Stuart Goldman of Shelter Island, New York, asks:”For the last two years the zincs on the shaft and MaxProp on my Hinckley SW 42 have started to really dissolve in early Julyafter the boat has been in the water for about a month. The boat is on a mooring thats at least 500 yards away from any other boat except a 50ft powerboat, which is also on a mooring about 50 yards
Terry McCoy of Gainesville, Florida, asks:”After running perfectly for years, the diesel engine on our Beneteau 331 stopped running when we were backing out of the slip. It started right up, but then stopped againand again. I changed the fuel filters and the engine ran without a hitch until one day we were returning to the marina and suddenly it quit again. Although it
Philip Donegan of Kemah, Texas asks: “My 35ft boat has a 379 ft2 mainsail. I’m using 10mm braid for my reefing lines, but I am thinking about replacing them with smaller Dyneema lines on the theory that the smaller diameter line will reduce the friction on the blocks. Am I correct, and if so, what is the minimum line strength I can use?” Win Fowler
For cruisers with boats much longer than 35 feet, or those planning to head off on an extended blue-water cruise, an autopilot with a hydraulic or electric ram connected directly to the steering quadrant or rudder stock is almost mandatory. Modern below-decks pilots are powerful and reliable. They are also expensive, and coastal cruisers must balance the cost and complexity of such an
Jim Fischer of Ellicott City, Maryland, asks:”All the bronze seacocks aboard my 1979 fiberglass 34ft sloop are connected to a keelbolt, along with the boat’s lightning ground system, which is also connected to a keelbolt. Is this still the recommended arrangement, or do you think all the seacocks should be isolated from each other and not connected to a keelbolt? Can I
Don Glynn of Westlake Village, California, asks:”My ground tackle consists of 30ft of 5/16in galvanized chain, 270ft of 5/8 in three-strand nylon and a 22-pound Danforth anchor. Recently I discovered a 20ft hockle in the middle of the 10-year-old nylon rode and assumed that the kinks occurred after being coiled many times, and the boat circling around the anchor. I am
Joseph Serio of Brooklyn, New York, asks: “What is the best way to check that the shrouds and stays are properly adjusted on my Irwin 40 Mk 11?” Win Fowler replies: Let’s talk about a single-spreader rig. For more spreaders the principles are the same, but the process is a bit trickier. Before you start, make sure the spreader-tip heights bisect
Paul Scott of Coral Gables, Florida, asks:”I just bought a pre-owned boat that came with a fairly new 406 MHz EPIRB. I’ve checked the date on the battery, and it is fine, but when I contacted the FCC to change the registration information, they told me that they don’t handle EPIRB registrations. Where should I go to re-register my unit?”Gordon West
After many hours of discussion, my wife, Vicki, and I decided to install a set of davits on Freelance, our Pearson 36 cutter. We hoped davits would solve our dinghy storage problem and save us time getting the dinghy in the water. We also knew that not having to tow it astern would increase our boatspeed in light air.We considered building custom davits, but decided that a clamp-on type
Recently, as part of my work on hybrid propulsion systems, I attended a demonstration where a large-scale lithium battery pack was deliberately pushed past the boundaries of existing experience. The intention was to run the system at 20 kW of output and 160 volts, creating a current flow of around 130 amps. Owing to a miscalculation, when we threw the switch and brought everything on line we
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
