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
The Jeanneau 51 provides many of the same innovations that proved so successful on the Jeanneau 54 in a smaller, more affordable and easier-to-handle package. Most obvious of these are the cutouts in the aft cabintrunk bulkhead that extend the cockpit benches a foot or so forward ...read more
Designed to combine performance with exceptional comfort belowdecks, the newly arrived UK-built Gunfleet 43 features a high-aspect headsail, a well-laid-out cockpit and the company’s proprietary “Flightdeck” steering pedestal (which clusters all necessary gauges and nav ...read more
After impressing sailors in Europe for a while now, the first Swedish-built Hallberg-Rassy 412 has finally arrived in the United States, where this high-quality boat will undoubtedly attract plenty of attention. Configured with an aft cockpit, the HR 412 is designed to carry a ...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
The Ron Holland-designed Discovery 58 features a twin-headsail rig with a self-tacking inner jib; electric winches standard; a contemporary coachroof design and the choice of an inboard twin-wheel or single-wheel cockpit design—all with an eye toward making the boat easy to sail ...read more
The Boreal 47 is an attractive centerboard cruiser built in aluminum and designed to take care of its crew in any kind of weather. Its unique doghouse/hard-dodger incorporates a deck-level nav station with wraparound views of the outside world and a discrete vent with a baffle ...read more
With its long waterline, fine entry, powerful double-headsail rig and variable-draft keel, the Southerly 540 is not only capable of crossing oceans, but exploring those thin-water cruising grounds denied to other deeper-draft vessels its size. Hull windows and a raised saloon ...read more
An evolution of Beneteau’s Sense 50, the new Sense 51 boasts a deck layout that works equally on the hook in a Caribbean anchorage or on passage between islands. New features include a double bow roller with a sprit for flying Code O’s or other reaching sails; an optional ...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
