The American sailing author, pilot of the Caribbean Don Street died aged 93 in May 2024 at his home in Glandore, Ireland. Dan Houston looks back on his life and describes how it was sailing with him aboard his engineless boats Don Street 26th July 1930 – 1st May 2024 – By Dan Houston [...]
Late at night at the Brest festival... a short photo essay by Nigel Pert to the music of Alan Špiljak (Stars above – from the Silverlight album) The photos are from the bilingual book CELEBRATING TRADITIONAL BOATS / LES FÊTES MARITIMES DE BREST by Nigel Pert with captions and [...]
To someone unfamiliar with our sport, two identical boats should sail at the same speed given equal crews, the same wind, and the same wave conditions. What an outsider may not realise is that small changes in identical equipment can make big differences in boat speed and performance. A couple of turns on a forestay [...]
The classic yacht Beatrice, donated by Diana Bracco to the city of Imperia, becomes an ambassador of the Italian capital of vintage yachting Beatrice, a 15 metre long yawl built of wood by the Sangermani shipyard in 1963, makes her official return to sea. Restored with the help of the students of Imperia’s Andrea Doria [...]
Hidden Heroines: the untold stories of the women of the Dockyard celebrates extraordinary women in Chatham Dockyard’s history who campaigned for change, fought against the odds and whose impact left a lasting legacy. Featuring stories from the first ladies of the Spinning Rooms and Sail and Colour Loft to tales of women boarding warships masquerading [...]
The boat was a beauty, but she let in a lot of water... By Ian Galletti Having crewed on a Contessa 32 when she was harmlessly ‘pooped’ many times during the 1979 Fastnet storm, I couldn’t understand why a past generation of yachtsman dreaded the experience. However, I was soon to learn why when I [...]
Why are lifeboats the colour they are today... and how did they become like that? Cracking footage in this short video explains some of the history "
Chasing stars Night Sailing offshore is easier if you pick a star to follow rather than constantly squinting at the compass. But be aware that the star is always moving across the sky. Seeing as how Penny was new to sailing, let alone sailing across the Channel and south to St Malo at night, I [...]
‘Anything can happen in the next half-hour’, is how the RNLI puts it. And, with around 26 people being rescued by the institute's volunteers every day, the charity's work is never far away. This video shows the seaborne lifesavers launching their sophisticated craft, at great speed, from the exhilarating height of a slipway. From Cromer [...]
