Doug Ryan

A Friendly, Real-World Guide for Sailors Who Actually Use Their Boats Choosing a sailboat is emotional. Choosing a marina should be logical — but let’s be honest, it’s emotional too. Your marina isn’t just a parking space for fiberglass and dreams. It’s your gateway to the water. It’s your weekend ritual. It’s where friendships form, … Read more

Let’s talk about the question a lot of sailors have been quietly (or loudly) asking at yacht clubs, marinas, and comment sections around the world: Is SailGP replacing the America’s Cup? That’s not a small question. It’s like asking if Formula E is replacing Formula 1. Or if the X Games replaced the Olympics. The … Read more

If you’ve been sailing long enough, you’ve seen it.The pale face. The thousand-yard stare. The sudden obsession with the rail. Motion sickness is one of the great equalizers of sailing. It doesn’t care how smart you are, how tough you are, or how badly you want to love boating. It can hit seasoned sailors, first-timers, … Read more

Sailing has always been underrepresented on television. Boats are expensive to film, weather is unpredictable, and seamanship doesn’t always fit neatly into modern storytelling. Still, a handful of shows have managed to put sailing — real sailing — at the heart of their stories. These series don’t just use ships as props; they make the … Read more

(From Guilty Pleasure to Absolute Perfection) Some sailing scenes exist just to move the plot along. Others exist because someone behind the camera truly understood boats, wind, and what it feels like to trust your life to canvas and rigging. These ten scenes fall into the second category — ranked from fun-but-flawed to flat-out legendary. … Read more

When people argue about the “best” sailboat, they usually mean their sailboat.But popularity is different. Popularity is measurable. The boats on this list earned their place not through marketing or prestige, but through sheer adoption. They were bought by regular people. They were sailed hard, sailed badly, sailed everywhere—and then sold to the next generation … Read more

For years, sailors have been asking the wrong question. The question isn’t “Why don’t people sail anymore?”The real question is “Why would they?” For much of the public, sailing looks expensive, intimidating, and locked behind gates—both literal and cultural. Boats cost money. Time costs money. Marinas feel exclusive. Yacht clubs feel like you need an … Read more

Because Not Every Boat Was Blessed With Good Looks Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder—but let’s be honest, some sailboats push that theory to its breaking point. Over the years, designers have chased interior space, cost savings, performance, innovation, or pure ego, and sometimes the looks were the first thing tossed overboard. … Read more

If you believe sailing is expensive, you didn’t come up with that idea on your own. It came from: Modern sailing media rarely shows the truth: Because none of that sells new boats. What does sell is the idea that sailing requires money, upgrades, and constant spending. And once that idea takes hold, people assume … Read more

So you love the water, but your wife just says no way when you mention setting sail? Fear not, fellow captain. You’re not alone – many boat owners face this dilemma: one spouse hooked on the sea, the other firmly on land. Whether she’s worried about seasickness, not into boating, or just has other interests, … Read more