Sail Magazine

by Kimball Livingston

All on assignment, Kimball Livingston has sailed the oceans blue. And he's been to Fink, Texas, too.

Unintended Consequences

by Kimball Livingston, Posted May 16, 2013

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. First the Kiwis and then the three other America’s Cup teams have all hit the water with daggerboards we might as well call hydrofoils, which lift their boats’ hulls clean out of the water on downwind legs, dramatically lowering resistance and increasing speed. But the AC72 rule was specifically intended to prevent that. Read my lips: No trimmable winglets.

Ronnie Simpson: Blue Water Warior

by Kimball Livingston, Posted April 25, 2013

Ronnie Simpson sold all that he had, and he went. But it was no cakewalk. After I had known him a while, he told me, “I have less than I’ve ever had, and I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

Cup Watch: Calm Before the Storm

by Kimball Livingston, Posted April 9, 2013

According to Emirates Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton, April is the month for ETNZ and training partner Luna Rossa to pack up “cats, chase boats, base structures, workshops, offices, gym, kitchens and stores for the move to San Francisco.”

Cup Watch: No Safety in Numbers

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 28, 2013

Never before has the red-hot favored team to win the next America’s Cup been in such a dicey predicament. Some claim that Emirates Team New Zealand has already won the Cup in the design department, but even if that proves true, it makes the team no less vulnerable to the fortunes of war.

Cup Watch: Old and New Guards

by Kimball Livingston, Posted February 11, 2013

There was a time when getting your hands on the wheel of a U.S. America’s Cup boat was almost the same as saying, yes, I’ve won a Star Class world championship. Think Bill “Ficker Is Quicker” Ficker, Dennis Conner, Tom Blackaller, Buddy Melges.

Cup Watch: Proof of Concept--Almost

by Kimball Livingston, Posted November 8, 2012

Russell Coutts was over the moon. The first America’s Cup World Series had just wrapped up on San Francisco Bay, right where the 34th America’s Cup match will be contested in 2013.

Around the World in 2015, SF2SF

by Kimball Livingston, Posted October 16, 2012

San Francisco Bay sailors are accustomed to having the big professional round-the-world races pass them by some 93 degrees of latitude to the south. A diversion to the Golden Gate makes no sense.

Record-Breaking L’Hydroptere

by Kimball Livingston, Posted October 10, 2012

How long does it take to get addicted to speed? Not long, aboard the foiling trimaran, l’Hydroptère DCNS. The big, French “water wing” holds the nautical-mile record at 50.17 knots and now has its sights set on a Los Angeles-Honolulu record.

Cup Watch: Foiled Again

by Kimball Livingston, Posted October 10, 2012

You’re not going to win America’s Cup 34 without sexy foils to keep the leeward bow floating, or flying, high. This is an area of development just as important as wings for the next generation of Cup-hopeful catamarans.

Solo Sailors Join Forces

by Kimball Livingston, Posted October 4, 2012

When a solo sailor in the Singlehanded Transpacific Race realized he wasn’t merely sick, but dying, the Coast Guard and a merchant ship immediately effected a rescue.