Sails, Rigging & Deck Gear

Not only do bilge pumps serve to clear incidental water, but they can also give the crew extra time when a boat is taking on water-time that can be spent repairing a leak, donning life jackets, or making a distress call. Practical Sailor tested more than a dozen centrifugal pumps from Attwood Marine Products, Rule/ITT Corp., Shurflo, and Johnson Pump. In this report, we look at the eight higher-capacity electric bilge pumps (output rated at or above 1,600 gallons per hour, or GPH) and see how they fared in exhaustive bench testing. A follow-up report next month will examine pumps rated for 1,500 GPH or less. Testers measured bilge pump flow rates and power ratings at two voltages and tested for compliance with the American Boat and Yacht Councils standards for dry run performance. In the final analysis, we picked the best bilge pump based on performance, warranty, wiring, and price.

Sails are a fascinating engineering statement, and when all is said and done, whats sought after is the lightest material possible that will neither stretch nor tear as it withstands the ravages of wind-induced pressure, vessel righting moment, and harassment from sunlight, chafe, atmospheric deposition, and other deteriorating effects. Practical Sailor toured sailmaking facilities and talked to several pros in the know to find out what sail materials are best suited for cruising, racing, and passagemaking. While cotton cloth lies well astern as a sail material, Dacron-which has been powering boats for five decades-has yet to be relegated to the junk pile. However, those willing to pay more to optimize performance have a wide range of just-out-of-the-lab, high-modulus material options to choose from, including high-modulus materials like Kevlar, Spectra, carbon, Vectran, North Sailss Cuben Fiber that are strung into high-end sails in much the same way that carbon fiber is used in a hull skin.

Practical Sailor offers the annual selection of Editors Choice products for the Gear of the Year 2010 lineup. We hope the list will guide you through the dizzying array of gear at the fall boat shows, or at least help you whittle down your wishlist for Santa. The roster covers a broad spectrum of products-from gadgets for measuring speed to a performance multihull built for speed-that have bested their peers in our tests. The lineup includes gear from Spinlock, Brion Toss, Lopolight, Selden Mast, DuBarry, Keen, Standard Horizon, and Mastervolt. It covers LED navigation lights, bosun chairs, footwear for sailors, and marine electronics. Boat maintenance products from Polymarine and Interlux also made the list.

The rhumb line route from Rabaul, New Britain, to Guam is about 1,300 miles. Most of the year, the passage leads you through the doldrums, then puts you hard on a starboard tack, clawing against the prevailing northeasterlies, then creeping northwest through typhoon alley. If youre in a heavily laden, gaff-rigged boat that tacks through 116 degrees and close reaches at the breakneck speed of 4.6 knots, it seems more like 10,000 miles.

Letters to Practical Sailor from our readers. September 2010's topics include barnacles, teak finish, knots for a bosun chair and LEDs.

Originally designed for pumping operations on land, the Fast Flow engine-driven pump has a tremendous pumping capacity, with the ability to move nearly 5,000 gallons of water per hour (at 800 rpm). Thats nearly five times the amount of the average electric bilge pump. The Fast Flow Pump comes in a variety of sizes, but a close look at installation and fittings is necessary to determine if the pump will fit on a particular boat.

Picture this: You fire up the iron jenny in preparation to exit a crowded anchorage. As the anchor slides onto the bow roller, the engine overtemp alarm shrieks a noisy reminder that youve skipped item number 2 on your pre-departure checklist-open the engine cooling water seacock. Your water-pump impeller typically would be toast at this point, but youve got an ace up your sleeve, SpeedsealLife. So you simply duck down below, open the seacock, verify the engine temp is good, and then continue on your way. At your destination, you check the impeller, verify that its fine, and life is good.

Letters from the August 2010 issue of Practical Sailor. Subjects include: Shore anchoring, feathering props, earth-friendly cleaning products, staying hydrated and dink repairs.

Whether youre celebrating this sailing season with weekend cruises, offshore voyages, or simply plotting for your escape, Practical Sailors 2010 summer reading list has a pick youll enjoy. This sampling of some of the latest salty reads includes destination guides, marine maintenance and boat search resources, and a true-life account of survival at sea. Featured authors include Don Casey, Chris Doyle, Roger Marshall, and Michael Tougias.

For many sailors, boatbuilding can be the ultimate do-it-yourself project. The skills derived pay off as extra dividends when it comes to repairs or fitting out projects aboard larger sailboats. And as Matt Zephry and his 12-year-old son Alex found out, sharing the boatbuilding process with a loved one is like passing along an important piece of family history. The father-son duo began their boatbuilding project without any plans. Their intention was to create a boat that was easy to row and could double as a sailing skiff for father-and-son fishing trips. Their dream boat-and first boatbuilding project-was a success, and the Z&S team launched Odyssey in time for a Fathers Day sail.