For those dreaming of the joys of owning a yacht, Nick Ridley offers encouragement as well as a look at the harsher reality of financing your dreams

My motives for this trip were varied. I was on the committee that vetted applications for the Ocean Cruising Club’s Challenge Grant when Project Manaia had applied for a grant to support their environ

It has been a hectic season for the Stovebolt Special: 11 hillclimb weekends, two hillclimb schools, and 3000 rapid road miles getting to and from them. And one serious breakage. That was sorted in ti

Marsali Taylor swaps skippering her Offshore 8m for being crew on a converted herring drifter, with comfy berths in the former fish hold

Tony Davies’ couldn’t find his dream boat ‘off the shelf’ so he took matters into his own hands with a 1978 Reinell 26-footer

Say “Rainforest”, and the average sailor will conjure up an image of some exotic tropical landscape covered in jungle that is home to a diverse array of plants and animals. I first came across such a