwhatwedid membere.g.lashedtohisIifeiacket. 

Iedto no finaldecisionsaboutrightandwrongmethods, SHORT RANGE: i) DANBUOY (see drawing) 

but both then and in the considerable correspondence the advantages by day and nightare obvious,butnote 

that ensued, some useful conclusions were reached. the fo lowing : 

Here isthe firstofwhatishoped wilbe a seriesofS.T.F. * sm all,dully coloured flags w on't be seen,however 

reports covering aIlaspects of m ultihullseamanship.It high above thewaves- dayglow orred are thebest. 

makesno claim to bethe lastword onthesubject,so * the weight needn't be heavy ifthe polebelow the 

pleasewriteinand criticise ! 

buov Is long enough. 

* it'sworth attaching lifebuoy,whistîe and m iniflares 

Z'M AN OVERBOARDI'' 

to tha Danbuoy,in case the victim falls overboard 

S.T.F.WorkupReportNo.11977. withoutaIifejacket 

A . TheProblem theDanbuoym ustbe stowed where itcanbe instantly 

''YouarecrewingaNARAIforthefirsttime.ltishalf and easily released (many yachtsuseaspringrelease 

past midnight in Aprilon achoppy North Sea.You're system . 

belowzoffwatch when you hearasplash and ashout. ii)L1FEJACK ET with whistle (fog/night value),mini- 

You rush on deck to find the ow ner/skippergone,the flaresand Iightattached.W ateractiviated Iightsarebest 

boat doing 6 knotson a broad reach,and you're alI (e.g.if the victim is knocked overboard unconscious) 

alone.''W hatdo you do? 

butare expensive. 

lfyou could think clearly at the time (highly un. 

likesy!)you'd realisethatthe problemsare roughly as 2. ForManoeuvering 

fo lows: 

This requires no specific equipment BUT can be badly 

1.W here is the victim ? He's hidden by darkness hindered by a rig w hich can'tbe worked singlehanded, 

and/or waves,and anyway,his head is tiny orby squaresails,spinnaker,boomed outheadsailsetc. 

objectonavastsea. 

iftheycan'tbedropped quickly.Thisisdoublytrueat 

2.lf Icould see him ,how do lgetthe boatback to night. 

him ? I've neversailed aNARAIbetore,leastofalI 

on my own.and l'veneverbeen able to go about 3. ForRecovery 

in achoppy sea. 

Thisdependsentirely on the size ofthe boat.Suffice it 

lfldo 9etback,how do lstopalongsidehim and to saythatasoakingvictim can'tjustbefloppedinover 

gethim back on board? 

the side.Some form of net, boarding ladder ofsling 

And ffnally :how can lrem em berto do a1lthison a wil be needed,w hich m ust be mobile.Many modern 

strange boat,atnightwhèn l'm halfasleepand half Iifejackets have ahelicopterstrapto which a Iine can 

panickinq? 

be attached prior to winching the victim on board. 

-- 7 .. BUT: Lifebuoy and floating line i5 always needed 

- . - . . watvs uqar 

ckxt.le)uoN '. , .L , Since it is not Safe to drive a Iarge boat alongside a 

victim ,dueto the risk ofrunninghim down in a seaway. 

Hl-$FKMz:s 

(The helmsman also Iosessightofhim undertheflared 

A LPNN b ow). There are many proprietary gadgets specially 

WI** 

designed forthrowing to the victim .Ask any chandler 

or learn how to use an old fashioned heaving Iine. 

vp' x ---. p- vvspo, NoTE:A Ilines used in connection witiaM an overuFf. 

O 

- ë board must F'LOAT.Manv drowninqs iaave been tiae 

:LX:N t; . 7 Fm/krlu.huKa 

resultofentanglem entsin non-fIoating line. 

+i 

04 

ẇ . htf>k.'r-': EILO'T'!b 

o ' , '--vpckqe'v 

26

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qp:v 'sw .M mz.r C>KAECTLHF? @ 

$!l 

e al-lnr an 

f7 .,. 

. * # z WIuo (c4 8y. 

& & 

i 

tl& - 

, . 

.'*' 

- * 

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aoo 

c Th e Manoeuvre 

. 

lr 

(0 'r< M-x-uvfm.- 

FundamentalRules: 4 At the end of yo urgybe you wilprobably be a 

i. lt's verv rare/y any good juststopping the boat jjttje downwind ofthe victim and at the same 

and waitingforthe victim to swim back into range distance f rom him asat3. 

ofyourIifeline.Even hove to,the boatm ay drift . j 

d 

- 

ownwind fasterthan the victim cansw im .SO the jaeadsailsifalone) 

jEAo yo jq 'T'H E v lcTlM (no need to use 

boat 

m ust be SA ILED back and stopped closeto * vjjerezsno 

hurry atthisstage,norm uch danger 

thevictim . 

that you'lllose sightofthevictim since you're 

i. bMost boatswilonly stop easily (and notdrift now gett jngnearer . 

iị ackwards)whileonaclosereachcourse(seeinset). *. q-jjksisthetimeforthehelmsman to relaxand 

Going about is not practicable in any fail/safe ge tthe feeloftheboat,thesea and thewind, 

manoeuvre when part of the crew is m issing, 

and to work ou1 hislikely stopping distance. 

especially in apolycatSO agybe isnecessary. 

xo'rE :stopping distances depend heavily on sea 

conditions and upon the effectofwind upon the 

boat's structure.W hilea skippermay come to be 

Ruleiexplained: 

able to predictthis,a strangerto theboatcan 

0- 45 (a) easilydisciveritby testingatthisslageby Ietting 

closehauled or closer 'NO GO ZO NE''boatw illdrift 

f1y hissheetswhile pointing the boattowardsthe 

backwardj. 

victim. 

65- 70 (b) 4(a) If the boat doesn't stop at al,you'lhave to 

close reach CD EAL: boat w illstop or go as sails are BEAR AW AY and approach from a Iittle further 

adjusted. 

downwind(seeinset). 

90- 1800(c) Aim to arriveslightly DOWNWIN D ofthevictim 

reach or broader''NO STOP ZONE''boatwon'tstop (if you Ieave thistoo late,you'llhave to bear 

assailscan'tcompletely flap. 

away at the Iast moment and won't be able to 

stop). 

5. LetfIy sheetsin ordertostopjustdownwind of 

the victim .Violent use of the rudders isa good 

Explanation alternative form ofbraking on a polycat . 

1. ''MAN OVERBOARD '(tobeshoutedby anyone 

seeingthesplash). 

W'D ROP THE DANBUOY :quick reaction atthis * Recoverthe victim assuggested in (B)- by 

stage is Mitaland should be instinctive forevery line and netș Iadderorstrop etc.- 

crew m em ber. 

NOTE :A catamaran w illalways driftdownwind 

*Ifthere areenough crew stillon board ,one person faster than a person in thewater,so an approach 

should do nothing but watch and point at the and recovery to windward ofthe victim runsthe 

victim . risk ofdriftingoverand onto him . 

2. Altercourse to C LOSE R EACH (i.e.True wind 

about65O- 70*from ahead). Do this whatever GeneralNotesontheManoeuvre 

course you were on before.This also should be * A successfulpick-up firsttime ismuch morelikely if 

instinctive. If alone,don'tworry aboutheadsails, the person at the helm at the tim e of the splash 

even Iet them fly,so you can concentrate fu ly R EM A INS there , since he/she willalready have the 

on yourcourseand on thevictim . 

feelofthe boat and be in close contact with sea and 

3. CLOSE R EACH for AT LEAST double your wind conditions and,above aIwilknow precisely the 

turning circlediameter.Thisshould take you wel true wind direction,on which the m anoeuvle depends . 

to W INDWARD ofthevictim.(Thisisvitalsince * Thisimpliesthatevery crew membermustknow and 

otherw ise yourgybe willeaveyou too fardown- understand the manoeuvre , in orderto take charge i.e. 

wind withabeatbackto thevictim.)NOW G YBE atthehelm atthetimeofthesplash. 

(hard oMer!)and watch yourvictim asyotzdom * Thisisa ''standard manoeuvre'which , in its early 

since'histurnislikelytodisorientyou. stages (Danbuoy,close reach)can be putinto action 

(NOTE:no adjustmentofyourmainsheetisneeded instinctively and .autom aticaly withoutthe need ofany 

since you'llreturn to a close reach on the other decisions . As a result, the vital early stages can be 

tack). 

27

e alor -j an 

WlNO 

c ïPi 

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GXCW 

1F-AT Fkts':- wtoc Ixm 'c xicaco.. 

perform ed w ithout thinking while those on board are * Failure to fit and m aintain in good condition a 

stillin astate ofshock.Thispreventslossofcontact system ofsafe'ty harnessIanyardsand/orguard rails 

w ith the victim and rules out the disaster of getting ensuring protectionwhereverneeded on board . 

too far downwind and having to beat back. Thus, * Failure on the part of the Skipperto describe and 

there is time to recover from the shock and cal up enforce his own safety proceduresin respectofany 

the watch below (if any)while on thevaluableclose crew onboard,howeverexperienced . 

reachtowardsposition3 (gybeoh!). 

* It goes without saying that the drawing (showing 

* Failure by hiscrew toobservehisproceduresto the 

Ietterhowevermuchthey may differfrom whatthe 

a starboard tack situation at the time of the splash) crew isusedto orthinksisappropriate . 

applies sym etrically for port tack,so thatno tack or * CARE LESSNESS , arising from overtiredness. Seagybeisneededatthestart. 

sicknessorexposure(orevendrunkeness) . 

' 

* similarly , if the first approach fails , the whole manoeuvre can be repeated by sailing straight on FINA LLY :Falling overboard isnotunlikehaving a 

and then back again aftera second gybe (see inset). beartattack.Ifproperpreventativemeasuresaretaken 

* Manoeuvering under power may be an alternative , 

ilneed neverhappen.lfitDOES happen itwillbe totally 

but is less imm ediately available than the sails which Unexgected ané cantoo easily be FATAL unless: 

are aIready pulling you along at the time of the * DIAGNOSED quickly(''manoverboard''!!!) 

splash (and anyway , polycats don . t ja an dje wejj * Reacted to instinctively by the person on the 

underpower). Spot(dropdanbuoy,closereach) 

* Thereaftertreated correctly and unhurriedly . 

D Prevention isbetterthan cure ltistoo Iate to teach yourcrew how it'sdone when 

It is almostalways true to say that ''man overboard ' V0tl Surface to see your boat sailing away with a 

never occurs unIess tbere has A LREADY been an R3Nicking Crew on deck,arguing aboutw hatto do . . 

actofbad seamanship (oran unseamanlike omission) G 

on the part of sonleone. Some examples are: ralefulacknowledgem entsare due to: George Payne, 

* Failure to wear an efficientSA FETY HARNESS at BOb EVanS,Jam es Briggs,Brian Harriman , Vic Felgate, 

aI1timesatseaand to ATTACH iț wheneverworking 

qichard Bum pus,nobin Fautley and charles W alk for 

on sails or in an exposed place theircontributionstowardsthisreportin variouscapaci- 

, and A LW AYS at 

night. 

ties,afloat and ashore.Also to:The RoyalYachting 

Association fortheirwork on thistopic , w hich formed 

os@/ Xo 

thebasisofourapproachformultihuls. 

' 

- m - 

' - ' 

= ' - 2 > eq 

05 o Fl Eup lï .' 

@ 

wlsjo 

GrM 

*4 

4. 

paox? 

sfT-e 

0* ps sincethewritingofthisarticle , two yachtsman 

N IND 

relatedtofriendsof'minehaveDROWN ED afterfalling 

overboard atnightdue to two factors: 

1.NOT wearingasafety harness.Bothhad only just 

BE LOW.Thefinalfew momentsondeck(whileyouget 

4 comeondeck.ltisbesttoCLIPONwhileStilDOWN 

' 

CARKSO'FS7D9) @* thefeel)arethemostdangerous. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - 2.NOT carrying,lashed to tbemselves , any lighlsor 

miniflares. ln both cases,long searches by experienced 

crewsfailed to find theirIostmembers . Any yachtwh ich 

sails at night and does not have safety harnesses for 

rcnsls-rop) everymemberofthewatchondeckisapotentialdeath 

t rap.

Here - Polynesian Catamaran Association

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