Rope strength is measured in a variety of ways but it is important that the end user understands what that strength is in order to decide whether the rope is…
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Sailing a 5,000 mile loop on the Atlantic: ‘Six months in a leaky boat’
Finally we had arrived in the Azores from Newfoundland, a passage described in YM February 2025. En route we had discovered water leaking into the forepeak and the heads compartment…
MacGregor 26C: How saving a sinking MacGregor led to a South Devon love affair
The upper reaches of Mill Tail in Totnes isn’t the most glamorous spot in South Devon. Sandwiched between tall converted warehouses and a cluster of trees on the adjacent Vire…
What to do when your yacht hits a rock under autopilot
Emma and Karl are cruising the Outer Hebrides aboard their Sweden 390, Vision. They put the boat on autopilot after leaving Stornoway harbour whilst they rig for a spinnaker run…
Ovni 430 review: Defying the heavy-metal stereotype
The concept of rugged aluminium centreboard boats is well proven, but can a boat displacing 14 tonnes when loaded sail well in the light airs that predominate during summer in…
Guido Cantini on his 10-Year Race: the Italian skipper is back in action for the 2026 Golden Globe Race
Guido Cantini’s Golden Globe Race is a decade in the making. He first purchased his cutter-rigged Vancouver 34 Hannah of Cowes in 2016, with plenty of time to prepare for…
The ultimate school run: 53 children, 3 dogs, and a 3,000-mile Atlantic adventure
The dream of crossing the Atlantic never fades and hundreds of sailors successfully sailed from Las Palmas to Grenada with the ARC+ in December, with the leading boats making a…
How smart technology is finally fixing the humble bilge pump
Bilge pumps are such a simple, standard piece of equipment that very little has changed about them in decades, but now their shortcomings are being dealt with by a range…
Of mildewed Sou’westers and high-vis dreams – Libby Purves
Some evenings, when we’re simply not in a mood for watching a sloppy romance, old sitcoms or the latest modish-sadistic thriller, we indulge in putting on ancient BBC Archive programmes…
We sailed to the Winter Olympics
The crackle of skis on vertiginous pistes, an icy puck at the base of a brawling mass of burly hockey stars or the moment of silence before the lycra-clad ski-jumper…