Buyers of new yachts often choose to purchase in or relocate their boats to a tax haven, a place which requires the least amount of taxes to be paid on their vessels.  Many yacht owners also choose to have their limited liability corporations deal with the "offshore delivery," and there are many locations around the world which thrive on these yacht tax loopholes such as the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos, Bermuda, Panama, and Barbados, to name a few.  There are even yachting areas that seem to exist just for this practice.  So, we weren't terribly surprised when United States Senator John Kerry chose to keep his new 75 foot yacht in Rhode Island, an American state which has become very popular with yacht owners, since it repealed its Boat Sales and Use Tax back in 1993.  What we didn't expect however was

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Though the term "sailboat" may describe vessels which range in size and style from tiny dinghies to enormous mega yachts, the basic principles for sailing any boat are the same. The physics involved - the airfoil and the lever - don't change except in magnitude. So, in theory at least, if you can sail one boat you can sail them all. However, some boats are just better than others when it comes to learning, and before we set about sailing any wind powered machine, we need to know at least a little about what options are available, and which sailboats might be best for the job at hand. Then we can help you make a more informed decision about which boat you should choose to begin sailing yourself.

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Alessandro Di Benedetto sailed in to port a few days ago (see story) to earn the title of the person to perform a solo, non-stop circumnavigation in the smallest boat in history.  As you may already know, the most amazing part of the feat is that Alessandro was dismasted half a world away from the finish, PRIOR to his passing around Cape Horn, and so he had to sail the entire remainder of his course on a jury rig!

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