Ocean Sport Boats

Modern masters of the sea

He’s the quiet one sitting in the corner of the cockpit, looking at the sky. Or the one talking softly in the helmsman’s ear or leaning over the stern with a hand on the backstay, examining the currents and the shape of the waves.

The first time you step aboard a racing yacht, you wonder what on earth they are doing. A wayward nephew of the owner, perhaps, or a business client along for the ride and getting in the way of the sailors? No, these are the tacticians, and in some ways the cerebral job they do is the most important in a racing yacht crew that could include 25 people.

Television images of regattas or long­-distance races tend to focus on the person steering the boat, or the enormous biceps of the “grinders” turning the winches that manipulate the sails, or the athletic antics of the bow-man who seems to shimmy effortlessly to the top of the mast.

These essential tasks take skill, strength and courage, but they can be learned – and, in an emergency, the sailors who perform them can be replaced by others. That’s not so easy with tacticians, some of whom have spent their lives learning and who learn yet more with every race.

For small-boat cruising sailors such as myself, strategy and tactics for high-tech yacht-racing is an alien and somewhat awe-inspiring world, combining age-old maritime instincts with racing savvy and computer software that calculates changes in boat speed and performance – as well as windshifts, tides, angles and the performance of competitors – in milliseconds, hundredths of a knot and fractions of a degree.

The start is by far the most important point at which to ensure tactical advantage in a race, and yet as a passenger on a quiet, well-run boat I sometimes fail to notice that the race has begun as the professionals calmly go about their tasks.

From at least 10 minutes before the start of the race, the tactician generally calls the shots, advising the person at the helm when to tack or gybe (to turn), how to catch up with competitors’ boats or stay ahead of them and how to approach the next mark on the course. He or she is constantly checking the sea for wind that is more favourable – and of course avoiding “wind holes”, the dreaded patches of calm that can make the difference between victory and defeat in a matter of seconds.

“Sailing is like three-dimensional chess,” says Jochen Schümann, the German tactician who advises Lindsay Owen-Jones , the former L’Oréal cosmestics chief, in races aboard Magic Carpet², his 29-metre Wally, one of a dozen boats that will be taking part in this summer’s FT Wally Grand Prix Series.

Ocean Sport Fish Boats and Yachts for sale, photos, review ...

Ocean Sport Fish is an unique boat built to last and handle everything you throw at it. Below in our directory you will find detailed description and information of 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 model plus photos, reviews, specifications, prices, charters and everything else you need to know about this fantastic boat for sale. Contact Ocean Sport Fish Dealers, Brokers and Manufacturers directly and find a large selection of pontoon boats, aluminium boats, fishing boats , bass boats, speed boats and yachts for sale on Sacs Marine!

Popular Science

Bulletin

Popular Mechanics

Crossing the next meridian, land, water, and the future of the West

Frommer's Maui 2011