If you want to go on a charter vacation, you are spoilt for choices. Fleets of new or nearly new monohulls and catamarans await you in any number of exotic locations.
Fleecy cotton candy clouds were stacked high across the southern horizon that summer afternoon as my Hobie 16 catamaran, Kat Baloo, ghosted silently along the low-timbered shoreline, leading us closer to the shipping channel into the Gulf of Mexico.
Years ago, my wife, Sandy, and I heard about a clump of islands about 40 miles off the coast of southern Italy, just north of Sicily in the Tyrrhenian Sea—a little archipelago known as the Aeolian Islands. The ragged, volcanic island group includes few natural, protective harbors, but plenty of “sheltered” anchorages that are considered suitable for hooking into, so long as the weather permits.
On the last day of the 2013 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, a crew of eight spirited Dutch women invited me aboard Tiger Pause, a Beneteau 50.5, to race bareboat with them and their hired French skipper, Chantal Medrinal.
Around the world, there are only a few sailing events with a recipe potent enough to capture a sailor’s senses so effectively that they too become immediate repeat customers. For those events that have mastered the recipe, the result is a regatta with a long life.
We thought it would be interesting to poll a number of SAIL’s writers to see what marine electronics they actually own and use. Their boats should be bristling with the latest and fanciest gear, right? Well, yes—and no…
Esli and Carolijn decided to spend a few weeks in the San Blas islands, a collection of 365 bounty-islands along the Caribbean coast of Panama. Before long, they found out they never wanted to leave.
We dropped anchor in the lee of an uninhabited island and pulled the dinghy up the sandy beach. Soon we had a campfire blazing and the entire island to ourselves.
Imagine sailing 4,198 feet above sea level on a lake that’s saltier than the ocean and larger than the state of Rhode Island—a lake where sudden storms erupt from nearby mountains and conditions shift from glassy to gale-force in an instant.
If you promise not to tell too many people, I’ll let you in on a little cruising secret: Bocas del Toro. Located on the Caribbean coast of Panama near the Costa Rican border, this unspoiled archipelago of nine big islands and many smaller ones creates an inland sea where the breezes are so tranquil the waves rarely exceed knee height. And because Panama is south of the hurricane zone, there is no “season.” You can safely cruise here all year round.
Adding low friction rings to your boat’s rigging repertoire can be a lighter, more affordable alternative to line management.
The winner of the CCA’s seamanship medal says that accepting the new reality during a sinking situation is critical to safety.
In love with wooden boats from the start, he found a unique Alden design that continues to fulfill his sailing dreams.
Skinny water and all, a shoulder-season charter in Belize makes for a great escape.
The May 2025 issue of SAIL is here, and we’ve put a special focus on adventure.
The US Sailing Safety at Sea seminar in Annapolis is all about hands-on learning and gaining new perspectives about safety, whether racing or cruising, offshore or coastal.
Harken’s new course aims to provide practical, hands on training.
With young, local talent on display in dynamic contemporary designs, the 51st St. Thomas International Regatta was a celebration of great racing and the next generation taking the lead.
Groundbreakers in yacht design, magazine publishing, and racing are among 11 chosen for the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
What if we could simplify the equipment at the top of our masts? Instead of a farm of devices, take an approach that cuts down
