Safety & Seamanship

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.

Sea Anchor Match-up

Sea anchors have evolved to become a vital component of the serious sailor's arsenal in heavy weather. We favor Fiorentino's for their rugged construction.

Belt-style Inflatable PFDs

High buoyancy and a good price lifts the Sospenders 38MBP past the competition. Stearns is a close second with its 375 model.

PS Advisor: 10/01/04

Quick-Stop Defined Dan Dickison's editorial mentions "the Quick-Stop." I thought I knew of most of the MOB-type products, but I haven't heard of this...

Bahamas for $5000? The Watkins 27 foot Sailboat

Is the Watkins 27 the ultimate small cruising sailboat? In this video, we take a deep dive into the Watkins 27 — a classic...
How Long Do Sails Last? video from Practical Sailor

How Long Do Sails Last?

Latest Sailboat Review

Jeanneau 55 Boat Review

This recent sailboat from Jeanneau may as well be a spaceship. They’ve taken all the time-honored designs of a monohull aft cockpit and turned...