Whether you’re cruising or racing, an adjustable backstay is a helpful device for changing sail shape and controlling forestay tension for improved upwind and downwind performance. By dialing in the right backstay tension you can increase boatspeed. Regardless of whether you have a masthead or fractional rig, using an adjustable backstay is essential to good sail shape. While
Most halyard winches are not powerful enough to hoist a 200-pound sailor up a mast, so you need to find a way to let your primary winches take the strain if you need to hoist someone up the rig. Heres what we do on our boat, where the main halyard runs via a rope clutch (not seen in the photo) to a small winch on the mast. First, we loop a spare length of half-inch line a few times around the
If you know how cold it is inside your refrigerator, you can perhaps troubleshoot an electrical or mechanical failure in time to save the boxs contents from spoiling. A thermometer inside the box doesnt tell you anything unless you open the box and check it. Thats why I like to use a wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer of the type thats readily available in most hardware stores. I put the
If you spend any time anchored in warm water, your anchor chain will attract enough growth to make bringing it back on deck a messy operation. Ive watched cruisers whose anchors have been down for a while take a full day to scrub each link of chain clean. I have a better and easier way.Because growth on anchor chain will be limited to the section of the chain that extends from the surface
We used to have to scrub our deck to remove the rust bleeding off the base of our steel propane tank. Then my husband, Dave, cut a piece of garden hose long enough to completely enclose the tank’s circular base. He slit the hose lengthwise and fit it over the lip of the tank base. The hose keeps our deck free of rust and protects it from getting dinged by the metal tank. Don’t forget to remove
Here’s a maneuver that can make it easier to get someone who is not injured out of the water. First, have the person in the water is face you, and then ask them to raise their arms straight up and cross them over their head. When their arms are crossed, grasp their wrists firmly with your hands—put your right hand on their right wrist and your left on their left. When you pull up on their wrists
Recent years have seen a minor revolution in downwind sailing. We have witnessed not only the rebirth of the a symmetrical spinnaker (A-sail), better-designed and stronger-built symmetrical spinnakers (S-sails), but even more recently, the Parasailor2, a sail that might lead many long-distance cruisers to rethink their off-the-wind inventories.We tested these these
Recent years have seen a minor revolution in downwind sailing. We have witnessed not only the rebirth of the a symmetrical spinnaker (A-sail), better-designed and stronger-built symmetrical spinnakers (S-sails), but even more recently, the Parasailor2, a sail that might lead many long-distance cruisers to rethink their off-the-wind inventories.We tested these these
Recent years have seen a minor revolution in downwind sailing. We have witnessed not only the rebirth of the a symmetrical spinnaker (A-sail), better-designed and stronger-built symmetrical spinnakers (S-sails), but even more recently, the Parasailor2, a sail that might lead many long-distance cruisers to rethink their off-the-wind inventories.We tested these these
Staying aboard is a terrible idea! says Bob Adriance, the Technical Director at Boat US, which insures some 200,000 boats in the U.S. There is little if anything you can do to protect your boat and its extremely dangerous. People have been killed.Adriance advises that location is the biggest factor in determining how safe your boat will be during a hurricane. A small seawall
The four monster trimarans taking part in the 14,000-mile Brest Atlantiques race, from Brest, France, to Brazil and then Cape Town and back, found themselves
When I was a younger man, with less money and a stronger back, I was a regular anchoring snob. Free parking, I believed, is a
He might be the graybeard of the glamorous Ultime trimaran class, but veteran singlehander Francis Joyon is rocking his 60s with a new burst of
The fall boat shows have come and gone, winter is settling in, and sailing may seem like a distant dream as you hold your breath
It began, as Randall Reeves puts it, as a simple idea—to solo-circumnavigate the Americas and Antarctica in one season, making a double loop of the
Q: I am noticing more and more cruising boats carrying high-tech membrane sails, and I was wondering why that is. — Carter Dickens, Houston, TX
Low-Profile Snubber Winch New boats often engender new types of hardware. Case in point, the new low-profile SnubbAir combination snubbing winch and ratcheting foot, or
From the casual sailor to the lover of linguistics, everyone is sure to find something to fascinate them in this entertaining little book. Three Sheets
The fall shows may have drawn to close here in the United States. But in today’s global marketplace, the business of building and designing new
You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em Know when to fold ‘em Know when to walk away And know when to run — Kenny
