ROLL ON

SPRING

 E

nough of winter! It seems to be dragging

on this year and I feel like I haven’t been

on a boat for ages. Storms, winter fl u,

darkness when you go to work and

when you get home – it’s tedious. The

hardier among us still have their boats

on the water and doubtless have been

enjoying clear, crisp sails on frigid

waters beautifully devoid of other boats. If so, I envy you.

For the time being, I content myself with daydreams fuelled

by the frequenting of boat shows. Large or small, boat shows

are an exquisite torture designed simultaneously to sink one

into despair about one’s own bleakly landlocked situation, and

tantalise us with the prospect of warm-water holidays, carefree

messing about in boats, and ownership of the latest gleaming

craft if only we could afford it.

The London Boat Show, newly condensed to fi ve days,

had a surprising buzz about it, with several new launches,

a gaggle of sailing celebrities and an eager horde of city

workers desperate to plot their maritime escape. Then there

was boot Düsseldorf, the world’s largest indoor boat show. With

17 vast halls, you can spend days ogling gorgeous little wooden

yachts, the latest sensible cruisers, or luxurious 60-footers, not

to mention the endless array of gizmos and gear. Just a short

fl ight away, I can highly recommend it, and the Schweinshaxe

and beer you can enjoy in the old town afterwards.

So that got me through January, but now comes the plotting

to get afl oat in earnest. There are a host of ideas in this issue

of YM. Graham Snook has found some eminently affordable

cruisers for fi rst-time boat owners and I must admit, I am

more than tempted by one of them (p88). Dick Durham

has taken the plunge and fi nally bought the classic boat he

has hankered after for 15 years (p54). But it’s really the idea

of setting sail across ocean water that has spurred on my

daydreams this month (p36). The idea of taking an ordinary

cruising boat offshore is full of intoxicating possibility – the

horizon beckons. Perhaps you might be tempted to stretch

your boat’s sea legs this summer. I know I am – the question

is to where? In the mean time, however, roll on spring.

Yachting Monthly Editor

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