When helmsman Peter Burling buried the hulls of his 50-foot foiling ACC catamaran on the way to the start line, lost control and nosed-dived into Bermuda’s Great Sound, there was a chance that the America’s Cup was over for Emirates Team New Zealand. But like Humpty Dumpty, the shore crew picked up the carbon fiber pieces and put the fragile cat back together again, and the Kiwis went on to dispatch the British Land Rover BAR team in the challenger playoffs semifinals, and the Swiss Artemis team in the finals to win the Louis Vuitton Cup, setting up a rematch against Oracle Team USA for the America’s Cup in June.

I like this new Island Packet designed by Bob Johnson. I particularly like the profile of the cabintrunk. It reminds me of the Aldens and Albergs of the early 1960s. While there is a well-established Euro (call it modern) look to many of today’s production boats, I still think there are a lot of sailors in the United States who appreciate the classic American aesthetic to yacht styling and proportions. I like to think that. 

The headline on the press release for the new custom Tartan 37-foot model states, “Imagine a different cruising experience.” I think you have to. This is a very different kind of boat. It’s a bit of a hermaphrodite—half powerboat and half sailboat. Generally this is the kiss of death, but designer Tim Jackett appears to have come up with a design that can avoid that fate.

Oyster has made a name for itself as the premier builder of large semicustom cruising yachts. The designs produced in conjunction with Rob Humphreys are always superb and fit and finish is always top notch. The Oyster style has slowly evolved to keep the look of the boats very current. In short, these are ultimate boats in the world of semicustom.

Credit sailing schools with making sailing more egalitarian. Before there were sailing schools in any significant number, it was assumed that if you were a sailor you had been born with a silver shackle in your mouth. 

For years sailors were mostly left to call on experience and instinct when it came to routing a passage. Today, onboard computing power relying on copious amounts of data can show sailors any route with any number of variables applied.

Dear Boat Doctor,
I decided to upgrade my head to a new electric model. I chose a new model with the pump integrated into the base and it fits in the same spot as my old head. I followed the instructions to place a vented loop in the seawater inlet line to prevent the head from siphoning water and flooding the boat.

These three facts may surprise you:
1. Today, there are more learn-to-sail programs than ever in U.S. history.2. There are more kids in those programs than ever.3. There are more adults trying sailing for the first time.

Going away to camp is a childhood ritual. There are space camps with real astronauts like Scott Kelly, tennis pro camps, celebrity baseball camps and even a football academy where Tom Brady could be the coach. So why not a yacht racing camp with the pros? The Bitter End Yacht Club’s annual Pro-Am offers just that, inviting top sailors from an array of disciplines to sail and compete with campers. But the event has one exceptional twist—it’s for grown-ups.

Chris Johnson was bleary eyed as he filled his coffee cup at a popular open-air breakfast spot just steps from the marina at Nanny Cay. He was just one of dozens of sailors gathered in the hub of the British Virgin Islands during the 46th annual Spring Regatta. Like those around him, he seemed to be fully embracing the laid back but fun racing scene that takes over the island for a week each April. 

Rig tuning isn’t just about maximizing performance, although that’s a nice benefit to a properly tuned rig. At its most basic level, a tuned rig will make your sails more efficient, prevent damage and help you get more life out of your equipment.

Now for some contrast. For me, yacht design has always been an art and a science. You pick a target for the objective elements like boat speed and handling characteristics. Maybe you throw in some obj

I have dreams about sailing. My boat is named Main Street, which may be why I sometimes dream I am sailing it on a street, weaving through motor vehicle traffic under a spinnaker. That’s really

I am not sure where to start telling you about my friend Steve’s skills. He has so many. I’ll just say Steve is a craftsman who can build anything. He built his own plane, he’s a commercial pilot, then designed his own floats and retractable landing gear to turn the plane into an amphibian. He inherited an aluminum 34-footer that he modified significantly after teaching himself to weld aluminum. So when Steve said he was going to design a new boat for his next project I was not surprised. The surprise was this is a boat I could own with pride.

Twenty-two minutes. Doesn’t seem very long, does it?

 Anyone who has grown up on the water knows the transformative power it has. It’s a classroom, a playground and a haven, a constantly evolving presence that can deliver whatever is needed, from job skills and life lessons to bonding, excitement and peace.

Capsizing: One thing you don’t have to worry about here is getting your rig stuck in the mud,” sailing instructor Colin Gowland commented wryly at our first morning briefing. Having never previously set foot in a Laser, the significance of that statement as being one of the very first on Gowland’s agenda didn’t immediately set in. In fact, I may have even laughed out loud. 

Some of the best adventures happen on trailersailers. On what other kind of sailboat can you explore far-off inland lakes, wide rivers or obscure bits of estuaries all in the same weekend? In fact, one of the only drawbacks to being a trailersailor is that you’ve just doubled your maintenance requirements: not only do you have to take care of the boat, you must take care of the trailer, so that it will take care of you.