America’s Cup teams first flew in San Francisco in 2013. The use of hydrofoils to lift the AC72 catamarans out of the water was a Team New Zealand innovation, despite…
Yachting World
November 2019
In the November issue of Yachting World, we jump on board Alex Thomson’s new Hugo Boss for a test sail, and reveal the secrets of the skippers who have sailed…
Sailing Tasmania: Bucket list cruising across the Bass Strait
“No pizza today.” When this announcement is made at Port Cygnet Sailing Club, all conversations among members in the clubhouse stop. “The pizza guy says it’s too hot. He won’t…
LA 28: The modern trailable boat that’s cold-molded from mahogany
Appropriately, it’s a long train ride through thick, thick forest before I reach the LA Yachts yard on the banks of Lake Müritz in central Germany. This seems apposite because…
Jet stream: Everything you need to know about its effect on sailing
What is the jet stream? The jet stream is a ‘river’ of strong wind high in the atmosphere which is caused by the unequal heating of the spinning earth. It…
Donald Crowhurst: The fake round-the-world sailing story behind The Mercy
It was while I was researching my book about madness at sea in 2015 that I first heard a movie about Donald Crowhurst was in the works. Several websites published…
Dismasted at sea: What to do during and after a dismasting
During the 2017 Rolex Fastnet Race, my yacht Olympia’s Tigress, a Beneteau First 40, lost her rig through a simple split pin failure. We were 40 miles offshore at the…
Sailing Antarctica: Record-breaking voyage around the southern continent
Many believe number seven to be lucky. The seventh day of February proved to be just that. It’s seven weeks since we dropped the lines in Cape Town; the Amundsen…
Revolver: Bruce Ritchie’s gentleman’s racer blends traditional and modern craftsmanship
“I wasn’t expecting this,” said Michael Ritchie when his 83-year-old father Bruce showed him the lines he had drawn up for his ‘gentleman’s racer’. “It was a nice surprise,” concedes…
Race countdown: How to time the starting sequence perfectly
Starting a yacht at the right end of the line at target speed is very much a team game. On boats longer than 40ft, vital input comes from the bow…
Monaco Yacht Show 2019 preview: First look at super-luxe Origin [sponsored post]
One would never be able to guess that he was days away from unveiling his brand new creation, Origin, at this year’s annual gala at the star-studded Monaco Yacht Show.…
Sailing South Georgia: The inside story of Skip Novak’s 2018 expedition
We were eight days out from the south coast of South Georgia and once again we had skied smack into a full-blown white-out. There was nothing for it but to…
Road to the America’s Cup podcast episode 1: Imagining the AC75
There is no doubt that the AC75 is a remarkable boat; a monohull designed to fly, engineered to reach speeds that were inconceivable to sailors less than half a generation…
October 2019
In the October issue of Yachting World, we bring you the inside story of the 2019 Fastnet Race, ask if the 1979 Fastnet disaster could ever happen again, and test…
Fastnet Race 1979: Restored survivor Assent heads back to the Rock
It’s a gloomy, grey afternoon on the Solent and I’m in a camera boat taking pictures of a yacht sailing off Lymington. There’s a light breeze blowing and a moody,…
Electric winch, 4-speed winches or electric winch handle? [promotional post]
In the last few years, new solutions have been found: 4-speed winches and electric winch handles. Here is an overview of their comparative advantages: Electric winches: powerful but not always…
Marilee: The inside story of the 1926 Herreshoff NY40’s remarkable restoration
When the New York Yacht Club commissioned the new NY40 one-design class in 1916 Nathanael Herreshoff’s objective was to design a competitive racer that was seaworthy enough for ocean racing,…
Retrieving a spinnaker: 5 tips on how to haul in your dropped kite
There are few things quite so humiliating as being stopped dead in the water, moments away from causing thousands of pounds worth of damage as your competitors glide gracefully past.…
5 tips: How to create a winning atmosphere with a new crew
According to Nikki Henderson, good leadership is not about barking orders, it’s about fostering an atmosphere of shared responsibility and finding out what really motivates the individuals on your team.…
Cruising around Newfoundland: An unspoiled wilderness full of surprises
Two beluga whales flanked Frances B, our Mason 44, as we threaded out of Ingonish, on northern Cape Breton Island. Belugas don’t live in this area so this unexpected show…