The Island Skipper is a sailing gear review site written from Jersey in the Channel Islands. The reviews are based on real use — real passages, real anchorages, real conditions.
Jersey's 12-metre tidal range, the Race of Alderney, the damp Atlantic winters and the long summer evenings at anchor in St. Aubin's Bay all inform what gets reviewed here and how.
What we review — and what we don't
The Island Skipper covers sailing lifestyle gear: galley equipment, cabin comfort, clothing and apparel. We deliberately don't review safety equipment — lifejackets, harnesses, flares, EPIRBs — because those categories require hands-on testing to review responsibly. For safety gear, speak to your local chandlery.
Affiliate links
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only link to products we'd genuinely recommend — and we always say when something hasn't been tested personally, rather than pretending otherwise.
The Channel Islands
Jersey sits 14 miles off the Normandy coast at 49°N. The Channel Islands are self-governing British Crown Dependencies — not quite England, not quite France, and entirely their own thing. The sailing is exceptional: strong tides, interesting passages, and on a clear summer evening, some of the most beautiful anchorages in northern Europe.