Tom Cunliffe is Britain's leading sailing writer. He is a worldwide authority on sailing instruction and an expert on traditional sailing craft. He learned his sextant skills during numerous ocean passages, many of which in simple boats without engines or electronics, and voyaged to both sides of the Atlantic from Brazil to Iceland and from the Caribbean to Russia.

He has cruised the coast of America and Canada and logged thousands of miles exploring both sides of the English Channel.Tom's nautical career has seen him serve as mate on a merchant ship, captain on gentleman's yachts and skipper of racing craft. His private passion is classic sailing boats and he has owned a series of traditional gaff-rigged vessels that have taken him and his family on countless adventures from tropical rainforests to frozen fjords.Tom has been a Yachtmaster Examiner since 1978 and has a gift for sharing his knowledge with good humour and an endless supply of tales of the sea.He also writes for Yachting Monthly, Yachting World and SAIL magazines, and wrote and presented the BBC TV series, The Boats That Built Britain.