As harbors begin to thin out with the cooler seasons coming in, it’s a great time to evaluate whether your boat’s steering system lived up to its potential or if there are some things that could be improved. This article will help you identify the root causes of most steering irregularities and …

As we busily prep exhibits for our big fall boat shows (Annapolis Sail and METSTrade, I thought it would be a fun to fire up the wayback machine and have a look at the Edson booth from the 1991 Annapolis show. It was a much different boating environment back then - there were over a dozen healthy US …

There are two key chain measurements that you must know in order to replace your chain: length and size. Both are straightforward. "Size" refers to the pitch (length) and width of each link. There are two common chain sizes that likely cover everyone: #50 and #60. These sizes refer to ANSI (Ameri …

We've been banging on about the wisdom of finally replacing your boat's old and worn chain and wire, and offering a spoonful of sugar to help the process along. The response has been very encouraging, and as TravelLift operators across the country hear "ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!" it' …

A couple of posts ago, we alluded to the effect that a different size wheel will have on steering. In addition to practical considerations like making it impossible to move around the cockpit or having the wheel clang against the floor or cockpit seats, changing the wheel diameter will affect the lo …

When I first started racing on big boats, the coolest boats all had gigantic wheels, preferably sunk deep into the deck. Getting the helmsperson outboard as far and as comfortably as possible was the goal. On our family's classic C&C 34, good luck seeing the jib telltales or anything else forwar …

For any number of reasons (some of which will be the subject of subsequent posts), you may want to change your sailboat's steering wheel. While this is actually more straightforward than a lot of other boat projects you might do, there are a few parameters that you need to account for to both g …

Our friends* at Captain Q posted a video of a staggeringly nice Ted Hood boat last week, and a few astute commenters caught a great but easily missed detail on the quadrant. Leaving aside how urgently this steering cable looks like it needs replacement - the strands show obvious rust and I …

What a great show at Annapolis this year, and this coming from a reluctant boat show participant. With Thursday morning and pack-out time as notable exceptions, the weather was fantastic which brought out big crowds. Normally, there's a formula of x = crowd size * crowd quality, where "x" is a const …

Wheel brakes are a huge convenience. With a well balanced sail plan, your wheel brake can mind the helm while you adjust the jib trim or grab a snack from the icebox. There are, however, common things that brakes get used for for which they aren't really suited and will cause premature wear - someti …