As far back as I can remember, I have always enjoyed the challenge of finding solutions to practical problems. This was certainly the case when I started work on fitting out the first Aventura. As an absolute greenhorn in anything nautical, I was forced to come up with answers to complex questions in virtually everything I touched.

The boat had a center cockpit and aft cabin, and the wheel was too far from the rudderstock. The easiest and cheapest solution was to have hydraulic steering, but that meant I could not use the self-steering gear whose control lines had to lead to a drum on the wheel or to a tiller. The solution I came up with was to extend the rudderstock by way of a 6-foot-long, 40-mm steel bar to the level of the aft deck, and then fit a tiller to it. The lines of the Aries gear were easily led to it. We could steer with the wheel and the tiller.

Many of the solutions that followed were rather unorthodox, but they worked. I repeated several of them on my future boats, such as having a day tank for the engine. On a number of occasions, the easiest solution was to do without certain nonessential items, such as a diesel genset or freezer.

Going without a diesel genset was the easiest decision because we simply couldn’t afford one. Auxiliary diesel generators for cruising boats were still a novelty in those days, and only the largest boats in the South Pacific had one. Our electrical consumption was modest, and we often used paraffin lamps. We managed to charge our one and only battery by the main engine. Later, on Aventura II, there was no need for a genset because one of the twin engines fulfilled that role efficiently. Aventura III had an additional large-capacity alternator, and a wind and towing generator. By the time Aventura IV came on the scene, we relied almost entirely on renewable sources of energy by having wind, solar and hydro generators. As for Aventura Zero, her name reflects my aim to do away completely with fossil fuels for generation and propulsion.

Not having a freezer was also an easy decision because we never had one at home. We always preferred to eat fresh things. On the subsequent Aventuras, we did have a refrigerator and learned to preserve food for longer passages by vacuum-packing meat, as well as fish caught on the way. We’d store them in the fridge.

Diving Gear

As part of the preparations for our first voyage, I completed a British Sub-Aqua Club diving course and qualified as a diver. I realized that diving gear would be an essential item to have on board, and I had a complete set on each of my boats, with a compressor on Aventura II. A dry suit on Aventuras III and IV proved its usefulness when I had to dive in Arctic waters. We also had survival suits that we used only once, after crash-landing through the breakers on the beach below the old Cape Horn lighthouse.

The diving gear and tanks were mainly for emergencies, as I was quite a proficient free diver. I spent hours spearfishing to feed the family on our first voyage, but abandoned the sport when protecting the environment became a major concern. I continued fishing on passage, and we always caught enough fish to ensure a supply of fresh food for the crew.

Perhaps the most important item on board is the liferaft. Because it is rarely used, it is often stowed in a location that’s far from ideal. A golden rule about the liferaft is that the weakest member of the crew should be able to handle and launch it. On all my boats from Aventura II onward, the liferaft was always at the stern for easy launch.

Day Tank

All my boats up to Aventura IV had a 10.5-gallon tank mounted about 3 feet higher than the engine so the fuel was gravity-fed to it. We topped up the tank every four or five hours by manually activating a fuel transfer pump. I deliberately avoided having an automatic filling system, and instead placed the switch for the pump where it was easy to see the glass water separator and make sure the fuel was clean.

Apart from that pre-filter, there were two more filters before the fuel reached the engine. Another advantage of a day tank was that we always knew we had 10.5 gallons of fuel, even if the main tank was empty.

Mast Steps

Another useful item that can make life easier is mast steps.

They were a great bonus when we were scouting ahead, either when we were looking for a lead through the ice in the Arctic or avoiding coral heads in a tropical lagoon. These tasks became much easier when we acquired the first forward-looking sonar, but we continued to play it safe with my wife, Gwenda, keeping an eye on the depth and obstructions ahead on the cockpit-mounted forward-looking sonar. I would still do my eyeball navigation from the spreaders.

Aventura III’s mast steps probably saved our mast when one of the spreaders collapsed on the way to the Falklands. My crew was able to climb the mast quickly, retrieve the spreader, and then secure the rig with a spare spinnaker halyard.

The mast steps were also useful when it was time to check the rigging or the instruments at the top of the mast. Most of the time, we used them to climb up the mast to take photos.

Aventura IV’s Parasailor spinnaker was my favorite downwind sail, and it took me a long time to reach that high-tech level. My search for a functional downwind setup started with a twin-jib arrangement on the first Aventura. The system worked well and was easy to set up with two separate forestays. The only problem was the awful rolling, which I tried to dampen by having a storm trysail sheeted hard amidships on the mainsail track. It sort of worked, but I soon realized the solution might lie elsewhere.

A beautiful mizzen staysail, which Gwenda produced on her sewing machine, was perfect for broad reaching, usually in combination with the mainsail and poled-out genoa.

Aventura II’s first spinnaker turned me into an addict with sails that were asymmetrical and triradial, and then finally, the Parasailor. Each one played an essential role in the fast passages we achieved on our three following boats.

Shallow Draft and Centerboard

A fixed keel may be best for ocean passages, but having a shallow draft when cruising is ideal for exploring places that other boats cannot reach. It’s also safe because it lets the crew to find shelter in a protected spot in an emergency.

Aventura II’s lifting keel fulfilled both objectives, but it was only when Aventura III’s centerboard appeared on the scene that I finally had the perfect solution. It not only made it possible to reduce draft quickly, but it also improved our sailing performance.

I have often been asked how safe it is to sail on a boat without a keel. I have sailed twice across the Drake Passage to Antarctica and back, first on Skip Novak’s Pelagic and then on Aventura III. They both were centerboard boats. I once experienced winds of 50 to 60 knots, and I can vouch for either boat’s stability under such conditions. They coped impressively well with the high Southern Ocean swell, and they put any possible doubts to rest.

Aventura III and IV had an integral centerboard, which meant that when the board was raised, it fully retracted into the hull. The ballast-to-displacement ratio on each boat was 32, similar to most other cruising boats. Most integral centerboard boats have a flat bottom, so with the board fully up, they can dry out on a beach, which is yet another advantage.

In the words of Pete Goss, whose Pearl of Penzance was an Exploration 45 similar to Aventura IV: “A centerboard’s real advantage is not the ability to reduce the draft, but the peace of mind attribute. We were able to surf down Atlantic swells with the confidence of fixed ballast. Being able to lift the centerboard under such conditions meant that she didn’t trip up off the wind, and became directionally stable to the point of being docile. This, in turn, gave a more comfortable ride, de-stressed all areas of the boat, including the autopilot and power consumption.”

Shallow draft is a major attraction of centerboard yachts, but there are also some considerable performance advantages. The main role of the board is to provide lift when sailing closehauled, and to reduce leeway when reaching. With the board fully down, Aventura III drew 7 feet, 10 inches.  When sailed properly, it could point as high, or almost as high, as most keeled cruising boats. With a draft of 9 feet, 2 inches with the board down, Aventura IV performed even better than her predecessor. Aventura Zero had a draft of 2 feet, 11 inches with the two daggerboards raised, and 7 feet with them lowered.

There is a certain technique in sailing a centerboarder efficiently, not just on the wind, but off the wind as well. This is when the centerboard becomes a true asset thanks to the ability to lift the board gradually as the apparent wind goes past 135 degrees, and then continue lifting it up to the point where the board is fully retracted.

This is a great advantage, as the risk of broaching is virtually eliminated. As Goss pointed out, the absence of a keel to act as a pivot in a potential broaching situation means the boat does not tend to round up. It is a feature that has allowed me to continue keeping the spinnaker up longer than would normally have been safe. 

Fixed Pole

My favorite broad-reaching or running technique is to set up the pole independently of the sail I intend to use, so the pole is held firmly in position by the topping lift, forward and aft guys, with all three lines being led back to the cockpit. Regardless of whether I decide to pole out a foresail or spinnaker, the sheet is led through the jaws of the pole, which is then hoisted in the desired place.

Once the pole is in place and is held firmly by the three lines, the sail can be unfurled, or the spinnaker hoisted, and its douser pulled up. With the pole being independent of the sail, the latter can be furled partially or fully without touching the pole.

This setup is a great advantage when the sail has to be reduced or furled quickly, if a squall is threatening. Once the squall has passed, with the pole still in place, the sail can be easily unfurled.

When sailing under spinnaker and threatened by a squall, I preferred to douse it and lower it onto the foredeck. Once the danger passes, the spinnaker, while still in its sock, can be hoisted again and undoused.

My routine became so well tuned that I could hoist and douse the spinnaker on my own. The last time I did this was on a test sail with Aventura Zero off La Grande-Motte, France, the site of the Outremer Catamarans boatyard. I wanted to show my much younger crew how more brain and less brawn could tame a monster the size of a tennis court.

Parasailor

The major attraction of the Parasailor is that it acts as a classic triradial spinnaker and doubles as an asymmetrical sail. Its main features are the wide slot that runs from side to side about one-third down from the top, and a wing below the slot, on the forward side of the sail.

Once the Parasailor is up and poled out, the slot and wing help it stay full even in light winds. I have used it on a few occasions in as little as 5 knots of true wind, and every time, it looked like collapsing the backpressure exerted by the slot kept it full.

It is in strong winds, however, that the Parasailor comes into its own. Normally, I drop the spinnaker when the true wind reaches 15 knots. On one occasion, on the way from New Zealand to New Caledonia on Aventura III, when I saw a squall approaching, I decided to leave it up and see what happened. From 15 knots, the wind went up and up and settled at 27 knots. Aventura took it all in stride, accelerated to 9, then 10 knots and then once, when it caught the right wave, surged to 14 knots.

The Parasailor behaved as normally as before, with the wing streaming ahead and the slot wide open, almost visibly spilling the wind.

Boom Brake

This was another useful feature on my boats, as it prevented major damage in an involuntary jibe, as I experienced on three separate occasions.

The most memorable one happened on the southbound passage from Greenland, after having abandoned the attempt to transit the Northwest Passage from east to west. All the crew had left us in Nuuk, except for my daughter Doina. The northwest winds with gusts over 40 produced some nasty seas while sailing across an area of banks with depths of 100 to 130 feet. We were broad-reaching with three reefs in the mainsail, no foresail, and the centerboard fully up, a combination I had used in similar conditions in the past. Aventura IV was taking it well, occasionally surfing at 10 to 12 knots.

Everything seemed to be under control until a large wave broke violently over us, throwing us into a jibe. The boom brake controlled the swing of the mainsail, but when I reset the autopilot back on course, Doina pointed to the boom, which was hanging down at a strange angle. The gooseneck fitting was broken, but the boom was still held up by the mainsail and reefing lines. Apart from the broken casting, the boom itself was undamaged.

I secured the boom with two lines to the mast winches, and we continued sailing like that. We completed the 1,100-mile passage to St. John’s in Newfoundland in seven days without any further problems. A local workshop manufactured a new fitting, this time machined of solid aluminium.

Sailing in strong winds with just the mainsail is something I discovered by chance while crossing the Bay of Biscay along the west coasts of France and Spain on Aventura II’s maiden voyage. With the northerly wind gradually increasing, I tried to furl the mainsail into the mast, but the furling gear jammed and wouldn’t budge. The only options were to put a knife to the expensive sail, something I was reluctant to do, or continue sailing like that.

Sailing with a full mainsail and no jib in winds often gusting over 30 knots was certainly exhilarating. We made it safely into Lisbon, Portugal, where the fault was diagnosed at the top end of the furling gear, which was easily fixed. It never happened again.

Another adrenaline-spiked passage was across the Tasman Sea from Fiji to New Zealand on Aventura III. A low caught up with us, bringing favorable but increasingly strong northwest winds. Because of the uncomfortable swell, Gwenda spent much of the time in her bunk. Earlier in the trip, when the winds were lighter, I had left the steering to the windvane, but when the wind got stronger and there was a risk of jibing, I preferred to put my trust in the autopilot. The worst drawback of a full-batten mainsail is the difficulty of dropping it, even in moderate following winds, as the sail is pushed against the spreaders and the battens tend to get caught in the rigging. Usually, I prefer to keep the full mainsail as long as possible, but when the wind gets over 30 knots, I furl up the foresail and continue sailing with the deeply reefed mainsail.

This may sound like a rather unusual way of sailing, and it may not suit some boats, but Aventura coped well with it, and I got used to it.

Every now and again, I disengaged the autopilot and steered for a few minutes, enjoying the boat surfing down the waves with the speedometer rarely going below 10 knots. At one point, Gwenda put her head through the hatch and, as she later told me, saw me standing at the wheel with a huge grin on my face.

“You are absolutely crazy,” was all she said before going back to her bunk. She repeated those words more colorfully later, when the weather had calmed down. 

Essential Backups

The dual steering system on the first Aventura taught me the importance of having backups for all essential items. We always had two tenders: a smaller and a larger inflatable dinghy. The former could be quickly inflated and was easy to row, while the latter was used on longer trips. On Aventura III, we had two outboard motors, a 5 hp and a 2.5 hp backup, which we always took with us when we went on longer forays in Antarctica and Alaska.

Communications followed the same pattern. Aventura II had Inmarsat C for text, and single sideband radio for voice. Aventura III had a similar system, with an Iridium satphone added later. Aventura IV had an Iridium Pilot broadband, which allowed us to download the daily ice charts for the Northwest Passage, and let us send and receiving large files and photographs. Aventura Zero had the more advanced Iridium Certus broadband. An Iridium satphone was an emergency backup on all recent boats and was an extremely useful, and cheaper, stand-in for the more sophisticated systems.

However, I believe that the most important backup to have, especially on a shorthanded boat, is a second automatic pilot. We didn’t have one on the first Aventura because they were not available in those days, but we had reliable Aries self-steering gear. I hate to look back now at the countless hours spent at the wheel when there was no wind, and we had to motor.

On Aventura II, we had both a Hydrovane gear and a small automatic pilot. Aventura III had a Windpilot self-steering gear, an automatic pilot and a backup tiller pilot. The latter proved its worth when the main unit broke on a passage from Hawaii to Alaska. As we crossed the North Pacific High, we were becalmed in thick fog and surrounded by lots of fishing trawlers. We had to keep watch permanently on radar while maintaining course.

Aventura IV had two entirely independent B&G autopilots, which we used intermittently to ensure that both were in working order. Aventura Zero had a sophisticated emergency backup with an entirely separate second autopilot. In case of a lightning strike, the system was entirely insulated from the rest of the boat. It included an autopilot processor, ram and rudder sensor, Triton display unit, GPS and wireless wind sensor. An emergency 1,200-Ah battery, charged by a Sail-Gen hydrogenerator or the solar panels, could supply electricity not only to the autopilot and backup instruments, but also to the service and propulsion batteries if necessary. It was the ultimate belt-and-suspenders concept, in line with my almost obsessive cautious mindset.

The system proved its worth in Seville, Spain, when the adjacent dock was struck by lightning. The charge travelled through the water and reached the propellers. It put the entire propulsion system out of order. But the boat’s electrics and electronic equipment, which were not connected to anything else on board, were not affected.

I have always considered myself to be a lucky person. After 200,000 miles, I believe that the saying “fortune favors the bold” should be followed by “provided it is backed by a strong sense of prudence.” 

The post The Art of Lateral Thinking Under Sail appeared first on Cruising World.

A huge crowd gathers at the breakwater in Gran Canaria to bid farewell to the yachts. One by one, boats from 26 nationalities file out of Las Palmas marina toward the start line at the north of the Spanish island. Crews dance and cheer, and the music changes from Queen to ABBA as Swedish yacht Dawnbreaker docks out to the blare of an Alpine horn. The two white-haired children at the bow seem awed by the fanfare, but their brother, Alfred, waves furiously from the top of a Jacob’s ladder, looking more than ready to take on the Atlantic.

The Chuck Paine–custom-designed yacht is one of 83 vessels (six of them American) taking part in the 2,700-mile rally to Grenada, which has a stopover in Cape Verde. The direct ARC, which sails to St. Lucia, departs two weeks later.

It’s been 40 years since Jimmy Cornell launched the ARC, an event aimed at cruising enthusiasts, not “racing’s elite,” with a focus on safety. Back then, Dawnbreaker skipper Lars Alfredson was navigating with a radio direction finder. Even during his first ARC, in 2003, he was reliant on an SSB radio and a modem to stay in contact.

“You’d spend hours and hours trying to connect, but you got through sometimes,” he recalls. “You see the boats the first day and the last day, and in between it’s just empty sea.”

Now, sailing with his son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren, Lars has Starlink, enabling the family to run their online retail business at sea.

“I wouldn’t say things are better now, but for the young people who need to be connected all the time and have to report everything that happens, they like it,” says Lars.

At 64 feet, Dawnbreaker is one of the bigger entries in the fleet, with the average yacht being 48 feet. These days, over a third of participants are multihulls, and most are equipped with satcomms, autopilots, solar, lithium batteries and MFDs. But how would the crews feel if they were zapped back in time, Marty McFly–style, to 1986? Would they still do it? This is the question we put to them as they made their final preparations for their big adventure.

Almond angst

“Yes, I’d still go, because I wouldn’t know any different,” says Richard Cropper, skipper of Beneteau 60 Salty Rascal. “You’d just get by with the tools you’ve got.”

The British dad’s decision to embark on a yearlong adventure with wife Louise and sons Jake (9) and Harry (11) was inspired by a Secret Santa gift, a book entitled Sail Away: How to Escape the Rat Race and Live the Dream. Though the idea took hold on Christmas morning 2014, it would be over a decade before that dream became a reality, and only recently did they learn that the gift was from Louise’s sister.

“I think she wanted to get rid of us,” laughs Louise, a primary care physician. “For years afterward, Richard kept saying, ‘Would you do it? Would you do it?’ I only said yes because I never thought we’d go through with it. But I wouldn’t have done it 40 years ago, not without the technology. Everyone back home thinks we’re mad, but they can follow us using the YB tracker, and knowing we’re doing it in an organized group and can send pictures back home normalizes what we’re doing.”

Richard adds: “But the danger of being part of a huge rally is you can’t stop buying stuff. It’s like when you’re at school waiting to do your exams, and everyone’s talking about what they revised, and you’re thinking, ‘God, I didn’t do that.’ You start asking if you’ve got enough equipment. Did you buy enough toilet rolls? We had a panic about almonds, and Louise is like, ‘How many almonds have you actually eaten in the last year?’”

To ease the stress of the passage, the Croppers have hired Brazilian skipper Juan Manuel Ballestero, who made headlines during the pandemic when he sailed three months from Portugal to Argentina in order to see his sick father.

“I was in Porto Santo, and the borders closed. There were no flights, no ferries. I just decided right away, I’m going,” he says. “It was more than a sailing trip, it was an inner trip. I’m still trying to shape it, after all these years, asking myself what really happened. We love our families; that is what COVID taught us. I was going home, and I didn’t care how long it would take.”

Then it was a trip of solitude: a 29-foot yacht packed with 160 cans of food and a bottle of whiskey. This time, Juan’s looking forward to an altogether different experience, as was clear the night of his arrival in Las Palmas, when he was whisked to an ’80s party by a giddy Louise in luminous leggings.

“This family is lots of fun,” he says. “I’m pretty stoked about doing the voyage with the little ones. It will be unique.”

MOB rescue

Hoisting eight flags onto the forestay—an act counted excitedly by a group of boys fishing off the pontoon—is Swan 51 Eira. The monohull is doing the main ARC, and Finnish delivery crew Markus Leppanen and Vilhelm Sjöström are preparing her for the paying passengers.

“Sailing Eira wouldn’t have been much different 40 years ago,” says Vilhelm, tapping the elk-skin-covered wheel. “We have an autopilot now but hand-steer 95% of the time. We have a big racing rudder, which is really responsive, and people participate because they want to steer and sail. They want to learn something new.”

Markus and Vilhelm have tens of thousands of sea miles under their belts. Markus recalls that in the 1993 ARC, they didn’t have a sat phone—just GPS and a plotter. Instead of weather apps, they had a guy navigating onshore, giving instructions over SSB.

Back then they were “just a bunch of friends with the smallest, fastest Swan.” Now, Eira has 85,000 nautical miles on the clock and 15 crossings. She’s a veteran in every sense of the word.

“We use a traditional spinnaker,” says Vilhelm. “At first only in light airs until we know how experienced the crew are. Running it at night requires a bit of practice. The biggest risk is something happens, and the thing that should never happen is a man overboard.”

They reflect on the tragedy in last year’s ARC, where Swedish sailor Dag Eresund, 33, fell overboard from Volvo 70 Ocean Breeze.

“I was routing from Finland,” says Vilhelm. “I noticed all the fastest boats changing course and I knew, hours before it became news, that there was an MOB. It was around 0230, 20–25 knots. When it’s pitch black and a swell of about 6 meters, you know it’s really hard to get someone out of there. These old Whitbread boats don’t turn on a sixpence.”

Eresund was wearing a personal AIS beacon, a safety device that transmits your position to the mothership and nearby vessels, yet sadly he could not be located, reinforcing the fact that even the latest satellite technology is no substitute for lashing yourself to the deck, which people have done since the beginnings of sailing.

Markus recalls an MOB on his 1999 ARC, though happily that had a positive outcome.

“It was a Norwegian racing boat, sponsored by Jägermeister,” he says. “The spinnaker came down in a squall, and they gybed, knocking a crewmember into the water. Even when it’s warm, you’ll only last 24 hours, but here is this guy in a Hawaiian shirt—he takes off his life jacket and places it under his butt to stay out of the water. After 28 hours, a German boat passes and picks him up!”

It’s not the first time a sailor has been rescued by chance during a cruising rally. In ARC+ 2021, British catamaran Coco happened upon a dismasted yacht 140 miles from Grenada and towed it into port, to the relief of the distressed French skipper.

For crews’ safety, it’s a requirement of the ARC that all skippers have the ability to send and receive emails at sea, whether via SSB radio (via a free messaging program called Airmail) or a satcom device such as Iridium Certus 100 or Inmarsat Fleet One.

“We talked about getting Starlink,” says Vilhelm, “but the skipper doesn’t want it because the experience for the crew changes. We have satcomms and can make phone calls and emails, but we don’t want everybody hanging around the cockpit reading the news. You spoil the experience.”

It was during World ARC 2023 when Elon Musk’s low-cost, high-speed internet service took off among long-distance cruisers. While only two of the 20 boats leaving St. Lucia at the start of the rally had Starlink, by the time they’d completed a world circuit six months later, only two boats didn’t have it.

Medical backup

Onboard Frolic, a J/44, we find Rhode Island sailor HL DeVore opening the cava, having successfully Googled a fix for his B&G wind sensor, saving $3,000 in parts and labor. His ex–U.S. Coast Guard vessel is equipped with Starlink, a piece of kit HL wouldn’t sail without.

“I do love the romanticism of not being able to communicate other than with attempts at SSB,” he admits, “and I’m old enough to have sailed in those days, but being connected gives the family at home security, and means we can liaise with a medical team if needed—in fact, the same one used by round-the-world sailor Cole Brauer. We’ve got IV kits, medicines—everything you could possibly need—and with modern comms we have the comfort of knowing we can solve issues at sea.”

Meant to be?

Although Starlink draws a significant amount of power, the benefit of being able to make video calls and stream sports games or Netflix has made today’s cruising yacht a true home from home. It’s allowed Mexican family the Sidauys to sell their home and possessions and move onboard their Lagoon 52F catamaran Ruaj. This new wave of adventurous young families, who buy production catamarans and choose cruising as an alternative lifestyle, was rare in the ’70s, when the majority of ARC participants were older, wealthy couples.

For Gabriel Sidauy, the idea of taking on an Atlantic crossing was sparked during a chance meeting on a flight from Tijuana to Cancun.

“The man next to me was checking out boats and charts,” says Gabriel. “He was about to start this amazing adventure with his wife and three kids. I said to him, ‘That’s the best thing I heard in my life!’”

Gabriel’s children, Moises (now 14) and Natalie (10), loved the idea, but it took four years to persuade his wife, Victoria, to sell up and sail away. When finally she agreed and they shared their plans with neighbors, they were put in touch with a sailor who agreed to be their mentor.

It turned out to be none other than Emanuel—the guy Gabriel met on the plane.

“I told him he changed our lives, and he didn’t remember me,” laughs Gabriel. “But he was great. He told me about the ARC, what boat to look for, and he came several times to the house with his wife to tell us about his experience.”

The Sidauys bought Ruaj in Italy and spent a year sailing around the Mediterranean before making their way south to the Canaries. Thanks to Starlink, Gabriel can run his plastic recycling business at sea, while Natalie and Moises can be homeschooled, with regular calls to classmates and tutors.

“We have learned many things,” says Gabriel. “We used to live in a big house in Cancun with all the space we wanted, and now we learn to live with what is necessary.”

The bare(ish) necessities

One of the joys of the ARC is seeing what families deem “necessary” for their transatlantic, whether that’s a 50-inch TV, washing machine, coffee maker or, in the case of the Sidauys, “aerial silks,” which gymnast Natalie has tied to the forestay.

“Gymnastics is my passion,” she says breathlessly, while twirling and tumbling to the applause of neighboring boats. “I also love the night sky and can’t wait to see shooting stars, and play my ukulele with Moises on his guitar.”

So, a final question: Would they do this 40 years ago?

“No, it would not be possible,” confirms Gabriel, who has to cut short the interview to receive a video conference call.

Without modern tech, Gabriel would still be in Mexico dreaming of a long-ago conversation with a man on the plane. Most likely, the Croppers would be in drizzly Manchester, England, working long hours and doing school runs. Yet for experienced sailors such as Lars Alfredson, who has sailed to the Arctic and Antarctic, and HL DeVore, a navigator with 14 Newport-to-Bermuda races under his belt, waking up in 1986 in the middle of the ocean would pose no problem whatsoever.

The great thing about rallies such as the ARC+ is that these types of sailors can come together and cross the ocean in whatever way suits them, knowing that at the end of it all, in Port Louis Marina, Grenada, they’ll be sharing stories over a rum punch as the sun goes down over the Caribbean Sea.

The post We Asked: Could You Survive the ARC Without Modern Tech? appeared first on Cruising World.

When a harbor master called Nick Heyes to tell him his boat was sinking, the news came with a troubling twist. A persistent leak in the shaft seal had slowly filled the bilge with contaminated water. The pump eventually overloaded and failed, leaving the boat at risk and sending polluted discharge overboard without anyone knowing.

“That got me thinking,” said Heyes, managing director of Digital Yacht. “Our company creates connected solutions for boaters, and yet my own boat nearly sank and was discharging polluted bilge water simply because I didn’t know the bilge pump had failed. There had to be a solution.”

That incident kicked off the development of Bilge iQ, a new intelligent bilge monitoring and environmental protection system that has since earned major industry awards.

Bilge iQ connects to any bilge pump through NMEA 2000 and displays pump status on a vessel’s multifunction display. Owners can control the pump from the MFD or use standard NMEA switching commands. A built-in wireless interface allows monitoring from a phone or tablet, giving boaters access to pump activity, current draw, cycle logs, and alarms for dry-run events, long run times, or pump failures. Bilge iQ also integrates with Victron Cerbo systems to enable remote oversight through the free VRM cloud platform.

“We developed a solution that allows boat owners to monitor and control the bilge pump,” Heyes said. “A sinking boat obviously poses major environmental risks, but on a day to day basis unmonitored bilge discharge is a problem.”

To address that broader concern, Digital Yacht partnered with Wave International, maker of Lloyd’s Register-approved Wavestream bilge filters. Wavestream units remove hydrocarbons and other contaminants down to 5 ppm, a level often required in marine protection zones and inland waterways.

“Digital Yacht contacted us about integrating the Wavestream filter into the Bilge iQ to create a comprehensive solution which would not only protect owners’ boats but also protect the environment,” said Paul Gullett, managing director of Wave International. “It ensures only clean water is pumped overboard.”

The combined system launched in September and was named Best New Product by the NMEA. In November, Bilge iQ earned the DAME Design Award for Environmental Design as well as a special mention for On Board Safety.

For boatowners, the solution offers something long overdue: a smarter way to keep water out of the boat and pollution out of the sea.

The post An Innovation in Bilge Monitoring: What Boaters Need to Know appeared first on Cruising World.

The new light integrates a 225-degree masthead light, a 360-degree anchor light, and a 135-degree stern light in a single unit. Thanks to a new optical array design, Lumitec says the Contour is the slimmest and lightest masthead/anchor/stern combination light on the market.

The reduction in size and weight makes it possible for sailors to use lighter poles and more versatile mounting options. Two lengths—12 inches and 39 inches—will be offered, along with a choice of a motorized base or an antenna mount.

The light meets USCG and NMMA (ABYC C-5: 2021) standards and is rated for 3 nautical miles.

“Innovation is at the heart of Lumitec, and the Contour Masthead Combination Light represents a significant leap forward in navigation lighting,” said Chris Fulmer, president of Lumitec. “We’ve redefined the category with a sleek, lightweight design that offers boaters more versatility in mounting options.”

Founded in Delray Beach, Florida, Lumitec designs and manufactures its LED products in-house, with full electrical and mechanical prototyping and testing capabilities. The company’s products are built for extreme environments, with an emphasis on long service life and dependable performance.

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At this year’s Cannes Yachting Festival, safety technology is taking the spotlight. SEA.AI, a company known for its AI-driven machine vision systems, introduced Watchkeeper, an entry-level solution designed to help sailors and cruisers avoid collisions on the water.

The system has been selected as part of Cannes’ “Innovation Route,” a showcase of the show’s most cutting-edge products. According to SEA.AI, collisions are the “first event” in more than half of boating accidents resulting in injury or death—a statistic that highlights the growing importance of automated watchkeeping aids.

Watchkeeper is built around ultra-wide 4K low-light optics, with optional thermal imaging for nighttime use. The system draws on SEA.AI’s proprietary database of millions of marine objects, giving it the ability to detect and identify hazards ranging from buoys and debris to unlit vessels.

Pricing for the Watchkeeper starts at approximately $5,800, positioning it as an accessible safety upgrade for a wide range of sailors and powerboaters. Configurations range from the base daytime model to a fully equipped version with expanded night vision, field of view, and detection range.

SEA.AI emphasizes that Watchkeeper is designed to fit both sailing and motor vessels, with lightweight integration for cruising yachts and the responsiveness needed for higher-speed powerboats. The interface is intentionally straightforward, and installation can be handled by SEA.AI’s service team or local distributors.

By offering a consistent “second set of eyes” on the water, Watchkeeper aims to give boaters greater confidence whether they’re cruising offshore, navigating coastal waters, or returning to harbor after sunset.More information is available at SEA.AI Watchkeeper.

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The U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation has concluded that the implosion of the Titan submersible during a Titanic expedition in June 2023 was preventable. The long-awaited 300-plus-page report identifies multiple failures in design, maintenance, and oversight that culminated in a tragedy claiming five lives.

“This marine casualty and the loss of five lives was preventable,” said Jason Neubauer, the Titan MBI chair, in a statement accompanying the report. “The two-year investigation has identified multiple contributing factors… and I am optimistic the ROI’s findings and recommendations will help improve awareness of the risks and the importance of proper oversight while still providing a pathway for innovation.”

According to the investigation, the fault lies at the feet of Titan operator OceanGate for inadequate hull design, inconsistent inspection and maintenance protocols, and a leadership culture that discourages safety concerns. The vessel’s carbon-fiber hull was found to be structurally compromised, warning signs were reportedly ignored, and data from earlier missions was left unanalyzed prior to the fatal dive.

The report also determined deficiencies in the existing regulatory landscape for novel submersibles. Gaps include insufficient documentation requirements and inconsistent classification of deep-sea diving vessels under the Oceanographic Research Vessel label.

In response, the report includes 17 formal recommendations—for both U.S. and international bodies—to strengthen safety protocols. These range from mandating Coast Guard documentation and dive plan reviews, to expanding international standards through the International Maritime Organization, and improving whistleblower protections under maritime law.

For those looking to read the full Coast Guard findings, the complete Report of Investigation is publicly available here.

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The captain of the 55-foot Holman sailing yacht was crouched down and leaning over me with great anxiety. “Are you OK?” he asked. “Dad, are you OK?”

I was, indeed, OK, which was as much a surprise to me as anyone else, given that I had hurtled across the galley like an unstrapped astronaut at liftoff. The boat had pitched, I hadn’t been paying attention, and I had gone flying so fast that I would have just kept going if not for a cabinet that stopped my midair trajectory. 

My ego was bruised—“Pain, Dad, is a great teacher,” he said—but I was fine, which is more than I could say for the cabinet door. And that, in itself, was really saying something, because the boat dated to 1985 while I dated to 1939.

Yes, my friends had told me that I was “loco” to sign on as crew at age 78 for a 2,850-nautical-mile passage from San Diego to the Panama Canal. It wasn’t the first time that my son, Christian Pschorr, who is service and program director for Hylas Yachts, had asked me to join him on a passage, but for the past few years, I had refused. Days and nights of getting pounded by bad ­weather, I feared, might leave me unable to hold up my end of the responsibilities. I didn’t want to let down the rest of the team.

It’s not that I was unfamiliar with boating, or with tough physical challenges. At age 22, when I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania as an ROTC Marine option, I was a commissioned US Marine Corps officer. The philosophy back then was to break the recruits physically and mentally, then build us back up and teach us that we were capable of doing far more than we imagined. And, in my 30s and 40s, I’d spent plenty of time as crew on my uncle’s 45-foot steel-hull ketch, cruising from New York’s Long Island Sound up to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts. I also owned an 18-foot Mako. I loved to fish off that boat.

So, I had the right background, albeit no recent experience on the water. I agreed to join Christian this time because the Holman was his boat, one he had just bought and wanted to move to its new home port. No deadline would force us to push our schedule in bad weather as we cruised in a straight shot from San Diego to the Panama Canal. 

This time, I thought, I ain’t getting any younger. I’ve never done a bluewater passage. I’d like to try it.

My close friend Mike Johnson, an international award-­winning sailor and adventurer, became my mentor and coach. He urged me to step up my usual workouts at the gym, so I enlisted a personal trainer, who increased my treadmill and elliptical speeds until I was doing intermittent jogging and running. The trainer also helped me build strength with free weights and on machines where I used my legs to push. There were pushups and situps, just like at Quantico a half-century ago.

I heeded more good advice from Mike, who he told me: “You’ll always be the father. Christian, he’s your son, but he’s the captain. So keep your mouth shut. Be quiet and do your job.”

From the moment I stepped on board, that’s what I tried to do—an admittedly difficult task for someone with my bullish disposition. Our fellow crew were a married couple, Nathan Zahrt and Vivian Vuong, who had sailed with Christian before. Nathan was close to qualifying for his US Coast Guard captain’s license, and Vivian was a professional photographer as well as a great cook. My job was to follow orders and research everything we’d need to know about taking a boat through the Panama Canal—a job Christian was smart to give me, because I could do it well, building up yet more confidence before we set off. 

As we left the dock on May 9, I felt good, but nervous about my first overnight watch from 0300 to 0600. After everyone else was asleep below, I had to rely on myself to settle down. Finally, I thought, quit babying yourself. You have a job to do. I did it—and everything went just fine. There was simply no room for fear.

A few days out of San Diego, our engine failed. It had run well during the boat’s sea trials, but it wouldn’t cooperate now. That malfunction meant we not only had to make an unscheduled repair stop, but we also had to hand-steer for long periods of time because we couldn’t charge the boat’s batteries if there was insufficient sunlight for the solar panels. No battery power, among other things, left us without the autopilot.

With the autopilot on, I was able to adjust and hold the boat’s course, but without the autopilot, I found it a lot harder to maintain our course, heading, and speed with all the water high above and all around us. I kept saying to myself, I will not use bad language. My friend Mike had told me: No swearing on the boat. So, I said to myself, Expletives deleted.

Instead, I focused on doing whatever Christian ordered me to do, and I gained a new appreciation for why so many of his Hylas clients and students had complimented him as a teacher over the years. I got to see my son as other people see him, and I was more impressed than ever.

For instance, there was a time when I was steering through the vast harbor of Panama City—doing six hours straight at the wheel—and a huge rock loomed ahead. Christian said, sharply, “Dad, you’re luffing.”

Now, I know better than to argue with the captain. But I replied that I was altering course slightly to avoid hitting the rock.

“Lose our headway, and we will hit the rock,” he said. “Hold your course, and do exactly what I say.”

He was right. “Aye, sir,” I said, suggesting that he explain everything to me in simple terms, as if I were his Boston terrier. 

I always knew he was just footsteps away in case I needed him. I had done a lot of studying to learn about lights at night on boats, but once we were at sea, a lot of the lights seemed to be the same color. The first couple of times I saw them from the wheel, I was nervous because I couldn’t identify the vessels around us. I could see their courses, sort of, but I took comfort in Christian’s rule for the whole crew, which was to get him on deck immediately if there were any doubts. 

For the most part, I just had to get over myself and try. Only once did I feel real panic. It was blowing like all the Furies of Hell, and I couldn’t see with all the water coming into my face. Christian went forward, and I lost sight of him. I thought he’d gone over the side.

This was my beloved son. I was in a momentary state of terror, calling, whistling and yelling his name. 

Finally, he reappeared. “I wish you wouldn’t do that,” I told him.

“Dad,” he replied, “I’m not up there sightseeing.”

Enough said. 

I found new levels of my own confidence—albeit with a dash of mutiny. One of Christian’s rules was that when we were on deck at night, we were not to leave the cockpit. We were tethered to a metal eye by the wheel. Well, one night, I could hear something flapping up forward. I got tired of the damn flapping. I knew the rule about staying in the cockpit, but I unhooked, attached myself to the jackline that ran bow to stern, and went forward to secure the piece of sail. I then took a big, deep breath and went back to the cockpit, where I snapped back into the metal eye.

Nobody was the wiser. I did tell Christian after we were home again, and he was not pleased. But I got away with it, and I felt useful. 

There was also a lot of fun. Christian is a vegan, and Vivian is a great cook, but on my night in the galley, I got to make sushi from freshly caught fish. We had a red-footed booby perch happily on the pulpit one day, soon joined by others that sat on our bow railing and spinnaker pole, jostling for their favorite positions. One afternoon, I looked up just in time to see a huge manta ray leap out of the water. The majesty was breathtaking.

There was one night under beautiful, starry skies when I was doing a great job at the wheel. The boat was planing with sparkling phosphorescence in the bow waves and wake. I couldn’t help but start to sing in a bad impression of the Beatles: “Lucy in the sea with diamonds…” 

Shortly after that, I saw the Southern Cross for the first time since years ago, when I had been on a hunting safari in Namibia. It was a glorious sailing night. You sure can’t do those kinds of things unless you take a chance and step aboard.

My run-in (or, should we say, fly-in) with the galley cabinet was not the only harrowing experience either. Both the Gulf of Tehuantepec and Punta Mala—just outside the Gulf of Panama—can have sudden, strong winds that extend 100 miles into the Pacific. I felt like I could see the gods smirking as they pounded us for days and nights. We had quite a few evenings of absolutely fierce lightning. I had never heard thunder like that booming stentorian basso profundo. Not since the monsoons of Okinawa, Japan, during my 13-month tour with the 3rd Marine Division, had I encountered such torrential rain. And we were truly alone out there—so much so that Christian, at one point, told Vivian to call out on the VHF radio, just to see if anyone answered. Nobody did. You know that cliche about how small we are? Well, we are.

It was during one of those storms that I took my header across the galley, but that moment was just one among many that were overwhelmingly positive. When we cruised into Panama City’s harbor under sail, amid all the ships anchored and underway, I was at the helm. Christian sat in the cockpit, calling out headings to me, while Nathan and Vivian stood as lookouts.   

Suddenly, a huge container ship loomed, brightly lit from stem to stern. “Dad,” Christian said, “when she clears our bow, fall in behind her. Follow in her wake until I give you the new heading.”

I prayed that the wind would not die. I had to keep the sails full and maintain course. High above, I watched as the stern of the more than 1,000-foot-long container ship passed us. 

From there, Christian wanted me to take our boat in, but I relinquished the wheel to Nathan, not wanting to push my luck. It was midnight on June 10 when, after a month at sea, we tied up at the pier. We had made it with no injuries to the crew and no damage to the boat. And I had accomplished my goals. I had stared down Neptune in his angry moments without flinching. 

As I write this, I am now 83, and I don’t think I could trust myself to handle the physical or mental rigors again. But I’m very glad I made that trip with my son at age 78.

It was a highlight of my life. 

The post Leaving My Comfort Zone appeared first on Cruising World.

The Sea Tow Foundation Announced the inaugural National Boating Industry Safety Awards winners during a gala event held on November 22, 2019 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Honorees included Bonnier Corporation (Publisher of Cruising World), Sea Ray Boats, Marine Max, Yamaha Motor Corporation and Freedom Boat Club. The awards event kicked off the Elevate Summit.

Bonnier Corporation was judged on the merits of the efforts and initiatives of multiple titles, including Boating, Wakeboarding, Cruising World, Sailing World, Saltwater Sportsman, Sportfishing, and Yachting and for the efforts of its web team and video production department. On hand to accept the award for Bonnier were Boating Editor-in-Chief and Boating and Watersports Editorial Director, Kevin Falvey and Boating Publisher and Brand Director, John McEver.

According to SeaTow Foundation Executive Director Gail R. Kulp, Bonnier’s titles won for both the depth and breadth of coverage as well as the strength of the initiatives, which includes a grant partnership with the United States Coast Guard.

Said Kulp: “Bonnier, whose broad boating safety initiatives and editorial content were reflected in multiple boating consumer titles that reach thousands of readers and recreational boating enthusiasts. “Bonnier Corporation is awarded the top marine media award because they did a great job developing and publishing exceptional safe boating editorial and video content; demonstrated evidence of outreach via extensive data collection; plus hosted a multi-faceted boating safety campaign that crossed print, email and social media channels with entire editions of publications focused on boating safety,” said Kulp.

Read the complete press release from Sea Tow Foundation, below.

Southold, NY, December 2, 2019 – The Sea Tow Foundation recently announced winners of its inaugural National Boating Industry Safety Awards at the Elevate Summit in Orlando. The awards were sponsored and judged by the newly established North American Sober Skipper Advisory Council and funded through a grant from the Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund, administered by the U.S. Coast Guard. The awards were established to recognize the best boating safety work in the for-profit sector of the recreational marine marketplace occurring within the United States.

The Top Marine Manufacturer Award for Boating Safety was presented to Sea Ray Boats. Sea Tow Foundation Executive Director Gail R. Kulp said, “Sea Ray Boats launched an effective and highly targeted email and social media marketing campaign over the summer boating holiday weekends and promoted several boating safety initiatives including the importance of boaters wearing life jackets at all times; practicing responsible drinking and having a designated captain;and staying alert and being aware of surroundings.”

Taking the Top Marine Retailer Award for Boating Safety was MarineMax, a company which has long championed boating safety among boating consumers. Kulp noted, “From the development of hands-on boating safety classes to the production of safety-focused videos, MarineMax is providing outstanding educational opportunities for new boaters as well as those in need of a refresher. In addition, the MarineMax social media posts consistently promoted additional awareness about boating safety through ongoing messages via multiple platforms.”Sea Tow Safety Award winnersPictured from left to right are Pavlo Oborski (Grants Management Branch Chief for the US Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety), Kevin Falvey and John McEver with Bonnier Corporation, and Gail Kulp (Sea Tow Foundation Executive Director). Courtesy Sea Tow Foundation

The Sober Skipper National Advisory Council also created a category to recognize the best work of marine media in promoting boating safety. This year’s winner of the Top Marine Media Award for Boating Safety was Bonnier Corporation whose broad boating safety initiatives and editorial content were reflected in multiple boating consumer titles that reach thousands of readers and recreational boating enthusiasts.“Bonnier Corporation is awarded the top marine media award because they did a great job developing and publishing exceptional safe boating editorial and video content; demonstrated evidence of outreach via extensive data collection; plus hosted a multi-faceted boating safety campaign that crossed print, email and social media channels with entire editions of publications focused on boating safety,” said Kulp

The Top Marine Marketing and Boating Safety Outreach Award was won by Yamaha Outboards. Said Kulp, “Yamaha tapped Hunter Bland, a respected professional angler and influencer, to deliver spot-on boating safety messages that reached a targeted group of youth and young anglers. The grassroots campaign featured live special events coupled with branded campaign video and social media components.”

RELATED: Sea Tow Foundation Announces National Boating Industry Safety Awards Winners

In addition, a newly established Sober Skipper Award was presented by the Sea Tow Foundation to Freedom Boat Club in recognition of its outstanding adoption and promotion of the Sober Skipper program. The largest and oldest boat club in North America with more than 185 locations, Freedom Boat Club advocates for boating safety by asking each member at every dock to identify a designated Sober Skipper before departure. While this initiative has reportedly saved Freedom Boat Club thousands of dollars in boat damage and liability costs, it has no doubt saved the lives of members and their friends, while allowing them to maximize and enjoy their time on the water.

“We have worked closely with Freedom Boat Club over the past three years and the company has demonstrated just how easy and effective it is to incorporate the Sober Skipper message into its business model,” said Kulp. “We are pleased to establish this new award to recognize the outstanding work of our partners like Freedom Boat Club who actively and successfully promote boating safety award to recognize the outstanding work of our partners like Freedom Boat Club who actively and successfully promote boating safety message.

Added Kulp, “The National Sober Skipper Advisory Council and the Sea Tow Foundation are very pleased by the caliber of candidates and the submissions received for our first awards recognition. We are all delighted to see the great work being done by recreational boating industry organizations and look forward to continuing to support and bring well deserved recognition to outstanding achievers and safe boating champions throughout the recreational marine industry.”

For more information about the North American Sober Skipper Advisory Council and the National Boating Industry Safety Awards, please visit the Sober Skipper website at: www.soberskipper.com

Members of the Sea Tow Foundation’s North American Sober Skipper Advisory Council include David Connolly, Thomas H. Connolly and Sons; David Dickerson, NMMA; Jim Emmons, Water Sports Foundation; Kevin Falvey, Bonnier/Boating Magazine; Mike Hankins, Crevalle Boats; John Jost, Ken Cook Company; Captain Keith Lake, MarineMax; Dave Marlow, Brunswick Corporation; Captain Frank Stoeber, Regal Boats; Nic Thomas, Freedom Boat Club; Stephanie Vatalaro, RBFF; Annamarie Worrell, Emerald Coast Marine Group. The council’s executive committee includes Kristen Frohnhoefer, Sea Tow Services International; Gail R. Kulp and Michael Wesolowski, Sea Tow Foundation; and Wanda Kenton Smith, Kenton Smith Marketing.

Sea Tow Foundation

With a focus on safe boating practices that result in fun on the water, the Sea Tow Foundation – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization – was established in 2007 by Sea Tow Founder Capt. Joe Frohnhoefer. After his passing in 2015, Captain Joe’s legacy continues as the Foundation brings attention to the number of preventable boating-related accidents, injuries, and deaths, and directly addresses prevention methods through education and awareness. More than 600 life jacket loaner stands are now available across the United States and the Foundation’s Sober Skipper program continues to grow. For more information on the Sea Tow Foundation, please visit BoatingSafety.com.

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On Saturday, March 24th and Sunday, March 25th, 2018 the Marine Trades Association of Maryland and Navy Sailing will present the 39th annual Annapolis Safety-at-Sea Seminar. Nationally sponsored by Cruising World magazine, Sailing World magazine, US Sailing and Landfall Navigation, this event takes place in Alumni Hall at the U. S. Naval Academy.

The Safety-at-Sea seminar provides an opportunity for two days of learning. Moderator Chuck Hawley will lead a team of sailors and industry experts on Saturday, who will address safety issues that include crew overboard recovery, hypothermia, weather forecasting, search and rescue options, and the maintenance of safety equipment. There will also be the exciting live demonstrations of crew overboard recoveries by Midshipmen, a U. S. Coast Guard helicopter rescue, life raft boarding and pyrotechnic signal flares. The day concludes with an opportunity to visit with the presenters at the evening reception. Participation in the first day of the seminar will qualify registrants for a US SAILING certificate.

Sunday has two options for additional training. The World Sailing (International Sailing Federation) track involves hands-on training where participants can simulate an abandon ship scenario by getting into their choice of gear/PFDs, jumping into a pool, swimming to an inflated life raft and hauling themselves into the raft. Hands-on jury rigging, safety ethos, communications, and fire-fighting round out the curriculum. Earning the World Sailing certificate requires passing a test at the end of Sunday and full participation in both days.

The second track is Advanced Cruising, which includes in-depth presentations on communications and electronics, navigation, cruise preparation, and ocean currents with wind/wave dynamics. The afternoon sessions offer either hands-on training with safety gear (Practical) or small group discussions (Interactive).

Around-the-world singlehanded racer Rich Wilson will present the keynote address on Saturday. He is the only American to finish the Vendee Globe race twice. Wilson comments, “Once you leave the dock you’re on your own. You have to make decisions, fix things, and you’re suddenly in positions you’ve never been in before”. Wilson will recount how on his first Vendee Globe around the world race his boat did a double somersault 400 miles west of Chile in 65-foot seas. He will discuss how safety plays a critical role in offshore sailing.

Also featured this year will be presentations from CW Monthly Maintenance columnist Steve D’Antonio on damage prevention and control. Capt. J. K. Louttit (Kip), USCG (Ret) will discuss and demonstrate care and maintenance of safety equipment. Navy Sailing Varsity Coach Jahn Tihansky will discuss the details of crew overboard rescues, and you’ll hear a first-hand account of an amazing recovery that occurred during a distance race last summer. Back by popular demand, the seminar will again offer an afternoon weather session featuring Joe Sienkiewicz from NOAA and Dr. Gina Henderson. Dr. Michael Jacobs will present emergency medical care and hypothermia on Saturday. He will discuss questions ranging from how to treat contusions to why it’s important to understand the dire implications of hypothermia. Sunday will feature offshore cruiser and instructor John Kretschmer who will present the cruise preparation segment of the program. This year’s seminar will address the needs of offshore racers and cruisers as well as provide important safety tips for those whose boating interests remain much closer to home.

Tickets are available online at www.mtam.org for $175 for Saturday only, which includes an evening reception with the speakers and $225 for the two day advanced cruising session. The two-day World Sailing (ISAF) Certificate session is $325. Refreshments and a box lunch will be provided each day as part of the ticket price. The World Sailing (ISAF) portion of the program is capped and seating for the popular two-day event is limited; therefore, early registration is strongly advised. Ticket and event information may be obtained through the Marine Trades Association of Maryland P.O. Box 3148, Annapolis MD 21403 on the web www.mtam.org or by telephone at 410-269-0741.

Endorsed by the U. S. Coast Guard and originally designed for Academy Midshipmen 39 years ago following the tragic 1979 Fastnet Race, the popular Safety-at-Sea Program has been credited with saving countless lives. Life saving know-how is useful not only for those who have never ventured offshore, but for those who make offshore passages regularly. The national Safety-at-Sea programs have become required attendance for those planning to participate in the Annapolis to Newport, and the Annapolis to Bermuda race. Whether racing or cruising, power or sail the Safety-at-Sea program heightens the importance of safety training for everyone on the water.

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There’s nothing better than taking a front-row seat to watch the evolution of marine electronics. Last fall, I strolled the equipment halls of the National Marine Electronics Association Conference & Expo; walked the docks and crawled through tents at the U.S. Sailboat Show at Annapolis; attended the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show; and hoofed the cavernous halls at the Marine Equipment Trade Show in Amsterdam to get a handle on 2018’s most interesting new offerings. Read on for a roundup of what I found, presented in alphabetical order by manufacturer.

B&G’s Rollout

B&G has been making headlines for the past several years with its Vulcan series of stand-alone chart plotters that offer navigational capabilities and B&G’s proprietary sailing-­specific software, including SailSteer, Sailing Time and Start Line. Now, the U.K.-based marine-electronics manufacturer is offering two refreshed models: the Vulcan 7 ($700) and the Vulcan 9 (from $1,050). Both support B&G Broadband radar systems, which is a first for the Vulcan family. Previously, if sailors wanted the ability to overlay radar on their plotters, they had to purchase a plotter in the Zeus line.

Additionally, B&G unveiled an all-new radar-friendly Vulcan 12 ($2,200) for sailors seeking a big-glass experience. All three Vulcan plotters boast bright, colorful and easy-to-read screens that feature touch-screen-only interfaces and user-friendly software, menus and operating systems.

Radar is key for any serious offshore or poor-visibility sailing, and the Vulcan family took a major step toward becoming a viable one-plotter solution thanks to its ability to interface with B&G’s 3G or 4G Broadband radars. Now, sailors can ping targets up to 36 nautical miles away and see returns overlaid atop cartography and their vessel’s networked GPS position information.

Although B&G’s high-end WTP3 and H5000 systems are designed for hardcore racers, cruising sailors can leverage the sailing-specific features that come aboard Vulcan plotters to reach the next port faster and more efficiently, while also learning more about performance-minded sailing en route. Users can unlock advanced-level features, such as PredictWind weather forecasting, which is great for both offshore and coastal cruising. And skippers who enjoy occasionally blending in with the racing crowd will appreciate the plotters’ countdown and starting-line functionalities.

Additionally, the new Vulcans are all Wi-Fi enabled and can be app-controlled via a tethered wireless device (Android or iOS compatible), and all three models support B&G’s ForwardScan forward-­looking sonar, which can lower anxiety levels when nosing into unfamiliar or skinny-­water anchorages.

Garmin’s New Plotter Lineup

Garmin is never one to arrive at fall boat shows empty-­handed, and this year was no exception as the Kansas City, Kansas-based technology giant unveiled its new line of EchoMap Plus chart plotters, which are available in four screen sizes: 4-inch ($200 to $350), 6-inch ($350 to $550), 7-inch ($650 to $700) and 9-inch ($850 to $1,500). The three larger EchoMap Plus plotters include built-in Wi-Fi connectivity to support Garmin’s new ActiveCaptain application (also available as a smartphone or tablet app from Apple’s App Store or Google Play), which Garmin is billing as a one-stop shop for all chart purchases (or updates), trip planning, software updates and access to the ActiveCaptain Community, among other features.

In addition to supporting chart-plotter functionality, the three larger EchoMap Plus plotters feature Garmin’s SailAssist software, which includes a wind rose, laylines, heading and course-over-ground lines, set and drift information, and apparent- and true-wind angles and speeds. And for any cruisers who enjoy the occasional romp around a racecourse, these new plotters also come with Garmin’s racing-specific features, which include a virtual starting line and various timers.

Finally, the 7- and 9-inch EchoMaps feature Garmin’s keyed-assist touch-screen interface, which gives users customizable one-button shortcuts to their favorite features.

GOST Stands Guard

Global Ocean Security Technologies has helped plenty of owners thwart vessel break-ins or dodge outright theft, and its newest system, dubbed the Apparition, offers an impressive number of bad-guy-stopping technologies. For starters, the black-box system is designed to be buried deep within a larger-­size yacht, making it hard or impossible for thieves to find and destroy, and it’s controlled by up to 16 different 5- or 7-inch touch-screen keypads that employ an intuitive graphical user interface. GOST’s Apparition can support up to 192 different sensors, ranging from infrared-­beam and deck-pressure sensors to pull sensors, and a companion app (free) immediately notifies an owner, captain or marina manager if there’s an onboard issue.

Additionally, Apparition works with GOST’s other product lines, such as GOST’s Cloak (sold separately), which, once tripped, vaporizes a proprietary glycol solution to fill a cabin or interior space with a dense, escape-thwarting fog. Each system is customized to fit a particular vessel, so set pricing for Apparition is not available.

Icom’s SSB Is Back

Icom has brought a classic technology out of dry dock with the rerelease of the M802 single-sideband radio, which the company says is the only single-sideband radio still available for recreational users. The M802 ($3,420) boasts 150 watts of output power, built-in digital selective calling, a large, easy-to-read LCD display and a maximum of 1,355 channels.

If paired with an optional modem, the M802 can also be used to send or receive email and weather faxes via SSB frequencies. The M802 features a headphone jack on its front face, NMEA 0183 compatibility and input for a GPS receiver (optional), as well as a remote-control microphone that allows users to directly select channels, and — most important — the ability to communicate globally with other SSB users. (Stay tuned to this space for more about this radio in an upcoming issue.)

Mazu’s in Touch

SkyMate’s mazu has been garnering attention and winning boat-show new-product awards with its new mSeries system (about $1,000 for hardware, plus monthly airtime fees that can be affordably “winterized”). The system allows cruisers to send and receive (relatively) small packets of information, such as email, weather (GRIB files and, when available, NOAA weather alerts and Nexrad graphic weather) and SMS communications, globally. Mazu’s mSeries system uses a proprietary compression algorithm to make these data packets as small as possible (read: cost effective) while still enabling sailors to send and receive mission-critical information. While mazu doesn’t provide internet access in the same sense of a high-speed land-based internet connection (you won’t be streaming Game of Thrones offshore), it allows cruisers to access specific pieces of information for significantly lower fees than VSAT or FleetBroadband satellite-communications systems. Rather than using a bulky gyrostabilized dome, mazu is a simple black-box system that connects to SkyMate’s servers via an Iridium satellite connection, which affords a global coverage footprint.

Users can download the free mazu marine app (available from Apple’s App Store), which can be installed on any iPad and used to connect to shore-based cellular and Wi-Fi networks to save money on data fees while coastal cruising. Alternatively, users can access and control the system using any Web browser. However, the app provides additional functionality. Mazu can also be used to send emergency SOS messages to the privately operated GEOS emergency-­monitoring network. Buyers should understand that mazu systems are permanently installed (therefore nontransportable) and complement, but never replace, EPIRBs. Finally, users can also upgrade to SkyMate’s optional Sentry vessel-­monitoring system, which keeps an unblinking electronic eye on the boat, around the clock.

Raymarine Sings On Key

Raymarine introduced its Axiom line of multifunction displays at the 2017 Miami International Boat Show last February, but those original plotters featured touch-screen-only user interfaces. While this works beautifully in calm seas or at anchor, some sailors have trouble tapping the correct portion of a touch-screen display while heeled over at 30 degrees and slamming through rough seas, so Raymarine’s just-­introduced Axiom Pro plotters feature a hybrid touch-screen and hard-key user interface.

Axiom Pro plotters come with 9-, 12– and 16-inch screens, ranging in price from $3,000 to $6,000. They feature optically bonded high-resolution in-plane switching screens that deliver bright colors and wide viewing angles in direct sunlight; high-speed quad-core processors; and built-in 72-channel GNSS/GPS receivers. All three chart plotters also offer two different levels of sonar capability; S models feature a single-channel chirp sonar, while RVX models boast Raymarine’s proprietary RealVision 3D sonar and a 1 kHz chirp sonar.

The Axiom Pros are designed to serve double ­duty between sailboats and powerboats, and their physical hardware and software make them equally adept on both platforms. For example, all Axiom Pro plotters are NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000 friendly and rated to IPX6/IPX7 waterproof standards, and they interface with Raymarine’s Quantum solid-state radars and Evolution autopilot systems. Additionally, they work with a wide range of cartography and come bundled with sailing-specific software functionality, such as sail instrument data and wind calculations. An upcoming update to Raymarine’s LightHouse operating system (likely available in early 2018) is expected to include racing-­specific features.

Siren Signals Security

Siren Marine’s new Monitor, Track, Control connected-­boat system is designed to give owners around-the-clock peace of mind, irrespective of whether they’re relaxing at home or traveling halfway around the world. The MTC system retails for about $600, and requires a $180 annual monitoring-service fee. In return, the system monitors critical vessel information, including high-water and bilge levels, and also provides access to deep-level metrics, such as how much juice the bilge pump has actually been drawing, which is critical for knowing if the pump is dry-cycling or moving water.

The MTC features an internal 56-channel GPS receiver and a Linux processor, which allows users to set geofences and monitor the vessel’s latitude and longitude via a PC or with an app that’s Android- and iOS-friendly. Each MTC also has an internal 3G cellular modem and the ability to monitor different user-selected wired and wireless sensors; should one of these trip, the MTC immediately alerts the vessel’s owners. Finally, users can harness the MTC’s cellular connectivity and processing power to remotely control the main battery and three user-selected systems (such as navigation or cabin lights, or the vessel’s heating and cooling system).

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