Features

On its 50th anniversary, David Salter recalls the most controversial race in Australian America’s Cup sailing history. Every Australian aged 45 or more can remember the outburst of national euphoria in September 1983 when we won the America’s Cup to end…

Or How to Improve Your Putting Words by Dorian Mode. Photography Lydia Thorpe What’s been your big project in lockdown? I love vintage boats. My previous vessel – a sound craft with a slight tendency to sink – was a big…

Paradise Radio Yacht Club hosted the 2020 Dragon Flite (DF 95) Queensland championships on behalf of the QRYA on the Gold Coast at Emerald Lakes on the 1st and 2nd of August. Initial entries fell slightly due to covid restrictions; however,…

With the Brisbane 18 Footers’ Sailing Club celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2020, it’s a good time to reflect on the ‘golden days’ of Queensland’s 18 Footer racing when they made such a significant contribution to the development and achievements in the sport. Queensland 18…

This is an extract from When the Ship Hits the Fan by Captain Rob Anderson (Affirm Press), out now. Before pirates became fashionable, Geoff was the archetype. He had weathered, hawk-like features with a dramatic widow’s peak and a gold…

Sailors are not likely to sit on their thumbs during a global pandemic so click on the gallery below to see how a few Afloat readers kept themselves salted without going nuts ……

Bruce Stannard continues his 250th anniversary tribute to Lieutenant James Cook, Commander of HM Bark Endeavour, with an account of his historic voyage northbound on the eastern coast of New Holland. “History is facts that in the end become lies;…

The sea plays a major part in life on the isthmus of Central America, with the Caribbean Sea to the east and the mighty swells of the Pacific Ocean to the west, reports Kevin Green. It’s on this west coast that…

An incredible designer, builder and competitor. 1951 JJ Giltinan world champion, Bill Barnett The late Bill Barnett was a famous sailing identity who designed, built and raced world champion boats from 18ft Skiffs to international 12 metre class yachts to challenge…

(And it hits Quirky) No, not cannon balls or scurvy. Did you see the item from Dudley Pope in David Salter’s literary extracts in the last Afloat about disease in the navy? He missed out on one…

The discovery by a local diver of two large ship propellers on the sea floor of Darwin Harbour has offered a completely new interpretation of the events around the sinking of USS Peary on 19 February, 1942. The propellers appear to be…

Hugh Treharne is one of Australia’s greatest sailors. He was tactician on The America’s Cup-winning Australia II in 1983, a renowned 16ft and 18ft Skiff sailor, a widely recognised sailmaker and a world champion blue water yachtsman. In acknowledgement of his marvellous achievements, Hugh…