From the Editor
Keel failures seem to have dogged the Volvo fleet, so who is to blame? Maybe it’s just lack of time on the water that is the common factor

On the Wind
After a second leg of breakdowns and retirements, the pressure on sailors, designers and organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race is building. Matthew Sheahan reports from Melbourne. Plus: Dee Caffari in the middle of nowhere; Skandia back the British Olympic squad; and Yves Parlier’s big cat is relaunched

The Walrus
It’s Boat Show time and you know you just have to have one of those intriguing new gadgets – a Banana Guard, maybe, or a SheWee (dont’ ask!)

Letters
A close encounter with a solo star; is the Volvo turning into a sad circus?; keep power-assisted swing-keelers out of our racing

Robin Knox-Johnston
No matter how many you visit, some ports just manage to leave a lifelong impression. Durban in South Africa is one such for Robin, who says it holds a special place in his heart

Dark days for ExCeL?
Visitor numbers were down and it seemed lacking in pizzazz, but the 2006 London Boat Show still offered up some interesting new boats and plenty of gear. The Yachting World team hunted out the shining lights for this ten-page report

Parasailor: the ideal Atlantic sail?
How can a spinnaker with a hole in it make the perfect downwind cruising sail? David Pugh explains the ‘slot effect’ and talks to the 15 crews which took a Parasailor on the ARC

Leading Edge
A wireless method of logging data from stress gauges could help designers understand dynamic loading

Yachts
Southerly call in a race boat designer for their new-look 46-footer; a Kiwi cat is a real party animal; and the Oyster 655 looks fast, even at rest

European Yacht of the Year 2006
We present the winners and runners-up in this year’s European Yacht of the Year Awards, whittled down to five categories and chosen by the top European yachting magazines

Carbon crusade
Two new cruisers, both from Slovenia, both built in carbon – is this a new trend? Matthew Sheahan examines a 60-footer from Shipman and David Pugh steps aboard a reworked Westerly GK33

Oats v Alfa
Two new 98ft Reichel/Pugh swing-keeled maxis, Wild Oats XI and Alfa Romeo, have been wowing Australia this season. But would they stand up to the rigours of the notorious Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race and which would come out on top? Andy Rice investigates

Amazing Grace
Patrick Reilly had already sailed the 23ft engineless gaff cutter Grace single-handed across the Atlantic, so a cruise from Ireland to Iceland ought to be within her capabilities. But would the hospitality of the Irish be a distraction for him and his crew Nono?

Parsifal – the performing Perini
Perinis are known in the superyacht world for sheer size and luxury, but not sadly for performance – until now. Parsifal, one of the first of a new breed of performing Perinis, gives the lie to that old image

Cruising
The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers under new ownership; ‘indiscriminate’ attacks on yachts off Somalia; a former Yachtsman of the Year collapses on solo voyage; yacht designer Steve Dashew turns to the dark side and embraces . . . motorboating!

Great Seamanship
Flight for freedom. A group of Estonian refugees are escaping to America at the end of World War II. Fourteen men, women and children are crowded into an old, leaking, semi-derelict 37ft workboat. The last thing they need is a storm . . .

Racing
Wild Oats XI does ‘the treble’ in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race – taking line honours, IRC honours and the race record – as the maxis enjoy unseasonably benign conditions for the infamous ocean classic. Plus: America’s Cup sailors take the Melges 24 Worlds and ISAF investigates the growing incidence of bad behaviour on the race course

Inside Alinghi
How did entering a 24-hour downhill skiing race help
the Defenders prepare for the 2007 America’s Cup?
Daphne Morgan Barnicoat reveals what’s been happening in the Alinghi camp

SuperSail
The powerful-looking 117ft Hamilton II, for Carphone Warehouse boss Charles Dunstone, is built in Bordeaux; Tom Perkins turns writer with his novel ‘Sex and the Single Zillionaire’ – does it reflect any of his own experience?

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Last Word
So why exactly did Paul Cayard want to do the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race? Find out in Andrew Preece’s interview