Eclipse glasses
Never mind Cowes Week – the Eclipse will be the boating event of the year. And the dress code? Yachting Monthly’s CE-approved viewing glasses.

Destinations
Ramsgate – gateway to the East Coast, and well-placed stopover for the Low Countries. We check out the marina, the yacht club and where to eat and drink. Plus your free chart with waypoints and routes.
Ostend – once you have navigated into this busy Belgian port with your free splashproof chart, there comes the all-important question: where to find the best moules frites?

A week in the Channel
The changeable English Channel showed most of its moods in the week Peter Nielsen sailed its length and breadth this spring.

Secret anchorages
First in a new series of undiscovered beauty spots in which to drop your hook.

Offshore fit-out
Is your boat safe for offshore or ocean sailing? Read how we fitted out Sweet Lucy for her Azores passage. Plus a checklist of equipment and modifications.

Boat report
Designed in Britain, made in the USA, the Gemini 105 catamaran is given the Yachting Monthly test treatment.

Flares test
When it’s a matter of life and death, will your flares work? And how much does it matter if they are past their ‘use by’ date? YM enlisted the help of the MoD to put nautical fire power to the test.

Canadian cruising
The magnificent scenery of coastal Canada is there for the taking. A reader’s charter story could tempt you to eschew the Med and the Caribbean for something a bit more wild and distant.