Every voyage starts with a dream and for me it goes back a long while to when I was a little boy and wanted to become a sailor when I…
Cruising
Leaving our boat at the mercy of a hurricane in Canada
Belinda Chesman finds extreme weather when visiting the usually sheltered Havre Aubert Island in Quebec’s Madeleine archipelago
Jimmy Cornell asks how much safer has sailing actually become in 40 years?
Without doubt, safety has been the biggest improvement to long-distance cruising over the last 50 years. This is my own experience, as well as something highlighted in my surveys. There…
The pioneering sailor you’ve probably never heard of: Nicolette Milnes Walker
Nicolette Milnes Walker was the first woman to sail solo and non-stop from the UK to the USA. Julia Jones charts her trailblazing achievement
Chichester Marina and Harbour: a guide
Tranquil Chichester Marina and the surrounding harbour is the perfect destination for sailors with time to explore this area of natural beauty, as Alison Wood reports
Canal boat through the Welsh mountains
Have you ever wandered down an autumnal towpath, amid the mild fug of stove smoke, and wondered how cosy a trip aboard a canal barge could be? I know I…
Transforming a Sea Angler into a canal motorboat
Paul and Sally Weston turn their neglected Mitchell 31 Sea Angler into a canal motorboat to cruise the French coast and the canals
How I lost the battle with my wind turbine – and nearly lost my arm in the process
Wind generators provide an additional power source for keeping batteries topped-up, but they have the downside that the noise generated is annoying to all around. I recently discovered a darker-side…
Jimmy Cornell boat survey reveals how much sailing has changed in 40 years
‘During the past four years I have sailed through some of the major crossroads of the cruising world: Rhodes, Gibraltar, Antigua, Panama, Tahiti… and everywhere I was struck by the…
Around the world in a 5.8m boat! Meet the sailor preparing to race a Class Globe 5.80
British sailor Adam Waugh is currently building his 5.8m boat at his home in Northumberland before taking part in the 2025 Mini Globe Race across the Atlantic Pacific and Indian
What does my child need for dinghy sailing?
Alice Thorogood has three children who are members of the UK National Cadet Class Association. She shares what parents need to think about when their child starts dinghy sailing, from…
Stuck up a 75ft mast in the middle of the Atlantic
Karen Parker had been sailing onboard their Oyster 56, Mistral of Portsmouth, with husband Chris and two crew, when their Code Zero headsail, designed for light winds, became jammed. With…
Choppy start for ARC 22 as yachts set sail across Atlantic
The fleet departed Las Palmas, Gran Canaria yesterday for Saint Lucia on the 37th edition of the ARC, with over 800 crew taking part, in monohulls, multihulls and one motorboat.…
Maximus sets sail – Chichester to Poole shakedown
The day was finally here; time to take Maximus, our Maxi 84, from Chichester Marina to her new home in Poole. After many sleepless nights, last-minute trips to Force 4…
‘Orcas are playing with the yachts’ – experts’ theories after sinking
Marine biologists say evidence suggests that orca interactions with yachts are ‘playful’ rather than aggressive, but at risk of becoming ‘learned behaviour
Transatlantic joy as Sweet Dreams sails again after tragedy
“John’s death was very sudden and unexpected,” says Roz Preston, a former special advisor to Tony Blair. “The first time someone asked me what I’d do with the boat, I…
Zeasar: the sailing cat
Cats have long enjoyed a relationship with sailors; living on trading, exploration and naval ships to control vermin, but it’s not often you see them on a 47ft yacht. Weighing…
Cleaning up plastic pollution in paradise: Cruising notes from the Aegean Sea
Contrary to expectations, my first introduction to sailing in the Mediterranean was disappointing. Aleko was returning home to Greece after a three-year voyage in his Nicholson 32 Beduin. I’d joined…
A very nautical proposal – with help from an RNLI lifeboat
Steve Hodges hatches a proposal plan with the RNLI Eastbourne Lifeboat crew, hoping they don’t get a shout and that his girlfriend knows her flags
New system for notifying overseas pleasure craft voyages
The UK government, via Border Force, has introduced the single Pleasure Craft Report (sPCR) service for those travelling to and from the UK on pleasure craft at www.spcr.homeoffice.gov.uk…