Foils are the newest phenomenon on the Vendée Globe race and one that looks as…
Features
5 tips: avoiding a breakdown – so gear failure doesn’t let you down on the racecourse
It has been a tight race in a building breeze, but you’ve maintained the lead…
Pip Hare: How to stay safe on board when you’re sailing short-handed
A man overboard is every double-handed crew’s nightmare; with only one pair of hands left…
5 tips: how to deal with snagging weed and hooking pots on an offshore race
The sails look great and you’ve just spent money on having the keel faired and…
Keeping safe for ocean cruising – it’s an attitude of mind, says Chris Tibbs
Safety is as much a state of mind as it is the equipment we have…
Weather briefing: Chris Tibbs explains the formation of a secondary low
Some years ago while racing somewhere south of the Kerguelen Islands in the Southern Ocean,…
5 tips: finding clear air in a crowded racing fleet
For the leading boats clear air comes free, but for those locked in the middle…
Disaster relief by yacht – how cruisers around the world are doing their bit
Gusting up to 190mph, Cyclone Winston was the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded reaching land…
Solo sailor dodges hurricanes and ice on a North Atlantic crossing
An eastward crossing of the Atlantic in June or July should be easy for a…
Rio, a cruiser’s perspective – should you drop everything and sail there?
Scarcely ruffled by a lazy late afternoon breeze, the sea was an oily pink and…
A challenge, not a spectacle: onboard the RC44s
The RC44 class is in the UK for the first time this weekend. Helen Fretter…
Chris Tibbs weather briefing: the dangers of cold fronts or ‘squall lines’
Outside the tropics much of our sailing takes place in the disturbed westerly airflow that…
36ft Zest is hit by a ‘14m’ rogue wave and dismasted off Spain. Skipper’s story
You know when you’ve been hit by a rogue wave. The energy within it is…
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 –…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…