Does the F-RIB really offer the rugged performance of a RIB while folding down as small as an inflatable? Bruce Jacobs of Rubicon 3 put it through a season's testing…
Reviews
12 yacht trackers compared to help you choose the right unit for your voyage
This article was originally published Nov 2016. It was last product and price checked 28 Feb 2023. Some of the products in this article are no longer available but this…
Pip Hare’s choice of EPIRBs, PLBs and other man overboard aids that could just save your life
EPIRBs When activated, an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) transmits its details on 406MHZ and, if GPS-enabled, the vessel’s position to within 100m. This signal is relayed by satellite…
Contest 42CS on test – a good looking cruiser from a family-run Dutch yard
Contest introduced a 42-footer to its range almost 40 years ago and it was considered a relative giant for a production yacht at the time. Today the 42CS is the…
Citrus Zinger Sport bottle tested
A durable bottle with an integrated straw is a handy thing to have for the car or the boat. Add a juicer to the bottom part and you have the…
£16.99
Fugoo Tough speaker tested
My first impressions of this waterproof, shockproof speaker were that it’s so bombproof there seemed no obvious means even to power it up. But press and hold a discreet power…
£175.00
Garmin Virb XE action cam tested
I bought the original GoPro HERO with a waterproof housing, yet never really found it user-friendly. As a comparative HD action cam, however, this Garmin Virb XE is so much…
£349.99
White Glacier Arctic 25 immersion suit
This immersion suit is a much more serious product than it perhaps looks with me pictured in it. It will keep an occupant alive for up to 25 hours in…
£825.00
Jeanneau 54 boat test – a sturdy cruiser with hidden depths
Powerful gusts dispersed plumes of spray from the bow, making the whitewater explosions appear even more dramatic as the Jeanneau 54 positively ripped through the seas off Cannes in March.…
Vismara Marine V50 boat test – new ‘prêt a porter’ concept
This is Vismara Marine’s ‘prêt-à-porter’ concept, a yacht that can be chosen off the shelf. Over the past three decades Vismara Marine has launched over 130 custom yachts from its…
Adventure Yachts 55
Buying a new yacht? Generally, you have the choice of a production boat or going the more adventurous custom route. For a superyacht you might employ a project manager to…
Helly Hansen Crew H2Flow Jacket
Cut the fat to bare operating efficiency – that’s the motto of today, in business, lifestyle or sport. We are all increasingly overworked and need to streamline wherever possible. The…
£179.00
Karver KJ3 Cam cleat
Today’s streamlined and efficient deck layouts use purchase systems led to cam cleats for a number of functions that a decade ago would have been more likely to be led…
£53.00
Ronstan Shock Sheaveless Block
These neat and compact aluminium, low-friction, sheaveless blocks have a multitude of uses. The smallest, weighing just 2g, will take lines of up to 5mm and has a breaking load…
£10.99
HUBi Solar Hub 10k
In the face of it this is a great back-up system – a 10ah lithium battery pack/connection hub with ‘intelligent charge electronics’, plus a 20W solar panel and two bright…
£179.99
Tested: Pip Hare tries out five of the latest weather routeing packages
Every discerning sailor will carry out some sort of weather routeing before going out on the water. The extent to which we are able to predict weather patterns and assess…
Dazcat 1495 boat test – a cutting edge catamaran with a need for speed
Is this the catamaran equivalent of a monohull cruiser-racer like those from J-Boats or X-Yachts? The Dazcat 1495 differs from other modern fast cats in that, as well as being…
Atlantic gear test – Pip Hare tests kit on a 5,400nm crossing
Varta High Optics 3C Flashlight – 9/10 Used: every night of the race for sail trim, sail changes, rig checks and problem solving. This handheld torch allowed me to pick…
Hanse 315 boat test – packing a lot into a small space
Winner of the Family Cruiser category of the European Yacht of the Year Awards 2015. Read more here What do Tesco Metro, iPad Mini and a Hanse 315 all have…
Tested: AIS MOB devices – help your crew to save your life if you should go overboard
In a safety briefing for the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race, a French search and rescue pilot told us just how hard it is for a spotter plane to see…