I think we’ve lost steering,” my brother Alex said in a calm, matter-of-fact voice, his tone out of place in light of our situation. Kyoko and four-legged family members buzz back to the boa

Winches are amazing pieces of equipment. They last for years providing a crucial mechanical advantage that makes sailing possible.  And because they require little in the way of everyday maintena

For 2,800 nautical miles, the sailors aboard the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūle’a have spread a message of unity and restoration to thousands along the North American Pacific Coast. Hōkūl

Who jumps in a truck, drives 1,300 miles from one corner of the country to the other, to see a bunch of wooden boats? We do. Jerry, Marcia, Shelly and me. Together, and separately, the four of us have

It’s not unusual for boats, particularly those of a certain age, to have some areas of wet core and delamination. This is often found near deck hardware, often because of poor mounting and bedding p

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

I’ve developed a reputation among friends as a sailboat matchmaker. It often begins with an irrational text message: “I found an amazing boat. Almost free. Needs work. I should get it, right?”

How should I rig a preventer? Dear Boat Doctor, I experienced my first accidental jibe a few weeks back. I was flying downwind on a beautiful afternoon, and my autopilot lost control. The boat tur

What would sailors do without foul weather?  Sailors spin yarns. By definition, yarns are sea stories enhanced by exaggeration, but sometimes the subject matter needs no hyperbole to be a grippi

FeaturesBack from the brink A beat-up and neglected 47-year-old offshore racer gets a second chance to race around the world Chasing a dream A sailor takes on a quest to restore the 

Seth Salzmann was never a 9-to-5 guy living out an ordinary existence. His eyes were always on bigger dreams, like sailing around the world. These days, Salzmann is owner and captain of When and If, a

When the Denis Sullivan, a 137-foot replica of a 19th century three-masted Great Lakes schooner, left its Milwaukee, Wisconsin, home in 2022, the board of Discovery World museum, which owned it, made

I can’t recall seeing a Tim Jackett design I did not admire. Tim’s eye captures class proportions and shapes while insuring that performance does not take a back set to aesthetics. It’s sim

Here’s a new model from the Solaris yard in Aquileia, Italy. The design is by Javier Soto Acebal, with design contributions from the yard’s in-house design team. In keeping with the well-establish

Dyneema is seriously strong, but a very slippery fiber. The slipperiness means that you can’t efficiently use knots to terminate it. Even the best knot will degrade the ultimate strength of the rope

It’s exciting to see Mark Mills step away from his ultra-high-performance sportboats and show us what he can do when asked for a custom 41-foot cruising boat. The client asked for a fast cruiser tha

My dad was an executive for Douglas Aircraft and we lived in Tucson, Arizona, when I was a kid. As a young man, my father had run away to sea, shipping out on tankers and working his way up to navigat

I’m not sure when I first became aware of Wally yachts. They are built in Milan, Italy. The company concentrates on maxi types with very sophisticated design work from a number of top designers. The