Rhumb Lines: Show Highlights from Annapolis
I’ve always enjoyed how the annual Annapolis Sailboat Show offers a glimpse of the future—or at least how gear and boat makers envision the...
Rhumb Lines: A Search for Sole Survivors
Inspired by Technical Editor Drew Frye’s dive into sailing shoe durability this month, I recently rummaged through Practical Sailor’s Gear Graveyard to see what I...
The Northwest Pacific Sailboat
Somewhere between Cape Caution, British Columbia and Cape Foulweather, Oregon, I found myself pondering the pros and cons of pilothouse sailboats again. The marinas...
Rhumb Lines: Pursuing the Illusion of the Perfect Boat
Earlier this month the press announced the launch of Jeff Bezos’ kazillion dollar sailing yacht, a three-masted, 417-foot schooner filled with a bunch of...
Rhumb Lines: Yes, We Are the Lucky Ones
Slow down. Stretch. Breathe.
Before we let the coming summer carry us away, dreamy, windswept, mouth wide open, ready to inhale each sultry moment and...
Rhumb Lines: The Bathtub Cockpit Concept
I often wonder what the Norwegian yacht designer Colin Archer would say about today’s performance cruising boats, with their open transoms rolling out the...
Rhumb Lines: Tiller Versus Wheel, Again
Two articles this month focus on the simplest, most reliable form of steering, one that has persisted through the ages with little modification—the tiller....
Rhumb Lines: Eight Bells for Charley Morgan
Legendary sailor and yacht designer Charley Morgan passed away on January 6, 2023. He was 93 years old. Outspoken, self-assured, indefatigable, Charley was all...
Rhumb Lines: Seamanship, Not Size, Is What Counts
Years ago, one of my first assignments as a sailing editor was to join the famous sailor and yacht designer Steve Dashew and his...
Rhumb Lines: The Saddest Story I Ever Heard
The familiar opening sentence to Ford Madox Ford’s classic “The Good Soldier” in the headline above could easily apply to “The Boy Who Fell...
This “Bulletproof” Cruiser Has a Serious Weak Spot Caliber 40 LRC...
If you’re shopping for a serious cruising sailboat, the Caliber 40 LRC is often described as “bulletproof.” Heavy displacement, huge tankage, conservative construction, and...
Latest Sailboat Review
Union 36 Used Boat Review
While not the best boat for light-air sailing, the Union 36 is a good sailboat for the bluewater cruiser. It wont get you there fast, but it will get you there comfortably and in one piece. The boats teak decks and lavish use of interior wood is attractive but requires much upkeep and maintenance. A product of the Taiwan-U.S. boatbuilding industry, the Union 36 is a heavy-displacement, full-keel, cutter-rigged double-ender designed for ocean sailing. The Union 36 is nearly identical to several other boats built during the same period: the Hans Christian 36, Mariner Polaris 36, and the EO36. According to well-known naval architect Bob Perry, the Union 36 and its cousins are all based on the design of a 34-footer that Perry was commissioned to create back in the early 70s.