Veteran readers know how this works. For newer readers, suffice to say that near the end of each year Practical Sailor's staff examines that year's issues and picks the gear that impressed us the most. Our restrictions are minimal. These items can be something entirely new, an improvement to an old approach, big, small, novel, unique—anything that demonstrates usefulness and value to a boat owner.

Our lists are combined, mulled, culled, discussed (sometimes with spirit) and, finally, for no particular reason, reduced in number to a manageable group, in this case, 10. So here, in no particular order, are the products that make up Practical Sailor's 2004 Gear of the Year.…