The boat owner's ultimate guide to wood, the best coastal cruisers under 40ft, laying up – top tips to beat the bug, sailing around every island in England and Wales...…
Laura Hodgetts
Features editor
Tried and tested: Stubble & Co The Adventure Bag
Laura Hodgetts tests the giant backpack that can hold as much as a suitcase, is waterproof and stowable, yet is forgettably lightweight (1.7kg)...
Boatbuilding added to ‘endangered’ craft list
Traditional wooden boatbuilding in the UK is on the ‘Red List of Endangered Crafts’, compiled by the Heritage Crafts Association.
Boat owners warned: ‘Don’t attempt a risky DIY gas bottle refill’
The UK’s largest yacht owners group, the Westerly Owners’ Association (WOA) with 3,000 members, is among those dependent on gas bottles of this size for cooking on board. In a…
September issue – on sale 3 August
Best boats to sail around Britain, buyer’s guide to portable toilets, Jimmy Cornell's secrets to a successful voyage, how to design mods for your boat, 25 pages of boat DIY…
New yellow buoys mark no anchor zones in Torbay, Devon
All six seagrass beds in Torbay, Devon are now marked out for protection by the Ocean Conservation Trust's Blue Meadows Project.
Anchoring charges and the law
Are anchoring charges fair to those sailors who do not use facilities ashore? We look at both sides of the argument
Cruising Poland’s lake district
“How do you get from one lake to another?” My brother Jack, a ferry captain, wanted to know when I said I was off to sail a cruising yacht on…
Pip Hare: ‘I now have a fighting chance for Vendée Globe 2024 success’
The six month refit aims to give Pip Hare's Imoca 60 Medallia "a fighting chance" against the 13 new-build boats, costing some £8million each, which will be joining her on…
What I learned from my Croatian family charter on a 40ft catamaran
A skippered flotilla charter on the Dalmatian Coast is a dream come true for Laura Hodgetts, but can she really relax as a (last-minute) lone parent with two pre-schoolers and…
Jester Challenge folkboat Minke is found – but sailor Duncan Lougee is missing
A 25ft yacht that disappeared whilst sailing from Plymouth, Devon to Ireland as part of the Jester Baltimore Challenge fleet has been found, but solo skipper Duncan Lougee was not…
Seadog of the Month: May the clementine thief
Standard Poodle May claimed a coveted 'Seadog of the Month' slot in Practical Boat Owner magazine – and now she's using her buoyancy aid prize on a circumnavigation of Britain
Sailing the Northwest Passage in a wooden replica Victorian cutter
Plymouth shipwright Will Stirling is attempting to sail through the notorious ice-bound Northwest Passage in a 43ft wooden ‘gentlemen’s cutter’ that he designed himself.
Sprinkling sand ‘deters orcas’ according to Cruising Association
Sprinkling sand around the rudder is now a recommended deterrence of orca – which have damaged more than 250 yachts and sunk three – in the Strait of Gibraltar since
Summer Issue – on sale 8 June
Cruising to Europe: EU regulations explained, Different rig types – the pros and cons, Become a boatbuilder - behind the scenes at the academy in Lyme Regis, Electric for beginners:…
Double carbon monoxide tragedy sparks warning
Exhaust gas, containing CO, had likely been funnelled into the cockpit between the boat’s transom and an inflatable waterskiing ringo suspended from it
SigneT dinghies to mark 60th anniversary of channel crossing
Intrepid dinghy sailors will be honouring a significant event in the SigneT class history with a cross-Channel expedition.
Calor Gas: Longer phase out time for 4.5kg & 3.9kg cylinders
Calor Gas has confirmed that although it will discontinue its 4.5kg butane and 3.9kg propane cylinders, the phasing out period has been extended
Water users urged to avoid Poole Harbour oil spill area
The elation of Poole Harbour’s male Osprey’s safe return home from Africa on Sunday morning was soon dashed by late afternoon when news of the oil spill was announced –…
Citizen scientists needed to explore GRP boats’ water pollution
University of Brighton researchers are launching a Citizen Science project with the goal of “evidencing pollution in Chichester and Langstone harbours.”