Boat Reviews

J/100

by , Posted March 29, 2005

As first impressions go, J/100 hull number two stood out in fine company moored off the New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court facility in Newport, Rhode Island. From shore I sized up the boat lying still at her mooring—plumb bow, clean and simple deck, wide-open cockpit, narrow blue hull, and rakish lines. But how would this new daysailer go? The boat's prime harbor

J/124

by Bill Springer, Posted July 11, 2005

Bolstered by the success of the elegant and sporty J/100 daysailer, the folks at J Boats have extrapolated the idea out to 40 feet LOA with their new J/124 weekender. The goal is comfort, simplicity, and superior sailing performance, not long-term offshore cruising. The cockpit has 14-inch backrests, seats that are long enough for sleeping under the stars, and a dodger for

Flying Tiger 10 M

by Bill Springer, Posted November 4, 2005

Internet forums are great for swapping tips on everything from where to anchor in Anchorage, Alaska, to finding an obscure part for a boat that’s no longer in production. Judging from the Flying Tiger 10-Meter forum on sailinganarchy.com, they also appear to be a great way to design and market a sportboat. And, of course, this boat is designed to a “box” rule—but the “box” is actually the size of

Catalina 387

by Kimball Livingston, Posted October 12, 2004

To get yourself from any Southern California harbor to Catalina Island, you're typically going to set full sail in a moderate breeze. Half a day later you'll moor in a sunny lee where you will hang out and probably socialize boat-to-boat for a few days before reaching back home to your freeway connection.That's the classic Southern California cruise weekend, and a lot of the world cruises or

Corsair Sprint 750

by Bill Springer, Posted September 23, 2005

The new Corsair Sprint 750 represents a high-octane evolution of the successful Corsair 24. Its length and overall profile are similar to the 24’s, but over 100 pounds have been trimmed from the hull and the cockpit has been lengthened at the expense of some interior volume in the cuddy cabin. The cabin has a small double bunk and a place to put an optional porta-potty, but accommodations space

Briand 105

by Carlos Serra, Posted June 2, 2005

It’s a sparkling summer morning in Palma, Mallorca, and the crew of the 105-foot sloop Gliss (derived from the Dutch word glinsteren, which means to shine or glitter with brilliance) is waiting for her owner and his guests to arrive. The cook has already returned from the market with fresh produce, local bread, and freshly caught sea bass. At the appointed hour the owner’s party arrives onboard,

Baltic 79

by Sail Staff, Posted January 18, 2006

Delivered to an Italian owner last year, this carbon-composite hull has a lifting keel that can reduce draft from 14 feet, 9 inches to less than 10 feet. The rig includes a new “canoe” boom that is supposed to be easier to use and store the mainsail better than the more traditional wide, flat Park Avenue boom. The nonoverlapping jib makes the yacht easy to handle, and the

Le Breton SIG45

by Dave Baldwin, Posted March 3, 2006

You have to admire Hugo Le Breton for setting the bar high with his new SIG 45. His goal was simple and ambitious: to combine the high-performance design elements of an ocean-racing multihull with the style of a contemporary cruising monohull. The result is a 45-foot racer-cruiser that comfortably accommodates six and can hit top speeds of over 20 knots. The SIG 45 features

Seaquest 36

by Sail Staff, Posted August 25, 2004

The British are coming! The British are coming! Actually, it's the British-built, Reichel/Pugh—designed Seaquest 36. After a successful launch and wins notched in races all over Europe, the Seaquest 36—replete with narrow-chord bulb keel, high-octane sailplan, weight-saving interior, and impressive polar numbers—has arrived. It's a flat-out racing design concerned more with

X-43

by Bill Springer, Posted June 3, 2004

There has been a proliferation of new racer/cruisers in the 40-foot range. Some builders have returned to the genre after focusing on more cruising-oriented designs, but the Danish builder X-Yachts has been consistently turning out strong, stylish, comfortable performance boats for 25 years. Drawing from this deep well of experience, Niels Jeppesen’s new X-43 was reported to