Zach Railey has seen a few things, going this far with the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team. For one, he saw every journalist’s slamdunk brother-sister story of the year go up in smoke when world female Sailor of the Year Paige Railey did not make the team. For another, he went from high-place finishes in lead-up regattas to tanking the Finn class worlds. But there’s a reason why this 23-year-old
Fijis finance minister has accused visiting sailors of involvement in crimes ranging from drug smuggling and prostitution to smuggling endangered species of flora and fauna. Cruising traffic through the islands is expected to drop dramatically after Fiji introduced new regulations restricting visiting boats to a three-month stay (effectively cutting the permissible stay by half), though
A Q&A with Lou Varney, the brains behind Harkens Pro-Trim Traveler and Rigtune Pro and winner of this year’s SAIL FKP Eureka! AwardBy David SchmidtWhat is your professional background?I was originally a boatbuilder, and then I became a mast maker and a designer of high-end Grand Prix raceboat masts. What led you to think up the Pro Trim?I have
Francis Joyon completed his solo round-the-world voyage in 57 days, 13 hours 34 minutes, smashing Ellen MacArthur’s existing record by 14 days. The IDEC trimaran crossed the finish line off Brest on Sunday, January 20 at 00:39:58 French time, making Joyon for a second time the fastest solo yachtsman around the world. For more, follow the link to Kimball Livingston’s blog entry on
Hawaii’s harbors and docks are falling into an alarming state of disrepair, and the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, which manages the state’s publicly owned harbors, seems powerless to stem the tide. More than 292 slips are out of service, and many of the antiquated docks are beyond further repair. This year’s boating-fee increase is only a drop in the bucket providing $12 to $13
Its a rare coup when a world-class sailor also happens to possess great writing skills, as this is the winning ticket to capturing the true grit of offshore racing. When you start talking about premiere-level events such as the Whitbred/Volvo Ocean Race, or the Barcelona World Race (BWR), a double-handed, non-stop, around-the-world race, the number of people capable of participating is small,
If you find that your cruising guides and newsletters are obsolete before you ever reach your destination, youll want to know about The Salty Southeast Cruisers Net (www.cruisersnet.net). This new Web site, developed by cruising guide author Claiborne Young and nautical author Eddie Jones, allows for a free exchange of information among
Ed Baird on Tuesday became the second American to win the title of world sailor of the year in the 14-year history of the event. Who was first? Paige Railey in the women’s category in 2006, that’s who.Now here is the word from the ISAF Annual Meeting at Estoril, Portugal: St. Petersburg, Florida native Ed Baird was named ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Tuesday
For most dinghy sailors, co-skippering an Open 60 in the Barcelona World Race, a non-stop double-handed circumnavigation race via the three capes, would be a suicide mission. Luckily, Seattle based Jonathan Mckee, 45, isnt your typical dinghy sailor: His resume includes three years on the All American College Team during his time at Yale, a Gold medal in Flying Dutchman in the 1984 Olympics,
Julie Bracken, in her first turn at the tiller of the beautifully restored Spirit, won the three-day MDI Luders Invitational in Southwest Harbor, Maine, by one point over fleet secretary Dave Folger and his teenage daughter Liana in the vintage Voodoo. The Folgers in turn beat fleet newcomer and big-boat veteran Thomas Chase in his recently imported Grace by one point. The
The weekend of March 22-26 in the US Virgin Islands marked the 46th year of the St. Thomas International regatta with over 50 boats competing
Get a Grip Italian deck gear maker Antal’s two new QR clutches not only have high holding power—up to 3,500lb for the QR10 and 4,800lb
During the extensive refit of my Pearson 40, I needed to create a significant number of custom-sized plywood drawers and stowage bins, or boxes. These
Whether you want to build a sailing resume or just gain practical experience, getting more miles under your keel is key. You can sail a
Each December, the docks at Rodney Bay Marina in St. Lucia are abuzz as the fleet of the ARC—the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers—arrives to much
Q: I’m seeing more and more self-tacking jibs out on the water (and in the pages of SAIL) these days. I can’t help thinking these
Without much reflection, I recently replaced my broken bilge pump with a slightly larger model. After all, I thought, surely an 800 gallon-per-hour (gph) pump
In the 50 years since its inception, Boot Düsseldorf, the indoor extravaganza held each January on the banks of Germany’s Rhine River, has grown to
The tagline for the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is “serious sailing, serious fun.” However, for the inhabitants of St. Maarten, the event is more than just
Hits the SPOT The SPOT-X two-way satellite messenger is an economical way of staying connected to the outside world via text or e-mail when you’re
