Sail10 min read
Wild at Heart
You may know Corsica as the island just north of Sardinia in the Mediterranean where, in August 2022, a violent derecho swept through with 140-mile-per-hour winds, tossing boats onto beaches like so much kindling and wreaking havoc across the island.
Sail2 min read
ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus
Ever since the government started polluting our fuel with ethanol, I’ve agonized over how best to power the dinghies I use when cruising. I did experiment with an early version electric motor years ago but was not impressed, as the battery sometimes
Sail9 min read
A Sea Full of Stories
You could argue that best thing about the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) isn’t really the camaraderie, the energy, or even the excitement of taking on the big challenge of a transatlantic passage. It’s possible that next to the sailing itself, the
Sail3 min read
Med Moor Madness
As the Croatian fuel dock attendant flung the dockline back at our boat, I let out a memorable string of salty language. The bow thruster they kept wanting me to use was in a box, uninstalled on our Dufour sailboat that still had that new yacht smell
Sail3 min read
Weather Window: Pre-Frontal Troughs
Most sailors are well attuned to keeping an eye out for cold fronts, which can bring nasty, squally weather with strong winds and large seas. But there are times when the worst weather actually comes ahead of the cold front, and that’s when a pre-fro
Sail7 min read
A New Balance
When we decided to add windvane steering coupled with a hydrogenerator to our sailboat, our focus was on the practical aspects: conserving battery power, adding rudder redundancy, and enhancing our off-grid capabilities. It wasn’t until we sailed wit
Sail5 min read
Sailing Against the Storm
I lay in my suspended bunk and waited for the next wave to lift me up and slam me down onto the hard bench below. It was the middle of the night and about 12 hours into what would turn out to be a 36-hour low pressure system. The winds from the north
Sail13 min read
Steady On
Peter Harken needs little introduction in the world of sailing. With his brother, Olaf, he started a shoestring business building collegiate and Olympic class dinghies (Vanguard Boats) in Wisconsin in 1968, which evolved into Harken Yacht Equipment a
Sail9 min read
X-Yachts Xc 47
A 20- to 30-knot northerly wind and temps hovering around 39°F on the edge of the Baltic Sea in November are not generally considered prime sailing conditions. But bundled underneath my four layers and winter hat, I couldn’t stop smiling. We’d left t
Sail2 min read
Sailing Scene
ARE YOU OUT THERE SAILING, CRUISING AND LIVING THE SAILING LIFE? Share your experiences with other readers. Send your photos to sailmail@sailmagazine.com And don’t forget to sign up for our free eNewsletter, Under Sail, at sailmagazine.com/newsletter
Sail10 min read
Northern Light
We were anchored at the end of a narrow bay under glittering pink granite cliffs. A whiff of pine scented the air. From Belamies, our PDQ 36 catamaran, I swam ashore in the clear water. Lying on a rocky slab warmed by the sun, I closed my eyes and li
Sail4 min read
An Undefinable Something
The year is 1966, in the heart of Orange County, California, when White Seal is laid up in fiberglass, by hand, at the Jansen Marine Yacht Yard. Fresh off the production line at the height of a booming marine industry, the boat’s gelcoat and varnish
Sail2 min read
The Ship Beneath the Ice
Confession: I am a polar exploration nut. Unsurprisingly, I have read much about Sir Ernest Shackleton, the destruction of his ship Endurance in November 1915 in the unforgiving ice of Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, and the open boat voyage to South Georg
Sail1 min readLeadership
Sail
PRESIDENT GARY DE SANCTIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WENDY MITMAN CLARKE MANAGING EDITOR LYDIA MULLAN WEB EDITOR EMME HURLEY CRUISING EDITOR CHARLES J. DOANE CHARTER EDITOR ZUZANA PROCHAZKA TECHNICAL EDITOR ADAM COVE CONTRIBUTING EDITORS NIGEL CALDER, DON CASEY
Sail2 min read
Cruising Tips
In these days of electronic routes, the obvious option is to steer for the shortest distance between two points. In heavy seas, however, particularly if they are on the beam, sticking slavishly to this doctrine can be uncomfortable or worse. Put simp
Sail9 min read
Soul Sailor
Olivia Wyatt let go of the shore in the summer of 2019, a decision slow to arrive that was part obsession, part dare, and part promise to herself. She readied herself and her sailboat, a 34-foot Ta Shing Panda named Juniper, for a solo Pacific crossi
Sail6 min read
Seawind 1170
When I showed up for the sea trial of the Seawind 1170 right after the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis last fall, I was in for three surprises. One, they already had a passel of potential buyers onboard—a passel meaning 18 other humans in this case—w
Sail3 min read
Don’t Flog, Just Reef
“Why didn’t he point the boat into the wind to raise/lower the main to avoid tangling in the lazyjacks?” Ah, the comments section on YouTube. Normally maybe not the most productive place to spend an afternoon, but today it’s inspired me. James the Sa
Sail4 min read
Tuning Up
Sailors have a longstanding history with music. From ancient seafaring cultures to modern sailors, music has played a vital role in maritime life, offering solace, entertainment, and a means of communication. For those who also have a passion for mus
Sail2 min read
Sailing Scene
Share your experiences with other readers. Send your photos to sailmail@sailmagazine.com And don’t forget to sign up for our free eNewsletter, Under Sail, at sailmagazine.com/newsletter Here’s a very grateful compliment to SAIL for publishing Charles
Sail7 min read
Shorthanded Sailing: The Case for Simplicity
It was half past midnight and the wind had been building for the last few hours. We had left the west coast of Puerto Rico the previous morning, sailing off anchor and through the cut, and now were blasting towards the Turks and Caicos. It had been a
Sail4 min read
Continuing Education
Neil Evans has been talking about the merits of Harken’s T2 Soft-Attach blocks—most significantly the soft Dyneema shackle as its attachment point, rather than a metal head post and shackle—when he reminds his audience of marine professionals what th
Sail2 min read
Raymarine Alpha Series
I love quick and clear access to data when I’m racing. Even when I’m cruising, I enjoy running numbers through my head. In both cases, it keeps me entertained and drives me to push the boat harder and to sail better. Raymarine’s new Alpha series offe
Sail3 min read
Love Me, Love My Boat
Go ahead. Tell me who you love most in this world. I’m willing to bet that your boat makes the top five, perhaps the top three—even number one, depending upon where you are in your life at the moment. You can admit it; this is a safe space for this k
Sail4 min read
Hybrid and Working
The 2023 Caribbean Multihull Challenge (CMC) introduced an unusual element to its three-day Sint Maarten-based schedule of racing: a rally. Race organizers found that the folks likely to wind up in Sint Maarten in late January fell into one of three
Sail11 min read
Stormy And Francis
Editor’s Note: In 1956, Alan Nicol—nicknamed “Stormy” for the weather he seemed to attract—was Francis Chichester’s main crew on Gipsy Moth II, sailing with Chichester in the decade before he completed his famous circumnavigation in Gipsy Moth IV in
Sail1 min readLeadership
Sail
PRESIDENT GARY DE SANCTIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WENDY MITMAN CLARKE MANAGING EDITOR LYDIA MULLAN WEB EDITOR EMME HURLEY CRUISING EDITOR CHARLES J. DOANE CHARTER EDITOR ZUZANA PROCHAZKA TECHNICAL EDITOR ADAM COVE CONTRIBUTING EDITORS NIGEL CALDER, DON CASEY
Sail4 min read
A Steadfast Bond
John Stone is the kind of seafarer who has applied the adage “keep it simple” throughout his sailing life. This maxim has enabled him to sail thousands of miles on the one and only cruising boat he has owned—a 1982 Robinhood Cape Dory 36 aptly named
Sail3 min read
Cruising Tips
Running out of fuel or losing the engine by way of filters blocked with dirty diesel is bad enough, but ending up with an engine full of water transforms a serious nuisance into a catastrophe. One can lead to the other surprisingly easily. Cooling wa
Sail3 min read
Trust Your Gut
We had stopped to snorkel at Cayo Sal in Cuba, and I grabbed my mask and fins to check on the anchor. This weather-beaten, low-lying island was a great example of sketchy charts and missing markers. Within feet of our hook were the remains of a 60-fo
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