When ashore we get our forecasts from a variety of sources, nowadays largely through the internet. However, unless we have the long-range communications of a bluewater cruiser, once our link…
J/11s – specially designed for short-handed sailing
In 2015 the double-handed class trophy for the Rolex Fastnet Race went to Kelvin Rawlings and Stuart Childerley aboard the J/105 Jester. Neither had raced short-handed before that season, yet both said…
Expert tips on getting your cockpit set up perfectly for short-handed sailing
The simple things we take for granted when sailing with crew can become a nightmare double-handed. Dropping the main on a blustery night with one of you stuck behind the…
The world’s biggest yachts – what’s behind the growth of the gigayacht
Dwarfing not only any other yacht that happened to be on the River Eider, but even the buildings along the foreshore, the monolithic Sailing Yacht A made quite an impression…
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston refits his famous yacht Suhaili
In 1968, on 14 June at 1420, a 32ft ketch called Suhaili, with Robin Knox-Johnston at the tiller, crossed a start line off Falmouth. Few saw them off, and fewer…
Bright and breezy – a selection of great images from this year’s St Maarten Heineken Regatta
The most well attended of all the Caribbean regattas, the St Maarten Heineken regatta boasts a wide variety of competitors as well as a big spectator fleet, in terms of…
Design guru Gino Morelli on the latest multihulls – “We’re like the Wright brothers”
Gino Morelli and Pete Melvin, more commonly known as Morelli & Melvin, are at the centre of almost every development in catamaran performance technology over the last three decades. Their…
First look videos from 6 of the most recent launches from Bavaria, Dufour, Elan, Solaris and Hanse
Bavaria C57 Bavaria has been promising something big and, sure enough, the C57 is Bavaria’s largest yacht yet. As you can see from our first look videos, the length, 57ft,…
Is the Contest 67CS the most impressive new yacht under 80ft in production today?
We were on board Contest’s first new 67CS, a sensational new 67ft semi-custom model, and the first Contest designed by Judel/Vrolijk in the yard’s near 60-year history. We were sailing…
All carbon Arcona 465 on test – is this the ultimate performance cruiser?
Performance cruisers are designed and sold to chew up the miles on longer journeys without sacrificing too much comfort. Yet many new owners find that their boat that sailed so…
4 of the best waterproof winter sailing gloves on test
Sailing gloves come in a wide variety of styles. Buying the best sailing gloves for you can be a difficult task and will depend on the conditions in which you…
Sir Russell Coutts talks about New Zealand’s pedal power and the America’s Cup
With less than three months to go until the start of the Louis Vuitton qualifiers and 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda, Sir Russell Coutts was in London celebrating the event’s…
Video: Five years sailing around the world in five beautiful minutes
Sailing around the world is arguably the ideal way to see the very best of our planet. This film helps distil some of that wonder into five minutes – and…
A look on board the extraordinary 86m Aquijo, the world’s largest ketch
The largest Bermudan rigged ketch ever launched, the 86m Aquijo was designed by Bill Tripp and launched last year. The build came about through a new collaboration between the two Dutch yards…
Dubois Naval Architects Ltd goes into liquidation
Following the death of world-renowned British designer Ed Dubois last year, we are saddened to report that Dubois Naval Architects has closed and gone into liquidation. Its assets including the…
Telemedicine for cruisers beyond the reach of an airlift – how a phone call saved one sailor’s life
Anchored in a remote lagoon in the Solomon Islands last year, Tom Partridge and his partner Susie Plume were into the third year of a circumnavigation on their Hylas 46…
How to reef short-handed and how to know when the time is right to reduce sail
The decision to reef is as much about boat handling as it is about wind strength. So try to take a holistic view of how the whole boat feels and…
What is life cruising on a superyacht really like? To the Antarctic on Adele
David Glenn finds out what it's really like cruising on a superyacht
Gunboat 68 – the high octane luxury performance cruiser designed by VPLP
When Gunboat, the US company that created the luxury super-fast carbon catamaran range, went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, there were big questions about the future of one of…
The America’s Cup defender has given away much of its historic advantage, but can anyone beat Oracle?
One of the unwritten rules of the America’s Cup is that every decision the defender makes must be in the interests of self-interest. What sets the Cup apart from every…