Taking a new boat out of its wrapper and setting sail for the first time is a nerve-wracking moment. Inevitably, the rig needs tuning, lines leading, snags sorting, and plenty…
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Winners announced in the Sailors’ Choice Awards
Run by sister sailing titles, Practical Boat Owner and Yachting Monthly, the aim of the awards is to highlight the products and services that boat owners and sailors genuinely value,…
How to anchor for a good night’s sleep
Anchoring is like a religion. There are a number of beliefs and within every belief there are varieties and interpretations. Anyhow, when you start sailing and living on the hook…
What’s better for sailing, wheel or tiller steering?
There is a lot you can change on board a yacht, but the method of steering – wheel or tiller – is typically not up for discussion or redesign. Some…
Island Packet SP Cruiser used boat review: Might be the ultimate utility yacht
There comes a time in the lives of many racing sailors when they decide that they’ve done their share of thrashing around the cans – or along the coast, across…
Charting her own course: How Rachael Sprot stepped up to write the iconic Shell Channel Pilot
Producing a new edition of the Shell Channel Pilot after the retirement of Tom Cunliffe was always going to be a challenge. The two sides of La Manche are among…
The Woolverstone Project: ‘On Monday mornings I come alive’ – Sailing Charity of the Month
On a cool and breezy Monday morning in May, the atmosphere around the project buildings at Alton Water near Ipswich, Suffolk, was cheerful and purposeful. A number of disabled adult…
What it’s like sailing for a greater good as a citizen scientist
Staring out over the white-speckled blue, the wind pushes us gently west towards Shetland. In between, there is the ocean and life. I scan the horizon. The reward comes in…
How do you navigate a drying channel when the charts disagree?
Tim and Josh have found a space for their Bowman 40, Artemis, which has a 1.5m draught, at Treluggan Boatyard which is five miles off the Tamar up the River…
Dispatches from Les Sables d’Olonne: Fifteen solo skippers start the Golden Globe Race
And they’re off! On the afternoon of Sunday 6th September, fifteen skippers left the Vendee Globe Pontoons in Les Sables d’Olonne, with one more soon to follow after a last…