By all accounts, Michigan’s Gull Lake is a sailor’s lake, often bustling with regattas or packed with weekend daysailers. But there was something special about the 12 Stars that took to the racecourse on a crisp early fall weekend. Sailed by some of the best sailors in the class, the colorful boats were all 50 years old, lovingly restored, some just in time for the Vintage Gold Cup. It was exactly what the regatta’s organizers had in mind.

The crowd at the Hanse Yachts booth was buzzing, and they formed a veritable wall around one particular illuminated case. We patiently inched closer, and then we saw it—the new 315 e-motion rudder drive, which the German boatbuilder developed in conjunction with Jefa and Torqeedo.

From fun dinghies and classic cruisers to novel speedsters and luxurious cats, the class of new boats is exciting. Our editors share the most intriguing new designs coming to boat shows. 

When the one-two punch of hurricanes Irma and Maria stormed through part of the Caribbean in early fall the destruction left in their wakes was unlike any seen there in recent history. Boats were over

Charter and privately owned boats that had been moored in the hurricane hole at Tortola's Paraquita Bay are stacked on top of each other following the passage of the devastatingly strong Hurricane Ir

On a chart, the rhumbline appears as the shortest distance between two points, but when plotting a course through the British Virgin Islands, our “rum line” took a twisting path from one legendary beach bar to another on a weeklong charter cruise. 

Bermuda’s 22-year-old MacKenzie Cooper was on top of the sailing world as his Team BDA stormed across the finish line in first place in the first race of the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup finals in June. Held in conjunction with the America’s Cup on Bermuda’s Great Sound, the youth series pitted 12 teams from around the world against each other in an exciting fleet racing format that saw eight finalists on the line in a jaw-dropping display of speed, seamanship and sportsmanship. As Cooper’s boat crossed the line, the stands erupted in a sea of Bermuda flags while most of the tiny country’s population of 65,000 stopped what they were doing to cheer on the local favorites.

The pilot books and online passage guides all agree: You do not sail across the Atlantic from west to east in a small boat in January, February or March. Even the Admiralty chart of the Atlantic warns sailors not to attempt an eastward crossing in those months. But Susie Goodall, 28, was having none of it. After four weeks in Antigua, mainly taken up with fixing her engine, she set sail on March 20 and, rather than take the recommended route via Bermuda, headed straight for the Azores. It’s known as the “devil-may-care” route and cuts 500 miles off the crossing, but also increases the likelihood of running into Atlantic gales. Which was exactly why she did it. 

Les Crane sat on the deck of an unfamiliar boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean watching his boat, a sturdy, well-maintained 56-footer that he’d sailed more than 40,000 miles, as it was swallowed by the water. It was 7 a.m., less than four hours after his crew heard a “thud” that they had no idea would lead to them boarding a life raft and waiting for rescue.

When helmsman Peter Burling buried the hulls of his 50-foot foiling ACC catamaran on the way to the start line, lost control and nosed-dived into Bermuda’s Great Sound, there was a chance that the America’s Cup was over for Emirates Team New Zealand. But like Humpty Dumpty, the shore crew picked up the carbon fiber pieces and put the fragile cat back together again, and the Kiwis went on to dispatch the British Land Rover BAR team in the challenger playoffs semifinals, and the Swiss Artemis team in the finals to win the Louis Vuitton Cup, setting up a rematch against Oracle Team USA for the America’s Cup in June.

Going away to camp is a childhood ritual. There are space camps with real astronauts like Scott Kelly, tennis pro camps, celebrity baseball camps and even a football academy where Tom Brady could be the coach. So why not a yacht racing camp with the pros? The Bitter End Yacht Club’s annual Pro-Am offers just that, inviting top sailors from an array of disciplines to sail and compete with campers. But the event has one exceptional twist—it’s for grown-ups.

Chris Johnson was bleary eyed as he filled his coffee cup at a popular open-air breakfast spot just steps from the marina at Nanny Cay. He was just one of dozens of sailors gathered in the hub of the British Virgin Islands during the 46th annual Spring Regatta. Like those around him, he seemed to be fully embracing the laid back but fun racing scene that takes over the island for a week each April. 

Capsizing: One thing you don’t have to worry about here is getting your rig stuck in the mud,” sailing instructor Colin Gowland commented wryly at our first morning briefing. Having never previously set foot in a Laser, the significance of that statement as being one of the very first on Gowland’s agenda didn’t immediately set in. In fact, I may have even laughed out loud. 

There was a time in the America’s Cup when keels were skirted, boats were outed as “dogs” after their first appearance on the racecourse and skippers called fouls on each other during races. In case you’ve buried your head in a Rosenfeld photography book for the last 10 years, those days are long gone. The America’s Cup will never look like that again.

The first time I sailed the Texas 200—a grueling 200-mile multiday small-boat endurance cruise along the desolate Gulf Coast and barrier islands of southern Texas—my home-built plywood dinghy was dismasted on the first afternoon. 

South Benjamin Island is a protected and picturesque anchorage.Sharon Mathews Stevens photo Look at the bear!” someone shouted, pointing through the lifelines of our chartered Jeanneau 49 Summe

It was no dark and stormy night, but the middle of a bright Florida afternoon when I spotted the mystery buoy. It was near our course and I had no idea what it marked, so I brought the engines back to neutral and we drifted while I issued orders. 

For 30 years, sailors have escaped the clutches of Old Man Winter by heading south, to the southernmost point in the U.S.—Key West, Florida.