Margaret, Ojalà II and Grifone win the first regatta of the Italian classic regatta circuit, 2022 at the Settimana Velica Internazionale Accademia Navale Città di Livorno. Further information from Paolo Maccione here.
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A piece of history
By Andrew Cully
Boat 2861, built in 1931 in Bremen by Abeking and Rasmussen, is being restored by Colin Davidson in his shed in Wainakarua, North Otago amongst … [Continue reading...]

The older we get, the greater we was…
By Andrew Cully
An account from on board Blitzen for the 1945 Mackinac Race, a "wild 200 mile dash"! … [Continue reading...]

Beatrice – A historic yacht donated to the city of Imperia
By Andrew Cully
Beatrice, an historic wooden sailboat of note, has been donated to the city of Imperia. The official ceremony was held on July 15thin the … [Continue reading...]

RORC Transatlantic Race 2022
By Andrew Cully
The 2022 RORC Transatlantic Race will see a collaboration between two eminent yacht clubs; The Royal Ocean Racing Club and Yacht Club de France, … [Continue reading...]
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TALLY HO – Transporting a Wooden Boat (EP102)
By Andrew Cully
Leo Sampson takes a giant leap and moves Tally Ho to Port Townsend after 4 years of rebuilding the yacht inland. Still plenty to do but a massive step in the right direction. Hats off to Leo and team!

Tally Ho – Ep. 82 – Fitting/Polishing Bronze knees
By Andrew Cully
Leo Sampson is back with Episode 82. A man on a mission to rebuild a 110-year old English sailing yacht called Tally Ho. Designed by Albert Strange in 1909 (and launched in 1910), she is a well-known and important historic vessel – but after many adventures she was left in a remote port in Oregon to […]
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A Full Cup – Sir Thomas Lipton’s Extraordinary Life and his Quest for the America’s Cup
“A Full Cup” is a delightful biography of Sir Thomas Lipton, businessman, sportsman and character. Born in Scotland of Irish parents, Lipton spent much of his life crossing between Britain and America where, with his bow tie and yachting cap, he became as much of a fixture as he did at home. Known as the […]

Mr Midshipman Hornblower
1793, the eve of the Napoleonic Wars, and Midshipman Horatio Hornblower receives his first command . . . As a seventeen-year-old with a touch of sea sickness, young Horatio Hornblower hardly cuts a dash in His Majesty’s navy. Yet from the moment he is ordered to board a French merchant ship in the Bay of […]

Two Years Before the Mast
Sailing to California from Boston around Cape Horn, ‘Two Years Before the Mast’ is both an adventure and an eloquent account of life at sea in the early nineteenth century. Richard Henry Dana is only nineteen when he escapes the patrician world of Boston and Harvard for the arduous voyage. The result is an astonishing […]

H.M.S. Surprise
Set among the strange sights and smells of the Indian subcontinent and in the distant waters ploughed by the ships of the East India Company. Aubrey is on the defensive, pitting wits and seamanship against an enemy enjoying overwhelming local superiority. But somewhere in the Indian Ocean lies the prize that could make him rich […]

Old Sea Wings, Ways & Words in the days of Oak & Hemp by Robert C Leslie
Preface – It was in December, 1884, that I received the following kind words of encouragement from Mr. Ruskin, about some sketches and notes upon old ships, boats, sails, and rigging: “My Dear Leslie, I never saw anything half so delightful or useful as these compared sails so easily explained. Do set yourself at […]

Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship’s surgeon and intelligence agent, against a thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of a life aboard a man-of-war are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and […]

The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice: Tools and Techniques for Modern and Traditional Rigging
The updates Rigger’s Apprentice meets the changing face of modern materials and technology while remaining true to rigging’s best traditional principles and practices. It’s much more than a knot book, though the knots a sailor needs are all here. It’s a book for sailors who want the satisfaction and hard-cash savings of stepping their own masts, inspecting […]

Sailing, Seamanship And Yacht Construction by Uffa Fox
This book is not only about boats but provides the bigger picture including an insight into the world-wide Depression. While much of the World was struggling to put food on the table, the wealthy were building fabulous yachts purely to race each other. The “J” boats were the penultimate result of cheap labor and materials […]

The Piper Calls The Tune – The Life of David Boyd
The Piper Calls the Tune is an account of the life and works of David Boyd (1902-1989), a significant and highly regarded yacht designer, who experienced both great success and great frustration through his 60 year career. The book reviews Boyd’s contribution to the maritime heritage of the Clyde Estuary and celebrates his enduring legacy […]

Schooner – Building a wooden boat on Martha’s Vineyard
The story of the design and construction of the schooner, Rebecca of Vineyard Haven, the largest wooden vessel to have been built on Martha’a Vineyard since the days of Abraham Lincoln. At first glance, it would be easy to consider Schooner to be a “coffee table book.” In one sense, it works very well as […]