Who’s it for? Any sailor who wants added purchase when hand-pulling a rope of 8mm or less. Tested by Matthew Sheahan
Matthew Sheahan
Ben Ainslie Racing: Bermuda race course reconnaissance
Ben Ainslie Racing is the first Cup team to start active training on the water in Bermuda. On the face of it there is nothing surprising about starting a Cup…
Video: How do you repair a Volvo 65 with no side or back end?
Recovering a wrecked Volvo 65 from a remote reef in the Indian Ocean and shipping her over 5,000 miles to a yard tucked up against the foothills of the Italian…
Vestas grounding report – More than just an expensive and embarrassing mistake
Once on the reef there was no way off. Miraculously no one was hurt. Running into a reef that is marked on both paper and electronic charts and for which…
Volvo Ocean Race: Team Vestas Wind grounding report published
Commissioned by the race organisers the investigation was conducted by Rear Admiral (Rtd) Chris Oxenbould (chair), Stan Honey and Chuck Hawley. The report sets out the background to the incident…
Video: Stories from the front line pt 3 – ‘We start every watch with 1 hour grinding’ – words and pictures
More words from the crews to match some of the best pictures from leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race from China to New Zealand. In the third of our…
Video: Getting into the war zone, top pictures & comment from Team Alvimedica
In the second of our Volvo Ocean Race video documentaries from the stopover in Auckland, Team Alvimedica navigator Will Oxley puts words to the extraordinary images of the team’s leg…
Video: Volvo Ocean Race – Their words and pictures
Having met the crews as they arrived in Auckland after more than 5,000nm of racing win which the front three boats finished within 8 minutes of each other it seemed…
Volvo Ocean Race: The Boatyard sets to work on another 6,000nm service, Matthew Sheahan finds out how
Forty years on from the first Whitbread race, plenty has changed. Gone are the long lazy stopovers and in come tightly controlled, time conscious turnarounds to keep the Volvo show…
Volvo Ocean Race: Auckland arrivals….all at once
Leading the night time charge from Sanya in China to to the finish line off Auckland’s Viaduct Basin breakwater, Xabi Fernandez’ Mapfre maintained their pole position, followed closely by Ian…
The Barker debacle – Team New Zealand embroiled in a bitter row between skipper Barker and boss Dalton
The country, it seems, is outraged at the way in which its long serving skipper is being squeezed out of the team after a recent leak disclosed that the team…
VIDEO: VX One – ‘Launched’, Matthew Sheahan flies a new pocket rocket in the Solent and declares a new favourite
Bridging the gap between dinghies and keel boats has always been tricky. What’s good for those used to hiking with their well trained quads, honed stomach muscles and a backsides…
Volvo Ocean Race: Breaking a winning formula? Dongfeng navigator sits out Leg 4
to leave Dongfeng’s star navigator Pascal Bidégorry on the dock will surely raise a few eyebrows.
VIDEO: How the biggest change in the Volvo Ocean Race has happened ashore Matthew Sheahan reports
This time around as crews tie up after finishing a leg they might as well be leaving their 65 footers on Volvo’s park and valet pontoon. As the sailing team…
Paralympic sailing to be dropped for Tokyo 2020 Games
According to IPC President Sir Philip Craven, sailing, ‘did not fulfil the IPC Handbook’s minimum criteria for worldwide reach.” The official Paralympic website (see below) that reported the news said…
The first time a Chinese team has won a leg of the Volvo but what is the future for this Franco/Chinese team?
What had not been anticipated before the event started back in November was the Franco/Chinese team’s consistently potent performance. Second into Cape Town on the opening leg, second into Abu…
Volvo Ocean Race: Dongfeng seals the deal for Leg 3 as the rest of the fleet come piling in behind
On the face of it Caudrelier’s Franco/Chinese team had owned the race since they took the lead on the second day out of Abu Dhabi, never dropping off pole position…
Volvo Ocean Race: Dongfeng Racing on verge of an impressive leg win but tensions are running high and provisions running out
winning this leg into the Chinese port of Sanya would be particularly special for this new and impressive campaign.
Barcelona World Race: Why did Alex Thomson’s Hugo Boss lose its mast?
Having crashed out of the Barcelona World Race while leading the race the big question is what failed?
Video: Taking the Farr 280 for a spin, Matthew Sheahan discovers a potent 28 footer
At 28ft LOA and weighing in at 1600kg with a downwind sail area that is just short of three times her upwind sail plan, she’s designed to fly downhill, which…