Safety: Wearing a Harness is Never a Guarantee
April 26, 2019
Are you really safer tethered to your boat? It’s something I’ve wondered about ever since I first started sailing offshore. The received wisdom is you
Are you really safer tethered to your boat? It’s something I’ve wondered about ever since I first started sailing offshore. The received wisdom is you
It would be hard to imagine a more secure spot than the Sunsail base on the outskirts of the beachside community of Placencia, Belize. The
Last April, my wife, Marjorie, and I decided to take our Tartan 4100, Meri, north to Maryland from her winter home in Hobe Sound, Florida.
Half a century ago I signed on as a deckhand aboard a 90-ton trading ketch that had recently been sold out of service in the
What is it that makes someone want to sail alone and nonstop around the world? I’m just an average guy from Petosky, Michigan, who learned
Going North—and West Crack! Crunch! I woke with a start to the sound of ice scraping the hull of our 60ft sailboat, Dogbark. In a
A number of sailors have cruised Labrador, Greenland, Patagonia, South Georgia, Antarctica, Alaska and the Northwest Passage. Some have wintered-over in high latitudes. But fewer
Just because some crew are crazy doesn’t mean they all are It is a big leap of faith, heading offshore on a sailboat. Even if
“Jib alone is never a good idea,” our sailing guru Jerry told me. (Everyone should have a sailing guru). “Why’s that?” I asked. “It’s so
My first exposure to Nigel Calder, same as most people, was through reading his great marine technical bible, The Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual. I
Many professional races bill themselves as among the most difficult feats in sailing, but I would argue that the comparatively small and ragtag R2AK should
Good things come to those who wait, and sailing the HH44-SC confirmed the adage. Even under delivery sails—and only a main and genoa, at that—we
Against the backdrop of bustling ferries and commercial traffic on New York Harbor and saluted with spraying water from a New York City fireboat, some
Yacht design is an evolutionary process, built on the successes and failures of previous designs. Those that plied the trade before us provided guidance through
Forty years ago, the solid-state revolution, which gave us computers and a host of increasingly powerful electronic devices, reshaped boat energy systems in ways that
Here’s a photo that seems innocuous enough. We’re sailing along—my son, oldest brother, and husband, and me up forward behind the camera. It’s Boxing Day,
Plenty of magic comes out of the small town of Fredericia on the coast of Denmark. Quorning Boats, builders of Dragonfly trimarans, has set up
It’s mid-December, and I’m more than 3,500 miles from Cape Town, South Africa, bound for Fremantle, Australia, having—at the moment—too much fun. Indian Ocean conditions
After a few rare weeks stateside, 28 IMOCA 60s are setting off on the NY-Vendée. The transatlantic race to Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, is the final
The June/July issue of SAIL is here, and we’ve got you covered for some great less-explored destinations, tips on how to reef your sails efficiently
