The Cal40 has iconic status in the United States and was a game-changer in the 1960s as a true racer/cruiser. Designed by Bill Lapworth, it has a radical flat-bottomed hull…
Helen Fretter
Editor
World’s coolest yachts: Cherub
The Cherub is a 12ft two-person dinghy with a single trapeze (twin in the UK), designed in 1951. It evolved into an international development class, with a wide range of…
Golden Globe Race starts: 16 sailors prepare for 9 month isolation
Sixteen sailors – 15 men, and one woman – started from Les Sables d’Olonne today, on the 2022 Golden Globe Race, the ‘retro’ non-stop solo circumnavigation that is expected to…
Alex Thomson backs ‘rookie’ Canada ocean racing campaign
When solo ocean racing skipper Alex Thomson announced that he was stepping aside from competitive sailing after the 2020 Vendée Globe, he didn’t give many clues as to what he…
Epic Round Britain and Ireland Race decided by minutes
A flurry of competitors in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race crossed the finish line in Cowes today after an intense race which saw many boats take a full…
Kevin Escoffier: Tough guy of the sea
We all know how French solo skippers get so darn good. They move from youth sailing to Mini Transat and Figaro classes, where they drill for years. Then the lucky…
Extraordinary boats: the new radical PRB IMOCA 60
As if the new PRB IMOCA 60 were not eye-catching enough, the story behind it is truly remarkable. The reason Kevin Escoffier needed a new IMOCA in a hurry is…
British Women’s America’s Cup pathway scheme seeks talented sailors
Hannah Mills and Ben Ainslie, the most decorated female and male Olympic sailors of all time, today announced the Athena Pathway Programme, a high performance pathway scheme for talented female and…
Inside SailGP: what next for sailing’s greatest show?
‘Box office stuff’ is how Ben Ainslie described the opening day of last month’s SailGP event, in Chicago, USA. And truly, it was: the sun shone, the wind blew, the…
Behind the scenes film goes inside British Olympic sailing squad
Tomorrow sees the release of Chasing Tokyo, a unique behind the scenes documentary filmed inside the British Olympic sailing squad on the road to the Tokyo Games. It’s an emotional…
WATCH: Loic Escoffier rescued after capsizing 70 miles south of Fastnet Rock
Loic Escoffier has been rescued off the coast of Ireland after capsizing in his ORC 50 while racing solo in the Drheam Cup. Loic Escoffier, who is the brother of…
Crew rescued from upturned hull of new Farr X2 after keel loss
In a remarkable rescue two sailors have been rescued off the coast of New South Wales, Australia, after the keel detached causing a capsize on the new Farr X2 they were sailing.…
Australia win SailGP Chicago, but Canadians surprise
‘A box office show’ is how Ben Ainslie described the US SailGP venue at Navy Pier Chicago, this weekend. It’s hard to imagine a better venue for Larry Ellison and…
Is fresh water or salt water faster to sail in? SailGP teams find out in Chicago
Do you sail faster in fresh water or salt water? It’s a question you’ve probably never had to ask yourself, but it’s one the SailGP teams in Chicago this weekend…
Giant schooner Eleonora sunk after after being struck by ship
The 49.5m Van der Graaf schooner Eleonora E, a replica of the record-breaking schooner Westward, launched in 2000, was struck by a 60m offshore supply vessel in Port Tárraco, Tarragona,…
Coolest yachts: Comanche
I was so fortunate to be working with an owner in Jim Clark who had a vision of all speed/no compromise. He was dared by a couple of Australian 100-footer…
The 1,426 day race: Golden Globe sailor Mark Sinclair completes circumnavigation
Australian solo skipper Mark Sinclair, who is widely known by the name ‘Captain Coconut’, crossed the finish line of the Golden Globe Race off Les Sables d’Olonne, France, yesterday afternoon,…
How the TP52 fleet uses America’s Cup tech
As the TP52 fleet sweeps around the bottom mark off Palma, eyes turn to the sky. This isn’t a predictable day’s racing in Mallorca. The 2021 Rolex TP52 World Championships…
Sail GP runs out of boats: Outteridge grounded for start of season 3
In a bizarre symptom of the rapid growth of the SailGP circuit, one of the event’s top teams – Team Japan, skippered by Nathan Outteridge – is stuck ashore as…
FlyingNikka 60ft custom foiler takes flight on first sail
FlyingNikka, a custom-designed 60ft racing yacht designed to be the first fully foiling Mini Maxi, took flight during her first day of test sails off the coast of Valencia, Spain.…