The best sailing YouTube channels right now are SV Delos, Sailing La Vagabonde, Sailing Uma, Sailing Zatara, RAN Sailing, Gone with the Wynns, Sailing Ruby Rose, Sam Holmes Sailing, Free Range Sailing, and Sailing Project Atticus. Between them they cover ocean crossings, boat refits, family cruising, and single-handed voyages on small budgets.
I watched hundreds of hours of sailing video before I ever untied a dock line. Some channels taught me real seamanship. Others were pure escapism on a Tuesday night. The 10 below earned a spot for one of those two reasons, and the best ones deliver both.
Subscriber counts change month to month, so treat the numbers as rough figures rather than exact scores.
1. SV Delos
Delos started filming in 2009, which makes it the longest-running channel on this list. Brian Trautman bought an Amel Super Maramu 53 in Seattle, sailed it across the Pacific, and kept going. Around 900,000 subscribers follow the boat today.
The channel matured from party-in-paradise clips into some of the best long-form sailing storytelling on YouTube. Their Atlantic crossings, Madagascar season, and high-latitude sailing in Svalbard show real passage planning, weather routing, and repairs at sea.
Start with their Cape Town to Caribbean crossing series. It shows what 3 weeks offshore does to a crew, good and bad.
2. Sailing La Vagabonde
Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu are the biggest act in sailing YouTube, with roughly 1.8 million subscribers. The Australian couple went from a beat-up Beneteau to an Outremer 45 catamaran, then a custom Rapido 60 trimaran, and they now sail with their kids on board.
They carried Greta Thunberg across the Atlantic in November 2019 when she needed a zero-carbon ride to a climate conference. That crossing, in a cold and lumpy North Atlantic, is worth watching even if you never plan to sail past October.
Expect polished production and honest talk about seasickness, sleep deprivation, and raising toddlers 1,000 miles from land.
3. Sailing Uma
Dan and Kika bought a 1972 Pearson 36 for $3,000, ripped out the diesel, and went electric. Two architecture students with almost no sailing experience turned that boat into one of the most distinctive channels in the genre, now past 500,000 subscribers.
Uma is the channel for DIY sailors. Electric propulsion, composting heads, solar arrays, rudder rebuilds: they document every project with clean camera work and clear explanations. Their motto, “step one: buy a boat,” has pushed a lot of people off the fence.
4. Sailing Zatara
The Sutherland family of 6 from Texas sold everything in 2016, bought a monohull, then moved to a Privilege 585 catamaran and sailed around the world. Around 600,000 people follow them.
Zatara stands out for the family dynamic. Teenagers stand watches, run dinghies, and argue like teenagers. Renee Sutherland’s honest takes on homeschooling afloat answer the questions cruising parents ask most.
5. RAN Sailing
Swedish couple Malin and Johan sailed a Beneteau First 310 from Sweden to the Caribbean and back, then bought a 50-foot aluminum boat, and are now building a 50-foot custom steel sailboat from bare plates in a Swedish barn.
The build series alone justifies the subscription. If you want to know what goes inside a hull, watch them weld one from scratch, frame by frame.
6. Gone with the Wynns
Jason and Nikki Wynn spent years as full-time RVers, then swapped wheels for a Leopard 43 catamaran with close to zero sailing experience. About 580,000 subscribers watched them learn on camera.
That learning curve is the appeal. They ask beginner questions, make beginner mistakes, and film the fixes. Their gear reviews are thorough, and their Pacific crossing to French Polynesia and New Zealand shows how far a determined beginner can get.
7. Sailing Ruby Rose
Nick and Terysa spent years cruising a Southerly 38 monohull, then switched to a Seawind 1370 catamaran. Their channel leans practical: boat tours, gear comparisons, and blunt talk about what cruising costs.
Their monohull vs catamaran series is the most level-headed treatment of that argument I have seen anywhere. They have owned both, which most people with strong opinions on the topic have not.
8. Sam Holmes Sailing
Sam Holmes sailed a 23-foot Ranger with no engine from California to Hawaii, alone. Later he crossed the Atlantic in a Cape Dory 28. His channel is small compared with the big production crews, and that is the point.
One camera, one sailor, small boats, big oceans. If you want proof that voyaging does not require a $500,000 catamaran, Sam is the proof. His dry humor helps the miles pass.
9. Free Range Sailing
Australians Pascale and Troy cruise remote parts of the Australian coast on Mirrool, a 30-foot sloop from 1976. They catch most of their own food, fix everything themselves, and anchor in places charter boats never see.
The fishing and foraging content is unmatched. Troy’s spearfishing and Pascale’s galley cooking turn a small old boat into the most self-sufficient vessel on YouTube.
10. Sailing Project Atticus
Desiree and Jordan started on a $9,000 Allied Seawind 30 and crossed the Atlantic on it. They later rebuilt a bigger boat and kept filming through storms, groundings, and a dismasting off the US East Coast.
They show the parts most channels cut. When their rig came down, they filmed the recovery, the insurance process, and the repair. That transparency is why their audience trusts them.
How I judged these channels
Three things mattered.
- Real seamanship. The crew sails the boat, navigates, and handles weather on camera. Drone shots are nice. Reefing decisions teach more.
- Honesty about cost and failure. Cruising breaks gear and budgets. Channels that show the repair bills beat channels that show only sundowners.
- Consistency. Every channel here has published for years and still uploads. A great archive with no new videos is a museum.
Channels worth a mention
These missed the top 10 by a hair: Sailing SV Sarean, Erik Aanderaa (Norwegian solo sailing in serious North Sea weather), Sailing Yacht Salty Lass, Wind Hippie Sailing (Elena crossing oceans on a tiny engineless boat), and Sailing Fair Isle.
Erik Aanderaa deserves a special note. No music, no sponsor reads, just a Contessa 35 punching through gales south of Norway. Watch one video and you will know if his style is for you.
Where to start if you are new
Pick based on your goal.
- Want to learn boat systems and DIY: start with Sailing Uma or RAN Sailing.
- Dreaming of family cruising: start with Sailing Zatara or Gone with the Wynns.
- Planning an ocean crossing: watch SV Delos passage episodes and Erik Aanderaa.
- Sailing on a small budget: Sam Holmes and Free Range Sailing prove it works.
Then close the laptop and book a sailing lesson. The videos are fuel. The water is the fire.
