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…
Yachting Monthly
Coppercoat Brian Black Memorial Award: 2024 winners to be announced at Southampton Boat Show
The Brian Black Memorial Award 2024 is sponsored by Coppercoat and there is £4,000 up for grabs for the winners. The deadline for entries this year is 22 August and…
‘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…
A grudging feeling of gratitude to our awful water companies
Water management isn’t something we talk about enough on our cruising boats. Blue-water sailors think about it a lot, obviously, and we have, in our time, installed – and mothballed…
Kathleen Palmer: One woman’s fight for female representation at the Olympic Games
For the first time in its history, the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will achieve gender parity. For sailing, this means four women’s events, four men’s events and two mixed…
How to rig a preventer and boom brake: Our expert guide
A well-designed preventer system is just as important as any other part of the rigging, but it’s often an afterthought, sometimes little more than an old mooring line tied around…
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…
August 2024
In the July 2024 issue of Yachting Monthly magazine: Features KATHLEEN PALMER – Sailing’s invisble woman, and how she helped pave the way to Olympic parity RAT ON BOARD –…
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…
Sailing to the Scillies and back: ‘In the timeless rhythms of the ocean, this latest period of flux and profound change is the greatest’
Being poked in the cheek and asked ‘Is this annoying? Is this annoying? Is this annoying?’ by my bored 11-year-old daughter Isla was indeed annoying. But what made it even…