Sail Magazine

by Charles J. Doane

Charles Doane is SAIL’s Executive Editor. He has raced, cruised and lived aboard a variety of boats in harbors around the world.

Testing Ultrasonic Antifouling

by Charles J. Doane, Posted May 8, 2012

I’d been wrestling with the problem of antifouling for some time prior to this, as I don’t like to use copper-based paint on Lunacy’s aluminum hull. I had tried E-Paint ZO, a zinc-based ablative paint, for a couple of seasons but was disappointed with the results.

Outremer 49

by Charles J. Doane, Posted May 2, 2012

French builder Outremer is well known in Europe for its fast yet comfortable performance cruising catamarans. Its latest offering, the sleek Outremer 49, designed by Christophe Barreau, made quite a splash when first introduced across the Pond.

A Grand Grenada Charter

by Charles J. Doane, Posted April 6, 2012

Executive Editor, Charles J. Doane had never sailed the islands south of Antigua and jumped at the chance to charter in Grenada. He grabbed a few friends and headed to the Granadian waters, and only the Grenadian waters.

Stephens Waring 75: Isobel

by Charles J. Doane, Posted March 14, 2012

It will be interesting to see how long Richard Schotte stays faithful to his latest boat, Isobel, a custom Stephens Waring performance deck-saloon cruiser that was launched at Brooklin Boat Yard in Maine last July. Schotte, it would seem, is the sort of client designers, builders and brokers dream of.

Sail Cover Tactics

by Charles J. Doane, Posted March 14, 2012

Getting a sail cover on and off a mainsail is often harder than it should be. Once it’s off the sail, it can be hard to tell which end goes where, and when you spread it out to check, the wind will wrestle you for control of it.

Americans in the ARC

by Charles J. Doane, Posted March 1, 2012

The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, which runs each November from the Canary Islands to the West Indies, is the most successful cruising rally in the world, with over 200 boats participating every year. It is also primarily a European event, with most boats hailing from Great Britain, Germany and Scandinavia.

Assemble Your Own Compression Terminals

by Charles J. Doane, Posted February 13, 2012

Do-it-yourself sailors have long been attracted to the concept of swageless rigging terminals, also known as compression terminals. Unlike swaged terminals, which require expensive dedicated machinery to create, compression fittings can be assembled with simple hand tools.

Tragedy in the North American Rally to the Caribbean

by Charles J. Doane, Posted February 1, 2012

While the Caribbean 1500 fleet was cooling its jets in Hampton waiting for Sean to expire, another seasonal bluewater cruising event, the North American Rally to the Caribbean (NARC), was running into some serious trouble farther north.

Hurry Up and Wait: Behind the Scenes of the Caribbean 1500

by Charles J. Doane, Posted February 1, 2012

For many, the denouement of the 2011 Caribbean 1500 rally took place in a crowded conference room in Hampton, Virginia, on Wednesday, November 9, two days after the rally’s original start date. The atmosphere in the room, as skippers gathered for what was expected to be the final weather briefing, was taut with expectation.

Beneteau Sense 43

by Charles J. Doane, Posted January 24, 2012

This 43-foot offering doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as its big sister, the new Sense 50, but it does demonstrate that the Sense design concept can translate successfully into a significantly smaller hull.