Competitive online gaming, or eSports, has been growing exponentially since the mid-1990s. “It is probably the biggest sport you’ve never heard of,” Wouter Sleijffers, CEO of Excel, one of the…
Coronavirus and sailing: How COVID-19 will change the way we sail
Looking north from the seafront at Cowes this April, you’d have seen the Solent as no-one in living memory has ever done: an empty vista of sea. Even two world…
Seawind 1260: Lightweight catamaran making waves on both sides of the Atlantic
The Seawind 1260 has been well received in the States, where the brand has a strong following, but these multihulls are in fact built designed in Australia and built in…
Cruising Colombia: An extraordinarily friendly country for visiting sailors
If I asked you for five words to describe Colombia I bet they wouldn’t include ‘welcoming’, ‘safe’, ‘fun’, ‘sophisticated’ or ‘beautiful’. I bet you’d be surprised if I told you…
Cruising Australia: Everything you need to know about sailing Down Under
“It doesn’t matter where you choose, you can’t go wrong in Australia. There are so many wonderful cruising grounds,” says Hank Rosendal, a Dutch-Australian sailor. His Amel 53 Tempest is…
Sailing to the Canary Islands: Everything you need to know
Our focus tends to be on the crossing to the Caribbean of around 3,000 miles. If done at the right season the weather for the transatlantic stage will likely be…
Leopard 45: Hard-top adds fresh appeal to this popular catamaran design
Drawn by Simonis Voogd and built by Robertson & Caine in South Africa, every Leopard cat gets put through its paces in the Southern Ocean before sailing on its own…
Catamaran sailing across the Atlantic: Why multihulls are taking over the ARC
Something big has happened in ocean sailing. It could be the tipping point in the 34-year history of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, when multihulls move from minority element to…
Bali Catspace 40: Spacious catamaran promises 20% more room than its rivals
The idea is attributed to Bali’s founder, Olivier Poncin, who has built up a €63m turnover business in this short space of time. It’s easy to appreciate why the one-level…
Cruising Patagonia: An extract from Winter in Fireland by Nicholas Coghlan
Nicholas Coghlan circumnavigated in the late 1980s with Jenny, his wife, on their small yacht, Tarka the Otter, before taking up a career in the Canadian Foreign Service. Many years…
Privilege Signature 510: What’s changed on the first Hanse Group era model?
But the new boat has had more than just a name change. It has had an aesthetic makeover with dozens of small details improved, from the strips of continuous glazing…
X56 first look: New model combines powerful hull with spacious accommodation
The ethos of this range, which appeals to those looking for a state-of-the-art performance cruiser, is now firmly established. “Around 80% of cruising is reaching or downwind, which is where…
Expert sailing tips: Dee Caffari’s top 5 tips for creating a cohesive crew
To win the Volvo Ocean Race you need proven, battle-hardened experience on board. However, the youth-focussed, multinational Turn The Tide On Plastic entry had very different goals. While every sailor…
Finishing a solo circumnavigation: An extract from Solitaire Spirit by Les Powles
If he hadn’t chosen to write a book, Les Powles could well have remained one of the unsung heroes of the ocean, men and women who dare to do in…
Sailing Vancouver Island: Braving bears and bad weather on the inside-out route
At 94 years of age, my father, Donald, still hates sitting in harbour. He lives in La Conner, Washington, on a cliff overlooking the Swinomish Channel, where he can keep…
Grand Soleil 44 Performance: New cruiser-racer to expand Italian yard’s range
With 4,500 yachts built to date, this Italian brand has recently increased capacity to 200 builds a year across its three model ranges. Turnover has also grown sharply, increasing from…
Hi-Line transfers: Pip Hare explains how to prepare for a helicopter evacuation
As a sea survival instructor, I have been evacuated from a liferaft by helicopter and over the course of my sailing career I have helped with several practice Hi-Line transfers. …
Sea Eagle II: The inside story of the world’s largest aluminium sailing yacht
Royal Huisman has an enviable track record of producing superlative sailing superyachts, with hundreds of projects completed to date. Yet the latest vessel to leave the shipyard is extraordinary even…
South Sandwich Islands sailing: Skip Novak on an ambitious scientific mission
The rule of thumb when doing these tricky inflatable beach landings is to hang in above the surf line for a good ten minutes to watch the sets coming through.…
Sailing the Southern Ocean in a 27ft boat: Extract from Captain Bungle’s Odyssey
Captain Bungle’s Odyssey by Paddy Macklin is a great sailing book belied by its humble title. Extraordinarily self-effacing, Paddy makes light of a remarkable circumnavigation executed in truly Corinthian spirit,…