Boom time! In-boom reefing is making a comeback after many years in the shadow of in-mast reefing...

  • Boom time!
    In-boom reefing is making a comeback after many years in the shadow of in-mast reefing. We look at what?s available and how it works

  • A funny old life
    Des Sleightholme, former editor of Yachting Monthly, raconteur and inventor of sailing legend Old Harry, has just written his autobiography. Dick Durham tracked Des down at his Devon home

  • A-Z of second-hand boats
    Our essential monthly cut-out-and-keep series. Next month: Contessa 32, the Dutch Contest range and the Cornish Crabber family

  • Shadowfax to Phuket
    In part two of the adventures of Shadowfax, a 33ft long-keeled cruiser, en-route from Hong Kong to London, the crew arrive in Thailand to discover sea snakes, magic lagoons, The Beach and a mystery rash

  • Brilliant!
    Tom Cunliffe signs on aboard the classic 71-year-old Olin Stephen?s designed schooner Brilliant, pictured above, for an exhilarating down-Channel run from Gosport to Kinsale, Ireland

  • A-Z of second-hand boats
    Our essential monthly cut-out-and-keep series. Next month ?C? continues with Catalinas and Contessas.

  • Jersey
    In our latest Destinations guide, with free pull-out chart, Peter Cumberlidge visits ?one of the most desirable cruising locations in Europe? ? the Channel Island of Jersey, which ?feels continental, looks English and has a Mediterranean zest?

  • Cruising Montenegro
    Despite the recent Balkan conflict, there is some wonderful cruising to be enjoyed in Montenegro and Albania, as Andrew Smyth and his wife Corinne discovered in Calypso, their Moody Eclipse 43

  • Sailing Skills
    Part 10 of our cut-out-and-keep Better Boat Handling series looks at boat handling under sail

  • On Test:
    The Nordship 35: Peter Nielsen sails a Danish deck saloon cruiser of high quality
    The Scanyachts 290: a highly seaworthy motor-sailer and mini pilot house cruiser with the most impressive stability curve our tester has ever seen

  • PLUS:
    Dick Durham meets the Rally Portugal fleet after its Biscay crossing; preview of Southampton Boat Show 2001; Libby Purves on This Cruising Life; Hugh Marriott?s final Blue Water Letter

    Contents subject to variation