![PIONIER 10](https://cdn.magzter.com/1387283225/1706726674/articles/9iyZWtKjq1706769741869/PIONIER-10.jpg)
One lovely summer's evening last year (and lets be honest, we didn't have many of those) we were making our way down the Helford River.
After six days of living and cooking aboard our chartered 25-footer, my crew and I were planning to drop anchor and row ashore for a decent meal.
As we went, we noticed a small fleet of yachts gathering near the mouth of the river. They were clearly getting ready to start a race of some kind and, as we were away from home and missing our regular club racing, we idly wondered if any of them might have needed extra crew. It turned out that we might indeed have made ourselves useful. A few hours later, we were at the bar in the Helford River Sailing Club when I noticed someone standing next to me. It was Chris Olsen, who I had last seen a good 10 years earlier in Dartmouth when testing the Elan 210. Chris had owned and run Yachts of Dartmouth, and Elan had been one of his new-boat dealerships.
Since then Chris had moved to Cornwall and concentrated on the surveying side of his business. His current boat, which he had been racing that evening, was a Pionier 10.
A plan started to form in my mind. Here was a chap I knew, with a boat I had always admired. I needed no excuse to return to the Helford and was always on the look-out for Me And My Boat candidates. And so it was that, three months later, I did indeed return - with my crew, because there was no leaving her behind on a trip like this.
LINES OF A CLASSIC
I have always admired the Pionier 10 (she has been around since the late 1960s) because she's such a lovely boat to look at. And to some of us, that matters. There's something about a spoon bow, a counter stern, well-balanced lines and a graceful sheer that encapsulates the essence of what a 'proper yacht' should look like.
This story is from the March 2024 edition of Yachting Monthly UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2024 edition of Yachting Monthly UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
![Mile-long RNLI flotilla for 200th anniversary](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/-2v5LtgKL1718881145146/MILELONG-RNLI-FLOTILLA-FOR-200TH-ANNIVERSARY.jpg)
Mile-long RNLI flotilla for 200th anniversary
As the RNLI celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, more than 40 rescue vessels formed a flotilla more than a mile long in Poole in May.
![Ella Hibbert to sail to Norway and Russia in Arctic preparation](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/E3G0F2Fs51718881012756/ELLA-HIBBERT-TO-SAIL-TO-NORWAY-AND-RUSSIA-IN-ARCTIC-PREPARATION.jpg)
Ella Hibbert to sail to Norway and Russia in Arctic preparation
Intrepid 27-year-old sailor Ella Hibbert has made the difficult decision to delay her departure to sail solo around the Arctic circle until next year, but will instead depart this summer on a training expedition to Norway and Russia in preparation.
![Orcas sink a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/rLxDtZ4Hk1718880901966/ORCAS-SINK-A-YACHT-IN-THE-STRAIT-OF-GIBRALTAR.jpg)
Orcas sink a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar
A pod of orcas attacked and sank a 15m yacht in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar in May, the latest in a series of encounters in the area that have sunk five yachts in the past four years, the Spanish maritime authorities reported.
![Why Pip Hare needs you now](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/cnT7bg6Jj1718880702586/WHY-PIP-HARE-NEEDS-YOU-NOW.jpg)
Why Pip Hare needs you now
Sailing with Pip Hare last week reminded me of my father’s sailing mantra: ‘It’s all about drag.’
![ADVENTURE THE CALL OF THE SOUTH SEAS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/zlhV7hPak1718879999815/ADVENTURE-THE-CALL-OF-THE-SOUTH-SEAS.jpg)
ADVENTURE THE CALL OF THE SOUTH SEAS
What is the call of the South Seas? The Hoiland family were curious to find out, so they set off west to explore. This is the story of their year sailing through the islands and atolls of French Polynesia
![HOW TO DODGE GALES IN THE ISLES OF SCILLY](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/3rzhbFBv01718877876066/HOW-TO-DODGE-GALES-IN-THE-ISLES-OF-SCILLY.jpg)
HOW TO DODGE GALES IN THE ISLES OF SCILLY
Ken Endean tries a two-anchorage strategy
![Picking up fore and aft moorings](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/XOgxFzDfe1718877103072/PICKING-UP-FORE-AND-AFT-MOORINGS.jpg)
Picking up fore and aft moorings
Mooring fore and aft can be a fiddly process, never more so than in Cornwall's Polperro. If you can do it here, says Rachael Sprot, then you can do it anywhere
![TECHNICAL PURCHASING POWER](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/qm03c0e5I1718876210132/TECHNICAL-PURCHASING-POWER.jpg)
TECHNICAL PURCHASING POWER
Sam Fortescue explains how to check you have the power needed to handle your running rigging safely - and how to fix it if you don't
![NEW GEAR](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/CBwfsgkkm1718875776429/NEW-GEAR.jpg)
NEW GEAR
Dennis O'Neill reviews the latest products designed to make sailing safer and easier
!['NEVER BEFORE HAVE I SAILED IN SUCH WILD WEATHER'](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/aU9GDliyz1718875329454/NEVER-BEFORE-HAVE-I-SAILED-IN-SUCH-WILD-WEATHER.jpg)
'NEVER BEFORE HAVE I SAILED IN SUCH WILD WEATHER'
When Jeremy Edwards and his sister were hit by a 'weather bomb' en route to Tonga it gave him a new-found respect for his sister's skippering ability