Boats

Prout 45S

by Sail Staff, Posted August 17, 2009

Originally a British company, Prout catamarans are now built in China. The 45S is a good-looking boat, opulently fitted out and with some customizable interior options. There’s more wood than we’ve become accustomed to seeing in catamarans and the factory has done its best to keep weight down with extensive use of cored moldings. There are four staterooms, and a heads compartment in each hull.

Sensei 9M

by Sail Staff, Posted August 17, 2009

Here’s an unusual import from Turkey, a country famed more for its beautiful coastline than for boat building. The Sensei is as up-to-the-minute in design and construction as it’s possible to be; the hull is a vacuum-bagged sandwich of vinylester resin and Corecell reinforced with carbon fiber, the T-keel will reward good helming, and the styling is delightfully Italian.

Summit 35

by Sail Staff, Posted August 17, 2009

This handsome racer-cruiser from the board of Mark Mills is designed to the IRC rule. It promises sizzling performance with family-friendly accommodations. A retracting pole for an A-sail is optional, or you can fly symmetrical spinnakers from the tall double-spread aluminum mast. Down below, there are three double berths, standing headroom, and a functional galley. LOA 35ft

Sunsail 384

by Sail Staff, Posted August 17, 2009

The charter company commissioned this good-looking cat from South African company Robertson & Caine. Designed by Morelli & Melvin, the boat should sail nicely as well as providing plenty of room for both charter parties and family cruisers. It’s a galley-up design, geared towards outdoor living, and offer all the usual catamaran advantages – plenty of lounging space, a level

Hunter Edge

by Tom Dove, Posted August 17, 2009

Every sailor’s perfect boat would be big enough to accommodate the whole family in luxury, perhaps 80 feet or so, and would have a draft of one or two feet for easy gunkholing, an efficient sail plan, good stability and speed, and mechanical aids for handling lines. The mast would lower easily to get under bridges. Oh, yes. It would not cost too much, would be beautiful to

Swan 90 FD

by David Schmidt, Posted August 18, 2009

When Nautor Swan built its first boat — the venerable Swan 36, Tarantella — in 1968, the Finnish builder used a revolutionary new hull material called fiberglass. Forty-some years later Swan is again pushing the envelope, this time with DSK, an all-carbon, flush-deck, 90-foot German Frers-designed rocketship.Compare the two boats and you quickly

Outbound 52

by Charles J. Doane, Posted August 18, 2009

Since he formed Outbound Yachts just over 10 years ago, Phil Lambert—a former merchant mariner, racing sailor, and wanna-be yacht designer—has demonstrated a deft appreciation of what it takes to successfully blend performance and comfort in an offshore cruising boat. His Outbound 44 and 46 performance cruisers, both designed by the late Carl Shumacher, are much admired among

Fleet Action: Best Boats 2010

by Sail Staff, Posted August 27, 2009

Check out the nominees for the 2010 awards!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

Yacht Design Program - Just Launched

by Sail Staff, Posted September 23, 2009

It's a rare and wonderful thing to have three different American companies all working on new boats in the 30-foot range at the same time, let alone in such straitened times as these. And, as if to illustrate the rich diversity of boat design and construction, each of these boats is aimed at a different subset of the general sailing population.Truth to tell, one of these builders isn't

Sensei 9M

by Tom Dove, Posted October 1, 2009

“You said this is not a raceboat,” I grinned, as the new Sensei 9M sliced across the mouth of the Bosphorus with Istanbul’s Blue Mosque dead ahead. The wind was only 8 to 10 knots and the silver hull was knifing through the light chop at nearly 6. I had trouble believing I was able to take a boat right from the factory, only minutes after it was first rigged and launched, and