Practical Sailor

If you’ve ever dreamed of blasting across the water at 25 knots with the wind in your hair and the spray in your face on a boat that feels more like...

Marking its 85th run in 2026, the February 11-15, 2026 Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show enjoyed a five-day run of warm temperatures, sunny skies and plenty of new boats and...

A sailboat’s steering system also plays a vital role in safety at sea. The failure of any key component can jeopardize boat handling and turn your easy-to-steer, well behaved old friend...

Standing rigging has been evolving ever since natural fiber lines were lashed, knotted, or spliced to wooden spars, and led down to crudely fashioned, iron deck hardware. The challenge has always been the transition point where the straight-line pull (tension) changes direction, creating a stress riser in the rope, wire, or rod. Today, the materials have changed, but the challenge remains the same.

Despite their anatomical handicaps, some dog breeds are pretty well adapted to boats and the water. The dog lovers among our readers have helped us put together this list of relatively small dogs, good traveling dogs that like the water and are happy to curl up in tight spaces during passages. Here is a list of the most popular breeds that were recommended.

Arguably, the Catalina 34 first produced in 1985 with 1,438 constructed of various marks, and the Catalina 36 first produced in 1982 with 1,766 constructed through various marks, were important boats...

We are in the midst of a yachting weather forecasting and awareness revolution. With satellite internet technology today’s sailors have never had so much weather information available to them while sailing...

Practical Sailor tested a bevy of bird repellents to determine which are the most effective in keeping the pelicans, pigeons, cormorants, gulls, and other fowl from fouling your boat. Bird repellents fit into four basic categories: acoustical repellents, visual repellents, biochemical repellents, and those that use physical exclusion. Sailboats most commonly use visual devices, which are the easiest and most economical to use and install on boats. We installed a sampling of the various types and monitored them for six months. The test products included: Bird Barriers Scare Eye, Bird-Xs Terror Eyes, Bird Xs Prowler Owl, Bird-Xs Irri-Tape, Bird Barriers Polly-Spike, Bird Barriers Bird-Flight, Fly Byes Stainless Steel Wide Spike, Fly Byes Bird Umbrella, Bird Barriers Daddi Long Legs, Bird-B-Gones Bird Spider, Birdoffs Bird Off, WhirlyBird Repeller, Gull Sweep, and Bird-B-Gones Bird Deterrent.

We recently launched a new evaluation of marine adhesives and sealants. There is no single caulk that works in all of these cases, so its impossible to declare a single Best Choice adhesive, but we decided to at least put some numbers on paper to guide you in your choices.

Every spring, there are numerous online forums discussing the best rope-cleaning methods. Practical Sailors interviews with technical representatives from major rope makers Bluewater Ropes, New England Ropes, Samson Cordage, and Yale Cordage yielded uniformly conservative guidance on how to get the grit out of old lines without destroying the rope's integrity. Testers also took to the laundry room to determine the effects of detergent, wash cycles, acids, bases and solvents, fabric softeners, power washing, bleach, hot water, and heat on rope strength and stretch.