Sailing books for British readers fall into three groups: manuals for learning the craft, pilot guides for the water you will actually sail, and the books that make you want to cast off in the first place. The catalogue has a good run of the second and third. For learning to sail, nothing replaces time on a boat with an instructor; the Royal Yachting Association runs courses and syllabuses for that.
Learning the craft
Tom Cunliffe's The Complete Yachtmaster is presented by its publisher as the standard reference for Yachtmaster students and skippers of all levels, covering sailing, seamanship, navigation and weather. For the part of a passage that causes the most anxiety, Illustrated Seamanship goes through ropework, berthing, anchoring and leaving a marina.
Pilot guides and planning
Pilot guides do a different job from manuals: they tell you what a harbour looks like on approach. Fernhurst Books publishes the Solent Cruising Companion and the West Country Cruising Companion. Planning a bigger trip? The UK and Ireland Circumnavigator's Guide covers when to leave, which direction to go, charts and costs.
Books for the dreaming stage
Sailing the Shallows makes the case for dinghy cruising, Under Wide and Starry Skies lists 50 off-the-beaten-track destinations, and Harbours and Their Masters visits 310 harbours around Britain and Ireland.
A note on charts and editions
A pilot book or almanac is a planning aid and not a navigation tool. Pilotage details, buoyage and tidal information change, so check the edition and use current charts and notices when you sail. The same applies to annual almanacs such as the Reeds PBO Small Craft Almanac, which are only useful in the year they cover.
Our Picks
11 books
The Complete Yachtmaster 11th edition : Sailing, Seamanship and Navigation for the Modern Yacht Skipper
Illustrated Seamanship : Ropework, Boat Handling & Anchoring
West Country Cruising Companion : A Yachtsman's Pilot and Cruising Guide to Ports and Harbours from Portland Bill to Padstow, Including the Isles of Scilly
Solent Cruising Companion : A Yachtsman’s Pilot and Cruising Guide to Ports and Harbours from Keyhaven to Chichester
UK and Ireland Circumnavigator’s Guide 3rd edition : Essential Planning Advice for All Boaters
Harbours And Their Masters : Sailing into (Nearly) Every Harbour in Britain & Ireland
Sailing the Shallows : The lost art of cruising the coast in a small boat
Under Wide and Starry Skies : 50 Sailing Destinations in Seas Less Travelled
Dream Cruising Destinations 2nd edition : 25 of the Finest Cruising Grounds in the World
Reeds PBO Small Craft Almanac 2026
