I have enjoyed a lot of different sailing events, from local regattas to glamorous destinations. Each had its own appeal, but once I’ve been there, done that,  I rarely return because there are new places to explore. But I made an exception for the Golden Rock Regatta, a little-known Caribbean series that is held in November, featuring long-distance races to a smattering of islands: St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, St. Barths and Anguilla. Exhilarating stretches of racing during the day are followed by nightly raft-ups and casual parties. It perfectly combines the thrill of racing with the adventure of exploring a different piece of paradise each night, which has given me the opportunity to forge friendships with other “Rockers” over the years.

J.H. Peterson photoPlunging temperatures, bitterly cold winds and rock-hard waterways. Just right for sailing …  that is, if you’ve got a serious need for speed and don’t mind the windburn.

Sailors the world over have noticed an every increasing amount of plastic garbage floating in the oceans. One group made up of women sailors and scientists has spent the last four years studying and b

The allure of a Bluenose was always there. We had both owned or sailed a variety of boats in our home waters in the Finger Lakes region of New York and in the British Virgin Islands, everything from L

Mears Point Marina in Grasonville, Maryland, on the Chesapeake’s Eastern Shore is a friendly place, particularly on O-dock, where David and Penny Renoll keep the boats they use in their charter and

The message send via satellite test was gut wrenching. “Rolled. Dismasted. Severe back injury. Cannot get up.” That was the last message received from 39-year-old Indian solo sailor Abhilash Tom

 Serious sailors need serious knives, and Spyderco’s Salt Series of knives fits the bill. This sheepfoot-blade one-handed folding knife is impervious to rust and incredibly light with a nonslip

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The death of a sailor who drowned when his life jacket did not inflate during the Chicago Yacht Club’s Race to Mackinac July 21 is being investigated by a committee overseen by the yacht club.

 One of the largest North Sails lofts in the country has a new home in the heart of freshwater sailing country.A new Detroit-area North Sails loft is open in Warren, Michigan, and will serve the area from Rochester, New York, down the American side of the Great Lakes, as far west as the Michigan-Indiana border. 
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It’s boat show season, and this year there is a range of new boats hitting the shows from Newport to Miami. From a fun inflatable dinghy and a foiling racer to comfy cruisers, our editors share some of the exciting new designs.

Talk to sailors who cruised the British Virgin Islands back in the 1970s and you’ll hear about remote anchorages with no other boats in sight, pristine beaches void of people and a quiet natural beauty that nourished the soul. By the time Twe chartered there for the first time in 2004, the lovely islands had morphed into something different, not better or worse, merely changed by controlled real estate development and a growing number of residents and boats. The BVI, which remains one of our favorite sailing destinations, had become, in a word, commercialized.

They had traveled 750 miles by sea, convinced themselves that they had blown their lead when they had to stop to deal with a log jammed under the boat and worked their legs as much as their brains and yet, as the team of seven woman approached the finish to what is one of the most unusual and captivating races in the world, they damn near missed it.

David Thoreson has sailed all over the world, more than 70,000 bluewater miles. But his favorite place to sail is small cluster of lakes tucked in the nation’s heartland known as Okoboji.  “

The myth that one-design racing produces cut-throat competition doesn’t apply to these classic classes. Head to any of the winter circuit regattas, weeknight races or even the national and world championships and you will find a atmosphere that is more like a family reunion than hard-core battle. Built on the philosophy that sailing is better with friends, and that lending a hand with tuning or rigging tips, these one-design classes are bringing new sailors into the sport with “more-the-merrier” attitudes. 

When Terri and Thomas Sand first started dating in 2013, they didn’t know it would lead to a new love, not just for each other but for sailing. Since then, the couple has made a five-year plan that is taking them from learn to sail classes to sailing off on a world cruise on their brand new cruising catamaran. 

What a thrill it brought, pressing my face against a hazy plexiglass airplane window, and seeing whitecaps scattered on the sea from 29,000 feet. Following last year’s tragic season of storms in the Caribbean, I was flying to the British Virgin Islands for the Spring Regatta, which has been bringing sailors to Tortola and the surrounding islands since 1972. As the flight descended through the tropical sky, I began to see the telling signs of destruction. Hundreds of homes were without roofs and scores of boats were askew and aground. But this isn’t a story about destruction. It’s a story about revival, and how sailors are helping bring that about.

Take a classLenny Shabes photo If you already sail, you might think that your ship has sailed as far as classes go. But learn-to-sail classes are just the tip of the iceberg. Most sailing schools