Reviews of current and new sailing titles
Lessons and Adventures from a cruising veteran as he learns the ropes An insightful and engaging account of a young family's unique voyage through the West Indies that turned a novice cruiser into America's foremost yachting writer, told with great humour and unflinching honesty. Nigel Calder – we know him as the boat systems guru, [...]
by Barbara Merry and John Darwin, This is a good book, taking in techniques with modern braided rope, even double braided and parallel core, showing how to eye-splice an eight-plait rope or how to make a short splice. It's very informative with 150 illustrations and 25 photos showing how things are done. Importantly it includes [...]
By Ian Stephen This is story-telling at its very best. Ex-Coastguard Ian Stephen has a way with people that allows him to pick up the folklore and backstories of the places he visits in a series of different boats. Each chapter is on a different boat. The folklore is skilfully woven into the sailing narrative [...]
by Bruce Stannard This is now a classic book! How on earth do you rig a 22-footer to carry close to 3,000sqft of canvas? Well, the answer’s obvious – you get a crew of Australian bluewater bushmen of course! The story of open boat racing on Sydney Harbour is traced back to the mid 19th [...]
Knot Craft and Rope Mats By Des Pawson If you bought Des Pawson’s Complete Book of Knots (above) a few years back you could find yourself surprised to discover that in fact there are more, and indeed more specialised types of ropework, all described and written up here in the way only Des can. This [...]
By Sonja Brodie This is an absolute must for anyone new (or old!) to cruising! It talks through safety and equipment in the galley in a logical way, giving you an understanding so you are able to maintain things (eg water tanks) and prevent problems (eg weevil infestations). Discussing what foods to buy and how [...]
By Paul Elvstrom 2017-2020 Paul Elvstrom’s recent (14th) edition of the racing rules of sailing clearly explains the latest rules and how to interpret the most difficult of situations on the race course. When does room take over from port/starboard? When is a boat overtaking and what are luffing rights? How can you know if [...]
Who doesn’t want Stress Free Sailing? Well without the capitals surely it’s what many of us are attracted to in the pastime of boating. But of course stress is an attitude of mind and while some people are shiveringly sick to their bones in heavy weather or when things start breaking, others burst into song [...]
When their house burned down, Justin Ruthven-Tyers turned to his wife and said: “Good would come of this.” Despite being a disaster the incident liberated the couple and turned out to give them increased confidence in their own abilities. First they rebuilt the house; then they decided they’d rather live on a boat and, despite [...]
