While going on a bluewater adventure with your family is a popular dream, the advantages of having a child that can understand instructions, occupy themselves with a book, and have…
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Masterclass: Expert sail handling on larger yachts
It’s only really developments in sail handling technology that have allowed the size of boats to increase so much: we’ve been building yachts of 60ft for decades, but they often…
Best paddle board pump: Manual and electric options
Inflatable paddle boards now make up the vast majority of recreational SUPs around the world. And of course inflatables need blowing up, hence the sound of pumping punctuates many a…
Boat test: X-56 The Xtra mile
Large cruising yachts are enormously appealing, but it’s imperative that they’re easy to tame in deteriorating weather. Yet if this is achieved through making the boat underpowered it will be…
Second hand boats: buying an ex-charter yacht
Yacht charter companies increasingly own new yachts for only a few years, selling off sooner to ensure they can offer the latest models to customers. Meanwhile an older, heavily used…
Upwind headsail trimming: Top tips from a pro
The challenge of headsail trimming, according to Stir Fry, is understanding at any given moment what the team is aiming to achieve. On a busy race course, those aims are…
Shackleton’s Endurance shipwreck discovered
The Endurance was shipwrecked in 1915 on an expedition to the Antarctic after it was crushed by pack ice as Shackleton and his crew tried to make their way to…
World’s coolest yachts: Kuka Light
“Kuka Light is the most extreme keelboat I have ever sailed,” explains Mitch Booth. “At 42ft and built in an autoclave she is VERY light and stiff. But when you…
World’s coolest yachts: The Snipe dinghy
“I would take a complete crazy thing: a Snipe. I think it’s an excellent boat for kids to start sailing in, and even for grown-ups. I have a Snipe dinghy…
Great seamanship: Taken by the wind
Mike Jacker is a retired orthopaedic surgeon living in Illinois. Among many other activities he still sails his boat, now mainly on Lake Michigan, but he has a long memory.…
Coolest Yachts: Volvo Open 70 Camper
“I’ve been fortunate to race on board and race against a great many boats I could nominate for my Coolest Yacht, but for me it would have to be the…
Atlantic divide in the 2021 ARC
When the 2021 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) set off from Gran Canaria on November 21, there was one early sign this would be an unusual crossing: the 143 yachts…
First look: Oceanis Yacht 60 – new bluewater flagship
Beneteau’s new flagship, the Oceanis Yacht 60, is the yard’s third model to come out of the collaboration with Lorenzo Argento and Roberto Biscontini that started with the First Yacht…
Navigation apps: all about user-generated guides
Pilot books used to be how we explored new destinations. Cruisers and charter sailors alike will have spent many hours poring over sketch maps and grainy photos in a hardback…
Burling to skipper New Zealand America’s Cup defence
Pete Burling, who has twice helmed Emirates Team New Zealand to victory in the past two America’s Cup’s is confirmed as skipper of theb Kiwi defence of the Cup in…
Catamaran sailing in Australia
If it could float, it was out on the water in Sydney Harbour that day. Ferries, dinghies, powerboats, catamarans, superyachts, naval ships, and everything in between streamed across the famous…
Clarionet: famous yacht meticulously restored
At just 36ft 9in, the Sparkman & Stephens sloop Clarionet is an unassuming yacht, often dwarfed by larger competitors on the UK classic racing circuit. Yet Clarionet helped change the…
Caribbean 600: course record for Argo, and line honours for Skorpios
In a fast-paced running of the RORC Caribbean 600, the MOD70 Argo, has set a new course record and taken multihull line honours, while the ClubSwan 125, Skorpios, took monohull…
I married an Explorer extract: exploring the far north
Today, the auxiliary schooner Bowdoin operates under the flag of the Maine Maritime Academy, making training runs to Labrador and Greenland. Launched in 1921, the 66-ton Bowdoin was the brainchild…
Loose grub screw led to X-Yacht being abandoned mid-Atlantic
X-Yachts has released findings into an investigation into the events that led up to the yacht Brainstorm, an X49, being abandoned in the ARC January transatlantic crossing. X-Yachts’ director of…