Features

• The cruising sailor?s guide to racing
  Racing is fun, sociable and improves your cruising skills. If you fancy having a go but don?t know where to start, our six-page special has advice on how to take part in club racing and summer regattas
  
  
• What does Category A (Ocean) really mean?
  If you thought all Category A boats were fit for the worst ocean conditions, think again, says expert Andrew Blyth
  
  
• Just the two of us?
  Tom Cunliffe and his wife Ros find themselves two-handed for the first time in 23 years, on a rough passage from Portugal to Brittany

• A Woman Alone
  Stoic circumnavigator Jill Knight battled terredo worms and electrolysis as she egged on her 100-year-old cutter

• Buying Abroad
  How much can you save? Dick Durham investigates the pros and cons of buying a boat outside the UK

• Shadowfax
  The epic voyage ends ? Justine Oliver sells her boat and reflects on life ashore
  
  
• Destinations ? with free chart Ipswich and the River Orwell.
  Dick Durham meanders up the Suffolk river where marinas fight for space between anchorages

• Behind the Manacles
  Ken Endean finds shelter, peace and solitude, heading south from the River Helford to a notorious ship trap

• French Island Hopping part two
  Some jewels of the French west coast: Ile de Sein, Audierne and Kerity ? Ken Endean reports

• Portland Bill
  Miranda Delmar-Morgan is converted to a solitary anchorage ? off the most feared point on the South Coast!

• Aluminium Boats
  Why does aluminium appeal to top blue-water sailors?
  

Sailing Skills

• Question of Seamanship
  Mooring in strong winds

• Learning Curve
  Dismasted on a delivery trip

• Better Boat Handling
  Towing alongside

• Yachtmaster Class
  Don?t drop the pilotage

• Knots
  The constrictor knot

• Mini quiz
  Win a £699 McMurdo personal locator beacon
  

Boats, Tests and Gear

• Gear test
  Visual passage planner

• Ovni 385
  Popular French shoal-draft cruiser in practically rock-proof aluminium

Every Month

• On Watch
  The best sailing news pages
  
  
• Readers? letters
  
  
• Any questions
  Which anchor?
  
  
• How to subscribe
  
  
• Next month
  
  
• Libby Purves ? Should ?shes? be ?its??
  
  
• Blue Water Letter ? from Colin Lowe in the Caribbean
  
  
• Blue Water PS ? Panama latest
  
  
• New gear
• A-Z of second-hand boats
  Halmatic, Heavenly Twins, Hillyard, Hirondelle and Hunter
  
  
• Around the Coast Local news
  
  
• Property
  
  
• The Confessional