While a conventional spinnaker drop (kite down and pole away) may seem the safe option at a leeward mark, when a gybe is needed to complete the rounding a float…
Yachting World
December issue
Take a look at what's inside the latest issue of Yachting World magazine
Catamaran Sailing Techniques Part 6: Coping with heavy weather – with Nigel Irens
When discussing how to handle heavy weather in a catamaran we have to accept that there is no one solution that works for all catamarans as the strategy will be…
What makes a good bluewater yacht? Discovery thinks it has the answer in its Discovery 58
Lying in the lower berth of the Pullman cabin as we beat to windward across the Channel during a cold spring night, I could appreciate the creature comforts offered by…
Skip Novak takes a trip down Memory Lane – aka Hamble River
On a summer Sunday a sailing friend of mine suggested we take our families for a spin on the Hamble River on his motor boat (he is a sailing friend…
SAIL FASTER SAIL SAFER advanced techniques series Part 6: Reaching
Reaching is the glory point of sail for many boats; it’s the time we record our best speeds and eat up the miles on long passages. Setting the boat up…
Video: we test the Grand Soleil 46LC, Cantiere del Pardo’s formidable first cruising yacht
A cruising yacht means different things to different sailors. LC stands for Long Cruise and there are many clues that this Italian brand is targeting warm weather cruising with the…
Top sailors top gear – pro sailors reveal their favourite most recently bought kit
Dee Caffari – Volvo and solo sailor Exposure Marine MOB Search Light I have spent many days sailing offshore, often solo in the inhospitable envi ronment of the Southern Ocean,…
Video: J11s – J Boat’s new launch for the amateur shorthanded racing scene. Matthew Sheahan reports
Several production builders such as Jeanneau and JPK have been tapping into the new enthusiasm with models such as the Sun Fast 3200 and 3600 as well as the JPK…
Elfje – is this 170ft performance cruiser the consummate yacht?
Some say the ideal yacht is one that sails like a racer, has the accommodation of a cruiser and the looks of a classic. That’s a wry joke because at…
Pets on board – how to go long-distance cruising with your dog or cat
Chester and Awa’s story is a boating bromance. It’s the touching tale of two inseparable buddies who met through sailing and cruised together on their boats. I met them at…
Alex Thomson airlifted to safety as his new Hugo Boss is capsized by a rogue wave
Alex Thomson and his co-skipper, Spanish sailor Guillermo Altadill, were airlifted off the 60ft yacht Hugo Boss yesterday afternoon some 82 miles off the north coast of Spain. They had…
Video of Sailing Yacht A, the world’s largest sail-assisted vessel, during early sea trials
This video footage of Sailing Yacht A shows her with her towering free-standing masts and illustrates the jaw-dropping scale of the world’s largest sail-assisted yacht. It is when a tug passes that you…
Cruising Georgia – the wilderness coast of the eastern USA
I felt the urge to roar “Ho, ho, break out the grog boys, this is it!” but it wasn’t 1720 and there was just Nancy and me. Our Mason 44,…
Updated: Damage, retirements and a capsize as Transat Jacques Vabre meets heavy weather
Updated: Wednesday 28th October 1300 GMT 35 of the entry of 42 boats are still heading for Itajaí. This year’s Transat Jacques Vabre is proving to be very challenging for…
‘Huge waves, 30+ knots, freezing and very, very wet’ Pip Hare blogs from the Transat Jacques Vabre
Tuesday 27th October: 1700 GMT I’m going to keep this short as we have a bit going on out here, but hello from a wet and wild Concise 2. It’s…
5 tips: reaching and downwind starts – some advice from Sir Ben Ainslie
The cut and thrust and elbow-shoving of a typical start is mostly about wrestling your way to the front of the queue. We all know the drill: assess the bias…
Looking for a new challenge? Entries now open for the gruelling Three Peaks Yacht Race
Applications are now being taken for the The Three Peaks Yacht Race, the gruelling adventure race that sees teams of five take on a unique navigational and fitness challenge. It…
Video: Dramatic rescue of French sailor and his cat in rough seas 400 miles south of Alaska
Scroll down for video If ever a reminder were needed about how desperately dangerous it can be calling for help at sea, this video shows it most graphically. This grainy…
Gallery: A sunny send-off for the Transat Jacques Vabre fleet as 42 yachts begin 5400 mile race
Our Contributing Editor Pip Hare is sailing onboard Class 40 yacht Concise 2 with co-skipper Phillippa Hutton-Squire. She is blogging about their experience, take a read here. You can also…