RIN Webinars 

Catch up on one of RIN's 150+ webinars over the Christmas period.

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or sign in to your member profile and look through some of the member exclusive playlists available via the website

https://rin.org.uk/page/MembersOnlyWebinars

Webinar recordings available for purchase

The RIN has introduced restricted access webinars that are available free of charge to RIN members but carry a small cost for non-members. The recordings of these webinars may also be accessed by registering after the event has taken place. The following webinar recordings are now available:

• GNSS Spoofing for Civil Aviation (Originally broadcast on 26 November 2024)

Ian Herbert-Jones at The Cruising Association

Report by John Hasselgren

With a talk entitled “Going Solo”, Ian Herbert-Jones entertained the audience at the Small Craft Group's sponsored evening at the Cruising Association’s headquarters. Giving a brief history, Ian said that he had served in the British Army, which is where he learnt to sail. Following a career in technology, Ian then became interested in the Golden Globe Race, described as the World’s longest and loneliest race, especially due to its lack of modern technology.

As Round the World yacht racing developed it became more and more a matter of money, expensive large vessels with enormous shore teams supporting the single or multiple crew on board. The Golden Globe harks back to the original single-handed Round the World Race won by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in 1969.

Founded by Don McIntyre in 2018, the 50th Anniversary of the original single-handed, round-the-world race, the rules stipulate that the vessels and their equipment must be similar to that available in 1969. Yachts must be between 32 ft and 35 ft overall (9.75 m and 10.97 m), designed before 1988 and have a long keel with the rudder attached to the trailing edge. Modern technology is not allowed, so navigation comes back to the use of a sextant; no outside help may be obtained during the race, and autopilots are banned.

The course runs from Les Sables-d’Olonne, 30 thousand miles non-stop around the world via the Great Capes and back to Les Sables-d’Olonne.

Ian signed up for the race in 2018 and needed to find a suitable boat. Puffin was the result; a Tradewind 35 class yacht, she had been around the world in the Race once before. Following the purchase in France, she was then sailed back to Wales for preparation.

Despite being a single-handed race, Ian stressed the need for a large team, mainly for the preparation. Apart from his family – Ian said it was selfish of him to go – he was greatly assisted by Jade Edwards-Leaney, the rigger at HJ Sailing, who became the manager of the project and, as Ian said, trained both the boat and himself. The refit was a three-year project. The rig was changed to have three headsails, with all running rigging being led aft to the cockpit. The companionway to the accommodation was fitted with a sealable, watertight door. With no autopilot being allowed, a wind-vane self-steering gear had to be fitted, but because a regular weekly radio call to Don McIntyyre was required, a battery charger was allowed. A two-burner alcohol stove was fitted, and safety straps were attached to the bunk. Despite the race being non-stop round the world there are gates through which the yachts are expected to pass. These are located at the major turning points close to the Great Capes. At these, the competitors are met by a RIB for the collection of “films” and letters home; they may also have letters and messages read to them.

Prior to the race, Ian had to complete a 4,000-mile qualifying passage, undertake a Sea Survival course, a First Aid course and be instructed on astro-navigation. In the final days before the start, Ian’s wife Sally helped prepare 300 day-packs of food, and 300 litres of water was taken on board, with the expectation of topping this up with rainwater.

Two weeks before the Race the boats gathered at Les Sables-d’Olonne. All the Boats lined up and it was apparent that only sixteen of those who signed up were going to start. There were large crowds viewing the boats. Suddenly it was time to go!

On the first stage from Les Sables-d’Olonne to Lanzarote there was a Biscay gale for four or five days. This saw the first retirement from the event. The next leg from Lanzarote to Cape Town, some 6,000 nm, involved crossing the Doldrums. Sailing to cross the Equator at 28˚ West and avoid the Azores high, Ian and Puffin found light airs and calms that seemed to have drifted into the South East Trades. Because of this Ian was late at Cape Town; he could have missed the gate and accepted a penalty, but decided to go into Table Bay. Here, he dropped his sails, flew the correct flags and a RIB came out to meet him. His family thought that he might drop out of the race here. Ian didn’t but four others did. After thirty minutes Ian sailed on, heading for Hobart 6,000 nautical miles away.

This leg involved crossing the Aghulas Current into the Southern Indian Ocean and getting into the Roaring Forties. For safety reasons competitors in the race should not go below 45˚ South. The next gate was at Storm Bay in Tasmania. Before arriving there Ian had missed family birthdays and Christmas, although he did decorate Puffin for the latter. On arrival at Storm Bay on Day 135 of his voyage, only two weeks ahead of the cut-off date for leaving towards Cape Horn (another safety rule), Puffin had to secure to a mooring for 24 hours to simulate Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s time anchored during his first race.

The leg from Hobart to Cape Horn involved dropping below New Zealand, then moving north again to stay above 45˚ South. Gales seemed to arrive every three days. But, as Ian quoted, “Nobody said it would be easy”. Race headquarters occasionally issued warnings of severe weather to the competitors. Ian had just made landfall when he was told of a gale approaching the continental shelf around Cape Horn. Putting out a drogue – a long line with several small parachutes along it – Ian found his self-steering gear beginning to fail. Despite unsuccessful attempts to repair the gear, Ian found in the morning that the drogue had wrapped around the self-steering rudder, causing it to fracture. Ian had to hand steer round Cape Horn. In came another weather warning advising everyone to get off the Continental Shelf and into deeper water. Managing to get Puffin into the Beagle Channel, Ian anchored north of Picton Island, where SV Jonathan, which was already there, advised and assisted with the repair of the damage. Because of this outside assistance, Puffin had to drop out of the main race and go into the Chichester Class.

Departing after some 3 to 4 days at anchor, Ian started on the passage home. Rounding Staten Island (Isla de los Estados) he realised that he was still below 45˚ south and winter was coming on. For the first few days the Falklands Current helped get Puffin to the North, but a week of headwinds pushed her east for about 1,000 nm until she was somewhere about 400 to 500 nm North of South Georgia. That was when Race Control came in with a storm warning for the South Atlantic. Ian was advised to sail South to keep out of the worst of the storm, but it still managed to overtake him.

With a tiny scrap of foresail, Ian was having to help the self-steering gear. Puffin was knocked down a couple of times and the waterproof hatch to the accommodation was leaking. On going below to inform Race Control of his situation, Ian is sure the boat capsized, perhaps was even rolled right over. The mast had broken and there was two feet of water inside Puffin and Ian had injured his shoulder and back. As he said, he went into survival mode, moving from Low Tech to High Tech: he triggered his EPIRB. The lockers were checked for leaks and he discovered that all the water had entered via one broken hatch. Deploying his drogue, Ian tried to cut away the broken mast to prevent it from damaging the hull. Working on deck was almost impossible and Ian was saved from being washed overboard by his safety harness. When he contacted Race Control via a satellite phone, Ian found that they were concerned because he had missed a scheduled routine contact. Of the ships in relative proximity, two were unable to assist due to the weather, and a new Fishery Control Ship being sent to the Falklands was 30 hours away, but a Taiwanese fishing vessel, the Zi Da Wang, was on its way and was closer. Hearing what he assumed to be Mandarin on the radio, the fishing vessel suddenly appeared. The skipper went beam on to create a lee and she drifted down onto Puffin in what Ian described as a controlled crash with the 70-metre steel ship. By now the seas were down to about 2 to 4 metres and a line was thrown to Puffin on the third go. With two lines attached and 46 faces looking down, a pilot ladder was lowered; Ian took two steps up it before he was grabbed and hauled over the rail. Once he was safely on board, the lines were cut, and Puffin left to her fate.

On board the Zi Da Wang, Ian found himself to be of interest to the crew, who were on their way home with a hold full of squid. They treated him kindly, offering him clothes and cigarettes, and relied on unusually named Davey Jones, who had the most English, to look after him. Ian’s comment was that these fishermen, whom he suspected had very little, were happy to share everything with him. For the first 24 hours Ian explored all over the ship. He ate his meals with the different watches and in ten days they reached Cape Town. Here, said Ian, the world of publicity hit him. 

The Golden Globe race was nearing its end. Ian was able to fly back to Les Sables-d’Olonne, arriving just in time to welcome the winner, Kirsten Neuschäfer, as she arrived.

The tracker on Puffin failed 24 hours after Ian’s rescue, so, sadly, it is assumed that she sank.

Following questions from the audience, Paul Bryans, Chairman of the Small Craft Group, thanked Ian for his fascinating talk, and the Cruising Association for their hospitality in hosting us.

Weather and Sailing 2024

By John Hasselgren

This year’s version of this oft-repeated event took place at the Royal Yacht Squadron's Castle in Cowes at the invitation of the Royal Yacht Squadron. Those of us who arrived on Friday to help set up the event were made welcome by the staff and enjoyed a very good dinner, with most staying in the Squadron’s overnight accommodation.

The following morning, once the delegates had arrived and had coffee, we were welcomed by the Commodore of the RYS, Sir James Holman. He assured us that the Squadron was delighted to host the Conference and informed us that the Castle wasn’t a sailing club but a home. We were cordially invited to treat it as our home for the day. Professor Liz Bentley, Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, added her welcome to that of Sir James and thanked Andrew Eccleston, who had arranged the speakers for the day; indeed, Andrew arranged speakers for the very first of these Conferences in November 2001, and every one since.

 

During the morning we saw three presentations covering Weather Routing, Ocean Racing and the use of Wind and Tidal Currents in Marine Operations.

Chris Tibbs opened the proceedings by talking about weather routing. Which route to take for long-distance sailors will depend on acceptable risk levels; when racing speed is important, when cruising comfort may be preferred. Sail or power, displacement or planing, will alter the decision, as will personal preferences and the time available. Polar diagrams of wind conditions are considered more useful but are most accurate for light displacement boats in smooth water. Realistically these will usually be 80%, or lower, correct for offshore cruising. On shorter routes such as cross-Channel, high-resolution weather models are available, which may need altering according to coastal conditions. During these shorter passages, there is likely to be only a small change in the weather. On longer routes, one must consider the accuracy of and confidence in the forecast. Does it look right? It is best to compare multiple models of the weather and to split the route into shorter sections. Weather routing is a powerful tool, but it is important to be realistic. Weather is dynamic and it is humans that sail boats.

Winner of the Golden Globe Race, Kirsten Neuschäfer, was unable to be present. However, she was represented by a video of her being interviewed by Paul Heiney. This took place on zoom, each participant being in their own home. 

Paul Freeman from TideTech started with some history, informing us that Benjamin Franklin had helped all those years ago to track the Gulf Stream. Now, though, we have traditional routing charts and a general overview of ocean currents. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) became famous with its East Australian Current (EAC) project by tracking fish along the coast. It also produced diagrams of seasonal current variations for the area. NASA altimetry satellites are also showing more accurate recent maps of ocean currents. Atmospheric forecasts are usually good for five days, sometimes extending to ten days. It is possible to select the altitude of the forecast, suitable for airmen, but the normal surface forecast is for ten metres above the ground or sea surface. For marine data for sailors, we were asked to consider the passage plan, the general location - ocean, coastal, local – the length of time, and the ability to obtain updates via radio or the internet. All this information can be obtained from the Met Office, Météo–France, Bureau of Meteorology Australia, TideTech, DTN˚, SPIRE, and NOAA Copernicus satellite.

In the question session before lunch, the following topics were raised:
• The use of AI in forecasting.
• The fact that only 3% of merchant ships are reporting weather conditions at sea.
• GRIB files don’t show weather fronts – advice, look at the rainfall charts.
• The effect of the jet stream.

Following an excellent lunch, Anahita Laverack enthralled the delegates with details of autonomous micro-sailing vessels designed to collect data from the oceans. Starting as a dinghy sailor before moving into yachting, Anahita’s thesis for her Masters Degree was on sailboat autopilots. This led to the start-up of Oshen, which is designing and building microvessels to easily collect ocean data, normally the province of large and costly equipment that is difficult to transport and deploy. Ocean data is required in many fields such as climate modelling, weather forecasting, Safety at Sea, offshore energy development and shipping routing. Currently, it comes from drifting buoys, satellites and large / existing autonomous sailing vessels. The microvessels, about 1 metre long, can be carried by one person and launched easily from a ship, a jetty or even a beach. Movement is powered by wind, and instruments by solar power with battery back-up. They look to be similar to Junk rigged, with a deep bulb keel. Initial challenges were the breaking of components, roll stability and waterproofing. The vessels can be programmed to follow a route or to remain in one location despite ocean currents. Initial tests were done in the Irish Sea withstanding winds of force 6, to prove hardware robustness and check data collection. Commercially DEFRA is interested in biodiversity and improving marine mammal monitoring, requiring a navigation algorithm change; a fleet with improved design is currently building.  The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute has had one vessel operating in Monterey Bay for six months, and one patrolling across the Bristol Channel recently showed in advance the approach of very heavy rain.

Dale Smyth told us how the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race was run. Being different from other Round the World races, it didn’t require massive budgets nor involve professional adventurers.  Instead, the crews were ordinary people, paying and sailing under a professional Skipper and Mate. Being run every other year, the non-race years were spent giving the yachts a major overhaul and refit, seeking financial partners and training crews. The route for the race is broken into several legs, currently eight, with participants sailing one, more, or even all legs. Instead of rounding Cape Horn, the race crosses the North Pacific Ocean and then through the Panama Canal. An unusual concession is to the Doldrums; competitors can use engines to motor part of the way through this band of light or non-existent winds, which extends from 12˚ N to 2˚N. However, they can only motor through any 6˚ of Latitude within this band and may not leave the area until 60 hours have elapsed. Different weather conditions are to be expected for different legs; one main consideration is the need to be clear of the Caribbean by late June to avoid the hurricane season. There are extra points available beyond those for places in each leg of the race; these can be earned by sailing through ‘gates’ off the direct route from South Africa to Western Australia, by being the fastest boat between two latitude lines in the North Atlantic on the final leg and for the greatest distance sailed in any 24 hours.
 
A double act from James Scott and Cameron Hicks, both from the RNLI, gave a great insight into how the weather affected their operations. Coming from The Plymouth Lifeboat Station they were used to operating a Severn Class All-weather Lifeboat and an Atlantic 85 Inshore boat. The total crew of 28 experienced varied conditions from flat calm when in the Harbour and upriver to horrendously rough out at sea. These conditions would influence the decision to launch and which assets (which boat) to use. They may also see the need to call in a helicopter and the local Coastguard team. Casualty safety and condition, the impact on operational plans and search patterns were all affected by the weather.  Their interest was really in the sea state, wind speed and direction, visibility (sun, rain, snow, fog), water temperature, sunrise/set and tides (time of both high and low water). Forecasts were obtained from observations (looking out of window), local harbour readings, Marine Safety Information broadcasts, a local weather station and online. Weather could also limit the use of individual boats and their area of operation, especially concerning speed. There was also the problem of searching in the dark. When searching for a casualty, several different patterns were used. If a person is in the water, tidal drift would be factored in and leeway calculated. In 5 knots of wind, a person would be expected to drift 0.6 cable in an hour, 30 knots 2 cables. These calculations were all done with the aid of drift tables.

At this point in the Conference, Prof. Liz Bentley had to leave to travel to Heathrow for a flight to Baku in Azerbaijan to attend the COP 29 Conference. 

At the end of the afternoon, Tapio Lehtinen recounted his experiences in ocean racing, including his sinking and rescue in the 2022 Golden Globe Race. We were given a history of round-the-world sailing, starting with the last great grain race between full-rigged sailing ships in 1939 - 40, which followed the ocean wind patterns around the world. Frances Chichester made the first single-handed voyage around the world; then Robin Knox-Johnston became the first to do it non-stop. Now, we have regular races, both crewed and single-handed. Tapio himself has a long history of long-distance racing, including Round Britain, Whitbread Round-the-World, OSTAR, AZAB, Newport - Bermuda and two Golden Globes. In the 2022 Golden Globe race, when in the Southern Indian Ocean, despite having had a major refit, his boat Astoria sank following a rapid unidentified water intake in the stern.  Within 20 minutes she had gone. Rapidly donning a survival suit, Tapio launched the life raft, picked up his grab-bag and abandoned ship. His PLB brought him rescue in the form of Kirsten Neushäfer in Minnehaha, who picked him up and then transferred him to the bulk carrier Darya Gayatri. Undeterred, he then entered the 2023 Ocean Globe Race with a Finnish crew and completed it despite breaking the mast in the Fastnet race just 56 days before the start of the OGR.

All in all, it was an interesting and enjoyable day. The Royal Yacht Squadron and its Commodore, Sir James Holman, are to be thanked for their excellent hospitality.