Practical Boat Owner
Build your kit boat like an expert
Polly Robinson shares her best practice for constructing a boat from a pre-cut kit, and how to troubleshoot potential problems
7 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
Routing in tide
Professional meteorologist and expert sailor Chris Tibbs explains how to navigate more efficiently through tidal waters
4 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
Boats for cruising around the UK
Duncan Kent chooses the best sail and motor boats under 40ft for circumnavigating the islands of Britain and Ireland
10+ min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
Do I need my vessel re-certified?
Surveyor Ben Sutcliffe-Davies gives his advice on the implications to be considered when making changes to your boat
2 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
How to fit your own autopilot
Gilbert Park shows how he installed a new autopilot on his Trusty T23 motorboat
7 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
WORLD'S FASTEST NELSON?
I’ve always had a thing about Nelson 40s. The first one I bought back in the mid-1980s was an ex-Abu Dhabi police launch that could only be described as a wreck. I found it lurking at the back of an industrial boatyard on Hayling Island. In fact there were two of them but one had a Nelson- shaped hole in the side from a previous encounter with its stablemate. Even the undamaged one was in a right old state; the hull was delaminated, the superstructure was rotten, it was full of water and none of its systems or fittings were salvageable – not even the machine gun mounting points on the flybridge and foredeck. More’s the pity – there were times when they could have come in handy on a summer’s day in the Solent!
10 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
BALLISTIC XP80
Is Ballistic's new XP80 really \"The Ultimate Adventure RIB\"? We head to Trafalgar Wharf in Portsmouth to test its mettle
7 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
JEANNEAU CAP CAMARAT 10.5 CC
If you want a boat that can do it all, the flagship centre console model from Jeanneau's famous Cap Camarat line might be just the thing
7 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
AEGEAN ADVENTURE
Thomas and Jutta Kittel continue their cruise from Albania via Corfu to the Ionian islands of Lefkas, Sami and Zakynthos
7 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
Death of the compass?
Navigation-what's hot and what's not
3 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
Long-haul cruising CHECKLIST
Jimmy Cornell boils down decades' worth of world cruising surveys to find the factors that affect voyage success
10+ min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
Portable toilet buyer's guide
Ali Wood checks out the best places to go... when you really need to go
9 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
HOW TO BERTHA PILOTHOUSE BOAT
Look around any marina in the UK or abroad and you will almost always see a fleet of small pilothouse motorboats dotted around the pontoons.
3 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
BUYING A FLYBRIDGE CRUISER
Henry Firman trawls Europe's best shows in search of a new boat
4 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
How to design modifications for your boat
Yacht designer lan Nicolson explains how to make changes to living space on board
10 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
Fair winds to yachtsman Duncan Lougee
Tributes have been paid to a solo skipper who disappeared while sailing his 25ft Folkboat from the UK's south coast to Ireland as part of the Jester Baltimore Challenge.
2 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
Calm day antics
Getting close to seabirds, achieving a level horizon... and not dropping the camera
3 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
A narrow escape
Dave struggles to remember why owning a classic boat is such a privilege...
2 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY.
With the level of boating luxury he desired out of his financial grasp, David Vandyke had resigned himself to a boat-free life... until he read an MBY feature about shared ownership
8 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
Sinking pontoons and a twisted knee
John Latham experiences an inauspicious start to his cruise from Dublin to Northern Ireland when hit by gale force winds in harbour
7 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
SUNSEEKER SUPERHAWK 55
After a 14-year hiatus the Superhawk is back this time tapping into the trend for luxury open dayboats. But does the go-fast spirit of the original live on? Editor Hugo gives his verdict
8 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
BOAT CUISINE
Ever heard of a huffer? Nor had Phil Sampson, but he has now!
2 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
FIND ME A SECONDHAND...RIVER BOAT
Offshore boats can certainly venture upstream, but dedicated river boats are optimised for inland cruising. So this month, we are back on the river, decked out in a straw boater and striped blazer, glass of Pimm’s in hand (once safely moored for the afternoon, of course).
6 min |
September 2023
Practical Boat Owner
Diesel heat exchanger and manifold repair
Barry Pickthall explains how he carried out engine repairs on a budget after a couple of years of Covid lockdown neglect
3 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
BUYING A USED...GRANDEZZA 34
With more than 76,000 islands, 56,000 lakes and 300,000 kilometres of coastline, the Finns are never far from water. Unsurprising then that they should make best use of it, with traditions ranging from the downright peculiar (eg: washing their rugs in the brackish water of the Baltic) to building some of the finest vessels afloat. In fact, the nation’s boatbuilding prowess knows no bounds; from the 250,000 GT Icon of the Seas passenger liner right the way down to Finnmaster’s petite 5.5m Husky R5.
5 min |
September 2023
Motor Boat & Yachting UK
LIFE ON THE OPEN ROAD
Andrew Wilson-Bett explains why trailer boating is the best fun you can have
2 min |
September 2023
Yachting Monthly UK
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
10+ min |
August 2023
Yachting Monthly UK
A GUIDE TO HAVING YOUR BOAT DELIVERED (OR HELPING DELIVER ONE)
If you need help getting your boat from A to B after a purchase or for a cruise, a delivery crew might be the solution,
10+ min |
August 2023
Yachting Monthly UK
FROM LOCKDOWN ΤΟ LOCK MANIA
Nic Compton and assorted crew members lock into the French canal network from the Channel to the Mediterranean
8 min |
August 2023
Yachting Monthly UK
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.
2 min |