The boat’s name is a play on the 1947 Kon-Tiki raft used to sail across the Pacific by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, and its voyage roughly followed the same route.

On March 20, 2010, the sailing vessel set off from San Francisco, California to cross the Pacific Ocean with a crew of six: British skipper Jo Royle, co-skipper David Thompson, expedition diver Olav Heyerdahl, filmmakers Max Jourdan and Vern Moen, and expedition leader David de Rothschild. The expedition projected landfall in Sydney, Australia and included plans to visit several sites en route of ecological importance or which were susceptible to environmental issues caused by global warming, for instance the current sea level rise, ocean acidification and marine pollution.

Plastiki arrived in Sydney Harbour on July 26, 2010, accompanied by a small flotilla of boats. Shortly afterwards, it was towed to the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, where it was on display until late August.

This 8000-nautical mile journey across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney is a revolutionary expedition of ecological importance with a mission and dream of giving our oceans a voice. Plastic pollution has been plaguing our planet, from the peaks of mountains to the depths of the ocean. Throw-away single-use plastics are the culprit, with over 74 million pounds of plastic bottles floating in our oceans. 

But how, you ask, did they build it?

The Plastiki team found the solution to the technological challenge in 2008 by using srPET, a material similar to fibreglass but made entirely of recyclable plastic. The bottles were filled with dry ice and then sealed and heated, to turn the dry ice into carbon dioxide gas and pressurise the bottles, making them rigid.

The post Plastiki, a Fantastic Sailing eco-adventure appeared first on Sail Universe.

The post The ultimate Dummy’s Guide to Sailing. INFOGRAPHIC appeared first on Sail Universe.

The post The world of sailing in the “twilight zone”… An incredible photogallery appeared first on Sail Universe.

“Fisher & Paykel” Maxi yacht

The legendary 83ft “Fisher & Paykel” Maxi yacht, 2nd in the 89/90 Whitbread Round-the-World Race and entry in the 2011 Volvo Ocean Legends Race in Alicante. One of the biggest racing yachts ever built for round-the-world racing and the last of its generation of giants still to be sailing worldwide. The boat was originally built for the Whitbread Round-the-World Race of 1990/91 and was named after its main sponsor, the NZ home appliances manufacturer “Fisher&Paykel”. Was designed by Bruce Farr and built by Martin Marine in New Zealand and a total of approx. 3 Milion Dollars were spent on state-of-the-art space industry materials and the latest technologies in order to create a masterpiece of yacht racing under the direction of its captain Grant Dalton (nowadays director of the NZ America’s Cup Team). Great super boat and sailor

Pelagic Australis

Pelagic Australis is the particular sloop ice class in aluminum of 74ft. It has a displacement of 48 tons, it results very strongly. Its sail area reaches 264 sqm upwind and 414 sqm… its lifting-keel adjustable allow a régi labile drift from 1.20m to 3.90m if it’s necessary.

Kriter Brut de Brut

Kriter Brut de Brut, 23.50 meters trimaran skippered by Sylvie Vanek and Beatrice Maupas in 1983 for the Transat in double Lorient-Bermuda-Lorient. The French Philippe Monnet with this boat in 1986 establishes a new record of the solo world tour on a multihull in 129 days 19 days and 17 minutes.

Pen Duick VI

This is the boat of the most famous sailor, Eric Tabarly. Pen Duick VI is a 22.25 mt ketch built in 1973 for the Whitbread Round the World Race. In 1976 she won the transatlantic regatta in solitary from Plymouth to Newport.

Anthem

Top view of beautiful anthem. The particular ketch built in 1998 is a 70 feet sailboat. With is extraordinary 1000 sq ft of sail it can be reached a speed of 25 knots in strong wind. The mainmast is 70 ft and the mizzenmast is 50 ft, it allows you to put 5 sails at the same time.

Reliance

Why did we select Reliance among the most beautiful sailboats of all time? Simple… Reliance, the boat that defended America’s Cup in 1903, is the most extreme boat ever sailed in the cup: 27.4 m long at the float and 43.5m out of all measured by the bompress tip at the end of the boom was 60 m. Born by the genius of what is considered to be the greatest inventor of modern sail, Nathaniel Herreshoff when he has slammed the topside turned into a floating line making it much more powerful.

Spirit Of Portopiccolo

Spirit Of Portopiccolo a 26m sail yacht was built in 2003 by McConaghy boats. Design is the work of Reichel-Pugh. Previously named Morning Glory. This amazing sail yacht in carbon hull e canting keel has an enviable trophy list:
Winner of the 2017 Barcolana di Trieste,
Winner of the 2007 Maxi Worlds, Racing Division
Winner of the 2006 Middle Sea Race
1st to Finish and New Course Record in the 2005 Transpac Race
1st to Finish and New Course Record in the 2004 Newport to Bermuda Race!
Fast boat for racing sailor, Great!

STAY TUNED FOR MORE!

The post SAIL UNIVERSE CHOICE. 7 of the Most Beautiful Sailboats of all Time appeared first on Sail Universe.

Onne van der Wal is one of the most talented marine photographers in the sailing world. He was born in Holland on February 24, 1956 and raised in Hout Bay, South Africa. He learned to sail aboard his grandfather’s boat before he could walk. After he progressed through youth sailing training programs, he discovered his passion: ocean racing.

As the bowman and engineer aboard the Dutch maxi-boat Flyer, van der Wal won all four legs of the 1981-82 Whitbread Round the World Race. Along the way, he took his camera with him everywhere he went, even to the top of the mast and the end of the spinnaker pole. We met him.

Please tell us something about your younger days, to help us understand how your passion for sailing began.

I was born in the Netherlands; this was where my grandfather sailed, and where my father learned to sail as well. My mother’s father was very keen to spend time on the water and liked to sail and fish, always on the lakes and the canals in Holland. When my father joined the family, he learned to sail – and then, of course, at a very young age they took me along. Almost before I could even walk, I was already sailing on those typical Dutch boats.

In 1959 when I was two years’ old, we took an immigrant ship from Amsterdam to Cape Town, where we started our new life in South Africa. We had a lot of sailing opportunities there; later on my youngest brother also sailed often, and we raced Lasers againt each other. I then got involved with keelboats in South Africa, which were more appealing for me than the dinghy boats. Sailing dinghys was always very cold and wet for me…

You participated (and won all four legs…) on the 1981-82 Whitbread Round the World Race onboard Flyer. How has this experience been important for your work?

I started sailing in Cape Town on the keelboats at the Royal Cape Yacht Club. We were at the Yacht Club: some of those boats raced, and some of them were used for cruising. A guy next door saw me always working on the cruising boat, and he said ‘you should come and race with us’. I told him ‘yes, but I don’t know how to race’, to which he replied ‘I’ll show you’. I raced, and I loved it.

Someone that sailed with him took me on a bigger boat, a 72 feet ketch, so I went on and raced on that. At the point I received the offer for a spot to do the Cape to Uruguay race in 1979: I went along as a watch captain and the starting helmsman. I did three transatlantic passages on that boat. I did a lot of miles, and I love being offshore, but I was always very keen because when the second Whitbread came through Cape Town in 1977, I was down at the RCYC and I saw them coming in to Cape Town, and it made a huge impression on me. And I went sailing on Great Britain 2 for a day sail, a 77 footer, that really made a big impression on me. And so I thought ‘well I’m going to do more racing’. So I went to England, and I raced in 1979 in Cowes week and Fastnet race, I sailed on Sleuth, an American boat 54 ft Frers sloop.

At one point, I decided to write to Conny van Rietschoten, who was the owner of Flyer a note. As you may know he won the race in 1977 with the first Flyer, and I said to him I would love to be part of his new boat. And so he wrote me a letter in 1980: ‘I’m coming to the United States that summer, why don’t we get together?’.

He was looking for crew with extensive offshore experiencebut was also looking for guys with a specialty: a rigger, a sailmaker, a doctor, an engineer, a navigator… I studied as a machinist in South Africa and he loved the idea that I could fix and make things, take them apart and put them back together, so he said ‘I should take you along as my engineer’. In any case, before the end of the dinner, he stuck his hand out. He said ‘I’ll see you at Huisman Shipyard in Holland in February’to help us complete the boat: that’s how I got on to Flyer.

Okay. And so during the Whitbread, you were also the photographer. It could be said your career started there, right?

Correct. There is a nice little story that goes with that, as we were in Marblehead on Flyer II, so I joined the boat in Holland. We sailed to Portugal and then across the Atlantic and on to Marblehead. We were at anchor in the harbor, and there were three guys on a little rowboat that came out to take a look at the boat. They were the publishers and the editor of Sail magazine. I showed them the whole boat, and at the end of the tour, I said ‘oh will you look at some of my work’, and I had colorful strips of slide film. Keith Taylor, the editor, had a look and held them up to the light; he asked ‘this is really interesting stuff, can I take it with me?’ He got back to me the next day, and he said ‘we’d like to ask you to shoot for Sail Magazine during the round-the-world race on Flyer. So on board Flyer I was the first OBR… the bowman and also the engineer. I did a lot on board!

You are an ambassador for Canon which is called A Canon Explorer of Light. How did the digital cameras change the way to take a picture?

I don’t think that the way to take a picture has changed at all between the way I took a picture on film and the way I took the picture now in digital. Except maybe that I don’t take quite as many actuations or actual clicks, I actually push the button less now with digital, as it’s easier to see what you’re actually capturing and if you’re getting the right exposure. Then when I’m on the computer, it’s easy to make a few little adjustments to make it perfect.

With film, you didn’t know what you were doing in the way of the exposure. You had a good idea in depth of field and camera shake and all that stuff, but with a digital now, you can really see what you’re doing, and it enables you to work a lot more accurately. The camera that I’m using today looks exactly the same on the front to the camera that I was using 25 years ago, the Canon EOS 1. But when you look at the back, obviously now we have a little window and before we had a little door for film, but the camera is still exactly the same.

The big change came in the digital darkroom where one spends hours on the computer, and that was sometimes a little hard and tiring and not much fun. But a big advantage of the digital now is when I send images to a client or a magazine or a boat builder, and they lose them, I can just send them another copy. Or if I have one really great shot I can send it to six people at the same time: I could never do that with slide film, and if somebody’s lost a slide it was gone forever, whereas now with digital you always have a copy, so that’s a big advantage.

What is an advice that would you would give to a boy who dreams to start a career as a photographer?

Obviously, today, it’s a lot harder to start a career as a photographer because there are so many people out there shooting. And you know it’s easier to shoot a picture today with a digital camera than it was with a film camera. So there are many more people out there on the water shooting sailboat racing. But if a kid has a good eye, and they’re prepared to work hard at it and put aside at least five years to sort of just live on pizza and drink cheap beer, then maybe you can make a go at it. But I see a lot of people out there who are doing it, and I know some very good younger photographers who have not really given up but are having a very hard time to try.

So, to have a good eye remains the most important thing?

Absolutely yes: without that, you’re lost. No matter how good your gear is, if you don’t know where to point it, then it’s useless.

You sailed and shot more or less all around the world, can you mention as few of your favorite places to sail?

I think the Bahamas is one of the my favorite places, and I love the high latitudes of the Arctic and Sub Antarctic southern latitudes. I just spent time these past two summers in Greenland, one with a client and one leading a photo workshop. I going back to Greenland again in August of 2020 to lead another workshop. It’s just very clean up there, you know it’s a little cooler, but it’s not super cold and the photography up there is so dramatic.

So going up to Greenland or Iceland, or the Arctic regions of Russia and Alaska. And then also going down South to Antarctica and to South Georgia, the South Antarctica islands and Patagonia. I think the high latitudes stuff is really my favorite. And then secondly, I will say the more remote regions of the South Pacific.

And could you tell me which is one of your images that you love the most and why?

One shot that comes to mind is a shot that I took from the third set of spreaders on a boat called Shaman, during my first trip to Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic in 1998. I was looking down at the deck, and we had positioned the boat in front of an iceberg. You can see my sailing boots in the picture, just my toes, and then you can see the deck, and you can see the iceberg. Remember, you can see the horizon from up there, and it just really captures the spirit of that area.

Now, our classical final question:  what does sailing mean for you?

When I think of sailing, I think of sailing on my own boat: I have a 36-foot sailboat, and it just means getting away from everybody and the noise. No engine, just sailing along and healing over and just enjoying the fresh breeze and smelling the air, and enjoying the peace and quiet of nature.

Do you need to know more about Onne van der Wal? His official website is here!

Don’t miss his new book “Sailing America”!
Click here

The post Onne van der Wal: “I Was Sailing Before I Could Even Walk” appeared first on Sail Universe.

LIKE A SCI-FI MOVIE

As first image to be commented, I chose one of the French photographer Martin Keruzorè. It was taken onboard Vestas 11th Hours Racing during the Volvo Ocean Race 2017/2018. It is a high visual impact image, similar to a classic sunset picture, but with three big differences: the tough environment where the image was captured, the high technical level and the dominance of blue as the main color. 

In the author’s own words: “Midnight, Vestas 11th Hour Racing is crossing the Golf stream, heading to Newport, pushed by a big low pressure. Phil Harmer is trying to drive downwind in a big sea state. A few seconds after this shot, Phil was calling everybody on deck to take a second reef as the wind was increase over 45knts under the squall.”

“The boat finished 3rd in this leg. I have spent many nights on deck during this Volvo, trying to get this kind of picture. At night, you have to compose with the low light. For that, I had to find the good balance between the light (in this instance the moon behind the clouds) the sky, the weather and sea state. I wanted the boat perfectly in focus and pin-sharp and the waterfall totally blurred to create this effect, like a Science Fiction movie. It has been technically hard to get this one when you are sailing down the wave at 25knts onboard a shaker like the Volvo 65”.

As a sea and adventure lover, I could not start with any other picture than this: It is so evocative, not only in its subjects – ocean, night, squall – but also knowing the huge efforts the photographer went to in order to capture it. Being an OBR during the Volvo Ocean Race is one of the most dangerous and tough job in the world and this picture is not only a simple snapshot as many other images, It is mainly artistic because Martin wanted to create exactly that effect. 

Martin Keruzorè Biography

Martin grew up in brittany, around the ocean and the world of sailing photography. He has almost a decade’s experience as a director, photographer, cameraman and editor. Starting out early, Martin has logged thousands of miles in French races and has been involved in many projects around Europe, sailing onboard the Multi 50, shooting with the Figaro Class and the IMOCA class especially before the last Vendée Globe. He has just finished the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 as an Onboard reporter rotating between Dongfeng Race team, Team Brunel, Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Turn The Tide on Plastic.

Martin Keruzoré
29 years old
Living in Brittany – France
Portfolio: https://martinkeruzor.portfoliobox.net/
ompany: Air Vide et Eau productions
Vimeo: vimeo.com/airvideeteau

The post The Details Hunter / 1 – Like a Sci-Fi Movie appeared first on Sail Universe.

What sparked your interest in photography?

“I started traveling from a very young age because of my parents’ jobs – my father was a pilot and my mother an air hostess. In the golden years for air companies, my parents were frequently away from home for long periods of time and often took me with them. It was great to travel that way – encountering different cultures fascinated me and being the only child in my class, at the time, who could say she had already visited so many places, sparked in me the need to record everything I saw.”

“I use to write a lot, but I soon realized that a pen and diary were not enough to capture everything I wanted to remember – there are tones and details that only poets can describe. So my parents gave me my first camera – a small compact device with a film, which was essential in helping me understand that a camera was the only tool I could use to express myself. What made me interested in photography was the ‘journey’ – first in the sense of moving and exploring places, then as a journey of self-discovery. Photography became my way of communicating to other people what I knew about myself through the images I created.”

How was your love for the sea and sailing born?

“I think that my love the sea – and for water in general as an element – is inborn. My parents also played a key role in this. Their first sailing boat was a Sangermani called Merak- my mother sailed all over the Tyrrhenian sea while she was expecting me and, since I was born, I cannot remember any holidays I did not spend on a boat.”

“The feeling of moving over the sea, pushed only by the wind, has become something intimate, a philosophy of life, linked to traveling and to moving, which, for me, means life. I do not like being in the same place, the idea is actually depressing – as is living in a city, without a broad horizon beckoning to thoughts and dreams.”

Was there a specific moment in which you realized you would be able to combine both passions?

“I realize that, at the age of 32, I have been very lucky in managing to combine, in a real job, two of the elements in my life that deeply shaped my character and my view of the world. Before everything fell into place, not many people believed that you could actually make a living entirely out of your passions – and probably I didn’t either!”

“I had a lot of support and, most importantly, I met people who believed in me along the way and who helped me not to give up when I thought I should do something more “down to earth”. There was no actual moment when I realized that I would be able to combine my two greatest interests – it was all a journey and it still is, a journey I am fiercely protective of, as if tomorrow it were no longer possible.”

What are you searching for when you take a photo?

“When I take a photo I feel I have to be inspired, like in any kind of work that requires a little creativity. Inspiration comes from details, such as colors, shapes, original and symbolic compositions. In the case of photographs of sailing boats, I am not just inspired by the sports side of it, it is the human aspect that inspires me most.”

“Faces express so much, especially when interacting with a natural element. I am into this kind of research – a mixture between shapes, light, and humanity – especially when I take photos just for the pleasure of it. Obviously, I try to be inspired when I take photos on commission as well, but the time spent in searching for details must be balanced with work-related needs that, most of the time, tip the scales in favor of quantity rather than quality.”

Can you tell us of three special moments from all the years you have spent working?

“If I were to select three special moments in six years on the job – and three are really very few – I would say that the first place definitely belongs to the second regatta night during the 2017 Rolex Middle Sea Race. It was my first experience as an onboard photographer in an offshore regatta. At about seven in the evening, we were going around Stromboli. It felt out of this world – completely flat sea, no sounds, pale colours and a dark horizon. We knew we were going towards the storm – it had been forecast. Night fell, the sky became an arena of black clouds, thunder, and lightning. The wind started rising and the waves swelled. I felt alive – recklessly perhaps – but that was when I understood what I really wanted to do in the future…”

“The second special moment was the 2018 Moth World Championship in Bermuda. I made friends with the boys of the Moth class and meeting them during the regattas was almost like a family get-together. Bermuda is a very small island that you can easily get around. It was like a school trip. On the days when there were no regattas, we explored the beaches, went out in the evening and chatted until late at night. This is when your job is no longer ‘work’ and becomes love for what you are doing.”

“The third moment is more a location and less a regatta or event – Saint Tropez. I have always enjoyed myself when working here and met lovely people who gave me so much. I lived some of the best moments of my life in recent years here. I can say that in Saint Tropez work requirements have always coincided with the inspiration I have when I take photos just for the pleasure of it.”

What advice do you have for anyone wanting to start this career?

“Many think that taking photos is relatively easy. Many go for sports because it seems a more accessible sector. To take a good photo, however, including a sports photo, you need more than just a good technique – you must have a relatively broad image culture and knowledge of multiple photography genres.”

“You must look at the works of the great masters that made the history of this art and then create your own language, your own personal style. But, most importantly, you need to know and love what you are photographing, or it simply becomes the casual recording of facts and people.”

What does sailing mean to you?

“For me, the sea is freedom and water is a symbol of strength – when it meets an obstacle it flows round it, sometimes it cruelly destroys it, and continues on.“

The post Martina Orsini: “Sea is freedom and water is a symbol of strength” appeared first on Sail Universe.

The Rolex Giraglia’s main prize, the Rolex Challenge Trophy and Rolex timepiece awarded to the overall race winner, was claimed by Dieter Schön’s Momo. Line honours winner in 2017, the predominantly German-crewed Maxi 72, seals an impressive double success. Fastest finisher this year was Tango, victor after an epic contest with two rival Wallycentos.

We selected the more beautiful photos from this 2018 Rolex Giraglia. All pictures @Rolex/Kurt Arrigo

The post The Most Beautiful Photos of the 2018 Rolex Giraglia. GALLERY appeared first on Sail Universe.

This new project was unveiled at the 2016 Monaco Yacht Show by the joint team of Royal Huisman, Dykstra Naval Architects, designer Mark Whiteley and the yard’s Asia-Pacific representative, Bart Kimman. The assembly of Project 400’s aluminium hull started in June 2017.

To facilitate the hull construction, Royal Huisman’s largest shipbuilding hall was semi-permanently extended and upgraded. Simultaneously, the in-house specialists are working on Project 400’s superstructure, interior accommodation and board systems, whilst the production of the Panamax carbon rig and sail handling system started next door at sister company Rondal.

The massive aluminium hull of Project 400 was wheeled out of the construction hall and showed her scale. Four cranes performed the seamless manoeuvring routine, turning this work of art while she was hanging mid-air over the canal adjacent to the shipyard: the largest single piece lifted and turned by Royal Huisman ever.

Before the end of the day the upright schooner hull was placed on a cradle and moved back into shipbuilding hall 2 that will be her home until completion in 2020.

Royal Huisman Project 400 specs

Exterior styling: Dykstra Naval Architects and Mark Whiteley Design
Naval Architecture: Dykstra Naval Architects
Interior Design: Mark Whiteley Design
Builder: Royal Huisman
Year of delivery: 2020
Length: 81m / 266ft
Construction: Aluminium
Classification: Lloyd’s MCA (LY-3)
Owners / guests accommodation: 12
Crew accommodation: 13
Masts & booms: Rondal (carbon)
Height of masts: Panamax

The post The impressive rollover of the new 266ft Project 400 by Royal Huisman appeared first on Sail Universe.

The day first became associated with romantic love within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines“). In Europe, Saint Valentine’s Keys are given to lovers “as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart”

Sailor’s Valentine

A sailor’s valentine is a form of shellcraft, a type of mostly antique souvenir, or sentimental gift made using large numbers of small seashells. These were originally made between 1830 and 1890, and they were designed to be brought home from a sailor’s voyage at sea and given to the sailor’s loved one or loved ones.

Sailor valentines are typically octagonal, glass fronted, hinged wooden boxes ranging from 8 to 20 inches (20 to 51 cm) in width, displaying intricate symmetrical designs composed entirely of small sea shells of various colors glued onto a backing. Patterns often feature a centerpiece such as a compass rose or a heart design, hence the name, and in some cases the small shells are used to spell out a motto or sentimental message.

Although the name seems to suggest that the sailors themselves made these objects, a large number of them originated in the island of Barbados, which was an important seaport during this period. Historians believe that the women on Barbados made the valentines using local shells, or in some cases using shells imported from Indonesia, and then the finished products were sold to the sailors.

The post Today is Valentine’s Day. Ok, but do you know the “Sailor’s Valentine”? appeared first on Sail Universe.