Ocean Testing the Best Sailing Gear

Circumnavigators Evans Starzinger gives Practical Sailor his unvarnished assessment of what sailing equipment holds up to the real-world tests of serious offshore cruising. Evans evaluates autopilots, winches, rope clutches, boom vangs, mainsail slides, sailing instruments, safety equipment, marine electronics, and more. His conclusion? A lot of equipment that is marketed for recreational sailors doesn't offer good value when compared to products designed for commercial, industrial, or non-marine purposes. Some of it plain doesn't work.

Mailport: 12/06

MARINE INSURANCE REDUXI have been reading with much interest your articles about marine insurance this year (April and May 2006).

Waterproof iPod Cases

Devices that keep your tunes dry, even when you're not.

Pint-size Navigators Put to the Test

PS gets a fix on which GPS handheld best suits the average Salty Joe.

Rhumb Lines — Getting a Fix on Reality

It was mid-July 1990 on the Caicos Banks, a stretch of shallow, gin-clear water extending for about 70 miles east to west in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Along with a dozen other cruisers whod chosen to thumb our noses at hurricane season (ah, those were simpler times), we were pausing in Providenciales before heading south. …

Nav Software Wars

Maptech masters the art of making sense; at 15 years old, The Capn charts a new course.

The Custom Marine Computer

Compact, energy efficient systems offer an affordable alternative to a laptop.

Getting a Handle on VHFs

Feature-filled Standard Horizon edges Icom.

Take One Deep Breath

With pre-recorded instructions, the rechargeable Safety Mate calmly talks you through a range of first-aid procedures, right down to counting the 30 chest compressions...

Diving into Plotter/Sounders

Navman out-pixels ’em all, and Furuno bests the rest.

This 1997 Sailboat Costs $350,000… Here’s Why – Hampton 43

Can a 1997 sailboat really be worth $350,000? In this video, we take a deep dive into the Hampton 43 pilothouse cutter, a heavy-displacement...

Latest Sailboat Review

Morgan 34 Used Boat Review

By today's standards, the Morgan 34 is a small boat, comparable in accommodations to a lot of 30-footers. When the boat was designed, she was as big as most other boats of her overall length. In profile, the boat has a sweeping, moderately concave sheer. The ends of the boat are beautifully balanced: the bow profile is a slight convex curve, the overhanging counter aft is slightly concave. Esthetically, hull shapes of this period from the best designers are still hard to beat.