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€

We asked manufacturers at the Miami International Boat Show about their companies, their boats and the latest innovations coming down the pike.

Features  A rip-roaring good time Racers return to Key West with the rise of the Southernmost Regatta Fitting out Your guide to getting ready for launch day Hunting for sailing gear tre

In a single-use society, it can be tough to find products that last forever, especially when you live on the ocean. Salt has its way of creeping into everything, furthering decay as it reclaims the ob

Key West racing is back. And this time it’s a little different.Spaceman Spiff, which finished third in the class, cruises downwind.Walter Cooper photoFor 30 years, Key West Race Week was a mecca for

When it comes to refitting your boat, whether it’s for the upcoming season or to upgrade it in general, I’m happy to report (from more boats than I’ll admit to), that there is one item that does

An Aussie friend and I made a pact. He would get me a berth in the Sydney Hobart race and I would do the same for him in the Chicago Mackinac race. We didn’t put this in writing, but even though th

The new Bill Dixon-designed Hylas 57 has been making waves since its debut at the 2021 fall boat shows with its good looks and innovative shorthanded sailing systems. The 57 is a departure from the mo

I was cruising around on Facebook one day and I saw a boat that jumped out at me. It was a great looking boat and very nicely drawn. Clearly the designer had some well honed skills and a good eye

Here’s an elegant design from the Hoek design office in Holland for Performance Classic Yachts in the United Kingdom. The company has built a series of Hoek designs in Turkey that have proven quite

A protected and fair boat bottom looks good, but it’s the performance-related benefits that make a good bottom job worth the work, and the price.The first step in any bottom job is choosing the

Dear Boat Doctor, We’re finally able to do some offshore passages on our Baba 40 and we’re looking to expand the sail inventory to get better downwind performance. We’re looking at an asymmetri