The first I knew of this 'letter' was a phone call saying "where shall we send the bottle of rum" ! Yachting World must have been struggling for content as they have cut and pasted from my blog 'No Balls!', reconfigured it as a letter and essentially, lost most of the thrust of my piece.... Continue Reading →

This article featured in the July 2022 Yachting Monthly. It was comparing the Southerly 42RST with the 135. Interesting if superficial. In my humble opinion, the 42 is not a patch on the 135, pandering as it does to the modern fashions in design at the expense of sea keeping and practicality.

This article appeared in the Summer 2021 Yachting Monthly. It was so severely cut from my blog post, it barely made any sense...

Credit for this needs to go to my son, Ollie and his mates. I didn't even know it was going on !

From the Yachting World website:- Help at hand Cliff Crummey joined the ARC Europe to take his Elan Impression 444 AWOL to the Mediterranean, having also sailed across with the 2015 ARC. On the westward crossing he had been joined by his wife, eldest son and brother. However, work commitments meant his crew could not do... Continue Reading →

This appeared in 'The Confessional' section of the March 2019 Yachting Monthly:-

This article appeared in the Daily Telegraph on Monday 29th October 2018:- The RVYC was founded on 24th May 1845 by Prince Albert to give Queen Victoria a Yacht Club on the Isle of Wight near her residence at Osborne House having been denied membership and access to the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes on... Continue Reading →

Yachting Monthly Letters November 2018 :- Snuffer downhaul Duncan Wells’ article on ‘Mastering downwind sailing’ shows the cruising chute snuffer being pulled down by the crew using the downhaul directly to the snuffer collar. While this is fine in this case, may I suggest that on bigger yachts with larger, more powerful sails, the downhaul... Continue Reading →

Notification of a Cruising Association Winter talk on Tuesday 10th of October 2017 at The Upper Thames Sailing Club, Coldmoorholme Lane between Marlow and Bourne End, SatNav post code SL8 5PT. Talk starts at 20.00, bar opens from 19.15 Entrance: CA Members £3, Guests £5. All welcome. Fingers crossed !!!!!

As featured in the August 2017 Yachting Monthly 'The Confessional' -  'Unconventional mooring methods' Special mention of Dave Cooke who was an innocent victim !