Tom Cunliffe Columnist
Tom Cunliffe was born in the North of England in 1947 and has been sailing since he was 14.

He studied law before going to sea and has worked as a professional yacht skipper in many countries and cruised far and wide. He was once a deck officer in the coastal merchant marine service and was a senior offshore instructor at the British National Sailing Centre.

Tom has cruised in his own craft to destinations as diverse as South America, the Mediterranean, Russia, North Norway, and the United States. His current boat is the modern gaff cutter, Westernman, built in North America, which he sailed home in 1997 to cruise and charter from the Beaulieu River.

Tom has been a regular contributor to YM for many years and was an important member of the founding team for the 'Practical Seamanship/Sailing Skills section. On top of his occasional popular features, he is author of our Yachtmaster Class as well as the YM sailing and seamanship quiz, which he says is never easy either to set or answer.

He sees YM as a two-way forum between the readers and the editorial team and always enjoys exchanging views with readers he meets while sailing. As well as being an RYA Yachtmaster Examiner, a consultant for US Sailing and columnist for SAIL magazine in the US, Tom is author of 23 books, ranging from The Complete Yachtmaster (Adlard Coles) and the best-selling Shell Channel Pilot (Imray) to Good Vibrations (Summersdale), a successful travel book about motorbikes and the heart of America. He also writes historical works, including Pilots (Chatham), a three-volume opus on sailing pilotage. Visit his site at www.tomcunliffe.com

Nigel Calder Technical writer
Nigel is widely acknowledged as one of the world's foremost writers on boat systems maintenance.

He has been a diesel mechanic for more than 15 years, a boatbuilder, cabinet-maker and machinist. He and his wife, Terrie, built and sailed their own 39-foot cruising yacht, Nada. Subsequently, they cruised a 40-foot Pacific Seacraft. He is the author of several books, including Marine Diesel Engines, the Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual (Adlard Coles) and, more recently, the Boatowner's Practical and Technical Cruising Manual and How to Read a Nautical Chart.

Libby Purves Columnist
A well-known and prolific journalist, author and broadcaster, Libby has been something of a sailing fanatic from her early days.

The daughter of a British diplomat, she spent her childhood travelling with her family and attending school in Thailand, France, South Africa and Britain. At Oxford University she began sailing in the vacation and then attended evening classes in navigation. She crewed on a dozen different boats before buying a part-share in a boat with husband Paul Heiney, then a colleague on the Today radio programme.

Together the couple wrote the Sailing Weekend Book. Libby is also the author of How to Find the Perfect Boat and One Summer's Grace (Grafton), about the family's cruise around Britain in the summer of 1988 aboard Grace O'Malley, a Cornish Crabber Pilot Cutter 30. Her first novel was Casting Off. A collection of Libby's YM columns, This Cruising Life, is published by Adlard Coles.

Rod Heikell Blue Water Letter correspondent
Rod spends half the year sailing in the Mediterranean gathering material for his popular pilot books and the other half updating them at his London base.

In 2003 he sailed his Cheoy Lee Pedrick 36, Seven Tenths, from Turkey to Spain, ready for an Atlantic crossing in December.

Rod has spent more than 25 years cruising the Med and has written over a dozen pilots on the 'wine dark sea'. He is the acknowledged Mediterranean guru and sails with partner Lu.

Peter Cumberlidge Contributor
Peter Cumberlidge is a cruising and travel writer, and author of Yachting Monthly’s North Brittany and Channel Islands Cruising Companion (Nautical Data Ltd).

When not actually sailing he has worked in banking, university research and as the managing director of an electronics design company. For many years he ran cruising and navigation courses around the Channel Islands and Brittany coasts. He and his wife Jane live in Devon and slip across to La Belle France at the slightest excuse in search of a good lunch. Their 1936 gaff cutter, Stormalong, is based at Dartmouth.

Mark Fishwick Photo-journalist
Born and bought up the West Country, Mark began sailing at an early age and his life has always been closely involved with boats and the sea, from commercial craft, fishing and yacht delivery to charter skippering in the West Indies.

His long-standing partnership with the famous gaff-yawl Temptress spans nearly 25 years, including two Atlantic crossings and much coastal cruising around Britain.

Based in Falmouth and the island of Kerrera, near Oban, on the West Coast of Scotland, he divides his time between writing, photography and cruising. He is the author of two Yachting Monthly books, West Country Cruising, the definitive pilot/guide for the waters of Devon and Cornwall, including the Isles of Scilly, and South Coast Cruising, a yachtsman's pilot guide to the harbours, marinas, rivers and coast between North Foreland and Portland Bill, including the Solent.