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Yacht 'Almaz'
River Hamble at Lower Swanwick
Yacht 'Almaz' lives on the River Hamble, moored up-river on a pontoon mooring halfway between Warsash and Bursledon.
'Almaz' is a Saro Scimitar class, hull number 81 of 100 or so originally built in Anglesey in the early '60s where it is believed a small fleet was raced enthusiastically by local crews.
Acquired in 2017, this boat is being continuously refurbished and upgraded. Recent improvements have included new sails, (including a lovely spinnaker), uprated winches and the installation of an innovative,Torqueedo Cruise Pod electric drive as auxilliary power.
Latest additions include NASA Clipper speed, depth and wind instruments, VHF radio, navigation lights, simple but effective. This winter (2020) a very smart sprayhood has been added, and the space forward is to be re-designed to make it just about possible to overnight onboard.
Early Adventures
To date, excursions from the River Hamble have been confined to Southampton Water, not least because upgrading 'Almaz' to venture further afield has taken a while. However with much of this work now completed, the 2021 season will be more adventurous
In this video clip (July 2019) the day is breezier than it looks with a steady 18 knots over the deck. With full main and genoa this was plenty of power for single-handed sailing, so discretion became the better part of valour.
'Almaz' Summer 2021 - sporting new sprayhood
On lift-out - Winter 2021, spray dodgers now replaced
2021 Updates and Adventures
Winter upgrades have been completed as planned, including the new sprayhood and reduced-height wave dodgers.
A good deal of work on the 'interior' includes a full-length sleeping space which also required completely re-designed electrics and switch panel, including the installation of VHF radio and navigation lights.
Most recently, a galley area with a slide-out stove and a proper fresh water installation with electric pump has been completed too.
Deck-side, new spinlocks for the main and genoa halyards have been sited on the mast and the boat has been rigged for downwind sailing with a lovely gold-coloured spinnaker, so far, not used!
Sailing expeditions have still been modest - conditions have to be right for solo-sailing - and to date, a trip further afield in The Solent to include a night aboard remains on the wish-list. Hopefully, next season.
Solo-sailing on an ideal, September morning
