SAIL's Tip of the Week is presented to you by Vetus Maxwell

As if there was any doubt, January’s Boot Düsseldorf show once again lived up to its billing as the world’s top boat and watersports show. A quarter of a million boat nuts flocked to the massive exhibition center on the banks of the Rhine for the nine-day event. Although this show caters to just about

Duncan Kent provides a pre-launch checklist and suggests a few low-budget improvements that could transform life on board for the new season  

Germany’s renowned Dehler brand underwent some serious rejuvenation therapy after it was acquired by Hanse Yachts a few years ago. The boats are now being built in Vietnam, at the combined Seawind and Corsair trimaran facility in Ho Chi Minh City, where several new models are under development. The first result of the union was

Last November, while most people were sitting around the table with friends and family digging into a Thanksgiving turkey, I was putting my bags down in a little bungalow overlooking Knysna Lagoon on South Africa’s southern shore. I had arrived in South Africa for a whirlwind tour of the boatbuilding scene in the region, which

As the great singlehanded sailor Harry Pidgeon once said: “You can sail for one day, right? Ocean sailing is just sailing day after day after day.” Over the years my wife, Mia Karlsson, and I have sailed tens of thousands of miles on our boats and as delivery skippers. We’ve also learned a tremendous amount

Looking for a little more protection from the elements onboard my Najad 343, Panthalassa, I built a hard dodger for her. It turned out to be one of the best additions I ever made to my boat in terms of comfort and convenience. The hard dodger helped me stay warmer and dryer than my previous

Last month, Donald McLennan took us through the basics of weather routing tools for cruisers. In part 2 of our series on weather routing, we take a closer look at some of the programs available for the sailing community. Weather route optimization is based on the fastest time to navigate a route taking into account

A sub-zero January morning on Long Island greeted me and my headlamp as I made my way to JFK. I wandered the concourse after dropping off my rental car, found my new traveling companion, New Yorker and Martha’s Vineyard-native Tom Graham, and grabbed a cup of coffee. “What’s in that carry-on?” I asked Tom, a

The thought of living aboard a boat sounds lovely, romantic and simple—and indeed it can be. But if you’re thinking about making a move from land to a boat, you need to consider a few things. If you don’t already own a boat, you’ll need to buy one, and even if you do have one,