Ask SAIL: a Bag of Lines
September 24, 2025
You ask, we answered: Ask SAIL is back. Send your questions to sailmail@sailmagazine.com to be featured in the magazine. We have a whole bag of lines
You ask, we answered: Ask SAIL is back. Send your questions to sailmail@sailmagazine.com to be featured in the magazine. We have a whole bag of lines
Q: In one of your recent Ask Sail responses, you wrote about loose-footed mainsails. I have an S2 7.9 that has a rope-footed main.
Q: I’ve been watching the most recent America’s Cup down in Auckland, which has got me thinking about technology and sails. My question is, how
Q: I recently removed my radar’s white radome, which covers the internal rotating antenna. I gave the radome a light sandblasting to clear it of
UNDERPERFORMING SOLAR Q: I have a pair of solar panels on my aft arch feeding to a solar voltage regulator and then feeding my bank
TO VANG OR NOT TO VANG Q: Last year, I bought a new, fully-battened Dacron main for my 36-footer. Unlike the old one, the new
I used Sikkens Cetol on the bare wood on my Catalina 30, Morning Dew IV. The can was compromised over the spring, and I put the balance in a 16oz clean glass mayo jar. Last spring when I went to use it, a skin had formed over the top of the liquid, so I just cut the skin off. It is 1/8in thick. In the future, is it still OK to use?
Q: I have an early ‘70s Catalina 27. The keel bolts look pretty good. My question is, why not glass over the keel to bond
Q: When sailing dead downwind (assume 22 knots of wind), if the main is eased out to 90 degrees relative to the wind (perpendicular to
Q: I’ve sailed and raced on a number of boats over the years. I feel like aboard most of the boats I’ve sailed, we’ve just
The foiling grand prix fleet made a stop in New York this week, but tricky conditions on Saturday left some out of the racing. Still, the home team moved up the leaderboard and a few notable names joined the racers.
Take a look inside the build process of a foiling Classe Mini 6.50 as Peter Gibbons-Neff gears up for a second go at the Mini Transat.
In praise of the Melges 15, a class that has grown to prominence in recent years, and for good reason.
Where you’ve seen her work: the iconic Transpac photography at Diamond Head light, The Ultimate Sailing Calendar Sharon Green’s photography career began suddenly and with
How and why to make your next adventure a trip aboard Other People’s Boats.
Sailing the “Standing Mast Route” Through The Netherlands
When it comes to managing a blow, reefing is just one part of the equation.
The Marine Mammal Advisory Group (MMAG) needs your help with compiling data about collisions and other encounters at sea. Click here to review the reporting
In part one of our series on yachting’s most iconic photographers, Onne van der Wal offers insight and advice from his storied career.
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Sailing Hall of Famer, America’s Cup legend, and founder of CNN dies at age 87.
