Boat Reviews

It could be said that Garry Hoyt’s Alerion Express 28 was ahead of the “big daysailer” trend when it was launched in the early 1990s. I took his latest entry in this growing genre—the Alerion Express 38—for a test sail in light air off Newport, Rhode Island.Under SailThe boat is designed to excel in light air, and my test sail proved it was up to the task.

Just when a seasoned boat reviewer thinks he’s seen all the possible variations among midsize cruising monohulls, along comes a vessel to jar him out of that notion. The Delphia 37 did that for me. The designer is unknown in America, the factory is in Poland, and the boat is a delight to sail. On DeckThe deck and cockpit will work nicely for daysailing,

On the West Coast the heyday of the 70-foot sleds is remembered fondly, with good reason. Thanks to their light weight, those old sleds were not hard to manage, they were medium-tech so cost per foot wasn’t sky high, and you could race one with nothing more than a bunch of good sailors; forget the posse of full-time gunslingers. But the sled craze peaked in the early 1990s and later the West

Tom and Cuyler Morris appear to have two runaway bestsellers in their M 36 and 42 daysailer/weekender designs. So why are they building another cruising boat that has much of the styling that got them started in the boat-building business years ago? “It just seemed like the right thing to do,” says Tom Morris. Morris observes that while Europeans are surrounded by historic structures, they like

Carbon-based life evolves, silicon-based computers evolve, and so do fiberglass yachts. Oyster Marine understands this principle well and through steady improvements and innovations has established new standards for all its designs and systems without sacrificing the essential qualities that have been successful in earlier models. The Oyster 53 is a prime example. Since its introduction in

With a name like Free Range Chicken, the explanation for how this yacht got its name needs to be offered up front. “It’s my ninth boat,” says owner Bruce Anderson. “My first boat was a Catalina 27 that I sailed out of Chicago. Fast forward to boat number six, and I’m in Southern California with a custom Andrews 36. With that boat I thought maybe we would build a bunch of sisterships, so I wanted

Even though the first Lagoon 420 is being launched only this month, this cat has attracted much attention and many purchase orders since it was first announced a little over a year ago. What makes this yacht so newsworthy is that it comes equipped with electric propulsion as standard equipment; diesel engines are available, of course, but only as an option. The standard setup consists of a

When naval architects Judel/Vrolijk and interior designer Dick Young teamed up with this well-known Swedish builder, the result was bound to be stimulating. This 40-foot center-cockpit yacht has improved sailing performance and interior styling that enhances the cruising experience.The cockpit is well configured, teak decks are standard, and a very nice cockpit table

Commissioned by an experienced yachtsman who wanted a high-performance bluewater passagemaker, this 148-foot Wally was developed by Bill Tripp from the lines of a 143-foot Tripp design now being finished by Wally after a two-year build. The yacht displaces 309,000 pounds, and its lifting keel allows draft to vary from 19 feet, 9 inches to just over 13 feet. The standing rigging will be of PBO

Northshore Yachts has led the way in developing swing-keel designs that sail well in all conditions. Their newest and largest model is this new 46-footer designed by Jason Ker in conjunction with the Northshore design team. The yacht’s key feature is a cast-iron grounding plate that ties into a web of frames and longitudinal stringers to create a strong and light structure that supports the keel.