Flags flutter from the ramparts, race officers look down from the imposing starting platform, and at ten-minute intervals mighty brass cannon fire with such power that spectactors lining the shore…
Belinda Bird
SafeSip drinking cap
This SafeSip cap allows you to use virtually any drinking vessel without fear of spillage. The UK-made reusable silicone cap stretches over cups, glasses and cans to keep liquids in…
Karver KBO 10 lashing block
Lashing blocks offer weight-saving, good articulation, no metal-on-metal wear and high strength, so it’s no surprise they are becoming popular. This KBO block is elegant-looking with rounded edges to avoid…
Delorme inReach Explorer
This piece of kit has an impressive array of functions packed into a small handheld device. It is a tracker, it can send and receive text messages via the Iridium…
Moody 54DS boat test – a warm welcome on a cold day in the Baltic
I have never seen anything quite like it. Day after day crowds flocked to the Moody stand at Düsseldorf as if this were some sort of religious icon. At the…
Jeanneau 64 boat test – a Jeanneau with superyacht ambitions
Here is a yacht guaranteed to surprise. Packed within this 64ft 1in hull, the latest from Jeanneau, are a multitude of qualities that will make you question your preconceptions about…
The Maxi 1200 stays true to its quality Scandinavian heritage, with input from Olympian Pelle Petterson
Maxi has produced over 16,000 yachts but, as with many Scandinavian yards, the high cost of hand-made quality has led to tricky times over the past decade. The Polish company…
100 footer Nomad IV from Finot-Conq is world’s fastest cruiser
A Mistral is blowing 30 knots out of an empty sky. Once the mainsail of Nomad IV is hoisted to the second reef point and the J2 jib snaps out,…
Far east 28R: a fast, fun one-design in a lightweight, affordable package
One-designs can provide fun, fair racing, as epitomised by the Volvo Ocean Race fleet currently sliding round the planet. But modern one-designs tend to come with off-putting prices, particularly if…
Yacht refit 2: how a three-month refit of Zest was worth all the effort and expense
Many owners have found yacht refit to be a protracted process and in some cases have missed more than one season of sailing. This seems to be particularly the case…
Whale encounter – there seems to be an increasing number of collisions with whales as yachts get faster
The first I heard about a sailing boat colliding with a whale mid-ocean was when the 49ft sloop Peningo had a whale encounter 700 miles from the Azores while…
How likely is a collision with whales at sea? And how can you reduce the chances?
Our first encounter with whales at sea came while crossing Stellwagen Bank, a vast marine sanctuary off Cape Cod when we came upon a pod of Northern Right Whales (Eubalena…
The Swallow class has enjoyed a class start at Cowes Week every year since 1948
Like the Fairey Firefly, which also basked in the light of the Olympic flame at the Torbay Regatta in 1948, the Swallow class was the result of a design competition…
Comms for an Atlantic crossing: results of our ARC survey
Yachting World’s annual gear survey of competitors in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) provides a unique insight into users’ experiences of onboard equipment during an ocean passage. The 2012…