From the Editor
Fastnet: a question of race responsibilities

Tested to the limit
“Wild”, “boat-breaking” and “really very very horrible” – how crews fared in one of the toughest-ever Fastnet Races

Cream of Cowes
A blip of fine weather in a dismal summer made this year’s Skandia Cowes Week one for the scrapbook. Elaine Bunting reports in our seven-page picture special

Walrus
Mind your language – and your bum cleats

Letters
Raymarine service; too much information about the Fastnet race; and strut fin folly

Robin Knox-Johnston
The lost art of heaving lines

Moment in The Times
In part two of his series, Edward Gorman recalls Cayard’s Whitbread victory

Gear
Raymarine’s flagship black box plotter; a counter for anchor cable; a life-saving sausage; and a folding GRP tender.

Gear: The toughest of togs
The research, development and technology that goes into sailing clothing; Oilies will never seem mere clothes again

Leading Edge
Delaying the Rolex Fastnet may have been easier than the decisions RORC now faces

Yachts
First look at the one-design speed-machine in which SolOcean solo racers will go global; a 62ft traditional cruiser; and beachable cruisers

On test: Elan 410 and Impression 514
Built in Slovenia, trialled in the Solent, a sporty racer and a 52ft cruiser from Elan

Metre magic
Centenary celebrations for 6-metre and 8-metre classes, Metre Rule Centenary Regatta and British Classics in Cowes – even extreme weather couldn’t take the shine of these beauties

Peaks and pilot cutters
Cruising Ezra and climbing Munros among the gorgeous scenery of the western Scottish islands

Home the hard way
David Pugh meets the battered crews of the ARC Europe fleet in the Azores

Cruising
Coastguard pay dispute; aground on Elizabeth Reef; Red Sea Rally. Plus bridging the gap from Yachtmaster-qualified amateur to industry pro

Emergency! 4. Fire
To fight or to flee? Beth Leonard offers advice on strategies to prevent and tackle fires on board

Great Seamanship
A drama for Drum during the 1985-86 Whitbread

Racing
Know your Rules: John Doerr explains a simple way to understand racecourse rights and wrongs; plus a timeshare raceboat

Going for Gold
Team GBR notches up major success at the Qingdao pre-Olympic Regatta

Supersail
Superyacht Cup 2008; new Oyster 100 to be composite build; another new Salperton

Yachts for sale
Classified ads

One Amazing Day
1 June 1995 and an 18-year-old Ellen MacArthur sets off solo round Britain and into history