Alain Mortain and Yannis Mavrikos designed this new 44- foot model, produced by Privilege Marine, and I liked this design the moment I saw it. I find all the proportions pleasing to my eye. The aim of the design is a fast cruising boat with a nice balance of speed and comfort. 

The politics of international amateur athletic competition are so inscrutable and Byzantine they make professional sports look wholesome in comparison. Professional sports are driven by the simple and pure imperative of an entertainment business–to make money. International amateur sports are driven by a mysterious something else. Whatever it is, it's not pure or simple, judging from the bizarre decisions issued by the ruling authorities. 

Dear Boat Doctor, The teak decks on my boat are failing. I love them but they are washboarded and thin enough in places that the caulking is just falling out. I need to do something about them but I am not quite sure what. What are my options? 

Kris Scheppe met his crewmates for the world championship regatta just days before the three men would compete against some of the best sailors in the world. Scheppe, Scott Ford and Jim Kerr had only

Nathaniel Bowditch didn’t look like Hollywood’s version of a swashbuckling sailor, but his contributions to maritime navigation more than 200 years ago made it possible to traverse oceans with greater speed and accuracy. And the mathematician’s hard-earned accomplishments haven’t been forgotten. The National Sailing Hall of Fame in Annapolis, Maryland, included Bowditch in its 2014 class of eight inductees during a September ceremony at the Detroit Yacht Club in Detroit, Michigan.

When Harriet and Tom Linsky first took off aboard their 28-foot Bristol Channel Cutter for four years of liveaboard cruising, they expected to have a life-changing experience. What they didn't expect was to be deeply moved by the generosity of indigenous communities despite a profound lack of basic necessities. And while they knew they would go cruising again someday, they certainly didn't expect they'd be doing it with a fledgling not-forprofit organization in tow. 

The time will come when you need to give your deck hatches some attention. Those little drips when it rains or when you have a deck washer passage are your first clues. 

I  live in the Pacific Northwest, and do everything in the rain, and  it does not bother me. The sun bothers me. When I saw this  new design from my buddy Paul Waring and his partner Robert  Stephens I thought, "Perfect! I can get out of the sun." 

One of the fun things about reviewing a Mark Mills design is that I get to Skype Mark and chat with him for an hour. Mark was not shy about explaining the details of his latest work to me. In this case, it's his exciting new 38-foot 9-inch IRC racer now being built in Turkey at the Gurit yard.

My Danish friend Tom came up with the "bloated tennis shoe" description for some kinds of yacht styling. He recently described a boat to me as looking like "the box the boat came in." 

Sweden's Arcona Yachts built its reputation with durable, no-nonsense boats. The Arcona 380 is a 37-foot, nine-tenths fractional rig, bluewater boat designed as a successor to the venerable Arcona 400.

Dear Boat Doctor,  I was looking around my bilge and saw that the seacock on my shower drain looked odd. I grabbed it and the threaded portion of the through-hull broke off! 

 As a kid, I had a conversation with my mother almost every weekend after I departed in the morning, not to return until dinner time.  

If there is a more wonderful invention for sailors than bareboat chartering, I haven't heard of it.  When I experienced it the first time, it seemed too good to be true. 

Without question, the No. 1 pick for a winter getaway is the BVI. With its rowdy sailing in the Drake Passage to the many anchorages in this Caribbean island chain, the BVI has more to offer cruisers. 

Nemo’s $100 Puffin blanket is designed for outdoor use, and it might be perfect for cool nights at anchor. It’s filled with Stratofiber insulation that stays warm when damp and ripstop nylon shell

Originally designed to keep drivers alert and safe, but perfect for watchkeepers, the Impecca Alert Band monitors and analyzes brainwaves, sending real-time notifications and alarms to a sailors smart

Breckson’s Thirsty-Mate 519C pump has a cast aluminum handle, stainless steel shaft and a low temperature hose. It’s 24" long and 3-inches in diameter with a 4-foot intake hose and a 6 foot outle