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Experience: An Unexpected Breeze

My wife, Randy, and I sail the Catalina 320, Downtime, out of Mamaroneck, New York, at the western end of Long Island Sound among such

Partners in the Wind

Sometime this year, construction is expected to begin on a 704-megawatt offshore wind farm called Revolution Wind in southern New England waters. Inevitably with a

Know how: Sailing 101

To begin       You don’t need to know much about how a piston engine works in order to drive a car. You get in, turn on the engine, shift into gear, step on the gas, and off you go.      In a sailboat, though, you play a far more active role in harnessing the energy that propels you forward. You can get

Changing from Wind to Solar Energy

When I moved my new Nicholson 32 sloop, Alibi of Bridham, from a marina to a mooring this summer I also had to rethink my power requirements, since the change meant severing my umbilical to the grid. Although I had a powerful (read: noisy) wind generator as an alternative power source, along with a small photovoltaic (PV) solar array to keep the engine’s cranking battery topped up when the wind dies, I’ve since decided to lose the noisy windmill and go wholly solar.

Installing a Pole Mounted Solar Panel

I had to find a way to charge the batteries in my absence, which meant wind or solar power. I toyed with the idea of installing a wind generator, but it seemed like too much expense and hassle; and, lacking a bimini, there was nowhere convenient to place a solar panel where it wouldn’t be either in the shadow of the rig or in the way of the crew…

Knowing the Land and Sea Breezes

When sailing close to the coast it often seems that NOAA’s wind forecasts are maddeningly inaccurate. How could NOAA get it so wrong?

Let the Wind Do the Work

The first time I tried to pick up a mooring singlehanded in a stiff breeze, I approached from dead downwind in the usual manner and stopped the boat with the pickup buoy right where I wanted it.

How to Properly Use a Windvane

It’s not as easy as pressing a button, but once you learn to use a windvane you’ll never get stuck hand-steering again.

Flexible Solar Panels

Maintenance-free and weatherproof, Ganz Eco-energy semi-flexible solar panels provide clean, quiet, reliable power offshore

Eight Bells-Garry Hoyt

In 2001, SAIL’s then executive editor, Charles Mason, awarded Garry Hoyt the magazine’s Industry Award for Leadership, noting his “insatiable desire to make sailing simpler,”

a sailboat on the water

Rigging: Low Friction Rings

Adding low friction rings to your boat’s rigging repertoire can be a lighter, more affordable alternative to line management.

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