There are more ways to become a better sailor today than ever before. Sailing schools have zeroed in on sailing aspirations and optimized their programs to help existing sailors make them a reality. A

Thirty-one days into to what would be an 11,500-nautical-mile voyage, I found myself standing in front of Neptune and his court and chopped off my hair to chin length, tossing it in the wake of the 11

My client writes: “I’ve admired Bob Perry’s designs for years and in 2010 we were fortunate enough to have our own Valiant 42 built (sadly the last hull laid up). She has taken care of us for th

Sailing is haunted by a problem that, on its face, seems very easy to solve. Many owners have a hard time finding people to go sailing with them and sailors new to the sport have a hard time finding b

Tradition has it that a cruising boat should be heavy and slow to keep sailors safe and comfortable. But with advances in technology and design, boatbuilders have discovered that lightweight equals li

To a Bahamian, a sloop is a type of traditional workboat that morphed into a speedster raced for thrills and prize money. When Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, stopped in Nassau dur

Help! My AIS is stuck in the supply chain Dear Boat Doctor, I have a complete Raymarine system in my boat, and I want to add AIS. Unfortunately, the supply chain for Raymarine AIS units is blocked

It was a beautiful morning and I was rowing our tender ashore to grab a Sunday paper. I like rowing, and the fiberglass tender is fun for rowing (unlike those baggy gray inflatables), and I didn’t w

Who’s the most famous sailor of all time? A few candidates in random order: Ferdinand Magellan, first circumnavigator. Joshua Slocum, first solo circumnavigator. James Cook, explorer, pioneering

Chartering isn’t always about lolling around at anchor in turquoise splendor. For avid racers, bareboat chartering offers a chance to enjoy competition in new and exciting venues, with fresh opponen

FeaturesPassage to Sweden A learn-to-sail offshore charter through the Baltic Sea fulfills a dream Racing the charter way Spice up a charter by throwing in some competitive fun 50 shades

Charter briefings—those meetings with charter base staff that help familiarize you with the boat and the cruising grounds—can feel like a hurdle that has to be overcome to get underway, but it’s

Dear Boat Doctor, I just bought a Hylas 46, and I am assessing my ground tackle. The boat came with 120 feet of 3/8-inch chain and a 55-pound Mantus anchor. Both seem a little undersized for the boat

Inventions hailed as some of the greatest gifts to mankind since a Mesopotamian genius made the first wheel in 3500 BC don’t always stand the test of time. The Segway comes to mind, speaking of whee

Vesper’s giant carbon fiber rig towered over the rest of the boats in the yard like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar visiting a kindergarten classroom at nap time. The TP52 glistened in perfect glossy shades of

At first glance at the 2D sailplan this 44-foot catamaran appears to be a stubby and kind of awkward looking cat. But don’t be fooled. Add the third dimension, the depth and the complex geometry of

This new Beneteau First model was designed by a team led by Kristian Hajnsek. Samuel Manuard, known for his Class 40 and IMOCA 60 class racers did the basic design. Structural design came from Pure De

Ever since I caught the offshore sailing bug some 15 years ago, I’ve aspired to sail across the North Atlantic. Plenty of people have done it, many of them multiple times. I bet, as I write, thereâ€