When I asked Fountaine Pajot’s Laurent Fabre if the new Astrea 42 was replacing Fountaine Pajot’s earlier Helia 44, his response was a firm “Non!” The reason, he said, is the Astrea isn’t just a shortened or tweaked design, but rather an all-new design for this LOA that borrows ...read more
There are boats and then there are those boats that turn heads, and for me, the boats built by Hylas have always fallen under the latter category. Sturdy ocean-crossers, these capable couples cruisers beckon to those with dreams of voyaging to distant shores in comfort and ...read more
After years of quiescence in the wake of the Great Recession, iconic Island Packet is back with its new 349, a re-boot of the old Estero that not only looks great, but takes the Island Packet style of sailing performance to a new level. Design & Construction First among the many ...read more
Because of its similarity to the previous Nautitech 40 Open, a winner in SAIL’s Best Boats contest a few years ago, you could perhaps label the latest version of the boat as a “Mark II” design. Nonetheless, the many tweaks made to the already award-winning design more than ...read more
Though it’s a modern truism that boatbuilders favor bigger boats because they make more money on them, several production builders have recently begun introducing some smaller models to their product lines so as to attract new and younger sailors to the sport. Among them is ...read more
It’s easy to get a big head sailing around on a boat like the Seawind 1260, if for no other reason than the fact you’re not only going faster than pretty much every other boat around, but you’re doing so in exceptional comfort. Add to that the fact the boat also happens to be ...read more
Anyone under the impression that change in today’s production catamarans is about little more than cosmetics needs to check out the Lagoon 50—an all-new design that went on to become the winner in the 40 to 50ft cruising multihull category in SAIL’s 2019 Best Boats awards. ...read more
Allures is not a name on the tip of many American sailors’ tongues, but it should be. After the debut of its 39-footer last year, the French company has made another significant entry into the U.S. midrange market with the Allures 45.9, an aluminum-hulled cruiser-voyager with ...read more
When it comes to sailing, the first boat a newbie sets foot on can make all the difference in the world; which is why our editors were especially impressed with the new Zest training dinghy from RS Sailing when they selected it as one of their winners in SAIL’s 2018 Best Boat ...read more
It’s funny the way things that work right almost inevitably tend to look right as well. Case in point: the Outremer 45, a catamaran that can’t help but turn heads with its large rig, nicely sculpted cabintrunk and narrow, purposeful bows. Better yet, under sail the boat more ...read more
True innovation in monohull sailboat design can be a bit elusive these days. That’s not to say that there are no more new ideas, but it does seem that many new tweaks and introductions are a bit incremental: let’s say evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Just when it seems ...read more
French catamaran builder Lagoon, created an unimaginable following when it launched its 380 nearly two decades ago. With over 800 of the boats built to date, it appealed both in size and price to couples with cruising dreams. No model launched since has been successful in ...read more
Aboard many modern yachts, it can be hard to remember exactly what boat you’re on until your eye happens to light upon a logo. However, this is most definitely not the case with the Elan GT5, a performance cruiser with a look all its own and style to burn. Design & Construction ...read more
Since its inception in 2008, Slovenian builder Seascape, founded by a pair of Mini Transat sailors, has focused solely on creating boats that are both simple and loads of fun to sail. With their 18-footer and then a 27-footer they succeeded in putting out a pair of trailerable ...read more
We’d only been out on Miami’s Biscayne Bay aboard the Corsair 760R a few minutes when Corsair Marine marketing manager Shane Grover and I began bemoaning the fact neither of us had a GPS with us to determine our boatspeed. Moments later, though, we both came to the same ...read more
The Leopard 50 is replacing the popular Leopard 48, but this constitutes an entirely new yacht, not just an upgrade of the older boat. The new 50 is 2ft longer than the 48, and the beam has been widened from 25ft to 26ft 5in. It is also available with a flybridge, and to ...read more
The difference between a racing boat and a cruising boat is usually readily apparent. Differentiating between different grades of cruisers, however, can be another matter: the line between those meant to go off soundings and those better suited to staying within VHF range of ...read more
For anyone wrestling with the tradeoffs between deep-draft sailing performance and shallow gunkholing cruising capability, the Southerly 540, with its lifting keel, may be the perfect solution. The Ed Dubois-designed 54-footer is now part of the Discovery Yachts Group Line and ...read more
Many couples dream of selling up and casting off, but the prospect of downsizing can be daunting. How do you pack your life into some 40ft of LOA after living in a 2,000ft house? Maybe the British-built Gunfleet 43 has the answer. No, you can’t bring your hot tub, but with the ...read more
French boatbuilder, Groupe Beneteau, never introduces just one new idea. Instead, it likes to package concepts together and give them different names, so that when a new model is launched, owners can choose the combination that works best for them. With the introduction of the ...read more
Here’s a riddle: What is less than 50ft long, has two hulls, three big cabins and four decks? Answer: The Fountaine Pajot Saona 47. In fact, it may even be five levels if you count the large engine rooms. This boat is a “space craft” in every sense of the word. DESIGN & ...read more
If we sailors were to be dead honest, daysailing is what we do most of the time. It, therefore, makes sense to own a boat that’s designed and built for just that sort of use. While you’re at it, why not make it a boat that blends excellent all-round performance with extreme good ...read more
It turns out there’s a reason why this handy new trailer-sailing pocket cruiser, with its hard-chined hull and jaunty appearance, is vaguely reminiscent of the old West Wight Potter. It seems boatbuilder Ken Lange was devoted to the old Potter and ran the company that builds the ...read more
This new full-size performance cruiser from Hanse replaces the successful Hanse 575, and includes updates and improvements developed with the help of input from active owners. With an extremely malleable interior (encompassing 72 possible variations) and a vast array of color, ...read more
