Sails, Rigging & Deck Gear

The anchors a sailor chooses to carry onboard are often a compromise between weight and necessity. Since different anchor types are designed to work best in different conditions, it is a good idea to carry several anchors of different designs. So where does a lightweight alloy anchor fit in the hierarchy of cruising anchors? Practical Sailor looked at the weight, performance, design, and price of lightweight, alloy anchors from Spade, Fortress, Manson, and Anchor Right.

There was a time when headsail handling meant snapping on bronze piston-hanks and hauling on a smooth-running halyard. Times have changed, and now its all about how the furling drum rotates and the headsail wraps around a foil-covered headstay or freewheeling torque rope. (See PS August 2009 for our in-depth jib furler comparison.) Some systems behave more willingly than others, but all benefit from low-friction leads guiding the furling line back to the cockpit. The following report takes a close look at how these fairleads stack up and how much efficiency they add to the furling process.

The phrase ‘cruising canvas’ has always had a sail inventory connotation, but today it’s even more descriptive of cockpit coverings that range from small...

In order to minimize the strain on our anchor, we expect the rode to absorb impact forces imposed by waves, yawing and gusts. These...

Efficient windward work requires sails with a good lift-to-drag ratio. Mylar laminate sails hold their shape throughout their useful life, well enough for all...

No sailor can resist the temptation to look over another sailors work, and nothing draws the eye faster than your neighbors docklines. We like to know our boat and our neighbors boats will be where we left them when we return, not rubbing together or worse. Sometimes, however, a stroll down the dock makes us nervous. This gallery of rogue docklines represents only a taste of what PS tester Drew Frye found within a short walk of his slip. How many of these will come loose during the next storm?

The dinghy requires a gorilla to hoist onto the davits. The mainsheet won’t release in a gust. The internal reefing line inside the boom...

If you are working with low friction rings, sooner or later youre going to work with Amsteel and other high molecular polyethylene (HMPE) ropes, and that means learning to splice-in rings.

How do you manage major sail repairs in remote locations? By using whatever you have onboard to get you home—or beyond. After an easy three-day...

Just weeks ago, a fellow Corsair 24 owner dismasted due to a seizing wire failure. More than once I’ve had stainless seizing wire fail...