SAIL March 2022

I really did think that in terms of sailboat design I’d seen it all. Then came the Syroco Moonshot #1 (See Shooting for the Moon, page 17). Consisting of an elongated pod suspended between a powerful kite sail and an equally powerful T-foil in the water, it is truly unlike anything I have ever seen before. Note, in contrast to the T-foils used aboard boats like today’s cutting-edge Moths, the job of the T-foil does not seem to be to lift the boat out of the water. Instead, it appears to be designed to do just the opposite, i.e., keep the boat anchored, so to speak, in the briny, thereby preventing that big, beautiful kite sail from carrying both the hull (fuselage?) and its passengers up, up and away, like…

Are you out there sailing, cruising and living the sailing life? Share your experiences with other readers. Send your photos to sailmail@sailmagazine.com And don’t forget to sign up for our free eNewsletter, Under Sail, via our website sailmagazine.com Just another typical day on the bay from St. Petersburg, Florida—Brian Hill, Saint Petersburg, FL This photo is of our vessel Exhale, a Hanse 400, taken by our friend JP Nel during a Masthead Cove Yacht Club sunset/moonrise cruise—Gary Joel Schacker, via sailmail@sailmagazine.com Dreaming about sailing when it’s 10 below in Minnesota—Nevin Blahnik, via sailmail@sailmagazine.com Steve Granoff on his J/24, off Dyce Head in Castine, Maine—Ted Coladarci, via sailmail@sailmagazine.com Sunrise at Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas—Gary J Ahern, AIA, Woodside, CA This photo of the Newport/Jamestown bridge was taken on our Jeanneau 41…

THIS OLD BOAT STILL MAKING WAVES In The Netherlands, a keen sailing nation, Zeilen is (and has been for years) the sailing community’s preeminent magazine, and they recently put forward a little poll on the best sailing books. Being grateful for all the advice I pulled from This Old Boat, I nominated Mr. Casey’s bible and apparently, I was not the only one. It made it to their top recommendations list: De top acht zeilboekentips—Zeilen. It is nothing really, but I thought it might be nice to share that the book is still making waves around the world.—Maarten Trijsburg, via sailmail@sailmagazine.com Few things give me more pleasure than hearing from a sailor that This Old Boat has made a life easier and a boat better. That that has continued for…

The U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC), or captain’s license, is your ticket to becoming the legal master of a vessel. Commonly known as a “six pack license,” it allows the holder to take as many as six passengers up to 100 miles offshore in U.S. waters and charge a fee for doing so. It’s an absolute requirement, not just a formality, and strictly enforced. Almost every day the Coast Guard sends out e-mails detailing how it halted an illegal charter and levied heavy fines against an unlicensed “captain.” In the Coast Guard’s own words: “Recreational vessels may not carry passengers for hire without having a properly licensed captain and crew, along with other safety requirements in accordance with federal regulation.” When I first decided to obtain an MMC…

LOCAL MAGNETIC DISTURBANCE If you’re lucky enough to sail to Iceland, you’ll find out all about local magnetic disturbance. However, it occurs in home waters too. In the days when we relied entirely on compass and log in fog, the compass going “absent without leave” was a serious matter. Fortunately, areas where compass interference is expected are usually noted by NOAA on its charts. Magnetic anomalies also don’t affect GPS, so if you sail into a situation where the compass seems to have taken a turn for the worse, put a waypoint on a safe destination with clear water between it and your last known position. Now bring up the “rolling road” page. Steer to stay in the tramlines and all should be well. Cross-check it on the electronic chart…

February 2, 2019. Somewhere near mid-Atlantic, on passage aboard the Swan 48, Isbjørn, from Gran Canaria to Antigua, from my personal logbook: “Something clicked for me in the early morning hours after midnight. I had slept well before Mia woke me up at 0200 to finish her four-hour night shift. I knew I’d do something to acknowledge my mom’s birthday (she died in 2012 from brain cancer). I knew it would make me emotional, and I knew that if I didn’t do it then when I had the time and space to be by myself while everyone else slept, it wouldn’t afford me the emotional release I needed. I sat with my hands on the lifelines and feet over the side, harnessed in, and just watched the sea go by while…