New Boat Review: Beneteau Oceanis 41
Beneteau’s new Oceanis 41 features a unique hull shape and a new cruising perspective, with a design that focuses on style, comfort, and ease of operation. After sailing the boat, Practical Sailor editors walked away impressed with the wide-body sloop. French naval architects Finot-Conq skillfully distributed the boat’s volume, placed the rig and foils exactly where they belong and revised the deck layout. A chine-like edge— affectionately known as the “kink”—interrupts the smooth curve of the topsides. Other new features on the Oceanis 41 include a transformable transom-swim platform and convertible cabin furniture.
Plumbing
Marine Holding Tanks Go Head-to-Head
In our 2002 holding tank test, SeaLand emerged as the winner. The material of choice for holding tanks continues to be rotationally molded linear polyethylene, which is light in weight, doesn’t corrode, allows for seamless tank construction, is relatively inexpensive, and...
Computers and Software
PS Sea-trials the iPad and Nav Apps
With many of the 38-million-sold iPads winding up on board boats, it’s no wonder there are hundreds of iPad apps that are well suited for the sailing life. This begins Practical Sailor’s three-part series on those apps. Part 1 of the series reports on PS’s field...
Cleaning & Waxing
WipeOut Eraser vs. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
A few months ago, we noticed that our dock neighbors were cleaning their decks with spongy-looking nanofiber pads. Ditching a multitude of cleaners for one re-usable sponge was quite appealing, so a test was in order. We pitted the original Mr. Clean Magic Eraser from Proctor &...
Inside Practical Sailor Blog
Eco-friendly Bottom Paints 2012
February 01, 2012
There are very few times when the door to my office is closed. Bottom paint rating tabulation time is one of them. For the past week I’ve been poring over bottom paint data collected earlier this month – three Excel tables representing more than 300 data points. Although mammoth data tables are not what drew me into this business, the bottom paint program is still one of my favorite projects. I’ve spent enough time scrubbing and scraping and painting to appreciate the importance of what we do.
