A European sailing holiday is where many of us first developed a love of discovering unfamiliar anchorages. There’s something about nosing your way into a new bay on a balmy…
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7 next-generation fast monohulls coming to you this year
While the allure of multihulls has grown in recent decades, the there are still plenty of sailors looking for the sailing benefits offered by monohulls. Currently we are seeing an…
‘Deafening roars of thunder coincided simultaneously with mammoth bolts of lightning hitting the sea all around us’
I’ve always found local winds fascinating. One year in France, while racing a Q Class in a classics regatta, a whole fleet of spinnakers blew up ahead of me as…
Metis 45 first look: Italian foiler for simplifying offshore foiling races
This Italian-designed and built foiling offshore racer is intended to fill the big gulf between Class 40s and IMOCA 60s. Full details have not yet been released, but we’re told…
‘We paired perfect sailing with colourful evenings ashore’: Exploring unexpected Greece by boat
The wind was dying with the light after a lively passage down the western Peloponnese, but a lumpy sea remained. As we sloshed around in the swell, my wife Maxi…
Y6 first look: Designed ‘for maximum privacy and easy handling’
Over the past decade Y Yachts’ range of 70 to 90-footers has stood out from the pack in an increasingly crowded market place. These semi-custom lightweight carbon fibre yachts offer…
World’s Coolest Yachts: Swan 55 Galiana
“Olin Stephens had designed two 6 Metres before creating his breakthrough yawl, Dorade, in 1929 – a scaled-up ocean-going 6mR. Forty years later, the Swan 55 marked the end of…
Battery power onboard hundreds of ocean-crossing skippers share their secrets
Power on board is a key equipment issue for all bluewater cruisers, whether preparing a boat for a first transatlantic passage or considering comfortable liveaboard cruising. We asked the 234…
High Power, Low Voltage: Molabo’s Game-Changing Electric Marine Drives
Molabo, a little-known German company with firm roots in academic research, offers a radically different alternative for marine electric and hybrid propulsion systems. Conventional electric motors powerful enough to propel…
‘It quickly becomes clear that things are not good. What follows is a blur of suppressed panic and a mad fumbled search of the boat…’
Friday evening, 21 February, 2025, and we are anchored inside a reef lagoon in a remote part of Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia. The entrance to the lagoon is narrow,…
5 new aluminium cruising yachts set to impress in 2025
For many serious cruisers, the appeal of an aluminium yacht is fundamental. These cruisers are inherently robust, offering the ruggedness needed for extended voyaging and exploring remote destinations. Their durability…
Exploring the Tyrrhenian Sea and the hidden islands of Italy
A shirtless sailor in a roughed up inflatable dinghy approached as we sat in the cockpit at anchor. Along with two friends, my wife Roxy and I had just arrived…
World’s Coolest Boats: The 29er dinghy
“When I moved out of Oppies, I wasn’t sure I wanted to sail,” Diamond recalls. “I tried the 420 for a little bit, but for whatever reason, it just didn’t…
Are you ready to take on an ocean crossing? How to refit and maintain a bluewater yacht
In 2012 I bought a neglected 15-year-old Hallberg-Rassy 46 which had stood ashore unsold for many years. She was strong, but had been somewhat abandoned – sails still furled, and…
Sailing the Pacific: ‘As we sailed away from lush Hanalei Bay, it was so beautiful I actually teared up’
After two recent deliveries sailing the Pacific to Hawaii and back, on two very different boats, with two very different crews, I’m starting to realise that, more than anything else,…
Non-foiling IMOCA: Can the latest non-foilers compete at the front of the fleet
Despite their lack of foils, Eric Bellion’s and Jean Le Cam’s Raison-designed Non-foiling IMOCA sisterships (Stand as One Altavia and Tout Commence en Finistère – Armor lux respectively) were actually…
‘I knew I needed to do something, take some action, to honour his memory… I knew I had to go to Cambodia.’
Rob Hamill wasn’t supposed to be in the water that day. Although he was tempted by the gentle cyan waves in the remote Thai anchorage, doctors had treated an infected…
Leopard 46 Hybrid first look: Combining the benefits of diesel and electric
Here is another key replacement model after South African yard Robertson and Caine built over 400 of the Leopard 45. La Grande Motte will be an ideal opportunity to see…
MODX first look: Dual inflated wingsails lift the catamaran market to new heights
This truly fascinating new project has been in development for several years and is finally due to be unveiled in La Grande Motte this April. The 70ft MODX is designed…
New Dragonfly 36: Composite folding wings reduces weight for more speed
Now this is a multihull to raise a sailor’s adrenaline. With the wish to create something special between its 32ft and 40ft models, Danish trimaran specialists Dragonfly spent two years…