A year or so ago I was helping a friend, Monty Halls, bring his boat Sobek, around from Plymouth to Dartmouth. As we were leaving Plymouth breakwater, the engine died.…
Yachting Monthly
Two more marinas join the Premier Marinas network, closing South Coast gap
Weymouth and Portland Marinas have been integrated into the Premier Marinas South Coast network, extending the reach of its full-service marina group along the UK’s southern coastline. The update sees…
Gib’sea 312 Plus used boat review: Pace, grace, and space
Many boat-buying decisions start with lists: lists of possible boats, of their pros and cons, of the order of priorities, and so on. So let’s start with a list here.…
Sailing the Shipping Forecast in Wight: ‘There are so many options in the Solent’
Coastal cruises in Wight Wight must be the most familiar sea areas for a huge number of sailors, whether cruising or racing, staying coastal or crossing the Channel. On the…
The desalination dilemma: Why our thirst for fresh water is changing the sea
Visions of the parched ground of last summer feel very distant as we look back on an extremely wet winter, both in the UK and in many Med regions. The…
The Med-made sailor with a mission to help disabled children: Golden Globe Race skipper Dr. Selim Yalcin in his own words
Dr. Selim Yalcin writes for Yachting Monthly: I grew up in an Istanbul that lived by, on, and of the water. From childhood I was in love with the sea,…
From shearing sheep to sailing around the world solo: Inside the wondrous world of Golden Globe Race skipper Etienne Messikommer
Climber-sailor-storyteller Etienne Messikommer wears a red, Cousteau-style hat. He appears in onboard interviews surrounded by splashes of colour and well-loved paperbacks. His speech is marked by a rare sense of…
Saffier 27 review: ‘When you’re under way, pretty well everything can be controlled from the helm’
Many’s the time I have observed that plenty of people who own cruising yachts rarely – if ever – seem to go cruising. They sail around the bay on a…
Zen again: A 65,000-mile love story on a 1980s IOR classic
Zen Again is our Yamazaki Yachts Stinger 34 1980s IOR ¾ tonner. She’s gorgeous. She has a deep fin keel, strong skeg-hung rudder and tall masthead cutter rig. She displaces…
Boat Building’s Last Stand: A Visit to the Academy
Grinding through January and February underlines how much I hate the winter. Indeed, we have just booked a cheap and cheery week in the Canaries to soak up a bit…