I was concentrating more on the remarkable aubergine hue of the wine in my glass, a muscular Chilean blend of carmenere, cabernet and merlot, than on the NBC news program on the tube. It was the

Trust me on this one. I know bloodcurdling screams. As a kid, I used to go to the Saturday horror matinees, and no scream in the world matches the sound of several dozen 8-year-old girls when the scre

From the drawing table of Berret-Racoupeau Yacht Design, more than 600 393s were built between 2002 and 2007, both in France and at what was then Beneteau’s expanding factory in Marion, South Caroli

Some stories begin with a dream, which is exactly how Chris Hood ended up designing and building the C.W. Hood 32, an elegant daysailer with the graceful lines of an International One-Design and the s

The marine diesel engine is an amazing piece of machinery. These engines are reliable, safe and require minimal maintenance. If you look after just a few things, your engine can easily run for 10,000

I first downloaded the American GFS weather model, and it didn’t look good. I tried the ECMWF European model, but it was worse. I even downloaded the German ICON model, but no matter how many w

When friends Molly Mulhern and George Emery went in search of a boat to co-own, a tired 40-year-old racer was not what they planned on buying, and they certainly didn’t expect to end up with one wit

Helsal anchors in Spain Bay, Port Davey.Jimmy Emms photoWe are anchored in one of the most remote navigable bodies of water in the world.  The only thing between us and Antarctica is 1,300 nautic

Often described as the prettiest girl at the dance, the Alerion Express 28, which launched in 1990, can trace its roots to Alerion, Nathanael Herreshoff’s mahogany 26-footer, which the legendary boa

By the time the C&C 37/40 was launched in 1988, the Canadian builder’s reputation for producing fast, sleek, solidly constructed boats was well established. Its chief designer, Robert Ball, was

The Excess 14 was in high demand for test sails following the Annapolis Sailboat Show in October. It was easy to see why as the boat swung by my pickup point at the end of the South Annapolis Yacht Ce

New ESCAPE 75. First customer is TNZ.” That was the headline above two photos that appeared on a Facebook page last fall. One of the pictures was of the just-launched 75-foot Team New Zealand Ameri

The Annapolis Spring Sailboat Show kicks off April 25 for a weekend of boats, gear, sailing seminars. The show will be located farther into the City Dock to make room for the scheduled construction. (

 

 

I discovered Lake Nipigon, Ontario, Canada, while thumbing idly through a road atlas, dreaming of destinations suitable for the unballasted dinghy cruiser I had borrowed from my brother for the s

 Had we heeded the forecaster’s gloomy wind warnings, we would not have started the race, but 20 sailboats slipped over the line at 18:30 and inched up the 21-mile course. An hour—and two tedious miles—later, a red sun set leaving a starless sky. Two hours and barely four miles in, the fog came down like a black velour lining a coffin. Wet. Dark. Deadly.

The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is an iconic, bucket-list event in the Caribbean, and I’ve been fortunate to attend multiple times over in its 45-year history. I’ve been on race boats, chase boat