Boat News

The J/70

by Adam Cort, Posted March 29, 2012

There’s nothing more disappointing than test sailing a high-octane sport boat in a drifter. But that wasn’t a problem with the new 22ft, 9in J/70. For our sail trial we had a steady 20-knot southerly, gusting over 25 knots and kicking up a sharp chop off Bristol, Rhode Island.

Just Launched: At the Dusseldorf Boat Show

by Peter Nielsen, Posted March 29, 2012

If you were looking for the ideal boat show venue, your first choice probably wouldn’t be a German city 110 miles from the sea. Yet the nautical extravaganza in Dusseldorf, on the banks of the mighty Rhine, has grown to be the world’s biggest boat and watersport show.

Just Launched: A True Babe

by Peter Nielsen, Posted March 13, 2012

Back in 1935, the young Olin Stephens designed a 30-foot sloop called Babe. It was design #97 from his prolific pen, crafted to the rules of the Miami-Nassau race. Stephens drew a hull with a fairly plumb bow and squared-off stern, not at all in keeping with the ‘30s fashion of long overhangs on a short waterline.

BoatUS: LightSquared Still Threatens GPS

by Adam Cort, Posted March 5, 2012

Two weeks after declaring victory in its battle to defend GPS, BoatUS is cautioning sailors and other GPS users that they’re not “out of the woods just yet,” following a Federal Communications Commission decision to extend the public comment period on the issue to March 16.

Gunboat Opens Boatyard in North Carolina

by Meredith Laitos, Posted February 1, 2012

Gunboat, manufacturer of high-end racing and cruising catamarans, announced the opening of its new boatyard in Wanchese, North Carolina. The company will employ 71 people at the new 30,000 square foot facility, from which it will be able to haul, launch, sea trial and service boats year round.

Just Launched: New Rackam Wing 26 Heats Up the Market

by Peter Nielsen, Posted February 1, 2012

Recently launched boats boast of high-performance, luxury and quality that sailing enthusiasts can't miss out on. Think high-performance sub-30-foot racer/ cruiser multihull and you think trimaran. But the imminent arrival in the United States of the Rackam Wing 26 Xtreme could quickly change that.

The Farr 400: A wolf in wolf's clothing

by Ralph Naranjo, Posted January 10, 2012

The new Farr 400 is all predator, a no-holds-barred one design that can ghost through 5-knot holes and still stand tall in 25-knot gusts. As the heir apparent to the Farr 40, this all-carbon lightweight speedster reveals an up-tick in commitment to performance and an upgrade in the commitment to technology.

2012 Best Boats Winners

by Sail Staff, Posted November 21, 2011

Among this year’s 2012 Best Boats Award winners are a cat with two cockpits, another cat with two tillers, a variable-displacement daysailer and a pair of red-hot raceboats. Clearly it takes more than a little bad economic news to keep the boatbuilding industry down!

Draft Dodger

by Peter Nielsen, Posted October 31, 2011

Britain’s boatbuilding industry is a shadow of what it was back in the 1970s and 80s, but a handful of boutique yards still thrives around its shores. One such is Northshore Yachts, whose Southerly range has survived four decades of the boom-and-bust cycles that saw once-mighty production brands tumble.

Occupy FLIBS

by Meghan Dente, Posted October 27, 2011

What better place to protest wealth distribution inequity than at a boat show featuring the likes of super-yachts and personal submarines weighing in at a cool $2.9 million? At least that’s how participants in the Occupy Ft. Lauderdale movement feel. Occupiers will join roughly 100,000 international boating enthusiasts at the 52nd Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS), which launches on