A movement caught out of the corner of my eye: something furtive, small and fast. I must have imagined it, but I’ll have to take a closer look. Reluctantly, I…
Chris Tibbs weather briefing: how air mass affects the wind direction
I have a lovely old instrument at home which belonged to my grandfather; using dials on concentric circles you can set the direction of the wind, barometer reading and trend,…
New Zealand death and MOB double tragedy on 65-footer Platino
One crewmember has died and another was swept overboard when the Auckland-registered yacht Platino suffered serious rigging damage around 550km north of New Zealand on June 14. Platino, a…
Blog: Pip Hare and her sailing/running team lie a nail-biting 3rd in the Three Peaks Yacht Race
I wake up with a start, dehydrated, hot and confused. ‘Where are the runners? What time is it? Have I over slept?’ Reaching for the phone tucked under my makeshift…
The life of Tom Perkins 1932-2016 – entrepreneur, innovator and mastermind of Maltese Falcon
Tomas J. Perkins 1932-2016 Tom Perkins, who has died aged 84, was one of Silicon Valley’s most successful venture capitalists and a prolific superyacht owner whose innovative thinking led to…
Paul Larsen, world speed record holder, advises on how to avoid a pitchpole
I can see the boat has a reef in and the daggerboards slightly raised, so it is obviously windy. Judging by the lazy sheet, the gennaker is still furled so…
French sailor on a world tour via the North West Passage with a red hen
Guirec Soudée met Monique during a stopover in the Canary Islands when she joined him on what had been up to then a solo transatlantic voyage. The 24-year-old Breton was…
Video: we test the decidedly luxurious new Jeanneau 54 in a gale off Cannes
One look at the deck configuration would lead most people to presume the Jeanneau 54 is a hedonists’ yacht, one for the sun worshippers anchored in warm climes. Indeed my…
How to be a good crew member on a long ocean passage
Matching skippers and crew can be a difficult process and while there are characteristics we can identify in a good skipper, there are also some points that need to be…
A skiff with stabilisers? Meet ep0h, a skiff that anyone can sail
This is a skiff with big ambition: ep0h stands for ‘exponential pleasure, zero hassle’. The goal was to create a skiff that anyone can sail even if they are not…
Skip Novak: something should be done about the number of rescues in major ocean races
Describing grand-prix offshore sailors as ‘idiots’ continually in need of rescue (as someone did in a letter to Yachting World recently) is a tad strong in the language. Nevertheless I…
The visionary custom yacht designs that have shaped Vismara Marine over 30 years
Vismara Marine has always been an exciting, fresh and different company. Its yachts are fast, light and inspirational designs. To look at the history of this Italian custom yacht specialist…
What are the best remedies for seasickness? We find out in our transatlantic survey
Seasickness is an age-old problem, but how common is it and how can we prevent or treat it? We conducted a survey among 450 sailors taking part in the ARC…
Video: Oceanis Yachts 62 – first of a new luxury range from Beneteau
Note the title ‘Oceanis Yachts’ 62. I missed it at first, assuming this was a new flagship for Beneteau’s traditional Oceanis range. But no, this 62-footer represents the first of…
Video: 5 of the scariest accidental gybes – could you get out of these?
1. The Southern Ocean stormer VO70 MAPFRE buries into a wave at high speed, slows down and when the apparent wind shoots back suddenly they gybe. Then the crew find themselves pinned…
Short-handed navigation – and how to create your ‘road book’
Navigating when sailing short-handed can be an often-overlooked challenge. It can throw up stressful situations, particularly when it is the responsibility of just one member of the crew, navigating in…
Bras d’Or lake in Nova Scotia is an oasis of calm
Our Mason 44, Frances B, on the run from ever-colder climes farther north, swept by Cape Anguille at the tip of St George Bay on the south-west coast of Newfoundland.…
5 tips on developing your polar diagrams to improve your boat speed
Sails are fresh, the bottom is clean, there’s a good crew, but you’ve been losing out to similar boats on the downwind legs. The helmsman is sailing as close as…
Bluewater cruisers list their choice of essential kit that cost under €500
Peter Forbes Amel 54 Carango Currently undertaking a circumnavigation with World ARC. After a career in aviation, engineering and manufacturing, Forbes examined and tested a series of bluewater yachts from…
Get out of that! Dismasting – Mike Golding explains what to do as soon as it happens
Although it is difficult to understand exactly what went wrong, we can deduce the following: prior to the dismasting the boat was on starboard and probably footing or reaching under…