Many sailors embarking on ocean passages will take along the obligatory storm jib and trysail, with the vague idea that they may come in handy. Few sailors, however, have a real understanding of how and when to set them.
Q: I fly an asymmetrical spinnaker from a sprit on my 35-footer and was wondering about how best to trim the tack line. I’ve seen
TIME TO BUY NEW SAILS? Q: I have a very old set of Dacron sails on my Catalina. Friends have told me I should have
Foiling boats bring the racing classic into the 21st century The Volvo Ocean Race recently announced some design changes for the 2019-20 event, and I
TIME FOR NEW SAILS? Q: I have had the same Dacron sails on my boat for five years, and the previous owner had them for
There are few accolades in sailing more sought after than the title “record holder,” and there are few records more sought after than that for
WRINKLY SAILS Q: When I see photographs of raceboats, I notice all kinds of wrinkles in their mainsails. This is true even of small boats
Q: My friends tell me that I need to “power up” my mainsail in light winds, but I am not really sure what that means.
It used to be simple. In the old days, your sailmaker offered you one kind of mainsail, and sailors were generally happy with the result.
WHAT’S WITH THOSE RINGS? Q: I’ve been seeing a bunch of boats at boat shows where each jib sheet passes through an aluminum ring, which
Our 1979 Cheoy Lee 41, Avocet, was anchored in Morro Bay during the worst storm system the state of California had seen in two decades.
Note: This story is excerpted from SAIL Contributing Editor Christopher Birch’s upcoming book The Four Seasons of Boat Maintenance—a compendium of lessons learned during his
In the May issue, Charles Scott writes about sailing OPBs—other people’s boats—and a host of voyages that he’s been on thanks to generous invites, offers
A little know how will save you a lot of stress on passage.
The wind built faster than it was forecasted to. We ate dinner with full sail, close-reaching on a building SSW’ly breeze. Before dark we had
Sailing on a schedule is famously a recipe for disaster, but on charter you don’t have much of a choice. The adventure is what you make of it.
Francesca Clapcich has announced the onboard crew roster for the inaugural Ocean Race Atlantic. First up is Will Harris (Great Britain) who was Clapcich’s co-skipper
A spin around the steaming cauldron of the Aeolian Islands makes a bewitching visit to the heart of the Mediterranean.
After a long absence, one sailor finds herself sailing the waters of her youth and contemplating years of change in all its forms.
The 52nd annual St. Thomas International Regatta (April 3-5) wrapped up on Easter Sunday with nearly 40 boats from all three U.S. Virgin Islands, the
