From the Editor
Can you compare Dee Caffari’s and Ellen MacArthur’s achievements? Only in that they’re both female and both have round the world records

On the Wind
Tragedy strikes the Volvo Ocean Race on the home stretch – one man lost overboard and a boat abandoned. Full story. Plus: Dee Caffari completes her solo round the world westabout voyage and enters the record books and Matthew Sheahan attempts to unravel the form at the latest
America’s Cup Acts in Valencia

The Walrus
What can the adventurous do for a challenge these days? Voyages in bottles, bath tubs and whales have been done. The Walrus racks his brain for new ideas

Letters
The apathy of the British public to our sailing heroines; beware the dangers of GPS inaccuracy; a broadside from a Jester Challenge supporter

Robin Knox-Johnston
When all ten of the Clipper boats showed keel problems on the far side of the world, it took a feat of organisation to get them fixed, says Robin

Gear
A universal SIM card will reduce costs from your mobile overseas; lamp with eight lighting options; GPS plotters with internal antennas

The Great Atlantic Gear Test
Over 200 skippers taking part in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers responded to our equipment survey, making this the biggest survey of its kind in the world. David Pugh assesses the results

Leading Edge
You could soon be using your mobile in mid-Atlantic, and at a reasonable cost, using new technology designed for business air travel

Yachts
An 85ft racer/cruiser from Farr Design and Italian builders Latini; two Bottin & Carkeek TP52s for Russell Coutts and Dean Barker; yacht-in-a-box to fit a 40ft container

On test: the cat and the cream?
Bénéteau Oceanis 50 and Lagoon 410s2. Are two hulls better than one? That old question revisited – a sloop and a catamaran for the same price; which
is best for family cruising? Matthew Sheahan has a taste of two very different cruising designs

Cruising the Pacific
Atolls, coral reefs, lush islands, flower garlands – cruising the South Pacific is every yachtsman’s dream. Jimmy Cornell shows how it can be done, with advice from routes to rates, cyclones to ciguatera

The far side of Panama
It’s hard to find an unspoilt Paradise these days, but the islands off the Pacific coast of Panama, with their fortresses of green jungle and screaming howler monkeys, come close, as Tom Zydler reveals

20 knots off Antigua
The coolest corporate entertainment on offer?
David Glenn joins a crew of big name sailors and City businessmen aboard the Open 60 Pindar for a thrash in the Rolex Antigua Sailing Week. Plus: Bareboat blokes – a view from the charter fleet

The art of superyacht racing
Bucketting is an increasingly popular pastime among the owners of superyachts. It is racing, but not as we know it – yachts pile on weight as caviar and champagne by the bucketload is taken on board. David Glenn went to the St Barths Bucket in the Caribbean to find out about this gentlemanly sport

Perspective on the Volvo
Erle Williams is unique in that he has seen the Volvo in all its guises, from IOR maxis to Whitbread 60s to VO70s. He looks back on the 1981/2 event aboard Flyer 2 from a berth on Pirates of the Caribbean

Cruising
A yacht designer’s catamaran is found pilfered and drifting off Mexico; a very public spectacle as the wrecking of a new Bénéteau off Dorset is captured on camera; teenager retraces Ellen MacArthur’s first voyage on her 21ft Coribee

Great Seamanship
Tilman on the rocks. Adventurer and mountaineer H W Tilman describes an embarrassing encounter with a reef while attempting a circumnavigation of Spitsbergen in the pilot cutter Baroque in 1974

Racing
Designers of the moment Ker, Corby and Mills all have
37-footers for the Commodores’ Cup, proving development-style boats are back in fashion. Plus: Cowes of the Med. The hottest early-season racing is at Palmavela in Mallorca

Inside Alinghi
The Defender christens a new boat and discusses how designer/sailor collaboration produces the best design

SuperSail
High-tech projects by High Modulus of Auckland – how state of the art structures are engineered to perfection

Yachts for sale

Classified ads
Special feature on Sailing Schools – page 162

Last Word
The lady of the moment, Dee Caffari, talks about her influences and experiences