Standing Rigging: How Tight Is Right?
Standing rigging tension is a peculiarly under-addressed subject. Easy to see how it would worry a new boat owner or someone going to sea....
Going Up the Mast Alone
A certain appeal of sailing is its seeming limitlessness. One can spend a lifetime perfecting navigation skills. Remember Marvin Creamer, who circumnavigated by the...
Offshore Log: Up the Mast, One at a Time
Many PS readers undoubtedly found our articles on going aloft alone (July 1, 1998 and August 15, 1998) a little esoteric, but for the...
PS Advisor 01/01/99
Cutting Rope Can Be ToughBeing retired comfortably enough to indulge in some enjoyable and expensive foolishness, weve bought a big old yawl in magnificent...
A Busted Mast Step and a Popped Shackle
Shortly after we published the July 1, 1998 article on mast steps, reader Jim Lyons mailed off a little box. He lives in...
PS Advisor 01/15/99
Adding a StaysailCan you advise where I can find basic design parameters for adding an inner forestay to my 40-footer? Jim FitzgeraldHollywood, FloridaAdding an...
Whence Thou Comest, Highfield?
Because increasing numbers of serious sailors have become interested in retrofitting inner forestays for heavy weather headsails, a look at quick-detach hardware is in...
Whats Going On With Sailmakers?
During our recent cruises through boat shows and seminars, we were surprised that changes in sailmaking are occurring as rapidly as consolidations in the...
Are Masts Getting Too Skinny, Too Fragile?
Dear Editor: Some time ago you published a letter from a marine surveyor who said he’d seen three boats whose masts failed when sailing...
Consider The Self-Tending Jib
During the 1960s, the CCA (Cruising Club of America) rating rule promoted boats with large mainsails and smaller foretriangles. Despite the fact that many...
Plug that Chain-pipe
I was always amazed at how much water could seep through the chain-pipe and into Toscas anchor locker when a sea was up, or we were punching into a headsea-although punching would hardly describe the ungainly motion of a gaff-rigged ketch to weather. Wallowing? Submarining? Regardless, the chain-pipe was like a water main in those conditions …