Safety & Seamanship

Mid-size Inflatables: Mercury Wins

Mercury's 240 outperformed six other roll-up inflatables with a dry ride, excellent control, and the lowest price. Bombard's AX2 is good, but short on space. And West Marine's RU-260 is big, but expensive.

PS Advisor: 08/01/05

Jackline OptionsMy wife and I recently traded up to a new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 35. It's beautiful, fast, comfortable, and comes with nearly everything...

Equipping for Crew Overboard Safety

In anticipation of a landmark test of COB retrieval gear scheduled for later this summer, seamanship authority John Rousmaniere assesses the gear we currently rely on.

Personal Strobe Lights

Every couple of years, PS gathers and tests personal strobe lights just to stay on top of the offerings in this important market niche....

Compasses: Winners, Losers Abound

Ritchie, Danforth, and Plastimo, all fared well in our test, but each also had a loser—so choosing compasses carefully is warranted.

Inflatable Boats Under $1,000

Mercury's 200RU, with its stable, dry ride and standard seat, takes top honors, followed by the lighter, albeit wetter, Bombard AX-1.

Fire Extinguisher Test

The Kidde Pro Plus 5HM is our top choice among the clean-agent portables. The Sea-Fire, with its lower toxicity, makes sense for enclosed spaces. We also like the Kidde Foam Spray's ability to stop re-ignition.

Seaberths Examined

The design of offshore production-built sailboats often overlooks a crucial element in crew comfort and safety—the seaberth. So what qualifies as a proper seaberth? û

Big-Screen Chartplotters Under $2,000

Standard Horizon is right on target with its highly rated CP1000C. It bests two other value-priced, 10-inch plotters.

A Reader’s Review: RayTech RNS 5.0

An upgrade to Raymarine's latest nav software prompts some useful feedback.

CATAMARAN SHOWDOWN – Outremer 52 vs Lagoon 52: It’s Not Even...

Get ready for one of the most entertaining catamaran reviews we’ve done yet. Today we’re looking at the Outremer 52, a lightweight, high-performance bluewater...

Latest Sailboat Review

Pearson 30 Used Boat Review

The Pearson 30 was designed as a family cruiser and daysailer with a good turn of speed. The boat is actively raced throughout the country, however, with some holding IOR certificates, and many more racing in PHRF, MORC, and one-design fleets.