...that as well as being a first-rate marina with superb facilities, the distinctive blue sheds of Berthon allow them to provide additional services that will make your sailing life pleasurably…
5 tips: pre-season troubleshooting – key problems with deck gear the experts see regularly
You may have stepped off the boat at the end of the autumn series with a mental list of items that needed attending to over the winter, but how many…
SAIL FASTER SAIL SAFER advanced techniques series Part 3: Gybing
The first time I gybed single-handed it was on a 40-footer with a symmetrical spinnaker. The task seemed insurmountable and I struggled to see how any person could do this…
Video: what is it like to sail a Swan superyacht? Onboard footage from the Swan 115
The Swan 115 is very much a Swan of today, a prepreg carbon fibre performance machine that offers supreme comfort and quality, built by the most famous production yard in…
Skip Novak: where have all the America’s Cup tycoons gone? We miss them
I recently became aware of the new rules in the America’s Cup whereby the challengers are subject to fines if they publicly criticise the Cup organisation. It is US$25,000 for…
Hands-on advice for cruising in ice – expedition to Greenland
“Turn left after the berg with the Marge Simpson hair-do and continue past the one that looks like the Sydney Opera House,” Susie, the first mate, called from the top…
Best 5 new yachts named winners of the European Yacht of the Year 2015/2016
Now in its 12th year, the European Yacht of the Year is judged by journalists from 11 different magazines from 11 different European nations. Each jury member tested every yacht from…
5 tips: how to survive a squall when racing
Things get complicated when dark clouds build to windward and the horizon looks more like night than day. There’s breeze under squall clouds, but could it herald a major change…
High adventure in Iceland on board an expedition yacht
Cold. We came to Iceland expecting it and the passage to Grimsey Island didn’t disappoint. For eight hours Hummingbird beat into a bitter northerly beneath a sky like a dishrag.…
Video: Hanse 315 – we test Hanse’s new baby and find it packs serious punch
The Hanse 315 is an example of a large firm concentrating the best of its products into a more compact, feature-rich yet user-friendly version. We found in our test –…
America’s Cup: uncovering secrets at the Land Rover BAR mission control
Deep in the carbon hollows of the internal structure of Land Rover BAR’s new boat banks of red, yellow and green LEDs wink away like a spaceship on standby. Underneath…
HH Catamarans – a new range of performance cruisers from China
HH Catamarans is a name you may not have heard of (yet), but behind this new brand is one of the largest-scale investments and boldest thinking in some years. The…
Is Colombia the new must-visit destination for cruisers? We report from Santa Marta
As the first boats arrived in Santa Marta Colombia completing the first leg of this year’s World ARC, government officials have been working hard to promote this ancient city as…
Skip Novak: remembering the capsize of the maxi Drum – will they ever complete the Fastnet?
Thirty years ago last August the maxi Drum capsized in the Fastnet Race with 24 crew aboard. The keel had fallen off near Dodman Point in Cornwall, which was dramatic…
Volvo Race winner Ian Walker awarded Yachtsman of the Year trophy
Volvo Ocean Race winner Ian Walker was today awarded the boats.com/Yachting Journalists’ Association Yachtsman of the Year Award. Dubbed ‘the knighthood of sailing’ the award, whose previous winners include such…
Catamaran Sailing Techniques Part 4: Sailing a cat upwind – with Nigel Irens
If you were a visitor to Earth and found yourself sailing a run-of-the-mill cruising catamaran for the first time it would be easy to conclude that sailing upwind is not…
Tested: AIS MOB devices – help your crew to save your life if you should go overboard
In a safety briefing for the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race, a French search and rescue pilot told us just how hard it is for a spotter plane to see…
Entry list for the 2016 RORC Caribbean 600
See the full entry list here: RORC Caribbean 600 Entry list PDF The RORC Caribbean 600 is a 600nm offshore race around the leeward islands, starting and finishing in Antigua.…
Raymarine Quantum unveiled – a lightweight solid-state radar with class-leading range and efficiency
Chirp technology is used increasingly by marine manufacturers in echosounders to increase target resolution when fishfinding. The same benefits are applied to marine radar with the launch of the Raymarine…
M32 catamaran – a high-speed cat for the World Match Racing Tour
America’s Cup foiling cats look spectacular and turn plenty of heads, but the rate at which the demands of the new technology have been accelerating is leaving many of us…