Squalls are self-contained convective systems, often confined to less than a mile or so in diameter, but they can occur in clumps of several hundred miles in spread. They are…
Yachting World
How to get your family into sailing and loving it: ‘Match the boat to the people, not the dream’
For many, sailing is a generational habit – learned from their parents, maybe by pottering about a local reservoir in a beaten-up dinghy, or hopping from port to port and…
How Sam Manuard is reimagining the 50ft offshore racer
At first glance, the Mach 50 Palanad 4 looks as if it has arrived from a different discipline entirely when compared to her rivals in recent offshore races. The bow…
Pure 42 review: Why this alloy cruiser is the new benchmark for bluewater cruising
It has got busy lately in the explorer segment. While some of the traditional brands like Ovni, Garcia and Bestevaer are still trucking along steadily, new ones have complemented this…
World’s Coolest Yachts: 12 Metre IKRA
“Ikra is probably the most formative yacht in my career. I was 18 and it was the first ‘big’ boat I ever raced on,” recalls Barrier. Launched as Kurrewa V,…
Science under sail: How Project Zero is helping build the future of emission-free yachting
When the idea of a big sailing yacht with no combustion on board was pitched to designer Marnix Hoekstra at Vripack, he was instantly enthusiastic. A mould-breaking electric boat of…
Two surfers take a journey from the outback to the ocean
One day we were standing in swirling red dust under the brutal Australian outback sun, steel-capped boots caked in sweat and iron ore. The noise of haul trucks filled the…
Beating the thorny path: A modern pilgrimage to Luperon
I decided to sail to Luperon over gassy Cuban draft at the quayside bar at Marina Darsena, in March of 2023. My friend and I were stuck in the rundown…
Dyneema vs. Wire: How to pick the right standing rigging for your yacht
A thousand miles from anywhere in the Atlantic, with the trades blowing hard and the boat surfing down lumpy seas, the last thing you want to find on a morning…
World’s coolest yachts: VO70 Mar Mostro / Puma – ‘She was so powerful that helming this boat I felt nothing wrong could happen’
The VO70 Mar Mostro / Puma was designed by Juan K and originally took part in the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, before being widely campaigned in other offshore races as…
Predict the weather like a pro (in the time it takes to brew tea)
There is now so much weather information available online. There are apps and websites that will give you forecasts every hour for any location, down to previously unheard of spatial…
Sailing to South Georgia: Retracing Shackleton’s 1916 traverse
We hit the cold front square on. From light and variable in the centre of the low, bottoming out at 973mb, the wind took but an hour to ramp up…
Hanse Yachts – Superior build quality, sporty performance and class-leading ease of handling
Over the last 35 years, Hanse has forged a very clear position in the cruising yacht market, which no other builder has the capability to achieve in such an inspiring…
Seawind 1170 review: Nimble Aussie catamaran comes to Europe
Nearly 800 Seawind catamarans have launched since the brand’s creation in 1983. These were at first all from Australia, before founder Richard Ward took over the Corsair Trimaran factory and…
South Pacific Sailing: ‘Niue is a tiny country almost no one has ever heard of’
It feels like a big deal to finally leave New Zealand’s shores, after all the hard work we’ve put into getting ready for this moment. Two years, including nine months…
How to navigate unfamiliar waters: a pilot book writer shares key skills
When a Volvo Ocean Race yacht famously hit a charted reef at full speed, it wasn’t because the data was wrong. It was because too much trust was placed in…
World’s coolest boats: The Superfoiler
“The Superfoiler was one of the coolest boats of all time,” says Luke Parkinson, who’s sailed everything from F50s to offshore 100-footers. “It was a boat like no other. It…
The Transat Café L’Or Debrief: IMOCAs, capsizes, and a surprise second place
Shortly after 10.30 in the evening on Saturday, 25 October, French team mates Erwan Le Draoulec and Tanguy Le Turquais found themselves upside down in a capsized trimaran in 30-knot…
Using Celestial Navigation to Sail the Atlantic: ‘We are at the whims of the sea’s invisible forces’
One foot east, one foot west. I stand on a line inscribed in stone: the Prime Meridian, longitude of zero. This threshold marks a rite of passage for becoming a…
First look: Elan SixtyFive – is Elan’s new dawn the ultimate bluewater cruiser?
Slovenian boatbuilder Elan has stunned many by announcing the development of ‘the ultimate bluewater cruiser’, designed by J&J and Guillaume Verdier. Starting with this new high-performance carbon epoxy 65-footer, the…