Dire straits

Proper preparation prevents poor performance

Celebrating 100 years of the BBC Shipping Forecast, Jane Russell takes us on a series of coastal cruises through the forecast sea areas, exploring some of the special places on offer in each of them

A camping dinghy may not offer the comforts of a modern cabin yacht, but no yacht is comfortable on a hard beat, no matter how many berths she may accommodate in her cabin. And there are serious disad

None of us plans to be caught in a gale, but if it happens then both the boat and the crew must cope. Jake Kavanagh speaks to Jester Challenge skippers and asks how they get ready for stormy weather

The seasoned polar explorer Franklin lost two vessels and 129 men, himself included, in the late 1840s, searching for the route that would take 3,000nm off the sea route to the Orient. Even though glo

Simon Ellis continues his three-month long cruise from Poole to the Isles of Scilly, taking in Polperro, Fowey, Falmouth, Porthleven, Mousehole and Land’s End