Ed is skipper of a 10m production cruiser racer Aurora, which he keeps in Weymouth. He is returning from a West Country cruise with three friends and preparing to round…
Sailing skills
Heavy weather sailing: How and when to run for shelter
Previously we’ve looked at how to prepare your boat for heavy weather sailing, including how to rig and fit your boat for storm sails and how to reduce sail in…
Heavy weather sailing: Essential boathandling skills
Coastal sailors usually have the luxury of waiting out bad weather safely tucked up in harbour, but sail for long enough and eventually an unexpected squall, front or storm will…
When do you need a liferaft on a yacht?
Bill and George, both retired, have recently bought an 8m bilge keel cruiser. They had it surveyed and it seems structurally sound, the engine, fuel and gas systems are safe,…
Heavy weather sailing: How to reduce sail in a storm
Knowing the theory behind how to reduce sail in a storm is one thing, but does that theory work id you do get caught out? We took to the Solent…
How to dry out alongside with your yacht
Whenever I launch a boat for the start of the season, I say a solemn goodbye to its bottom. As soon as it’s launched the underside becomes a foreign land,…
Heavy weather sailing: How to prepare your yacht for a storm
From South Ocean pitchpolings to North Atlantic hurricanes, much has been written about the means and methods of heavy weather sailing in open water. The column inches tend to be…
Buying a second hand boat: The good, bad and the ugly
For much of the past decade, my wife Sally and I have been dreaming, planning and saving up to sail off on an adventure, together with our friends of the…
How to get a yacht out of a tight berth
Tide Race is an 11m production GRP yacht with a fin keel and a fixed three-bladed prop. While giving plenty of power, the prop also gives a substantial kick to…
Would you set off in fog in your yacht?
Ben is skipper of Leading Light, an 11-metre yacht currently moored in a marina in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. He has two crew. It is early morning in…