Vang/preventer: a fast, effective safety device I was guilty of contempt. Never a good thing, in this case it turned out to be a serious error. I had held a thunderstorm cell in contempt all morning. ...
Ease that fear of falling: Techniques for making a trip up the stick safer. The only sure things in life are death, taxes, and that – sooner or later – you will have to go up your mast. Ma...
Top designer Ted Brewer explains stability and how it affects safety and speed The speed of a sailing yacht in any given wind is determined, to a large extent, by the amount of sail she can carry. In ...
Buying, selling, new and used: Sail brokers can stretch your sailing dollars Those of us who love good old boats do so out of aesthetic preferences, sailing abilities, and – let’s face it ...
Ted Brewer explains how racing rules affected seaworthiness – but not always for the better The purpose of any rating rule is to enable yachts of different sizes to race together fairly. Without...
It bakes bread, makes hearty soups, distills water, and holds the kids’ “critters.” Who could ask for more? Long, long ago in another lifetime far, far away – well, 17 years ag...
When your good old back’s not up to it anymore, let a windlass do the donkey work It’s strange how much difficulty we owners of older boats have in finding $500 to $1,000 to replace an old...
Superstition got you down? John Vigor offers tips for renaming your boat and keeping it lucky I once knew a man in Florida who told me he’d owned 24 different yachts and renamed every single one...
Use a riding sail to steady your boat at anchor You’re all settled in for the night in that well-protected cove, when the wind picks up. What had been a nice quiet anchorage is now alive with mo...
As you are aware, proper helm balance is a very desirable factor on a sailing yacht and can make the difference between a craft that is enjoyable to sail and one that has a helm that would rupture a g...
Controlling your environment makes you a better, safer sailor As a person to whom quality time and time aboard are synonymous, I often daydream of idyllic passages through tropical seas with steady tr...
What to look for when buying your Dream Boat In the nautical lexicon, it seems these three words – good old boats – always go together. Some of the most aesthetically pleasing designs from...
Sailor and writer Webb Chiles is credited with saying something to the effect that when the engine in his boat died he was set free – no maintenance chores, no need to get fuel, no more worries ...
A clean look at the “dirty” half dozen Pros and cons of the six main fuels for galley stoves When it comes to choosing a marine stove fuel there is rarely anyone completely happy with the choice. All ...
Planning for an unplanned inversion Capsize: how it happens, and what you can do to survive it When Isabelle Autissier’s 60-foot racer capsized in the Southern Ocean, it sent a chill of fear thr...
What’s the meaning of all those numbers used by yacht designers? The terms and ratios that follow are used by all yacht designers, so it’s a good idea to have an understanding of them if y...
Tried and trusted old fittings give character to modern yachts If you remember when all sailboats had wooden spars, manila lines, galvanized fittings, and cotton sails, chances are you have problems w...
Don’t wait until it happens; get your boat ready now My first memory, as a small child, was being in the middle of a hurricane in the North Atlantic. It was the 1930s. Our family was returning b...
The wind had shifted overnight. A sea was starting to run into the anchorage from the exposed direction, so we decided to leave. We finished the breakfast dishes and pulled in the “off-duty hook...
Leave the weight in the lake and tow a lighter boat Issue 127: July/Aug 2019 Water can be used in various ways to increase a boat’s stability. One method is as old as yachting itself. Æmilius Jarvis r...
A few — of many — rules to race by Issue 126: May/June 2019 Robb Lovell introduced readers to the fun of racing (“Testing the Waters in PHRF Part 1,” January 2019) and shared tips on how to sail fast ...
Too wide for a container’s door? Turn the problem on its side. Issue 126: May/June 2019 My best friend, Ante, and I have been small-boat owners all our lives. Growing up in Croatia, on the Adriatic Se...
A hand-powered pump, glass jars, and ingenuity are the recipe Issue 126: May/June 2019 About 30 years ago, at the Houston Boat Show, I saw a product called Pump-N-Seal, a device that restores a vacuum...
Singlehanded sailing and photography don’t always go together. Throw in some brisk wind, maybe a tender boat, perhaps no autopilot, and capturing the moments and scenes on camera can be a real challen...
If at first you don’t have speed, trim, trim, and trim again Issue 125: March/April 2019 In “Testing the Waters in PHRF Part 1,” November 2018, Robb Lovell introduced us to the world of PHRF sailboat ...
Trying to undo them exposes their stubborn side Issue 125: March/April 2019 The title of Henry James’ classic novel The Turn of the Screw is a metaphor for the stress felt by a governess in her strugg...
An old salt learns an old trick from a docking master Issue 125: March/April 2019 On day six of a challenging singlehanded adventure tackling the Delmarva loop aboard Base Camp, my 27-foot Pearson, I ...
Novelty luggage tags help prevent embarrassing oversights Issue 124: Jan/Feb 2019 We all have a checklist, formal or not, that we consult before casting off. Depending on our boats and ambitions, to-d...
All-inclusive fleets welcome novice racers at the starting line. Issue 124: Jan/Feb 2019 When I was a child, my family would spend every summer cruising and sailing out of our home port. Years later, ...
In warm weather, full-length foul-weather pants are rather uncomfortable to wear for too long...
