We’re close-hauled, sailing the new J/45 at 7.5 knots and catching up with a modern 55-footer, but slowly falling into her lee. Winding on a little mainsheet tightens the leech,…
Reviews
Garmin Quatix 6 review: Best Boating and Sailing Smart Watch – tested
Garmin Quatix 6 Deals A super versatile sports and fitness watch that offers much more besides. I’ve had this model on test for a few months now and I can…
Best sailing knife tested- Victorinox Skipper Pro
The Victorinox Skippers Knife has some well thought out tools onboard and is worth considering as an essential item to stow in your knife pocket. I've used it for well…
Boat test: X-56 The Xtra mile
Large cruising yachts are enormously appealing, but it’s imperative that they’re easy to tame in deteriorating weather. Yet if this is achieved through making the boat underpowered it will be…
Best Binoculars for boating – Tested – Steiner Navigator Pro 7×50
These Steiner Navigator Pro 7×50 binoculars have been used (maybe slightly abused) for the past six years onboard my Dehler 36. I sail and race solo or double handed but…
Swan 58 tested: best of both worlds?
No other yard has been as consistently successful in producing iconic models as Nautor – historically Swans are invariably the very best yachts of their era and subsequently become design…
Hallberg-Rassy 50 tested: ultimate refinement
The Hallberg-Rassy 50, the latest from the renowned Swedish marque is a near masterpiece. German Frers has once again sprinkled his fairy dust over the design, conjuring up a modern…
JPK 39FC review: new sporty 40 cruiser
I have long held that bluewater cruising yachts, especially those under 40ft, have much to gain from the way today’s smaller short-handed offshore raceboats are designed and set up and…
Video: Ice 70 review – a luxury, fast Med cruiser
Some yachts will always produce that instant spark of attraction. With others, the appeal may be slower burning, where facets or practicalities will help make the appeal more than skin…
C-monsta hanger review: makes drying kit simple
It sounds hyperbolic to call a coat hanger a game-changer, but the C-monsta hanger is one of those rare products that once you stumble upon it, you get a bit…
Jeanneau SO410 review: lift keel opens up options
If you sail in tidal harbours or shallow waters, your choice of midsize new production yachts is more limited than you may realise. While most manufacturers offer a shallow draught…
Lagoon 55 review: new iteration remains quintessential cat
The number 55 holds a special place in the history of Lagoon – it was its inaugural model, launched back in 1987. The 2021 version of the Lagoon 55, still…
Neel 43 on test: Is three the magic number?
Until recently it would have been easy to assume the pioneering cruising trimarans of the 1960s and 1970s showed that cruising on three hulls has too many drawbacks to be…
On test: Oceanis Yacht 54
There’s something surprising and quite brilliant about the new Beneteau Oceanis Yacht 54, which I bet you won’t notice at first. I certainly didn’t. It’s not the powerful looks or…
Pogo 44 boat test: designed to thrill
Bearing away around the Îles de Glenans off the south Brittany coast we unfurl the gennaker of the new Pogo 44 and accelerate smoothly from 8 knots to 11, with…
Review: Wichard Rescue Knife is a real winner
So many things can go wrong so quickly on a boat that most professional sailors always keep a knife close to hand. Which knife is a highly personal a choice,…
Reviewed: BRNKL remote boat monitoring system
Since the start of the Covid crisis many of us have been separated from our yachts for much longer than usual. Fortunately, there are a growing number of options for…
Jeanneau Sun Fast 35 review: from the archive
Can the Jeanneau Sun Fast 35 live up to the impressive legacy left by her predecessors? She certainly has big boots to fill. Creating a design that becomes an icon…
Jeanneau Sun Fast 37 review: from the archive
While the hardcore racing world has been squabbling over everything from handicapping systems to whether people really want to go offshore racing, a growing army of less vociferous but fiercely…
Greek Ocean Star 51.2 Exclusive review: from the archive
What do yo get if you aim to create a 50 footer that can carry plenty of people, is still stylish enough to appeal to the eye and has been…