My first sail in the ARTEMIS 20 – Helena Lucas

I had the pleasure of being invited along to the launch party of the Artemis 20 at this years’ Southampton Boat Show and given the opportunity to have a test sail.

The Artemis 20 from Vizual Marine is designed by Simon Rogers and is a double handed keel boat aimed at both the disabled and able bodied sailor. It’s styling and lines are similar to an Americas Cup Class boat and the build quality and layout are excellent, certainly with disabled sailors in mind.

One of the interesting features of the boat is the canting seats, which are easily canted to windward with just a pull of a lever. This feature certainly made me feel secure in the boat and gave me good visibility to windward. Another feature of the boat which is unusual is it is steered with a joy stick positioned in front of the seat. It took a little getting used to and a couple of times I found myself steering the wrong way, but I soon got the hang of it! Also the boat can be steered from either seating position and with the asymmetric Kite halyard and sheets leading to the back of the boat, either the crew or helm can hoist the kite.

I enjoyed sailing the boat in a blustery force four breeze and I believe the boat will prove to be both exciting and challenging to sail for both able bodied and disabled sailors alike.

Helena Lucas trialling the Artemis 20 at Southampton Boat Show 15^th September 2006