August/September 2023

Sail

SAIL is the magazine of record on sailing.

Sail3 min read
Little Big Boats
SETTING SAIL I had been at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis for a couple of days when I took a brief break from the 50-footers and seven-figure multihulls that new sailors were reportedly buying as starter boats. My friend Steve Earley was in town
Sail3 min read
Feedback From The SAIL Community
Share your experiences with other readers. Send your photos to sailmail@sailmagazine.com And don’t forget to sign up for our free eNewsletter, Under Sail, at sailmagazine.com/newsletter (Top to Bottom) Boston Harbor Sailing Club (BHSC) racing at suns
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Sail
PRESIDENT GARY DE SANCTIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WENDY MITMAN CLARKE MANAGING EDITOR LYDIA MULLAN WEB EDITOR EMME HURLEY CRUISING EDITOR CHARLES J. DOANE CHARTER EDITOR ZUZANA PROCHAZKA CONTRIBUTING EDITORS NIGEL CALDER, DON CASEY, TOM CUNLIFFE, DUNCAN KENT
Sail6 min read
Hurricane Watch
If the prospect of 1,500 miles of ocean sailing weren’t enough to put nerves on edge, crews aboard 115 boats queued up for the Salty Dawg Sailing Association (SDSA) Caribbean Rally last November were also confronted with on-the-nose tropical winds—wi
Sail6 min read
A Rookie on Rio
“What? Are you kidding me? That never happens!” Such was the response from a sailing buddy when I told him I was joining the Rio 100 crew for the 800-mile Newport to Cabo race. His reaction was certainly justified. While I’ve sailed off and on my who
Sail2 min read
Film Review: “The Wizard of Zenda”
Truly it’s vexing that sailing luminaries don’t get more attention in the U.S., and it really hits you front and center watching “The Wizard of Zenda,” Mark Honer’s terrific documentary film about Buddy Melges. Few superlatives come close to describi
Sail2 min read
Eight Bells: Buddy Melges
Buddy Melges, the two-time Olympic medalist, two-time Star world champion, three-time 5.5-Meter world champion, three-time Mallory Trophy winner, and America’s Cup winner, passed away on May 18, 2023 at age 93. “Buddy was the Leonardo da Vinci of sai
Sail5 min read
Grandma Ocean
AT THE HELM This column is usually about seamanship, a technical look at things to make us better sailors. But how does history play a part in that? I was recently in Fort Lauderdale for a medical renewal of my captain’s license, and I stayed with Pa
Sail3 min read
One Hundred Years of E Scows
When the first gun sounds at the E Scow National Championship regatta this September, more than 100 boats are expected to be on the line on Lake Mendota, Wisconsin. And while competition will be fierce—as always—there will be a bit more on that line
Sail2 min read
Hh44-sc
With the new HH44-SC, HH Catamarans is pursuing dual purposes: producing a luxury, high-performance cat for cruising families and couples sailing long-distance, and answering what HH CEO Paul Hakes says has been sailors’ frustration at “the slow pace
Sail2 min read
Xquisite 30 Sportcat
Xquisite cataramans are well known as comfortable, well-built long-distance cruising cats, with all of the luxury and accoutrements one would expect—the antithesis, in other words, of minimalism. Which is why Xquisite’s new offering, the 30 Sportcat
Sail8 min read
Golden Globe Glory
When he competed in the first Golden Globe Race in 1968-69, French sailor Bernard Moitessier achieved legend status not for winning, but rather for precisely the opposite—opting instead to keep on sailing, “because I am happy at sea, and perhaps to s
Sail2 min read
Moody DS41
I had walked through prior iterations of Moody’s deck salon (DS) models and was properly impressed by their unique interior layouts, but I had never actually sailed one. My chance came last October, when I found the new Moody DS41 on my test-sail dan
Sail13 min read
Heavy Duty
On September 24, 90 singlehanded sailors will take off from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, racing 21-foot (6.5-meter) Classe Mini boats alone for 4,050 nautical miles to the Canary Islands and then Guadeloupe in the legendary Mini Transat. They sail wi
Sail3 min read
Tiwal 3R
It’s no secret that testing dinghies is my favorite part of SAIL’s Top 10 Best Boats competition. They’re sporty, playful, and give sailors an opportunity to explore finer points of performance sailing with instant feedback. The Tiwal 3R took home a
Sail7 min read
Small Boat, big World
It’s not ordinary for a sailor to be captivated by the sight of boulders the size of pianos slipping beneath the keel. In my experience as a lifelong big-boat sailor, visions such as this would have left me gasping rather than breathless (a subtle, y
Sail4 min read
Beneteau First 36
Even before they joined forces with Beneteau back in 2018, Seascape’s Slovenian principals, Andraž Mihelin and Kristian Hajnšek, were brainstorming with their go-to French designer, Sam Manuard, on how to create a truly multipurpose 36-foot performan
Sail8 min read
One True Boat
Steve Earley doesn’t sail like you and me. Example: One night, he and his 17-foot open boat, Spartina, were anchored in a cove near Crab Point just off the Chesapeake Bay’s Honga River. Spartina is a John Welsford design that Steve built, and she is,
Sail6 min read
Small Hatch, Big Difference
When talking shop among sailors or reading about safety at sea, ventilation is not a topic that comes up much. Evidently it’s secondary to things like angle of vanishing stability, survival equipment, and overboard rescue skills. But that doesn’t mea
Sail3 min read
Squad Goals
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS I first met Sebastian and Samantha in St. Augustine, Florida, at a meet and greet for cruisers. We had to be the youngest people at the function and certainly the only ones sporting dreadlocks. We were riff-raff sailors on production
Sail3 min read
Great Expectations
CHARTER LIFE “Grenada.” The woman, a passenger on a seven-day charter I was captaining in the British Virgin Islands, looked expectantly at me. “I’ve heard there’s a lovely spice market in Grenada. When will we be stopping there?” I carefully adjuste

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