As the breeze freshens, we power up even more. We’re heeled to the gunwales now, our near 200 tonnes displacement creating a bow wave that sucks the water out from…
Yachting World
Solo sailor Paul Heiney describes battling gale force winds off the Azores
I was 150 miles south-west of the Azores, heading for home, and it was blowing up rough from ahead. I lit the gas, and thought things through. The kettle was…
Fourth Volvo Ocean Race entry announced as Vestas return
Vestas, the Danish wind energy company, is returning to the Volvo Ocean Race for 2017/18 with a new team led by American duo Charlie Enright and Mark Towill. Partnering with…
How Alex Thomson nearly won the Vendée Globe 2016-17
In the piercing cold morning of 18 January, Armel Le Cléac’h was grasping a 34-mile lead in the Vendée Globe, racing upwind towards the Scilly Isles. A wind shift to…
At the helm of J Class yacht Endeavour – we get exclusive on-board access
The mighty press of canvas fills as her bows fall off from head to wind. As she loads up and heels, everything changes – there’s a distinct mood adjustment aboard. It’s…
A pocket guide to the J Class yachts – the world’s most elegant racing fleet
Shamrock V – JK3 LOA: 36.50m /119ft 9in · LWL: 26.7m/87ft 7in · Beam: 6.00m/19ft 8in · Disp: 166 tonnes Original lines: Charles E Nicholson Modified design: Dykstra Naval Architects…
How Thomas Coville set the solo round the world sailing record
‘A warrior,’ is how Samantha Davies, part of the intelligence team that guided Thomas Coville and his yacht Sodebo to victory, describes the solo skipper. Over a decade Coville returned…
Expert tips on understanding shipping forecasts and weather broadcasts
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…
April issue
On sale now, Yachting World April 2017 issue kicks off with photos of the New Zealand America’s Cup team cycling down the racecourse, plus rogue waves: we separate fact from…
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…