The process of buying a sailing yacht can sometimes be long-winded and stressful, especially if it’s your first time considering boat ownership. To avoid it being too daunting the first…
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Spinnaker handling: an experts full guide to using the kite
‘I have a confession to make,’ said my friend and fellow sailing instructor, Liz Le Mare, ‘I need spinnaker handling training.’ I was confused, since she’s often racing around the…
J-Boats J/45 review
Moving water is hard work. A big, foaming wake might look impressive, but it’s not fast. Glide through the water with as little disturbance as possible, however, and the chance…
When is a race more than a race? When it’s the Fastnet
The Rolex Fastnet Race is of course a race – it’s in the title. But lightly scratch the surface and it quickly reveals itself to be much more than a…
‘Strange sticky fuel gummed up my engine’
Having a breakdown at sea, and especially in the Bristol Channel, would be extremely scary, with very strong tides, navigational hazards and shipping movements, but we were suddenly confronted with…
Discovering Easter Island and Pitcairn by boat
Easter Island (or Rapa Nui) is the most remote inhabited island in the world. Sailing there confirmed it for us. True, we took a detour, sailing north for a few…
Grand Soleil 34.1 review
Getting to know a boat you haven’t met before can be a true voyage of discovery. And in the case of Andy Iyer and his family, with their Grand Soleil…
Should you sail to a fuel dock or wait it out?
John is skipper of a Beneteau Oceanis 34 sailing back to the UK from a holiday in France with two crew. When they left France, the forecast was variable becoming…
The best small cruising yachts in 2023
We have seen a surprisingly large number of builders going against the grain to bring small cruising yachts to market in the last year or so, ranging from trailer0-sailers to…
Exploring the Stockholm archipelago on an electric yacht
Are we now able to rely on an electric drive as an auxiliary engine for a sailing cruiser? Having mused over this for a few years, my husband Niall and…