Sail Magazine

by Peter Nielsen

Peter Nielsen is SAIL’s Editor-in-Chief.

It’s Good To Vent

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 23, 2012

Looking at a modern sailboat, with its profusion of opening portlights and hatches, you could be excused for thinking all boats are so well ventilated. Not so.

Flagship: Gunfleet 58

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 19, 2012

When Oyster founder Richard Matthews sold the company a few years ago, it was a safe bet that he wouldn’t be able to resist the siren call of boatbuilding for long. The Gunfleet 58 is the second design from Matthews’s new company, Gunfleet Marine.

Lagoon Custom 100

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 17, 2012

Sometimes you need more living space than the average 100-foot monohull can provide. That’s when you turn to a boat like this Van Peteghem – Lauriot Prevost (VPLP) designed supercat.

Best Boat 2012: Bayraider 20

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 10, 2012

When SAIL’s judges were weighing the candidates for the 2012 Best Boats daysailer award, there was no dissension over the winner: the BayRaider 20 scored a unanimous thumbs-up for its blend of portability, performance, good looks, build quality and innovation.

From the Editor: Days of Joy

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 7, 2012

Surely everyone who has sailed offshore has experienced that same elevation of the spirit, an upwelling of the life force, or whatever you choose to call it; you’d have to be dead inside not to.

Just Launched: Alpha Cat

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 3, 2012

It’s great to see companies like Gunboat bringing big-boat manufacturing back to the United States. The company opened a new North Carolina yard in May, and we can look forward to seeing a new range of high-end catamarans appearing there in the near future.

Recharge Your Refrigerator

by Peter Nielsen, Posted July 5, 2012

Ever had refrigerator angst? It’s a dreadful state of mind that consumes you when your reefer doesn’t deliver the goods. It’s been known to paralyze cruisers for weeks on end, trapping them in exotic ports while they lay in wait for that rare, elusive creature known as a marine refrigeration technician.

From the Editor: Losses at Sea

by Peter Nielsen, Posted July 3, 2012

On Saturday, April 14, I was enjoying a perfect sailing day at the Strictly Sail Pacific boat show in Oakland, California. More accurately, I was watching a steady stream of boats heading out to enjoy a perfect sailing day—racing, cruising, or just messing about—while wishing I was among them. I had no idea that just 30-some miles away, a tragedy was unfolding in a sailboat race.

10 Cool Things to Take on Your Summer Cruise

by Peter Nielsen, Posted July 2, 2012

It's just you, your sails, the wind and water. You don't need anything else to enjoy a good summer cruise. Oh, who are we kidding? There's all kinds of fun and useful gear, and our ten favorites for this summer are sure to take your next cruise into some serious fun territory.

Seaward 46RK

by Peter Nielsen, Posted June 25, 2012

It’s fitting that one of the most interesting big cruisers I’ve sailed in a long while came out of a small Florida yard that builds trailerable sailboats. No mass-production builder could have come up with the Seaward 46RK—it wouldn’t have got past the focus groups.