Is your sail more than a year old? If so, you should ease the bolt rope to bring the sail back to its design shape. In this article, we explain the importance of the bolt rope and show you how…

If you have an MC Scow numbered 2476 or earlier, you may have had the lee boards stick in the up position, making it difficult to release them for a tack. In this article, we discuss the causes and solutions…

Shiny streaks, or “wind lanes” appear between the darker areas. These  indicate the direction of the approaching wind with absolute accuracy. Frank Bethwaite in High Performance Sailing, Section 5.4 This statement in Bethwaite’s authoritative book peaked my interest. What sailor wouldn’t…

Here’s Part 3 of our list of capsize causes and solutions for small boat sailors. In Part 1, we covered upwind situations with too much heeling force and not enough righting moment. In Part 2, we talked about off-wind balance. To…

Here’s Part 2 of our list of capsize causes and solutions for small boat sailors. In Part 1, we covered upwind situations related to too much heeling force and not enough righting moment. In this part, we’ll talk about off-wind…

As promised in our post on major mistakes, here’s our cut at a definitive list of capsize causes and solutions for small boat sailors. Capsizing is a fertile topic: there are dozens of ways to pitchpole, broach, death roll, or just…