A series of unfortunate mistakes threatened Mark and Nadiyana Farnworth's dream maiden voyage before it began
Learning curve
‘We let go and the entire rig sank like a stone’
A collapsed mast threw an unexpected obstacle in the path of Tim Ainsworth Anstey’s passage from Gotland to mainland Sweden while sailing with friends
‘I got taken for a ride by my counterfeit crew’
When Alan England found himself stranded in Greece without crew to assist his return passage, he made a rash decision he was soon to regret
A putrid smell of burnt oil, fuel and resin filled the air – a learning curve
First thing on Wednesday morning, my phone started to ring. Given the timing, I didn’t think the marina calling would be good news: a burst fender, frayed warp maybe… It…
‘We had a huge project on our hands’
Elizabeth Earle shares what she learned buying a dismasted vintage Amel in the wake of Hurricane Irma
‘I needed a hospital. With my last gasp I muttered Mayday’
A Greek island cruise becomes a matter of life and death when Michael Solano suffers a stroke nine miles from shore
‘I flew across the boat and landed headfirst’
Jenny Rorrison describes the series of events leading up to her brain operation following a knockdown at sea
“We watched as the mast and sails fell into the water”
Alejandro Perez describes the moment when ARC yacht Garuda was dismasted 600 miles from land
‘What I learned from a dismasting in Antarctica’
Veteran polar sailor and mountaineer Bob Shepton reflects on losing his rig while sailing with a crew of school leavers in the Drake Passage
‘We should have turned back when the storm hit’
Adam Dunlop and his wife Maria learned a few hard lessons when their engine started to struggle mid-Channel in worse conditions than forecast