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Image credit: Amory Ross / 11th Hour Racing / The Ocean Race 

We recently published the Stacking Bag range from French manufacturer Outils Oceans. In this blog we take a brief look at why these are the number one below deck stowage solution for offshore race yachts. How many can you count in the above image taken on board 11th Hour Racing during The Ocean Race? 

Image credit - C-Tech

A snuffer is a simple, reliable method of dousing an asymmetric spinnaker. Despite advances in furling technology, snuffers remain the first choice for many offshore race yachts such as Class 40 and IMOCA. In this blog we look at how to select the correct length of snuffer for your sail, why snuffers dominate in short-handed offshore racing and where a furling asymmetric might be preferred. To help answer these questions we sat down with Nathan Steffenoni, co-director of OneSails GBR South. As you might expect, the considerations are very much case dependent, so Nathan was keen to caveat many of his responses. 

Credit - Robline

We recently added a range of Robline ropes to our configurable product range, allowing you to choose splicing options and purchase finished sheets and halyards directly online. In this blog we look at how to use the configurator and give an overview of the new products.  

The Jefa direct drives are something of a hallmark in autopilot drive engineering. Every aspect has been designed from the ground up to create an efficient, powerful and long-lasting pilot drive. In this blog we explore what makes up a good autopilot system and why the details matter.  

We have previously reported on the benefits of adding a staysail in our guest blog: Turbo charge your ride with a staysail. We also looked at different setup options such as furling vs hanks here:

But what about the mast fitting? For people looking to retrofit a staysail on a rig without an existing staysail sheave or tang, this can often be the crunch point. In this blog we explore some of the possible approaches to tackling this, primarily in relation to aluminium rigs. 

The practice of kedging has been used for hundreds of years as a method of manoeuvring or orienting a sailing vessel against tide and wind. A kedge anchor is typically smaller and lighter than the primary anchor, making it easier to handle. Modern cruising yachts continue to use kedge anchors for a variety of purposes including to provide additional holding power in strong wind or to maintain the alignment of the vessel in a narrow anchorage where there is not room to swing. In this blog we look at how racing boats use kedge anchors to hold fast in light wind and adverse current.