
Review: Xquisite 60 Solar Sail Top 10 Best Boats 2025 Winner
A futuristic, push-button passagemaker, this powerful cat is designed for adventurous sailors targeting luxurious off-grid cruising.

A futuristic, push-button passagemaker, this powerful cat is designed for adventurous sailors targeting luxurious off-grid cruising.

For those of us on smaller boats, it’s always a challenge to figure out how and where to place enough solar panels to power our

When I moved my new Nicholson 32 sloop, Alibi of Bridham, from a marina to a mooring this summer I also had to rethink my power requirements, since the change meant severing my umbilical to the grid. Although I had a powerful (read: noisy) wind generator as an alternative power source, along with a small photovoltaic (PV) solar array to keep the engine’s cranking battery topped up when the wind dies, I’ve since decided to lose the noisy windmill and go wholly solar.
I had to find a way to charge the batteries in my absence, which meant wind or solar power. I toyed with the idea of installing a wind generator, but it seemed like too much expense and hassle; and, lacking a bimini, there was nowhere convenient to place a solar panel where it wouldn’t be either in the shadow of the rig or in the way of the crew…
Maintenance-free and weatherproof, Ganz Eco-energy semi-flexible solar panels provide clean, quiet, reliable power offshore

To celebrate the 250th signing of the Declaration of Independence, the international tall ship fleet is headed stateside.

A marine transformer with fun at its core.

The Cal 40 Nicole wins the St. David’s Lighthouse overall title, while Black Jack 100 takes line honors just shy of a course record. On the course: stunning scenery and a range of conditions. Off it: a scoring drama.

Good skippers manage the boat; great skippers manage the tension.

A spritely little cat that holds its own in a blow.

Analog alarms offer important feedback about how the boat is doing.

A friendly club boat with serious potential.

The lure of early-season boating is a beast with two heads.

A new four part docuseries details the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild campaign to defend the Route du Rhum title, available now on Youtube.

Eight Bells: Charlie Dalin