The Cumbrae Blog

Choosing Our New Yacht

The start of the new season at Cumbrae has seen the commissioning of our new cruising yacht to replace the out going Jeanneau Sunfast 37. Had Jeanneau continued to produce the Sunfast the decision would have been easy, but with the Sunfast no longer in production we had our work cut out, she was going to be a hard act to follow. After eight busy seasons she was recognised as one of the best from an Instructors perspective, being safe and forgiving, a good teaching yacht, she was much enjoyed by all who sailed on her.

Angus Fergusson, one of Cumbrae’s Yachtmaster Instructors, was given the difficult task of finding a new training yacht for the National Centre.

I started by speaking with all of my fellow Instructors, It was obvious that buying a yacht to teach with produces a set of criteria different from buying a yacht for personal use; but some recurring themes were coming through

• Stiff and sturdy boat; at Cumbrae we are not just fair weather sailors, we are sailing March to December
• Mainsheet in the Cockpit not the coach roof; Coach roof mainsheets are hugely frustrating when teaching sailing manoeuvres such as picking up moorings, where the crew are constantly pulling sails in then letting them out Boat speed is easier to control with the sheets in the cockpit.
• Boat that sails well, who would want a sailing boat that didn’t! and a huge bonus when working at Yachtmaster and Yachtmaster Instructor level.
• Comfort for 6 person with adaptable accommodation. Essential when you sail with a new and unknown crew every week of the year
• Plenty locker storage space, lots of novices coming aboard with big bags not too mention space for the extra safety equipment we carry.
• Good size chart table; essential for the teaching and practice of navigation room for a chart, a student and an Instructor
• Size is also an issue, too big can be too daunting when it comes to skippers learning to handle a boat. Students need something they can comfortably control, then their confidence and skills can grow.

The right boat was proving difficult to find, most modern boats on the market are set up for minimum effort with an empty cockpit, free of ropes. A chart table unable to accommodate a chart is normal and storage space both below and above decks is always an issue. Internal layout is designed for a family and not five independent individuals. Although we were looking to buy a new boat we were prepared to consider “nearly new” if it ticked our boxes.

An ex demo yacht sitting on the hard at Dunstaffnage caught our attention and our test sail on the Firth of Lorne in Force 6 conditions provided perfect test conditions.
Designed by European design house, J&J, and built by AD Boats in Croatia, the Salona 37 was a joy to sail, she was also ticking many of the other features we were looking for and it came as no surprise after our test sail she was voted Sailing Worlds cruiser/.racer of the year(2007). With very little to compromise on we were confident we had found our replacement yacht.

In late December, a team of Cumbrae Cruising Instructors set off from Dunstaffnage on the Maiden voyage of our new cruising yacht, delivering her to her new berth at Largs where she would be properly commissioned over the winter.

Rod Smith in charge of Cumbrae’s Professional Yachtmaster Training programme having missed out on the demo sail skippered the maiden voyage “I was instantly feeling optimistic, a folding prop, relatively deep draught, an open transom, a pointy nose and a hull shape much more suited to the upwind sailing I have become accustom to, coupled with that a very sexy carbon fibre wheel!”

While most of the country’s roads ground to standstill in winter conditions out at sea we headed South with a cold NE wind, we had an extremely short weather window before the wind was due to increase and bring more blizzards with it

Catching the first tidal gate in the afternoon at the Sound of Luing, with the wind still in the NE, we were doing 10knts over the ground, and making good southwards progress. In the middle of the night, south of Gigha and true to forecast, the wind flicked South West sending us screaming round the Mull of Kintyre, we had cracked it, a downwind run home up to Cumbrae. As we got closer to home the wind increased to force eight and driving snow pushed us on. I got my hands back on the carbon fibre wheel, doing my best to keep her powered up with a max speed of 11.9 knots through the water we surfed the waves without a broach to be seen, magic.!

The boat was lovely to sail and I have to agree with the brochure spec. She has nice lines above and below deck, can perform in light winds and can carry lots of canvas in strong winds, comfortable yet designed for people who really love sailing.

I am sure this is just the start of a colourful relationship, and guarantee that Cumbrae’s new “Somerled” will bring smiles to the many faces of the people who will sail on her in the seasons to come. For details of all our cruising opportunities please click here
 

By David