The brokerage team at Wellington Yacht Partners has listed the 1988 Hylas 47 Onegin for sale with an asking price of $195,000. 

The Hylas 47 is a center-cockpit sailing yacht renowned for its combination of performance, comfort and seaworthiness. Designed by the legendary Sparkman & Stephens and built by Queen Long Marine, this model has a well-deserved reputation as a capable bluewater cruiser.

Onegin‘s spacious interior features a three-stateroom layout, offering ample accommodations for guests and crew. The master cabin, located aft, has a centerline island berth, a comfortable settee and an ensuite head with a vanity and full-sized mirror. The main salon is a welcoming space with comfortable seating, teak cabinetry and a dining table. A double bunk guest cabin is located forward to port, while the guest head with a separate shower is opposite. The spacious V-berth, also forward, offers plenty of storage options.  

Aft of the companionway, you’ll find a well-equipped galley to starboard and a large storage area to port leading to the walk-through aft head. This layout provides easy access to essential amenities and promotes a comfortable cruising experience.

The hull design features a deep forefoot, long fin keel, and full skeg hung rudder, which provides excellent stability and seaworthiness. This, combined with its balanced directional performance and speed, makes Onegin an ideal choice for both coastal cruising and bluewater voyages.  

With a ballast-to-displacement ratio of approximately 43 percent, this Hylas 47 offers exceptional stability and resistance to rolling, making her a comfortable and safe vessel for long-distance sailing. The shallow draft of 6 feet allows Onegin to navigate shallow waters, such as those found in the Bahamas, while its air draft of 64 feet also makes it suitable for cruising along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). 

Onegin has always been privately owned and has never been chartered, ensuring a well-maintained and cared-for vessel. The boat has been cruised extensively by its experienced owners, exploring the diverse waters of Europe, South America and the Caribbean. This cruising history demonstrates her versatility and seaworthiness, making it well-suited for both coastal cruising and long-distance voyages. 

Upgrades include all new standing rigging (2019), new electronics including autopilot (2023), a new tender and outboard (2020), and a completely rebuilt Yanmar diesel engine (2019).   

Onegin is currently located in Newport, Rhode Island, and is ready to embark on its next adventure with a new owner. Her combination of classic design, modern amenities, and recent upgrades make her an ideal choice for those seeking a reliable, comfortable, and capable bluewater cruiser.

Take the next step: Click over to wellingtonyachts.com.

The post Pre-Owned: 1988 Hylas 47 appeared first on Cruising World.

“The Dixon-designed Hylas H57 is somewhat of a departure for the Hylas team,” said Herb McCormick, Cruising World Boat of the Year director, who noted that the judges were thoroughly impressed by its handling, with twin rudders, and the innovative cockpit layout. “Everyone felt it not only lived up to its design brief as a go-anywhere world cruiser, but it is also an aspirational boat, something our readers could imagine delivering them to the far horizons of their sailing dreams.”

“The H57 has a hard dodger built in, a very successful one, which I think is quite useful when you’re in the cockpit,” added longtime BOTY judge Tim Murphy. “By and large, this is just a very nice, functional cruising boat. The berths are big and luxurious, but they’re also set up for lee cloths. This is a boat meant to go places. And it’s lovely to be aboard. It’s just a very, very strong boat in many ways.”

In addition, Cruising World presented awards to winning boats in eight categories. After last year’s cancellation of the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year the BOTY team once again staged the entire contest in brilliant fall weather on Chesapeake Bay. The 2022 edition of the annual competition drew 27 nominees from the U.S., France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden and Taiwan. 

The other winners were the Beneteau First 27 (Best Pocket Cruiser/Daysailer); the Hallberg-Rassy 340 (Best Midsize Cruiser Under 40’); the Grand Soleil 44 (Best Performance Cruiser); the Hylas H57 (Best Full-Size Cruiser); the CNB 66 (Best Luxury Cruiser); the Leopard 42 (Best Cruising Catamaran Under 50’); the Balance 482 (Best Performance Catamaran); and the Xquisite X5 Plus (Best Cruising Catamaran Over 50’). In addition, the judging panel gave Special Awards to the Kinetic KC54 performance catamaran (Judges’ Special Recognition) and the Voyage 590 catamaran (Best Charter Boat).

2022 Overall Boat of the Year

Best Pocket Cruiser/Daysailer

Best Midsize Cruiser Under 40’

Best Performance Cruiser

Best Luxury Cruiser

Best Cruising Catamaran Under 50’

Best Performance Catamaran

Best Cruising Catamaran Over 50’

Judges’ Special Recognition

Best Charter Boat

The 2022 Boat of the Year contest will be featured in full in a 24-page special report in the January 2022 issue of Cruising World. For further information, visit www.cruisingworld.com or contact Herb McCormick (herb.mccormick@bonniercorp.com).

About Cruising World

Cruising World is sailing enthusiasts’ passport to exploring the world’s coastlines and oceans while voyaging under sail. Its contributors inspire and entertain through stories, pictures and videos that underscore the beauty and adventure of sailing, while providing instruction on the disciplines of seamanship, navigation and boat handling. The Cruising World community is made up of experienced, committed sailors and boat owners. Cruising World’s mission is to nurture dreams with practical how-to information and stirring real-life adventure features. For more information, visit cruisingworld.com.

The post The Hylas H57 Takes Top Honors in Cruising World’s 2022 Boat of the Year Awards appeared first on Cruising World.

1. Sail area is working sail area.
2. Displacement values are for light ship; D/L=(D/2,240)(lwl/100)3.
3. SA/D = SA/(D/64).2/3.
4. Prices are quoted by the builder with ­standard Boat of the Year equipment inventory; prices reflect currency values as of October 31, 2020. For draft figures “/” denotes alternative options; “-” denotes variable draft on one boat.

The post 2021 Boat of the Year Specs-at-a-Glance appeared first on Cruising World.

When a new generation took the helm at Hylas Yachts a couple of years ago, it appeared at first that it would be business as usual for the long-standing brand. That business has been the ­building of finely crafted bluewater-­capable center-cockpit ­cruising yachts, designed by Germán Frers and built by the craftsmen at Queen Long ­Marine in Taiwan. After all, the first model launched by the latest family members in the proverbial corner office—Andy Huang is CEO, and his sister, Peggy, is COO—was the Hylas 48, named CW’s 2019 Boat of the Year winner in the Full-Size Cruiser Under 48 Feet category. A lovely boat to sail, it shared the solent rig, exterior styling and rich teak interior of its siblings.  

But with the introduction of the jaw-dropping H60 this past winter, the Hylas team made it abundantly clear that they are ready to entertain fresh ideas about what sort of sailboat might fit the bill for skippers contemplating ­long-range adventures.

This time around, Frers drew a hull that’s fully ­contemporary in its looks, from the sprit on the bow for flying downwind sails to a sleek, low-profile cabin top and a hybrid cockpit arrangement that provides plenty of room to lounge up toward the center of the boat, and twin wheels far aft, where all the ­actual sailing takes place.

Between those wheels sits a massive Antal electric winch for controlling the mainsail, and four smaller electric winches for handling sheets and ­assorted running rigging for the self-tacking jib and 105 percent genoa, arranged cutter-style. Here, an owner who takes sail trim seriously has all the tools necessary to push the boat into high gear. Or a skipper and guest can choose instead to kick back on couches to either side of the spacious cockpit ­table and let captain and crew push the buttons and drive. It’s good to have options.

But by far the biggest ­surprise—and I mean that in a wonderful way—came when I stepped below to find myself surrounded by an interior that is a study in shades of white: white ash furniture, white leather fabric overhead, white meganite acrylic counters and a light-colored sole, and all of it set off with just the right amount of dark African wenge accents to make it all pop. ­Interior design is by Hot Lab. “Wow” is the first word that came to mind as I scribbled in my notebook.

In an interview this spring, Andy Huang said that by design, the H60 is intended for a certain group of sailors. “It is very attractive in terms of the look, performance, deck setup and lifestyle aboard. It will be the luxury, performance and modern model for the ­Hylas range.”

That said, the actual layout of the H60 is fairly traditional for a passagemaker. ­Starting far forward, there’s a VIP cabin just aft of a watertight crash bulkhead that features an island queen and a pair of ­hanging lockers. This ­cabin shares a head that’s aft to ­starboard, with a second guest cabin with bunks to port. 

The saloon sole is raised and provides room for tankage ­beneath to keep weight low in the boat. With 370 gallons of fuel, 391 of water and a watermaker, the boat’s equipped for the long haul. 

There’s a proper rear-­facing nav station to port at the foot of the companionway, with walk-in access to the engine room farther aft. A large dining table, surrounded by an L-shaped outboard couch and padded stools on the centerline, occupies the port side of the saloon, and there’s a second large couch to starboard. 

An efficient-looking and well-equipped galley, with tons of counterspace and cupboards for stowing provisions, is located in the starboard passageway to the aft owner’s cabin. 

And the aforementioned en suite aft cabin? Well, that earned another underlined “wow” in the notebook. The space feels huge, with a couch to starboard, desk to port and a spacious berth in between.

The H60 is also available in a four-cabin configuration, which splits this space ­into two cabins, each with twin single berths. In this arrangement, the owners get the VIP quarters up front.

Besides its modern look, the H60 introduces several new construction methods that the yard has incorporated. Previously, hulls, decks and other parts have all been hand-laid at the Queen Long yard. The H60′s Divinycell-cored hull, deck and bulkheads were instead infused at the nearby ­Atech Composites, ­specialists in SCRIMP (Seemann ­Composites Resin Infusion ­Molding Process) technology. Hylas says the result is a hull that’s 8 percent lighter and 40 percent stronger. The hull and deck were then shipped back to Queen Long for the build-out. Other innovations ­include twin rudders, a CZone electrical system, Seldén ­hydraulic in-mast furling for the main and Seldén electric furlers for the headsails. Base price for the boat is $1.85 million, but hull No. 1, adorned with bells and whistles, carried about $380,000 in upgrades, including North NPL sails.

As I mentioned, the H60 was designed and built to be a long-range cruiser, so our test sail following the Miami International Boat Show was a bit unusual. Rather than long tacks and reaches along South Beach, we instead found ourselves short-tacking up and down the channel alongside Port of Miami piers. But ironically, this proved to be a good thing because it kept us on our toes as we ricocheted between the shallows to one side, ships on the other, and considerable traffic in between. The breeze was light, so we kept the staysail furled and used the genoa instead. In 12 or so knots of wind, our speed over ground was a little better than 6 knots, and we were still making 5 knots when the breeze dipped below 8. Handling was effortless in these conditions, thanks to Jefa Steering, and I found it easy to bounce between wheels when coming about. ­Placement of the winches kept lines close at hand. My one (minor) gripe while sailing was that the ­Bimini restricted the view of the mainsail, but then again, I wasn’t complaining about the hot sun, and the awning can be rolled back.

In launching this latest model, Hylas decided to go ­after sailors who are looking for something new and different but not at the expense of seakindliness and performance. In that regard, the H60 sure worked for me.

Mark Pillsbury is CW’s editor.

SPECIFICATIONS

Sea Trial

Hylas Yachts

561-515-6027

hylasyachts.com

The post Hylas H60 Boat Review appeared first on Cruising World.

Cruising, racing, daysailing, chartering: Every sailboat is built to meet a need. But in the course of inspecting and sailing some 20-odd vessels during and after the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, each fall, CW’s Boat of the Year judges sometimes have to rely on the builder to make that intent clear.

Not so with the new Hylas 48. From its solid stainless-steel stem fitting and double anchor rollers to a versatile cutter rig, hip-high life lines and robust emergency- steering system, not one of the judges doubted that this was intended to be a long-legged, bluewater voyager.

They were so certain, in fact, they named the Hylas 48 the Best Full-Size Cruiser Under 48 Feet. In being so recognized, the newest yacht from Taiwan’s Queen Long Marine joins a number of its siblings that have received similar accolades over the three generations the family-owned yard has been in operation.

“I’ve always been amazed at how well this boatyard does,” said veteran BOTY technical judge Ed Sherman. “This is a situation where we’ve got an experienced Taiwanese workforce, and they’re artisans. They take what they do seriously, and they do a very good job.”

Sherman’s colleague, judge Alvah Simon, ticked off the reasons he thought the 48 rose to the top of the fleet: “The flow on deck was good, the nonskid was good, the pushpit and pulpit were just excellent. The stanchions were outboard of the toe rail. The vents and hatches were just incredible. I can’t imagine the cost in the stainless-steel work. Lots of good ventilation. Cleats were good. Lifelines were very good.” Simon even praised the size and location of the manual bilge pumps, in close proximity to the helm.

Though the Bill Dixon-designed H48 is somewhat a departure from the builder’s longtime collaboration with Germán Frers, the boat still has the look and feel of a Hylas, with its center-cockpit deck layout and sugar-scoop transom with steps for boarding from the dinghy.

There is a long traveler just aft of the cockpit, mounted on the aft cabin’s roof. And forward, the cutter rig provides a self-tacking jib for upwind work and a genoa that’s mounted forward of it for light-air conditions or when off the wind. Headsail furlers and the in-mast furler for the main are all electric and operated by switches at the wheel.

Underway on Chesapeake Bay, the Hylas definitely had the feel of a heavier displacement cruiser. In 8 or so knots of breeze, we tacked upwind at a not-too-shabby 5.7 knots — I should mention that the Mamba rod steering delighted the fingertips. Bearing off, the speed dipped slightly with just the jib set but bounced back when we rolled out the genny.

It was the boat’s motion, though, that really caught everyone’s attention. “It felt very stiff — in a good way,” noted judge Tim Murphy. “When we were coming down the Severn River, there were powerboats loading in for the next boat show, doing testing and whatnot, and this was kind of an old-school cruising boat feeling when you’d come through those wakes. She just really powered through.”

The H48’s hull is hand-laid, solid fiberglass, with vinylester resin and Isophthalic gelcoat. Below the water line, there are two layers of epoxy barrier coat to prevent blisters. The deck, also hand-laid, is balsa cored. Watertight bulkheads are located at both the bow and stern to enclose the interior in case of a collision.

The boat’s deck-saloon interior is stunning. Wraparound windows in the coachroof provide lots of daylight and a panoramic view. The white composite cabin top and ceiling sits atop rich teak cabinetry, bulkheads and furniture, and the teak-and-holly sole radiates warmth. Deep fiddles line the counters, and all edges and corners are rounded — as they should be.

The boat’s layout is fairly traditional for a center cockpit. A large dining table dominates the saloon, with U-shaped seating to port and a cushioned bench on the centerline. A curved settee is opposite, flanked by a cabinet forward and the nav station and electrical panel aft, near the foot of the companionway. The sole is raised, which both helps the view when seated and allows for tankage and machinery down low in the hull, where it belongs.

To port of the steps, the galley takes up both sides of the passageway leading to the aft cabin. Counter space abounds, as does storage, both under and outboard. The fridge and freezer are top and front opening, and they are located adjacent to the three-burner propane stove and oven.

To port, a walk-through head and shower also leads to the aft cabin, a cozy compartment that any owner should be pleased to call home. An island queen berth sits on a slightly raised sole. In the daytime, light pours in through overhead opening hatches and ports located to either side and behind the bed.

There are two more cabins forward of the saloon, plus a second generously sized head and shower to starboard. To port, there are double bunks for kids or crew; forward, the guest cabin also has an island queen berth.

On deck, the step in and out of the cockpit is a big one, but the Bimini top’s robust frame provides a good handhold, and once inside, there’s not a pressing need to leave.

Sail controls all lead to electric Antal winches adjacent to the wheel, and as mentioned earlier, reefing of sails is a push-button affair, as is operation of the bow thruster. Thick seat and back cushions line the seating area, and the tall coamings provide plenty of support for any crew intent on sitting back and enjoying the ride.

All the comfort and convenience has a cost, of course. The price tag for the H48 starts at right around $730,000; the boat we sailed runs closer to $850,000. Still, I’ll let Simon put that into perspective: “I see real value in this boat because it’s solidly put together. It’s a very elegant-looking boat, and for a couple that wants that kind of bluewater cruiser, I think they’re in for a sweet ride.”

Me too.

Mark Pillsbury is CW‘s editor.

Hylas 48 Specifications

Hylas Yachts
786-497-1882
hylasyachts.com

The post Boat Review: Hylas 48 appeared first on Cruising World.

As with so many classes in this year’s Boat of the Year competition, the judges faced a real quandary in determining Best Full-Size Cruiser Under 48 Feet. All three nominees — the Beneteau 46.1, Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 490 and Hylas 48 — came in within 2 feet in length of one another. The Beneteau and Jeanneau were incredibly similar, with identical price tags ($520,000) and almost exact displacements (hovering around 24,000 pounds). By comparison, the Hylas was considerably heavier (34,000 pounds) and more expensive ($830,000).

“The Beneteau 46.1 and the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 490 are straight-up ­production boats,” said Tim Murphy. “This Beneteau is very much in keeping with what we expect from that builder; it’s a fine boat. But that Jeanneau is an exemplary expression of what high-production yards are capable of, and we ultimately recognized it as such.”

Murphy also summarized where the Hylas 48 stood in the marketplace. “It’s more of a boutique boat. It won’t be produced in the same quantity as the others. And it’s directly aimed more toward the actual bluewater sailor.”

And as an example of a long-range voyaging vessel, for Murphy and his colleagues, they basically found it irresistible.

“You can feel that extra displacement in the motion of the boat,” Murphy said. “It felt very stiff in a good way. There was a lot of traffic on Chesapeake Bay during our sea trials, but there was a very comforting motion as the boat punched through the wakes. It felt like kind of an old-school cruising boat. And the center cockpit is very nicely set up with winches right next to the helm to each side. You could easily go sailing by yourself on this very substantial yacht without any problem. Impressive.”

“This is a sort of retro design, like a lot of Hylases I’ve looked at over the years, and that’s not a negative comment,” said Ed Sherman. “I’ve always been amazed how well the Queen Long boatyard does. This was built by a very experienced Taiwanese workforce, and they’re artisans. They take what they do very seriously, and they do a very good job. They put metal plates in the laminate as backing for winches, and they’re using stainless steel, not aluminum. I’m feeling really good about that.

“The service access is also great,” he continued. “They have hatches and doors that open up and give you beautiful access to all the key service points you’ll need to get to. And it was terrific sailing it. It’s very traditional. Yes, the center cockpit is a little hard to get in and out of, but once you’re situated, it’s very comfortable. I could see spending a whole lot of hours in this cockpit. All the sailhandling controls are right by the helm. The electric winches make furling and setting sails very easy, even the screacher. This would make a wonderful boat for an experienced couple.”

“The stainless work is just incredible,” said Alvah Simon. “It’s thick, it’s heavy, it’s gusseted. The pushpit, the pulpit, the stanchions, the lifelines — there’s just no give. They’re excellent. There are just so many things that reflect quality and attention to detail. Yes, it’s more expensive than the other boats in this class. But there’s real value there too. It’s solidly put together. It’s a very elegant-looking boat. For a couple who want and can afford this style of bluewater cruiser, it’s a sweet ride.”

There wasn’t much more to say. Quite simply, the Hylas 48 is 2019’s Best Full-Size Cruiser Under 48 Feet.

See All Winners:
2019 Boats of the Year

Other Winners:

• Domestic Boat of the Year
• Import Boat of the Year
• Best Midsize Cruiser Under 38 Feet
• Best Midsize Cruiser Over 38 Feet
• Best Full-Size Cruiser
• Best Cruising Catamaran Under 50 Feet
• Best Cruising Multihull Over 50 Feet
• Best Charter Boat
• Best Value

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Hylas 63

Details, details, details: when it comes to a 63-foot sailboat built to roam the Seven Seas, the sheer number of them can seem endless. In the case of a boat as intricate as the lastest offering from Hylas, for example, the ultimate success of the design is often measured not by the yacht’s many grand features, but by the attention paid to the countless fine points in the rig, on deck and below. Yes, the Hylas 63 is a mighty sailboat in every dimension, but it was the many, many thoughtful smaller touches that made it the Best Full-Size Semi-Custom Cruiser for 2014.

“There are lots of details that really are well sorted out,” said Tim Murphy. “Coming out of the cockpit, making the transition to the deck, not only are the lifelines 34 inches high, you’ve got a stainless-steel rail that goes all the way around the stern of the boat. It’s very smart and secure.

“When you work your way up to the bow,” he continued, “the anchoring system is again very well reasoned. It’s got steel plating over that whole section so you’re not dinging up the gelcoat while you’re getting the anchor up and down. These are just a couple of things, but they’re indicative of the approach to systems and safety features throughout the entire boat.”

“It’s a very complex yacht,” added Ed Sherman, “but Hylas does a great job of considering things like maintenance. Take the engine-room serviceability. It’s a walk-in engine room, but you also have access from the front and the side. There’s plenty of room to dive in there and work on things if you need to. Anything you need to service on a regular basis you can get to quickly and easily.

“They do a nice job with the systems and wiring,” he continued. “Everything is labeled and neatly tucked away.”

“A lot of boat,” added Mark Schrader. “Robust. Comfortable. Best in class.”

View more photos of the Hylas 63

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hylas-63-sailplan-blue-red-letter-size.jpg

hylas63-plan.jpg

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Wild Hair

Though our boat had slipped its anchor and was smashing into the rocky shore of an uninhabited Bahamian island on a stormy February night, that’s not the reason I issued a Mayday distress call. No, I called for help because I saw my husband, David, carried out to sea in our inflatable dinghy armed with nothing but a broken outboard motor, a plastic paddle, a P.F.D., and a feeble headlamp. Luckily, “out to sea” was an illusion. Beyond my line of sight, and in the falling tide, my husband grounded the dinghy on a previously submerged rocky shoal, then walked across the island, through the water, and back to our beached boat. This is the story of my distress call and its aftermath.

The Call
Alone on the boat that night, my first thought was to trigger our 406-megahertz EPIRB, an emergency satellite beacon that we have dutifully registered with NOAA. By sending out a hex code specific to our individual unit, the EPIRB would immediately tell the U.S. Coast Guard where our troubled boat was located, who was likely on board, and the type of vessel for which rescuers should look. EPIRBs provoke an enthusiastic response: Aircraft would’ve been launched and large U.S. Coast Guard cutters would’ve been diverted.

_ Illustration by Tim Barker_

I didn’t activate the beacon, however, because I didn’t want to bring emergency services directly to me. I wanted them to rescue my husband in the dinghy. Instead, I cranked up the electronics, determined our boat’s position and—at 2205 on that brutal night—spoke simultaneously into our VHF and single-sideband microphones.

“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!” I called. “This is sailing vessel Wild Hair, Wild Hair, Wild Hair. Our current position is north 25 degrees 36 minutes, west 77 degrees 43 minutes. Repeat: We are at north 25 degrees 36 minutes, west 77 degrees 43 minutes. Repeat: north 25 degrees 36 minutes, west 77 degrees 43 minutes. We are west of White Cay in the Berry Islands of the Bahamas. Our vessel is on the rocks. One person is on board the vessel, and one other person has blown out to sea in an inflatable dinghy. Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!”

Silence. After three attempts, I stayed on VHF Channel 16 but changed SSB frequencies, eventually trying 2.1820, 4.1250, 6.2150, and 8.2910. Still hearing no response, I retrieved our month-old satellite phone. Smartly, I’d preprogrammed all of the U.S. Coast Guard emergency phone numbers for the U.S. East Coast into the handset. Unwisely, I forgot—under stress—how to recall the numbers and operate the unit. Without this knowledge, the phone was as useful to me as a paperweight. So again and again I repeated the sequence of calls into the SSB and VHF radios.

At some point, I heard my husband’s voice shout his return. My attention leaped from distress calls to relief to the next emergency at hand: rescuing our boat. Our strategic thinking was interrupted by the crackle of the VHF. The crew of a local cruise ship—the Bahamas Celebration—had heard my VHF call and summoned their captain. His calm and experienced voice was like salve on a wound. I’d been heard. It was comforting to know we weren’t alone. Though his ship was too large to enter our snug harbor, the captain offered to contact the Bahamas Air and Sea Rescue Association on our behalf. But with my husband safely on board and only our boat at risk, we accepted the captain’s personal cellphone number, thanked him for his kindness, and informed him that his services wouldn’t be necessary—yet.

With a signal spotlight, we hailed a sailor about half a mile away who was sharing our harbor. His dinghy had a working outboard. That and a rising tide allowed us to kedge Wild Hair from peril by dawn. After the frontal passage and an extra day’s rest, my husband and I discussed between us the lessons we’d learned from the nasty experience. Then we started putting the nightmare behind us. We had a glorious sail 20 miles south to the populated island of Frazer Hog Cay. It was there that I started to learn the rest of the story.

The Response
When we arrived, everyone seemed genuinely happy to see_ Wild Hair_ and her crew. As we snagged a mooring ball, people came out in their dinghies to greet us and check on our wellbeing. Our Mayday had prompted a buzz of speculation, and theories had persisted unchecked for days. Evidently, both cruisers and Bahamian locals had heard my call for help, but given the storm, none felt in a position to lend assistance.

Astonishingly, we learned that my SSB distress call had skipped the U.S. East Coast entirely. But Petty Officer Adam Harris, manning a U.S. Coast Guard communication station in Kodiak, Alaska, picked it up. Kodiak was the only U.S. Coast Guard station to copy my voice, on frequency 4.1250. Officer Harris recorded only a partial, garbled position statement, figured out our approximate location, and within minutes mobilized the U.S. Coast Guard District Offices in Florida.

The Florida office briefed the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, and a local volunteer rescue boat was deployed that night in 35-knot winds and 13-foot seas. Remarkably, the rescue effort initiated all the way from Alaska came within 20 miles of us. But without a positive fix on our coordinates, their efforts proved to be futile.

Still stunned by this news, I opened our satellite email account to discover that the U.S. Coast Guard’s actions hadn’t ceased. As we’d been designated as a U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue case, my inbox was flooded with worried emails from family and friends. Procedurally, once I’d engaged the SAR system, it wouldn’t stop until there was resolution; the U.S. Coast Guard doesn’t close a case until it finds what it’s looking for and either renders assistance or confirms that it’s not needed.

In total, members of the U.S. Coast Guard spent three days tracking us down. After the initial action, Officer Harris turned the case over to Joshua Bouknight, a petty officer OS2 also stationed in Alaska. Like a detective, Bouknight searched the national database and found 12 vessels registered as Wild Hair. He used software to clean up my radio transmission and listened to the call several dozen times. Hearing “One person blown out to sea and one person on board,” Bouknight knew there were only two people involved.

Ruling out larger commercial fishing vessels, he did an online search and found our Adventures of Wild Hair blog. Our dispatches confirmed that our sailing area matched the partial position statement he’d picked up. Furthermore, the blog listed the length and type of our vessel, a Hylas 45.5-foot sloop. Bouknight cross-referenced the boat details with the vessel-registration database and identified us as the boat owners. Our contact information was also listed.

Armed with our names and addresses, Officer Bouknight attempted to call my husband, but our home phone had recently been disconnected. Utilizing an Internet spider, Bouknight opened pages related to my husband and learned of his former employment. From there, he called my husband’s secretary in Wisconsin, and she provided our cellphone number and confirmed that we were sailing. Unfortunately, our U.S.-based cellphone didn’t work in the Bahamas, so this also proved to be a dead end.

Knowing that our children were close friends with the kids of my husband’s business partner, the secretary put Bouknight in contact with my husband’s colleague. Again, the partner confirmed that we were sailing and—after a quick call to his daughter—offered Bouknight our 21-year-old daughter’s phone number. She gave the officer our satellite email address and the phone number of my mother in Arizona.

For safety’s sake, I email my mother our latitude and longitude whenever we arrive at a new location. Through my mother, then, Bouknight was able to confirm our last known whereabouts and our itinerary. This information correlated perfectly with our distress call.

This detective work was the reason why my inbox was flooded with worried emails. Everyone had spent hours and days fearing the worst. Quickly, I got on the satellite phone and—calmly remembering how to operate the unit—started the process of easing minds.

The Aftermath
When I think back on these events, I’m struck by a tangle of emotions. Of course, I’m hugely relieved that David is safe and with me still. I’m chagrined that the clocking wind and simultaneously shifting tide conspired to lift our anchor and put Wild Hair on the rocks, but I’m proud that we—with a little help and a measure of know-how—got out of the predicament.

I regret having prompted a rescue vessel to launch a futile mission in horrible weather, and I’m sickened by the thought that we put someone else needlessly at risk. I feel horrible about the sleepless night I caused the people I hold most dear. Not least, I feel guilty about the precious U.S. Coast Guard resources spent over the course of three days on our behalf.

But Officer Bouknight allayed those concerns. In stunningly compassionate and deftly professional follow-up emails, Officer Bouknight expressed nothing but relief that we were safe and sound. “It happens too often that our best isn’t enough, no matter what we do,” he wrote. “Too much works against us, be it the ticking clock or the wrath of nature.”

After emphatically reassuring me that I took the appropriate actions and even complimenting me on a carefully articulated, clear, and calm Mayday call, Bouknight insisted that no one should hesitate to send a distress call should the need arise. He said, “All Coast Guardsmen feel only relief when they find that a vessel in distress is safe.”

Eventually I learned that I could’ve resolved our SAR case more quickly by simply phoning the closest U.S. Coast Guard unit and telling them that the situation had been addressed and all was well aboard Wild Hair. The agency is structured on a series of ever-broadening tiers so that a message finds its way swiftly to the right person.

The U.S. Coast Guard urges mariners to phone the agency after shooting a flare, sending a voice distress call, or firing off an EPIRB. Follow-up calls help keep Coast Guardsmen out of harm’s way and free the agency’s finite resources so more individuals receive assistance.

I have a heightened respect for the individuals and organization that makes up the U.S. Coast Guard. Humbly refusing to accept accolades, Bouknight said, “I was trained to search for every boat like I had my own family aboard.” Acknowledging the roles of Officer Harris and others, he added, “Everything was made possible by a chain of individuals who operated with consistency and professionalism.”

As a reflection of his deeply earnest commitment to saving lives, Bouknight ends all of his email correspondences with the Latin phrase Dum spiro spero. The translation: “While I breathe, I hope.”

In the last three years, Heather and David Mann have covered more than 6,000 nautical miles aboard their Hylas 45.5 sloop, Wild Hair_, while cruising from Chesapeake Bay and the U.S. East Coast to the Bahamas._

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Hylas BOTY winner

In contrast with several other category winners that earned praise for executing new ideas well, the Hylas 56 was named the Best Premium Cruiser Over 55 feet because it did such a good job of implementing tried-and-true ideas in an exquisite package.

The boat’s easy-to-use anchoring setup, beefy winches, and bomber cleats caught the judges’ eyes, as did the sturdy hull, high-quality systems installation, and copious on-deck storage. Thanks to well-conceived handholds, logical brace points, good-size berths equipped with excellent lee cloths, and the large, well-equipped nav station, the judges found that the accommodations below would be safe and comfortable at sea. They also felt that the boat’s large galley, bright and airy saloon, and opulent owner’s cabin aft could make for luxurious living when the sail was done. And technical expert Ed Sherman appreciated the systems installation. High-quality components are used throughout, and unlike on some boats, which place critical systems in hard-to-access areas behind furniture, most systems on the Hylas are easy to reach.

The Hylas 56 is available with a variety of mainsail options, but the boat the judges sailed had in-mast furling that, once an initial jam was worked through, performed well in the light breeze that prevailed during the sea trial.

Under sail, in 6 to 8 knots of breeze, this moderately heavy-displacement sailboat gathered speed and held it, and the judges concluded that the cockpit and deck layout would be both safe and comfortable on a long passage.

**Winning Details **

• The boat’s high-quality materials, superior craftsmanship, and sturdy construction should be up to the rigors of extended passagemaking.
• The interior is both elegant and superbly functional.
• F The boat is big enough to cross oceans yet can still be sailed easily by a shorthanded crew.

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