Elaine Bunting

Elaine Bunting

Elaine has been sailing since the age of six. She began racing dinghies and later crewed on a variety of cruiser-racers and one-designs in club events and regattas throughout the UK.

Elaine qualified as an RYA sailing instructor in her teens and has taught sailing in the UK, Ireland and the USA. She has cruised throughout the UK, Ireland and the Mediterranean and has sailed across the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Pacific and Red Sea, and has sailed from South America to Antarctica.

Elaine was Editor of Yachting World from 2014-2020, having been Features Editor for many years before that. She continues to freelance for Yachting World.

Follow Elaine Bunting

  • March 30, 2023

It’s the dream that never fades. The desire to cross the Atlantic by boat seemingly doesn’t wane, no matter what the state of the global economy or geopolitical upheavals. Post-pandemic,…

  • February 17, 2023

Our image of the lone sailor as the hero of the high seas, battling the elements in isolation, does all the second-in-commands of the world a disservice. Every skipper needs…

  • December 12, 2022

In the spring of 2021, Laura Blom-Sipkens and her husband were chatting in their car when a thought suddenly struck her: we should take a break from work and take…

Contessa 32s have a reputation for being able to handle any kind of conditions without drama

  • May 18, 2022

Alan Ker on the Contessa 32 “We were prepared for a very rough night but we didn’t have any inkling how rough it was going to be. As we passed…

  • March 7, 2022

“I would take a complete crazy thing: a Snipe. I think it’s an excellent boat for kids to start sailing in, and even for grown-ups. I have a Snipe dinghy…

  • February 7, 2022

“This choice is made out respect for the boat (and crew),” says Rick Tomlinson. “There is nothing new in sailing, it’s all been done before by someone. Jolie Brise is…

  • February 4, 2022

I’d choose the MOD70 without too much doubt because the boat is so beautifully thought out. It is a great combination of speed, safety (even though four of them have…

  • February 3, 2022

“I’ve climbed a lot of mountains so choosing the coolest is a tough one, but it has to be the J Class Topaz. I love what we are able to…

ResQLink View RLS PLB

  • January 10, 2022

Until now, 406MHz personal locator beacons (PLBs) had a major drawback for the user: if the worst happened and you had to set one off at sea, you had no…

Joy Cleat

  • January 5, 2022

Every so often an invention comes along that is so original and useful you are amazed it was never thought of before. The JOY self-tailing cleat is that: a brilliant…

KF eco concept furler

  • December 31, 2021

French company Karver Systems produces some of the best designed and engineered furlers, halyard locks, blocks and sheaves on the market. It has also been trying to improve the sustainability…

Exocet Gold

  • December 30, 2021

Inside the Exocet Gold flight controller, a modest but swaggeringly-named box of tricks, is the brain that can keep a foiling yacht in flight. Stable flight requires ultra fast computation…

Garmin Surround View

  • December 28, 2021

Leaving and coming back to a marina berth can be some of the trickiest parts of boating, and more than a few family dreams have foundered on high-stress manoeuvres. The…

  • July 27, 2021

Have you ever dreamed of sailing in an around the world race, passing Cape Horn or surfing down the face of a breaking wave deep in the Southern Ocean? In…

  • April 1, 2021

On the first night of their Atlantic crossing, a ‘dark shadow’ passed 100m away from Christian and Manuela Lücking’s boat. It was unlit and not moving. Unnerved, Christian Lücking called…