Scow bow designs are still very rare in the UK and mostly elsewhere in northern Europe. The exception is France, especially on the Atlantic coast, where their distinctive spatula-shaped forward…
monohull
First look: NEO 570c
If you design and build a boat to look this wickedly fast, you better hope it performs. And it seems Shaun Carkeek and Neo Yachts have done everything they can…
Extraordinary boats: Tapio Lehtinen’s Gaia 36 Asteria
Note: Since this piece was written Tapio Lehtinen had to be rescued in the Golden Globe Race after his beloved yacht, Asteria sank in a mere 5 minutes. It is…
Smallest boats: The bonkers world of Microyacht adventures
Often the smallest boats to cross oceans look much like a child’s crayon picture of a little boat on a big sea, certainly Yann Quenet’s Baluchon does. Baluchon is only…
First look: Tison 48 Elida – wooden stunner
The stunning Tison 48 design combines engineered timber construction with high-tech materials including strategic use of carbon. Designer Thomas Tison, a structural engineer with an America’s Cup and aerospace background,…
Thomas Ruyant grabs Route du Rhum victory and record
Thomas Ruyant sailing LinkedOut was has won the IMOCA 60 class in the 2022 Route du Rhum after a tight battle between himself and Charlie Dalin sailing Apivia. Although Dalin…
Can the America’s Cup make great TV?
A long-rumoured America’s Cup TV series now looks set to be going ahead with a top-level studio and producers onboard. But will a docu-series drive eyes onto an event that…
First look: Spirit 72DH a contemporary classic
Spirit Yachts’ latest launch, the Spirit 72DH, embodies the key features that make these boats so desirable, while also marking a break with tradition for the company. All the hallmarks…
UPDATE: Route du Rhum 2022 start postponed. Is this the greatest ever offshore race?
The Route du Rhum 2022 single-handed transatlantic race start has been postponed until Wednesday 9 November. The decision was announced at this morning’s skippers’ weather briefing. While the forecast for…
How to follow the Route du Rhum 2022
NOTE: Since this article was published the start date for the Route Du Rhum 2022 has been pushed back to Wednesday 9th November at 1415hrs local time. A major storm…
Route du Rhum skipper: Pip Hare
Pip Hare is a British professional sailor and solo skipper, and the 8th woman ever to finish the Vendée Globe. She needs little introduction to regular readers of Yachting World,…
Route du Rhum skipper: Boris Herrmann
Non-French sailors who have made a name for themselves in the IMOCA 60 fleet are rare, but German-born Boris Herrmann is just one such international skipper who has impressed. Many singlehanded…
Route du Rhum skipper: Yannick Bestaven
Yannick Bestaven was declared the 2020/21 Vendée Globe winner, having finishing 3rd on the water but earned the win thanks to a time compensation of 10 hours and 15 minutes…
Route du Rhum skipper: Paul Meilhat
Paul Meilhat was the winner of the IMOCA 60 class in the last Route du Rhum back in 2018, adding that victory to a CV full of podium places and…
Route du Rhum skipper: Damien Seguin
Whilst there are some routes that are well-trodden to becoming an IMOCA skipper (Mini Transat, Figaro, Class 40…), there are a variety of routes into the world of offshore shorthanded…
Route du Rhum skipper: Romain Attanasio
Nothing about Romain Attanasio’s early life indicated that he might end up a solo offshore yacht racer. He was born to a skiing family in the Hautes-Alpes region of France…
Route du Rhum skipper: Alan Roura
Swiss-born sailor Alan Roura already has two Vendée Globe races to his name. He participated in his first, the 2016-17 edition of the event, when he was just 23 years…
Route du Rhum skipper: Conrad Colman
Conrad Colman, or the ‘crazy Kiwi’ as he became known, was the first New Zealander to compete in the Vendée Globe in 2016. Colman studied economics in the US, founded…
Route du Rhum skipper: Louis Burton
Louis Burton shot to Vendée Globe fame when he sailed across the line of the 2020-21 Vendée Globe in 2nd place in his 2012 IMOCA 60 Bureau Vallée. He finished…
Sailing Svalbard: a photographic expedition in the Artctic circle
It’s 0600 and I hear movement down below, our guide Marcel going for his shower. I’d woken a couple of hours earlier when I knocked a pillow covering the window…