How many people can stand on the wreck of the SS Varvassi? This great little video might just show a bizarre new record as a group of people decide to stand…
Elaine Bunting
Why paper charts still have a place alongside iPad and electronic navigation
When you open up any electronic navigation program you usually see a disclaimer telling you not to rely on its accuracy. ‘All charts and maps are for reference purpose only.…
Portsmouth is putting on a brilliant dress rehearsal for ‘bringing the America’s Cup home’
How would it feel if Sir Ben Ainslie were to succeed in his grand ambition to ‘bring the Cup home’? The America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth answered that today. It…
Musto Women’s Evolution Primaloft Jacket
This is my new favourite mid-layer jacket. The Musto Women’s Evolution Primaloft Jacket is warm, but incredibly light. It is filled with PrimaLoft, a patented synthetic microfibre that has almost magic…
Nautor announces a new Swan 54, a purebred bluewater quality cruiser
One of yachting’s most prestigious and long-running brands, Nautor’s Swan, has announced a new yacht and the new Swan 54 is significant in being at the smaller end of the…
Wearing a lifejacket or not is a judgement call. We are being brainwashed, argues Skip Novak
I first realised there was something amiss when several years ago on a visit to the Hamble River during a dead calm weekend afternoon. I noticed that everyone on every…
Gallery: perfect racing conditions for spectacular Superyacht Cup fleet
A building sea breeze gave the 21-strong fleet of yachts in the annual Superyacht Cup perfect racing conditions today in Palma. The race today was over a 25-mile course and…
New J Class yacht named Topaz is launched – and the design team says she is “absolutely stunning”
The latest J Class yacht, named Topaz, was launched from Holland Jachtbouw in June, bringing the total number of Js on the water to eight. From an unbuilt 1935 design…
Grand Soleil LC46: a boat that abounds with clever touches
Grand Soleil has come up with something really different in its new Grand Soleil LC46. After the company was bought last year by the Italian Sly Yachts group, it has…
Guest blog: Ready for our long voyage to Thailand on Whitbread classic Swan 65 King’s Legend
This is my home for the next eight to nine months. It is still hard to believe, even though I have arrived so many times before and I have left…
Perini Navi’s new 60m sloop Perseus^3 boasts the world’s largest single sail
Perseus^3 is the second in Perini Navi’s new 60m series, launched earlier this year and in Palma for her first regatta and she is likely to turn heads, if only…
Discovery 58: a cruising thoroughbred from a thoroughly British yard
This is the British yard’s newest thoroughbred cruiser, a development of the Discovery 57 with a more modern coachroof profile. The Discovery 58 looks every inch as competent a world-girdler…
J Class yacht J9 is ready to build – and may be “the fastest and finest yet”
As the J Class gears up for a showcase regatta that will form part of the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda in 2017, the fleet is growing. The J Class J8, from…
Gallery: the rooms, art and antiques of the Royal Yacht Squadron
The Royal Yacht Squadron is one of the most exclusive yacht clubs in the world. Don’t ask to join; you have to be invited. It doesn’t have a clubhouse; it…
What’s the right yacht for an Atlantic crossing? The one you’ve got now
Numerically, the most common yachts for sailing across the Atlantic are ordinary production cruisers with standard kit, usually with upgrades of safety and power generation equipment. The happy truth is…
If you want your family and friends to sail with you, stop ***** shouting!
A few years ago I took part in a memorable regatta among the crew of a yacht whose owner and skipper was an extremely plummy and well-connected member of the…
Memorial unveiled to the crew lost when Sir Edward Heath’s Morning Cloud broke up and sank
A memorial to a yachting tragedy that killed two young men on Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath’s Morning Cloud has been unveiled, 41 years after the accident. The accident, which…
Come on Knut Frostad, come on Russell Coutts. Women’s sailing needs strong male leadership
Why are the all-women Team SCA consistently finishing at the back in the Volvo Ocean Race? I think a lot of people have secretly asked this obvious question. It’s a…
Gitana Team to build a giant multihull for round the world solo racing – one that will fly
Gitana Team, the French race team backed by Baron Edmond de Rothschild is to start build a new giant multihull for racine round the world – one that could fly…
Gallery: Come on board the award-winning 156ft superyacht Wisp
Congratulations are due to Hoek Design and Royal Huisman Shipyard for winning the Neptune Trophy for the best sailing yacht over 45m at the World Superyacht Awards. One of the…