French solo sailor François Gabart has set a new record for the outright 24hr speed record in his 100ft trimaran MACIF. His shore team announced today that, subject to official…
TP52 Gladiator wins Round the Island Race 2016 – see our race fleet gallery
Winner of the the J. P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, the Gold Roman Bowl for the first IRC boat on corrected time, is Bernard Langley’s TP52 Gladiator. She powered…
How a new record of 2h 23m was set on Round the Island Race by MOD 70 trimaran Phaedo^3
A new record for the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race 2016 was set today in strong, often gale force westerly winds. Owner Lloyd Thornburg and skipper Brian Thompson and…
Bear necessities: Cruising the Broughton islands on Canada’s Pacific coast
We left Dead Point at 0800 in a flat calm and entered Beware Passage – inauspicious names for cruising in dense fog, but we had used this rock-ridden channel before…
Skip Novak goes sailing to climb mountains – in the wake of Tilman
I have always thought that voyaging under sail is more gratifying when it has an underlying purpose. Floating about somewhat ad hoc across oceans from one paradise to the next…
Bluewater cruisers give us their top pick of galley equipment
Pressure cookers were the most popular galley appliance for their convenience and time- and energy-efficient means of preparing food. An airtight lid allows the ingredients inside to cook speedily as…
Kraken Yachts, a new brand of competitively priced bluewater cruisers
Kraken is a new brand designed in New Zealand and built in China, founded by two experienced British businessmen and sailors in Hong Kong. They are marketing a particularly competitively…
Video: the superb sight of seven big schooners and a Fife gaff cutter at the Superyacht Cup
Palma Bay witnessed the superlative sight today of seven classic and replica schooners gathering, together with one Fife gaff cutter, for an exhibition sail, that resembled a friendly match. Glorious…
How to plan watches and sleep when sailing short-handed
Before you decide on the best way to run watches double-handed, answer this question: are you sailing double-handed or single-handed in shifts? Successful double-handed teams pushing hard together have often…
Blog: Pip Hare and her all-woman team win Leg 3 of the Three Peaks Yacht Race
At 1049 on Wednesday morning Jo and Lowri ran over the finish line and straight into the arms of our sailing team and the history books of the Three Peaks…
Cockroaches, weevils, moths. How to keep bugs at bay on board
A movement caught out of the corner of my eye: something furtive, small and fast. I must have imagined it, but I’ll have to take a closer look. Reluctantly, I…
Chris Tibbs weather briefing: how air mass affects the wind direction
I have a lovely old instrument at home which belonged to my grandfather; using dials on concentric circles you can set the direction of the wind, barometer reading and trend,…
New Zealand death and MOB double tragedy on 65-footer Platino
One crewmember has died and another was swept overboard when the Auckland-registered yacht Platino suffered serious rigging damage around 550km north of New Zealand on June 14. Platino, a…
Blog: Pip Hare and her sailing/running team lie a nail-biting 3rd in the Three Peaks Yacht Race
I wake up with a start, dehydrated, hot and confused. ‘Where are the runners? What time is it? Have I over slept?’ Reaching for the phone tucked under my makeshift…
The life of Tom Perkins 1932-2016 – entrepreneur, innovator and mastermind of Maltese Falcon
Tomas J. Perkins 1932-2016 Tom Perkins, who has died aged 84, was one of Silicon Valley’s most successful venture capitalists and a prolific superyacht owner whose innovative thinking led to…
Paul Larsen, world speed record holder, advises on how to avoid a pitchpole
I can see the boat has a reef in and the daggerboards slightly raised, so it is obviously windy. Judging by the lazy sheet, the gennaker is still furled so…
French sailor on a world tour via the North West Passage with a red hen
Guirec Soudée met Monique during a stopover in the Canary Islands when she joined him on what had been up to then a solo transatlantic voyage. The 24-year-old Breton was…
Video: we test the decidedly luxurious new Jeanneau 54 in a gale off Cannes
One look at the deck configuration would lead most people to presume the Jeanneau 54 is a hedonists’ yacht, one for the sun worshippers anchored in warm climes. Indeed my…
How to be a good crew member on a long ocean passage
Matching skippers and crew can be a difficult process and while there are characteristics we can identify in a good skipper, there are also some points that need to be…
A skiff with stabilisers? Meet ep0h, a skiff that anyone can sail
This is a skiff with big ambition: ep0h stands for ‘exponential pleasure, zero hassle’. The goal was to create a skiff that anyone can sail even if they are not…