Sails, Rigging & Deck Gear

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...

Selden's 'complete package' approach to headsail furlers opens the door to the hands-on sailor.

Seamanship is about big concepts and small skills. They work together, but we see them differently and they represent different types of learning. Big...

Most of the time I singlehand, so how do I take photographs for Practical Sailor without awkwardly holding a selfie stick? I have a...

As a family on a sailboat traveling on the Great Loop, our crew of four aboard Fika was a bit out of the ordinary....

Over the past few decades, we have seen a tremendous advancement in sail design technologies—innovative sail materials are now common in the marketplace and...

Our time spent testing anchors has prompted some important musings; we offer the following thoughts regarding the forces and factors to be considered before purchasing anchors and rodes.

The usual advice for anyone seeking all-rope anchor rode is usually to just get some three-strand nylon anchor. The makes sense. Three-strand nylon is inexpensive, wears best, and is easy to splice. But one size, or even one type of rope, does not necessarily fit all situations.