Like GPS, the emergency position-indicating radio beacons, or EPIRBs, that first came to market in the 1980s seemed nothing less than a miracle. But that didn’t stop manufacturers from continuing to refine them in an effort to make them that much more effective.
SiriusXM Satellite Radio now provides marine forecast information that can be received via select chartplotters from Lowrance, Furuno, Raymarine and Simrad. Sailors can access a similar service from XM Weather using Garmin’s GXM system.
ACR’s ResQLink personal locator beacon weighs just 5.4oz, measures 4.5in long, and features an integrated 66-channel GPS, which allows it to include a position fix in the digital 406MHz distress message it sends to rescuers via the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite constellations.
The NavNet TZtouch multifunction display from Furuno is packed with useful new features, including a Wi-Fi lash-up to smartphones and tablets. The touch-screen controls respond instantly to multi-gesture commands, while an improved RotoKey dial lets the user switch between touch-screen or twist-and-push modes.
Most people are familiar with the Green Movement, but what about the Blue one? As sailors, this cause should be near and dear to our hearts. The blue movement is about the oceans that occupy 70 percent of the Earth and our dependence on them.
The Simrad DD15 autopilot drive features a compact flat-wound DC electric motor, an elegant planetary reduction gear and a built-in rudder-angle feedback arm.
Made from a stretchy, high-performance polymer, TitanStraps are specifically designed for lashing down equipment quickly, easily and reliably under extreme conditions.
The key to Seldén’s new top-down asymmetric spinnaker furler is a swiveling tack attachment, which lets the foot fly free as the rest of the sail is being rolled down from the head on a torque rope.
Smartphones are now commonplace offshore, but many sailors hesitate to expose their beloved iPads to the elements. Fear not—there’s a growing number of weatherproof cases that make it possible to take your tablet sailing.
Norway’s Navslide AS is continuing to expand its line of flexible mounts to accommodate an even wider variety of cockpit types—including those that are especially problematic.
SAIL Editor-in-Chief Wendy Mitman Clarke visits Harken Inc., in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, during Harken University—where the industry pros who help us choose and use our boats’
It’s not easy to smile when it’s 39° F outside and blowing 20-30 knots, but the X-Yachts Xc 47 had no problem making that happen
The new model from X-Yachts is a bluewater thoroughbred with leading edge propulsion and design. SAIL was invited for an exclusive preview test sail before
In his 59° North podcast On the Wind, Andy Schell sits down with SAIL Editor-in-Chief Wendy Mitman Clarke to talk about the sailing life, cruising,
Put human beings in confined quarters with limited privacy, mix in periods of boredom spiced with exhaustion, add a pinch of terror and seasickness, and
Winter can be an overlooked season for the mid-latitude boat. Even if you don’t snowbird south for the tropics, good times aboard can still be
The off season is the best time for boat projects. But doesn’t it just frost your cookies when you’re all set to finish that piece
“Pole up!” our skipper shouted from the foredeck as the helmsman eased off the main. We had just rounded the windward mark, and another crewmember
There were two things I disliked about my 1987 Pearson 39-2 from the outset—the anchor locker and the forecabin. The former was a shallow tray,
As the year winds down, there are a few last events capping off the season, including this autumn’s Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), the first
