Ben Lowings

Ben Lowings has sailed dinghies and yachts everywhere from the Norwegian Arctic to New Zealand. An ex-newsreader for Radio New Zealand, he has spent more than a decade at the BBC World Service.

He also skippers commercial yacht deliveries around Britain. He has written three books, The Chancellor, a biography of the yachtsman George Millar, and The Dolphin, a biography of Dr David Lewis, and The Sun Of May: Vito Dumas: A Life.

Men and women rowing a salmon seiner on an estuary

Second life for a salmon seiner

March 20, 2026

Ben Lowings looks at the history of the 17ft salmon seiner Shambler, and how it has become a true community boat

Quick tips to improve your boat’s performance

October 10, 2025

Expert delivery skipper Ben Lowings offers his top tips to help improve boat performance and handling. Efficient helming Sailing starts – and ends – with the human element. You may…

A boat sailing where you can easily see the boat rudders

Boat rudders: everything you need to know

September 12, 2025

Delivery skipper Ben Lowings examines how different popular rudder designs affect handling, and explains how to maintain them

Tidal races, overfalls, and headlands: how to prepare for challenging waters

June 9, 2025

Sailing around a headland in the British Isles will nearly always involve an encounter with tricky tidal races and overfalls, a ‘commotion of the sea’, best visualised as broken or…

A person dinghy cruising

Dinghy cruising: 30 ways to experience the ultimate small-boat adventure

April 3, 2025

Ben Lowings shares his tips for dinghy cruising around the UK and further afield

A hand pump fitting to a boat to control a water ballast keel

The pneumatic keel

January 10, 2025

Ben Lowings talks to Bjorn Haraldsson about his simple air-regulated keel

Multihulls and Monohulls sailing

Monohulls vs Multihulls: which is best?

December 9, 2024

Ben Lowings looks at the pros and cons of multihulls and monohulls, covering handling, sailing performance and accommodation

Boat shaft seal parts worn out

Boat shaft seal replacement: expert tips

December 2, 2024

Getting to grips with replacing a stern shaft seal on a Contessa 32, Ben Lowings explains how it can be done with the boat in the water

A woman tying sailing knots on a boat

7 sailing knots every boater should know

September 27, 2024

Ben Lowings shares how to tie the most useful sailing knots

A quick release mechanism on a dinghy spinnaker pole

How to make a last-minute home-made dinghy spinnaker pole

August 2, 2024

Ben Lowings cobbles up some pole jaws to make a make-shift dinghy spinnaker pole

A marine chronometer in a wooden box

Does a marine chronometer still have a place onboard?

May 24, 2023

Ben Lowings looks at the history of this most accurate of timepieces, and ponders if a marine chronometer is still needed onboard today