Editor’s Note: This story is excerpted from SAIL Contributing Editor Christopher Birch’s upcoming book The Four Seasons of Boat Maintenance(available for order soon)—a compendium of
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
You might think that watching invasive surgery on a dated fiberglass sailboat week in and week out would be just about the last thing to
When talking shop among sailors or reading about safety at sea, ventilation is not a topic that comes up much. Evidently it’s secondary to things
My dissatisfaction with the head and holding tank plumbing arrangement on our 1987 Sabre 38 had grown as we cruised the boat away from
Military strategist Helmuth von Moltke said, “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.” This is also true for a boat refit plan I started the
It seems that every time I walk into a boatyard I inevitably find myself smitten by some under-loved (read derelict) classic beauty sitting forlornly off
Many production boats come equipped with undersized cleats and poorly designed line chocks. The 10in aluminum cleats that came standard on my Pearson 40 have
Arguably, there are few items on a cruising boat more oriented to your sailing comfort than a dodger, especially in Maine, where cold water rules. Bashing to windward, pushing to get somewhere in a cold downpour or just keeping the crew happy, the dodger plays a major role.
One challenge with older boats that have been out of production for decades is obtaining replacements for components that may have been custom-made back in the day. Good luck finding a new bow pulpit for your 1974 Flexiflyer 43 or a mast cap for the rig on your 1967 Brickouthouse 29.
The Everglades Challenge is a race, an adventure, and a test of character all at once.
Why one sailor went back in time one hundred years to find the perfect boat.
Low-power ideas for keeping your boat well-ventilated in the dog days of summer.
When sailing on a micro budget, the ability to troubleshoot is a priceless skill, as Chuck Hawley discovered on one shakedown cruise back in 1979.
Here’s what you can look forward to while you’re relaxing on the boat this weekend with your new issue of SAIL.
A recent post titled Why I Cringe Over Female-Only Sailing Events caused a stir online. After sailing in last week’s Boston Harbor Ladies Challenge, Editor-in-Chief Lydia Mullan weighs in.
250 boats squared off last week on Lake Michigan’s famous 333-mile course and found the full spectrum of race conditions awaiting them.
After the 4th of July festivities in New York City, the international tallship fleet continued its tour of the eastern seaboard, heading up to Boston.
In the days of e-readers, one wonders how long the pulpy pleasure of the boatyard book swap will last.
Concern over the implementation of Forecast-Time Correction Factor (F-TCF) scoring rocked this year’s Newport Bermuda Race after it was discovered that rating discrepancies impacted the
