SAIL.SailMagazine

We here in the United States tend to think of European boatbuilding in terms of the big series production builders who export their boats here: Dufour, Hanse, Bavaria, Lagoon and Fountaine-Pajot come to mind, as do Jeanneau and Beneteau.

$27 million is by no means pocket change. But that’s how much Lee Tawney is asking for to fund the construction of the National Sailing Hall of Fame in Annapolis. As director of the Hall of Fame, Tawney is traveling around the country in pursuit of potential donors to help fund the project

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is approaching the protection of endangered whales from a whole new perspective. Due to the rapidly decreasing numbers of the North Atlantic right whale, NOAA has developed an iPad app to help reduce the leading cause of right whale deaths: collisions with ships.

There’s nothing more disappointing than test sailing a high-octane sport boat in a drifter. But that wasn’t a problem with the new 22ft, 9in J/70. For our sail trial we had a steady 20-knot southerly, gusting over 25 knots and kicking up a sharp chop off Bristol, Rhode Island.

If you were looking for the ideal boat show venue, your first choice probably wouldn’t be a German city 110 miles from the sea. Yet the nautical extravaganza in Dusseldorf, on the banks of the mighty Rhine, has grown to be the world’s biggest boat and watersport show.