Boat Reviews

The Dufour 375

by Sail Staff, Posted May 5, 2011

There was a time when the variable-draft sailboat was a common sight along North America’s coastlines. Tartan, Pearson, Morgan, C&C, Sabre, Hunter and other builders all offered largish cruising boats with centerboards or swing keels, and many of those now-elderly vessels still populate the thin waters of the Carolinas, Chesapeake and Florida.Changes to racing rules in the

The Hobie Mirage Tandem Island

by David Schmidt, Posted May 6, 2011

Few designs pack as much fun into 18 feet as the Hobie Mirage Tandem Island, a two-person pedal-or-paddle kayak that converts to a sail-powered trimaran by attaching a pair of akas and amas, and stepping a carbon-fiber mast. The roller-reefing loose-footed mainsail carries a generous amount of sailcloth up high and is supported by vertical battens. The boat’s robust rotomolded hull encourages

Dragonfly 28 Sport

by Jeremy Evans, Posted May 31, 2011

Quorning Boats has been building trimarans in Denmark for more than 40 years. Run by the father and son team of Borge and Jens Quorning, the company specializes in Dragonfly fast cruisers with a “swing wing” system that reduces beam by more than 50 percent for trailering or berthing.The Dragonfly 28 is the smallest in the range. It’s available as a Touring 28 with aluminium spars or

The Hylas 56

by John Kretschmer, Posted July 6, 2011

The Hylas 56 is the logical successor to the popular passagemaker, the Hylas 54. Introduced in 1999, the 54 proved that big, powerful cruisers could be efficiently handled by shorthanded crews, and several 54s have since logged circumnavigations. Why add two feet? For several reasons. The 56’s cockpit is longer and more refined, the aft cabin has more headroom, the rudder is

The Hunter 18

by Charles J. Doane, Posted July 13, 2011

the new Hunter 18 replaces the Hunter 170, which for several years was a mainstay in Hunter’s line of small daysailers. Like the 170, the 18 can serve as both an easy-to-manage family daysailer and as a lively performance boat for those with more experience. At a glance the two boats look quite similar, sporting open transoms, centerboards and small sprayhoods forward. On closer inspection,

The Marblehead 22

by Adam Cort, Posted July 28, 2011

In his book Wind, Sand and Stars, famed French pilot Antoine de Saint-Expry wrote, “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” Fair enough. But while this may be true of airplanes, in the world of naval architecture, there are aesthetic considerations as well.

Santa Cruz 37

by Sail Staff, Posted April 13, 2009

The Santa Cruz 37 was one of several new high-performance keelboats introduced at the 2008 Annapolis Boat Show. However, describing the SC37 as a “keelboat” isn’t really accurate. This is a 37-foot lightweight carbon raceboat with horsepower to burn. Its high aspect-ratio torpedo bulb keel provides plenty of stiffness by getting the lead bulb 7 feet, 6 inches below the

Hunter 50 Center Cockpit

by Bill Springer, Posted March 10, 2009

I needed little excuse to escape the New England cold to test-sail the new Hunter 50 Center Cockpit in balmy Palmetto, Florida, last December. I’d inspected hull #1 at the Annapolis Boat Show last fall so I knew the interior was spacious, but how would this newest and biggest Hunter perform under sail? The Gulf of Mexico didn’t serve up much wind, but Hunter’s chief tester,

Andrews 28

by Bill Springer, Posted March 10, 2009

The Andrews 28 sportboat is Canadian builder Sylvana Yacht’s answer to the question “Can you build a boat that’s fast, stiff, easy to sail, and easy to trailer with enough interior space to be a comfortable cruiser as well?” It’s a question that builders have been trying to answer for years, and at first glance, the Andrews 28 may be on to something. I took a test sail off

Beneteau 54

by Sail Staff, Posted February 3, 2009

The Beneteau design team worked with Berret-Racoupeau Yacht Design and the Nauta Design Group to develop this new flagship of the Beneteau fleet. The design brief specified an elegant coachroof with good visibility, interior volume and comfort, ease of handling, and good performance offshore.Belowdeck, the long coachroof windows combine with the hull ports to allow lots of natural light to