I never like writing filled with subtle allegory, puzzles, and hidden meaning. But in the hands of a master, creative use of language is an art that deepens the experience and...
Whether you want to cruise the higher latitudes or extend your sailing season this winter, you'll need to think about clothing. Over the years, Practical Sailor has published a number of...
After several weeks on the ICW (Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway), I decided that I’d serendipitously bought almost the perfect ICW boat. I can’t take credit for this—it was a happy accident. The...
Hands take a beating while sailing, from chafe, pressure points, cuts and cold. Hard heads will say “you just need to let the calluses build up,” but my other hobbies are...
“It was Reija who started it all,” smiles Leszek, talking to me from his home in Dublin, Ireland.
The idea of crossing the Atlantic had been brewing in grandfather Leszek’s mind for...
Beneteau is one of the few builders (along with perhaps Catalina, Hunter and its own corporate cousin, Jeanneau) whose volume of production can generate significant "economies of scale." Boatbuilding is not,...
There was a time when headsail handling meant snapping on bronze piston-hanks and hauling on a smooth-running halyard. Times have changed, and now it's all about how the furling drum rotates...
PDQ Yachts in Whitby, Ontario, Canada, launched the Alan Slater-designed PDQ 32 catamaran in 1994 and built 53 of the boats in the following eight years. The PDQ 32 has proven to...
The current tally of Island Packets—"More than 1,800 sold"—is impressive for any boatbuilding company. Just over 20 years ago the first boats in the...