SAIL.SailMagazine

At 34 feet and 10,000 pounds displacement, the Seaward Eagle is one of the larger variable-draft coastal cruising monohulls you can haul and launch from a trailer with relative ease—and you can sail it with the keel at a variety of depths. It achieves shoal-draft status thanks to its 2,500-pound retractable bulb keel. An electric winch raises and lowers the keel within a keel trunk.

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The Feeling 44 is another offshore cruiser with gunkholing capability; its optional lifting keel reduces draft from 8 feet, 6 inches to 2 feet. Considerable fixed ballast is built into the bottom of the hull to enhance stability and provide a solid grounding plate. This cruiser is thin-water friendly—its shallow rudder provides positive control with the keel fully retracted. It's also

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It may not be the first boat that comes to mind when you're considering a shoal-draft cruiser, but the Southerly 135 should grab your attention simply because of its size and what it can do below the waterline. It's a 45-foot offshore cruiser that displaces close to 30,000 pounds and boasts a well-appointed interior. What's remarkable about it is that it's equipped with a 3,610-pound cast-iron
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The Grand Soleil 40, built by Cantiere del Pardo, is one of a gaggle of new 40-foot performance cruisers that purportedly strike a balance between elegant accommodations and grin-inducing performance. Many boats make this claim, so I tested one off Annapolis, Maryland, to find out for myself.

On deck

The deck and cockpit are set up primarily for racing, but the layout is also

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The new X-40 is a chip off the old block. Flush with the success of the X-43 and X-46, X-Yachts designer Niels Jeppesen has drawn this new 40-footer to be as sexy, sturdy, comfortable, and responsive as its larger siblings. And it seems to have all the necessary ingredients. The cored hull is light and stiff, the sailplan has power to burn, and the hand-polished teak joinery is sure to turn some
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