Best Boats

Best Boats Nominees 2009

by Bill Springer, Posted August 4, 2011

With foreclosures, credit woes, and skyrocketing oil prices painting a gloomy economic picture recently, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see so many new boats being introduced this year. And it makes perfect sense that boatbuilders should compete that much harder for our business. As they say on TV, “when [builders] compete, you win”—in this case you get better, more innovative, more

2011 Best Boats Most Innovative Rig: Radical Bay 8000

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 12, 2011

No, the idea of putting a parallel, or biplane, rig on a catamaran is not in itself novel. Those with long memories will recall Crossbow, a 60-foot biplane cat that set a sailing speed record (36 knots) back in 1980. Younger sailors will refer to the ill-fated 120-foot Team Phillips that Pete Goss put together for The Race in 2000. A few adventurous souls have also installed such rigs on smaller

2009 Best Boats Small Boat Under 25Ft: Bug

by Nigel Calder, Posted August 16, 2011

The Optimist may be the most successful class in history. Thousands of kids around the world have cut their teeth sailing and racing Optis since the boat first appeared in 1952, but is that it? Must young sailors start out in a square boat that’s not too durable, not self-bailing, and needs fixed buoyancy bags? Yes, the Opti has earned its place by sheer force of numbers, and it’s going to take a

Best Boats 2012 Nominee: Bavaria 40

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 30, 2011

Farr Yacht Design gave the Bavaria 40 a fine entry and truncated ends in the interest of maximizing sailing length and speed under sail. Like the rest of Bavaria’s Cruiser line, the 40 offers tremendous volume belowdecks for accommodations. Twin helm stations and a split backstay provide easy access to a flip-down swim platform in the transom.

Best Boats 2012 Nominee: Catana 50

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 30, 2011

Light weight and good performance are hallmarks of the Catana line. This sporty new 50-footer benefits from the liberal use of carbon fiber, which allows laminates to be made thinner yet stronger. catana.com SPECS LOA: 49ft, 11.6in Beam: 26ft Displacement: 27,400lbs. Draft: 9ft, 8in Sail area: 1076sq ft,

Best Boats 2012 Winner: The Com-Pac CP 23 Pilothouse

by Tom Dove, Posted November 17, 2011

Among the many large, expensive sailing vessels at this year’s Annapolis show, the crowd-stopper was this diminutive 23-footer with a tall pilothouse. Something about it—perhaps the proportions, perhaps the novelty, perhaps the accessibility— made people pause, do double takes and smile.

2004 Best Boats

by Sail Staff, Posted September 18, 2006

The fall boat shows in Newport, Rhode Island, Jersey City, New Jersey, and Annapolis, Maryland, gave us plenty to think about as we got our Best Boats program under way. We had advance warning of 55 new models making their way into the boating marketplace; this is a phenomenal number for a relatively small industry. Boats being what they are, there were a few no-shows, but there were more than

Best Boats Nominees 2010

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 4, 2011

Never mind the economy -- it’s business as usual in the boating game. Well, not quite. Everyone in the marine trade is feeling the financial pinch these days, so it’s even more impressive that so many new boats have been developed and readied in time for the fall boat show season. What this year’s line-up of new models—everything from dinghies to multi-million-dollar world cruisers—tells me is

2011 Best Boats Cruising Multihull + Accommodations: Discovery 50

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 12, 2011

John Charnley, founder of Discovery Yachts, is a circumnavigator whose vision of the ideal world-girdling yacht metamorphosed into the Discovery 55, a fast, strong, attractive and practical cruiser. It has now evolved yet again into the Discovery 50 catamaran, which is—not surprisingly—fast, strong, attractive and practical. Designed by Bill Dixon, who is known more for large high-end

2009 Best Boats Accommodations: Hunter 50

by Nigel Calder, Posted August 16, 2011

Without doubt, the cruising-boat interior that inspired the most comment from showgoers this past fall was that of the newly introduced Hunter 50. We overheard several people proclaiming it “decadent”; several others termed it “amazing.” If the goal of an accommodation plan is to incorporate as many shoreside amenities as possible into a boat, the Hunter 50 surely has raised the bar for cruising