ON SALE NOW! The UK's biggest selling yachting magazine features 'Boats to beat the credit crunch' with two new trailer sailors reviewed and Westerly cruisers from just £7,500. Making the news this month is the end of Red Diesel and the changes you need to know about, plus a sea anchor test, the truth about biodiesel in your boat and a new sailing skills series. As the season comes to a close, we give you expert advice for wintering ashore or afloat with 'Laying up essentials' and we have a caption competition in place of our usual 'mystery photo' - so get your thinking caps on, buy a copy of PBO and enter your best caption.

SPECIAL FEATURE

The biodiesel revolution
With red diesel derogation ending on 1 November and prices set to rise, can you save money with home-brewed biofuel?

BOATS

New boats
Previews of the latest in power and sail

Mini-cruisers on test
PBO tests two affordable trailer-sailers– the West Wight Potter 15 and 19

Two classy classics
What gives a boat classic status? And are all wooden boats classics by definition?

Westerly: the complete guide
Part two of our Westerly buyers’ guide looks at the 26-33ft (7.92-10.05m) range

Sinking the unsinkable
What happens when you fill an unsinkable Powercat motorboat with water?

PBO brokerage
You’ll find hundreds of new and used boats for sale in our brokerage pages

PRACTICAL

Ask the experts
A mystery overheating problem, ‘orange peel’ paint and a question on collision responsibility

Laying up for winter
Expert tips for keeping your boat in perfect condition through the winter months

Helicopter rescue
Are you ready for a helicopter rescue at sea? PBO explains how to help them help you

Practical projects
Making a stronger tiller, a gluing jig for wooden rubbing strips, and restoring a clinker classic

Make your own sprayhood
How to design and build the perfect sprayhood for your yacht – we show you step by step

Improve your boat skills
How degrees of heel can affect your steering – the start of a new boat skills series

Ship in the night
Entering Fowey at night, a PBO reader finds himself on collision course with a ship

Boat owner’s sketchbook
Follow Dick Everitt’s advice for making better storage use of locker lids

CRUISING

Biscay crossing guide
Crossing the Bay of Biscay can be a testing passage, but the right preparation makes for a great voyage, as David Rainsbury explains

Cruising notes
Visit to a remote Pacific atoll, plus cruising guides for liveaboards, the East Coast and more

Motorboat beginner
How a fast motorboat and a love of lighthouses led to a South Coast adventure

Rhône and Saône
Travelling up the French rivers of Rhône and Saône and navigating their enormous locks

Chart corrections
Update your charts with PBO

GEAR

Sea anchors and drogues on test
When caught in a storm it’s essential to be able to control your speed – a simple and effective way is with a sea anchor or drogue. PBO tests five to see how they perform

PBO Chandlery
Check out the latest new gear at the Boat Show, then find thousands of products for sale

REGULAR FEATURES

Waiting for the tide
News and views from the editor

News and regional news
Explained: the new rules on paying for your diesel PLUS drama in the atrocious summer weather and a new builder of Sadler yachts

Readers’ letters
Bumps and knocks in the French canals, a Colregs conundrum, bulbous bows and boating in the great British summer!

Bargains of the month
Great deals from our chandlery pages

Dave Selby
Sometimes you want a trophy so badly, you’ll do absolutely anything to get one

Andrew Simpson
We all make mistakes – and sometimes they’re caught on camera

Sam Llewellyn
The Minimum Boater takes to minimum boatbuilding – all you need is corrugated iron

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Next month in PBO
Customise your cockpit, install flexible water tanks, add a bowsprit... and more

Copy Service and PBO products
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Advertisers’ index
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Bosun’s bag
Maritime mischief observed by readers and compiled by Julian Peckham

On sale 2 October 2008