Long-haul cruising CHECKLIST
Practical Boat Owner|September 2023
Jimmy Cornell boils down decades' worth of world cruising surveys to find the factors that affect voyage success
Jimmy Cornell
Long-haul cruising CHECKLIST

For 35 years I have been keeping a record of the global movement of sailing yachts by obtaining the number of arrivals in several key locations around the world.

During this period there has been a steady increase in those numbers; the most significant being the number of transits by cruising yachts through the Panama Canal, which went up from 495 in 1987 to 919 in 2022. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the foremost sailing hub in the North Atlantic where yacht arrivals rose from 1,038 to 1,237. At Horta in the Azores, there has been a near two-fold increase from 614 to 1,131. Arrivals in New Zealand grew from 250 to 489 while Tahiti saw an increase from 328 to 404. High latitude destinations have also seen a marked increase from only four yachts calling at Spitsbergen in 1990 compared to 52 last year, with an increase in Antarctica from eight to 26 over the same period. The only place where there was drastic reduction was the Suez Canal, which recorded a fall from 198 in 2000 to 36 in 2022. This is undoubtedly due to safety concerns, with sailors preferring the safer route around the Cape of Good Hope as shown by the numbers going up in Cape Town from 67 to 126.

On a global level, an estimated 10,000 boats are undertaking a long voyage at any given moment. The vast majority have a happy ending. That was certainly the case with my own voyages and also for the majority of participants who sailed in my rallies, whether transatlantic or around the world.

Bearing in mind the many challenges that those sailors had to overcome to bring their voyages to a successful conclusion, it's remarkable how relatively small the number of failures was.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2023-Ausgabe von Practical Boat Owner.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2023-Ausgabe von Practical Boat Owner.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS PRACTICAL BOAT OWNERAlle anzeigen
Orca sink yacht in Strait of Gibraltar
Practical Boat Owner

Orca sink yacht in Strait of Gibraltar

Spain's maritime rescue service, Salvamento Maritimo, has reported that a 15m (49ft) yacht sank in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar following interaction with a pod of orca.

time-read
1 min  |
Summer 2024
No kill cord or lifejackets were worn during fatal powerboat crash
Practical Boat Owner

No kill cord or lifejackets were worn during fatal powerboat crash

A kill cord and lifejacket are useless unless worn-that's the warning from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), following its investigation into a powerboat crash that killed a 32-year-old woman and five-year-old girl on 2 October 2022.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
Summer 2024
Multihull sail work
Practical Boat Owner

Multihull sail work

Brush up on multihull sailing skills before heading off on charter with Gavin Le Sueur's guide to spinnaker handling, tacking and gybing

time-read
4 Minuten  |
Summer 2024
Five top causes of engine failure and how to prevent them
Practical Boat Owner

Five top causes of engine failure and how to prevent them

Jake Kavanagh talks to Sea Start marine engineer Nick Eales about how to avoid the five major causes of an engine breakdown at sea

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Summer 2024
Sail the Atlantic with strangers
Practical Boat Owner

Sail the Atlantic with strangers

Would you sail across the Atlantic with someone you've just met? Ali Wood meets the cruising crews who've done just that

time-read
10 Minuten  |
Summer 2024
IZIBoat: simple sailing
Practical Boat Owner

IZIBoat: simple sailing

Rupert Holmes sails an innovative catamaran design intended to widen participation in sailing among those with little time to get on the water in more conventional craft

time-read
7 Minuten  |
Summer 2024
30 WAYS TO GET AFLOAT
Practical Boat Owner

30 WAYS TO GET AFLOAT

From tall ships to small dinghies, you needn't own a boat to sail. Ali Wood looks at the options, and how skippers can also find crew

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Summer 2024
Boats for restoring under £20,000
Practical Boat Owner

Boats for restoring under £20,000

Duncan Kent picks the best sub-35ft sail and power boats to look for when aiming to undertake a restoration on a budget

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Summer 2024
Seaworthy dinghies for less than £500
Practical Boat Owner

Seaworthy dinghies for less than £500

For low cost traditionally-styled GRP trailer-sailers, consider the Foreland and the Otter available at bargain basement prices

time-read
5 Minuten  |
Summer 2024
Playing with coloured sails
Practical Boat Owner

Playing with coloured sails

Maintaining an hourglass-shaped balloon and ratcheting up the log numbers

time-read
3 Minuten  |
Summer 2024