Sail Magazine

by Kimball Livingston

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

Kenny Speaks

by Kimball Livingston, Posted April 12, 2010

Little-known fact: Puma's store in Boston, the U.S. stopover for the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race, is now the sports apparel maker's hottest store.I got that small but meaningful tidbit out of a sit-down with Puma Ocean Racing skipper Ken Read on the final day of competition at Les Voile de St. Barth, where Read spent the week aboard David George's winning maxi sloop, Rambler. With Puma

The View from a Moth

by Kimball Livingston, Posted March 16, 2010

Island Packet Estero

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 26, 2010

Using a bow thruster to get a 36-foot boat off the dock was new to me, but fair to say, the folks at Island Packet know what they're doing. Without the thruster we would have required a heap of pulpit shoving and gear shifting to escape that narrow corner of the marina, so our easy exit to San Francisco Bay provided the perfect introduction to the Estero, the latest offering from a company where

So, What's Next?

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 16, 2010

What does it mean to have an Italian Challenger of Record for America's Cup 34? Let's start with spirit, enthusiasm, gusto, sport pursued con brio. Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino team was one of four (yes, four) Italian entries in the 2007 Cup, and the game was more fun while the Italians were in it.Expect more of the same. With the Club Nautico di Roma in the hunt there will be

USA wins America's Cup 33

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 14, 2010

The struggling Defender crossed the finish line flying a protest flag—5 minutes 26 seconds in arrears in a graying twilight, temperatures dropping (what, you forgot gloves?) —but the second and final race of the 33rd America’s Cup match will be remembered as a second drubbing by the

Mode Mod

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 13, 2010

You know it’s early in Race 1 if Alinghi is ahead Gilles Martin-Raget/BORIt’s cold in Valencia the day after Race One, threatening rain, windy and gray and gloomy. Time to go sailing. No, not the crew of the catamaran Alinghi 5, seen here, where “re-mode” would be the theme,

Two Camps, Two Moods at AC33

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 13, 2010

It wouldn’t be fair to say the mood was gloomy as Alinghi 5 docked out on Sunday morning to face match point in America’s Cup 33. It would, however, be fair to say that the crowd was thin. The resolve of the team and the cheers of family did not match the restrained ebullience in and around the BMW Oracle Racing team, which has every reason to be hopeful of winning Race Two and the

Imagine

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 12, 2010

While the advantage ebbed and flowed in the prestart and in the first few minutes of the first leg, the challenger USA overcame a 650 meter deficit and passed Alinghi just 15 minutes into the first race of America's Cup 33. From there, the Americans never looked back. It's 1-0 in a best-of-three match.Imagine you're Jimmy Spithill and you're no longer a

Patience Please

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 10, 2010

Define slow news day:"Paul Cayard walking around the media center with a EuroSport microphone interviewing journalists."Define buzz:"Media Center staff walking through at noon with the surprise words, 'We’re racing. We’re racing'."Define letdown:"When three minutes later you see this screen."So much for Wednesday. This time it was about too much seaway

Whither Whether

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 9, 2010

My second Valencia assignment for SAIL Magazine is as different from the first as I expected. Winter versus summer. Compressed versus extended. Fractious rather than (much of the time) upbeat. Already, with just one race day lost, there are conversations around me about who will have to leave, and when, before a best-of-three match ends.Camp