Sailing Today

The 2025-26 Clipper Round the World Race is due to start this weekend, here’s everything you need to know… On 28th August the Clipper Race Start Festival will begin at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth (England), a four-day celebration culminating in the departure of the race fleet on the 31st August. The 2025-26 race marks the 14th edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, which will take a 40,000 nm circumnavigating course, beginning and ending in Portsmouth.

Enter our competition to win free tickets to The Grand Pavois, including a free sailing experience on catamaran at the show! From 23rd-27th September 2025, La Rochelle will once again come alive with The Grand Pavois. With over 70,000 visitors, 800 international brands and 700 boats, this major boat show brings together the French and European boating and marine industry with nautical enthusiasts, treating both to a true celebration of life on the water.

Are you looking for a second-hand yacht? Here’s a brilliant selection of the top used boats for sale, picked out just for you. This 2021 model Dehler 42 is for sale in the UK at the Michael Schmidt & Partner Hamble Point office and is available to view by appointment. Seasalt was commissioned to a high specification by her first owners in order to maximise both fast cruising comfort and fun racing.

ASTRALITA, XOD. Credit: Paul Wyeth – pwpictures.com With over 600 boats across more than 30 classes, this year’s infamous Cowes Week brought some brilliant racing to the Solent, celebrating some top-tier boats and crew. Here are the Cowes Week 2025 Winners… Earlier in August, from 2nd-9th, one of the world’s largest and oldest regattas (since 1826), gathered sailors from the British Isles and around the world to compete.

Multihull manufacturer Fountaine Pajot has been building catamarans since 1976. Yet, as Sam Jefferson discovers when testing its new 41, this company is not afraid to look to the future. Many years back as a young journalist I was invited to a press conference at a hotel complex where the smooth-talking owner presented an exciting plan to build a series of ‘Eco Pods’ on the land behind the hotel.

Sam Jefferson takes a look at this year’s Southampton International Boat Show and some of the exciting new yachts on show… Grab your tickets now! All new in 2025, the Dufour 48 is designed by the French manufacturer’s go to naval architect Umberto Felci and takes the concept of using full forward sections to boost internal volume to the next level. This new boat is 10% roomier than its predecessor, the Dufour 470 and looks like a boat that is ideal for cruising with the family.

Nestled in the sapphire Ionian Sea, Ithaca is my favourite island in the southern Ionian. Without an international airport, it remains untouched by mass tourism, preserving an authentic atmosphere. Woven into the fabric of Homeric legend is more than just the fabled home of Odysseus – Ithaca is a place where magic and reality are hard to separate. In summer, as the sun blazes overhead and cicadas fill the olive groves, time stands still in the anchorages.

Credit: Suellen Hurling / RNZYS / America’s Cup After a long dispute, the America’s Cup Protocol has finally been agreed… Following a protracted and at times fractious period of negotiation, a protocol has been agreed between challenger and defender for the 38th America’s Cup. This rather dry sounding agreement sets out the terms under which the next iteration of the Cup will be fought.

A recent trip back to the UK in the chilly, soaking rain was the perfect reminder of why Jess and family opt for the nomadic global lifestyle aboard their yacht! We’re having some time away from the boat. The trouble is though, we’re not very good at actually being away. Because, when on land, we come over all nostalgic and sentimental about both the boat and the sea, and simply cannot keep away. For example, on this particular trip the first thing we do is catch up with friends in Singapore.

Paul reminds us of the contrast between ill-educated speedsters with no seamanship skills, and professionals who are a joy to watch! I’m surprised that nobody has thought to take a television camera down to a packed marina on a Bank Holiday and live stream the action. Like all good dramas, wait long enough and marina watching has everything from high comedy to deepest tragedy and every emotion in between.