Escoffier was adrift in his liferaft for over 11 hours, some 840 miles south of Cape Town, at night in 25-knot winds and 3 metre seas, when Le Cam –…
Helen Fretter
Editor
How to follow the 2020 Vendée Globe
A record fleet of 33 skippers started the Vendée Globe on Sunday, 8 November at 1302 local time (1202 GMT) and three of them have already seen their race ended…
‘Broken’ Alex Thomson retires from 2020 Vendée Globe after rudder damage
The enormously popular skipper has announced that he is retiring from the Vendée Globe, and is currently heading to Cape Town. Speaking from Hugo Boss today, a clearly emotional Thomson…
Jules Verne Trophy: Head-to-head foiling battle begins for round the world record
The time to beat is 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds, set in 2017 by Jules Verne Trophy holder Francis Joyon on Idec Sport. First to announce…
Vendée Globe 2020 start: Record fleet sets off from Les Sables d’Olonne
After the strangest of departure days, the Vendée Globe fleet set off this afternoon at 1420 local time. To start a round the world race is always an enormous relief,…
Vendée Globe 2020 preview: Next generation foilers will sail on the limit
The world of single-handed offshore racing is a uniquely rarefied one. It’s an oft-quoted statistic that more people have been into space than sailed around the planet non-stop, but solo…
How two architects refitted a cheap old lifeboat into this Arctic liveaboard cruiser
Stødig is the brainchild of friends Guylee Simmonds and David Schnabel, both 28. Looking at the beautiful spaces they have created in this unassuming 35ft tub, it comes as no…
INEOS Team UK grinder David Carr explains what it’s really like to sail an AC75
“When you push off the dock, your life is in the hands of computers – and the guy piloting the boat out of the water, of course. All the systems…
Champagne Hippy: From sunken wreck to luxury charter yacht in 13 months
Champagne Hippy was never expected to sail again. When the keel ripped off the 82ft Polina Star III in July 2015 it sent shockwaves through the marine industry, and left…
The Yachting World hall of fame: 50 yachts that changed the way we sail
1. Mariquita Built: 1911 Design: William Fife III Mariquita is a living link between the ‘Big Class’ behemoths, such as Britannia, the J Class and all that went after, including…
Flyer: The inside story of this Whitbread winner’s amazing restoration
Flyer is one of those yachts that needs little introduction. Designed for the 1977 Whitbread Race by Sparkman & Stephens for Dutch skipper Conny Van Rietschoten, the 68ft aluminium ketch…
Battle of the giants: The inside story of the Brest Atlantiques Race
On Tuesday 5 November four giant trimarans – Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Macif, Sodebo and Actual Leader, and their double-handed crews – left a grey and sodden Brest on Brittany’s…
Ester: The classic Swedish racing yacht that came back from the dead
The phrase ‘ahead of its time’ is over-used, but in the case of Ester, a remarkable 50ft racing yacht built in 1901, it couldn’t be more apt. For a yacht…
The great escape: Why there’s no bad time to drop everything and sail away
How do we untie the lines that bind us? Family, jobs, homes, schools, pets, friends… our lives are built on the myriad of small connections and huge decisions that we…
Decade in review: How the last 10 years changed the face of sailing
In January 2010 the Yachting World cover shot was of the giant Alinghi catamaran. Our headline wondered if the America’s Cup Deed of Gift multihulls were ‘The World’s Most Advanced…
Sailing security: How to stay safe when cruising around the world
How safe is it to sail around the world and what precautions do you need to take? We asked bluewater sailors who have cruised areas including the Caribbean, Pacific and…
Farewell Plymouth – Fastnet Race finish will move to France on 96th anniversary of historic event
This is the first time that the finish of the biennial 605-mile offshore from Cowes has ever changed. The new destination adds some 90 miles to the course distance. In…
Hugo Boss: Sailing on board Alex Thomson’s £6million foiling machine
“What’s my speed? What’s the speed? What’s the boatspeed now?!” Alex Thomson hollers into a microphone. Thomson, at the helm of his brand new Hugo Boss, is pumped. As we…
Four Ultimes fly into Biscay in new 14,000-mile Brest Atlantiques race
The four Ultimes set off in a 30-knot north-westerly wind and heavy sea with 4.5 metres waves, and were rapidly reaching boat speeds of 30 knots plus. The start had…
Fastnet 2019: The inside story of an unforgettable race to the rock
They say you should never meet your heroes, lest they be found to be merely mortal. Yet one of sailing’s rarest qualities is that there are a handful of events…