Boat News

Morris Yachts Celebrates its 40th Anniversary

by Bill Springer, Posted November 19, 2012

The room went silent when the photo of Tom and Cuyler Morris flashed up on the boatshed wall. The classic wooden building in Northeast Harbor, Maine, was ground zero for a weekend of parties and raft-ups hosted by Morris Yachts to celebrate its 40th year of building boats.

Just Launched: At the Dusseldorf Boat Show

by Peter Nielsen, Posted March 29, 2012

If you were looking for the ideal boat show venue, your first choice probably wouldn’t be a German city 110 miles from the sea. Yet the nautical extravaganza in Dusseldorf, on the banks of the mighty Rhine, has grown to be the world’s biggest boat and watersport show.

Just Launched: Petrel

by Peter Nielsen, Posted January 4, 2013

It is not very often that Hull #2 of a design beats Hull #1 onto the water by a couple of decades—which is why Jay E. Paris, longtime technical editor of SAIL and designer of the 32-foot cruiser Petrel, laughs ruefully as he looks back at the lengthy build timeline of his boat.

Just Launched: New Rackam Wing 26 Heats Up the Market

by Peter Nielsen, Posted February 1, 2012

Recently launched boats boast of high-performance, luxury and quality that sailing enthusiasts can't miss out on. Think high-performance sub-30-foot racer/ cruiser multihull and you think trimaran. But the imminent arrival in the United States of the Rackam Wing 26 Xtreme could quickly change that.

Sail Design: Art or Science?

by Adam Cort, Posted January 9, 2013

Two different boats, two different sail programs, and yet a surprising number of similarities: among them, the fact that even in this era of gee-whiz computer modeling, the human element still plays a major role in a sail’s ultimate success.

The J/70

by Adam Cort, Posted March 29, 2012

There’s nothing more disappointing than test sailing a high-octane sport boat in a drifter. But that wasn’t a problem with the new 22ft, 9in J/70. For our sail trial we had a steady 20-knot southerly, gusting over 25 knots and kicking up a sharp chop off Bristol, Rhode Island.

The Blue Jacket 40

by Adam Cort, Posted February 1, 2013

One of the true stars at the recent Strictly Sail boat show in Chicago was the Blue Jacket 40, which made its world debut there.

Whales Go Digital: New Whale Alert iPad App

by Hilary Sharp, Posted April 9, 2012

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is approaching the protection of endangered whales from a whole new perspective. Due to the rapidly decreasing numbers of the North Atlantic right whale, NOAA has developed an iPad app to help reduce the leading cause of right whale deaths: collisions with ships.

Just Launched: A Trio of Cats

by Peter Nielsen, Posted February 6, 2013

The last year has been kind to cruising-cat aficionados; most established builders have introduced new models, and some yards are showing their wares in the United States for the first time.

Just Launched: Italian Flavor

by Peter Nielsen, Posted May 10, 2012

We here in the United States tend to think of European boatbuilding in terms of the big series production builders who export their boats here: Dufour, Hanse, Bavaria, Lagoon and Fountaine-Pajot come to mind, as do Jeanneau and Beneteau.