Largest attendance yet for UK’s leading sustainable marine technology event, the South Coast & Green Tech Boat Show Electric sailing propulsion took centre stage at this year’s South Coast & Green Tech Boat Show, with a strong showing of new products and systems – both outboard and inboard. The three three-day event – which concluded on Sunday, April 21 at MDL’s Ocean Village Marina in Southampton – attracted 4,000 visitors and featured more than 70 exhibitors and over 100 boats. A dedicated presentation area, The Innovation Hub, highlighting the latest green marine technology was spo ..read more

Theo Stocker headed to Germany to see all of the best new yachts coming to harbours near you in 2024 Mid-winter on the banks of the Rhine might seem like an incongruous time and place for a boat show, but boot Düsseldorf, held for 10 days every January, remains the world’s largest, housed snugly in 17 vast halls. Two of these are dedicated to sailing boats alone; there’s another hall for charter and marinas; two more for kit, clothing and equipment; another for beach sports; another for diving; and then a few halls for motor boats, from inflatable tenders to flamingo pedalos and all the way u ..read more

With the wind in her hair, Angela Rice joins friends for some east coast cruising from Rhode Island to New York aboard Swallow, a Catalina 380. Angela sailing towards Manhattan. Photo: Angela Rice Flying alone, I was due to meet our friends Janet and Richard in Rhode Island for east coast cruising, as our proposed UK crew had cancelled at short notice. Given the potentially demanding overnight offshore passage to New York, Richard had strong-armed a local couple, Ellen and David, to join us aboard Swallow. Janet, a former Reluctant Sailing Wife, now fully retired from the sea, doubted Ellen’s ..read more

The author of Illustrated Sail & Rig Tuning, Ivar Dedekam, provides his expert advice on how best to optimise sail trim High performance cruising yachts that are comfortable, fast and easy to handle do exist! It is difficult to describe ‘correct’ sail shape, but the three most important things to consider are: sail draft (the fullness of the sail), draft position, and twist (controlled by the kicker/vang and leech tension). Sail draft Sail draft (chord depth) is an imaginary line from luff to leech called the chord. Chord depth can then be expressed as the ratio percentage between the maxi ..read more

Heather Thomas and her all-women crew aboard Tracy Edwards’ famous 58ft yacht Maiden have won the 2023-4 Ocean Globe Race! Maiden’s position at the head of this 15-strong retro round-the-world race, the Ocean Globe Race was confirmed early Monday 22 April 2024. Their only rival for IRC handicap honours, the French Swan 53 Triana skippered by Jean d’Arthuys, failed to meet their 0500 deadline to cross the Royal Yacht Squadron line off Cowes. Frustratingly for the French crew, Triana was becalmed off Lands End at 0400 today, still with 183 miles to run to the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line of ..read more

The Hallberg-Rassy 69 is the latest offering from the popular Swedish marque, and is also the largest yacht the family-owned company has ever produced Go big or go home? Well Magnus Rassy has decreed that Hallberg-Rassy needed a new flagship, and this is it – the largest yacht that the Swedish has ever built, the Hallberg-Rassy 69. Going bigger is a direction that many other yards are also taking. Just look at the Arcona 50, the Saffier SL 46 and the Jeanneau and Beneteau Yacht ranges (55-65ft) as cases in point. So just what has Hallberg-Rassy managed to squeeze into 69ft? Well, they’ve stuc ..read more

Andy Du Port explores which rules need to be followed to the letter to avoid collisions at sea and considers those which can be safely ignored Saying ‘International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea’ is something of a mouthful, let alone learning all of them verbatim. Commonly called the ‘Colregs’, they are a fine example of comprehensive, logical and unambiguous rules which have been adopted worldwide by almost all countries with coastlines (the only two which have not are the Western Sahara and Taiwan). In case you are yawning already – ‘Not another sermon on the Colregs ..read more

There's no denying that the £1.5m price tag makes the Moody DS48 a very pricy yacht, but she does offer plenty to justify that price tag. Theo Stocker takes a look Indulge me. I know £1.5million is a lot of money, but this boat is unlike any other cruising boat on sale at the moment. The Moody DS48 spares no expense, ensuring that this is the most comfortable home from home you can have, save buying an actual house. Joining the family alongside the Moody DS41, Moody DS45 and Moody DS54, the DS48 shares the Bill Dixon-designed DNA and one-level living, save for one or two steps between deck an ..read more

There are some incredible hidden harbours along the west coast of Scotland, many offering 360° shelter, although some may be rather challenging to enter When I was age 12 , we went on a family holiday on the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides off Scotland’s west coast. I was pottering around the jetty at Eoligarry on the north end of Barra when local men, boys and dogs suddenly appeared. They asked me if I wanted to help with the sheep shearing on a nearby uninhabited island. I ran to the holiday house where we were staying to get my parents’ permission. It was a strange flat-bottomed craf ..read more

Maiden swept up the Solent before a Force 5-6 gale on Tuesday morning to take provisional overall honours in the 27,000 mile Ocean Globe Race. Maiden sweeps up the Solent to the finish line at Cowes The all-girl crew crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line shortly before midday to whoops and cheers from a large crowd gathered on the parade, then quickly hoisted the spinnaker in the boisterous conditions for the benefit of photographers and film crews, reports Barry Pickthall. It was an emotional homecoming for those of us who witnessed Maiden’s welcome back to Southampton at the finish o ..read more