I arrived in Rockland, Maine, on an early afternoon in July with a backpack, my camera and little else. Though traveling to an unfamiliar place to race with a crew of strangers has been a common theme in my sailing career, I had no idea what to expect from the massive wood and ...read more

Darkness had fallen and the howling wind almost drowned out the voices coming over the VHF radio. “Lights on! Blow horns!” “Make noise to alert the crew!” “Shine the spotlight on the cat by the shore, it’s dragging dangerously near our bow.” These were calls to action, not ...read more

Anyone under the impression that change in today’s production catamarans is about little more than cosmetics needs to check out the Lagoon 50—an all-new design that went on to become the winner in the 40 to 50ft cruising multihull category in SAIL’s 2019 Best Boats awards. ...read more

Be Smart Dealing with a heavy 50-amp shorepower cord can be like trying to wrangle a reluctant python—it goes everywhere except where you want it to, especially in cold weather. Smartplug’s new Superflex50 125/250V cable set puts an end to that. Unplug from the pedestal and the ...read more

Each November, cruising boats start leaving California for “a winter of fun in the sun down Mexico way.” And having spent the summer and autumn on a leisurely passage down the West Coast on board Distant Drummer, our Liberty 458 sloop, my husband, Neil, and I were now in San ...read more

Farrier F-22 New Zealander Ian Farrier ushered in a new genre of sailing with his folding-ama trailerable trimarans, the best-known of which are the Corsair designs. Farrier’s last project before he passed away last year was this sweet little tri. Available in three versions, ...read more

The U.S. Virgins Islands have surged back from the devastation of the 2017 hurricanes, with new infrastructure plans that will benefit charterers and cruisers alike. After hurricanes Irma and Maria roared through the Leeward Islands in September 2017, it was impossible to ...read more

One common galley feature on production sailboats is a large open storage area behind the stove, typically covered with sliding plexi or wood panels. However, while this space provides a reasonably large amount of storage area, it is rarely efficiently used because of the odd ...read more