Winch Makeover
The Winchmate is one answer for sailors who are considering upgrading to self-tailing winches but find the price tag too intimidating and have otherwise...
Furling-friendly Storm Sails: Are They a Sensible Solution?
The advent of roller furling and its rise to "must have" sailing gear status over the last few decades has inadvertently generated a new...
Boat Deck Hardware: Rope Clutch Test Update
In the March 2009 issue, Practical Sailor bench-tested eight rope clutches, including a prototype from Garhauer Marine, a California-based marine hardware maker. Garhauer recently...
Practical Sailor Tests and Reviews the Latest in Boat Ratchet Blocks
With an apology to dogs, blocks are a sailors best friend. Like dogs, they come in a variety of species, if you will: cheek,...
Shopping Sail Shape
I am a Florida coastal cruiser looking to replace the roller-furled 135-percent genoa on my Tartan 3500. One sailmaker says cross-cut is the only...
Practical Sailors 2009 Rope Clutch Review
Testers put six rope clutches through their paces on a test jig that measured line tension, line slippage, and the clutches holding ability over...
Brokedown Palace
Always curious about the physical limits of sailing gear, Practical Sailor asks readers to send us their broken stuff to be studied. Interestingly, several...
PS Advisor: Sea Anchor Sizing
I read your interesting article, "Best Tested Sea Anchors," in the Feb. 1, 2005 issue. I applied the sizing tables from each of the...
Practical Sailor Tests the Alado Jib Furler
Practical Sailor finds the Alado Nautica headsail furler to be easy to install and a worthwhile sail-handling tool. One feature that sets the Alado...
Heavy Weather Sailing Gear
From sea anchors, drogues, and trysails to forereaching and heaving to, tactics and gear for surviving a storm at sea vary greatly. During a...
The History of Cape Dory Sailboats
Cape Dory Yachts was founded in 1963 by Andrew Vavolotis in East Taunton, Mass. In the following 28 years, the company built over 2,800...
Latest Sailboat Review
Catalina 22 Used Boat Review
In its 10th anniversary issue in 1980, Sail magazine named the Catalina 22 the boat that had represented the breakthrough in trailer/cruisers in those...