Sailing Today

CRUISING SVALBARD: 78º NORTH & COUNTING

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SAME GREAT TASTE!

187

NOVEMBER AUGUST 2012 2012

NOVEMBER 2012

ISSUE187

CRUISING: SVALBARD, BISCAY & MYKONOS

NEW BOAT TEST

• MY MARINA: CARDIFF BAY

SUNBEAM 36.1

USED BOAT TEST

HURLEY 20 MINI OCEAN CROSSER OR DATED DEATHTRAP?

THE BEST LUXURY SPORTS CRUISER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF

MY MARINA

CARDIFF BAY

THE FRESHWATER ALTERNATIVE

• USED: HURLEY 20

• NEW: SUNBEAM 36.1

• GROUP TEST: SAILING BOOTS

PRACTICAL

TREADMASTER TRADE TIPS ± TRICKS UNCOVERED

WWW.SAILINGTODAY.CO.UK

GROUP TEST

£4.20

WWW.SAILINGTODAY.CO.UK

SAILING BOOTS 10 TESTED FOR WARMTH, GRIP AND DRYNESS

WIN! RAYMARINE e7 MULTIFUNCTION DISPLAY

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WORTH £1,000 19/09/2012 14:03 11:57 17/09/2012

CONTENTS NOVEMBER 2012

WIN!

The all new Bear Grylls Ultimate Multi-tool

CRUISING 54 RALLY PORTUGAL

The Altendorffs share their experience of Rally Portugal, following their ST competition win.

PHOTO: LLOYD IMAGES

ISSUE187

62 SVALBARD DISCOVERED

Rob McCulloch discovers the enjoyment of extreme northerly cruising.

70 MILE BUILDING

Ivory Hackett-Evans investigates earning Yachtmaster miles on deliveries.

74 YOUR CRUISING

Would our three intrepid, landlocked cruisers make Guernsey for dinner?

78

78 MY MARINA: CARDIFF BAY

Jake Frith is impressed by the plethora of things to do around the bay of Wales’ capital.

84 CRUISING CUISINE

Julian Kimberley rustles up a yacht friendly taste of India with his Kegeree.

SEAMANSHIP 92 SWINGING MOORINGS PART II James Pearson moves onto the headsail approach; picking up a mooring downwind.

PRACTICAL 96 ESSENTIAL TOOLS

The best techniques to keep those precious tools sharp, from saws to scrapers.

54

98 TREADMASTER

Jake Kavanagh offers up his top tips for replacing and repairing Treadmaster.

102 Q&AS

Nick Vass answers your questions on Tacktick instruments, bargain engines and best motorsailors to ‘take the mud’.

WIN! 13 FORCE 4 VOUCHER WORTH £50

Solve the famous Sailing Today crossword and earn £50 to spend at your favourite chandlery.

52 RAYMARINE e7 WORTH £1,000

Raymarine offers ST readers the chance to win an e7 Multi Function Display.

98

04 NOVEMBER 2012

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EDITORIAL TEAM EDITOR JAKE FRITH 01489 585213 jake.frith@sailingtoday.co.uk NEWS AND FEATURES TOBY HEPPELL 01489 585203 toby.heppell@sailingtoday.co.uk TECHNICAL CONSULTANT DUNCAN KENT duncan.kent@sailingtoday.co.uk COLUMNISTS COLIN JARMAN colin.jarman@sailingtoday.co.uk NICK VASS nick.vass@sailingtoday.co.uk RICHARD FALK ANDY CUNNINGHAM FEATURE WRITERS ROB MCCULLOCH DAVID PARKER JAMES PEARSON JAKE KAVANAGH RUSS ALTENDORFF

ART & PRODUCTION ART & PRODUCTION MANAGER GUY FOAN 01489 585214 guy.foan@sailingtoday.co.uk ILLUSTRATOR ALASTAIR GARROD alastair.garrod@sailingtoday.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHY RICK BUETTNER ROD LEWIS PHOTO MANIPULATION CHRIS STOCKER www.chris-stocker.co.uk CARTOONIST JAKE KAVANAGH jake.kavangh@sailingtoday.co.uk

62 IN SEARCH OF POLAR BEARS; CRUISING IN SVALBARD.

ADVERTISING 01489 585224

NOVEMBER 2012

ISSUE187

AD MANAGER SARAH PAIN 01489 585207 sarah.pain@sailingtoday.co.uk CLASSIFIED SALES EXECUTIVE GEMMA FOSTER 01489 585210 gemma.foster@cslpublishing.com

PUBLISHING PUBLISHER JAYNE BENNETT 01489 585200 jayne.bennett@sailingtoday.co.uk NEW LOOK SAME GREAT TASTE!

187

NOVEMBER AUGUST 2012 2012 CRUISING: SVALBARD, BISCAY & MYKONOS

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CRUISING SVALBARD: 78º NORTH & COUNTING SAILING TODAY

BACK ISSUES

NOVEMBER 2012

ISSUE187 NEW BOAT TEST

• MY MARINA: CARDIFF BAY • USED: HURLEY 20 • NEW: SUNBEAM 36.1 • GROUP TEST: SAILING BOOTS

SUNBEAM 36.1

USED BOAT TEST

HURLEY 20 MINI OCEAN CROSSER OR DATED DEATHTRAP?

THE BEST LUXURY SPORTS CRUISER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF

MY MARINA

CARDIFF BAY

THE FRESHWATER ALTERNATIVE

PRACTICAL

TREADMASTER TRADE TIPS ± TRICKS UNCOVERED

WWW.SAILINGTODAY.CO.UK

GROUP TEST

£4.20

WWW.SAILINGTODAY.CO.UK

SAILING BOOTS 10 TESTED FOR WARMTH, GRIP AND DRYNESS

WIN! RAYMARINE e7 MULTIFUNCTION DISPLAY

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CSL Publishing Ltd, Swanwick Marina, Lower Swanwick, Southampton SO31 1ZL Sailing Today magazine is copyright CSL Publishing Ltd 2012 and none of the following pages can be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher. CSL prints advertisements provided to the publisher but gives no warranty and makes no representation as to truth, accuracy or sufficiency of any description, photograph or statement. CSL accepts no liability for any loss,which may be suffered by any person who relied either wholly or in part upon any description, photograph or statement contained herein. The advertiser warrants that the advertisement does not contravene any Act of Parliament nor is it in any way illegal or defamatory or an infringement of any other party’s rights or of the British Code of Advertising Practice. CSL Publishing Ltd, the UK’s leading independent publisher of Marine magazines also publishes All At Sea.

W

SHOW BUSINESS

e are great fans of the Southampton Boat Show here at Sailing Today. Over the last few years though, the expansiveness of the event has diminished each visit. This has been a saddening sight, and not just because we like to see the marine sector in which we work in rude financial health. There’s also the matter of the market for luxury goods, (which, lets face it, boats and equipment are very much part of), reflecting the hope in the economy generally. Well, by the time that this magazine hits the shelves the official figures for the show will be revealed, but having just returned from Press and Preview day at the show, I’m pleased to report tentatively that things appear to be looking up from what I could see. Where in the last couple of years the holes between stands were getting more noticeable than the stands themselves in places, this year numerous new start up companies have appeared, sprouting up to fill the gaps. Lets all hope it’s the start of things to come. You can see our first impressions of some of the more exciting boats and bits launched at the Show starting on p-34.

Staying on a positive and economically upbeat note (surely somebody has to), it’s also been great to read this month of a return to our shores for Sunbeam Yachts.

These Austrian built performance cruisers have been out of the UK market for four years, but are now being supplied by the Malo dealer in Lymington. Duncan Kent donned his signature beard and sunglasses to put Sunbeam’s elegant new 36.1 through her paces on p-40. Meanwhile, back at Swanwick, Toby Heppell has accepted his dual punishment for being our latest and youngest staff member with good humour.

Firstly we forced him into the marina (Gear on test; p-22), and after that failed to break his spirit we made him sail a bilge keel Hurley 20 upwind in a blow with no reefing lines aboard. (Used boat test; p-46). That the Hurley ‘wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be’ was praise indeed for a boat that was approaching her 50th birthday. To underline our suspicions that Nick Vass is umbilically connected to every Hurley yacht ever made, Nick then tossed in the revelation that the 20 we tested was actually his first boat.

Jake Frith

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GEAR & EQUIPMENT

GROUP TEST BOOTING UP FOR

WINTER

USEFUL CONTACTS Chatham Marine 0845 2700 217 www.chatham-marine.co.uk Dubarry +353 90 9642348 www.dubarry.com Henri Lloyd 0161 799 1212 www.henrilloyd.co.uk Musto 01268 491555 www.musto.com Sebago 020 7860 0100 www.sebago.com/uk Toggi 0113 270 7000 www.toggi.com Crewsaver 023 9252 8621 www.crewsaver.co.uk Gill Marine 0115 946 0844 www.gillmarine.com Gul 01208 262400 www.gul.co.uk 28 NOVEMBER 2012

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GROUP TEST

SAILING BOOTS With winter coming up fast those of you who like to get the best out of your boats by continuing to sail throughout the year will be looking to find the ideal pair of sailing boots to keep your feet warm and dry. The ST team took a selection of leather, Gore-Tex and rubber boots and put them to the test.

T

here is a plethora of different types of sailing boot available for sailors these days with a mind-boggling list of ‘features’ that each can supposedly offer the wearer. Here we take a look at many of these to see if they are real must-have features or mere marketing gimmickry.

SOLES

Razor-cut soles aren’t new, but they appear to still be favoured by the majority of sailing shoe and boot makers. Each boot we tried had a slightly different style of grippy sole and we did indeed find the razor-cut type to be good in most conditions. From experience I have found them to be pretty poor on icy decks – but then very few boots or The razor cut sole shoes are designed favoured by Musto. with this type of sailing in mind!

Unlike a car tyre, which can dissipate water rapidly from its grooves by highspeed rotation, sailing footwear only has

Gore-Tex, leather or rubber – but which is best?

the motion of the foot bending to help it remove water from under the sole.

What I find more important for grip in the dry is the type of compound the sole is made from. The ‘stickier’ it is the better. But many modern shoe sole compounds are of the harder, more plasticky type, which doesn’t attain its full grip until the surface has been suitably scrubbed – ie worn on the pavement for a

GRIP TEST

RESULTS MAKE MODEL CRUZ CHATHAM ULTIMA DUBARRY HENRI LLOYD SHADOW LEATHER/HPX MUSTO** HPX MUSTO MARINE SQUALL SEBAGO COWES BOOT TOGGI** LONG BOOT CREWSAVER TALL BOOT GILL DECK BOOTS GUL TOBY HEPPELL BARE FEET **USED ONE SEASON

DRY BOARD 46º 43º 44º 40º 42º 43º 45º 40º 40º 46º 37º

WET BOARD 48º 41º 44º 44º 42º 42º 46º 44º 44º 48º 38º

DRY FLEXITEEK 46º 46º 44º 36º 40º 42º 39º 43º 42º 44º 37º

WET FLEXITEEK 50º 47º 45º 45º 47º 49º 39º 44º 45º 48º 43º

TOTAL 190 177 177 165 171 176 169 171 171 186 155

while to wear them in.

Heels are not required on sailing footwear and, if anything, can cause problems by reducing the surface area of sole in contact with the deck. Some boots also offer shock-absorbing soles or foot beds, but I can’t imagine this feature being uppermost in my choice, unless it also offered better insulation from the cold.

UPPERS

There are two basic types of sailing boot – the welly and the leather/material boot. Calling the first wellies is a bit of a misnomer really as they often have a good number of features unique to the nautical world. Their upper, though, are nearly always made from rubberised material, which will be 100 percent waterproof. Nice additions include soft material tops – often with drawstrings to let them seal more tightly around the calf.

The trendier leather type boots are considerably more expensive than the humble welly, but then they’re also a good deal warmer and more comfortable over long periods. Many have leather for the first few inches, then a more breathable material such as Gore-Tex further up. Some have removable linings and others an outer waterproof layer that acts as a sort of NOVEMBER 2012 29

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Gear & NeW BOaTS

ST uncovers the best on offer at the show.

pick of the show There were a good number of new boats and interesting gadgets on display at this year’s Southampton Boat Show. As we went to press, Duncan Kent had a poke about all the stands to uncover what we think will be the boats bits and bobs that we’ll still be talking about in a couple of years’ time.

new BoAts allureS 45 frOm £320,000 one of the more distinctive yachts at the show was the French-built Allures 45. She has an aluminium hull and decks, but unlike the more well-known alloy ovnis, she sports a round, rather than hard chine hull, so she is pretty much indistinguishable from a GrP boat.

To help keep top-heaviness at bay she has a GrP coachroof, which also allows a greater flexibility with styling. below, she comes in a two- or three-cabin layout – the former being the most popular for blue water cruising as it leaves room in the stern for a technical room. The show boat was built for an owner who intends to go off world cruising and will be installing a washing machine, generator and water maker in this space, as well as having a tool bench and myriad drawers for bits and pieces.

Standard kit includes built-in solar panels, watertight bulkhead, deep sail locker and large tank capacities for extended ocean cruising – plus an impressive list of top quality fittings. She also has a lifting centreboard for shallow channels, which is only lightly ballasted so it can be hoisted up and down easily using a relatively light-duty manual block and tackle system.

Builder: allureS YachTiNG WWW.allureS.fr uK aGeNTS: WilliamS & SmiThellS Tel: 01329 827053 WeB: WWW.WilliamSaNdSmiThellS.cO.uK

hallBerG raSSY 412 frOm £380,680 For those who love this renowned Swedish boatyard’s quality of build and attention to detail, but prefer an aft cockpit to a central one, this could be the answer. built for exhilarating but safe ocean cruising, Hallberg rassy’s new 412 is a stunning blend of classic and modern luxury.

As with the majority of serious passage-making yachts she has a deep cockpit and single helm, but still plenty of cockpit space to entertain guests and have reasonable access to the swimming platform aft.

As you descend her companionway steps you are engulfed in a warm, woody world where the joinery matches that of the finest cabinet maker and even the grain is carefully matched for a perfect overall blend of the utmost quality.

She is unashamedly traditional, but still offers all the very latest options for onboard living. Her large portlights all open to give excellent ventilation below and a massive skylight and hull ports lighten up the whole saloon.

Available with two or three cabins and one or two heads, she also has a large, forward-facing chart table and there is bags of stowage.

Builder: hallBerG raSSY WWW.hallBerG-raSSY.cOm uK aGeNTS: TraNSWOrld YachTS Tel: 023 8045 4000 WeB: WWW.TraNSWOrld-YachTS.cO.uK

34 November 2012

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18/09/2012 14:30

AT THE SHOW

Photos: RicK BuettneR

caTaNa 42 frOm £357,945

JeaNNeau SuN OdYSSeY 41dS frOm £151,122 Jeanneau’s Sun odyssey deck saloon range provides the same comfort and performance of its cruising range of yachts, but with the extra space and natural light that a raised coachroof offers below.

The new 41DS, built on the same hull as the successful S/o409, has a massive owner’s cabin aft, with ensuite heads and shower, together with an equally sumptuous vIP ensuite guest cabin forward. The spacious saloon seating also doubles up into another double berth if required, by dropping the table down.

The galley is well equipped with plenty of useful stowage, although the hard white moulded resin sink and worktop might not be to everyone’s taste. on deck her cockpit is roomy enough for four to eat al fresco and 6-8 for drinks in comfort. With twin helms and smallish wheels access to the water aft is easy.

For a further £20k she can also be supplied with the optional PoD 60 Docking System, in which awkward berthing is assisted by bow and stern thrusters operated by an intuitive single joystick control.

Builder: hallBerG raSSY WWW.hallBerG-raSSY.cOm uK aGeNTS: TraNSWOrld YachTS Tel: 023 8045 4000 WeB: WWW.TraNSWOrld-YachTS.cO.uK

These spacious cruising catamarans are built on the Atlantic coast of France and are a common sight in world rallies and anchored off distant exotic shores. Stable and hugely roomy, the Catana 42 offers you an amazing amount of bang for your buck. but she has one important difference from many other cruising cats – her daggerboards. Although these give you another thing to do when tacking, they not only assist her when going to windward (in my experience this can result in at least 15deg less leeway), but they can also be retracted when creeping up to the shallows, taking the ground on a beach, flying downwind or when caught out in very heavy seas to stop her tripping over her leeward hull and capsizing. outside space is more than twice what you get on the equivalent length monohull, starting with her massive cockpit, which offers twin helm stations to help you when berthing and seating for six.

There’s the netting trampoline forward for sunbathing and keeping cool and she has a large fixed bimini for shade, which is also a perfect mounting area for solar panels.

A true cruising vessel, the Catana’s spacious luxury continues down below. Her saloon comes in two layouts, depending on whether you order the owner’s (three cabins/two heads) or charter (four cabins two heads) version. The former has one hull entirely dedicated to the owners, with a large heads and shower compartment in the forward section of the hull. It also has a forward-looking navigation station, seating for six to eight at the saloon dining table and a large, well equipped galley.

Builder: caTaNa YachTS WWW.caTaNa.cOm uK aGeNTS: rOBerT uNderWOOd mulTihullS Tel: 01621 784199 WeB: WWW.rumulTi.cOm

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SunBeam 36.1

Not sold in the UK for some four years, the Austrian-made Sunbeam cruising yachts are now available again from the Malo dealer in Lymington.

Does the new Sunbeam brood live up to the yard’s reputation for building solid, high-quality yachts? Duncan Kent took the new 36.1 for a thrash around an autumnally breezy Western Solent to find out. made for the past 60+ years on the edge of Lake mattsee, near Salzburg, Austria, Sunbeam yachts have always been elegant, sleek-looking and well built, and the 36.1 is no different. Her sporty lines, seductive sheer and streamlined coachroof give her a timeless, classic appearance that looks well balanced and easy on the eye.

In many ways the design is quite oldfashioned. She has a relatively conservative beam, traditional cockpit layout and a single aft cabin. but in other ways she is innovative and modern thanks to recessed hatches, covered control lines and an easily managed, cruising orientated sail plan.

Photos: ricK Buettner

40 November 2012

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TESTED

NEW BOAT TEST

SUNBEAM 36.1 November 2012 41

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HUNTER 20 HURLEY 20

ABOUT THE OWNER

TESTED

Roger Powell came to sailing rather late in life after searching for a weekend diversion. He had some memories of occasional sailing with his father and decided in his 40s to get back on the water. One year before our test, Roger acquired Big Easy and has been busy fettling her since. In the last year, Roger has been renewing his sailing knowledge and is yet to make any major voyages. He plans to visit the Isle of Wight soon though.

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USED BOAT TEST

HURLEY 20 Could a small, family oriented, 1960s cruiser still provide the fun and practicality offered when it was first produced? We took to the waters of Poole Harbour to put a Hurley 20 through its paces.

W

ere I to summarise my experience sailing a Hurley 20 I believe the best word to use would be ‘capable’. To some, this may seem like damming with faint praise, the word is oft used in Brokerage parlance and is the boating equivalent of that classic estate agents’ choice, ‘cozy’.

In this instance, however, it is the word of choice, as the Hurley knows what is required and does it with minimum fuss.

Designed in the 1960s by Ian Anderson, the Hurley 20 was predominantly marketed at a family of four. The concept was to produce a cruiser that was safe at sea but appealed to the dinghy sailor wanting to upgrade and go on slightly longer voyages with children in tow.

Interestingly this is exactly the process Roger Powell, owner of our test steed, Big Easy, went through, having upgraded from a Laser 17.

Below the waterline, the yacht was originally offered in two configurations.

The majority of those purchased were the twin moulded bilge keels containing interior ballast set in resins. This twin keel configuration allowed the boat to be parked on a drying morning and head into

shallower waters. Drawing an extra 20cm, the fin keel offered better performance but had the disadvantage of not being able to dry out in the same way.

Beyond the keel configuration there was little variation from boat to boat. Each Hurley 20 came as standard with mainsail and working jib, but an upgrade spinnaker and genoa were also offered for the racing sailor (rather an optimistic idea to my mind.) Aluminium spars and stainless steel deck fittings all came as standard which has aided longevity.

Frankly, prior to my meeting with Roger, I was a little concerned about exactly how much fun the day was going to be. We are all, I am sure, aware of the behavioural characteristics of a small bilge keeled cruiser and the breeze gusting up to around 18kn was doing little to soothe my concerns. Stepping up and off the trusty Sailing Today RIB onto the side of Big Easy saw her display a rather alarming amount of heel considering my not overly huge frame. The thought of battling upwind with constant knockdowns was not far from my mind as we began preparing sails and I headed below for a nose around.

THE SPEC HURLEY 20:SPEC PRICE FROM £1,800 THE

PHOTOS: ROD LEWIS

H20

H20

LOA 20ft (6.09m) LWL 18ft (5.49m) Beam 7ft 1in ( 2.16m) Draught: Bilge Keel 2ft 7in (0.79m) Fin Keel 3ft 3in (0.99)

Ballast 1,000lb (454kg) Sail Area 185sq ft (17.2 sqm) Berths 4 Production 1966 - 1971 Designers Ian Anderson Builder Hurley Yachts

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CRUISING 15 14

16

13

Longyearbyen 12

11 Spitsbergen 10 9 27 May – Joined Southern Star 1 28 May – Dep. Tromso, Strong N winds, sleet & snow. Moored Lyngen 29 May – Waited for wind to moderate.

2 31 May – Dep. Lyngen. Cold grey poor vis & N wind 3 NW Bank clearing mainland, lumpy with quartering sea.

4, 5, 6 On passage North. Mainly cold grey, no horizon.

7 1 June – Bear Island.

8 2 June – On passage, ice on horizon.

9 Approaching Sorkapp 10 Driven West by sea ice off Skorkapp Land 11 3 June – North along Yarlsbergland vis improving wind mainly North 12 4 June – Fridjohamna within Bellsund 13 5 June – At mouth of Isfjord.

14 6 June – Ymerbukta within Isfjord 15 7 June – Borebukta within Isfjord.

16 8 June – Sailed South to Longyearbyen 9 June – Explored Longyearbyen

Spitsbergen 8

ROUTE MAP

Edgeoa

Bank

7

Bjornoya 6

5 4 3 2 1 Tromso

Isles Rob and Robert’s journeyLofoton through the ice.

I

quickly learned that Spitzbergen was considerably further north than Cape Horn is south. Spitsbergen is part of a huge archipelago called Svalbard and reaching 80 deg north is just about as far as anyone can sail without it being a highly specialised polar expedition. Very exciting and incredible to think that an ordinary, amateur sailor like me could even consider such an undertaking.

On further investigation, though, it turned out few yachts venture so far north, especially in late spring. However, French skipper Olivier Pitras was offering berths on his yacht Southern Star. He was bound from Tromsø to Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen with a brief stopover on Bjørnøya (Bear Island). A friend, Robert, agreed to join me and we bagged the last two berths on the voyage.

We aimed to leave Tromsø (north Norway) in late May which is really quite early for sailing as ice stretches from the pole as far as Svalbard in winter and only retreats under the relentless glare of the polar 24 hour summer sunlight. Providing the ice had cleared, we would be the first to explore some fjords since the previous brief summer gave way to the ice.

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SVALBARD

NORTH BY YACHT TWO YEARS AGO, ROB MCCULLOCH WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO SAIL ROUND CAPE HORN, AND ST WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO COVER HIS STORY IN OUR JUNE 2010 EDITION. THIS WHETTED HIS APPETITE FOR FURTHER EXTREME CHARTERING, AND SO HIS THOUGHTS TURNED TO THE SVALBARD ARCHIPELAGO. PHOTOS: ROB MCCULLOCH

Main: Beautiful scenery and real adventure. Right: Rob and Robert.

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MYMARINA Penarth

Barrage Channel

Wrach Channel Outer Harbour Lock 3 Lock 2 Lock 1

Sluice gates, keep clear

Cardiff Barrage

Cardiff Bay

CARDIFF BAY SoUth gLAMoRgAn

SELDOM HAVE REJUVENATIONS OF DISUSED COMMERCIAL PORTS BEEN AS SUCCESSFUL AS THAT OF THE WELSH CAPITAL. JAKE FRITH INVESTIGATES.

B

ack in the year 2000, long before bird flu and editorial budget cuts, the ‘Sailing Today Gull’ flapped and croaked its way over Cardiff’s newly developed waterfront. reading back through this original ‘Gull’s eye’ article it’s clear the leisure development was still very much a work in progress. Where there are now retail parks, a whitewater canoeing course and an international standard swimming pool, in 2000 there were acres of wasteland. Where the turn of the millennium chartlet for much of the western part of the bay promised ‘depths unknown (dredging planned to depth of 2.5m)’, the bay now boasts 2.5 metres or more anywhere anybody is likely to want to put a boat.

In little more than a decade the area has been transformed into a resource that

Cardiff can rightfully and proudly claim is one of the most successful waterfront regenerations in the world. Apart from the barrage’s very real civil engineering achievement of taming the savage tides of the bristol Channel to create a two square kilometre freshwater lake accessible at any state of tide, (amazingly keeping the bay water fresh despite salt water lock movements), the development has transformed the availability of watersports of all kinds for residents and visitors to the Welsh capital. You can barely take three steps in any direction without feeling spiritually enriched by some kind of public art, socially cohesive event, or carefully considered green space; everything has been worked out and incorporated into an effective whole. We spent two full days in the bay and barely scratched

the surface of the diversions available to visiting yachtsmen. Cardiff centre itself is considered to be a mile or so to the north, but short of visiting the castle there were few things that led us out of the bay area, which really has everything that most shortterm visitors could ever want.

As with any massive urban development, there has been plenty of dissention along the way. various nature lobbies have been pretty upset from the start; there’s nothing like flooding an important inter-tidal area for breeding wading birds to light the touch paper there. Then there’s the sailors who were perfectly happy to be able to sail their 18ft bilge keeler only an hour either side of HW but pay presumably much less to moor it. However, most would agree that their loss has been visiting sailors’ and broadly speaking the city of Cardiff’s gain.

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PHOTO: LLOYD IMAGES

CARDIFF BAY BeRthIng AnD FACILItIeS

EXTREME VISIT

PHOTO: NICK TREHARNE

Our trip to Cardiff Bay coincided with the first of three annual visits of the vivid Extreme Sailing Series. Anybody planning to visit the Bay in summer 2013 or 2014 would be well advised to plan it to coincide with this awe inspiring spectacle. The blow-by-blow commentary really brings the racing to life, plus what better way to see the sights than with the flying hulls of a fleet of hard racing catamarans flashing by at 30kn in the foreground!

All leisure craft berthing is accessed through the three locks and their lifting bridges on the barrage. Ignore the commercial docks to the north east which are out of bounds for leisure traffic and accessed via a lock at the northern end of the Wrach Channel.

SHORT STAY VISITOR MOORINGS The Harbour Authority provides short stay visitor pontoon moorings within the Bay which operate on a first come first served basis and use carpark type pay and display machines. Charges are £2 for a 2 hour stay.

These pontoons are located adjacent to Mermaid Quay and are aimed at short stay visitors only as no water or electricity are provided. During certain events access to these pontoons may be limited.

LONG STAY VISITOR MOORINGS longer stay bookable berths are available at four locations within the bay: Penarth Quays Marina £1.80/m (Short stay-£11) Entering the Bay, this is the first marina that can be seen immediately to port. It consists of an inner and outer basin separated by a swing bridge. T: (029) 2070 5021 www.quaymarinas.com

www.extremesailingseries.com Cardiff Bay YC; home for Martin and Sian.

A WARM WeLCoMe

MARTIN AND SIAN GIFFORD – BAVARIA 35 KERENZA

For martin and Sian, who live just 15 miles away in Newport, the decision to base Kerenza at Cardiff bay Yacht Club was a straightforward one; “we were boatless at the time the barrage was being built, but some years before we had a Gibsea 27 in Neyland. There was lots of excitement while the development of Cardiff was going through, and this new deep water port on the horizon with all tide access and our changing circumstances led us to consider boat ownership again.” CbYC is a very lively setup with a keen dinghy section and a well travelled cruising and racing yacht membership. martin was soon encouraged to dabble in a bit of yacht racing; “The beauty of racing here is that on week nights in the summer it takes place in the bay, then for those who wish to venture out through the locks on Sundays we run another series of longer, tidal races. racing in the bay is almost never called off due to weather conditions so we can plan big series and we always have it as

a backup location for the offshore races too.” racing in the bay is taken seriously and as martin doesn’t want to risk Kerenza’s topsides in any port/starboard incidents, he crews on a friend’s beneteau 31.7 instead. The couple bought Kerenza from a West Country based cruising school, so she had had a pretty hard first few years of life. She was reasonably priced but martin has worked hard to bring her up to the impressive condition she is in today.

Her original, rather tired, non slip decks were enhanced with professionally fitted Tek-Dek synthethic teak which has lifted the overall feel of the boat. martin also used his techy experience as a former bbC music engineer to fully rewire Kerenza to much better than her new specification, right down to luxuries such as a bespoke wireless broadband network. When we met martin and Sian they had just returned from a weekend cruise to bristol. Arranged by the delightfully named SWoG (South Wales

Cardiff Marine Group £1.60/m Just to the north of the entrance to Penarth Quays lies the mouth of the River Ely. 1000 metres up the Ely lies Cardiff Marina with 50 visitor berths available ranged up the river.

In addition, Cardiff Marine Services offer a range of yard services. T: (029) 2034 3459 www.cardiffmarinegroup.com Cardiff Bay Yacht Club: Situated on the River Ely Peninsula on the north bank of the river, CBYC offers visitor moorings for members and affiliates only. Visitors should call in advance. T: (029) 2066 6627 www.cbyc.co.uk Cardiff Yacht Club: CYC is located just to the east of the prominent A4232 bridge over the River Taff. Visitor pontoons are of the plastic block type. These moorings are for members or those affiliated through the RYA and CYC by prior arrangement only.

T: (029) 2046 3697 www.cardiffyachtclub.org

offshore Group) it’s one of many jaunts organised by this sub-club of CbYC. It is just as usual though for Kerenza to point her bows north, up to the pay and display moorings at mermaid Quay for her owners to catch a show or a bit of shopping, as it is for her to head out through the sea-locks and go further afield.

November 2012 79

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HAMBLE I PLYMOUTH

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