Americas Cup AC72 Catamaran Launch in Auckland New Zealand

With much fanfare and palpable excitement the Emirates Team New Zealand 

Americas Cup AC72 catamaran has been launched at the Viaduct Basin in downtown Auckland.

These new machines are massive beasts and absolutely dwarf the AC45 cats

the teams have been racing in the World Series up until now.



AC72 Official Launch - Auckland

The skills learned under racing conditions on the smaller vessels will now be tested to the max on the huge AC72 and I would suspect that all crews will be approaching the challenge with a strong mixture of excitement and trepidation. It will be like going to a whole new level (when you compare the size difference) of skillset and no doubt a scary proposition for every crew member.

The speed alone is something that will take time to adjust to and then the height the outside sponson will be above the water in the event of a capsize. A crew member hanging on and looking down with the prospect of falling, will be dangling almost 50ft above the water! a position every crew will be praying that they never find themselves in....?  

Size comparison Artemis AC45 and AC72

The video also gives an impression of the size of the AC72 as you walk around the hull - note all the various lifting and placement equipment - the crew are involved in a very complex and delicate task getting the huge wing up and the boat rigged, ready to go splash - which she does shortly after.


For the more technical of you, cast your eye over the spec. chart below to get an idea of the difference in size of the two classes of boats.

Specification chart comparison AC45 and AC72

When one considers the funding required to keep these challenges afloat (excuse the pun), it becomes blatantly obvious that none would survive if it weren't for the wide range of sponsors that support them. Emirates Team New Zealand have added one or two more in recent times and I am sure the other teams have a similar need.

With the launch of these amazing vessels the stage is now set to witness probably the most spectacular Americas Cup ever, with many rounds to go yet before reaching the final races in San Franscisco in July 2013 - watch this space. 

You can read more about racing around the cans in a much more modest fashion whilst cruising, in my ebook 'Sailing Adventures in Paradise', downloadable from my website www.sailboat2dventure.com

Sailboat Varnish Brightwork Maintenance that Glows

Varnishing your brightwork on your boat can be a time consuming affair, especially if you have let it go too long and deep sanding becomes necessary. So, as in all things, frequency is the key and you will find you can quite easily keep on top of it. You can varnish at sea on calm days when there is no spray flying, idle hours in a foreign port put to good use and of course the annual spruce up will undoubtedly include some varnishing in the programme.

As  the following article explains there is nothing more satisfying than examining your handiwork on completion of that deep burnished glow of freshly varnished timber (teak or otherwise) that helps to keep your vessel looking in top shipshape fashion.



Reflections in the Glowing Varnish Work 

'Varnishing wood on a boat is relaxing and rewarding. The look and feel of nicely varnished teak or mahogany enhances the appearance of any boat, even if it only has a little bit of wood. Keeping wood varnished is also an excellent way to make it easier to clean and to preserve it over many years.

Varnish will preserve marine woodwork in the condition it was in the day it was varnished. That means any blemish, residual stain, or dirt left on the wood will be preserved forever, so it is important that the wood be properly sanded and cleaned before varnish is applied.

Old varnish that cannot be recoated must be completely removed. I use a chemical stripper or a heat gun to remove it, then sand. If you leave the old varnish, it will look bright yellow underneath the new varnish, so be very thorough when removing old varnish.

If you are just recoating existing varnish, clean thoroughly and sand lightly with fine sandpaper. When building up coats of varnish, keep sanding to a minimum and use 220 sandpaper or higher. Always keep the varnish area as free of dust as possible. Each speck of dust that finds its way into wet varnish seems to turn into a boulder when the varnish has dried, and you cannot sand it out without losing the entire coat of varnish in that area.

Varnishing Over Oil

Contrary to what you may hear, you can apply varnish to wood that has previously been treated with oil. One of the main ingredients of varnish is oil, so the idea that varnish and oil are incompatible is obviously false. There are other chemicals involved, so it is a good idea to test your particular combination of oil and varnish on an unobtrusive spot to verify that there will be no problem with the varnish sticking and curing properly.

The only problem I have encountered when varnishing wood that was previously oiled is that oiled wood tends to gather dirt and dust and also tends to clog sandpaper. I like to give oiled wood a good cleaning with a scrub brush and some Dawn dishwashing detergent before attempting to sand it.

Choosing Your Brushes for Varnishing

I have used all kinds of brushes to apply varnish. I have learned the hard way why a good varnish brush costs more money: it's worth it. I have also learned that I can do pretty darn well with disposable foam brushes, so I use those. If you keep them well soaked and move slowly along the grain of the wood, the varnish flows on nice and smooth with few bubbles.

High-quality brushes for varnishing are more expensive, but do a much better job than the cheap brushes. The less-expensive disposable foam brushes also work very well.

If bubbles form while the varnish is wet, you can usually just blow on them and they will usually pop and even out as the varnish dries.

One of the reasons it is not a good idea to varnish in direct sunlight is that wood that is being heated will expel a little bit of air, which encourages bubbles to form as the varnish dries. Such a bubble is just like letting a piece of dust settle in wet varnish: it can't be removed without losing the whole coat of varnish in that area. It must be completely sanded out, or it will always be visible. If you must varnish in direct sunlight, do it late in the day when the wood is cooling off and drawing in air, and use some thinner to make the varnish flow more easily in the heat.

Applying the Varnish

Varnish should be applied in a smooth film, brushing from the dry area into the wet edge and then gently and evenly lifting the brush. Dragging a corner of the brush or allowing a drip of varnish to fall as you lift the brush are common mistakes, and avoiding them just takes practice. Try to learn on an unobtrusive area, and have a plan to complete the entire job while maintaining a wet edge. If it is not possible to maintain a wet edge, plan to make the "seam" where varnish coats meet occur along edges so it will not stand out.



Grab Rails Glowing

Sanding between coats should only be done with extra fine sandpaper, and only very gently. Some people do not sand at all between coats, but just wipe down the previous coat with laquer thinner. Varnish will stick without sanding, but you can get a smoother finish with a light sanding.

It is critical that the wood be properly cleaned after sanding before applying more varnish. I use a minimum of 3 coats of varnish for interior marine woodwork, and at least 5 coats for exterior wood. Because the first thing to break down in the sunlight is the UV protection included in good quality marine varnish, look for a varnish with a high percentage of UV resistant additives. In the tropical sun, expect to recoat unprotected wood at least once per year.

Adding Non-Skid to Your Varnish

For special applications such as cockpit grates and cabin soles, the more durable two-part varnishes are a good choice. To add a little traction, I sprinkle a little sand over the second-to-last coat after it is applied, or just mix it with the varnish. Let it cure thoroughly, wipe down with solvent, and apply the final coat over the sand. It makes a good non-skid surface as long as the sand lasts, but does need recoating once it is worn down enough that the sand starts to come off.

A good varnish job requires careful preparation and meticulous technique, but for those of us who love the look of finely varnished wood on a boat, the reward of removing the tape and seeing perfectly finished wood makes all the time spent worthwhile'.

Article and image courtesy www.boatwoodfinishing.com and images courtesy sailworld.com 

You can read much more about day to day and general maintenance when cruising, in my ebook 'Sailing Adventures in Paradise', downloadable from my website www.sailboat2adventure.com     

Cruising Sailors Sailboat Medical Kits

Medical kits on cruising sailboats are critically important and, just as important, to be regularly updated - this means dumping any medications that are outdated and replenishing with fresh ones. You can take them to whatever level you wish but, remember, you will never be able to cover for all incidents, so be reasonable and sensible with your selections.

Reading another blog recently reminded me of a potentially very serious incident we experienced on my passage from The Galapagos to the Marquesas Islands, and I post the following extract from my ebook 'Sailing Adventures in Paradise' for you to consider: 

On passage - Galapagos Islands to The Marquesas:   

'Good running for the next few days saw her (our little ship) reeling off one hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty nautical miles per day. She was feeling rather smug about this and could now see the wisdom of the feathering propeller because, if these conditions continued, it was going to take four to five days off the passage time. This was good news indeed for the captain and he went off watch thinking how smart he was – she of course wasn’t surprised because from the moment it was fitted to her shaft, she knew she was going to be quicker.

Barbara (sister of captain), hailing from a farm, is a dab hand at producing hot snacks and nibbles endlessly from the galley. There would be a lengthy silence from below and then suddenly, her grinning face would materialise in the companionway, and thrusting forward a steaming tray of buttered scones, brownies, cookies of various descriptions or any variety of savoury snacks, the captain and crew Len would be seduced once more into ingesting a vast quantity of these delicious munchies. Even in the heat of the tropics they were treasured and just had to be eaten whilst still warm, prompting many a round of mild indigestion.

Several days out and our captain, searching for the ‘trades’, comes to the conclusion that this being the last of the current batch of ‘El Nino’ years, the weather they are getting is going to be it for the majority of this passage. No problem with speed as she is still effortlessly spooling off close to one hundred and eighty nautical miles, sometimes more, each day. She is loving it and handling the cross seas very well, knowing that her over spec’d rig can take all this punishment and more. She does realise that her pitch and yaw is probably making life on board a little uncomfortable, but also knows that the beneteau is out there somewhere, out of radio contact and whilst not of a competitive nature, she wants to be first in at their earlier agreed destination port of Taiahoe Bay, Nuku Hiva.




Galapagos to Marquesas - downwind in big seas

 She shares this little secret with her captain who then proceeds to articulate many reasons to the rest of the crew as to why, with such a fine wind on her port quarter and the great swiftness they were making over the ground, sail should not be reduced. Miguel’s forestay swage job was so solid, they all had complete confidence in his work, so onward they plunged, angling down the long and gradually sloping rhumb line from nought degrees at the Galapagos to almost nine degrees of latitude south, at the Marquesas.

During these boisterous conditions, one fine afternoon  Barbara decided that a nice pot of boiled down legumes would be an ideal base for one of her culinary specialties. The beans, simmered down to a glutinous mass on the galley stove were approaching the time when they should be removed. Sibling crew deciding to check, lifts the lid for a peek at exactly the same moment our ship scythes sideways up and over a particularly obstreperous crest, lifting the pot off the stove top and sending it flying in a neat parabola directly toward the navigation area. Fortunately, its curve drops it short of the chart table.

Unfortunately, Barbara follows in a tolerable imitation of a pirouette, reverses and slams, rib height into the solid teak fiddle of the chart table. Turning white, then grey, she slides to the floor with the beans. One moment we have an able bodied crew member, and the next, a patient. Obviously in pain but putting on a brave face, Barbara has great tenderness in her rib area (x-rays taken later at Nuku Hiva will show three fractured ribs!).

Turning back to the Galapagos Islands was not an option as beating into those conditions would be horrendous for the patient. So unanimously it was decided to press on under reduced sail. Cleaned up and strapped Barbara spends the next six days sitting on the cushioned saloon berth, moving only when she has to. Fractured ribs are very painful at the best of times, so picture if you will sitting on a moving, swaying and bumpy platform twenty four hours a day with no relief from the movement whatsoever – not a lot of sleep was had! Antibiotics were prescribed along with many pain killers. A pot full of beans can splatter itself over an amazing area and days later many a half cooked down legume would appear in the most unusual places.



Good sturdy Cruising Medical Kit

The normal watch system being used was quite a simple one for a crew of three and worked very well. From eight pm until eight am, each of the three crew members stood a four hour watch. This took care of the night hours. During the day, all members are on watch but can do whatever they wish – wash, cook, read, fish, write, navigate, whatever. The only rule is that when going below, it is made sure that one of the three must be on deck. This was a rigid rule, understood and observed by all and never broken. It was practised throughout the whole voyage, working exceedingly well, even with changes in crew, as we are to discover later in Tahiti.

For the time being however, her crew have a new situation. Barbara obviously cannot stand a regular watch. Captain Vince and crew Len set a temporary watch system of three hours on and three hours off. Add to this all normal duties plus cooking, several days later the strain was beginning to show – no stamina these blokes she thinks! – so it was with great relief when Barbara poked her head up the companionway and announced she was ready to take on a mini (two hour) watch and see what happens from there.

From that point on her recovery was rapid and by the time we arrived in Nuku Hiva she was almost fully repaired.'

As mentioned earlier, on arrival in Nuku Hiva and going ashore for the first time, we trekked up the hill with Barbara to the local l'hopital where the subsequent xrays showed that three ribs had been fractured!

The passage from Galapagos islands to The Marquesas is 3200 nautical miles and one of the longest voyages on the planet. And there is nothing out there, so imagine the difficult situation we would have been in if there had been complications?  

We considered ourselves to be extremely lucky that we had escaped a potentially very serious situation as lightly as we had, albeit with considerable pain for the patient!

Good, powerful and 'in date' medications assisted and illustrates the importance of keeping a well stocked and current medical kit on board whilst cruising.

You can read more about stocking your medical kit and passagemaking in general in my ebook 'Sailing Adventures in Paradise', downloadable from my website www.sailboat2adventure.com

Released Pirate Couple Chandlers Putting to Sea Again

English cruising couple Paul and Rachel Chandler, having been released by their Somali pirate captors, are heading to sea again in their 38ft. Rival, Lynn Rival.

The cruising lifestyle is so deep in their blood that they are now going to continue and complete their circumnavigation that was cut short in 2009 when they were captured and interred by Somali Pirates. Obviously, they are taking a different route this time around which will cut out the northern Indian Ocean.

They currently have their vessel moored near the yacht club in Dartmouth, Devon, whilst they carry out most of the refit themselves.

The following report outlines their plans for setting sail once again:  

'Back to the water: Paul and Rachel Chandler will attempt to sail around the world again next year, it was revealed today

Wrecked: The boat suffered severe damage in the year while Paul and Rachel Chandler were in captivity and it is likely to be next year before they have finished repairing it

Paul and Rachel watch as their boat is hauled out of the water in Britain. It is now undergoing a refit which they are largely carrying out themselves. 

Overseas again: The couple plan to sail the Lynn Rival, pictured here in 2009, across the Atlantic and will avoid the Indian Ocean, it was revealed today

For more than a year, the lives of Paul and Rachel Chandler were hanging in the balance as they were held hostage by Somali pirates who had snatched them from their boat.

They endured hunger, brutality and death threats.

But the couple appear to have put their terrifying ordeal behind them and are planning to set sail again.

They have been busy repairing Lynn Rival, the yacht they were sailing when they were kidnapped in 2009, and are preparing for an Atlantic voyage.

The refit could be finished by early next year and the Chandlers are understood to be keen to set off in the springtime – some 18 months after they were released.

Mr Chandler’s sister, Jill Marchment, yesterday confirmed the plans.

She said: ‘They are definitely going to go to sea next year – depending on how much time they can spend restoring the boat.

'They are doing it all themselves. They are going to go west. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to go east again.

'That way they will only have hurricanes to worry about.’

Retired civil engineer Mr Chandler and his wife, now aged 60 and 57 respectively, had left their home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and were near the Seychelles when they were kidnapped from their 38ft yacht on October 23, 2009.



Describing their story later to the Daily Mail, they recalled their terror as the gun-toting pirates stormed their yacht, their anger that a nearby Royal Navy ship failed to intervene and their brutal treatment at the hands of their captors.

They revealed how their family paid £280,000, only for the pirates to refuse to let them go, and how they were told they were going to be killed days before they were finally freed.

They were released on November 14, 2010 – after 388 days – when a ransom of £625,000 was paid.

Lynn Rival going back into the water

They were reunited with the Lynn Rival at a boat yard at Buckler’s Hard, near Lymington, Hampshire.

In a book recounting their ordeal, Mrs Chandler wrote: ‘This is where the insurers have brought her for restoration.

'Paul checks her out with his engineer’s eye. As I go down the steps and glance around, there’s a tiny, chilling sense they haven’t quite gone: Scrabble tiles on the floor, grease and rice spilled all over the galley.

'I know I’m not fit enough yet but I can’t wait to start clearing up!


'It will take a lot of work to exorcise the ghosts but I’m happy that she will be ours again.’


Mr Chandler has posted pictures online repairing the decking on the vessel and fitting new teak strips - the wooden cladding which appears on top.


The hull is being repainted, the mast restored and the interior refurbished after more than a year of pirate occupation.


The vessel is currently in Dartmouth, Devon, while the repairs are carried out.


Paul working on the outboard motor

Penny Beech, 54, who runs Sailspar, a specialist store in Great Bromely, Essex,, 57, revealed the Chandlers spent £3,075 on specialist reefing gears which were sent to them via courier in June.

Rope is routed through the gear for the two sails on the front of their yacht.


The shop owner told MailOnline: 'They got the boat back and are are doing a refit down at Darmouth. I got an email back in February this year from Mr Chandler inquiring about our reefing gears.


'When I spoke to them I asked "Are you going sailing again?" and they are. I don't think they will be going near the area where they were kidnapped - they are going across the South Atlantic this time.

'They are carrying out a refit which I think they hope to complete early next year.


'Their yacht is needing extensive repairs as it was badly damaged - I believe it was returned to them by the Navy.


'As there is a lot to do it is likely to be the spring before they are in a position to launch.'


She added that after the initial inquiry they placed an order in June once they had settled with their insurance company.


Mrs Beech added that she believes she served the couple a few years ago - but cannot remember for certain.


'It's an inspiring story and it's so brave of them to go back out again,' she added.'

Images courtesy Paul and Rachel Chandler

With dedication like that to carry on and complete their 'adventure of a lifetime' sailing dream, we can only wish them fair winds and calm seas.

You can read much more about the cruising life in my ebook 'Sailing Adventures in Paradise' downloadable from my website www.sailboat2adventure.com