The best way to get a better boat is to improve the one you already have, I have long believed. Given many vessels are not set up as efficiently as…
Seamanship
What I learned from saving three boats during a record-breaking Force 12+ storm
Storm Eunice hit the UK on 18 February with the highest winds ever recorded in England at 122mph at the Needles, Isle of Wight. That’s literally off the scale: the…
“I had a banana for a mast” 300 miles offshore: Lessons learned from a mid-Atlantic knockdown
Golden Globe Race entrant and former Clipper Race skipper Guy Waites suffers mast failure 300 miles from the Azores
Anchoring a boat: 6 tips to keep you safe
If space is tight or the weather looks unsettled, it’s worth having a few skills up your sleeve to make the most of a tricky anchorage. Here are 6 tips...
What safety kit do you need for watersports?
Having the right safety kit for watersports is essential. I kayak every day and I also have a small motorboat which I use for coastal sailing. Often I sail alone,…
Dismasted on a delivery trip: How we fixed it and lessons learned
Rob Crabbe recalls the rig of a new yacht breaking on a delivery trip from Dartmouth to the Southampton Boat Show
Dramatic footage shows moment tow-line snaps in rescue of dismasted yacht
The 28ft French vessel was spotted on Sunday by Alfie and Ceylan Moore, who were sailing across the Atlantic on the ARC+ rally with friend Stu Finch and Alfie’s mum…
How to sail off a mooring
In many situations, leaving the mooring under power is the only sensible option. But if conditions allow, why not spare the engine and sail off instead? David Harding offers some…
Violent storm rages through Portugal boatyard – 60-knot winds from the top of a boat cradle!
Witnessing a violent storm from your boat is always unnerving, especially when it hits without warning. Fortunately we were in the yard and not at anchor. The Algarve in Portugal…
Trapped in thick fog with my 8-year-old daughter whilst on passage to France
Navigating through fog is frightening. At 91 years of age my sailing career is over, but I can’t grumble as I have some wonderful memories. Recently, whilst reading about the…
Boat launch checks for getting back on the water
Launching your boat might feel a bit daunting, but these simple checks from insurance broker Steve Risk will ensure your boat’s in good condition to start the season
When lightning strikes – how to protect your boat from lightning at sea
Lightning never strikes twice – a turn of phrase often used to reassure someone who’s had a bad experience, implying that it won’t happen to them again. However, as unlikely…
Make a grounding system to protect your boat from lightning strikes
A surprising amount of research has been carried out into lightning strikes on yachts and boats, much of it in Florida but some in New Zealand, Australia and other countries.…
Lightning strikes at sea – advice from a marine surveyor
Over the years I’ve attended a few lightning strikes suffered by yachts on behalf of insurance companies. In the UK it’s not such a common issue as, say, in the…
Shipwrecked in a 14ft keelboat then rescued by a cargo ship
Yann Quenet is a genius from Brittany I would love to meet. He is an inventor, designer, and builder of boats, mostly of marine plywood/epoxy, a material I have a…
Sculling – a useful skill for any dinghy owner using just one oar over the stern
Single oar sculling is the art of propelling a boat with an oar over the stern. It’s a useful way of moving a loaded dinghy that’s too laden for you…
The worst boat I ever surveyed
Back in the 1970s I used to do a small amount of yacht surveying while working in a boat yard. Insurance companies in those days didn’t require qualifications or third-party…
Stay with the boat or take to the liferaft? Escoffier’s impossible decision
Could you describe what happened? It’s still hard for me to believe it; to believe that I broke the boat inside the wave at 90 degrees. I should have taken…
Vendée skipper Escoffier rescued from liferaft
Kevin Escoffier, the 40-year-old skipper of PRB, was rescued by fellow competitor Jean Le Cam this morning, after spending 12 hours in his liferaft off the coast of South Africa.…
Alone at sea with whooping cough
What could be safer than being alone in the middle of the ocean during a pandemic? This has been a frequent response to the news that this year’s Original Singlehanded…