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Do you remember the August 1979 Fastnet Race when a worse-than-expected European windstorm wreaked havoc on the 303 yachts that started the biennial race?...

When it comes to sailboats, performance is a relative term, especially when it comes to a crews concept of how the boat will be used. Racing sailors, cruisers, and daysailors each have very different perspectives on performance. For example, those facing a light-air, around-the-buoys race measure performance in terms of how well their speed through the water holds up against the decrease in true-wind speed. Cruisers, on the other hand, especially those crossing oceans, often define it as a measure of versatility under sail, not just how a boat copes with near calms or gales, but how it performs in everything in between.

Many coastal cruising production sailboats designed during the heyday of the 70s and 80s emerged from the factory with plexiglass cabin windows. These larger-than-standard...

In my opinion, 2025 was a weird year for the sailboat buying and selling world. We saw listings pile up, price cuts, motivated seller...

Sailors obsess over the health of their engine; it is the heart of the boat (other than the rig, sails, and through-hulls). Failure is inconvenient, expensive, and even dangerous. And sailors love their maintenance, or so it seems. Anything that promises to ease the mind for a few dollars merits investigation.