The dense silence is broken only by the sound of snowflakes landing on my protective clothing, as my eyes struggle to adjust to the landscape that surrounds me. It is…
How (not) to set up a wind vane: An extract from Tom Fisher’s Arctic Smoke blog
Like me, you may have followed with interest the stories about failed self-steering wind vanes that emerged from the last Golden Globe Race. My own experience of a Windpilot Pacific…
Growing food on your yacht: Everything you need to know to become self-sufficient
With limited space and the obvious challenges of salt, wind and motion, many would never entertain the idea of growing their own produce. Yet it can be possible: we spoke…
Boat hitchhiking: How to sail around the world without owning a yacht
As a boy, Darroch Tait always had his head in a book. He was fascinated by adventures and the discovery of new lands. In his early 30s he decided to…
Jimmy Cornell: Why aluminium centreboarders are ideal for serious explorers
Both Aventura III, an Ovni 43, and Aventura IV, a Garcia Exploration 45, were aluminium centreboarders. Having clocked some 100,000 miles with them, including passages to Antarctica and the North…
Jeanneau 60 first look: Superyacht designers bring their expertise to this new model
Jeanneau offers buyers an enticing blend of superyacht features at around half the price of other yachts of a similar size. The latest model is once again a Philippe Briand…
Extract from Sailing through Russia: From the Arctic to the Black Sea
When the Great Seamanship series was planned back in 2004 it was about giant waves, dismastings, amazing rescues and the like. Research, however, led me into a wonderland of nautical…
From the Yachting World archives: The demise of the mighty 23 Metre racing cutters
With upwind sail areas not much short of 10,000ft2, these mighty 23 Metre gaff-rigged racing cutters were raced hard and fast at regattas around the British Isles and occasionally on…
Vendée Globe 2020 start: Record fleet sets off from Les Sables d’Olonne
After the strangest of departure days, the Vendée Globe fleet set off this afternoon at 1420 local time. To start a round the world race is always an enormous relief,…
2020 Vendée Globe preview: Pip Hare and Paul Larsen’s guide to the fleet
The 2020 Vendée Globe, which sets off on Sunday, November 8, sports one of the most diverse IMOCA fleets the event has ever seen. Over the 33 entries there is…
2020 Vendée Globe: Pip Hare explains how it feels to be on the starting line
The Vendée Globe is the longest continuous racecourse in sport. Like some of the world’s great marathons, it offers something very rare: the opportunity for competitors from a wide range…
Storm sailing in a 16ft open boat: Extract from The Sea Takes No Prisoners
I’m always delighted to find a book about high adventure undertaken with no sponsorship and nothing out of the ordinary in way of funds. The Sea Takes No Prisoners, recently…
Allures 40.9 vs Ovni 400: French aluminium centreboarders go head-to-head
Back in the mid-2000s the niche market for aluminium centreboarders was disrupted by the arrival of a new upstart, Allures Yachting. Until then, the undisputed market leader was French company…
Vendée Globe racer Pip Hare on maintaining your focus on long sea passages
For me, managing a 60ft IMOCA alone demands my full attention so there is little time for distraction. However, even then it can be difficult to maintain really long-term focus.…
Philippe Briand profile: The man whose designs launched more than 12,000 yachts
There have been over 12,000 boats built to Philippe Briand designs in the last four decades in a remarkable career that began with a 25ft wooden boat to the International…
Sailing El Salvador: Captivating landscapes make this a must-see cruising destination
We dropped anchor in the middle of the night and waited until daybreak for our rendezvous. We were at the agreed point to meet our pilot who would safely see…
Learning the ropes: An extract from Shakedown Cruise by Nigel Calder
Nigel Calder’s works on the technicalities of boat systems are accepted worldwide as Bibles, but he doesn’t generally trumpet his vast cruising experience. He is a modest man, so when…
These extreme sailing superyacht concepts prove that the sky’s the limit
For decades the superyacht world has undeniably been dominated by vast, fuel-guzzling motor boats. And, despite the elaborate marketing spiel of their designers and builders, many of them look remarkably…
Vijonara: Inside one of the world’s most successful sailing superyacht designs
Many will look at this yacht and admire its graceful lines, its presence and elegance on the water. Vijonara is the latest proof that Hoek’s Truly Classic range is the…
Lithium boat batteries: Why now is the right time to upgrade your electrics
Larger new cruising yachts, especially those at the quality end of the market, have been routinely fitted with lithium boat batteries for the past few years. Arcona, for instance, says…