Mike Jacker is a retired orthopaedic surgeon living in Illinois. Among many other activities he still sails his boat, now mainly on Lake Michigan, but he has a long memory.…
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Coolest Yachts: Volvo Open 70 Camper
“I’ve been fortunate to race on board and race against a great many boats I could nominate for my Coolest Yacht, but for me it would have to be the…
Atlantic divide in the 2021 ARC
When the 2021 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) set off from Gran Canaria on November 21, there was one early sign this would be an unusual crossing: the 143 yachts…
First look: Oceanis Yacht 60 – new bluewater flagship
Beneteau’s new flagship, the Oceanis Yacht 60, is the yard’s third model to come out of the collaboration with Lorenzo Argento and Roberto Biscontini that started with the First Yacht…
Navigation apps: all about user-generated guides
Pilot books used to be how we explored new destinations. Cruisers and charter sailors alike will have spent many hours poring over sketch maps and grainy photos in a hardback…
Burling to skipper New Zealand America’s Cup defence
Pete Burling, who has twice helmed Emirates Team New Zealand to victory in the past two America’s Cup’s is confirmed as skipper of theb Kiwi defence of the Cup in…
Catamaran sailing in Australia
If it could float, it was out on the water in Sydney Harbour that day. Ferries, dinghies, powerboats, catamarans, superyachts, naval ships, and everything in between streamed across the famous…
Clarionet: famous yacht meticulously restored
At just 36ft 9in, the Sparkman & Stephens sloop Clarionet is an unassuming yacht, often dwarfed by larger competitors on the UK classic racing circuit. Yet Clarionet helped change the…
Caribbean 600: course record for Argo, and line honours for Skorpios
In a fast-paced running of the RORC Caribbean 600, the MOD70 Argo, has set a new course record and taken multihull line honours, while the ClubSwan 125, Skorpios, took monohull…
I married an Explorer extract: exploring the far north
Today, the auxiliary schooner Bowdoin operates under the flag of the Maine Maritime Academy, making training runs to Labrador and Greenland. Launched in 1921, the 66-ton Bowdoin was the brainchild…
Loose grub screw led to X-Yacht being abandoned mid-Atlantic
X-Yachts has released findings into an investigation into the events that led up to the yacht Brainstorm, an X49, being abandoned in the ARC January transatlantic crossing. X-Yachts’ director of…
First look: Jeanneau 64 – flagship gets an update
The Jeanneau 64, which we fondly remember sailing in a Mistral off Marseille eight years ago, proved the demand for production yachts of this supersize. It also showed that Jeanneau…
Comanche-Skorpios showdown set for RORC Caribbean 600
One of the final international racing events to take place before the covid 19 pandemic in 2020, the RORC Caribbean 600 was cancelled in 2021, but is back with a…
Catamaran sailing: expert multihull techniques
There has been a huge surge in the sales of performance multihulls and with them a need to know how to handle them particularly when it comes to specific multihull…
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…
First look video: Hanse 460 – the French-designed Hanse
Following a generation of Judel/Vrolijk designs, the new Hanse 460 is the first from Berret Racoupeau, which will surprise many as it forces closer comparison with French production yachts such…
Boathandling masterclass: how to handle large yachts
If there’s one trend that’s true across all areas of sailing, it’s that large yachts are becoming more common. Advances in technology have made ever-larger yachts more affordable while sail…
iWinch test: new electric winch handle option
Sometimes, a solution to a problem comes along that is so obvious, you wonder why it hasn’t been there for years. In my opinion the iWinch, an electric winch handle…
Cruising England’s south coast: a green and pleasant land
It was around the moment that we both huddled over the vent of our diesel air heater for warmth, droplets of condensation forming on the hatches overhead, the smell of…
5 expert sailing tips: Night helming
Chris Nicholson’s prowess in 18ft Skiffs and three World Championship titles in the early days of the 49er Olympic dinghy drew the attention of Grant Dalton when he recruited the…