CATEGORIES

FIRST TEST DUFOUR 41

There have always been yachts that claim to offer the best of all worlds. They lure you in with the promise of being able to luxuriate in spacious opulence after a day of exhilarating sailing.

Ella Hibbert to sail to Norway and Russia in Arctic preparation

Intrepid 27-year-old sailor Ella Hibbert has made the difficult decision to delay her departure to sail solo around the Arctic circle until next year, but will instead depart this summer on a training expedition to Norway and Russia in preparation.

ADVENTURE THE CALL OF THE SOUTH SEAS

What is the call of the South Seas? The Hoiland family were curious to find out, so they set off west to explore. This is the story of their year sailing through the islands and atolls of French Polynesia

Mile-long RNLI flotilla for 200th anniversary

As the RNLI celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, more than 40 rescue vessels formed a flotilla more than a mile long in Poole in May.

HOW TO MARK YOUR ANCHOR

Anchoring in a pretty bay is one of boating’s greatest joys but it can also be a cause of considerable angst: How much chain should I put out? What’s the seabed like? Will I get stuck? What if I drag? Many of these concerns can be solved by laying the correct amount of cable (called scope) for the depth and conditions.

THEN THERE WAS LIGHT

Four-season boater, Gilbert Park, hunts down the perfect marine spotlight

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BOAT DECKING

In the first of o our new series of guides we discuss...

Boats for restoring under £20,000

Duncan Kent picks the best sub-35ft sail and power boats to look for when aiming to undertake a restoration on a budget

IZIBoat: simple sailing

Rupert Holmes sails an innovative catamaran design intended to widen participation in sailing among those with little time to get on the water in more conventional craft

AXOPAR 29

To say the Axopar 28 is a tough act to follow is an understatement - can the Finnish brand's latest iteration offer genuine improvements on its super popular predecessor?

Dominant minimalism

Every yachtsman's a superyacht owner

TREASURE ISLAND

THE IMAGE THAT ROCKED OUR BOAT THIS MONTH

Orca sink yacht in Strait of Gibraltar

Spain's maritime rescue service, Salvamento Maritimo, has reported that a 15m (49ft) yacht sank in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar following interaction with a pod of orca.

Cream tea carnage at sea

The crew's 'scone mad' on a Thames barge

No kill cord or lifejackets were worn during fatal powerboat crash

A kill cord and lifejacket are useless unless worn-that's the warning from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), following its investigation into a powerboat crash that killed a 32-year-old woman and five-year-old girl on 2 October 2022.

Multihull sail work

Brush up on multihull sailing skills before heading off on charter with Gavin Le Sueur's guide to spinnaker handling, tacking and gybing

DELPHIA 10 SEDAN

If you're happy to trade speed for serenity, Delphia has something that's likely to appeal

PRESTIGE F4

Behind the wheel of a 50ft flybridge cruiser that dares to be different

30 WAYS TO GET AFLOAT

From tall ships to small dinghies, you needn't own a boat to sail. Ali Wood looks at the options, and how skippers can also find crew

LOFOTEN OR BUST PART I

Swedish MBY reader Per Harrtoft fulfills a lifelong dream with a high-speed dash to the remote but beautiful Lofoten islands in the far north of Norway

Seaworthy dinghies for less than £500

For low cost traditionally-styled GRP trailer-sailers, consider the Foreland and the Otter available at bargain basement prices

Playing with coloured sails

Maintaining an hourglass-shaped balloon and ratcheting up the log numbers

Five top causes of engine failure and how to prevent them

Jake Kavanagh talks to Sea Start marine engineer Nick Eales about how to avoid the five major causes of an engine breakdown at sea

Sail the Atlantic with strangers

Would you sail across the Atlantic with someone you've just met? Ali Wood meets the cruising crews who've done just that

RIVA GOES ELECTRIC

Riva made its name building beautiful mahogany sportboats powered by big petrol engines, but the new El-Iseo is powered by an electric motor.

BUYING A USED...FAIRLINE PHANTOM 42

Fairline first introduced its Phantom range half a century ago with the Phantom 32.

WEST COUNTRY GOURMET CRUISE

The promise of a gastronomic tour of the South West coast persuades Gilbert Park's reluctant sailor wife to join him on a summer cruise with a difference

How to rig preventers and boom brakes

Rigging a preventer or using a boom brake is just good seamanship when sailing downwind, but doing so badly is asking for trouble, says Rachael Sprot

I finally found the magic of the sea

I won’t be in theatres with a notebook as much as usual this month – time for some wider, wetter horizons – but may be musing, as I often do, on how rare it is for theatre to express a convincing reality about the oceans and the trade or pursuit of seafaring.

TECHNICAL INSTALLING A NEW ENGINE

When a mysterious loss of coolant jeopardised his sailing, Andy Du Port knew the time had tome to replace his yacht’s:veteran Volvo Penta