Multiple dinghy champion Pete Barton was determined not to be beaten by the ice and snow. So for the 2010 Bloody Mary, one of the coldest ever attempted, Pete came up with a list of modifications to his Cherub that would 'ice-proof' his boat from the heinous conditions. Here is Pete's list of jobs that made his Cherub sailable while others were succumbing to the cold...
Nik Pearson won the Etchells World Championships doing the bow for skipper Stuart Childerley and Simon Russell working the mainsheet. Every team is different in its make-up of skills, but there are some good general principles of communication here that will work for any sailor looking to improve teamwork in the boat.
Great sailors know how to sail their boats really quick, but they also know how to sail really slowwwly too. Sometimes you've got to give some away, to get a lot back later down the track. Here's how you do it....
Tom Jeffcoate and Tom Pygall won the John Merricks Tiger Trophy 2012 by the skin of their teeth. Competing in sub-zero conditions, the Scorpion National Champion equalled Merlin Rocket racers Matt Biggs and Ben Hollis from Blithfield with 20 points apiece from the four races. But on the tie-break the trophy went to the Scorpion sailors.
With the Steve Nicholson Memorial Trophy just completed, the SailJuice Global Warm-Up 2012 has passed the half-way stage, with a Fireball still sitting in pole position. It was a light wind regatta at Northampton last Saturday, but it could be a different story at the Tiger Trophy this weekend....
With limited visibility steering the Skud keelboat, multiple World Champion in the Paralympic keelboat, Alex Rickham talks about the challenge of looking for breeze and getting the tactics and strategy right downwind...
Sunny skies, mild temperatures and moderate winds attracted the best turnout in years to the Grafham Grand Prix on 2 January. With 166 boats spread across four dinghy fleets and a small entry of catamarans, a number of high profile sailors turned out for the 31st edition of the regatta, which is also the opener for the five-regatta SailJuice Global Warm-Up 2012.
The third edition of the SailJuice Global Warm-up brings together five of the biggest winter handicap racing events into a unified series, to find out just who is tough enough to race their way through the brutal cold of a British winter. It kicks off with the Grafham Grand Prix on 2 January 2012.
The Ben Ainslie incident at the ISAF Olympic Class Worlds in Perth has caused a furore, but is it that big a deal? Justin and Andy discuss, along with a look at an intriguing opening to leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race...
Andy Meiklejohn was doing bow on Team Sanya when a bad landing off a wave caused him to break his ankle. Hours later, the same slamming broke the boat. At least the VO70 is back in the Volvo Ocean Race for leg 2, but Andy is having to wait a while longer before he's fit enough to get back on at the sharp end of Team Sanya.... 
A dismasting, a near sinking, the French going AWOL along the African coast - Justin and Andy look back at an incredible first week in the Volvo Ocean Race...