Offshore Sailing - Ocean Navigator

19 Nov

Imray to Phase out Chart Publishing

Eric ColbyElectronic charting, Navigation, Ocean Navigator, Ocean Voyaging, Offshore Sailing, Seamanship & Navigation

On November 18, longtime British navigation chart publisher Imray announced that it is starting a gradual shutdown of chart publishing operations. The company said the decision reflects the growing shift toward digital nautical navigation. Imray will continue to serve the maritime community with pilot books, cruising guides and the “Explore with Imray” digital product. Chart production and support, including Imray Notices to Mariners, will continue through the 2025 season. Beyond that, new editions will cease. Imray says the lead time will provide an opportunity for captains to acquire paper charts while they are still available. The company is one of…

18 Nov

AEON School Named Official US Sailing Educator

Eric ColbyOffshore Sailing, Racing News, Sailboat Racing, Uncategorized, Voyaging Skills

US Sailing has named the AEON School its official school. The partnership will provide young sailors with an opportunity to pursue an academic education and follow their passion for the water. AEON School offers a digital learning platform designed to meet the needs of student-athletes, helping them balance schedules between sailing and an education. “AEON and US Sailing are committed to fostering the next generation of leaders, both on the water and in the classroom,” Eric Krasnoo, SVP of membership, partnerships and marketing at US Sailing, said in a statement. “This partnership ensures that sailors can continue that sailors can…

15 Nov

Vendée Globe Sailor Breaks Record

Eric ColbyOcean Voyaging, Offshore Sailing, Sailboat Racing, Voyaging Skills

Nicolas Lunven, a French solo captain of the vessel Holcim-PRB, has had quite a start to his first Vendée Globe single-handed sailboat race. Between the second and third days of the solo race around the world, he set a new 24-hour distance record. According to the Vendée Globe website, Lunven chose a more westerly route than the rest of the fleet and benefitted from a stronger wind and a direct course. He covered 546.60 nautical miles in 24 hours, confirming the capability of Holcim-PRB. The boat holds the crewed 24-hour distance record of 640.48 miles on the fifth leg…

14 Nov

Lifejacket Takes Top Honors in DAME Awards

Eric ColbyBluewater Gear, Ocean Voyaging, Offshore Safety, Offshore Sailing

Marine safety products manufacturer TeamO took the top honors at the 2024 DAME Design Awards for its 150N Hi-Lift Lifejacket & Harness. The announcement was made at the breakfast briefing at the METSTRADE marine trade show Nov. 19 in Amsterdam. The TeamO product won its category, Personal Equipment, and was then named the overall winner by the award program judges. The jury identified a total of eight category winners, nine special mentions and two environmental DAME Design Award winners. What sets apart the 150N Hi-Lift lifejacket is its twisted bladder design. It moves most of the wasted buoyancy above the…

14 Nov

New Safety Products Coming at METSTRADE Show

Eric ColbyOcean Voyaging, Offshore Safety, Offshore Sailing, Power Voyaging, Sailboat Racing, Seamanship & Navigation

ACR Electronics will introduce its new ResQFlare PRO and Ocean Signal will launch its rescueME EDF2 distress light at the METSTRADE international trade show for the recreational boating industry in Amsterdam Nov. 19 to 21. Nominated for a DAME Design Award in the Safety and Security category, the ResQFlare PRO distress light represents a step forward in distress signal technology. ACR said the light exceeds U.S. Coast Guard requirements and combines electronic and optical technologies to give the ResQFlare improved functionality compared to pyrotechnic flares. The buoyant electronic visual distress signaling device delivers a more powerful SOS distress alert system…

23 Oct

New Zealand Claims Third Straight America’s Cup

Eric ColbyOffshore Sailing, Racing News, Sailboat Racing

Emirates Team New Zealand accepted the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup trophy on Oct. 19 on the main stage of the race village along Barcelona’s Moll de la Fusta in Spain. The Kiwi defenders defeated the INEOS Britannia team in dominant fashion, winning the series 7 to 2. The official trophy presentation was made by Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton-Moët-Hennessy and Pietro Beccari, chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton. “What a fantastic final today. First may congratulations to Emirates Team New Zealand for the spectacular victory,” Arnault told the winners. “Your skill, determination and innovation have set…

18 Oct

Vendée Globe Competitors to Deploy Scientific Testing Equipment

Eric ColbyOcean Navigator, Ocean Voyaging, Offshore Sailing, Sailboat Racing, Weather

Twenty-five sailors competing in the Vendée Globe 2024, the biggest solo around-the-world race, will be launching oceanographic research and weather forecasting equipment during the voyage. The equipment is provided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, who will train the captains in the use of the instruments. Once deployed, the equipment will collect and distribute data to scientists in real time looking to expand global knowledge of climate and the ocean. The goal is to improve operational weather forecasting services in less-frequented areas of the globe like the Big South, a remote section of the Southern Ocean. The…

10 Oct

PredictWind Unveils New Weather Forecasting Feature

Eric ColbyNavigation, Ocean Navigator, Ocean Voyaging, Offshore Sailing, Seamanship & Navigation

PredictWind, a marine weather forecasting service based in Auckland, N.Z., has introduced a new Climate Data feature. The company says the new element can empower sailors and mariners to make more informed decisions about the best times to travel by offering month-to-month insights into average, wind, wave and weather conditions for any location worldwide. “This historical data is unique,” said PredictWind founding director Jon Bilger in a statement. “We have used phenomenal amounts of computing power to collate and average the data for the entire world in 30 km resolution.” The Climate Data feature provides users with rolling averages of…

02 Apr

Cruising sabbatical becomes a new lifestyle

Bill MorrisBluewater Gear, Home Page Hero, Ocean Voyager, Offshore Sailing

Corinne Gau-Tchekov and Michel Gau voyage aboard their Alliage 49 aluminum monohull, Ganesh. They left France in 2011 after Michel’s retirement and have been sailing around the world on a six-month-at-sea/six-month-on-land rhythm, leaving Ganesh in various boatyards along the way. Having crossed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, then cruised for six years in Southeast Asia, they are currently in Malaysia, almost ready to cross the Indian Ocean. Corinne and Michel have been married for 37 years, and they started sailing in 1987, just after the birth of their first daughter, Marina. In 1990, they took a sabbatical year on their…

20 Mar

A family braves the elements together

Bill MorrisHome Page Hero, Ocean Voyager, Offshore Sailing, Voyaging Skills

Jon and Megan Schwartz, along with their sons, Ronan, 16, and Daxton, 14, have been cruising full time aboard their Boreal 47, Zephyros, an aluminum expedition monohull, since 2017. Since picking up the boat at the factory in northern France, they have sailed 40,000 NM together. Driven by a desire to explore the world and experience its disappearing wilds, they have often pursued places less traveled. They started in northern France, the UK, Atlantic Spain and Portugal before heading into the Mediterranean for a season. The Paxtons then crossed the Atlantic Ocean from late 2018 to early 2019. They were…