The Yachting Year 2018

THE YACHTING YEAR 2018 | 33

RACES AND TALKS

 e Round the Island Race, supported by Cloudy Bay, is

o en known as ‘the cruising yachtsman’s race’, since it is

the one point in the year when racers and cruisers alike

seem to cast aside any tribal allegiances and muck in for

what has to be one of the ultimate celebrations of sail.

Beyond the event lies a myriad of really great smaller

events that are o en an absolute pleasure to stumble upon.

Whether it be a cruise in company with your local yacht

club through to a larger event organised by the Cruising

Association or the Royal Cruising Club, there’s always

something to divert your attention if you fancy it. In fact,

both the RCC and the CA hold a range of fascinating

seminars and lectures throughout the year which are

de nitely worth checking out. Particularly during the

winter, these seminars can be a vital means of reminding

yourself of the true joy of sailing.

BOAT SHOWS

Speaking of the o season, the autumn tends to bring with

it an absolute smorgasboard of delights for anyone out

there with a love of boat shows and, let’s face it, what isn’t

there to like about wandering aimlessly around pontoons

gawping at a mouth watering selection of yachts and

hardware. I always look forward to the Southampton Boat

Show in September; yet this is merely one glittering gem in

a packed show calendar that kicks o in earnest with the

glitzy Cannes Boat Show in the autumn and includes the

massive Düsseldorf Boat Show, consisting of around 14

huge halls and every boating item from a shackle to a

superyacht, in February. In between are all sorts of

fascinating highlights and it’s well worth checking out

some of the smaller boat shows, such as the Barclays Boat

Show in Jersey in April – it’s free and has a great

atmosphere – another personal favourite of mine is the

Friedrichshafen Boat Show on Lake Constance in

September. It’s not the biggest show, but the location is

beautiful and there’s a really friendly feel. Plus it’s a great

opportunity to stock up on Bratwurst.

NEW BOATS

Of course, one of the highlights of any boat show is the

new boats and this year will see a plethora of exciting new

launches.  ese days there really seems to be a philosophy

of bigger is better and it means that many of the major

manufacturers such as Jeanneau, Hanse, Bavaria and

Bénéteau have all been launching supersized cruisers in

the 60 plus category.  e latest to make a move into this

territory is Dufour with its all new 63, a magni cent

leviathan of a yacht that can still be easily handled by a

couple. Elsewhere, Kraken Yachts has been making waves

with its fascinating selection of serious ‘go anywhere’ blue

water cruisers.  e  rst model o the production line is

the 66, with hull number one slowly making its way to

Europe from the factory in Hong Kong. Quite rightly, the

Cruisers go racing

around the Isle of

Wight; Southampton

Boat Show in

September

Don’t forget the

Sailing Today

Awards! All details

on our website

sailingtoday.co.uk

R O U N D T H E I S L A N D R A C E

S O U T H A M P T O N B O A T S H O W

2018

TYY4 Year ahead Sailing Today.indd 33 04/12/2017 15:04