Finally, after all the months and years of preparation, battle is joined...

  • From the Editor
    Finally, after all the months and years of preparation, battle is joined in the Louis Vuitton Cup. Who will be left standing in February?

  • On the wind
    A boisterous Swan Cup in Sardinia, Around Alone competitors head off on the first leg of their solo adventure, the North East Passage is conquered in one season by a French yacht. Plus: we announce the new Musto International Cruising Awards in association with Yachting World

  • Preece comment
    America?s Cup pundits fall back on the form book as racing gets under way for the first round robins of the Challenger series

  • Letters to the Editor
    Stability is as much about dynamics in extreme conditions as it is about GZ curves; drunk and disorderly in the Solent and the problem of rubbish

  • Leading Edge
    When you?re out of reach of a 999 call a medical emergency could turn to disaster. A new system that transmits vital signs by satellite could save lives

  • Dogwatch
    Passmore?s School of Sailing for those of a more relaxed disposition . . .

  • South Georgia on my mind
    Forget 80-knot katabatic winds, shrug off the climate that freezes your breath, South Georgia is one of the last few true wilderness experiences. Skip Novak heads there in his 51ft Pelagic to film the wildlife, climb the peaks and meet some old friends who have embraced the isolated life

  • Getting down to basics
    After a decade or more of expedition sailing in the Southern Ocean, Skip Novak is an expert on high-latitude cruising. So when it came to planning a bigger boat to replace his faithful Pelagic, he knew exactly what he wanted ? a simple, sturdy boat with no fancy frills

  • Cruising Log
    As American artist Reid Stowe sets off for three years non-stop sailing in the Atlantic hoping to create some conceptual art, Elaine Bunting reflects on the eccentricities of a cruising life. Plus a teenager?s solo Atlantic crossing and a new type of ARC

  • Letter from the Great Lakes
    Tony Collingridge?s American odyssey comes to an end as he samples the summer delights of Lakes Huron and Superior

  • Ocean Ready
    In the third part of our series on preparing for a long-term cruise, David Glenn receives some liveaboard philosophy from an Australian couple who haven?t found it all plain sailing and discovers why the simple life has worked for ARC Europe?s smallest participant

  • Robin Knox-Johnston
    An open-plan interior may look spacious and attractive but it can represent a considerable risk at sea

  • Spirits of cruising
    A cruise for the connoisseur? The word is spreading of a superb event which combines an exploration of Western Scotland?s dramatic cruising ground with the tasting of malt whiskies at three island distilleries. If you want to book up for next year?s Classic Malts Cruise, you?d better be quick, says Elaine Bunting

  • Countdown to the Cup
    What have Team New Zealand got up their sleeve, or rather under those all-enveloping skirts that disguise their new boat?

  • On the Rhum line
    It?s the biggest single-handed event around and all the fastest mono and multihulls have been snapped up for it. Elaine Bunting previews the Route du Rhum, which will take the largest grand-prix fleet across the Atlantic from St Malo to Guadeloupe

  • Southampton Boat Show review
    The sun shone on this year?s autumn in-water show and visitors flocked to view the latest boats and gear. We review the best of the exhibits

  • On test: Distancia 60
    Gimmick and gadgetry or genuine ground-breaking design? This performance cruiser has been hailed as the most innovative of modern designs but does she stand up to the hype? Matthew Sheahan finds that she incorporates some interesting new ideas but not all are successful . . .

  • SuperSail
    Daphne Morgan Barnicoat reports from the Italian Riviera on a thrilling Vele d?Epoca d?Imperia regatta, reported by competitors to be ?up there with the Jubilee?

  • Eleonora: sailing Westward?s replica
    Nat Herreshoff?s Westward was one of the greatest racing schooners ever launched, matching King George V?s Britannia for grace and speed and suffering the same fate. Now she is sailing again in the form of Eleonora, a faithful replica created by enthusiast Ed Kastelein. With this yacht and the three restored J Class yachts, we could see racing from the Twenties and Thirties recreated

  • Next month in Yachting World
    Ocean Ready ? choices in satellite communication explained. America?s Cup ? the finer points of ACC design

  • Yachts for sale
    1000s of yachts for sale in our brokerage pages

  • Classified ads
    Seasonal bargains in our classified pages

  • Ellen MacArthur
    Ellen has taken part in the Europe 1 New Man STAR and the Route du Rhum and says the two bear no comparison for crowd enthusiasm