Into the unknown
Biotherm leads the fleet into the doldrums with Malizia making up miles Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm was the first boat to feel the impact of the doldrums overnight as his crew saw their speed plummet from 14 to 4 knots just…
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The latest news from the world of yachting and sailing including yacht & dinghy reviews, cruising and destination information plus the latest boating gear as well as inshore and offshore racing updates and regatta schedules. All things Sailing, Sail Racing, Sailboats and more.
Globe40 – Ahmas wins in Recife in the Brazilian heat
The Anglo-American team AHMAS (Class40 n° 127) crossed the finish line of leg 6 of the GLOBE40 in Recife today (28/1/23) at 11:48 p.m. local time. After 20 days and 10 hours of racing and 3,803 miles covered (7417 km),…
Winners declared at another successful Festival of Sails
A grey sky, light breeze and showers prefaced the final day of Royal Geelong Yacht Club’s 2023 Festival of Sails, but nothing was going to wipe the smiles from competitors faces, particularly those who were still in the running for…
18ft Skiffs – Australian Championship – Final
18ft SkiffsAustralian Championship, Races 5 & 6Race Sponsor: Birkenhead Point MarinaSunday, 29 January, 2023Sydney Harbour The Finport Finance team of Keagan York, Angus Williams and Phil Marshall became the 2022-23 Australian 18ft Skiff champion after a controversial day when no…
Lining up for the Doldrums
Stakes are high as The Ocean Race fleet begins to settle into position for crossing the equator and passing through the doldrums (officially the Intertropical Convergence Zone or ITCZ). Follow the action on board in our “From the boats” section…
18ft Skiffs – Australian Champs – Races 3 and 4
18ft SkiffsAustralian Championship, Races 3 & 4Race Sponsor: Finport FinanceToday’s Trophy: Ferry Patrons TrophySaturday, 28 January, 2023Sydney Harbour Races 3 and 4 of the 2022-23 Australian 18ft Skiff Championship were conducted over two windward-leeward courses in NE winds which ranged…
Festival of Sails – Melges 24 Australians heating up
Two days into the Melges 24 Australian Championship at Royal Geelong Yacht Club’s 2023 Festival of Sails, Chris Links and crew on Banta have one hand on the trophy and a well-tuned NSW crew answers for their strong performance. When…
Festival of Sails – Tricky conditions fool some – but not all
Day 3 at the Festival of Sails was a hot one with breeze up and down and from all directions, the wind turning south with more pressure after most were ashore, but the entire fleet over 270 taking part in…
iQFOiL Lanzarote International Games 2023 – Day 5
Pilar Lamadrid (ESP) and Pawel Tarnowski (POL) are the champions of the Lanzarote iQFOil Games The first major Olympic windsurfing event of the year which attracted with 150 participants from 35 countries the Lanzarote iQFOil Games came to an exciting…
Auckland Anniversary Regatta cancelled for only second time in history
For only the second time in its 183 year history, the Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta has been cancelled. Organisers made the difficult decision to cancel tomorrow’s event after a crisis meeting this morning, following the devastating floods on Friday night…
Wright extends on Day 2 at Finn Gold Cup in Miami
It was breeze on in Miami for Day 2 of the 2023 Finn Gold Cup. After four races now sailed, Ed Wright, from Britain, extends his lead while Domonkos Nemeth, from Hungary stays in second. European champion, Miguel Fernandez Vasco,…
505 Champs Final Day
Day 6 Race 9 The final day of the Ronstan 505 Australian Championships was more of the same, light gradient breezes, but this time just slightly more breeze than yesterday. 505’s love a breeze. They plane upwind and down, and…
iQFOiL Lanzarote International Games 2023 – Day 4
The penultimate day of racing on the waters of the Canary Islands finished with all the scheduled races completed once again. The top 10 will compete at the Medal Series. Sam Sills (GBR) and Sharon Kantor (ISR) have progressed directly…
GGR Breaking NEWS – Major Windvane failure for leader Simon Curwen
Dateline: Les Sables d’Olonne, Friday, 27th of January 2023At 1815 UTC 27th January 1200 miles Northwest of Cape Horn, Simon Curwen contacted GGR control to advise of the total failure of his Hydrovane steering gear. He had weathered the worst…
Festival of Sails – A classic legend returns to Victoria
Any yachting enthusiast worth their money would remember Victorian yachting legend, Lou Abrahams and Vittoria, the Sparkman and Stephens yacht he commissioned to replace his first offshore racing yacht, Odin. Built by the famous Cec Quilkey at Taren Point in…
505 Australian Champs – Day 5
Day 5, Race 8 by Jordan Spencer Ooff… there is nothing worse than grovelling around in the bottom of a dinghy on a light wind, drifter day, unless of course that day is humid… The wind did not co-operate today….
Festival of Sails – Light on for breeze but a good day’s sail
Day 2 at the Festival of Sails was one for a light touch on the helm, concentration to the max, weight to leeward and enjoy a beautiful warm day on Corio Bay – blue sky above with not a cloud…
18ft Skiffs – Australian Championship – Races 1 & 2
18ft SkiffsAustralian Championship, Races 1 & 2Race Sponsor: AndooToday’s Trophy: Commodore CupFriday, 27 January, 2023Sydney Harbour Racing on Day 1 of the 2022-23 Australian 18ft Skiff Championship was conducted over two two-lap windward-leeward courses in a 10-12 SSE wind on…
Australian 505 Champs – Day 4
Day 4 Races 6 and 7 Winning major regattas is hard…. Day 4 of the Ronstan Australian 505 Championships had the prospect for more wind. There was blue sky and the breeze started filling in early. The race start had…
Windsurfer 45th Australian Championships
Massive first day at the 45th Windsurfer Class Championships of Australia by Vaikobi.5 course races down and dusted in challenging 8-14 knots with the trick to link up the pressure.Racing was intense and close across the board with tight battles…
iQFOiL Lanzarote International Games 2023 – Day 3
Sharon Kantor (ISR), new female leader of the Lanzarote iQFOil Games. Sam Sills (GBR), #1 for 3rd day in a row The first event of 2023 for the new Olympic foiling windsurfing discipline reached its halfway point today with a…
Reverie declared overall winner of 180th Passage Race
Alan Woodward’s Reverie has been declared the overall winner of the 180th Passage Race, the opener for Royal Geelong Yacht Club’s 2023 Festival of Sails. The win means a lot to Woodward, as his and Reverie’s names will be added…
Festival of Sails – Zen takes 180th Passage Race line honours
Zen, owned by Gordon Ketelbey, took line honours in Royal Geelong Yacht Club’s 180th Passage Race today, finishing the 34 nautical mile course at 1.13.17pm in the time of 3 hours 43 minutes 17 seconds in the opener to Royal…
iQFOiL Lanzarote International Games 2023 – Day 2
Pilar Lamadrid (ESP) and Sam Sills (GBR) managed on to their respective leads at the top of the general classification after a very demanding day on the waters of the Canary Island of Lanzarote. It was a great day too…
Festival of Sails – Passage Race entrants ready to go!
The historic 180th Passage Race heralds the opening of the 2023 Festival of Sails this morning, when the cannon is fired at 9.30am sending huge fleet on its way to Geelong in the 34 nautical mile race. Starting off Williamstown,…
Fabulous conditions ahead of 2023 Finn Gold Cup in Miami
The Finn class has descended on Miami for the 2023 Finn Gold Cup with fabulous conditions on Biscayne Bay over the past few days. Much of the fleet have been out training, welcomed into the water by a local manatee,…
Interest in switching to biofuel after successful initial trials
Written by Katia Damborsky, Boat International Interest in a new type of HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) fuel for superyachts has spiked, according to reports from engine manufacturer Caterpillar and the fuel’s producer, Fioul 83. The diesel alternative, which is marketed…
505 Nationals – Day 3
Day 3 Races 4 and 5 Well, I promised breeze for day 3 and I lied. The beautiful sunny conditions Qld is renowned for were blocked by cloud all day. As a result, the thermal didn’t eventuate, and racing was…
Leg two starts with difficult choices ahead
After being buffeted by strong trade winds for the duration of the short stopover, the waters off Mindelo, Cabo Verde were relatively calm on Wednesday for the start of Leg 2 of The Ocean Race. The short stopover marked the…
iQFOiL Lanzarote International Games 2023 – Day 1
Spain’s World ranked number one female Pilar Lamadrid (ESP) and GBR’s Sam Sills made the best starts to the Lanzarote iQFOil Games. Lamadrid leads the women’s field after a solid opening day whilst Sills proved unbeatable winning all four of…
Ocean surface currents
Ocean surface currents are the movement of water at the surface of the ocean. These currents are driven by a variety of factors, including wind, tides, and the Earth’s rotation. They can be divided into two main categories: wind-driven currents…
Shifting gears – Leg 2 presents challenges to IMOCA sailors
After a week of solid trade wind action in Cabo Verde, the forecast for the start of Leg 2 is much more benign – light NE winds of 5 to 8 knots. In fact, the weakening trade winds are likely…
Superyacht Cup Palma 2023 is open for business!
Entries have opened for Superyacht Cup Palma, the highlight of the Mediterranean superyacht calendar, with the Notice of Race now available for the 21-24 June celebration of sail. Over a dozen prospective entries have declared an interest in joining the…
505 Australian Champs – Day 2
Day 2 Races 1-3 It was a busy day today for the 505 fleet. The race committee went for three races in anticipation of some difficult conditions later in the week. As expected, conditions were similar to yesterday, but this…
Bay of Islands Sailing Week celebrates milestone 20th regatta
The 20th anniversary edition of NZ’s biggest multi-day keelboat regatta – Bay of Islands Sailing Week – begins with Registration today. Racing will take place throughout the spectacular Bay of Islands over three days from Wednesday 25th to Friday 27th…
505 Australian Championships – Invitation Race
Day 1 – the Invitation race Like any good invitation race, you take what you want from the form on display. What they do well is open the door to speculation. As expected, conditions were pretty mild. 8 knots from…
Festival of Sails – Pardon the Intrusion
Luke Reinehr and the crew on his S80, Intrusion, will arrive at Royal Geelong Yacht Club’s Festival of Sails with a target on their backs, having won their 15th Victorian S80 Championship on Port Phillip last week. Intrusion won five…
UN Secretary-General – “Ending the ocean emergency is a race we must win”
At The Ocean Race Summit Mindelo, the UN chief added: “Working as one, it is a race we can win” ‘Ending the ocean emergency is a race we must win, and working as one, it is a race we can…
Cape to St Helena – an epic ocean adventure
JOHANNESBURG, 19 January 2023 – St Helena Island may be one of the most remote inhabited islands on the planet, but for the crews who have just tackled the 2022 Cape to St Helena yacht race, it’s been a thrilling…
Cruising the Queensland Coast Book
Cruising the Queensland Coast is a cruising guide for yachts cruising the Queensland coast, written by Greg Luck, the owner of Curlew Escape. Each of the 13 coasts, from the Gold Coast to the Cooktown Coast, is covered in detail,…
