Sage 17
June 1, 2012
An important part of the Sage 17’s pocket-cruiser DNA became evident the moment I deliberately stepped onto her rail with my full weight—and nothing much happened.
An important part of the Sage 17’s pocket-cruiser DNA became evident the moment I deliberately stepped onto her rail with my full weight—and nothing much happened.
All too often, sail trials end up taking place in minimal wind. But that certainly wasn’t the case with the new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 439. Two days after the 2012 Annapolis Sailboat Show, a cold front brought with it overcast skies and gusts of 20 knots and more out of the northeast—which was just fine with the 439.
In addition to introducing and expanding its new Sense line of family cruisers over the past two years, Beneteau has also revitalized its ever-popular Oceanis line.
Five… four… three… two… one! The crack of the starting gun comes clearly over the radio, echoed a split second later by the real sound. Aboard Sojana, helmsman Poule Hoj-Jensen and Capt. Lionel Pean watch smaller boats take advantage of holes in the line to cross ahead of the 115-foot Farr-designed yacht.
We here in the United States tend to think of European boatbuilding in terms of the big series production builders who export their boats here: Dufour, Hanse, Bavaria, Lagoon and Fountaine-Pajot come to mind, as do Jeanneau and Beneteau.
I saw 19.9 knots on my handheld GPS, and I know we went faster than that, but at the time I wasn’t paying close attention to any GPS readout. The breeze was gusting into the 20s, and we were joking about whether or not the Marina del Rey harbor police would nail us for speeding.
Today’s performance-cruisers are faster than ever. But are they going to take care of you in heavy weather in the same way as those pre-IOR boats many of us grew up admiring? Fortunately, there are still builders and designers out there who are willing and able to combine the best of both old and the new in boats like the raised-saloon Tartan 4700.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is approaching the protection of endangered whales from a whole new perspective. Due to the rapidly decreasing numbers of the North Atlantic right whale, NOAA has developed an iPad app to help reduce the leading cause of right whale deaths: collisions with ships.
The aesthetic differences between American and European boats are nowhere more pronounced than in the daysailer niche. The average modern U.S. daysailer has a refined, gentlemanly air; it’s a boat your granddad would have been proud to own.
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.
A Clean Bottom and No Burglars Nighttime dinghy theft is a major issue in the Caribbean. Even in parts of the United States it is
Editor’s Note: In 1956, Alan Nicol—nicknamed “Stormy” for the weather he seemed to attract—was Francis Chichester’s main crew on Gipsy Moth II, sailing with Chichester
When they think about the Society Islands, most sailors likely conjure the most famous of this French Polynesian group—Tahiti, Bora Bora, perhaps Moorea—the stuff that
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The April issue of SAIL is here, and we’ve got your wanderlust covered as we head into spring. Here’s a preview of what you can
