Cruising family run down and left for dead, New Zealand prepares for the 30th America's Cup, Stability - do the rules stand up?


COVER STORIES

Death on the high seas
Thirty miles off New Zealand the yacht Melinda Lee was run down by a ship. Judith Sleavin was the only survivor. She lost her husband and two young children. For the first time she describes the tragedy and the subsequent hunt for the killer ship that left her family for dead

Beyond the point of no return?
Stability is a subject much discussed these days, following Isabelle Autissier’s capsize in the Southern Ocean. But it’s not only Open 60s and other extreme racing boats we have to worry about, says Matthew Sheahan . . .

Countdown to the America’s Cup
Auckland is preparing for the event of the Millennium as challengers and defenders jostle for position in the America’s Cup 2000 line-up. Andrew Preece looks at who’s in and who’s out

Raising the roof
We review five top-name 50ft deck saloon cruisers, including a full test of the new Farr 50

FEATURES

In the shadow of the Andes
Tim and Sophie Trafford’s intrepid voyage round South America won them the Royal Cruising Club Challenge Cup. In the first of two features, we follow their progress from Panama via Easter Island to the southernmost tip of the continent

Around Alone
James Boyd was in Punta del Este at the end of Leg 3 of the solo round the world race to greet competitors limping in after a disastrous brush with the Southern Ocean. He talks to Autissier, Soldini and Thiercelin about their experiences

Sail of the Century
Trinidad is jumping when Steve and Claire Davies sail in for the Carnival. Here they will make preparations for their onward journey through Panama towards New Zealand

America’s Cup update
We introduce a new correspondent, PJ Montgomery, aka ‘The Voice of New Zealand Yachting’, who will be guiding us through the intrigues of the America’s Cup up to the Cup itself in February 2000

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