Boats

Just Launched: Bamba 50 & Neel 45

by Charles J. Doane, Posted July 11, 2012

Attending the latest edition of Les Salons du Multicoques, a small but influential European boatshow in Lorient in Brittany this past April, we were amused to find that one of the more intriguing new boats on display wasn’t some cutting-edge high-performance job...

Corsair Sprint 750 MK II

by Adam Cort, Posted June 30, 2012

I boarded the new Corsair Sprint 750 MK II with some trepidation. I’m far from the world’s most experienced multihull sailor and wondered if I’d be up to the task of putting a rocket like the 750 through its paces. I needn’t have worried, though; despite its horsepower, this is a boat that takes care of its crew and can make even a rank neophyte look good as it pours on the speed.

Hanse 495

by Bill Springer, Posted June 28, 2012

Hanse Yachts sure has come a long way since it made its American debut at the U.S. Sailboat show in Annapolis in the late 1990s. Back then I thought its boats were small and unremarkable, save for the fact they were built in what was once East Germany. Hanse’s founder and chief visionary, Michael Schmidt, had big plans, however, and since then Hanse Yachts has evolved into one of the highest-volume boatbuilders in the world

Nautitech 441

by Charles J. Doane, Posted June 26, 2012

In its original incarnation Nautitech was a captive catamaran brand belonging to Dufour Yachts. For over a decade now, Nautitech has operated independently and has steadily shifted its production focus away from the bareboat charter market and toward private owners and active family cruisers.

VX One Design

by Andrew Burton, Posted June 25, 2012

On a crisp early-fall day, designer and builder Brian Bennett unfurled the self-tacking jib on the VX One Design prototype and we moved to the weather side, feet under the hiking straps, pulling the boat upright and effortlessly accelerating in the puffy northerly. Feedback from the mainsheet and the tiller told me to ease the main a bit. My first thought was, “Brian’s got it right with this design!”

Seaward 46RK

by Peter Nielsen, Posted June 25, 2012

It’s fitting that one of the most interesting big cruisers I’ve sailed in a long while came out of a small Florida yard that builds trailerable sailboats. No mass-production builder could have come up with the Seaward 46RK—it wouldn’t have got past the focus groups.

Hallberg-Rassy 372

by Adam Cort, Posted June 24, 2012

In his famous novella Typhoon, sailor and author Joseph Conrad pokes fun at a character named Capt. MacWhirr who is obsessed with the quality of the door handles on the steamer Nan-Shan.

Passport Vista 545 CC

by Tom Dove, Posted June 24, 2012

I have always admired Passport yachts for their beauty, performance and detailing, but stepping aboard the new Passport Vista 545 CC, SAIL’s 2012 Best Boat in the Flagship Monohull category, I felt an especially strong sense of déja vu. The boat not only shares a family resemblance to other Passports, but has the same hull and rig as the Passport 515 I sailed in 2008

Topaz CX14

by Meredith Laitos, Posted June 22, 2012

Weaving through the throngs of boats anchored off Annapolis, Maryland, on the 14ft Topaz CX14, I felt like a kid again—a really giddy kid who had just scored a ride on a the coolest boat in the harbor.

Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 509 and How We Test Boats

by Charles J. Doane, Posted June 22, 2012

Shot from the largest and latest in Jeanneau's Sun Odyssey line, the 509, we bring you a stem-to-stern look at how the editors of SAIL complete a boat review. Follow Charles Doane on the 509 as you learn how we measure and make sense of a brand new sailboat.