Inside an old jewellery box sits a yellowing fang set in a gold mount. It is the triangular molar wrenched from a shark jaw trolled for somewhere in the South…
Sailing Blogs
‘We tied up our wet boat, with wet ropes, to the wet quay’ – Libby Purves
Shuddering our way through the latest cold front, accompanied by dank spring drizzle, it seems fitting to talk of the glory of dryness. A lot of our sailing, down the…
Should there be both foiling and non-foiling classes in the next Vendée Globe? – Pete Goss
The Grand National of sailing that is the Vendée Globe has once again gifted an amazing romp around the globe, in which we were able to live alongside 40 sailors…
‘She went like a bronco, throwing her bow to the western sky’ – Dick Durham
There’s nothing like planning, and of course, it had all been planned a year in advance. Application forms filled in, a berth allocated, pilot book purchased. Documents of competence, proof…
When it comes to yachts, does beauty really matter? – Libby Purves
A seagoing boat is not a toy. It is the most serious of vehicles, built to let humans brave an unpredictable, lethally dangerous element with efficient control and reasonable dispatch.…
Is Britain really a maritime nation?
Many years ago, I was on a family motoring holiday driving towards Brittany when, in a small town, we passed under a banner proclaiming a regatta. I was baffled: we…
‘I celebrate easy, simple (and often bad) sailing’ – Monty Halls
There are many folk who have stepped onto Sobek and made an immediate (although entirely understandable) mistake. They have assumed that I know what I’m doing. It’s not a long-lasting…
‘Sailing your own boat is the last available way to feel that old-fashioned traveller buzz’ – Libby Purves
During a chilly autumn week we had to do a 36-hour round trip to Calais – we were foot passengers on one of the few ferries that still tolerate such…
‘The day the sky turned red’ – Lu Heikell encounters an unusual phenomenon
Saharan dust being blown across the Mediterranean is not a new phenomenon, but here it usually arrives in the form of rain. Many times we have woken up on Skylax…
‘Everyone will miss Don, but few will miss his copy’ – Remembering a sailing writing legend
There’s a scene in the film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where outlaws Paul Newman and Robert Redford watch from a crag as the distant posse chases them. To…