Practical Boat Owner

Published by Time Inc. (UK) Ltd Practical Boat Owner is Britain's biggest-selling boating magazine, trusted and respected by all its readers. A source of useful and helpful information for both power and sail boat owners, PBO helps you get the most from your boat acting as a forum for interacting with like-minded individuals.

Practical Boat Owner

Get lost Southern Water!

When Katie met Murdoch • News and current affairs from the world of boating

Authority’s surprise 60% price hike

RYA’s carbon zero 2050 goal

Dear Southern Water…

A plastic-munching beach robot?

Tokyo 2020 medal haul

1,917 mile solo sail around the UK

RNLI volunteers brave Storm Evert

Orca attacks prompt exclusion zone

DIARY DATES

SOUTH COAST AND CHANNEL ISLANDS

WEST COAST, WALES AND IRELAND

SCOTLAND

EAST COAST AND SOUTH-EAST

Letters • Readers share their thoughts and opinions

Portuguese man o’tour • How to complicate a simple delivery

When Britannia waives the rules

A winter project • Now’s a great time to start a refurbishment

Go for a blast! • Rupert Holmes rounds up 16 small, fast and fun cruisers – new, second-hand and home-build

The HR evolution • Hallberg-Rassy’s reputation for building quality bluewater cruisers evolved from its early 31-38ft models. Peter Poland reports

Summer in the Med • Ned Coakley enjoys affogatos, smart marinas and stunning cliff-edge villages on a Mediterranean cruise from France to Italy and back

What is a Defaced Blue Ensign?

Build yourself a mini tugboat for fun • Determined to build a small, fun boat for his young grandchildren, Ian Royston made one in the style of a cheeky tugboat

‘I am very much alive!’ • A wartime act of kindness is recalled by a survivor of St Helier Yacht Club’s ‘miracle of St Malo’ evacuation, writes Philip Jeune

The main event • In the wake of last year’s cancellation we mustn’t take our big events for granted. Rob Melotti previews

Fun afloat!

Multifunction displays… and more • Electronics to check out at Southampton Boat Show 2021

Upgraded GPS and compass units

Waterproof wireless chargers

New generation SSB radio

Portable purification • Ali Wood uses the PBO Project boat to test a water purification system, coveralls and boat wash

Filter more water

Coveralls

Boat cleaning pack

Make a classic nameboard for £15 • You don’t have to spend a fortune on a custom nameboard for your boat, says Zoran Glozinic… just make your own!

MAXIMUS BOAT SURVEY The interior • Ali Wood learns of corroded seacocks, a dangerous gas oven and a vintage radio as Ben Sutcliffe-Davies surveys the PBO Project Boat

RYA checklist • 10 things to consider when buying second-hand

Check the cradle

THE PAPERWORK

FREE JET 2 EARPHONES from FLARE AUDIO when you subscribe to Practical Boat Owner

Should you insure a project boat? • Insurance expert Steve Risk has some useful advice for boat owners

Going loopy – making a continuous splice • Roger Hughes declutters the cockpit by splicing his furling lines end-to-end into a continuous loop

Autumn Sale 3 ISSUES FOR £3/€3/$3

How to get your boat organised • Are you always misplacing tools and spares? Roger Hughes has the answer

Choose your skipper with care • Competence is required when things go wrong, says Chris Mardon

LESSONS LEARNED

Into the Red Zone • Kia Koropp and family reap the rewards as they visit parts of the Solomon Islands they had been warned off

Travel time made simple • David Roulston’s ‘Screw-Gap’ device can help...