Neatly coiled lines, highly polished stainless steel and a sense of order tends to grace berths in marinas serving professionally maintained yachts, seemingly in a permanent state of readiness for…
Alinghi Red Bull Racing names America’s Cup sailing team
America’s Cup team Alinghi Red Bull Racing has named the key members of their sailing team as the Swiss-flagged squad prepares their challenge for the 37th America’s Cup, which will…
Best boat battery packs – 240V at sea
When Joni Mitchell sang ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’ in her iconic song Big Yellow Taxi, she could have been singing about shore power. For as…
First look: Grand Soleil 40 Performance
In recent years there’s been a dearth of new performance cruisers of this size, so this Grand Soleil 40 Performance is a welcome addition to the market. It’s intended to…
Coolest yachts: Comanche
I was so fortunate to be working with an owner in Jim Clark who had a vision of all speed/no compromise. He was dared by a couple of Australian 100-footer…
2022 ARC Bluewater Cockpit Conversations: Aspiring cruisers to gather online
Rally specialists World Cruising Club and bluewater yacht brokers Berthon International are joining forces once again this June and invite aspiring cruisers from around the globe to hop aboard and…
5 expert tips for going fast while reaching
Years of short-course racing in small keelboats in fleet race and match race competitions had made Annie Lush very good at downwind VMG sailing. But when she started offshore racing,…
First look: Grand Soleil 72 LC
Another model to launch from the Italian yard this year, the Grand Soleil 72 LC (LC standing for Long Cruise) is a new variant of the already launched Grand Soleil…
Masterclass: Using load cells and strain gauges on cruising yachts
How do load cells work? In very basic terms, a load cell is a unit that is able to measure force and a strain gauge is a type of load…
Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway: everything you need to know
Perhaps you’ve cruised the Caribbean and fancy heading up the east coast of the United States to sample the fine cruising grounds of the Chesapeake Bay or New England. Or…
The 1,426 day race: Golden Globe sailor Mark Sinclair completes circumnavigation
Australian solo skipper Mark Sinclair, who is widely known by the name ‘Captain Coconut’, crossed the finish line of the Golden Globe Race off Les Sables d’Olonne, France, yesterday afternoon,…
From ocean racing to catamaran cruising: an adventure for all the family
Nobody could ever accuse my wife Sophie and me of taking the easy route in life. For one of our first proper ‘dates’ we cycled from Land’s End to John…
First Look: Arcona 50 – a different philosophy
This Swedish yard’s new flagship, the Arcona 50, represents more than just a step up in size – it’s also the outcome of a different philosophy. This is especially apparent…
New Zealand aims for windpowered land speed record
Not content with being one of the most successful teams in the history of the America’s Cup – and current holders of the Cup – Emirates Team New Zealand is…
Extraordinary boats: Cape 31
Thirty-foot keelboats come and go all the time. Most arrive with a short-lived fanfare, only to fade gradually out of sight and memory. Not so the Cape 31, which looks…
How to: navigating in tide
Wherever we have current (tidal or other) this will always influence the sailing wind and the boat’s course over the ground. At anchor we can accurately measure the wind speed…
Second-hand boats: Buying a shorthanded racing yacht
The rapidly growing double-handed and shorthanded racing scene has attracted a flurry of recently launched models specifically optimised for this type of competition. But a cost-effective way of competing can…
How the TP52 fleet uses America’s Cup tech
As the TP52 fleet sweeps around the bottom mark off Palma, eyes turn to the sky. This isn’t a predictable day’s racing in Mallorca. The 2021 Rolex TP52 World Championships…
Pretty Tough: the Contessa 32 at 50
Alan Ker on the Contessa 32 “We were prepared for a very rough night but we didn’t have any inkling how rough it was going to be. As we passed…
An Arctic adventure: ice-bound in Spitsbergen
Andrzej Jankowski, better known as Captain Andy, is a one-off. I met him in Warsaw when I was launching a book of my own, translated into Polish. His book’s title,…