Topics: 1. The Earliest Combat Ships 2. On Being a Master's Mate under Captain Bligh 3. Nautical Terms 1 4. USS Texas 5. Island Countdown; 25. Dominican Republic and 24. Culebra 6. At The Helm Live Challenge 7. Nautical Terms 2 8. Ferrari HyperSail 30 Meter America's Cup Italian Prototype 17 Min. 59 Sec. 10 Min. 8 Sec.

Book reviewers sought... John Caldwell — Author of Desperate Voyage John Caldwell is remembered in nautical circles as the adventurous sailor behind Desperate Voyage, the gripping postwar sea memoir that became a maritime survival classic. First published in the mid-20th century and still reissued decades later, the book is valued for its raw firsthand voice, its relentless hardship, and its portrait of seamanship under extreme strain. Caldwell’s reputation rests not on polished literary flourish, but on the power of lived experience at sea — the kind that makes readers feel the loneliness, risk, and stubborn determination of a small-boat voyage gone terribly awry. His name endures because Desperate Voyage still speaks to sailors, dreamers, and armchair adventurers who admire courage, endurance, and the unforgiving truth of the sea.

Coming in our next Thursday At The Helm Live Briefing

BREAKTHROUGH The sailing boat is a groundbreaking 100-foot ocean-racing monohull prototype, designed to fly stably on three contact points. Its unique innovation links one foil to a canting keel, with the other support points being a rudder and, alternately, the two lateral foils. Currently under construction in Italy, the boat will launch in 2026 and begin sea trials soon after. The new class of 30 meter (98.34 Feet) America's Cup racing machines has our attention big-time! Mast height = 40 meters = 131.23' Beam = 20 meters = 55.62' Check out this new technology here: https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/hypersail Learn more here: https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/hypersail/share/videos/of-roads-and-waves Ferrari Hypersail is one of the most thrilling crossovers in modern performance culture — a project that feels less like a yacht program and more like Ferrari deciding that even the ocean should not be exempt from speed, discipline, beauty, and engineering obsession. Ferrari describes Hypersail as a 100-foot ocean-racing monohull prototype designed to “fly” in stable trim on three contact points, and it is being led by Giovanni Soldini with naval architecture by Guillaume Verdier. The boat is under construction in Italy, with launch and sea trials planned in 2026. What makes the project so electrifying is that it does not look like a vanity exercise. It looks like Ferrari doing what Ferrari does best: entering a brutally demanding arena and using it as a research-and-development battlefield. Ferrari has framed Hypersail as a platform for innovation in performance, efficiency, and systems integration, borrowing the same spirit that has fueled its Hypercar efforts. In that sense, Hypersail is not just a boat — it is Ferrari’s declaration that endurance engineering can be reimagined on water with the same seriousness it brings to Le Mans and Formula 1.