It would be easy, observing the sea change in fiberglass production boatbuilding in the U.S. over the last several decades, to feel a little blue about how many builders have not survived the industry’s ups and downs. But seen through the lens of sma

You might say I learned to sail on my family’s 32-foot Pearson Vanguard. But my most memorable lessons came after we dropped anchor, when my father taught me in our Dyer Dhow sailing dinghy. Half a century later, I still remember his precise instruct

The first edition of Stikky Night Skies, published in 2003, was among the books we carried when we went cruising full-time in 2008. I thought it might be a fun way to teach our kids, then 8 and 12, more about the joys of stargazing. It did all that,

Our 1979 Cheoy Lee 41, Avocet, was anchored in Morro Bay during the worst storm system the state of California had seen in two decades. It had been two weeks of what seemed to be nonstop rain and high winds while we patiently waited for some sort of

It’s sometimes hard to wrap your head around all that’s evolved since 1851, when a syndicate of owners from the newly minted New York Yacht Club brought their schooner America to the UK for a summer of racing and returned with the trophy that would b

Jamie Brown had always nurtured a dream of sailing a transatlantic. He thought he’d have to wait until he retired, and then he’d spend ages preparing whatever boat he had chosen before actually doing the thing. But it all happened a lot sooner than t

Feedback from the SAIL community ARE YOU OUT THERE SAILING, CRUISING AND LIVING THE SAILING LIFE? Share your experiences with other readers. Send your photos to [email protected] And don’t forget to sign up for our free eNewsletter, Under Sai

Sometimes you draw the long straw with a boat test and get the chance for a multi-day delivery to really put the boat through its paces and see it in a variety of conditions. I was excited to hop on Elan’s brand new Impression 43 for the trip from An

Own a sailboat? Pete Van Hamersveld didn’t even know how to sail. Plus, who’d be crazy enough to pay slip fees? The year was 1988. Pete was 29, newly married, and looking for a hobby to replace hang gliding. Something safer, he thought. Something he

Ora Kali had pushed hard to get through New York Harbor and the East River to Long Island Sound, and our nerves were jangling after eight hours of listening to the three-cylinder Westerbeke 13 engine pound away. We picked up a municipal mooring in Po

You might have watched the 40-foot Gray Wolf win last year’s Race to Alaska (R2AK) under team We Brake for Whales and thought it impressive that for the second time, Jeanne Goussev stepped onto the dock at Ketchikan first. But only after that victory

The new Xquisite 30 Sportcat looked like a drag racer, tugging at her dock lines at the Annapolis sailboat show. At 30 feet, she was by far one of the smallest boats in the water, but this carbon speedster looked like she’d give the big boats a run f

I was aboard Joule, the latest version of the Windelo 50, twice before I ever sailed her—the first time at the Cannes Yachting Festival in France last fall, and the second at the Miami International Boat Show in February. She had sailed transatlantic

New England sailing is easy for those who want to grab a mooring every night; our harbors are plentiful and well-spaced for day trips of 25 to 40 miles. That was our strategy when my partner, John, and I sailed my Catalina 25, Esmeralda, about 700 mi

This spring, Ronnie Simpson was in California, helping U.S. Patriot Sailing suss out a Class40 that had just been donated to the nonprofit. He was hoping to get it set up in time for a doublehanded Pacific Cup run from San Francisco to Hawaii in July

Feedback from the SAIL community ARE YOU OUT THERE SAILING, CRUISING AND LIVING THE SAILING LIFE? Share your experiences with other readers. Send your photos to [email protected] And don’t forget to sign up for our free eNewsletter, Under Sai

In the early spring of 1893, a seemingly unassuming young man, a clerk who then worked in the British House of Commons, made a fateful decision—he would learn to sail. His name was Erskine Childers. He had a slight build, poor eyesight, a weak chin,

Lifeline failure usually arrives as a shocking surprise, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Metal fatigue and crevice corrosion are hidden from sight in traditional lifeline construction, with potential danger lurking under white plastic coating

Mid-Atlantic I’d been to Cape Charles many times by land before sailing in, and it was worth the wait to arrive by boat. For decades, this historic little town just inside the Chesapeake Bay’s entrance has worked toward its new moment in the sun, and

When several members of our Florida sailing club, the West Coast Trailer Sailors Squadron, decided to get together for a group daysail on a recent September morning, I knew I wanted to go along. I’d never sailed at the Dunedin Causeway, and I’m alway