In an alternative universe, I might be writing about how I test sailed the new X4.3 performance cruiser in a super-scary thunder squall, and the boat handled great. For it is true that when I sallied forth onto Chesapeake Bay with X-Yachts dealer Bob Rodgers aboard his new X4.3 Ringle (his, as in …
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 on the water. Rainbow …
Whatever you call it, green, clean, or eco-friendly, the move toward carbon-free sailing has begun to take center stage in the conversation. Putting an ambitious stake in the water, French catamaran builder Fountaine Pajot (FP), which has built 4,000 cats in its 45-year history, has unveiled …
The Jules Verne Trophy is a prestigious award for the fastest time around the world on any type of sailing yacht with a crew of any size. The race starts and finishes on the line between Le Créac’h Lighthouse in France and Lizard Point in Cornwall. The race itself is at least 21,600 nautical miles. …
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 accomplishing both, …
The truth is, at first, she didn’t really consider bringing the boy. In fact, a powerful part of her wasn’t sure she wanted to. It was the same part that had pushed her multiple times through the WaterTribe Everglades Challenge—300 unsupported nautical miles in a kayak through Florida’s …
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, how they work, and …
What do you do on a boat for days on end if you’re not constantly tweaking the sails to get an inch ahead of the boat next to you? For cruisers and powerboaters, it probably seems like a dumb question, but when I arrived in Sint Maarten for the Caribbean Multihull Challenge Rally in February, I …
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 accomplished since then has …
At just three days long, Leg 6 is minuscule compared to recent legs of The Ocean Race, but that won’t mean any less drama given the close standings and six boats returning to the race. The course follows an 800-mile wending path from Aarhus, Denmark, to The Hague in The Netherlands, with a “fly-by” …