SAILING SKILLS

Expert on Board: Night pilotage tips
James Stevens helps a first-time skipper enter Poole Harbour at night

Skipper’s tips
• How to free a riding turn
• Rigging crossed stern lines
• Double-check positions
• Two-timing Greenwich
• The need for comms

Learning Curve
Hit by a trawler while anchored with a disabled engine

Any questions?
• Can I safely use legs?
• Where to find lifejacket spares?

Practical Seamanship
Big boat handling skills you need

CRUISING

A wild ride on a Bristol Channel supertide
Bob Aylott rides a Moody 31 through The Shoots on the biggest springs for 18 years

The last Westerly ever built
How one owner defied the receivers and snatched his half-built yacht from the bankrupt boatyard

The wild west coast of Tasmania casts its spell
‘It’s all in the timing,’ says Kerrin Ingwersen as she crosses Bass Strait in a 39ft cutter

Cruising log
Hit by a gale while sailing a Nicholson 55 around Ushant

It still rains in paradise
Don’t believe the hype, says a damp Jess Lloyd-Mostyn. Tropical isles are emerald-green for a reason…

A European desert island
There’s more to Porto Santo than an amazing beach – and it beats Madeira for shelter, says Kit Pascoe

Anchorages
Snug havens in Wales, Northumbria, Channel Isles & Canaries

Guilty pleasure
Colin Jarman on the pleasures of daysailing

NEW BOATS AND GEAR

New boats
A preview of new models launching at Southampton Boat Show

New gear
• Carbon and Kevlar deck protection
• RTE and tricolour combo
• Sonar on your smartphone
• Waterproof bags
• Tough smartphone cable

Tried and tested
• TV on board for less than £53
• Neoprene deck shoes
• Waterproof hat
• 4G antenna and Wi-Fi hotspot
• Inflatable sailing tender

Group test: Six personal AIS distress beacons tested at sea

New boat test: Sunbeam 40.1
Graham Snook tests her in a gale and finds her ‘a good compromise between performance and comfort’

Used boat test: Hallberg-Rassy
She’s ‘ideal for cruising reasonable distances in comfort and safety’ says Duncan Kent

September 2015