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Opinion

Windshifts: Feeling Guilty?

We’ve all heard the old adage, “the two happiest days in a boat owner’s life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it.”

Windshifts: The Many Fs of Little Farmers Cay

I’m racing over the impossibly blue waters of a very feisty Exuma Sound and to port there’s nothing but fiberglass-hungry rocks as far as I can see. The forecast warned of 25-knot winds, which seems about right, but the waves are sure a lot bigger than the three feet they had forecast.

Windshifts: Reefing the Deck Chairs

At sea, the boundary between dream and reality can prove rather elusive. Could my shipmate actually be waking me with these confusing words: “Ray, wake up! We’re way off course, and we need to reef the deck chairs!”

45 Years of Sailing

On SAIL’s 45th anniversary, we look back at 45 inventions, developments and refinements that changed the way we sail. The year is 1970. Richard Nixon is in the White House. Men wear long sideburns, oversized sunglasses, medallions, velour shirts and platform shoes—

Sailing Memories: The Pot O’ Gold

Dawn on the morning of my 40th birthday, singlehanding 300 miles offshore, I had just wrapped up an ambitious, five-year work stint that provided for the sailboat of my dreams plus a kitty to take her cruising.

Waterlines: Wax On, Wax Off

It doesn’t matter how many children you have, or how much practice you’ve had raising them, one thing holds true: you get to start over with each one.

Waterlines: A Day on Passage

Why is my family instantly starving the moment we head out to sea? Erik claims it is brought on by boredom, but honestly! We left the anchorage just six minutes ago.

Letter from the Editor: On Anchoring Laws in Florida

One of the many things I love about sailing is that it is one of the last great freedoms left to us. Raise your anchor and head out to sea and once the coast is a line on the horizon, you’ve left in your wake the world of restrictive regulations and petty laws.

Viewpoint: Got the Boat Show Blues

Sitting at a café overlooking “Palace Row,” where the big catamarans floated at the Miami Boat Show, I had a startling realization. Most of the potential buyers I observed being passed from greeter to salesperson to loan specialist to closer were the same people you might see in a Ferrari showroom.

Voice of Experience: A Wayward Gust

My first boat was a poorly maintained Thompson 21 powerboat that broke down so often I decided to try sailing. After all, having wind as the motive power and an outboard kicker when that failed would, in theory, provide the redundancy to keep me out of trouble and my family safe.

Beneteau GT 40

Beneteau GT 40

Sporty, sleek, and comfortable—meet Beneteau’s new and versatile GT 40.

Photo by Adam Cove

Cruising Off The Grid

When getting away means more than just a weekend out of the slip, here are some ideas for achieving range and independence when you go cruising.

Photo By Lydia Mullan

The Long Road to Newport

After sinking in the Newport-Bermuda Race, one sailor makes her slow way back to offshore racing—and maybe sets a new Annapolis-Newport record in the process.

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