The butchers at Bernie’s Fine Meats are yacht racing fans.  Bernie’s is an institution behind a downtown storefront dating to the early-20th century in the small city that is SAILING’s hom

Some of the prettiest miles of the 3,000-mile-long Intracoastal Waterway are those between Gordon Pass and the tip of Keewaydin Island in southwest Florida. This 10-mile stretch is a natural waterway

Sailing is the oldest form of transportation in the history of mankind, not counting walking.  Archaeologists say the first humans to settle on the Australian continent had to have traveled ther

Buddy Melges understood wind like no other sailor, so it is all the more fitting to say he was a breath of fresh air in the world of sailing.Although he won national championships 10 times and two Oly

A sailboat sank in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on March 13. The four people on board were rescued by other sailors after nine hours in a liferaft and dinghy. We of the sailing community are

By rough count, more than 60 different people have sailed with me on my boats. No, I haven’t been operating a day charter business on the side. What I have been doing is sailing in sailboat races f

There is a scene in “Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to the 1986 movie that made Tom Cruise a top gun at the box office, that is a thrilling depiction of humans speeding through the glories of the

I am an admirer of the late William F. Buckley Jr.  Buckley was a man of politics, not as a practitioner, but as an acerbic commentator in his magazine and syndicated newspaper columns and

Call me Ishmael.  I can relate to Moby-Dick’s narrator because I too have tales to tell of creatures tormenting sailors at sea. I’ve never been threatened by a whale trying to bite my leg o

Kudos to the crew. They were stellar in this year’s Chicago Mackinac Race. In fact, they were stellar before the race started.  They managed to be alert and engaged as I delivered a homily th

It has been said that whenever two sailboats are sailing near each other on the same course, it’s a race. The saying probably exaggerates the competitive nature of sailors. Still, who among us has

It is a bond that has linked sailors from time immemorial, bringing us joy and sorrow, triumph and tragedy, marked by hubris and humility, angst and obsession, success and failure, all with egalitaria

Who’s the most famous sailor of all time? A few candidates in random order: Ferdinand Magellan, first circumnavigator. Joshua Slocum, first solo circumnavigator. James Cook, explorer, pioneering

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

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

George Washington slept here.” That boast is painted or carved on antiqued signs on dozens of ancient houses in the state of New York. (It has been said that our first president really slept around.

What does an industrial-looking metal contraption that uses a wind vane to steer sailboats have in common with women’s silk underwear? Read on. This magazine was born in 1966 and the half century-p

A friend finally threw in the towel after more than 12 excruciating hours in a doublehanded race sailed in a windless void so persistent that 80% of the fleet dropped out. He and his mate furled