Best Boats

In case you hadn’t heard, the fall 2021 boat show season was one for the record books. If there was ever any doubt the sailing public still enjoys making its way to Newport, Rhode Island, or Annapolis, Maryland, to see the latest in boat design, those doubts were put to rest ...read more

Turns out it takes more than a pandemic to keep sailors, naval architects and boatbuilders down. It wasn’t fair, but there’s no denying some parts of the global economy fared better than others this past year, and among the lucky ones was the marine industry. Not that it was all ...read more

The past year has been a strange and tragic one, to say the least. A funny thing happened, though, on the way to everybody just saying to hell with it and giving up. Namely, people—and sailors, in particular—didn’t. Despite the uncertainty, sailors from coast-to-coast took to ...read more

Thanks to Covid-19, 2020 has been a year like no other. Human nature being what it is, though, sailors and the boatbuilding industry have continued doing what they love and know best. In fact, boat sales have been strong across the board as mariners have taken to the water in ...read more

The concept of “daysailer” has grown ever broader over the years. These days the label can be pasted on a boat as small and simple as a Sunfish, as fancy as a 40-footer with a nice big cockpit and plenty of brightwork, or any number of concoctions in between. This Cape Cod ...read more

In our January issue, we announced that among our 2020 Best Boats winners was the F101 full-foiling trimaran, which took the prize in the “Performance Boat under 30ft” category. The reason our judges gave the zippy little 17-footer the nod was because of the fact it’s an ...read more

How’s this for a thought experiment: imagine setting a diminutive Tiwal 2 inflatable dinghy alongside a Catalina 545 cruiser? It would be hard to imagine two more different watercraft, and yet they are both still very much sailboats. They are also both winners in this year’s ...read more

Bring on the monohulls! In a world increasingly given over to multihull sailing, SAIL magazine’s “Best Boats” class of 2020 brings with it a strong new group of keelboats, including everything from luxury cruisers nipping at the heels of their mega-yacht brethren to a number of ...read more

You could be forgiven for not realizing the F-22 trimaran is, in fact, a first-rate pocket cruiser. The boat’s narrow, plumb-bow entry, powerful amas, sleekly sculpted cabintrunk, expansive cockpit and powerful high-aspect rig all seem to speak to pure performance. A single ...read more

Some years ago, the book Aak to Zumbra catalogued—and celebrated—the incredible diversity of watercraft that has evolved over the centuries, a diversity that remains evident to this day in the 11 winners comprising the “Class of 2019” in SAIL’s Best Boats contest. Indeed, it ...read more

As we approach the upcoming fall boat shows, perhaps the best word to describe the boatbuilding industry’s latest crop of new designs is “consolidation.” Specifically, in recent months we’ve seen a number of innovations introduced in years past continue to work their way up and ...read more

Jeanneau’s line of Sun Odyssey family cruising boats has been at the core of its identity as a mass-production boatbuilder for several decades now. In introducing this latest iteration of the SO brand, which at 44ft is right in the strike zone of many buyers, Jeanneau has ...read more

Every boat design strives for something new. But a new kind of racing? In fact, that’s exactly what designer Alan Johnstone and the rest of the folks at J/Boats set out to do with their new J/121 one-design. In the process, they also just happened to create a boat that is both ...read more

Designed by the West Coast multihull mavens at Morrelli & Melvin, the HH55 performance cat is configured to provide an “exquisite amalgam of style, speed and manageability” in a fast, bluewater yacht that will be sure to turn heads everywhere it goes. Highlights include ...read more

Time was that the reason for sailing a multihull was to go fast—end of story. Over the years, however, catamarans, in particular, have also proved themselves to be a great means of providing expansive accommodations and lounging space afloat, to the point where in all too many ...read more

If there’s one word that sums up the Best Boats Class of 2018, it would have to be “performance.” This is most obvious in the simple fact that our panel of judges exercised its editorial prerogative to create an additional third performance category, to accommodate three great ...read more

The Fountaine Pajot Saona 47 catamaran is a space machine in the truest sense of the word. Like all sailboats, it can carry you through the water and across space and time using nothing but the power of the wind—thereby making it supremely quiet and smooth. Unlike most other ...read more

A good thing becomes even better aboard the Hanse 588. An evolution of the successful 545, the Hanse 588 deck and interior incorporate a number of new ideas that serve to take the boat to a whole new level, whether it’s underway or on the hook. The result is an outstanding ...read more

The people at J/Boats are obviously good designers and boatbuilders. Their record in this area stands for itself. However, ever since the advent of Rod Johnstone’s iconic J/24, they have also shown an uncanny ability to discern what exactly it is sailors are looking for in ...read more

There was a bit of drama at the unveiling of the new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 440 at the recent Annapolis Boat Show. While Jeanneau America president Nick Harvey stood by, yards of nylon sailcloth covering the cockpit were magically sucked down into the companionway at his command, ...read more

Flying a hull on a 66ft, all-carbon-fiber catamaran may sound futuristic, if not impossible. But stand back, because the HH66 is already delivering precisely these kinds of thrills in the here and now. This past fall, HH Catamarans brought hull #4 of its current flagship to the ...read more

The siren song of full-foiling performance is undoubtedly a compelling one. However, the jump from displacement mode to flight aboard monohulls, in particular, has faced two major obstacles in the form of price and difficulty—until now, with the advent of the wonderfully ...read more

If there’s one word that describes the boats comprising the class of 2018 in SAIL magazine’s annual Best Boats contest it’s “fun.” From the Boreal 47, a rock-solid aluminum bluewater voyager ready and able to take you to the ends of the earth, or the Reverso, an 11ft dinghy that ...read more

The Best Boats Class of 2017 might appear staid to some given the many radical innovations the boatbuilding industry has introduced of late, a kind of Thermidorian reaction, a la the French Revolution, following a period of red-hot experimentation. What’s that, you say? You mean ...read more

The Xquisite X5 catamaran is this year’s systems winner in recognition of its beautifully engineered digital switching system and numerous other thoughtful touches, such as universal wall outlets (which will accept European and American-style plugs), USB ports in every cabin, ...read more

Best Small Cruiser This was a decision that provoked some debate among our judges, as the Seascape 24, which boasts a long retractable carbon-fiber bowsprit and a modern go-fast hull form, is obviously designed primarily as a performance boat. However, it is also a simple and ...read more

Best Daysailer This is an exceptionally versatile and fun little boat from Austria that took our judges entirely by surprise. Weighing just 120lb all-up, this car-toppable beach-cat-cum-rowing-shell can be assembled in less than 10 minutes with no tools required. The largest ...read more

Best Monohull Cruising Boat 30 to 40ft A product of the same veteran Slovenian company renowned for its skis, the Elan E4 is one of those rare boats that really can do it all—a performance-cruiser that sails like a witch and yet is truly comfortable belowdecks for when you want ...read more

Best Performance Boat under 30ft When it comes to downwind sailing, it’s an asymmetric world, especially at the upper levels of the sport, like at the Olympics. The problem is becoming adept at handling an A-sail and/or becoming comfortable enough with one that every gybe and ...read more

Best Large Multihull 50ft and above This dedicated cruising catamaran from South Africa boasts an amazing list of standard features—including all sails, electric winches, a genset, a watermaker, air conditioning, a huge 900-watt solar array and a washing machine, to name just a ...read more

Best Large Monohull 50ft and above Solaris has been building trendsetting yachts in Italy for some 40 years, so we were pleased to find one of its boats on offer here in the United States. The Solaris 50, designed by Argentinian Javier Soto Acebal, certainly has stunning looks. ...read more

Best Multihull Cruising Boat 40 to 50ft The curvaceous Lagoon 42 replaces the iconic 420/421 and fills in the gap between the French builder’s 400 and 450 models. It’s not only a great addition to the product line in terms of length and price, it represents a fresh take on ...read more

Best Monohull Cruising Boat 40 to 50ft What becomes a legend most? A re-do, at least when it’s well done. With this in mind, Gerry Douglas, Catalina Yachts’ most prolific designer, set himself a monumental task when he set out to design a successor to the renowned Catalina 42, ...read more

After racing ahead for some time at breakneck speed, the boatbuilding industry seems to have entered a period of refinement—which is probably a good thing. In recent years the sailing public has been witness to everything from lounging areas springing up in places never before ...read more