Sail Magazine

by Kimball Livingston

All on assignment, Kimball Livingston has sailed the oceans blue. And he's been to Fink, Texas, too.

Multi 23

by Kimball Livingston, Posted May 9, 2012

I saw 19.9 knots on my handheld GPS, and I know we went faster than that, but at the time I wasn’t paying close attention to any GPS readout. The breeze was gusting into the 20s, and we were joking about whether or not the Marina del Rey harbor police would nail us for speeding.

Stanley Dashew's Favorite Boat of All

by Kimball Livingston, Posted April 16, 2012

Stanley Aaron Dashew couldn't wait to show off his boat. The careful engineering. The attention to detail. It was all ready for some long-distance voyaging, but, frankly, he’ll never get to do that again, because at this point he can't walk, and he can't talk.

Profile: Frank Butler's Catalina Launch

by Kimball Livingston, Posted April 5, 2012

Frank Butler started out as a guy who just liked to make stuff, which is pretty much how he’s ended up, as well. It’s a California story, for the most part, and yes, in some ways it has been “a long strange trip.”

Cup Watch: America's Cup Controversy Continues

by Kimball Livingston, Posted April 4, 2012

With the 2012 America’s Cup World Series kicking off April 7 in Naples, Italy, and with construction of an America’s Cup village underway on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, why is it that America’s Cup 34 is still so controversial.

How to Create a Deck Dam

by Kimball Livingston, Posted March 13, 2012

When Mark Edwards, a rigger from Auckland, New Zealand, molded the deck for his 50-footer Relapse, he deliberately included raised toerails that trap water on deck for most of the length of the boat: as in, all the way back to the fill-point for the water tanks.

Behind the Scenes of the Cup Jury

by Kimball Livingston, Posted March 1, 2012

What’s not new in the otherwise “all new” America’s Cup is backroom intrigue. Only a true Cup junkie would follow the jury rulings posted on the Cup’s official website, but a picture is emerging of a stark divide. On the one hand, we have the Emirates Team New Zealand/Luna Rossa partnership, in which the two campaigns plan to design and test their boats in tandem.

Engineers Race to Create the Winning Boat for America's Cup 34

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 1, 2012

Somewhere out there, America’s Cup 2013 is being won right now. During the recess before AC45 World Series racing resumes in April in Naples, Italy, design and engineering teams are racing to complete the first generation of AC72 catamarans eligible to race in America’s Cup 34.

Wings, the Next Generation

by Kimball Livingston, Posted November 30, 2011

“If you’re making 25 knots upwind and 40 knots downwind, tacking on someone and gassing them just isn’t happening,” Cayard says. “In seriously-overpowered boats, the match will be about who can actually get the boat around the course and figure out how to avoid that extra gybe that costs you maybe 20 seconds, maybe 250 meters.”

A Game of Efficiency

by Kimball Livingston, Posted November 16, 2011

Inspiring as it is to see the one-design AC45s racing in US waters, it stirs an appetite for the custom AC72s yet to come.

Luck on the Transpac

by Kimball Livingston, Posted October 31, 2011

Guy Wilding had been out in his kayak every day for months—ever since moving to Honolulu from Australia—and July 20 seemed like any other day until his paddle broke and he was dumped into the drink. This wasn’t good, but Wilding swam to his 18-foot kayak and grabbed on. He then tried to get in—to “rescue,” in kayak-speak—but it didn’t happen. So there he was. Minutes went by. The tide was