RYA influences MCA's changes to regulations
by Magnus Smith
Interview with Niall McLeod to see how Sport and Pleasure Code of Practice affects us The RYA have been working closely with the the government to make sure that new regulations for leisure vessels are not too restrictive. It seems that any group which operates a "coded" vessel should be thankful.
Posted on 18 Mar The oldest video footage of sailing in Ireland
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive, from 1926 to 1980 As we prepare for St Patrick's Day tomorrow, let us direct our exploration of the video archive towards anything Irish. We have discovered several videos from Ireland, starting as early as the 1920s!
Posted on 16 Mar Earliest videos of the New York Boat Show
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive, to see how far we can go With the 2025 edition of the Show about to start in a few days, lets see how far back in time our video archive can go, with footage from early shows. The best we can do is 1937.
Posted on 19 Jan Oldest videos from the London Boat Show
by Magnus Smith
Now-classic craft and never-seen-again inventions from 1955 to 1979 Do you remember the early days of the London Boat Show, when it was at Olympia or Earl's Court each January? As that time of year rolls around again, we can take a look into our video archive and round-up the earliest newsreels that covered the event.
Posted on 12 Jan Olympic sailing videos part 2
by Magnus Smith
Yachting footage from the 1970s to 1990s Games As 2024 draws to a close, we decided to look back on this Olympic year with a summary of all the oldest Olympic sailing videos we could find, from the analogue era before the year 2000. Here we cover the Seventies through to the Nineties.
Posted on 1 Jan Olympic sailing videos part 1
by Magnus Smith
Yachting footage from the 1920s to 1960s Games As 2024 draws to a close, we decided to look back on this Olympic year with a summary of all the oldest Olympic sailing videos we could find, from the analogue era before the year 2000. We start with the Twenties and go through to the Sixties.
Posted on 29 Dec 2024 Publicise your open event to thousands of readers
by Magnus Smith
Get your class/club fixture list into the YachtsandYachting.com calendar As Winter draws to a close, the beauty sleep of event coordinators everywhere becomes more and more disturbed. For fixtures lists will soon be published on club and class websites up and down the country.
Posted on 22 Dec 2024 Firefly dinghy videos from the 1980s and 90s
by Magnus Smith
It's time to dig into the archives again, one year after our first ever video feature It's time to dig into the video archives a second time, a year after our first ever video feature, which happened to be on 1950s Firefly sailing. But this time all we can find is from the 1980s and 90s!
Posted on 15 Dec 2024 The oldest footage of the Flying Fifteen class
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive, but trying to avoid excess royalty We delve into the past, and round-up all videos which show sailing in the Flying Fifteen class of racing keelboat.
Posted on 8 Dec 2024 The oldest videos of junior and youth sailing
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive Our video archive is fully searchable, and updated weekly with the latest sailing videos, but here we step back in time to see what is the oldest footage we can uncover. Our theme is children and young people this week.
Posted on 1 Dec 2024 The oldest footage of bizarre wind-powered craft
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive, at the radical and the plain silly Last week we looked at craft which chased the wind speed record. Whilst they did not always look conventional, they still had a certain sanity about them. Our video archive has uncovered some designs which are way more unusual... or even, plain silly.
Posted on 3 Nov 2024 The oldest footage from Weymouth Speed Week
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive, at those who chased the record books With the 2024 edition of Weymouth Speed Week under way - and still bringing many to the UK's south coast in search of 30 knots, 40 knots, 50 knots - let us look back into the video archives for the most advanced designs of yesteryear!
Posted on 27 Oct 2024 Oldest videos of women's sailing
by Magnus Smith
In contrast to the newest event, the Puig Women's America's Cup With the inaugural Puig Women's America's Cup just finishing, it seemed that our weekly delve in to the video archives should focus on female sailors. With our goal always being to find the oldest footage, this immediately raised some concerns.
Posted on 13 Oct 2024 Old video footage from the America's Cup
by Magnus Smith
Before it all went digital We bring you America's Cup videos from the 1980s and 1990s, after the 12 Metre era had ended. There are some classic races and press conferences.
Posted on 1 Oct 2024 Oldest footage of 12 Metre yachts part 2
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive, with an America's Cup focus Some America's Cup fans still wish the event was contested in 12 Metres, but we are in the foiling age now. However, whatever class you think should be used to contest the Cup, it can still be wonderful to look back at the beauties of the past.
Posted on 25 Aug 2024

Interview with Cadet Worlds event coordinator
by Magnus Smith
It sounds stressful - why do it? It sounds stressful - why do all the organisation for a World Championship you cannot even compete in? Alan Krailing explains why the Cadet class gives people a huge appetite to come back.
Posted on 21 Aug 2024 The oldest footage of J Class racing
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive, ahead of the America's Cup The America's Cup starts next week so it is a good moment to dig through our huge video archive to see the oldest footage from the beautiful class used for this competition between 1930 and 1937.
Posted on 18 Aug 2024 The oldest footage of Cowes Week
by Magnus Smith
A look back into the depths of our video archive Cowes Week 2024 has just concluded. But how has it changed since the early years? England has certainly changed, and so have the yachts. Let's look back at the 1920s to 70s at the oldest video footage we can find in the archive.
Posted on 4 Aug 2024 Cadet class anecdotes from the fifties
by Magnus Smith
"My brother Rodney was called 'the human jamming cleat' when he crewed for me." These are the sort of amusing reminiscences you hear amongst the shoreside spectators who are enjoying watching the huge fleet of Cadets in Plymouth. It was a great pleasure to chat to Barry Steel, National Champion from 1957.
Posted on 1 Aug 2024 It's a myth you have to leave Cadet class at 17
by Magnus Smith
National Championship awash with youths stepping straight from Cadet to coaching RIB So many of the Cadet class coaches helping out the under 17s, are aged 18 to 21 and have not long left the class. They still proudly tell you that they are Cadets, and how they have such a love of the community that they grew up within.
Posted on 31 Jul 2024

Cadet Nationals brings back emotional memories
by Magnus Smith
Ex-Cadet from 1950s recalls the part her family played in taking the class international "We took a Cadet out into the middle of the river, and tried to see how many people could fit on before it sunk."
Posted on 30 Jul 2024 The oldest video footage of Fireball dinghies
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive We delve into the past, and round-up all videos which show sailing in the Fireball class of dinghy.
Posted on 21 Apr 2024 Remembering the early days of sailing races on TV
by Magnus Smith
Finding old episodes on Youtube, starting with the Ultra 30s Do you remember when certain classes managed to make the breakthrough into television coverage, and have a whole series filmed, not just appear briefly on a single show?
Posted on 17 Mar 2024 Book review: Uffa
by Magnus Smith
Yachting's eccentric genius I wasn't expecting to be particularly interested in a biography just because it covered the designer of famous dinghies. But one of the delights of reviewing books is the unexpected gem that grips you. This is one such book!
Posted on 3 Mar 2024 The slightly unusual at the RYA Dinghy Show 2024
by Magnus Smith
Y&Y's roving photographer enjoys a chuckle Back in Farnborough again, the Dinghy Show presented the usual huge range of sailing craft. It's always great seeing the latest hulls, new rope systems, crinkliest sails, and innovative products. But I always have an eye for the slightly unusual...
Posted on 1 Mar 2024 Oldest video footage of 18ft Skiffs
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive, from 1939 to 1987 With the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championships starting next week, it's a great time to look back into our video archive, from 1939 to 1987, to see some of the oldest footage of skiff sailing in Australia. There are some gems!
Posted on 23 Feb 2024 You try doing it one-handed!
by Magnus Smith
Lynn Steward has carried on dinghy racing, despite physical challenges Lynn Steward races the only Challenger trimaran at Wigan St Helen's SC, and frequently jokes with the able-bodied competitors in the PY fleet crossing the finish line ahead of her: "You try doing it one-handed!"
Posted on 18 Feb 2024 Book review: Knowledge 2.0
by Magnus Smith
Staying Afloat in the Information Age - by Mark Chisnell This non-fiction book takes a handful of sailing stories and experiences, and draws out from them what it means to know something in this era of modelling, uncertainty, 'alternative' facts and fake news. It leans on science, psychology and narrative.
Posted on 6 Feb 2024 Adapting your boat and your racing techniques
by Magnus Smith
Interview with Alex Hovden about his Challenger sailing We spoke to Alex Hovden, who sails a Challenger trimaran, about how he feels this is the right class for him, and what modifications he has made to the boat, and to his technique, to be more competitive and get more enjoyment from sailing.
Posted on 27 Jan 2024 Oldest videos from the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive We delve into the past, and round-up all the videos which show sailing in the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Australia, which has run every December since 1945.
Posted on 14 Jan 2024 Oldest video footage of 12 Metre class yachts
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive We delve into the past, and round-up all the videos which show sailing in the 12 Metre class of yacht.
Posted on 24 Dec 2023 Firefly dinghies in the 1950s
by Magnus Smith
A look back into our video archive We delve into the past, and round-up all videos which show sailing in the Firefly class of dinghy. We have several good ones from the 1950s.
Posted on 17 Dec 2023 How sailors with a disability get into a dinghy
by Magnus Smith
Looking at slings and hoists with Frensham Pond Sailability Wheelchair users, and those whose ability to crouch or lean is impaired, need additional equipment to get into a sailing dinghy. Some clubs have been able to invest in slings and hoists to help sailors, and this article has many photos of them.
Posted on 20 Oct 2023 Seating options for sailors with a disability
by Magnus Smith
What do accessible dingies and small keelboats look like on the inside? Through this series of photographs taken at the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show, we aim to illustrate some of the many different ways in which a person with disabilities can get in/out of a dinghy (or very small keelboat) and where they have to sit.
Posted on 7 Apr 2023 What was intriguing at the RYA Dinghy Show 2023?
by Magnus Smith
Remote operated self-bailers set one man's heart a flutter Determined not to let moving house (the day before) put him off, YachtsandYachting.com's website developer, Magnus Smith, attended his favourite boat show during the last weekend in February.
Posted on 6 Mar 2023 Book review: Flotsam and Jetsam
by Magnus Smith
A collection of amusing tales from Bob Ross' gossip column I'm not Australian, and yet this collection of bar stories still amused me to read through in my spare moments. To be fair, the local colour was balanced fairly often with tales from international offshore racing and the America's/Admiral's Cups.
Posted on 5 Feb 2023 The Squib class
by Magnus Smith
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave? With the Squib East Cost Championships coming up next weekend, Magnus Smith of YachtsandYachting.com spoke to Dan Wastnage, Squib class captain at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, about why he has returned to this class after being away 35 years.
Posted on 22 May 2022 Old boats and female sailors
by Magnus Smith
Are these the key to the Squib class' popularity? Looking around at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show 2022 there were more keels on display than one might expect. But who would choose to make such a move, from dinghy to keelboat?!
Posted on 25 Mar 2022 Peculiar innovations seen at the RYA Dinghy Show
by Magnus Smith
What astounded our roving reporter the most, at the show Determined not to be stuck in his office during another Dinghy Show, YachtsandYachting.com's website developer, Magnus Smith, boldly travelled the 3 miles from his home to the Farnborough International Conference Centre, last weekend.
Posted on 1 Mar 2022 Beware scammers when you are buying a boat
by Magnus Smith
Four of the simplest guidelines to avoid getting ripped off It is a sad fact that the secondhand boat market is still prone to dodgy-dealing and cunning rip-offs. Some buyers are still falling foul of ruses that are over 30 years old, which can make it seem even more painful.
Posted on 8 Jul 2020 Book review: Winning Isn't Luck
by Magnus Smith
Fred Imhoff's wisdom enlightens and amuses I'm pleased to report it has lots of good bits of information, many small tips that I think are worth remembering, as well as some larger discourses that I think I need to re-read to understand fully.
Posted on 11 Sep 2016 How to write event previews
by Magnus Smith
A checklist to help you with this unenviable task We are noticing more and more people sending 'previews' in to YachtsandYachting.com in advance of their club's event. This used to happen only for national championships but now we are publishing lots of previews for smaller club-level events.
Posted on 3 Apr 2016