The Science of Headsails Part II
The right roller-furling headsail is as beneficial to a sailor as a good zoom lens is to a photographer. But just as the zoom...
Is Your Quiver of Sails Sufficient?
There's no question that sailors heading offshore face a different set of challenges than those cruising coastal waters. And theres good reason that the...
Adding a Solent Stay
Whether you view it from the top down or the bottom up, a Solent rig needs to be carefully thought out, well-engineered, and strategically...
Going Soft on Shackles
Fiber shackles have been in use for centuries-the simple knotted toggles provided all manner of service on square-riggers and even older craft. When made...
Sherardizing Alternative
In order to impart corrosion resistance to steel, the items are commonly galvanized, immersed in a bath of molten zinc. Hot-dip galvanizing is well...
Top Whipping Twines
How we testedTo determine strength, each twine was pulled to failure by wrapping it around a 1-inch drum and pulling four to 16 strands...
Tylaska Tops in Snap Shackles
What we testedAll of the tested snap shackles were fabricated from stainless steel. Some of the parts were investment cast, while others were machined...
Testers Compare Swivels, Look for Pin Creep
A hard-to-release snap shackle is both good news and bad news, it all depends on how the hardware will be used. In the case...
Stainless Steel: Advantages and Ailments
When the raw castings arrive at the hardware manufacturing facility, the first step is often to tumble them in a heavy-duty drum to remove...
Testing Top-Down Furlers
Seldn GX15Seldns GX15 handled furling tasks quite nicely. Its a good combination of materials and engineering, carrying on the companys sensible commitment to investment-cast...
A Fast Small Sailboat from Saffier
If you're looking for a fast sailboat to use as a day sailer, then Saffier Yachts may have just the sailboat to buy. With...
Latest Sailboat Review
Grampian 26 Used Boat Review
The first fiberglass auxiliary sailboats were built in the late 1950s; for the record, the first was the 40-foot Philip Rhodes-designed Bounty II (1956),...