TECHNICAL PUSH-BUTTON SAILING

A 70-foot dayboat, you say? It’s a notion that didn’t exist until recently, but Eagle Yachts of the Netherlands wants to build one. In order to qualify the yacht for its ‘dayboat’ badge, the designers at Eagle have been fastidious about making the rig usable by just one person. Electric winches, boom-furling main and electric jib furlers can all be activated from the helm at the touch of a button.

Now, most of us would draw the line well before 70ft, even if we could afford the marina berth for it. But these principles of push-button sailing can be applied to yachts of all sizes. Indeed, Eagle’s range starts at 38ft and there are plenty of other 30-50-footers that make good use of push buttons, from the Tofinou to Amel.

‘There’s a balance that you have to find,’ says Steven Bloersma of Eagle Yachts. ‘Some people like to feel the tension on the winch. When I have a sea trial, they are not a big fan of automatic winches to begin with, but after one hour of sailing, they start to change their minds and realise it’s actually very easy. With the ease of the push button, you’re more keen to trim the sail, and it also extends your sailing years.’

Whatever your reason for thinking about push-button sailing, there is a range of products out there which make it easy to convert.

Winches

Electric winches have been with us for decades, and are often specced as upgrades on cruising boats. The technology behind