Presented by Vetus-Maxwell. Got a tip? Send it to sailmail@sailmagazine.com Give the Troops a Chance on the Tacking Aboard a cruiser, it’s far better to “steer” through the wind rather than simply heave the helm hard over. Bang it down like a dinghy sailor, and the poor souls ...read more
Jeanneau’s line of Sun Odyssey family cruising boats has been at the core of its identity as a mass-production boatbuilder for several decades now. In introducing this latest iteration of the SO brand, which at 44ft is right in the strike zone of many buyers, Jeanneau has ...read more
TIME TO BUY NEW SAILS? Q: I have a very old set of Dacron sails on my Catalina. Friends have told me I should have them replaced because it will make my boat sail better. But quite frankly, I’d prefer not to spend the money on sails that seem plenty sturdy enough for the kind of ...read more
CETOL SKIN I used Sikkens Cetol on the bare wood on my Catalina 30, Morning Dew IV. The can was compromised over the spring, and I put the balance in a 16oz clean glass mayo jar. Last spring when I went to use it, a skin had formed over the top of the liquid, so I just cut the ...read more
In what is being described as a return to the Volvo Ocean Race’s roots, the route for the 2017-18 will feature almost three times as much Southern Ocean racing as the previous running. No longer will crews have to contend with an often light-air slog north through the Indian ...read more
Do you have photos of your pet onboard? We'd love to see them! Send them to sailmail@sailmagazine.com. ...read more
When it comes to accurately keeping track of your whereabouts, modern chartplotters and multi-function displays (MFDs) are virtually indispensable. Provided they are properly networked to other onboard instrumentation (including AIS, GPS and radar), typically via a NMEA 0183 or ...read more
I’m not gonna to lie to you. When Rich said he wanted us to plug in the A3 I could have killed him. It was the middle of the night, raining cats and dogs, blowing like hell and gusting into the mid-30s. We had just unrolled the Code 0, and the entire crew was hot and cold and ...read more
I am not the first, nor will I be the last, to refer to peer-to-peer (P2P) boating as pier-to-pier—it’s irresistible. The proliferation of the sharing economy has birthed P2P boating and with it, more players in the field of direct boater-to-renter vessel chartering. So I wanted ...read more
Endeavour to Persevere! Lessons learned during the stormy 2016 Chicago-Mac Race Ed Note: special thanks to Chief Dan George for the headline ...read more
Are you out there sailing, cruising and living the sailing life? If so, we’d love to see it. Send your sailing photos to sailmail@sailmagazine.com for a chance to have your sailing memory featured in SAIL Magazine. Here are a few pictures from our readers of their latest cruising ...read more
US Sailing has selected of two-time 470 Olympic Champion and seven-time World Champion Malcolm Page, of Sydney, Australia, to serve as its director of Olympic Sailing, succeeding former SAIL editor Josh Adams as head of the national team and overall U.S. Olympic sailing effort. ...read more
The growing popularity of catamarans for bluewater sailing has spawned a number of designs aimed at sailors who want some speed along with their comfort, yet either don’t want, or can’t afford to go down the high-tech carbon-fiber route. Builders like Catana and Outremer are the ...read more
It seems that every time I walk into a boatyard I inevitably find myself smitten by some under-loved (read derelict) classic beauty sitting forlornly off in a corner. Hmmm, I think, I could buy her for a song and with a little elbow grease and some TLC, she will be ready to go. ...read more
To the untrained eye, a sailboat is a sailboat; they all look pretty much the same. Even to an experienced sailor, it can be difficult if not impossible to truly judge how a particular design will perform just examining it at the dock. Nonetheless, when it comes to ...read more
Am I the only one confused by all the different names for headsails these days? When I first started sailing, things were pretty simple. A non-overlapping headsail set on a boat’s headstay was called a jib. An overlapping headsail was called a genoa. You might differentiate ...read more
After working in veterinary medicine for more than 30 years in New England, I was well versed on the veterinary conditions pets in our area are exposed to. But what happens when you take your pet on a boat abroad? Many diseases are region-specific, and our pets may not be immune ...read more
