Motor Boat & Yachting — August 2017

The stabilisers reduced the motion to near negligible

when underway and during our lunch stop

The new Sleipner fi ns

were moved further

forward on the hull

Lowering the 105kg fi n

actuators into position

was quite a mission

Fitted, antifouled and

ready for a new life of

peace and calm afl oat

Stabilisation at rest and

underway means the

Maxeys can cruise where

they want, when they want

or fully to port but nothing else. There was much
scratching of heads and scrolling through screens
but we were stuck. Once again, Ronny from Sleipner
came to the rescue, taking time out from his holiday
to look at the screengrabs we emailed to him and
surmising that we hadn’t gone through the setup
sequence properly and needed to start again. He
was right and, much to our relief, it all worked as
promised when we tried it the following day. It was

a pretty calm day so it was hard to tell how effective

the fins were, but even when we deliberately drove

through our own wake, we were able to put full

wine glasses on the table and not lose a drop.

PLAIN SAILING

A couple of days later we were ready for our

shakedown cruise, and what fun it was. We spent

our first night at anchor between the Lérins Islands

but the sea was so calm we didn’t need to have the

stabilisers on. The next morning it was a little rollier

so we switched on the generator, engaged the

stabilisers and enjoyed a relaxed breakfast before

setting off for St Tropez. It was still early enough in

the season to get a berth just by phoning up on the

capitainerie and we spent a lovely evening sitting

in a waterside restaurant overlooking the harbour.

The next day we cruised round to Pampelonne

Beach then back to a bay near St Tropez, and again

the stabilisers proved their worth. After another

memorable night in Port Grimaud, we cruised

back to Antibes with the wind picking up but the

stabilisers reducing the motion to near negligible.

I’m convinced there is nothing else that you could

retrofit to a motor yacht that would make half as

much difference to your enjoyment on board as

a good set of zero-speed stabilisers. For us, they

mean we don’t have to go back into port every

night for fear of our guests feeling seasick and can

now go more or less where we want, when we want.

They have opened up cruising opportunities for

us throughout the Med, as we no longer need flat

cruising conditions and a berth waiting for us each

evening because we can always drop the hook and

enjoy a calm night at anchor. It may have taken two

sets of stabilisers and one new boat to get there,

but I’m certain we’ve now got a boat that will last

our family for many happy years to come.

James’s previous 52ft trawler yacht is now for sale at

http://www.solentmotoryachts.com, complete with fins!

SILVER ECHO

James’s new

Aquastar Explorer 74

OWNER’S UPGRADE