Fast Cats on the Horizon

March 24, 2010

In the wake of last year’s article on performance-oriented monohulls, readers requested more coverage of multihulls. That report will be in the May issue, but for those West Coast Florida readers who can’t wait that long, you might want to head down to Bokeelia, Fla. , where Ben Hall of Hall Spars is hosting the [...]

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April Issue Is Online

March 19, 2010

The April issue of Practical Sailor, now available at  www.practical-sailor.com has turned out to be one of the most technology-focused issues we’ve put together in a while. I suppose that’s just a sign of the times. Apple fans will be glad to know that we finally had chance to look at the most popular iPhone [...]

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Parker Fuel-Polishing Module

March 16, 2010

This new fuel polishing system from Parker, parent company of the well-known Racor brand fuel filters, is definitely worth looking into if you plan on doing some long-term cruising.
One of the first skills the new owner of an old auxiliary-powered sailboat masters is changing the diesel fuel filters and bleeding the fuel [...]

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Modern Sailboat Design: Is the Quest for Speed and Comfort Trumping Good Sense?

March 12, 2010

Editor’s note: The following excerpt is from an article that first appeared in the February 2009 issue of Practical Sailor. It was recently recognized by Boating Writers International for Outstanding Technical Writing in 2009, an award sponsored by Dometic. The author is Jeremy McGeary, a frequent contributor to Practical Sailor.  The complete article, including [...]

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Traditional Sailboats: Bewitched by Some Sharp-looking Sharpies

March 3, 2010

I was scouting locations for a video Tuesday down at Historic Spanish Point near our offices, when I was magnetically drawn to the hard-chine sharpies gracing the waterfront. The one on the left is the Lizzie G, built by Spanish Point’s volunteers under the guidance of master shipwright Stan Lowe. She’s named after the wife [...]

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iPhone Apps for Sailors and Wannabe’s

March 1, 2010

There are dozens of sailing and boating apps available for a variety of cell phones. You can use them to find a boat launch, navigate safely home, or brush up on your docking skills. They even have sailing simulator apps for those awaiting the spring thaw or sailor wannabe’s looking to learn more about the [...]

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Gear Graveyard: Expired EPIRB Batteries, Obsolete EPIRBS

February 26, 2010

We received the letter below yesterday from Practical Sailor reader Arnold Rowe. He was kind enough to let us share it (with some minor edits of his well-expressed and understandable ire), with the hopes of raising awareness of the limited service life of 406 EPIRBs. Having had a similar experience years ago with the torpedo-sized [...]

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March 2010 Issue is Now Online

February 24, 2010

In this month’s issue of Practical Sailor magazine, now available online at www.practical-sailor.com, we wrap up our in-depth, two-part study of inverter-chargers, deride the poor excuses for boat cleats today, and dive once again into the world of bottom paint.
Since spring is just around the corner (yes, it will come), I’m highlighting the bottom paint [...]

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Inlet Surfing in a Cape Dory 25

February 18, 2010

Alright, so maybe it’s not a Carl Alberg design, but the plucky little Cape Dory 25 can handle some heavy weather sailing and still come out looking good. Here, Mike Collins, Maya Dobrzeniecka, and Practical Sailor Managing Editor Ann Key punch into Venice Inlet aboard Skimmer, a 1982 CD25, at the finish of the Windjammer [...]

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Cobra Handheld VHF with Cell Phone Capabilities

February 16, 2010

Cobra has been coming out with some interesting radio products at fairly affordable prices. We’ve tested several of their products in recent years, and although they didn’t always come out on top, they’ve been very competitively priced. Their $100 submersible HH325, Practical Sailor’s top pick in our test of budget-priced submersible VHFs and fixed mount radios, has [...]

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