Romance Reborn
One hears over and over again of the “romance” attendant to boats, sailing and the sea, but if you ask someone why he or she sails, I’ll bet that the R-word pops up a respectable distance down the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Grand Day Out
Back in the day I had a yen to do a Whitbread race, as it was then. I envisioned myself steering resolutely down towering Southern Ocean swells, setting new boatspeed records to the acclaim of my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Great Escape
As yet another year draws to a close I am reminded once again of what a great sport, pastime, call it what you will, we sailors enjoy. A late fall delivery from Bermuda to the Caribbean proved the...
View ArticleHome is Where the Boat is
New England can be a cruel place to sail. You never can tell just what the months of March and April will bring, so you have no idea when your boat will actually touch the water. Woe betide you if you...
View ArticleTrue Solitude
The expedition yacht Seal lies at anchor in a shallow bay on Isla Navarino, on the Chilean side of the Beagle Channel, while its crew of charter guests explores an isolated homestead. In the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Best of Intentions
I don’t recall ever having looked forward to the start of a sailing season as much as this one. At the end of March I was still negotiating snowbanks on sidewalks, and it was impossible to get near...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Watering Holes: An Oasis in the Ocean
Of all the watering holes frequented by sailors, few approach the legendary status of Peter’s Café Sport in Horta, on the island of Faial in the Azores archipelago. Café Sport has given succour to...
View ArticleA Cup Half Empty
The 34th America’s Cup went down in history as possibly the most exciting match race series ever at this level; it was the best possible advertisement for multihull sailing, showcasing its speed, grace...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Just Launched: Carbon Beauty
When Hanse Yachts founder Michael Schmidt sold his company a few years ago, it seemed the European boatbuilding community had lost one of its canniest operators. Not only did Schmidt build the company...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Einstein on the Water
We can all be grateful that Einstein was a better physicist than he was a sailor. While the academic community celebrates the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s presentation of his theory of...
View ArticleGearing Up
Having spent many years sailing in England, where there is no climate as such, just weather (as the Brits love to say, with just a touch of bitterness), transitioning to coastal sailing in the United...
View ArticleThe Purist & the Pragmatist
Way back in the dark ages of the early 1980s, when I first happened upon a skipper foolish enough to take me offshore, there were few labor saving devices on your typical cruising sailboat. In fact, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Push-Button Sailing
Image from Jeanneau My thoughts on labor-saving devices a couple of issues ago didn’t go down too well with a few of our readers, who all but accused me of encouraging slothfulness among sailors. Too...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Call of the Sea
Do you remember how old you were when you first dreamed about running away to sea? Me neither, though I expect it was after some parental discipline regarding tormenting younger siblings or eating all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Old Guys and Girls Rule
Photo by Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi Even people who couldn’t give two hoots about sailboat racing have heard about the brutal beatdown that is the Rolex Sydney Hobart race. Every year, on the day after...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Repairing Your Boat in Exotic Places
The definition of cruising as repairing your boat in exotic places entered the realm of clichés long ago, but that doesn’t make it any less true. There’s no end of irony in the fact that while you can...
View ArticleGone Sailing
As far as I’m concerned, June is the best month of the season—with the usual caveats, familiar to all who sail in the Northeast. First, the boat must have been launched on time, which presupposes a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Going small, going now
Aside from one rather unfortunate dinghy-sailing adventure as a teenager, I have managed to steer clear of smaller boats for most of my life. This was a conscious decision; I didn’t defect from power...
View ArticleCruising or Racing?
We’ve all heard the old saw that all it takes to turn a cruiser into a racer is the sight of another boat catching up to us. Sometimes true, sometimes not. Casting a critical eye up the sails to check...
View ArticleA Kindly Boat
A recent offshore delivery on a high-performance catamaran got me thinking about the things that really matter in a sailing boat—specifically, the design, build and equipment elements that combine to...
View Article
