This past weekend, the Star Class World Championship ended in a riveting come-from-behind win for Americans George Szabo and Rick Peters of US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. Despite a discouraging throw-away first race (54 of 86 boats), Szabo and Peters persevered and sailed to victory in the second race, earning themselves the gold and the title of Star Class World Champions.Back on the
With limited wind throughout the 101st Chicago to Mackinac race, many would consider it ordinary. Except perhaps the nine-member crew on Zoom, who made it extraordinary, by winning the Chicago Mackinac Trophy with a corrected time 55:09.53.It was very satisfying, said skipper Mike Newman. It was a strange feeling. All we did was sail the boat. There was no
New York, Newport, Perth, San Diego, Auckland, Valencia, and Ras al-Khaimah. What do these places have in common? Each has hosted or will host the Americas Cup, the old-running trophy in sports. Youll quickly notice that one of these names is not like the others. Sailing in the Middle East is a fledgling sport, to put it kindly, but thanks to the battle of the egos otherwise known as the 33rd
In May of 2007, a fledgling team called Puma Ocean Racing announced their intentions of competing in the 2008/2009 Volvo Ocean Race a 37,000 mile round-the-world grudge match thats fought out in the worlds fastest monohulls in Boston, MA. As an attending journalist, I can report that while excitement ran high, expectations were fairly limited. Not because of the sponsor
In May of 2007, a fledgling team called Puma Ocean Racing announced their intentions of competing in the 2008/2009 Volvo Ocean Race a 37,000 mile round-the-world grudge match thats fought out in the worlds fastest monohulls in Boston, MA. As an attending journalist, I can report that while excitement ran high, expectations were fairly limited. Not because of the sponsor
An incredible high-speed match race across the Atlantic between two maxi-trimarans has seen sailing records smashed again and again, with the boats finishing only minutes apart after nearly 3,000 miles of racing.Last week, the two French trimarans Banque Populaire V and Groupama 3 left New York within two hours of each other. They were out to break
Fiberglass, check; steel, check; carbon fiber, check; wood uh, no, actually. So went my resume regarding the boats Ive sailed. Okay, a few wooden Blue Jays and Lightnings as a kid, but for experience on proper wooden displacement boats, I had nothing. Had being the operative word. My eyes were opened to this fascinating subset of sailing at the 22nd-annual Panerai Antigua
From now until October 2nd, the city of Chicago will keep its fingers crossed, vying to become host to the 2016 Olympic Games. Its currently one of four candidate cities, but the competition is tough. With the other three candidates hot on its heels, Chicagos 2016 Bid Committee is hard at work showcasing what makes their city best-suited for the challenge, not the least
On July 20, some 16 days after unveiling their beast of a defender for the upcoming Deed of Gift (DoG) that will be the next Americas Cup (February 2010), Alinghi today test-sailed their Alinghi 5 for the first time. While quantifiable results are not available yet (or rarely, if ever, on a project like this), the bottom line is that the boat, with its complicated
On July 8 Alinghi 5 arrived on on Lake Geneva via the world’s most powerful helicopter, the Russian-built Mil Mi-26, which airlifted the massive cat from its build hanger in Villeneuve, Switzerland to the fabled Swiss lake. The catamaran was unveiled earlier in the month, on July 4th, and will be transported, again by helicopter, to the Med later this month. On
This week has been a big one for the American-founded, sustainability-centric ocean racing team 11th Hour Racing. In addition to christening their two new boats,
Squalls are well known to sailors who cruise the middle Latitudes. Eventually, you become complacent to their bluster. But squalls vary in magnitude, and while
At the upcoming Trawlerfest Baltimore, set for Sept. 29-Oct. 3, SAIL magazine regular contributor Nigel Calder will give the low down on electrical systems as
Four years after being decimated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the Bitter End Yacht Club is set to reopen for the Winter 2022 season. Hailed
Bluewater sailing is 25 percent actually sailing and 75 percent learning how to live on a boat at sea, in constant motion and with no
If you missed the first installment, click here. Thankfully, the deck and cockpit of my decades-old Santana 27, Shirley Rose, were in pretty good shape.
This week’s confrontation between a pod of orcas and the Nauticat 44 ketch Tuuletar which left the boat rudderless is just the latest in a
Ever since the advent of GPS, I have not found much use for the chart table on my schooner Britannia. Most of our passagemaking navigation
At the upcoming Trawlerfest Baltimore, set for Sept. 29-Oct. 3, SAIL magazine regular contributor Nigel Calder will be talking all things diesel and diesel repair
Pressurized water systems are brilliantly convenient, but they raise the question of how to get water out of the tanks in the event of a
