You’ll either love it or hate it. There is little doubt that the Sunbeam 32.1 is a Marmite boat, and that’s exactly what her creators set out to build. With…
Top Story
‘My experience of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race’
Dirty, wet and hungry; riding 30ft waves on a boat which was permanently tilted at 45°, I realised that this experience wasn’t quite what I’d been sold on that induction…
How are modern wooden boats built?
‘Building a wooden boat, you don’t need a new plug and mould for every boat you want to build, so there is much lower setup cost, and less waste,’ says…
Are wooden boat the answer to environmentally responsible yachting?
Boatbuilding as we know it is not a sustainable process. The dawn of mass production GRP boats from the 1960s onwards fuelled an explosion in sailing participation and boat ownership.…
Everything you need to know about yacht solar power
Keeping your batteries topped up without having to run the engine is a continuous challenge for cruising sailors, especially those who are highly conscious of their carbon footprint or just…
How to convert a yacht to electric propulsion
There are hundreds, if not thousands of yachts still sailing with 40-year-old diesel engines emitting smoke and pollutants, so is now the time to replace them with a clean, low…
Expert guide: how to tune the rig of a yacht
It is important to have a correctly tuned rig. Boats that have poorly tuned rigs are slower, point lower, heel more, make more leeway and may be more difficult to…
Cruising the Scillies and Gurnsey: ‘All was well in our little world’
Now in his 82nd year, my father Ewen reluctantly ended a nearly 50-year relationship with his much-loved and well-used succession of yachts as the last of four Black Velvets went…
Orcas ‘attack’ and sink a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar
A pod of orcas have attacked and sunk a 15m yacht in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar, the latest in a series of attacks in the area, the…
Why trading your boat in for something smaller can make your sailing more fun
Downsizing. It’s what you do when your children leave home or when you retire. You decide to move to a smaller house and buy a smaller car. It’s also what…