Boat Review: Hunter 40
August 4, 2013
Hunter Marine—now known as Marlow Hunter—celebrated its 40th birthday and a recent change in ownership by introducing its latest mid-size cruising boat, the new Hunter 40,
Hunter Marine—now known as Marlow Hunter—celebrated its 40th birthday and a recent change in ownership by introducing its latest mid-size cruising boat, the new Hunter 40,
The Hanse 415 is superficially like a lot of new production cruising boats in the 40-foot range. It has a plumb bow, generous beam carried well aft, a comfortable cockpit, dual helms and a walk-through transom leading to a drop-down swim step. Like many new cruising boats today, it’s also designed to be fast and easy to handle. But as I found out during a test sail on Narragansett Bay last fall, not all 40-foot “performance cruisers” are created equal.
The sound of water rushing past the foils and propellers took on a note of urgency as Gemini’s Robin Hodges cranked in the genoa and pointed the Gemini Legacy 35 higher into the 10-knot breeze.
It’s good to be a multihull sailor these days. Advances in materials and design have not only revolutionized the market, but it seems the innovations just keep coming. Case in point: the Leopard 48, a boat that employs the latest in catamaran thinking to deliver a platform that is as fun as it is comfortable.
It’s not often that we here at SAIL get to test-sail production sailboats from Japan. Personally, this is the first one I’ve ever sailed, in a test or otherwise. It is a remarkable little vessel.
Although multihull innovation at the racing end of the spectrum gets the lion’s share of the press, no less of a revolution in design has been taking place among cruising multihulls: case in point, French multihull builder Fountaine Pajot’s new Hélia 44, a boat that in its own way is as cutting-edge as a carbon fiber racer.
It was déjà vu all over again. Motoring back to the dock at the end of the boat test, I couldn’t help noticing the distinctive lines of well-worn Tartan Ten sitting on the hard.
I have always admired Passport Yachts for their beauty, performance and detailing, but stepping aboard the new Passport Vista 545 CC, SAIL’s 2012 Best Boat in the Flagship Monohull category, I felt an especially strong sense of déja vu.
The Aussie-bred McConaghy 38 takes skiff sailing adrenalin and repackages it in a low-slung sport boat that redefines the genre. It came as no surprise that our Best Boats team found little not to like about this 7,000lb, all carbon, elegantly Spartan sloop.
Since the moment of its inception in 1967, Nautor’s Swan has been the epitome of a Scandinavian boatbuilder—highly regarded for its traditional boatbuilding skills, its exquisite woodwork and cabinetry, and its exceptional attention to detail.
Polynesian women are practicing the ancient art of traditional navigation and inspiring seafaring communities around the globe to do the same.
There are a number of different terms for the motions and rotations you may encounter on the water, like pitch and heave. If you were
Rowing dinghies provide exercise, connection with the water,
and camaraderie — and they always start on the first pull.
And with that, another summer season is in our wake. We hope you get out on the water for the long weekend and have a
Biotherm remains dominant, making the best of an early morning transition zone.
Groupe Beneteau teams with industry partners to get closer to a circular economy in boatbuilding.
A new builder with composite expertise drops a cool carbon cat.
AI seems to be everywhere these days, but it’s not quite ready for world domination.
A ship that can point higher than the rest of the fleet easily creates windward-leeward separation between itself and its compatriots; so it’s no surprise
Holcim-PRB has been awarded redress for the collision with Allagrande Mapei Racing at the beginning of Leg 1 of The Ocean Race Europe.
