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Read more: A Great Seamanship ArticleFREE tip: No one who sails offshore, or plans to, should fail to read this article by John Vigor.
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Read more: Why We Suggest Avoiding TeamO and Kru TethersFREE tip: We can’t believe that tethers with these clips are still being sold.
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Read more: Happy HolidaysAs you can see in the above picture, it looks as if we will have a white holiday season here at AAC World Headquarters, also lovingly known as “The Hovel”. We call the yellow addition that we built some years ago, when we moved ashore, “The Folly” because that’s what adding on to a hovel […]
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Read more: Estimating Distance HackTo be good boat handlers we need to develop the ability to estimate distances reasonable accurately by eye.
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Read more: 8 Offshore Cruising Boat & Gear Evaluation TipsWhen we think of going cruising it’s often about exotic locations, warm waters, and palm trees, but the process of getting there requires hundreds of good decisions, or at least minimizing the bad ones.
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Read more: Rigging Tips Part 2
Carrying on from the last chapter in our Rigging and Sails Online Book, here are a bunch more curated and relevant rigging tips.
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Read more: Reducing Boom Dip Risk©2024 Bill Greenwood While we were discussing preventers, a couple of members mentioned being worried about the boom end dipping in the water while restrained by the preventer, particularly if the preventer is attached somewhat inboard on the boom to oppose a centre boom mainsheet. Certainly a rational worry. Here’s what to do about it: […]
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Read more: Enabling DSC on Crew Overboard Beacons in Canada
A month ago I had a good old rant about the DSC feature of Crew Overboard Beacons not being approved by the Canadian authorities. Well, AAC Contributor Matt Marsh went way better than ranting by writing an eloquent and well-researched letter to François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, & Economic Development. And, better yet, all […]
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Read more: Good Sailcloth ExplainerWhile I was researching for my recent tips on buying sails I came across a great page over at North Sails explaining the tradeoffs of pretty much all the fibres used in sailcloth. One quote jumped out at me: Ultra PE fiber [Spectra/Dyneema] is expensive, but very long sail life ensures high value in these […]
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Read more: Spinlock Deckvest 6D Review
John and Phyllis have used lifejackets with built in harnesses from Spinlock for over 20 years. Here’s our review of the latest version.
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Read more: A Book That Will Help You Afford A Cruising BoatSo is this a book full of refit tips so you can buy an old boat cheap and fix it up to go cruising? No, better than that.
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Read more: Battle Born Smart Batteries Initial ReviewSome initial thoughts about this new offering and whether or not we should put it on our list of lithium batteries to consider for an offshore boat.
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Read more: Q&A How To Run Reef Clew Pennants
Question Member Philip asks: …The big problem I keep seeing is that the conventional approach just pulls downward on the sail, without maintaining any outhaul tension, which messes up the sail shape. Do you – or anyone else here – have any proven ideas to address this problem? Answer You are right to be concerned […]
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Read more: Safe and Easy Offshore Sailing—When to Reef, Part 2More about how to decide when to reef, including a mental hack and specific true wind speed examples, as well as more tips, including which sail first.
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Read more: Gifting AAC MembershipWith the holiday season coming, don’t forget that you can gift AAC membership.
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Read more: The Off-Axis Weakness of Anchor SwivelsThe effect of an off-axis load on anchor swivels has long worried me, and now we have some solid numbers.
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Read more: Maxime Needs to Pass The Adventure 40 Baton
There’s an opportunity to take over the Adventure 40 project, with much of the work already done.
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Read more: eWincher 2 or SE?Phyllis and I have long been fans of the eWincher electric winch handle and owned the original, which we let go with the McCurdy and Rhodes 56, and the Mk2, which we use on our J/109. We have also published the most in-depth review available anywhere. Last year eWincher brought out a less expensive SE […]
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Read more: Experience and Cunning Beat Youth and SpeedWould you believe it? 65-year-old Jean Le Cam is in first place in the Vendée Globe, in his brand new, but non-foiling IMOCA 60? Will he hold the lead all the way around the planet? Probably not, but who cares, he is in front now. And who knows, a dagger-board boat will be easier on […]
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Read more: Ideal Cruising Boat Size PodcastAfter reading my When Is A Cruising Sailboat Too Big? chapter in our How To Buy a Cruising Boat Online Book, Ben and Teresa, of Morse Alpha Expeditions, suggested we do a podcast on the subject together, so we did. And to make this much more relevant, Kim Stephens, who is, along with her husband […]
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Read more: Electrical TipsTips relevant to the Electrical Systems for Cruising Boats Online Book
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Read more: Don’t Rely On Crotch Straps For Tether ArrestThis Tip was originally part of a larger article that we just deleted because it’s out of date—we do that a lot—but this part is still valid and important.
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Read more: Why We Don’t Recommend Boom BrakesBoom brakes have never looked right to me, but now I have solid numbers, together with other reasons, to strongly recommend against them. But if you still insist on a boom brake, I have some recommendations.
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Read more: Cruising Sails—Two Cloth Fibres To AvoidSince I have recommended sailcloth made from high-modulus (low-stretch) fibres for cruising boats, I’m thinking I should expand on that to avoid confusion. Let’s do that: Back around the end of the time I was sailmaking, a new sailcloth burst on the scene that promised to pretty much banish shape-robbing stretch. It was made from […]
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Read more: My Favourite Cruising SailclothStill looking pretty much as-new with the shape in the right place and a nice clean run off the leach after 12 years and about 25,000 miles. Note that I should have eased the outhaul a bit in these conditions and the bottom batten is in the pocket too tight (adjustable). The combination of these […]
