HOW TO NAVIGATE 'ORCA ALLEY'

In the last three years, orcas have started 'attacking' yachts on their way through the Gibraltar Straits. James Kenning looks at how to minimise the risk

FIRST TEST - X-YACHTS X4³

X-Yachts' latest model promises to be a fast passage-making cruising boat that's fun and engaging to sail but won't scare your socks off. Theo Stocker went to find out how well the X4³ toes the line

The lessons we should not forget

Sailors have famously short memories. Arriving in New Caledonia after blast-reaching in near gale conditions up from New Zealand, we had that slightly wild-eyed, salty-haired look that comes with an eventful passage. And we weren’t even meant to be in New Caledonia. A weather forecast shortly after setting out from Opua showed a low forming just off these islands, deepening rapidly and moving eastwards. Our planned passage up to Fiji would have meant we would effectively be ‘racing’ this weather system to Fiji. Our ETAs would be pretty much equal. Not good.

My boat is a welcome retreat

Tracey and I have just commenced construction of our very own Grand Designs in so much as we are self building a long dreamed of off-grid house in our little corner of Cornwall. It’s cool to be using technology that we used to test and develop during the early days of short-handed racing.

My first Biscay crossing

Kate Fraser’s first overnight sail was both testing and exhilarating in equal measure

Magic of the Moray Firth

This leg of Mark Ashley-Miller’s epic Harbour Master challenge takes in northeast Scotland’s varied coastline

NAVIGATE YOUR WAY HOME WITHOUT POWER

Electrical failure can put you in the dark when your instruments go down. A few traditional skills, and a good tool kit, can see you safely home

Heads up for a rite of passage!

Heads on yachts, as we all know, represent a range of challenges. Some are physical, some mechanical, and some spiritual.

BUYER'S GUIDE - MARINE BINOCULARS

Developments in optics and materials mean marine binoculars now offer better value than ever before. Dennis O’Neill rounded up the best pairs – for all budgets

TECHNICAL WATERPROOF FABRICS

Exciting advances in textile design are leading to drier, warmer and lighter marine clothing. Sam Fortescue explains the benefits, and the science

PETE GOSS DESIGNING OUR PERFECT BOAT

The legendary offshore yachtsman talks us through the design of his latest boat

'ROLLED & DISMASTED IN MONSTER SEAS'

Ian Herbert-Jones found himself dismasted and injured in an 80-knot storm deep in the South Atlantic after 219 days at sea in the Golden Globe Race. He told Theo Stocker about the experience

FIRST TEST ELAN E4

Elan’s smallest boat is a huge amount of fun, but would she make a sensible cruising boat? Theo Stocker set out to find her limits

THE 2022-23 GOLDEN GLOBE RACE : THE RACE OF ATTRITION

Katy Stickland talks to the five finishers about routing, gear failure, their seamanship and how they coped spending eight months alone at sea

CRUISING CATS

Catamarans are becoming ever more popular with private owners, especially for blue-water adventures. Theo Stocker takes a look at two new models

TECHNICAL WINDOWS & HATCHES

A leaky hatch or window can make life down below miserable. Duncan Kent explains how to ditch those drippy blues forever

The Tongan Way

One cruising couple discover the simple, unspoilt and breathtaking islands of Tonga en route to New Zealand

ADVENTURE SAILING EAST BEYOND THE BERLIN WALL

The coast of former East Germany offers Karen Eriksen and family tranquility and history in equal measure

CRUISING HONEYMOON THROUGH THE CRINAN CANAL

Newlyweds Stuart and Emma start their happily ever after' by piloting Evolene up the west coast of Scotland

'CAUGHT WITH NO ENGINE & NOWHERE TO GO'

When Tina McLachlan was caught by a 60-knot squall in the middle of the night and the anchors dragged, a grounding was just minutes away

FIRST TEST NEEL 43

If you're torn between the performance of a trimaran and the accommodation of a cruising cat, the Neel 43 might offer a solution, says David Harding

How to get some 'me time' at sea

The GGR has been a riveting slow burner of a race

SWALLOW YACHTS 32

Small boat specialist Swallow Yachts is venturing above 30ft for a sailing boat for the first time with the new Swallow 32, and it’s also returning to its roots with woodepoxy construction.

POINTER 30

The fact that the accommodation of the Pointer is designed around a Nespresso machine, enshrined in glory, tells you a lot about this boat.

BENTE 28

Once you’ve seen one, Bente yachts are unmistakable. We revisited the brand’s first boat, the Bente 24, a couple of issues ago, which has been around for 10 years or so.

Call to fit carbon monoxide detectors after tragedy

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is calling on boat owners to fit carbon monoxide detectors after two men tragically lost their lives in January 2022 aboard sports cruiser Emma Louise, while tied up at Port Hamble Marina.

KIRSTEN NEUSCHÄFER WINS

the Golden Globe crown and makes history

Beating around the boot of Italy

The omens are good when your new boat is so enjoyable on its first passage home

PILOTAGE UP THE RIVER TO BARNSTAPLE

An expedition upriver to Barnstaple, on the estuary of the rivers Taw and Torridge, crosses drying banks and a dangerous harbour bar. Ken Endean updates the pilotage information on the formerly busy port

KENICHI HORIE 'I WANT TO CROSS THE PACIFIC AT 100'

His age-defying achievements are the stuff of legend, says Nic Compton, but how did this gentle, unassuming man fulfil such huge sailing ambitions?