59 low cost upgrades to enhance your boat; How to reduce weather helm; Boat repairs in a Force 9 storm; Designing and building your own…
Practical Boat Owner
April 2026 issue – out 12 February
Sailmaker tips for getting new life out of old sails; NMEA wifi gateways tested; Wayfarer Weekended on test; Cruising hacks from liveaboard sailors; Solo skipper’s…
PBO Tested: Chilly’s Bottle
Using double-wall vacuum technology, the Chilly’s Bottle is a reusable bottle that is promised to keep your drink cold for up to 24 hours (or hot for 12 hours) whatever…
PBO Tested: Habitent Sirocco
David Pugh welcomes the opportunity to test Habitent’s new, narrower Sirocco boat tent
PBO Tested: 12 mooring snubbers
David Pugh tests 12 readily-available snubbers to find out which one best absorbs a snatch load
Man airlifted in gale force weather after boat runs aground
A boatsman who ran aground in gale-force weather was airlifted to safety by the UK Coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Walpole Bay, Kent yesterday morning.
Engine fire prompts motorboat rescue in the Solent
Rescuers were tasked to assist the crew of a 36ft motor boat yesterday after it caught fire in the Solent yesterday.
Jet-skier shouted ‘Oh no!’ before crashing into Red Jet ferry
‘Oh no!’ What the jet-skier said just before hitting the Red Jet ferry, reveals the man who captured the moment on camera
December 2016
In the December 2016 issue of Practical Boat Owner...
PBO’s BIG Christmas giveaway – win £2,700-worth of boat kit
Our pick of Practical Boat Owner magazine's best on test over the past year is up for grabs as one cracking prize – worth more than £2,700!
Editor’s welcome to the December issue – on sale today!
Here’s to a learning environment. Editor David Pugh welcomes you to the latest issue of Practical Boat Owner magazine.
Mission accomplished – Dave Selby’s Mad about the Boat
‘Where’s Bart?’ That’s the question I was asked more than any other after my epic 338-mile two-month voyage to Southampton, writes PBO columnist Dave Selby.
PBO tested: Henri Lloyd Elite Racer Smock and Salopettes
One immediate thing that jumps out is the light weight of the oilskins. They are by far the lightest oilskins I’ve ever owned – and thus the least constrictive to…
PBO Tested: 10 handheld VHF radios
A vital piece of kit in any boat cockpit, Alex Bell and a PBO test team check out popular handheld radios for effectiveness and ease of use
Great progress on PBO’s new project boat!
PBO's Secret 20 kit-boat starts to look boat-shaped in short order
Jeanne Socrates returns to Victoria after surviving a big ‘blow’
"I packed my grab bag with passport etc at one point... to be ready for the worst but Nereida rode the big seas well despite a lot of shaking and…
Refurbishing a Yanmar 1GM10 water pump
The Yanmar 1GM10 is a great little engine, which starts first time and runs reliably: but there are one or two design flaws. The worst is that the raw water…
Lone sailor ‘thrown ashore’ as yacht struck beach groynes
'The yachtsman regrets not calling for help until it was too late' said an RNLI Happisburgh spokesman
Portree, the capital of Skye
Charmian Entwistle shares the rich history of a port fit for kings
Woman with head injury airlifted after fall on yacht
A woman with a head injury was airlifted from Stokes Bay on Sunday after she was evacuated from a sailing yacht by Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS).
‘Having a DSC radio on board and knowing how to use it could save your life’
'If you use Digital Selective Calling (DSC) radio correctly we will be able to locate you within moments', say UK Coastguard rescuers
Finalists announced for YJA Yachtsman of the Year
Olympic Finn class gold medallist Giles Scott, Round the Island Race record setter Brian Thompson, and Clipper Race crewman Gavin Reid, have been shortlisted for the 2016 boats.com YJA Yachtsman…