Small beach cats are always good for some fun sailing, and this new 14-footer promises to combine thrills with user-friendliness. Designed by top European multihull sailors Rob White and Yves Loday, the Topaz 14 CX comes with a choice of rigs that take it from perky singlehander to red-hot twin-trapeze racer.
With its almost predatory lines, plumb bow and short fixed bowsprit, the X-Treme 25 is a sport boat that attracts a crowd just sitting on its trailer. The boat seems like a cutting-edge maxi in miniatureICAP Leopard back in grade school.The resin-infused hull laminate, set in epoxy, is glass with a foam core. To increase stiffness, the boat has five structural bulkheads and a beefy
One of the things we liked most about the Outbound 52, which also wins the Best Flagship award this year, is its no-nonsense center-cockpit layout. Where most center-cockpit boats have wide, shallow cockpits that promote a nagging sense of vulnerability, the Outbound 52s cockpit is deep, narrow, and secure. Relative to the helmsman, the primary winches are installed at waist height on the
The Optimist may be the most successful class in history. Thousands of kids around the world have cut their teeth sailing and racing Optis since the boat first appeared in 1952, but is that it? Must young sailors start out in a square boat thats not too durable, not self-bailing, and needs fixed buoyancy bags? Yes, the Opti has earned its place by sheer force of numbers, and its going to take a
In addition to the Santa Cruz 37, several performance/racing designs (King 40, A35 and A40 from Archambault, Andrews 28, and the Melges 20) debuted this year, and a case can be made for each design in this category. But the Santa Cruz 37 ended up narrowly edging out the others because its hit the sweet spot between racing performance, accommodations, and trailerability. For starters, the boat is
Octobers Annapolis Boat Show opened as Wall Street experienced one of the biggest sell-offs in history. With the scary economic news, it was easy to think that many people would put off investing in a new boat. That idea went out the window as VIP Thursday appeared to be more crowded than ever. Instead of panicking, sailors seemed to be turning to sailing, much as they did after 9/11as a
The boatbuilding industry is benefiting from a series of mini-revolutions. Real strides are being made with hybrid propulsion systems. Designers are working on automatic systems that will trim sails as easily and as effectively as an autopilot steers. Radically modern designs are redefining boat aesthetics. NMEA 2000 promises to expand electronic options, and distributed power systems offer a
Over the years, the systems side of boats has improved steadily. This year’s crop of new boats has raised the bar a little higher, with evidence of a great deal of thought. For example, the Catalina 445 has molded-in cable channels, above-the-waterline gravity draining holding tanks and a central drain location for winterizing the boat. Designer Gerry Douglas has put the battery charger under the
A boat is often defined by its interior accommodation plan. An ocean voyager needs stowage and snug sea berths, while a family cruising coastwise wants open space to enjoy at anchor. It’s a rare designer who can blend a world cruiser hull with a short-hop interior, but that’s what designer Bob Johnson has done with the Island Packet Estero.Johnson adapted the forward saloon layout seen in
This was one of the easier picks for our judging team, though no two judges seemed fully agreed on what exactly it is that makes the deck and cockpit of the new Morris M52 so special. Nigel Calder cited the boat’s perfectly pitched sheerline. Peter Nielsen liked the judicious-but-opulent laid teak deck. Charles Doane waxed poetic over the modern interpretation of a traditional butterfly hatch
There are some places we sail where just one look at the sky, or the way the air feels, lets us know that we’re probably
Anticipation and adaptation are keys to good seamanship. Put them together, and the results look easy.
High in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming lies Yellowstone Lake, an inland sea surrounded by evergreen forests. Frozen most of the year, the water temperature
A dark cloud has been hanging over Starlink antennas lately. Sailors around the world have been bypassing the $5,000 per month maritime version of Elon
Before #boatlife. Before TikTok and Youtube sailors were raking in millions of views. Before the rise of influencers, daily vlogs, brand deals, and giant followings,
There’s no question that sailboats require a lot of kit, and that reality often makes gift giving for the sailors in our lives as easy
All of us at the SAIL team wish you and yours a peaceful and plentiful Thanksgiving (with hopefully some sailing thrown in). With our best
Rather than shoot from Portsmouth to Newport all in one go, as has been my past practice when heading south for the winter, I wanted
The call for all sailors to attend a special weather briefing felt ominous. Soulemate and more than 100 other boats and their crews were gathered
