Lifestyle

A new adventure begins for Nanni thanks to a partnership with the famous SV Delos, whose YouTube channel is followed by thousands of sailing enthusiasts around the world. The family of sailors, known for sharing their maritime adventures, cultural discoveries and moments of life ...read more

There is a certain allure to sailing a boat designed for the solitary purpose of sailing well; the way the quarter wake licks along the toerail towards the transom, or the lightness of the helm as balance in motion, like a vintage sports car perfectly tuned. The Luders 27 (L-27) ...read more

Editor’s Note: Cruising sailors well know the joys of pulling into a marina or gathering space that dedicates a shelf or three to the nautical version of the lending library—even if that’s just a pile of books next to the laundry machines. It’s like beachcombing or treasure ...read more

The November/December issue of SAIL is here, and we’re closing out the year with stories to fire your imagination, expand your knowledge, and broaden your sailing horizons. Here’s a quick preview! Jumping on the Starwagon: Starlink is becoming ubiquitous on sailboats, changing ...read more

Picture this: We’re anchored Swedish-style, bow up against the rocks, stern anchor pulled tight on the starboard quarter, pine trees gently rustling in the light summer breeze, parked up in the outer Stockholm archipelago. Our 4-year-old son, Axel, is climbing up and down the bow ...read more

Josh Fody and Jessie Wilde each came to their shared dream of living aboard full time from different places. Josh nurtured the notion of buying a boat and sailing south during his years aboard an aircraft carrier in the Navy. Jessie first tasted the idea when her grandfather ...read more

Nestled on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis has long been a pilgrimage site for sailors. Dubbed America’s Sailing Capital, the city’s narrow streets are steeped with a maritime legacy that spans over three centuries. Its skyline has a unique dynamism, typified by an ...read more

Shortly after I first met Mary Therese Kubek last October, aboard her 1968 Alberg 30, I handed her a copy of Bernard Moitessier’s first book, Sailing to the Reefs. I explained the connection—that the names of the two boats featured in Moitessier’s famous memoir, Marie Therese, ...read more

I lay in my suspended bunk and waited for the next wave to lift me up and slam me down onto the hard bench below. It was the middle of the night and about 12 hours into what would turn out to be a 36-hour low pressure system. The winds from the northeast were testing me and the ...read more

Inside Cole Brauer’s Race Around the World Twenty-nine-year-old Cole Brauer skyrocketed to fame after becoming the first female winner of the Bermuda 1-2 last year, then turning around, crossing the Atlantic, and setting off alone around the world in the Global Solo Challenge. ...read more

Olivia Wyatt let go of the shore in the summer of 2019, a decision slow to arrive that was part obsession, part dare, and part promise to herself. She readied herself and her sailboat, a 34-foot Ta Shing Panda named Juniper, for a solo Pacific crossing from San Diego to ...read more

Sailors have a longstanding history with music. From ancient seafaring cultures to modern sailors, music has played a vital role in maritime life, offering solace, entertainment, and a means of communication. For those who also have a passion for music, bringing musical ...read more

The March issue of SAIL magazine is on newsstands now! Here’s a quick look at just some of the great stories you’ll find to keep you sailing through spring. In Good Order What’s the best way to make spring commissioning go as smoothly as possible? Have a proven checklist and a ...read more

Nov. 29/2023: And here I am—way late—with a description of how the good ship Lunacy and her faithful Lunatics finally finished their voyage down to the warmth of the W’Indies. The last photo in my previous post, some may recall, was of a massive barge/crane/ship thingy that I ...read more

There’s no question that sailboats require a lot of kit, and that reality often makes gift giving for the sailors in our lives as easy as a trip through the latest gear catalogue or a clean sweep of the specials at the fall shows. But the best gifts are about doing stuff, rather ...read more

All of us at the SAIL team wish you and yours a peaceful and plentiful Thanksgiving (with hopefully some sailing thrown in). With our best wishes, here's a bit of autumn sailing and a misty morning at anchor to enjoy as you head into the holiday.  November 2023 ...read more

Oct. 5/2023: I wrote a tongue-in-cheek post about the orcas-messing-with-boats phenomenon back when the first incidents off Spain and Portugal were reported three years ago. It says something about the state of marine journalism, I suppose, that the most intelligent and ...read more

Tomorrow, we sail for Greenland. Falken is parked in St. John’s, Newfoundland, along the bulkhead of the enormous fishing and commercial harbor, tucked as far into the southwest corner as you can get. It’s an industrial place—black, gravelly street grit covers the deck, with no ...read more

While vacationing in West Cork, Ireland, in August, one of my goals was to spend some time sailing with Don Street. It says a lot that this is even a possibility. The last time I sailed with Don, when he was a sprightly sure-footed 75-year-old, was way back in 2005, aboard his ...read more

Steve Earley doesn’t sail like you and me. Example: One night, he and his 17-foot open boat, Spartina, were anchored in a cove near Crab Point just off the Chesapeake Bay’s Honga River. Spartina is a John Welsford design that Steve built, and she is, in a word, sweet. Because ...read more

It’s not ordinary for a sailor to be captivated by the sight of boulders the size of pianos slipping beneath the keel. In my experience as a lifelong big-boat sailor, visions such as this would have left me gasping rather than breathless (a subtle, yet significant, ...read more

I was but a shiftless wharf rat, recently shipwrecked, working the docks at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in search of a ride across the Atlantic, when I first met one Geoff Hill in 1992. He was an Aussie, a prosperous young merchant banker, with a new Taswell 56 he had named ...read more

Aug. 10/2023: My summer sailing schedule has been chopped up by intermittent book appearances, and it certainly didn’t help that the first several weeks were unremittingly rainy, foggy, and windless. The last few weeks I’ve been more active, but my outings have been limited to ...read more

It’s not uncommon to spot a rainbow after a squall when the sunshine breaks through the clouds—a marker of hope and fairer weather ahead for sailors throughout the centuries. If you’re sailing around Chicago in August, though, you might happen upon a lot more than one rainbow ...read more

Attracting non-sailors to sailing can be difficult; more challenging still is making the sport available to youngsters who lack the means or opportunity to get into a boat. But the foundation that Long Island sailor Harvey Bass created as a way to “do a little payback” keeps on ...read more

At Marine Weather Center, a client recently asked why the computer model forecast had predicted small seas on the windward side of Saint Martin, when what was really happening were strong winds and large seas. The answer had everything to do with how weather models are designed, ...read more

Two years ago, members of the Thistle Class of one design sailboats started a pilot program, working with Sailors for the Sea Powered by Oceana, aimed at making as many Thistle Class regattas and events as environmentally sustainable as possible. What the sailors have ...read more

Most sailors take months or more to learn a new boat since, truth is, most of us have limited or sporadic time to devote to the education. David and Alison Lennarz, on the other hand, put their learning curve on fast-track mode when they took delivery of their new Balance 526 in ...read more

I married into a sailing family. I was raised in the Rust Belt, north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, amid fields of corn, soy, and cows. I had gone a good 27 years without ever setting foot onto a sailboat. Before my relationship with my wife, Chiara, whenever I thought about ...read more

As David Tunick explains it, his sailing evolved over time. “I’m not a great sailor,” says the art dealer, 78, with a self-effacement that typifies his storytelling. “I wasn’t raised in junior sailing. I wasn’t in any yacht club, and it took me years to get into the Cruising ...read more

After 32 years of operation, Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) is moving. Six years, countless volunteer hours, persistent efforts working with state, county, and local lawmakers, and $5 million have gone into creating the country’s premiere Adaptive Boating Center, ...read more

It’s been a minute since I’ve done any serious voyage planning. Even saying that is sort of sad, but I’ve been filling my sailing days lately with short trips in familiar waters for which the only planning needed has been what’s the weather look like, and do we have enough food, ...read more

Usually when people ask me how I learned to sail, I answer that I taught myself. And this is true to a large extent. No one ever taught me how to row a boat; handling oars seemed as self-evident as walking. I do recall being taught to manage an outboard-powered skiff as a boy, ...read more

Thursday, April 21, in Lorain, Ohio. The forecasts are calling for clearing and gradual warming, but at 8:30 in the morning when I arrive at Spitzer Riverside Marina, it is 42°F, dark, and overcast with wind gusts approaching 40 mph. I am scheduled to launch Valhalla, my 1977 ...read more

March 21/2023: After leaving Lunacy ensconced at Brunswick Landing Marina down in Georgia back in November, I did return to visit her the following month for several days. But I didn’t sail anywhere. I spent time instead working on a few boat jobs and also confabbed with an old ...read more