A boat fit for purpose

What makes the perfect bluewater boat? Ali Wood asks the owners of two catamarans and two monohulls crossing the North Atlantic

Selecting the right gear...

Coming into a crowded marina late at night after a great day sailing across Lyme Bay, Andrew Carter's feathering prop failed and jammed in 'full ahead' - even when engaged in astern

Sunk boat salvage

Marsali Taylor reports on the salvage efforts to raise a wooden vessel at Aith Marina that attracted spectators despite the mizzle and smirr

Tried & Tested

Will Renilson improves boat handling aboard his Jersey 36

New Gear

Rupert Holmes gets an early look at the latest ideas

Back to (sea) school

James Wood gets to grip with navigation, passage planning, tides, buoyage, Colregs and more on his RYA Day Skipper Theory course

Changing times

Alasdair Kirkpatrick tells Ali Wood about narrowboat innovations including a fully accessible design plus hybrid and electric propulsion

Slow boat through the mountains

James Wood discovers the joys and challenges of narrow boating in the Brecon Beacons

Azores and back THE SCENIC ROUTE

Phil Taylor dusts off the charts and turns a winter dream into reality after overhauling his Sabre 27 for a bluewater cruising adventure

17-20ft POCKET CRUISERS

Whether you're moving on from dinghies, or downsizing to a boat that's fun without being a financial millstone, here's a trailer-sailer market guide

The Maxi with the most

Why has the Maxi 84 proved so popular since her launch 45 years ago? David Harding sailed Maximus, the 'work in progress' refurbished PBO Project Boat, to find out

Working boats for leisure

Strong and often cheap, retired working boats make good leisure vessels if you don’t mind fettling to repurpose them

Rudder bother

You know something's up when you're going round in circles with the tiller straight ahead

Beachcombing

How wrecking became a fine art on the dangerously rocky Isles of Scilly

Plastic classics

A vintage boat doesn't win the same admiration as an elderly car - but it should!

UK drops National Flagship plans

The Ministry of Defence and Defence Equipment & Support has suspended the design procurement process for the new National Flagship.

Marine micro-organisms mission

Every day in every boatyard, marina and port the cleaning of hulls, slipways and marine infrastructure kills billions of marine micro-organisms – all vital for sustaining wildlife and the food chain all the way up to human beings.

Invitation to female offshore passagemakers

The adventure company 59° North Sailing has announced that it will now reserve two bunks for women on its offshore sailing passages.

'Ordinary crew' wanted for global sailing race

The organiser of the 2023 Ocean Globe Race, Don McIntyre, is looking for crew to sail with him in the round-the-world race.

My near-miss up a mast

A transatlantic sailor has told of her ordeal after a gust knocked her off the mast, jamming her harness, and swinging her repeatedly into the rigging.

Worrying times for UK's seabirds

The UK is currently experiencing its worst-ever outbreak of avian flu, commonly known as bird flu.

Post-Covid cruising in Greece

After two and a half years John Woolf returns to his Carambola 38 in Greece and spends three weeks getting her seaworthy again

A flood of costs and a trickle of cash

Andy Pag attempts to rebuild a Spectra watermaker on a budget

As darkness falls

Mike Humphreys risks grounding his Halcyon 23 in fading light to assist two teenagers stuggling with a capsized dinghy

A cruise on the French Riviera

Owen Moorhouse leaves the wilds of the New South Wales coastline to explore from Nice to Grimaud and back in a borrowed Jeanneau 33

Time, tide and the Thames

Unlike Arthur Ransome’s story, Trevor Cherrett really did mean to take his boat to sea but it didn't quite work out that way

A yacht called Alice

Nicholas Bielby had always had a yen for steel-hulled yachts, so when the opportunity came up to own one that had survived being hit by a tanker, he couldn't resist developing her as a comfortable, family cruiser

Would you cross an ocean in this?

Andrew Bedwell is preparing a world record attempt to cross the Atlantic in a 3ft 10in boat Ali Wood meets him at Southampton Boat Show

Dufour 32

Peter Poland reports on the new 32-footer that reflects the many changes made down the years in the designs and dimensions of production cruising yachts

A buoyant boat market?

Peter Poland assesses how new boats at the Southampton International Boat Show reflect the current state of the sail and power markets