SAIL’s Best Boats 2016
November 17, 2015
By Nigel Calder, Christopher White, Adam Cort, Charles J. Doane, Zuzana Prochazka & Tom Dove Every year’s Best Boats competition brings at least a few
By Nigel Calder, Christopher White, Adam Cort, Charles J. Doane, Zuzana Prochazka & Tom Dove Every year’s Best Boats competition brings at least a few
it would be hard to imagine a greater diversity of modern design styles than those comprising the SAIL Magazine Best Boats class of 2015. From a cutting-edge carbon cat to an aluminum sloop expressly designed to nudge aside icebergs, the winners of this year’s Best Boats contest have it all.
A few months ago, SAIL ran a story in which we considered exactly what it is that makes for a great small boat. And as fate would have it, the Topaz Argo from the UK’s Topper International meets an awful lot of the standards we came up with.
The Mini Class has long served as a feeder into the wild world of singlehanded offshore racing, offering huge adventure in a 21-foot package that emphasizes performance over all else. However, while this works well for the hard-core, 20- and 30-something crowd, Minis are cramped, highly strung raceboats that oftentimes stretch the definition of the term “enjoyable sailing.”
We don’t often have ties in our Best Boats competition, but with two very different and equally exciting boats in the 30ft-and-under performance category, we just couldn’t go with a single winner.
Quorning Boats of Denmark has been absent from American boat shows for several years, and it’s good to have them back, especially with something as special as the new Dragonfly 32.
Step aboard the Xp 44 and the first thing you might find yourself wondering is: what’s not to love? This mid-40-foot racer-cruiser is designed to deliver decades of racing and cruising pleasure while offering a wealth of the kind of design features sailors have long since come to expect from this high-end Danish builder.
Gunboat catamarans are known for their sleek lines and speed. Owners take pride in sailing their boats, and the engines are used primarily for maneuvering and intermittent auxiliary propulsion-; they are rarely used for extended motoring.
Talk about timing! No sooner does Oracle Team USA stage a comeback for the ages than the veteran UK sportboat and dinghy builder RS unveils a performance beach cat with wave-piercing bows just like those on an AC72!
This week marks the one year count down to the start of the next Ocean Race.
The Sea Tow Foundation’s 2026 life jacket loaner program is getting underway.
A cruising family revels in two seasons
of exploration in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Edson will be starting 2026 with a fresh look at the future.
If you’re not going out after dark, you’re missing out on magic.
The Clipper Round the World race has announced an exciting update for the 2027 season: they will be replacing their fleet with the Clipper RX,
Routing isn’t a perfect science. Here’s what you can do to help.
The discovery of a treasure trove of old family letters uncovers an incredible true story from the Age of Sail.
US Sailing has shared six names on the shortlist for the 2025 award: Alli Bell, Laura Grondin, Pearl Lattanzi, Justin Callahan, Taylor Canfield, and Paul Cayard.
From the security experts at GOST (Global Ocean Security Technologies) comes a new security tracker for small boats and dinghies. You can think of Kasper
