Out of the blackness a breaking crest makes itself known with an alien glow of tumbled phosphorescence and roars past. This is not what we expected when we set off…
Yachting World
December 2019
In this month's issue, Helen Fretter takes a look back at the 2010s - a decade that changed sailing forever, plus Toby Hodges tests the Rustler 57
Tidal streams: How to read the waves to gain a sailing advantage
Navigators need to have a close knowledge of tidal streams and currents. The latest studies show just how multifarious even mid-ocean currents are. Closer to the coast, matters of fluid…
Cruising British Columbia: Exploring Canada’s Wild West coast by boat
The coastline of south-east Alaska and northern British Columbia is a fractured network of islands, like a broken pane of glass, and the Inside Passage threads in between them. My…
Viracocha III: The Chilean reed boat built to sail across the Pacific
Adventurer Phil Buck is no stranger to reed boats, having twice before sailed from Chile to Easter Island non-stop. However, his latest project aims to sail more than twice that…
Southern hemisphere cyclones: Everything you need to know
Although New Zealand is not in the tropical cyclone (hurricane) belt, the remains of Tropical Cyclone Gita hit the west coast of both the north and south islands in late…
Volvo Ocean Race: How Vestas used supercomputer forecasting to gain an advantage
Vestas 11th Hour Racing is unique in that our sponsor Vestas shared the race team’s obsession with understanding how wind flows around various topographies, and we’ve therefore been fortunate enough…
Agulhas Current explained: What it is and how it affects Indian Ocean sailors
On any round-the-world cruise by the sunny route, there is the dilemma of how to cross the Indian Ocean. For me the Red Sea Route has no appeal whatsoever and…
Man overboard: How to react and safely recover your crewmate
Turning a yacht around after a person goes overboard (MOB) and heading back in the right direction to retrieve them isn’t always easy when you’re taken by surprise, particularly at…
French canals offer a scenic route to the Med for sailing yachts
For many skippers wishing to sail between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, it’s necessary to go via the Strait of Gibraltar. However, for shallow draught yachts, an attractive alternative awaits:…
Amokura: The classic yacht celebrating her 80th anniversary on the racing circuit
There’s no shortage of stunning boats moored at Port Pendennis in Falmouth when I visit the marina in June, not least a couple of enormous, shiny superyachts being polished to…
Sailing Morocco: Unforgettable experiences all along the Atlas Coast
Air is chopped in the distance. Our ears swell as an ill-defined dot appears, growing larger in diameter. The helicopter flies hastily in our direction as if ready to fire.…
Melges 40: Onboard the unique lightweight racer taking the Med by storm
Each year the curtain rises on the Mediterranean grand prix regatta season at the PalmaVela. The increasingly popular event is not just a chance to shake the rust off race…
Light winds and strong currents: How to keep moving in strong tides
When the wind is light and the current is strong, the two components can be equally important as each other. But for those not used to racing in tidal conditions…
Contest 85CS: This Dutch superyacht is a seriously efficient sailing machine
Cruising the world in a large, fast, comfortable yacht is everyone’s dream. Even if your finances allow the dream to become a reality, however, you’re still faced with the practicalities…
Lofoten Islands: Is this Arctic paradise the world’s most beautiful place?
I could already feel the wind pick up while I was sitting at the navstation of the Bowman 57 Oriole as she dug in and started to heel assertively. A…
Racing multihulls: 5 tips for making the switch from monohulls
For a keelboat sailor, switching to a multihull, especially a performance type multihull, for the first time requires a significant shift in thinking about some of the fundamentals in sailing.…
Road to the America’s Cup podcast episode 2: How the AC75 will fly
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…
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…