Westward was designed by the great Nathanael Herreshoff and launched in 1910 and at 96ft LWL (135ft LOA) the steel schooner was the largest yacht Herreshoff had built so far.…
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Fastest sailboats: The teams aiming to break 80 knots
On 24 November 2012, Paul Larsen and his Sailrocket team rewrote our understanding of the physics of sailboats, stamping their names indelibly in the record books as they set a…
Letters from the Lost Soul extract
The author of Letters from the Lost Soul Robert B Lipkin (better known as Bob Bitchin) has certainly done his time in deep water and shoal, much of it in…
First look: Velarca 135 – eco-friendly superyacht
Billed as the ‘next generation’ yacht for eco-conscious cruisers, the Velarca 135 combines a motoryacht-style hull and superstructure with a rather original rig. Finns Sami Lehtonen and Sanna-Kaisa Koivisto are…
First look: Sunreef 43 – superyacht catamaran
Sunreef has been dropping tantalising hints for some time about a 43m/140ft super sailing catamaran, and now the first renderings of this behemoth have landed. Details are still fairly sparse…
World’s coolest yachts: My Song
“What I love about My Song is the fact that somebody has been brave and said OK, I want to go cruising, I want to have comfort, but let’s make…
37th America’s Cup to be raced in Barcelona
Barcelona has been selected as the venue to host the 37th America’s Cup in 2024, it has been announced today, Tuesday 29th March 2022 by the Cup Defender, Emirates Team…
Long term test: Offshore sailing kit
Professional sailors spend a great deal of time in offshore sailing kit, and with Rubicon 3 expeditions heading out into some of the harshest conditions we need equipment that consistently…
Slingsby and Co win SailGP Season 2
Tom Slingsby’s Australian team have won the second season of SailGP, picking up the $1m prize purse for the second season running in what was a chaotic day on the…
4 best bluewater cruisers of 2022
The results are in from the European Yacht of the Year Awards as the judges have announced their top four bluewater cruisers of 2022. The European Yacht of the Year…
World’s coolest yacht: Pride of Baltimore II
“What sets Pride of Baltimore II above all the other boats I’ve encountered is the combination of the boat itself, her captain and crew, her history and what she represents.…
Sailing the new foiling Birdyfish dinghy
Based on an engineering school graduation project, three young Frenchmen have created the BirdyFish, a dinghy that aims to make foiling accessible to everyone. BirdyFish is the story of a…
How to handle heavy weather
On Tuesday 15 June 2021 our Swan 48 Isbjorn was positioned near 51° North, some 350 miles south-west of Fastnet Rock. She was in deep North Atlantic waters, charging north…
SailGP: $1 million purse up for grabs in San Fran
Season 2 of SailGP is set to draw to a close this weekend as the eight competing teams, sailing their foiling F50s, line up for the SailGP Final in San…
Bluewater sailing with young children
While going on a bluewater adventure with your family is a popular dream, the advantages of having a child that can understand instructions, occupy themselves with a book, and have…
Masterclass: Expert sail handling on larger yachts
It’s only really developments in sail handling technology that have allowed the size of boats to increase so much: we’ve been building yachts of 60ft for decades, but they often…
Best paddle board pump: Manual and electric options
Inflatable paddle boards now make up the vast majority of recreational SUPs around the world. And of course inflatables need blowing up, hence the sound of pumping punctuates many a…
Boat test: X-56 The Xtra mile
Large cruising yachts are enormously appealing, but it’s imperative that they’re easy to tame in deteriorating weather. Yet if this is achieved through making the boat underpowered it will be…
Second hand boats: buying an ex-charter yacht
Yacht charter companies increasingly own new yachts for only a few years, selling off sooner to ensure they can offer the latest models to customers. Meanwhile an older, heavily used…
Upwind headsail trimming: Top tips from a pro
The challenge of headsail trimming, according to Stir Fry, is understanding at any given moment what the team is aiming to achieve. On a busy race course, those aims are…