Nine! Nine point five! Ten! Eleven! Eleven point five!’ Watching the boat speed climb into double figures in the gusts was addictive; we were broad reaching back up the Needles…
Theo Stocker
How to pass your Yachtmaster Practical Exam
The RYA Yachtmaster Offshore has long been the qualification that cruising yacht sailors, both amateur and professional, have aspired to. Quite aside from the fact that it is the gateway…
How to prepare for your Yachtmaster Offshore exam
Many very competent and highly experienced yachtsmen and women don’t have any qualifications at all and are content to keep it that way, but for some reason, not being a…
Coppercoat Brian Black Memorial Award: 2024 winners to be announced at Southampton Boat Show
The Brian Black Memorial Award 2024 is sponsored by Coppercoat and there is £4,000 up for grabs for the winners. The deadline for entries this year is 22 August and…
Kathleen Palmer: One woman’s fight for female representation at the Olympic Games
For the first time in its history, the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will achieve gender parity. For sailing, this means four women’s events, four men’s events and two mixed…
Grand Soleil 42LC review: a serious boat for serious cruisers
Light winds may not make for the most exciting boat test images, especially when it’s chilly, the sky is grey and it’s threatening to rain, which was the weather we…
New rules to mean easier cruising to France from 1 June 2024
Sailors can now check in to Schengen zone in 53 French marinas rather than having to use official Ports of Entry
Sunbeam 32.1 review: More than style over substance?
You’ll either love it or hate it. There is little doubt that the Sunbeam 32.1 is a Marmite boat, and that’s exactly what her creators set out to build. With…
How are modern wooden boats built?
‘Building a wooden boat, you don’t need a new plug and mould for every boat you want to build, so there is much lower setup cost, and less waste,’ says…
Are wooden boat the answer to environmentally responsible yachting?
Boatbuilding as we know it is not a sustainable process. The dawn of mass production GRP boats from the 1960s onwards fuelled an explosion in sailing participation and boat ownership.…