Light Air Sailing Tips

Shorthanded sailing has everything to do with preparation, thinking ahead, and practice. SAIL Technical Editor Adam Cove explains that on his boat, another key factor is keeping it simple.

Peter Harken, who co-founded Harken Inc., with his brother, Olaf, talks with SAIL Editor-in-Chief Wendy Mitman Clarke about growing up during wartime, organically developing a business one step at a time, the stupidest sailing there is, what kind of boats he’d sail if he were just starting out today, and the importance of fun.

Offshore sailing, and especially the niche of solo ocean racing, has never caught the attention of Americans or the U.S. media in the same way an event like the America's Cup once did—and even that was a generation ago. Twenty-nine-year-old Cole Brauer just changed all of that, and SAIL Managing Editor Lydia Mullan has been in a unique position to see how it happened and to ask what it means.

Falling in love with an older boat is an affliction many of us have experienced. SAIL Editor-in-Chief Wendy Mitman Clarke is here to say, it's OK.

Boats and Their People is a new feature in SAIL to celebrate the special bond we have with some great older boats. In this first installment, meet John Stone and his Cape Dory 36, whose restoration helped heal him after he served in the war in Iraq and since has taken him on thousands of bluewater miles.

This year's Caribbean Multihull Challenge added several new components, continuing the evolution of this event that has turned multihull racing (and rallying) into something everyone can enjoy.

Sailing in light air can be challenging, and too often sailors reach for the engine start button instead of exploring how to make the most of these conditions. SAIL Technical Editor Adam Cove walks us through the mindset, tools, and techniques to improve your skills to make light air sailing more rewarding.

"Twenty-three feet of the jibboom were gone, snapped off like a tree limb." A week as crew aboard the Pride of Baltimore II fulfills a lifelong dream for one sailor, but are boat-breaking conditions more adventure than he bargained for?

We're all about learning heavy weather sailing skills, and our social media feeds are full of dramatic big-air waves and wind. But SAIL Editor-in-Chief Wendy Mitman Clarke makes the case that light air sailing is some of the most challenging—and rewarding.

SAIL Managing Editor Lydia Mullan went looking for adventure in her first offshore race. In this summer's Annapolis to Newport Race, she got all of that and then some.