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
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
Part serious cruiser, part mini-superyacht, the luxurious Moody DS54 combines the romance of passagemaking with the comfort and amenities of a powerboat. This may be the perfect crossover yacht for the sailor contemplating switching to power, but who just can’t bring himself to ...read more
Sometimes I get lucky. When I stepped aboard Beneteau’s new flagship, I was the first journalist (from anywhere) to examine and sail hull #1 of the new “Oceanis Yacht” line. The word “yacht” has been added to designate Oceanis models 60ft and over. It’s a bold new direction for ...read more
Solaris has been building trend-setting yachts in Italy for some 40 years now, and this recent offering falls in the middle of its range. Designed by Argentinian Javier Soto Acebal, who worked with German Frers for some 11 years before striking out on his own, the Solaris 50 ...read more
The new Leopard 45 (also available as the Moorings 4500) evolved from the 2012 Leopard 44 with a number of features that make it an even better platform for charter and cruising. Traditionalists will question the large forward cockpit layout for offshore voyaging, but owners ...read more
Over the years J/Boats has created designs that range back and forth in terms of performance and creature comforts, with some boats offering a minimum of the latter, while others venture more toward the cruising end of the spectrum. The J/112e is the latest of the company’s ...read more
While many redesigns have more to do with marketing then with actual design, the recently launched Dragonfly 28 “Performance” from Denmark’sQuorning Boats (which follows in the wake of the company’s successful Touring and Sport versions) truly does push the envelope in a ...read more
These days much of the talk at places like the Newport and Annapolis boat shows is about “mini-megayachts.” But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still plenty of small-boat builders out there coming out with all kinds of fresh new designs as well—and one of the best is the new Sage ...read more
This exciting new cruising catamaran from South Africa is loosely based on a Dean 5000 cat that a Hungarian cruiser/entrepreneur, Tamas Hamor, sailed around the world and managed in the charter trade with his wife, Sara. After Dean failed as a business, Hamor worked with ex-Dean ...read more
Maybe it’s just sour grapes, but a part of me has always preferred smaller boats. Granted, there’s no denying that an 80-footer is going to attract more attention at the dock. But there’s something about the design challenges inherent in fitting everything a crew needs within ...read more
Thirty years later, a new hull is set to replace a popular classic By Zuzana Prochazka What better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of an iconic model than to introduce a brand-new design to succeed it? The original Dehler 34 achieved near cult status with 1,300 hulls ...read more
With this, the fifth model in Catalina’s “5” series of cruising boats, head designer Gerry Douglas has taken a second bite at the competitive 40-42ft market segment. The original Catalina 42 went through several iterations to become one of the most successful boats ever in this ...read more
There are many ways to go yachting, and some of the most civilized involve leisurely afternoons spent aboard a daysailer with classic lines, varnished teak and graceful deck overhangs. Alerion has long understood this, which is why its models exude a kind of Golden Age elegance ...read more
The growing popularity of catamarans for bluewater sailing has spawned a number of designs aimed at sailors who want some speed along with their comfort, yet either don’t want, or can’t afford to go down the high-tech carbon-fiber route. Builders like Catana and Outremer are the ...read more
To the untrained eye, a sailboat is a sailboat; they all look pretty much the same. Even to an experienced sailor, it can be difficult if not impossible to truly judge how a particular design will perform just examining it at the dock. Nonetheless, when it comes to ...read more
Though it has now been eight years since company-founder Richard Matthews sold off Oyster Yachts, the brand has worked hard to sustain the intense owner-centric culture he created there. Sailors are attracted to these boats as much for the exclusive social scene that has grown ...read more
I tend to cringe when I hear the term “racer-cruiser.” But I’ve had to eat my words when it comes to the Croatian builder Salona, which now has six models in its line. Salona hulls are light, sleek and slippery, whether in lots of wind or just a hint of a breeze. Even as the ...read more
French builder Dufour does a great job building large boats, as is evident in it's 560 and 500 models. However, the needs of sailors are much the same regardless of a size of the vessel, so Dufour’s challenge became to build equally fast, comfortable and amenity-laden boats at ...read more
I enjoyed a fabulous test sail aboard Bavaria’s old Cruiser 45 five years ago off Grenada, and came away impressed both with the boat’s performance and its accommodations. I was intrigued, therefore, when I learned that Bavaria had updated and recreated the 45 as the new Cruiser ...read more
They say good things come in small packages, and the Bavaria Open 40 catamaran is a good example of that. At just 40ft, this cat combines a practical layout with easy sailhandling and a good turn of speed. The result is a boat that is a joy to sail. Design & Construction Naval ...read more
One of the joys of living in the Pacific Northwest is that you can sail year-round—provided, of course, that you’ve got the right boat. As I approached the Hanse 575 Crescent Wave at Port Sidney Marina in Sidney, British Columbia, I noticed three things: her impressive ...read more
Since the company’s founding in 1979 the Danish builder X-Yachts has established a strong reputation for creating exciting, well-conceived racer-cruisers. In 2008, it expanded its palette and introduced its Xc line of dedicated cruising boats, which have been equally successful. ...read more
As the saying goes, “perfect is the enemy of good.” But that’s no reason not to strive for perfection, especially as part of a process of continual improvement, as Catana seems to be doing with its revamped line of sailing catamarans, the smallest of which is now the Catana 42. ...read more
