sailing

Nainoa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, is one of the few native Hawaiians since the 14th century to practice wayfinding—the art and science of ancient non-instrument navigation—for long-distance ocean voyaging.

Baltic Yachts has started construction of the second Baltic 68 Café Racer which will be optimized for racing.

Moving fast through the water is always a gas, but great rewards can be found in the sounds of silence.

How two aristocrats, a boatbuilder, a draper and a tech tycoon made a lasting impact on the pinnacle of sailing.

A sailor recounts the riveting story of being dismasted in the storm-lashed Indian Ocean.

92-foot S/Y Bequia wins Class B and Overall

On July 28, Hodgdon’s 100-foot (30.5-meter) racing yacht Comanche and crew passed Lizard Point in the United Kindom after 2,880 nautical miles and 5 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes and 25 seconds besting the previous record set in 2003 by Mari Cha IV by over a day.

While sailing yachts comprise only a single-digit percentage of the superyacht market, some significant and extraordinary yachts have launched this past year. Here’s a sampling.

Sailing—a competitive thing or a romantic thing?

A stylish cruising yacht happy under power or sail.

Perini Navi recently celebrated the delivery of Clan VIII and tender yard Naumatec has launched the stylish Freccia 1200.

It was, with a nod to Red Sox fans, the sports comeback of all time. Emirates Team New Zealand, the clear leader early in the America’s Cup, was unable to stave off a late charge by Larry Ellison’s Oracle Team USA that suddenly found legs to sweep the final eight races and win the Auld Mug. In each race, the Kiwis were on match point and, for eight races, they lost to a steadily improving Oracle.

One new design recently launched from McConaghy Boats while Austrian deign firm Motion Code: Blue has released renders of a yacht that would make a stir in every port she pops up in.

As the chase for the America’s Cup continues in San Francisco Bay, a buildup of bad news could make for an ugly finish to the fabled yacht regatta. On the heels of troubles from a series plagued by soaring boat costs, a scarcity of challengers, a crash that killed a crewmember, intense rules disagreements and one-sided races comes a cheating scandal.

South African builder Southern Wind is hard at work on the third hull of the SW102, a raised-salon version of this sailing-yacht line. This yacht will have a slightly longer hull (it is expected to finish at 104 feet/31.7 meters), in part to make room for a garage capable of holding a 13-foot (4-meter) tender.

“Yar: Easy to handle and moves along smoothly.” This witty archaic word to describe a “proper yacht” in “The Philadelphia Story”—the memorable Hollywood film from 1940—is a fitting one-word designation for the 123-foot (37.3-meter) cutter-rigged sloop Pumula from Royal Huisman.

Vertigo (with that capital “V”) is a 220-foot (67.2-meter) ketch that was built right here in Auckland by Alloy Yachts, which had just launched Encore, a smaller, much more traditional 144-footer (43.9-meter) that was docked at the Viaduct Events Centre for her final fit-out and commissioning.

Designers and builders of sailing yachts greater than 100 feet (30.4 meters) are being tasked with creating vessels that not only are beautiful, comfortable and safe, but also achieve a high level of sailing performance. The proliferation of international superyacht regattas has upped the ante for owners who not only like their yachts luxurious, but also like to best their competition on the race course.

If you're in San Francisco this month, consider attending Sail America's International Sailing Summit. This issue, we also have a an informational webinar series to help you prepare for hurricane season.

The 2013 Bucket marked the first time in 76 years that five J-Class yachts were in the same place at the same time to compete with one another. The J’s on hand were Hanuman, Lionheart, Ranger, Velsheda and Rainbow. And it is a true testament to a handful of owners’ love of tradition, coupled with insanity, that has led to a resurgence of the J-Class.

If there’s anything in the annals of yachting worthy of the biblical tale of Lazarus, it’s the story of a 150-foot (45.72-meter) sailing yacht called Zeus.

When Sunreef introduced the 82 Double Deck as a more fuel-efficient alternative to a motoryacht, little did the company executives imagine the first buyers would be a couple dissatisfied with their own powerboat—or that they would take the catamaran, christened Houbara, around the world.

Two new Nautor's Swan yachts have joined the holdings of a worldwide hospitality group and Overmarine celebrated a landmark launch recently. Find out more here.