Gyro Stabilization Is Becoming a Standard Feature on Many Boats Several designers and boatbuilders predict that gyroscopic stabilization will become a common, if not standard, feature on many pleasure boats over the next decade. As the technology matures and costs fall, more builders and buyers are planning for gyros during the design phase rather than … Read more

Reed Hayden: Keeping Traditional Ship Carving Alive at Brooklin Boat Yard Inside Brooklin Boat Yard’s main shed, where shipwrights move between three projects, one man sits alone at the bow of a 49-foot riverboat. Perched on an inverted five-gallon bucket, Reed Hayden chips away with chisel and mallet, incising an intricate scroll into the new … Read more

The midsize inboard convertible has a new contender. SeaHunter Boats of Pompano Beach, Florida, has unveiled the Tournament 45, a heavy-duty center-console designed for serious offshore work and long-range cruising. With fuel capacity and efficiency that can allow runs of more than 600 miles on a single tank, the Tournament 45 targets anglers and boaters … Read more

How the AC75 “Patriot” and a New Generation of America’s Cup Boats Took to the Air A lot can change in two years, and the America’s Cup is a clear example. The American Magic syndicate moved swiftly from testing a half-scale prototype, The Mule, in October 2018 to launching a second-generation AC75 foiling monohull, Patriot, … Read more

Lions Whelp: An Alden-Designed Schooner Reinforced for Offshore Cruising In 1986 a hull was started in California that would later become Lions Whelp, the 65-foot schooner designed by Alden that brothers Phin and Abbot Sprague purchased more than a decade later and finished for serious offshore cruising. The hull had been built with strip planking … Read more

Last night was the real test. This morning — after more than 600 miles of open-ocean sailing, a brisk west wind, a high overcast above Robin’s mast and Bermuda rising just over the horizon — felt like the reward. The darkness fell after a spectacular sunset over the intensely blue Atlantic. Puffy clouds blushed pink … Read more

The ultimate DIY If you prefer to handle routine repairs and modest upgrades yourself rather than paying a yard or contractor, Paul Esterle’s book Maintain and Improve Your Powerboat (McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009) is a practical, hands-on resource. This compact guide presents 100 doable do-it-yourself projects and improvements that help recreational boat owners keep their powerboats … Read more

Scott and Jane Young wanted to travel farther by boat, but at first they couldn’t quite figure out how to make it work. After selling their business in 2016, the longtime boaters considered covering serious miles. Inspired by a TV show about remarkable train journeys, including routes to Alaska, they began exploring the idea of … Read more

Lightning Protection for Boats: What Owners and Captains Should Know Lightning risk varies greatly by region and season. For example, marine surveyors and boat owners in Florida see far more lightning-related incidents than those in the Northeast because thunderstorms are much more frequent in the South. While science and engineering can never eliminate the risk … Read more

Limestone 24: Mark Ellis’s Fast, Handsome, and Durable Deep‑V Powerboat When Mark Ellis began sketching the Limestone 24 in the mid-1980s, his brief was simple in spirit if not in words: create a boat that is fast, handsome, and durable. Although the Limestone 24 was Ellis’s first production powerboat from his own drawing board, the … Read more