Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Jessie Watson a young Australian sailor with big dreams.

An avid sailor since the age of 8, Jessie Watson, who turned 15 in May, has set her sights on becoming the youngest person to sail solo unassisted around the world. Jessie’s dream has been inspired by Kay Cottee, the first woman to make an unassisted solo sail around the world, and Jesse Martin, who currently holds the record for the youngest person to do so.

Jessie readily admits she has quite a task ahead of her just to set off on her quest and sees this as more of a challenge than the voyage itself. She has yet to do a solo sailing trip but is building her offshore experience having just returned from delivering boats from New Zealand to Vanuatu and Vanuatu to Australia. Jessie is also working towards her Yachtmaster qualifications.

She still needs a boat and has an S and S 34 or something equally suitable in mind, an ocean proven vessel that won’t cost the earth. Jessie is looking for a major sponsor to underwrite the voyage. Given the enthusiasm with which Australians supported Kay Cottee and Jesse Martin, this would almost certainly pay off for anyone who put their hand up.

To beat the current record Jessie has 3 years to prepare for and complete the voyage. It is a journey of approximately 27,000 nautical miles and can take 7 to 10 months to complete. This is a long time to spend on your own, especially when the going is tough. Jessie seems unfazed by this prospect and thinks the physical challenge of sailing and looking after the boat will outweigh the mental challenges.

Setting off from the east coast of Australia her route would take her eastwards and south of New Zealand. Crossing the Southern Ocean she would then round the notorious Cape Horn before heading north to a waypoint in the north Atlantic. Heading South again she will pass the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa then head east again towards Australia and her port of origin

Jessie has already experienced some critism about her objective along the lines of she is too young and inexperienced. However by the time she actually gets on the water she will most likely be 17 years old or close to it and will have spent that time preparing for the voyage.

Her parents are very supportive whilst admitting it wouldn’t be their first choice of all the challenges that are available. Given Jessie’s determination, their attitude is to make sure she is well prepared and completes the voyage as safely as possible. Jessie herself gives off an air of quiet determination. At no time when I was speaking with her did she even give the slightest hint that she wasn’t more than capable of becoming the youngest person to sail alone around the world.

If anyone is interested in sponsorship they can get in touch through our contact form on this website. Jessie also has a blog.

Two main types of material are used to produce inflatable boats and inflatable dinghies, PVC and Hypalon.

PVC or polyvinyl chloride is a type of plastic and Hypalon is a synthetic rubber patented by the DuPont company. Both are used as coatings on nylon or polyester fabric to form sheets of strong tear resistant material. These sheets are then glued or bonded together into the tubes that make up the inflatable boat.

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Many thanks to Captain Triko for this article.

The handling and application of rope on board yachts is a broad subject made all the more expansive by advances in technology. The place of rope, wire and spars on board a sailing vessel now more than ever requires well researched decisions which will take many factors into account. This investment in time to choose the ropes and lines best suited to the purpose on board ship will ultimately pay great dividends for owners and crews of racing and cruising boats alike.

Regardless of potential hull speeds the optimum hoisting and trimming of sails combines human factors i.e. seamanship and boat handling with the mechanics of effort and energy. The greatest limitation to achieving the optimums, assuming reasonably competent equipment use will be the physical properties of the equipment itself.

The point of this article is to not so much discuss the properties of rope in detail but to outline the benefits of which rope products best suit the budget and on board application.

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The Whitsunday Islands are undoubtedly one of the best and most accessible cruising areas in Australia.

Anyone fortunate enough to have the time to sail their own yacht there can easily spend several months exploring the many islands and anchorages. If lack of time is a problem or you don’t have a suitable boat there are numerous companies offering bareboat and crewed charters.

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The 12th annual Australian Etchells Winter Championship has wrapped up for another year after a weekend of close competition and some exciting and variable weather.

Sailing conditions covered the whole spectrum with the light shifty conditions on the first day seeing Graeme Taylors Magpie win by 30 seconds after leading the fleet around the course.

The start was delayed due to lack of breeze and then went through 3 general recalls as the eager 54 boat fleet fought for a good position before finally getting underway. Unfortunately, last years winner, Skip Lissiman crossed the line early earning him a disqualification on the final start.

Day 2 saw an increase in wind strength with 12-18 knot southeaster and a long day on the water with 3 races sailed to get the 6 race format back on track. Magpie and her crew of Graeme Taylor, Grant Wharrington and Simon Gorman were able to consolidate their earlier win with a 7th, 1st and a 2nd.

The last day had some tough and challenging conditions, race 5 was sailed in SE 16-18 knots with rain squalls causing some major windshifts. During the last race the wind increased to 22-25 knots with a steep chop on top the regular swell causing 11 boats to retire from the gruelling conditions.

Racer XY made a good start in the last race and built a lead of more than minute on the next boat Critical Balance with Magpie making 4th place behind Funky Cold Medina. Able to discard their 18th place in race 5 , Magpie won the championship with15 points, ahead of Critical Balance on 19 points with Racer XY a very close third.

For more information see the Mooloolaba Etchells website.

On Monday 9th June British sailor Hilary Lister is setting off on a solo circumnavigation of Britain.

Nothing to unusual in that except that Lister is a quadriplegic and is only able to move her head.

Lister has gradually been losing the use of almost all her body since the age of 11 due to a neurological disorder known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy which ironically also leaves her in great pain.

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This weekend sees the 12th Musto 2008 Etchells Australian Winter Championship to be held at Mooloolaba in South East Queensland.

Despite being in the middle of winter the waters off Mooloolaba are still warm, the sun is usually shining and the day time temperature is rarely below 20degC. The event regularly attracts sailors from all over Australia as well as some top international names, despite this the event is open to all Etchells sailors.

Mooloolaba fleet captain Trevor Martin says the winter championship is about giving all Etchells skippers and crews the chance to enjoy top class competition.

“We aren’t all professional sailors. Like a lot of the Etchells sailors, we enjoy racing our boats on the weekends and at the class regattas. Even though we may find ourselves placing down the results, the opportunity of challenging top class sailors racing equally on one-design boats is just brilliant. Sometimes those sailors get knocked off their perch by the weekend warriors. That is a great feeling when it happens.”

The event is set to welcome a fleet of 55 boats campaigned by some of the best one-design sailors in Australia including previous America’s Cup and Olympic class competitors. Last years winner West Australian Skip Lissiman will be back to defend the title and John Bertrand is also returning this year.

More information is available from the event website.

The 20th Sanctuary Cove Boat Show has been widely claimed a success despite earlier speculation that boat sales would suffer in the current economic climate. Visitor numbers to the show were the second highest on record at 50,600.

Boatweb sponsors and importers of Fountaine Pajot Catamarans EC Marine Pty report that they achieved record sales at the show, selling seven sail and power catamarans during the show with a total value of $5,580,000. Sales included the new Salina 48, Orana 44 and Highland 35 Pilot, as well as Lavezzi 40 and Mahe 36’s. Queries and orders immediately following the Show have also been very strong with an additional two catamarans sold, at a value of $1,090,000.

Other exhibitors reported strong sales in the over 40 foot category with many companies also claiming record sales. Walking around the show my own impression was that business on the marina in particular seemed very brisk.

Despite there being many large and impressive boats on display the one that really caught my eye was the Ranger Tug which looks like a proper little ship. Very charming and economically equipped with a 30 hp diesel for those of us who aren’t in too much of a hurry.

Around the Pavilions I discovered the Mobilarm VPIRB which I had not come across before. The VPIRB is a locating beacon that transmits your GPS position via DSC VHF or voice VHF to all vessels in range when automatically activated. This would useful for double handed sailors with a DSC VHF. If one crew member was below and the other went overboard the DSC VHF would be activated and give the position of the MOB directly to the vessel rather than to a rescue co-ordinating centre like a personal EPIRB.

Nearly every manufactured boat comes equipped with a 12 volt electric bilge pump or perhaps two if you have a really big boat.

If you are expecting these electric bilge pumps to to stop your boat from sinking due to anything but a very minor leak then you are going to be disappointed.

Most electric bilge pumps are rated with their pumping capacity in gallons per hour (gph) and the biggest one I can see in my chandlery catalogue is rated at 3700 gph. I would venture that not many boats have one that size fitted.

It is most likely that the pumps rating is with no head, meaning that the discharge is horizontal with the pump not having to push any water uphill. A very unlikely scenario for a bilge pump. The higher the pump has to pump the bilge water to get it to the discharge point the more its pumping capacity diminshes.

Also the rated capacity will be with full 12 volts of battery power available, which is not always the case.  A large capacity pump like the 3700 gph model mentioned draws 20 amps which would require the engine to be running for prolonged operation.

A bilge pump installation necessarily includes a hose to pump the bilge water overboard. The discharge point must well above the water line or have an anti-siphon loop. The pump has to push the water uphill reducing its rated pumping capacity.

The hose itself can also reduce pumping capacity. A lot of bilge pump hose is corrugated to make flexible and hold its shape when bent round corners. Internally the corrugations create resistance to the flow water. Hose with smooth internal walls will create less resistance to the flow, however it must suitably reinforced so that it holds it shape.

Eventually the hose terminates in a skin fitting. The internal diameter of the skin fitting is narrower than that of the hose again restricting the flow of water.

It is estimated that a bilge pumps capacity can be reduced by between 15 and 30% by these factors.

As a comparison a 1 inch diameter hole in your boat three feet below the waterline will let in around 2000 gallons of water in an hour.

In actual fact the purpose of these pumps is to more remove accumulated water from the bilge once you have found and stopped a leak rather than keep up with a major ongoing flood. So from that perspective whatever you have installed is likely to be adequate.

Anyone wanting enough pumping capacity to control serious flooding would be better off installing an engine or generator driven high capacity pump.

The beach just south of Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland seemed to have a magnetic attraction for boats on Thursday night.

First the 65′ Tuna boat “Magnus” ended up stranded on the beach. It is understood the boat was heading north towards Mooloolaba when the incident happened. A report in the Sunshine Coast Daily says that the crew were asleep at the time!

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