Racing
Spinnaker Handling in Heavy Air: When to Keep Flying and When to Drop
The right time to take the kite down is two minutes before you think you should. The wrong time is three minutes after.
Seamanship
Anchoring Fundamentals: Scope, Holding Ground, and the Boring Details That Keep You Put
Most anchoring failures aren't anchor failures. They are scope failures, ground failures, and the lazy version of a perfectly good technique.
Seamanship
Storm Tactics Offshore: Heaving-To, Drogues, and When to Deploy Each
There is no single correct heavy-weather tactic. Picking the wrong one for your boat and sea state is how good crews get into trouble.
Seamanship
Offshore Watch Systems: What the Sleep Math Actually Says
Three-on/three-off, four-on/four-off, Swedish system, Pardey four-and-six. They produce very different rest. Here's what works for which crew, with the sleep math attached.
Seamanship
Ground Tackle Audit: A 30-Minute Inspection That Will Save Your Boat
Most anchoring failures aren't anchor failures. They're chain failures, snubber failures, or the wrong-size anchor. Here's the 30-minute audit before your first overnight of the season.
Seamanship
Heave-To or Deploy a Drogue: Picking the Right Storm Tactic for Your Boat
The choice between heaving-to and streaming a drogue isn't preference. It's hull shape, sea state, and where you are in the storm cycle. Here's the working framework.
Seamanship
Pre-Passage Standing Rigging Survey: A Methodical Bottom-Up Inspection
Standing rigging fails in three places: at terminations, at fittings, and where the wire passes through anything that flexes. A good pre-passage survey is not about climbing
Seamanship
Heaving-To: The Storm Tactic Most Sailors Skip Until It's Too Late
Heaving-to is the maneuver most cruisers know exists and most cruisers have never actually performed in 35 knots. It is also the maneuver that, in the right
Boat Systems
Diesel Reliability for Ocean Passages: Filtration, Cooling, and Spares
Most offshore engine failures are fuel failures. Here’s the layered defence cruisers actually run.
Seamanship
Anchoring on Coral and Rock: Reading Holding Ground Before You Drop
Polarised glasses, the right anchor, and a chain-float trick the Tuamotus crowd has been using for decades.
Gear & Electronics
Hydrovane vs Monitor: Choosing a Wind Vane for Shorthanded Passages
Auxiliary rudder or servo-pendulum? The mechanical difference drives every other tradeoff.
Seamanship
Diesel Reliability for Bluewater Passages: The Engine-Room Audit That Saves the Trip
The engine is the single piece of gear on a cruising boat that owners least want to think about and most need to trust. For a passage from