Sea Yachting

Sail Trim tips for cruising sailors - Yachting Monthly Sails are not flat sheets of fabric but are cut and fabricated so they form a shallow dish shape. To trim a sail we point the leading edge – the luff – directly into the wind and then pull the trailing corner – the clew – slightly across the wind. This sets up a steady airflow around both th...

Francis Chichester was not supposed to be an ocean sailor. He was supposed to be dead.
In the 1950s, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and given months to live. He ignored the diagnosis, changed his diet, and kept going. A decade later he was racing solo across the Atlantic.
His 1960 solo transatlantic race win — in Gipsy Moth III — was remarkable enough. But it was his 1966-67 solo circumnavigation in Gipsy Moth IV that made him a legend.
He was 65 years old. His eyesight was failing. His boat was famously difficult to handle — he called her "a pig" more than once in his log.
He sailed from Plymouth to Sydney in 107 days. Rested briefly. Then sailed back — around Cape Horn — to Plymouth.
When he arrived home, a million people lined the waterfront. The Queen knighted him on the dock at Greenwich using the same sword Queen Elizabeth I had used to knight Francis Drake in 1581.
Think about that for a moment.
A 65-year-old man with bad eyes and a boat he didn't entirely like, doing something that connected him across four centuries to the great age of exploration.
The ocean doesn't care how old you are. It only cares that you showed up.

The long way home: Navigating broken shrouds and fickle trades on the road to Polynesia - Yachting World The Río Valdivia was glassy when we slipped our lines, the Chilean shores still wrapped in morning mist. For a moment it felt as though our crossing might actually begin gently. Within hours that illusion was gone. The calm gave way to a steep, confused sea, gear crashing below as Tupaia worked her...

At 1200 hours on Saturday 30th May, 11 Kiwis and 4 Aussies will start the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge.
👉 go.livesaildie.com/2026SOLO

Solo TransTasman Yacht Challenge Bay of Islands Marina - Opua Opua Cruising Club Southport Yacht Club

When is some risk too much risk? Nikki Henderson - Yachting World I have to confess, I’m very resistant to the daily news drip-feed. The constant drama is overwhelming. I’ve often gone offline for weeks at sea and realised that when back on land, it doesn’t take long to get back up to speed on current affairs. But despite a natural urge to shut the world out...