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A boat by any other name...

Practical Boat Owner

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Summer 2025

Luck, skill, automation, craftsmanship

- Sam Llewellyn

A boat by any other name...

Summer is icumen in and no mistake. The varnish is gleaming, the antifouling is impeccable and soft breezes stir the burgee. What remains to be done? Nothing. No, wait a minute. Think transom. A perfectly-polished wineglass shape, exquisitely perforated at the splay by the exhaust skinfitting. An abstract shape that fills the soul with joy. But something is missing. What?

A name, that's what.

Your boat will almost certainly already have a name. One hopes that it may not be Costa Plenty or, like a matched pair of semi-derelict river craft that once polluted the upper Severn, Stimula and Fiesta, named, apparently, after exotically modified brands of gent's personal requisite. Some like to call their darlings things like Physiological Ineptitude III, though the difficulty of spelling this to the coastguard over the VHF in an emergency means that natural selection has taken its toll and there are few such idiots left. Keep it simple, is a good maxim.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Keep your boat dry this winter

Ashore or afloat, winter cold and damp can have a detrimental effect. Jake Kavanagh looks at options for keeping condensation and moisture at bay

time to read

9 mins

November 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

First time above the Arctic Circle

JoJo Pickering is wowed by mountains, deep anchorages, fjords and endless daylight while sailing a 48ft yacht on Norway's west coast

time to read

7 mins

November 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Legendary boats

Saša Fegić shares his pick of the boats that shaped sailing history and transformed the sport

time to read

13 mins

November 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Diesel engine fluids

The key to a smooth-running diesel engine is making sure you look the fluids, as John Panye explains

time to read

10 mins

November 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Dismasted off the Lizard

Richard Ayres makes his first Mayday call when his yacht is dismasted and prop fouled close to the Manacle rocks

time to read

6 mins

November 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Safer boarding quidance for small craft

Skippers and crew of small boats are being advised to consider boarding aids such as additional ladders, handholds, and alternative means of access, such as a tender.

time to read

1 min

November 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

The new old navigation

You can do it with your eyes shut

time to read

3 mins

November 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Ex-lifeboatman's nine year solo voyage

A former Plymouth lifeboat volunteer has returned from his 30,000-mile circumnavigation on his 36ft yacht, nine years after setting off.

time to read

1 min

November 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Island of dreams

Modern intrusions vie with the trill of oystercatchers close to Dave's dream home

time to read

3 mins

November 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Ella's Arctic record attempt on pause

Ella Hibbert, who is the first British woman to sail the Northwest Passage single-handed, has halted her solo sail around the Arctic due to safety concerns ahead of attempting the Northeast Passage behind schedule, but vowed to continue again next summer.

time to read

1 min

November 2025

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