For the coastal sailor, upwind sailing skills are critical: there’s nothing like a lee shore to focus the mind on tacking angles and leeway. For the ocean sailor the challenges…
Downwind sailing
10 practical tips for perfect downwind sailing in the Tropics
Between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn lie the tradewind belts, separated by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) known to many sailors as the Doldrums. The extent of the tropics…
5 tips: the float drop, a canny tactic to round a mark under pressure
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…
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…
Bluewater Sailing Techniques Part 4: sailing downwind with a poled out headsail
Discover how to sail with a poled out headsail in our latest Bluewater Sailing Techniques video
Bluewater Sailing Techniques Part 5: How to set up a spinnaker safely for long downwind passages
In the fifth instalment of our bluewater sailing videos, we explain how to set up a spinnaker safely for long downwind passages when offshore cruising or ocean crossing
5 tips: sailing deep under asymmetric sails – how to strike the balance
“Are we in on this gybe?” is often a tricky question to answer when you are far from the leeward mark with a fluctuating breeze and dirty air from behind.…
What downwind sails should you have for an Atlantic crossing?
What downwind sails should you buy for an Atlantic crossing or cruising beyond the Caribbean? This is one of the biggest questions skippers face when equipping a yacht for bluewater…
5 tips: surfing. How to use the waves to improve your downwind performance
Gone are the days of sitting back on the downwind legs to enjoy the view. Powerful modern cruiser-racers respond much more like dinghies and need the constant application of subtle…
Downwind sailing tips: sail more comfortably and faster with this simple main and headsails combination
As exciting as it sounds to fly coloured sails at sea, when it comes to passage making downwind in open seas with a less than idyllic weather forecast, the last…