In 1995 my family and I circumnavigated Cuba, collecting data for my book, Cuba: a Cruising Guide. I had assumed then that relations between the United States and Cuba would soon be normalized, and that the lifting of the embargo would unleash a flood of American sailors eager to explore Cuban waters.
Legendary cruising boats come in all forms. Wandering the docks at a boat show in La Rochelle, France, I came across an unassuming, boxy little boat that has achieved iconic status among the French.
Donna Lange is not just a grandmother of 11—she’s a musician, songwriter, registered nurse, delivery captain, the founder of OceansWatch North America and one of the few American female sailors to circumnavigate solo. In 2007, Donna sailed around the globe and stopped twice along the way. Now she’s planning to again circumnavigate solo on her Southern Cross 28 Inspired Insanity, this time non-stop.
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.
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!”
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—
Peter Isler’s sailing resume is pure pedigree: two America’s Cup wins as navigator (1987, 1988); Intercollegiate Sailor of the Year while at Yale University (1976); world championship titles; and line honors/course records in the Newport-Bermuda Race, the Transpac and the Transatlantic Race.
Many of sailing’s great names have won the Melges 32 World Championship, but until now these wins were always one-offs. Jason Carroll, 37, of New York City, grew up sailing on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake before matriculating at Harvard, where he sailed Larks and Interclubs.
One of the five most difficult passages in the world, worst in the Caribbean, impossible; this was almost all my wife, Josie, and I heard when we announced our plan to sail the 500 miles from Cartagena, Colombia, nonstop to the island of Bonaire.
The warnings are ubiquitous. On the plaque in the Tobermory distillery that declares: “Today’s rain is tomorrow’s whiskey.”
Having set ourselves the task of transforming our recently purchased Open 66 ex-Vendée Globe racer, NV, into a performance family cruiser, my partner, Timo, and
Whether they’re at the end of their collegiate career or after aging out of a summer sailing program, a lot of young sailors have a
“What’s the joke about heavy weather? You know it when you see it.” Figure 8 singlehander Randall Reeves drew laughs from the Cruising Club of
The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. Some of it is timing. Some of it is just the way of
There’s so much going on in the news that you would be in good company if you didn’t realize the first major storm to hit
The 2022 Star Worlds featured six days of intense racing where the final and deciding gold medal win went to Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi
Join Editor-in-Chief of PassageMaker Jeff Moser for a dive into 3D forward looking sonar technology with Bob Arrington and Matthew Zimmerman.
Brian Thompson could have become just another financial type on Wall Street, which would have been surprising enough in itself for a Brit who grew
In 1980, I owned a 26ft fiberglass ketch named Recycle, a full-keeled vessel with a 10 hp Honda outboard in a well behind the tiller.
For the past century—through a world war, 18 Olympics, and a pandemic—Star Class world champions have earned the honor of carrying a gold star on
