Boats

Flagship: Leopard 58

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 24, 2012

South African yard Robertson & Caine has been a major force in the cruising multihull market ever since linking with charter giant The Moorings a decade ago. Its latest design is the Leopard 58, which will be known as the Moorings 5800 when in charter livery.

Flagship: Gunfleet 58

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 19, 2012

When Oyster founder Richard Matthews sold the company a few years ago, it was a safe bet that he wouldn’t be able to resist the siren call of boatbuilding for long. The Gunfleet 58 is the second design from Matthews’s new company, Gunfleet Marine.

Flagship: Swan 105

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 23, 2012

The announcement of a new boat from Nautor’s Swan is always a red letter day in the big-boat world, and designer German Frers Jr. was typically upbeat about the yard’s latest creation at an informal pre-launch party at the New York Yacht Club.

Best Boat 2012: Bayraider 20

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 10, 2012

When SAIL’s judges were weighing the candidates for the 2012 Best Boats daysailer award, there was no dissension over the winner: the BayRaider 20 scored a unanimous thumbs-up for its blend of portability, performance, good looks, build quality and innovation.

Flagship: Best Boat 2012 Passport Vista 545 CC

by Tom Dove, Posted August 6, 2012

I have always admired Passport Yachts for their beauty, performance and detailing, but stepping aboard the new Passport Vista 545 CC, SAIL’s 2012 Best Boat in the Flagship Monohull category, I felt an especially strong sense of déja vu.

Just Launched: Alpha Cat

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 3, 2012

It’s great to see companies like Gunboat bringing big-boat manufacturing back to the United States. The company opened a new North Carolina yard in May, and we can look forward to seeing a new range of high-end catamarans appearing there in the near future.

Maine Made Boats on Display

by Lindsey Silken, Posted July 27, 2012

Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors Show is dedicated to Maine-made products, including some of the most breathtaking sailboats in the country. Founded in 2003 by Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors magazine, now celebrating their 25th year, the show is held annually in Rockland, Maine.

SAIL Best Boats Nominees 2013

by Sail Staff, Posted August 29, 2012

A strong lineup of new boats from domestic and foreign builders will be on display at the Newport International Boat show in September and the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis in October. SAIL’s judging team will be inspecting them closely for the 2013 Best Boats awards.

Just Launched: Bamba 50 & Neel 45

by Charles J. Doane, Posted July 11, 2012

Attending the latest edition of Les Salons du Multicoques, a small but influential European boatshow in Lorient in Brittany this past April, we were amused to find that one of the more intriguing new boats on display wasn’t some cutting-edge high-performance job...

VX One Design

by Andrew Burton, Posted June 25, 2012

On a crisp early-fall day, designer and builder Brian Bennett unfurled the self-tacking jib on the VX One Design prototype and we moved to the weather side, feet under the hiking straps, pulling the boat upright and effortlessly accelerating in the puffy northerly. Feedback from the mainsheet and the tiller told me to ease the main a bit. My first thought was, “Brian’s got it right with this design!”