Boat Reviews

Melges 17

by Sail Staff, Posted February 28, 2005

With active fleets of M, C, A, and other scows racing on the Great Lakes, why are the folks up in Zenda, Wisconsin, at Melges Performance Sailboats introducing a new scow class? "We're presently losing a lot of our young sailors once they graduate out of the X-Boat, Laser, and 420," says Melges VP Andy Burdick. "The Melges 17 will bring new excitement to scow

Maximus

by Charles Mason, Posted May 31, 2005

The owners of this silver-hulled sloop, Bill Buckley and Charles Brown, also believe they have built the fastest Maxi afloat and are planning to prove it when they toe the line with the present recordholder, the 141-foot ketch Mari Cha IV, Maiden Hong Kong, and a fleet of other maxis in this month's Rolex Transatlantic Challenge from New York to England.

Southern Wind 100

by Sail Staff, Posted January 18, 2006

This South African yard has specialized in large composite yachts for the past 10 years. This sloop, whose lines, sailplan, keel, and rudder are from Farr Yacht Design, is their largest project to date. The composite hull construction features an infused carbon/Kevlar and epoxy laminate; with structural engineering by SP Technologies. Displacement is expected to be about 130,000

Perini Navi 184

by Sail Staff, Posted January 16, 2006

Ron Holland and the Perini Navi in-house architectural team are working together on this latest project, which has a launch date of spring 2008. The aluminum yacht will have a 233-foot aluminum mast with carbon-fiber spreaders, a carbon boom with in-boom furling, plus 12 captive winches to handle its 31,000 square feet of sail area. The owner’s cabin will be spacious, extending across the

Santa Cruz 53C

by Sail Staff, Posted June 6, 2006

Santa Cruz 53CDesigned for serious passagemakers, the new Santa Cruz 53C is a bluewater-cruising version of the company’s 52-foot racer/cruiser. While it maintains the original’s lightweight design, new cruising-friendly features include hull windows, self-tacking jib, carbon-fiber boom, optional shoal-draft keel, and a fiberglass dodger for more comfortable foul-weather sailing. The 53C boasts

Contest 65CS

by Sail Staff, Posted June 2, 2005

Contest Yachts has been building well-found cruising boats for decades. Its 50-footer is a proven passagemaker with thousands of open-sea miles under its keel. But with the trend clearly moving toward larger semi-custom designs, Contest is offering a new 65-footer that it believes will fill a niche. With a masthead rig and powerful sailplan, the yacht has been designed to perform well over a full

Dibley 23

by Sail Staff, Posted February 28, 2005

Colorado may not be the first place you'd look for a builder offering a new trailerable sportboat, but Watershed Sailboats is indeed in Colorado. The Dibley 23 is a trailerable sportboat Watershed is building with New Zealand–based designer Kevin Dibley of Dibley Marine. Dibley worked closely with Watershed founder Tim Reiter to develop a trailer-friendly design

Grand Soleil 40

by Sail Staff, Posted September 22, 2004

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

Ultimate 24

by Sail Staff, Posted February 4, 2003

This Jim Antrim--designed sportboat has innovative, well-executed features, achieves the difficult task of combining ease of handling and stability with sportboat performance, and is a gas to sail. The cockpit received high marks because the seats are wide, the stanchions angle outboard slightly to make it possible to use the lifelines as a comfortable backrest, the anti-skid is excellent, and

Najad 460

by Sail Staff, Posted February 4, 2003

This Swedish-built Judel/Vrolijk design impressed our judges with the quality of its hull and deck construction and dazzled them with gorgeous interior joinery work in satin-finish African mahogany. We loved the feel of the helm ("soft and supple, with just the right amount of feedback") in 15 knots of true wind. The boat tracked well and gave a decent turn of speed (8.5 knots hard on the breeze