Not all pocket cruisers are water-ballasted. The Jim Taylor-designed Precision 23 achieves stability with fixed ballast and a shallow keel/centerboard configuration. With the board up the minimum draft is just under 2 feet; draft increases to 5 feet, 4 inches with the board down. The Precision also bucks pocket-cruiser convention in that it has a conventional cabin-top and legitimate side decks.
The True Wind 32 presents an interesting amalgamation of features. It’s a 32-foot cat with a rigid open bridgedeck and is built to sail faster than wind speed in the right conditions, to provide the amenities of a pocket cruiser, and to be capable of easily folding up onto a street-legal trailer.During my test on Florida’s Biscayne Bay in 10 knots of breeze and flat water, we hit 8 knots on
The Chuck Paine-designed Cabo Rico 42 has an excellent reputation as a bluewater cruising boat. Its full underwater profile, sturdy good looks, and quality craftsmanship have helped instill confidence in offshore sailors for years, but only if they were willing to brave the elements in the aft cockpit. With the introduction of the Cabo Rico 42PH, offshore sailors can now order a 42 with a
All my days on the water should be as perfect as the day we took a Dufour 34 out for a spin after the Miami Boat Show. We caught the back end of a February cold front that produced steady 12-to-15-knot northerly winds, sunny skies, and comfortable temperatures. As we motored out of the marina, it was obvious that I couldnt have scheduled this test any better. The smallest boat in the revamped,
The recent proliferation of large cruising catamarans has been well documented, but there is also an increasing number of smaller performance catamarans that offer modest living accommodations for go-fast racer/cruiser types. One of the most interesting of these is the Raider 30, a very sleek craft that was born four years ago in Australia and debuted in the U.S. early last year. There
The British are coming! The British are coming! Actually, it’s the British-built, Reichel/Pughdesigned Seaquest 36. After a successful launch and wins notched in races all over Europe, the Seaquest 36replete with narrow-chord bulb keel, high-octane sailplan, weight-saving interior, and impressive polar numbershas arrived. It’s a flat-out racing design concerned more with
The Moorings’s collaboration with American multihull designers Morelli & Melvin and the South African builder Robertson & Caine has resulted in the Moorings 4000 40-foot catamaran. As you would expect from The Moorings, it’s an ultra-spacious cruising cat that is available for charter placement as well as via private sales. The large hardtop-protected cockpit features an outside dining area and
There’s a new generation of 40-somethings designed to appeal to other 40-somethings. I refer, of course, to the group of 40-foot cruiser-racers aimed at folks who are not over the hill but have passed the hair-shirt-racer stage of life. The Wauquiez Centurion 40s is a nice example of this type, with attractive, comfortable accommodations ensconced in a fast, handsome hull powered by a big,
Who says daysailers have to be small and wet? One of the newest launches from the Fontaine Design Group is neither small nor wet, but it is a daysailer. The Friendship 40 is a low-freeboard throwback to the days of graceful sheer and elegant lines. She’s big enough to be comfortable in a stiff breeze, yet can be easily handled by one or two people on an afternoon daysail. The accommodations below
When a fire destroyed the molds for the Telstar trimarans in 1981, Performance Cruising founder and designer Tony Smith rebuilt his factory and started production of the Gemini catamarans. Gemini’s success pushed the Telstars to the back of, but not completely off, the drawing board. After years spent redesigning, re-engineering, and rigorously testing five full-size prototypes, Smith has
What if we could simplify the equipment at the top of our masts? Instead of a farm of devices, take an approach that cuts down
Four years, half a planet, and 50 crewmates later, a young sailor opens new doors to bluewater sailing.
Learning by doing is the MO for two fledging sailors and a new-to-them Cheoy Lee 48.
This tried-and-true piece of gear will keep your dinghy where you put it.
Last weekend Bentley College hosted the Northeast Ocean Racing Symposium, a day of lectures, panels, and networking centered around all things offshore.
I have never been very good at standing night watch alone.
An odyssey begins in the Mediterranean as one sailor sets out to bring his new boat home.
No boat should be without a compass, no matter how much cool electronic navigation capability it has.
The latest from Dufour continues the French builder’s move toward refining its performance cruising chops under the guidance of naval architect Umberto Felci.
The Cruising Club of America (CCA) is a collection of 1,400 ocean sailors with extensive offshore seamanship, command experience, and a shared passion for making adventurous use of the seas.
