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Cruising to India – Mumbai
Welcome aboard!
WIN! WIN! WIN!
Old Pulteney Whisky p10 Farécla’s four step boat maintenance system p11 Digital Yacht AIS receiver and transponder p84 COVER
Newbridge Pioneer boat test - P50 Photo: Rod Lewis
It seems that some of you found a new vigour and inspiration following last month’s running rigging debugging piece. I’ve been having a few email discussions with readers on their tweaks and custom fixes which are of the kind that all boat owners seem to undertake, sometimes within days of taking delivery of a boat, be she brand new or secondhand. It’s a funny old world. Most of us would not dream of hacking our cars about to make them better suit our requirements, indeed, many of us strive to keep them as close to how they came out of the factory for as long as possible. One reader’s boat is a two year old performance cruiser, bought from new at a six figure sum, and his latest improvement was on the face of it trivial, consisting of the insertion of sections of shock cord into his mainsail’s lazyjack system. It was the work of minutes, but it transformed sail handling for his boat. Doing these tweaks himself was not about money or saving money. The real point here is the pleasure that the process brought him as he used trial and error to get the right
length, gauge and elasticity of cord to make his lazyjacks stiff enough to control the sail while not being so tight that they cut into the draught of the sail when it is set full on a light wind day. I was able to identify immediately with this feeling of satisfaction, as I’m currently scratching my head to optimise a set of barber haulers for the genoa on my own boat. Do I need them? Do I use open hooks, carbines or snapblocks? Do I put in pad eyes on the deck or use a moveable webbing strop to the coachroof handrails for more fore and aft adjustability? There’s only one way of finding out for sure; on the water and, come the spring, I’ll certainly enjoy this experimentation. Could this level of ‘relationship’ we have with our boats be the reason that has led most of us to follow our forefathers’ example and attribute a gender and name to them? In our modern world, displaying such a level of personification to our car, fridge or even house could invite accusations of a burgeoning mental breakdown, yet somehow, with a boat, it feels like the right thing to do.
Jake Frith
www.sailingtoday.co.uk www.sailingtoday.co.uk
March 2011 Sailing Today 03
Contents
Fancy a gas with Vass? Q&As p109
56
New boat test – Dehler 32
Photo rod lewis
march 2011 Issue 167 rules of thumb 90 Five investigated
on 26 Gear test
Photo rod lewis
In! New gear 20 Just
boat test: 50 Used Newbridge Pioneer
WIN! 84
www.sailingtoday.co.uk
04 Sailing Today March 2011
www.sailingtoday.co.uk
Time to subscribe? Visit www.megabookstore.co.uk Photo stewart wheeler
Missed a copy? Call 01778 392496
This month News AND views Sailing news Readers’ letters Riding light View from the RYA
6 10 146 12
GEAR AND EQUIPMENT teak – 96 Synthetic Choosing and fitting
Books Just in Gear on test Group test: LED Lights Buyer’s guide: Synthetic teak
18 20 26 40 96
BOATS Used boat test: Newbridge Pioneer New boat test: Dehler 32 Your Boats: Butterfly
50 56 62
CRUISING
72 Transatlantic with a Tiki 21
Lofoten Islands, Norway Boat bites Transatlantic with a Tiki 21 Vasco Da Gama rally: Part 4 My MARINA Gosport
64 70 72 78 86
SEAMANSHIP Rules of thumb Weatherclass: Why depressions form
90 94
PRACTICAL Fitting a synthetic teak deck Q&As with Nick Vass
100 109
WIN! WIN! WIN!
good: 64 Norwegian Cruising the Lofoten Islands
Old Pulteney 12-year old whisky 10 Farécla’s four step boat maintenance kit 11 Digital Yacht AIS receiver and transponder 84
subscribe and save!
48
March 2011 Sailing Today 05
Gear On Test Six-10 epoxy adhesive £18.42 extra nozzles £2.53 for two Over many years of boat ownership, including a WEST epoxy-sheathed plywood yacht, I have come to take the consistent properties of the WEST epoxy system very much for granted. My only grumble with WEST epoxy has been the quantity of the product I’ve wasted over the years – either by not using it quickly enough or by not being able to buy a small enough quantity of it for the odd couple of small jobs. Well now it appears that WEST has heard my grumbles, because a neat 190ml tube of WEST Six-10 thickened epoxy adhesive landed on my desk a couple of weeks ago. The beauty of this tube of gap filling, epoxy adhesive is that it is two tubes in one. Rather like the twin syringes of two-part glue you can buy,
(190ml tube) remains malleable once applied until gelling after half an hour.
Tube and nozzle makes for easy, mess free application.
where you can squeeze equal amounts out in a long line without one part contaminating the other, this large tube of WEST is actually divided into two compartments inside – one for the adhesive, the other for the hardener. The material is applied using a standard caulking gun, but the clever bit is that the nozzle provided (WEST calls it a Static Mixer) has two channels running inside with a number of tiny baffles that forces the two
components to mix together in the nozzle itself – eventually arriving at the end as pre-mixed epoxy adhesive ready to apply. No more measuring exact quantities, mixing in powdery fillers and sticky stirrers adhering to your fingers. The adhesive will stick wood, metal, GRP and even concrete and takes around 40 minutes to first cure, fully hardening in 5-6 hours. The nozzle makes it ideal for creating narrow fillets without drooping or running and
★★★★★ Verdict Did exactly what it is supposed to do, although it took a little longer to go off, due to the low temperatures on the boat at the time of year. Handy package, but having one nozzle means that you can only use each one once – so you’ll need to buy extra nozzles or squeeze the rest into a pot and mix with a stirrer or stick. DK WE LIKE • Convenient cartridge size • No mixing required WE DON’T LIKE • Not cheap Contact: WEST Systems Tel: 01794 521111 Web: www.wessex-resins.com
surviva jak thermal blanket As someone who has had to tape myself into a survival blanket to warm myself up aboard a small yacht after a hypothermically cold night in the Irish Sea (back in the heady days of ST issue 56), this product struck a chord immediately with me. It’s simply a foil survival blanket with built in arms and a hood, which can be fastened up at the front. It’s vacuum packed to keep it compact and aimed at all outdoor sports people. The entrepreneurs behind Surviva Jak appeared last year on BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den show, where smug tycoons patronise hapless inventors from behind a parapet of filthy lucre. This product though was one of the better ones, attracting investment from sour-faced
£9.99
of the boat made it difficult to Advertising Sales Executive into remain covered by my blanket, the blanket for 10 minutes for HIGHLY DED so I must have lost heat. our ‘test’. There were smiles EN RECOMM NDED OK RECOMME AccordingFIR toSthe all round when Joe survived, T LOmanufacturers, EST BUY EMIUM PRtempered Surviva Jak reflects up to 90 B though our joy was PRODUCT per cent of radiant heat and somewhat when he returned to is windproof and waterproof. full warmth and started coming There is all the usual marketing up with more suspiciously nonsense with the yellow advertorial feature ideas. JF sticky tape fastenings referred to as ‘Visifast high visibility WE LIKE resealable fastenings’, but it • Compactly vacuum packed. seems to do the trick, making • Clear improvement over what you feel very warm, very quickly is currently available. when you slip it on. I reckon it would be well worth putting WE DON’T LIKE Joe in survival mode. one for each crew member • Can’t be repacked. into your emergency grab bag ★★★★★ millionairess Deborah Meaden. and hoping you never have to Verdict When I had my survival blanket use them. At £9.99 you can’t At a tenner this is a pretty good experience, I would have really complain if it’s going to value insurance policy to have. benefited from the Surviva Jak’s save lives. While a traditional Contact Surviva arms, fastenings and hood, foil blanket is cheaper, it is Web: www.survivawear.com because the constant rolling clearly inferior. We placed ST’s Tel: 01792 414039
UY
BUDGET B
Whale Supersub Smart 650
£49.99
During this winter’s upgrade of Tinker, my ageing Jaguar 27, I decided to fit an electric bilge pump, reasoning that, as I tend to cruise singlehanded these days, the last thing I want to be doing should the boat be filling with water, is cranking a manual pump handle rather than calling for help on the VHF and getting the liferaft ready to launch. Tinker’s bilge is rather smaller and shallower than I’d like, but it does provide a sump into which any incoming water collects. With just 165mm clearance it was important to find a low profile pump if it was to be the Compact and easy to install, the Whale Supersub 650 shifts a healthy 32 litres per minute. submersible type. Looking around at block. It would have been the many available, preferable, however, if the virtually all were three wires had been in one mounted in the vertical single cable for improved plane, which meant neatness of installation. their clearance height The beauty of such a was too high for my low profile pump is that it sole board unless I can be fitted in really tight chose a really low spots, such as beneath the capacity pump, which engine, where I have now clearly I didn’t want to terminated the manual pump. do if possible. The reason for this is that I During Sailing can pump the diesel and oilToday’s last bilge Simply twisting the body allows you to to separate the pump motor. contaminated water manually pump test, carried is the sensor, which, unlike many back into place. The exit pipe into a container, rather than out by James Turner other automatic pumps, does has to exit either horizontally directly overboard. Of course, in in issue 148 (August 2009), not have a mercury-based ‘tilt or vertically, not at any angle in the event of us taking on serious he discovered the new Whale switch’ to activate it. Instead, between, which is fine if there’s water offshore, I can still divert Supersub range of low-profile Whale’s Smart pumps sense enough room to bend the pipe its output overboard and pump pumps from Irish manufacturer the presence of water using before exiting. In our case it for England. The pump comes Munster Simms, to which he an electric ‘field sensor’. This meant ensuring there was just with a year’s warranty. awarded our Premium Product mechanism, which has no enough distance between the DK label. I liked the clever design moving parts, has a built in pump and sole board to enable of the pump, the rotating/ ★★★★★ delay to avoid it being constantly the pipe to bend to the correct Verdict removable strainer and the triggered by a small, insignificant angle without pinching it. The This is a neat, ‘fit and forget’ unit in-built, float-free level-sensing wave of water washing back unit works best with a nonthat is easy to install, clean and circuitry. Furthermore, it has and forth in the bilges. It is a return valve fitted, otherwise the maintain. Does pretty much what a reasonable output as well, it says on the tin and has a good compared to many other three-wire device, so is intended contents of the pipe feed back output capacity for its size. compact pumps. The name for connection to a standard, into the bilge after the pump Supersub 650 stands for 650 two-way bilge switch for either has stopped. We used a Whale WE LIKE US gals/hr – the equivalent automatic or manual operation. non-return valve part no. LV1219 • Compact and easy to install of 40 ltr/min. That figure is Simply twisting the body to (£13.95), which, for the best • Long electrical cables quoted with no head of water allow the pump motor to be effect, should be fitted close • Easy to clean or non-return valve and once separated from the mounting to the pump. As seen, it does installed in Tinker, with a head bracket and strainer made appear to have a slight effect on WE DON’T LIKE of 0.96m from pump to skin installation much easier and output capacity, but very little. • Separate wires rather than fitting and 2.15m of ¾in piping, allowed us to align the pipe The pump is provided with 6ft three-core cable are untidy we measured it at a perfectly to exit at the preferred angle. (1.83m) of cable, which is a rare reasonable 32 ltr/min, while Then it was a simple job to bonus these days and means Contact: Whale Pumps drawing 3.5A of current from the attach the bracket to the plinth that it can be terminated well Tel: 028 9127 0531 battery when in full flow. with the screws provided and clear of any risk of bilge water Web: www.whalepumps.com The ‘Smart’ part of the pump ‘push ’n’ twist’ the pump body contamination to the terminal
NEW boat test
Caught on camera
That’ll be
the Dehler
Dehler has always been known for producing quality yachts with a pleasing dash of performance to them. Miles Kendall stepped aboard their new 32-footer to see if Dehler continues to delight. The first decade of the 21st century saw a shake up of the marine industry, a process that was accelerated by the credit crunch. Builders who could not make ends meet either went to the wall, were bought for a song by venture capitalists or were swallowed up by bigger brands. The latter was the fate of Dehler, the established German builder that was taken over by fellow boatbuilders, Hanse. Hanse was smart enough not to mess with the brand and has let Dehler play to 8 Sailing Today March 2011
its strengths, producing a limited number of fast cruiser-racers that are built to last. The Dehler 32 is the latest launch and the choice of Judel/Vrolijk as designers shows a desire for a fast hull. Pitched as ‘a quality yacht for competitive skippers’, the 32 is a welcome addition to the smaller end of the market. Few yachts position themselves as outand-out racers or solid and slow cruisers – instead they occupy the massive grey area, claiming to offer both performance
and comfort. This is certainly the case with the Dehler 32 and the three keel options, ranging from 1.98m to 1.43m, indicate that she is being pitched at a range of markets. Further options enable owners to fine tune their yacht’s racing capability. A Performance Pack costs £20,200, while other extras, such as side ports in the aft cabin and heads, will be considered essential by most buyers. Excluding them from the standard fit out is either >> disingenuous or shows a welcome
PHOTOS rod lewis
dehler 32
Washboards drop cleverly into the bridgedeck. A nifty storage solution.
Caught on camera: Dehler 32 boat test Did you know we’re now videoing our new boat tests? Created by our media partners Yachting TV, this web video, and others like it coming soon, will give you a real insight into the sights and sounds of an ST boat test. Visit www.sailingtoday. co.uk to view this test. Caught on camera
Visit www.yachtingtv.co.uk for this and more sailing cruising videos.
March 2011 Sailing Today 9
group test
Easily LED
Which LED navigation lights work the best? A gradual transfer from filament bulb to LED-lit navigation lights is taking place, which has raised a number of questions about conformity and suitability. Duncan Kent put a selection of lamps and clusters to the test to see how they would perform against their incandescent equivalents.
LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) have been around for several decades but, up until recently, were only ever used as indicators on panels or displays. Over the last ten or so years, however, people have begun to realise the eco-friendly properties of the humble LED – particularly in applications such as car and boat lighting, where power consumption and reliability are of the utmost importance. LEDs are nearly ten times as powerefficient as standard filament bulbs, as well as being considerably more resistant
to vibration and impact, so they appear to be the ideal solution for a sailing yacht’s navigation lights. Using a tenth of the power means not only can they be left on without the worry of flattening your batteries, but also the wiring required to power them can be considerably reduced in size, reducing weight aloft where masthead and steaming lights are situated. It is worth mentioning at this point that if you intend to keep the same wiring and just change the lamp unit to an LED one, the circuit protection fuse or breaker must remain the same, as it is there to protect the wiring, not the device.
lo po lig ht • he lla • aqu asigna l • 10 Sailing Today March 2011
Nasa •
Almost as important as their low power needs is their reliability. When a masthead tri-colour bulb blows it means a trip to the top of the mast to change it – something few yachtsmen are likely to want to do on the move. Being far less vulnerable to the typical jarring the masthead is likely to experience in rough sea states, LEDs are far less likely to blow during a bumpy passage. In fact, most of the top quality units are quoted as having a 50,000 hour lifespan! For this reason it’s not surprising they are currently quite a bit more expensive than the incandescent bulb types, but this is
lopolight • hella • aqu
led navigation lights most likely to change once LED navlights become the norm, which they inevitably will within a few years. Since the introduction of fullyapproved LED navlights, some sailing yacht owners are now questioning the need for a tricolour lamp at the masthead at all – and they have a point. After all, bi-colour and tri-colour lamps were originally invented simply to save power, using just one bulb rather than the three required for deck-level lights. But now that LED lamps are available that consume a tenth of the power of incandescent bulbs,
why not dispense with the tricolour and go back to deck-level side and stern lights? A number of commercial vessel Captains have even commented that they would prefer leisure craft to use decklevel lights anyway, as masthead lights tend to get lost in the background when viewed from a ship’s bridge – especially around busy areas and harbours. It’s important, though, to ensure deck-level navlights have a sufficient vertical viewing angle for them still to be clearly seen from the height of a commercial vessel’s bridge.
What not to do. A yacht motorsailing should be showing the lights of a power vessel – in this case the steaming light, side lights and stern light. The tri-colour at the masthead should not be lit as it is here!
rules & regulations VISIBLE RANGES FOR NAVLIGHTS For sailing yachts between 7m-12m LOA it is becoming common (but not necessarily correct) practice to use an all-round white light at the masthead (usually designated as an anchor light) as a combined steaming/stern light. This is probably why some of the manufacturers aren’t making an LED masthead (Aka steaming light with 225º visible arc) for mounting forward of the mast. For this to be correct, however, the all-round white should be visible over 2nm, which some aren’t, so check carefully before you buy. Length (LOA) Tri-colour Masthead/steaming light Sidelight Sternlight
7m-12m 2nm 2nm 1nm 2nm
COLREGS
A white steaming light above port and starboard sidelights and a stern light.
As we very regularly see sailing yachts incorrectly lit after dark, this might be a good time to remind folk of the correct navigation lights for vessels under way after dark. Please remember – a sailing vessel that is using it’s engine to power it along, with or without sails as well, must comply with the rules for a power vessel under way.
UNDER POWER Vessels below 7m LOA Either a single, all-round white light (minimum); or the same as those for 7m-20m yachts (preferable). Vessels between 7m-12m LOA Either a single, all-round white light above port and starboard sidelights; or a white steaming light above port and starboard sidelights and a stern light. Vessels between 12m-20m LOA
uasignal •
12m-20m 3nm 2nm 2nm 2nm
Sailing vessel under power upto 20m LOA. Steaming light
UNDER SAIL Vessels below 7m LOA Either a single all-round white light (minimum), or the same as those for 7m-20m yachts (preferable). Vessels between 7m-12m LOA Either a tri-colour lantern at the top of the mast; or deck-level bi-colour and stern light; or separate, deck-level port, starboard and stern lights. Vessels between 12m-20m LOA Either a deck-level bi-colour and sternlight; or separate, deck-level port, starboard and stern lights. Note ~ There is also the option to have an all-round red light over an all-round green light at or near the masthead, but this is rarely used these days on yachts under 20m LOA.
225°
Side lights 112.5° 112.5° Stern light 135°
Nasa • lopolight • hella • aquasignal •
Nasa • lopo
with All pics STewart Wheeler
practical
Faking It:
synthetic teak
How to lay teak effect deck When ST Art Editor Stewart Wheeler opted to clad his Westerly Centaur’s deck and cockpit with a modern, teak look PVC compound, we enlisted the help of Permateek expert Leigh Coda (above).
12 Sailing Today March 2011
The development of synthetic decking has given many sailors the opportunity to smarten up their yacht at a fraction of the cost of laying a real teak deck. This has meant that, while there can be few who would ever dream of laying a teak deck on a boat in the Westerly Centaur’s price bracket, the advent of synthetic teak decking has given cruisers a much more affordable means of getting their boat decked out. So successful have these products proved to be, that one of the main dilemmas is working out which company to go with: Permateek, Dekkit, Flexiteek, Fore Deck, Tek Dek, Dek King, Isiteek, Atlanteak, the list is endless and baffling. Basically though, most of these products use PVC, cork or epoxy based ‘planking’ strips, which are first glued and sometimes welded together and then laid out and glued onto the deck. All these products benefit from being relatively
cheap and low maintenance. A hose can be used to wash them off, while stains can be sanded out. Stewart opted to go with a combination of the DIY Dekkit for the relatively simple cockpit and clad the foredeck and side decks with professionally fitted Permateek. For this stage, we had Leigh Coda, a Permateek representative, on hand to help us out. “Permateek and Dekkit are much the same,” he explained: “The difference is that Permateek is a professional product only available in premade welded panels, which is best suited to more intricate patterns, with a more professional finish to edges, mitring and welded seams. “In the case of this Centaur, I wouldn’t generally recommend doing the foredeck and side decks yourself, as that’s relatively complicated. “On the other hand, the cockpit is pretty simple, so that makes the ideal DIY project. The beauty of
permateek decking Removing Treadmaster Tools: Pencil Sharp Stanley type craft knife Sanding block with 60 and 40 grit paper Metal straight edge or ruler Weights and/or masking tape Sanding block with 60 and 40 grit paper Floor roller or rolling pin Cartridge or sausage gun Glue spreader with 3mm teeth Weights/bricks taped up Offcuts of timber, such as ply or MDF Gaffer tape and double sided tape Power sander (If you intend to flatten nonslip areas)
Time: Preparation time: Less Treadmaster removal Templating: 1 day Building and cutting: Cockpit: 1 day Decks: 2-3 days
2 5
Chisel + hammer = swearing + blood.
Half moon knife (£25 from carpet shops).
Leigh likes to strip with his Fein Tool.
We’ll test Fein’s uses in a future issue.
DAY S
DAY S
Costs: 6m² of decking cost £594.00 Adhesive £115 For Permateek to make the decks from template supplied works out at £125 per square metre: £750 total. For professional fitting for the Centaur would be roughly £300 working out at £50 per square metre Permateek can now supply a full kit for the Westerly cockpit ready to fit including adhesive for just £295.00 plus p&p. Both Permateek and Dekkit are available from any of the Permateek distributors, a full list can be found at www.permateek.com.
Skill level: Cockpit only: Intermediate. Full fit: Expert.
our system is that you can do what you feel confident with and then get us to help out with the rest. It’s a good way to keep the costs down.” This is a handy wheeze, because it means you can do all the easy tasks, such as templating and actual deck laying, but when it comes to the tricky stuff, you can get the experts in to lend a hand. Most of the other manufacturers have a similar product line-up with a professionally fitted product alongside a DIY alternative. So, with a little help from the experts, here’s how we blinged up a Centaur.
Ah, the dreaded Treadmaster: Hugely effective, but so effective it’s almost impossible to remove. Whether its been glued down with contact adhesive or two pack epoxy, it’s incredibly tenacious. On this Centaur, it had turned a kind of unappealing sludge colour, so Stewart decided it had to go. You can glue Permateek over moderately uneven surfaces, but this was too much, so Stewart set to work with a hammer and chisel to try to get it off. An hour or so of bashing his thumb and swearing as he chipped away inch by inch persuaded him that this was not the best method, so he turned to another handy tool, the Half Moon Knife, used by carpet fitters. This scythed through nicely, but after another couple of
hours of manual labour, Stewart was casting around for something that little bit less labour intensive when Leigh from Permateek, who has removed more Treadmaster and old teak than he cares to remember offered to lend him his trusty Fein Tool. The vibrating blade on this tool took all the pain out of the remainder of the job, making very light work of a very laborious job. You could remove the glue with this tool, but there was a risk of gouging the glassfibre, so Stewart opted to sand the remaining glue off. Another trick here is to gently heat the epoxy with a hot air gun and then plane it back with a mechanical plane. Alternatively, a mechanical scraper such as the Bosch PE180E power scraper will work well.
Step-by-step guide 1
Step 1: Preparation You’re going to be gluing what is essentially a flexible panel onto your deck, >> so you need the surface to have no
Work in sections – foredeck, side decks, cockpit. Measure area with a large overlap then cut out the tracing sheet to size. It is essential to get the template accurate.
March 2011 Sailing Today 13
cruising
Crossing the
Arabian Sea
to Mumbai
Regular readers will be acquainted with Liz and Jamie’s exploits as they thread their way through pirate infested seas from Turkey to India as members of a cruising rally. Having made it to within 60 miles of their destination, the last thing they expected was the Indian navy to T-bone their yacht. hours, maintaining radio silence and using minimal navigation lights. Before making the plunge eastwards, we spent another night at anchor in a pristine bay. Ras al Hallaniyah, part of the Kuria Muria Islands, lies 125 miles north of Salalah. Knowing this would be our last chance to enjoy the deserted shores of Oman, we spent the day snorkelling and beachcombing among the white sands, beneath the dramatic red rock of this barren coast. We relished a few hours of unadulterated fun before the familiar threats of piracy, storms and equipment failure forced their way back into the forefront of our minds.
Salalah should have been where our convoy ended, but the pirates hadn’t finished with us yet. As we prepared to leave, a call came through from the UKMTO to tell us a ship had been hijacked 30 miles off the coast of Oman, bang in the middle of our proposed route. We were asked to stay for a few more days while they investigated the danger. With no further attacks occurring in the vicinity and an intense Omani naval presence, we took the decision to head out of Salalah on 5 April. The taskforce requested we stay together until well away from the danger zone. Once again we sailed together in convoy, checking in with the taskforce every six EUROPE
ASIA
Marmaris Sharm Luli AFRICA Sadla Island
14 Sailing Today March 2011
Mumbai Kochi Salalah
Indian Ocean
vasco da gama
>>
March 2011 Sailing Today 15
columnist
The Best Job in Sailing? Richard Falk ST’s man at the RYA keeps us abreast of the ups and downs of the latest safety and education issues around sailing. Earlier this year, when it was announced that I would be moving into the role of RYA Training Manager and Chief Examiner, my predecessor, James Stevens, took me to one side to congratulate me and winked as he informed me that I was about to step into the best job in sailing. It’s true! I have the pleasure of being responsible for a team of 23,500 instructors across almost 2500 RYA Recognised Training Centres in 44 countries around the world. This team delivers training to more than 200,000 people across disciplines varying from yachts to dinghies, personal watercraft to motor cruisers, canal boats and windsurfers. No two days are the same. One minute I find myself involved in training a new group of Yachtmaster examiners and the next I am overseas discussing the expansion of RYA training into another country. Best of all, I still get to play on boats of all shapes and sizes from dinghies right through to commercial vessels of all sizes. I was lucky enough to be born in Australia. I have spent most my life on, in or under the water. If it floats it interests me and a big part of my sailing career has involved teaching people to sail through the RYA training syllabus. In my role as an instructor, I have always had a huge respect for the RYA and its central tenet of education not legislation. I think it’s safe to say that ever since Bob Bond laid down the first foundations of the current RYA training syllabus way back in the late 60s, it has had a profound and positive effect on the way in which recreational boating has developed as a sport. Whether you’re a Day Skipper or Yachtmaster and proud of it, or have never taken an RYA course in your life, the RYA’s training scheme has been invaluable in ensuring that going sailing in the UK is not some kind of legislative headache and this, coupled with recreational boating’s admirable safety record in this country, makes our scheme something
to be cherished. The various RYA Training schemes are generally in very good shape and have benefited from the care and attention of the many people who have passed through over the years as instructors, coaches and general supporters of education on the water. As a consequence there is little that requires ‘fixing’ at present. However, as with any organisation, it is absolutely essential that our courses and training materials remain up to date and relevant. The next couple of years will see the continued updating of publications as well as the introduction of some new course offerings. The biggest development has been in the area of E-Learning with the introduction of the RYA’s first fully interactive online course in Essential Navigation and Seamanship. This is just one of a number of exciting offerings that will be provided via our new E-Learning platform. It is truly cutting edge in terms of the flexibility it provides students to learn from their own home, in their own time. I am very excited about it and early indications are that the boating public is captivated by it. It offers people new to boating, or those who are perhaps a bit rusty, a fantastic and convenient means of gaining the information and skills they are looking for and a means of unlocking their potential. I feel very passionate about training for cruising sailors and am eager to continue to ensure that RYA Training provides top quality courses, to promote safety and enjoyment on the water. While the bulk of our training centres are in the UK we will continue to encourage the growth of RYA Training internationally. Over the coming months I look forward to keeping you informed on current developments in cruising, both in the UK and overseas. Safe sailing and all the very best for the 2011 season.
Ever since Bob Bond laid the foundations of the RYA training syllabus, it has had a profound and positive effect on boating
Richard Falk RYA Training Manager and Chief Examiner
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