Bleary eyed, we stumbled out of our sleeping bags as the boat rocked gently on her berth. Fumbling around we clad ourselves with nautical attire, had some breakfast and prepared…
Specials
‘While we were out consuming the local delicacies, a stowaway was surreptitiously finding their way aboard’
Rat in Mi Kitchen, one of the greats by UB40, proved to have a whole new meaning when sailing in Greece this year. A rodent infestation was far from my…
How to learn to sail: Catching the sailing wave
When I signed up to improve my sailing knowledge via an RYA Competent Crew course, I didn’t realise it would involve gasping at fins breaking through the water. As I…
Maiden Skipper Heather Thomas: From dinghy lake to Ocean Globe Race winner
Heather Thomas is the first female British skipper to win a round the world race, and her team aboard Maiden, backed by Tracy Edwards MBE, are the first all-female crew…
Maiden crew’s First Mate Rachel Burgess: ‘The girls showed how tough they were’
I got the call while sitting in a little cafe in Horta in the Azores. Say ‘hell, yes’ first, think about the logistics second. So that’s how I became First…
Sailing square riggers: ‘You’re more appreciative of what sailing used to be’
Most cruising yacht sailors would agree that any field of knowledge that might sharpen their own skills is worthwhile learning about. But does Patrick O’Brian rattling on about thimbles and…
How are modern wooden boats built?
‘Building a wooden boat, you don’t need a new plug and mould for every boat you want to build, so there is much lower setup cost, and less waste,’ says…
Are wooden boat the answer to environmentally responsible yachting?
Boatbuilding as we know it is not a sustainable process. The dawn of mass production GRP boats from the 1960s onwards fuelled an explosion in sailing participation and boat ownership.…
9 impressive new yachts coming to a marina near you in 2024
Mid-winter on the banks of the Rhine might seem like an incongruous time and place for a boat show, but boot Düsseldorf, held for 10 days every January, remains the…
Lungi Mchunu: The first African woman to sail the Arctic on choosing the ‘right path’
When Lungi Mchunu sailed off on a voluntary expedition to the North Pole in 2018, she made history as the first African woman to sail to the Arctic. Raised in…