Big Boat Sailing

Yesterday afternoon I knocked up work a little early and went out on a quick test sail of Visione. I had the opportunity to go on Thursday but I got realised half an hour lat that I’d missed it as it started raining outside, Friday was a much better day for it anyway, clear skies and more wind. The boat was launched in 2003 but has just undergone a full refit so looks brand new.

Visione is a 147 foot lightweight cruising yacht with a displacement of nearly 120T, of which the lifting keel makes up almost half. The boat is styled to and aimed to perform like a racing yacht but fitted with a quite luxurious interior. After leaving the dock we motored most of the way out of the channel and then pulled the sails out. The main was raised via remote control. As all of the winches on the boat are hydraulic, the remote allows the controller to check that the sail is unfurling properly and feeding into the sail track correctly. Once the main was up the Jib was unfurled, both the main and jib sheets run to captive winches and are also controlled by push buttons. After sailing for a little while we put a reef in the main as there was more wind once we were out in the open water.

We sailed around and tacked a few times, even when taking there was still little for the guests (I guess that is the idea) to do as everything is pushbutton controlled it makes handling very easy. We sailed upwind at about 11-12konts quite easily, in about 16-18knots which meant that it was quite cold on deck, especially when we were shaded by the massive sails. After an hour or so of sailing the geneker went up and the Jib was furled and we started reaching back towards the harbour. This didn’t last long though, we gybed once and after a few minutes on the new heading there was a very loud noise, similar to some very close growling thunder. The sail started tearing from the leach to the luff at about ¼ from the top, it then tore most of the way down the luff. The sheet was pulled in to bring the remains of the sail as close to the boat as possible and then beginning at the bow we all began to pull the sail from the water.


Once it was all back on deck we lowered what was left hanging from the mast and then managed to pack it all back into its sail bag (not very neatly). The process took about 20 minutes and then we headed back in with just the main and jib. The jib was furled as we entered the channel but we sailed most of the way to the dock under the main.

The biggest difference to the boats I’m used to sailing is how slow things happen, the motion of the boat over waves, and its reaction to changes in the sail trim and steering are very graceful. I’m not sure that I could get used to sailing on a boat like that for too long, it was very nice (it would be much nicer in a warmer climate), but there wasn’t really anything to do. I could probably manage as one of the crew with something to keep me occupied. But then I probably don’t need to worry about that as I’m unlikely to get the opportunity to sail on a boat like it again any time soon.