Overall Winner and Best Full-Size Cruiser: Hylas H57

Peggy Huang and David Crafa accepted the award for Hylas Yachts for the Overall Winner of the 2022 Cruising World Boat of the Year. The Hylas H57 won the Best Full-Size Cruiser category, placing it in the running against all category winners for the major prize: the overall Boat of the Year. The Hylas H57 distinguished itself above and beyond the others and was named Best Overall.

Boat of the Year judge Tim Murphy had this to say about the Hylas H57: “This Bill Dixon design is a departure from previous Germán Frers-designed Hylas yachts. It signals a new trend: new look, new layout, new thinking. This is a 57-foot twin-rudder boat that displaces 57,000 pounds. They’re doing something that we’ve seen in a lot of new boats lately, a trend where there’s a separation between the social cockpit and the working cockpit, and well aft, a walkway down between the twin helms to the transom. It’s a good solution. It works.

“When you come alongside, it actually looks and feels a little like a catamaran.

It’s got a hard dodger built in, a very successful one, which I think is quite useful when you’re in the cockpit. Everyone wants to have shade and shelter from rain and the elements, and this is an excellent answer for that. By and large, this is just a very nice, functional cruising boat. The berths are big and luxurious, but they’re also set up for lee cloths. This is a boat meant to go places. And it’s lovely to be aboard. It’s just a very strong boat in many, many ways.”

Judge Ed Sherman noted: “The boat we sailed seemed like a test bed for systems the company is considering for future models. The owners have broad experience in offshore sailing and considered very carefully what they wanted in a large boat that can be easily sailed by a cruising couple. From the custom enclosure for the helm and cockpit area to the powered winches and video-camera repeaters at the helm station to confirm sail trim, I think they hit a home run. 

“Like other boats we tested in this size range, the builder employed a 24-volt DC electrical system, which dramatically reduces overall weight on a boat as systems-rich as this was. Additionally, the electrical-system design helped ensure that onboard systems would function regardless of global location: 120-volt/60 Hz or 230-volt/50 Hz, it didn’t matter; accommodation was made to cover all bases.

“On top of all that, it sailed well. I thought they did a great job in designing the sailhandling controls. It’s all right there near the helm, and it worked well. I liked that. It got my vote.”

Judge Gerry Douglas noted: “The performance of the boat was terrific. It tacked through about 50 degrees, which was outstanding for a boat that big. It was always sailing at about 60 percent of the windspeed, which for a big, heavy boat like that was impressive. Regarding the boat’s ergonomics, every place to sit was comfortable. You had good seatback support and nothing awkward to step over. All the companionway steps were of equal size and worked well. It was just a really easy boat to get around. All the seat dimensions in the interior were correct. We’ve seen so many boats where that’s not the case. It was really comfortable to sit in. And you can imagine sitting there reading a book for hours and not feeling like you’re sitting on a park bench. 

“I voted for the Hylas because I think it was probably the most different from any other previous boat that the company has produced. It’s the first one that appealed to me personally. There’s a lot of content there and the price point—in retrospect, in view of all the prices of the boats in this year’s contest—is pretty reasonable. I never thought I’d say that a boat worth 2 million bucks was reasonable, but it is.”

2022 Boat of the Year: The Contest and Winner

Beneteau First 27: Best Pocket Cruiser/Daysailer

The Beneteau team, including Tomo Novak, Head of Sales, Seascape; Eric LeVine, Sales Manager, Beneteau; Andraz Mihelin, Founder, Seascape; Aurore Bordage, Marketing Manager, Beneteau, accepted their award for the Best Pocket Cruiser/Daysailer for the winning Beneteau First 27. The First 27, a sporty racer/cruiser, boasts all the amenities necessary for weekend and coastal voyaging: a serviceable head, galley and berths, and a Yanmar diesel. In other words, a couple could easily liveaboard, rather than camp, for short periods of time, but they could also expect to be serious podium contenders should those outings involve a regatta. In the end, when deciding the winner of the Best Pocket Cruiser, it was the little things that swayed the judges. “The fit-and-finish for the price point is at a different level,” judge Gerry Douglas said. “The equipment level was higher.”

2022 Boat of the Year: Best Pocket Cruiser/Daysailer

Leopard Catamarans Leopard 42: Best Cruising Catamaran (Under 50 Feet)

The Leopard Catamaran team, including Michael Robertson, Designer, Robertson and Caine; Theo Loock, CEO, Robertson and Caine; Franck Bauguil, VP Yacht Ownership and Product Development; Alex Simonis, Naval Architect, Simonis-Voogd Design; Peter Robertson, VP Sales, Robertson and Caine; and Josie Tucci, VP Charter Sales and Marketing; accepted their award for the Best Cruising Catamaran (Under 50 Feet) for the Leopard 42. 

From the proven partnership and collaboration between South African builder Robertson and Caine and the Moorings, the judges felt the Leopard 42 is an ideal platform for private ownership and/or bareboat chartering. The judges found much to like about this latest Leopard, including the offset steering station to starboard and the lounge space forward accessed via a front door in the saloon. But the Leopard sealed its victory with an awesome sea trial in which it overhauled and passed a popular new monohull. What put the boat over the top wasn’t just the sailing performance, which was obviously terrific, but also the tools with which to sail the boat, and its overall deck layout, all of which optimized the experience. Judge Tim Murphy said, “With the Leopard, you have visual eye contact from the raised helm station to starboard down into the cockpit, you’ve got a visual line of sight into the saloon, and you’ve got a pretty good visibility over the top of the cabin top everywhere. You had access to your main sheet right there where you needed it. This was one of the boats that had no traveler, but instead had a windward and leeward block on the mainsheet. I think that’s a fine system, I like the control you have. Jibing works fine and is easily controlled.”

2022 Boat of the Year: Best Cruising Catamaran (Under 50’)

Balance 482: Best Performance Catamaran

Mark Delany, Balance Managing Director; and Phil Berman, Balance Catamaran President received the award for the Best Performance Catamaran, for Balance Catamaran’s Balance 482. Quick, fast and fun, the South African-built Balance 482 is a cat that will get up and go, but offers plenty of comfort once the hook is down.

“The sailing performance was excellent,” said judge Gerry Douglas. “The boat felt really good. The steering was terrific. The structure of the boat throughout was exemplary. Storage is really good. Visibility was good. Ventilation was great. There was even a rain collection system on the cabin top, which is the only one of the boats we looked at had that. It was very well concealed because the gutters formed a handhold going forward. The solar panel installation was also well done. The panels were encapsulated into a fiberglass tray that elevated the deck so the panels wouldn’t overheat. Very clever.”

The driving force behind Balance cats is Phil Berman, a world champ at racing beach cats who brought that passion to developing and marketing fully found cruisers. Judge Murphy knows him well: “Phil comes from a very strong view of wanting to see boats that have solid sailing performance. He’s also a strong proponent of daggerboard boats, which tends to be quick shorthand for the dividing line between cats that are more about payload versus cats that are about performance, but not so much where you’re going to fly a hull or break a rudder. There’s a balance within a boat that really performs that you can still live aboard.”

2022 Boat of the Year: Best Performance Catamaran

Xquisite X5 Plus: Best Cruising Catamaran (Over 50 Feet)

The Xquisite crew of Tamas Hamor, CEO; Stephen Joyce, Global Service Manager; and Sara Hajdu, Xquisite Charter, were on hand to accept the award for the Best Cruising Catamaran (Over 50 Feet) for the Xquisite X5 Plus. A unique cruising cat with cool features galore and an impressive commitment to customer service, the Xquisite X5 Plus won the judges over. This is a dedicated cruising cat, through and through. And there’s much to like about this 53-foot South African-built product. For judge Tim Murphy, the important details weren’t necessarily the ones you could easily see, but rather the ones you couldn’t. “What I was most struck by on our tour of the boat was actually the service side of the whole equation,” he said. “There are 40,000 man-hours invested in this boat. And you can see it—those are solid hours of labor. One thing that was pointed out were two different marks on the heads of bolts showing they were torqued. And part of the Xquisite program is they spend two weeks with each owner, training them up with systems. All told, this is really one strong product.” 

Judge Ed Sherman agreed: “The business model here is exemplary. What they’re really doing is emulating the high-end automotive market. I think they looked at the automotive sector for high-end cars like BMW and Mercedes and said, ‘OK, this sounds good, it looks good, and we’re going to do it, too.’ And they are. So, I think that that aspect of his business plan where they’re training the owners and then doing things like loading the boat up with spare parts as part of the original purchase, I mean, hats off to them. It’s a great way to go. How can you argue against it?”

“I couldn’t find anything that was done halfway,” said Gerry Douglas. “It was done better than you’d expect it to be, just because they wanted the boat to be perfect.  And the quality of construction is excellent. It’s an infused hull but with a hand-laminated deck because there’s so many very tight corners and cavities. They didn’t think they could infuse that without adding a whole lot of weight. And I get that. So, they would hand laminate it, which makes sense when you have some of the very sharp corners that exist on that boat. It was all just perfectly done.”

2022 Boat of the Year: Best Cruising Catamaran (Over 50’)

Kinetic KC54: All-around excellence took the judges breath away

Kinetic CEO Bob Hayward and Collin Marshall, Boat & Sailing Systems Engineer,

were on hand to accept the award for the Kinetic KC54. The Kinetic KC54 received a Special Recognition award. The Kinetic KC54 is a fresh entry in the cat universe and a new player in the class of what might be called Super Cats, the progenitors of which are notable brands like Gunboat and HH Catamarans. These light, fast craft put a high premium in flat-out performance, but also have the cool, comfortable, contemporary features and amenities of a stylish, forward-thinking cruising boat. They are, in the realm of performance cruisers, at the very cutting edge. Judge Tim Murphy got right to the point: “This is a fairly new company that was started within the past couple of years. My breath was absolutely taken away by this boat; it was spectacular. I think it was the best-built boat in the entire fleet. It’s an all-carbon boat, with a foam core, epoxy resin, all infused–fantastic. The whole boat felt integrated. You didn’t feel like there was a conflict between the forces in terms of accommodation versus performance.” With a price tag approaching $3 million, it perhaps should not be astonishing. That was a major factor in evaluating the boat, and while it did not win its class, the experts panel did present it with a Judges’ Special Recognition prize to honor the boat’s overall excellence.

“It was my personal favorite in this year’s contest,” said judge Ed Sherman. The materials that were used are absolutely the highest quality available in our industry at this point, and it’s a very high-tech boat in terms of systems.” Judge Gerry Douglas was also duly impressed: “This was the Tesla of sailboats. I think that that was their model. In terms of design and execution and technology, it hit all three of those marks. This boat is built without compromise, and what it cost was not an issue, they just wanted to do the best they could in every aspect of the boat. The construction was impeccable, the fit and finish was amazing. There are some very clever design things in the boat, but it all really worked seamlessly.”  

2022 Boat of the Year: Special Judges’ Awards

The 2022 BOTY Contest

The 27 entries—the largest BOTY entry list in many years—were ultimately broken down into eight categories, with the 16 monohulls distributed over five divisions ranging from 24 feet to 67 feet in size, and with prices ranging from $50,000 to $4 million. Meanwhile, the 11 nominated catamarans were grouped in three classes: two based on size and a third focused on performance. And talk about an international gathering! Builders from no fewer than nine nations were represented: the US, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden and Taiwan. 

Boats tests were divided into two parts: onboard inspections that took place on the docks at the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD., in October; and at-sea sail trials conducted in the days immediately following the boat show.

Judges chose winners in eight separate size- and/or purpose-related categories. Just for good measure—because they were suitably impressed by their excellence—they also presented a pair of separate awards to boats that deserved special recognition. 

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During and in the four days immediately following the US Sailboat show in Annapolis, Maryland, the Cruising World judges inspected and sailed on 27 boats vying for recognition. Learn more about the boats in our 2022 Boat of the Year »

It’s fitting that the category of uncompromising world cruisers comes from different corners of the world: the Far East, Sweden, France. On top of that, the three vessels vying for victory in this Full-Size category are testaments to the fact that there are many ways, in both systems and construction, to skin the proverbial cat. Electric propulsion (Salona 46); metal construction (Cigale 16); twin rudders, and advanced onboard power storage and distribution (Hylas H57). In different aspects, each of these nominees are state-of-the-art. They collectively prove that if you wish to sail far, you can go your own way.

French boatbuilder Alubat has a long and impressive history of building aluminum sailboats that have taken adventurous sailors far into the high latitudes. The yard’s range of Ovnis date back to 1974, and feature a centerboard design that allows them to cross oceans, then slip into thin waters where other cruisers might not venture. In 1994, the yard began to build keel yachts under the Cigale range. The company also offers the Ovnicat, a 48-foot aluminum multihull.

Evidence of how the company has evolved over time is exhibited by the Cigale 16, the boat our judges inspected and sailed during the 2022 Boat of the Year contest. “It’s a Marc Lombard design, so more performance-oriented than earlier boats,” judge Tim Murphy said. “There’s more luxury here; it’s a new direction. 

“The Cigale’s layout down below is really intriguing, with the saloon and dinette situated below the cockpit, where there’s also a series of berths, including a couple of pilot berths. The very experienced owner said, on passage, that they never went forward at sea. It’s smart and well-proven.” Forward of the saloon, a passage leads to a double berth and cabin forward, with two additional cabins, one to either side.

The boat features a versatile cutter rig. Tacking upwind, the staysail is easy to manage. Crack off to a reach and roll out the genoa and you can shift gears a bit. Then further off the wind, hoist the colored sail set on a continuous-line furler and you have yet another option for how to get from here to there.

The judges had two reasons to look forward to a sea trial of the Salona 46, the latest model to be sent Stateside from the company’s yard in Slovenia. First, in fit, finish and gear the flagship of the range promised to be a fine sailing boat, created in collaboration with the team at J&J Design. Secondly, with its twin Oceanvolt ServoProp variable-pitch saildrive units, the 46, imported by San Francisco’s Green Yachts, is definitely one of the leading proponents for electric propulsion in the United States. 

Judge Murphy noted, “There are a lot of things to say about the Salona that are very strong. They’ve got a galvanized grid structure, and that’s a fine way to build a sailboat. It ties all the loads from the rig and keel together and makes for a really stiff boat. And our sail trial was superb. This boat lit up under sail, and was a joy to steer and tweak.”

Indeed. In 8 to 10 knots of breeze, we sailed along closehauled in the 6-knot range and gained another half knot as we cracked off to a reach. The single rudder/twin wheel steering was light and smooth, and the boat responded immediately to any tug or ease on the traveler.

The all-electric propulsion system was equally intriguing. In place of an engine below the companionway steps, Salona installed a sizeable bank of lithium batteries, all controlled by a battery management system that monitors charging and battery health to avoid any potentially dangerous problems. The batteries in turn power two Oceanvolt sail drive units, mounted to the hull under each of the aft-cabin berths. Each drive is capable of regeneration while the boat is sailing, and the theory behind having two is that the batteries can be recharged twice as fast, at a cost of about half a knot of boat speed.

The importer said that in long-range power mode, the 46 should be able to travel approximately 70 miles at a speed of 3 to 3.5 knots. Want to get home quick? You could cruise at 6.6 knots for about 15 miles. In all likelihood an owner with cruising aspiration would install a diesel generator for auxiliary charging.

And added benefit of the twin drives is that you have twin propellers and greater maneuverability. The importer demonstrated in open water how this might be employed in tight quarters and it seemed to work well.

Even with two strong sailing boats in the hunt for top honors, the Hylas H57 still managed to kick things up a notch or two, both dockside and sailing. As the judges reviewed their notes and deliberated over the Full-Size Cruiser entries, there were many reasons that it rose to the top of this highly competitive category.

Judge Gerry Douglas summed things up well: “The Hylas 57 is clearly driven by experienced builders with a vision of what a modern cruising boat can be. This is a new design and a departure from the traditional Hylas look, but it retains the construction and build quality for which the company is renowned. From the Bill Dixon design, integrated sailhandling systems, deck styling and interior finishes, the H57 is a fresh approach that indicates nothing has been taken for granted, but analyzed by experienced sailors to facilitate safe passages and comfortable life aboard.”

Hylas Yachts has had a good track record with previous Boat of the Year judging teams, who in the past have often also cited the systems and workmanship that go into these long-range cruisers, all built in the Queen Long Marine shipyard in Taiwan. It’s a family-owned boatbuilder that’s just recently been handed over to the next generation, and the H57 in part marks the transition.

The boat is packed with systems designed to enable a cruising couple or short-handed crew to handle its power-packed and versatile cutter rig. Sails are set and furled mechanically, and a camera system can monitor their trim (as well as numerous other areas of the boat) and send the video feed to the multifunction displays at either helm and down below at the nav station. This, plus a cockpit that has a hard Bimini overhead and side panels that can enclose it, takes watch keeping in challenging weather to a whole new level.

Judge Ed Sherman noted the thought that went in to how various technologies were used to make handling the boat easier. “I thought they did a great job, actually, in designing the sailing and handling controls. It’s all right there near the helm. And it worked pretty well. I liked that.” And so did his colleagues, which is just one of several reasons they named the H57 Best Full-Size Cruiser.

See even more details on the H57 with our new StoryStream interactive experience by clicking here.

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Let’s play a game of “what if.” So what do you think would happen if you commissioned your new $2 million flagship from a naval architect who’d enjoyed an unparalleled career spanning multiple decades designing some of the most memorable cruising and racing yachts ever conceived, such as a long line of iconic Swans? Who was well-known in both Europe and the Americas—you know, Western civilization—as one of the legendary figures in contemporary boat design? A guy like, oh, say, Argentinian Germán Frers.

And what if you teamed up Frers with one of, if not the, most well-established boatyards in the Far East, a family-run company that’s been in business for just over four decades, an outfit where the torch has been passed down through the generations, and that’s now run on the sales side by a pair of young siblings who not only wish to make their mark, but who are also obsessed with making the product the best it could be? A firm like, we don’t know, maybe Queen Long Marine in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

What you might get—in fact, what we have gotten from this exact collaboration of Frers, the artist, and Queen Long, the artisans—is the new Hylas 60, the second of our Best Luxury Cruisers for 2021. And it’s pretty darn wonderful.

Murphy grew up on a 1970s-era Taiwanese yacht, back in the day when many an offering built on the island was ­disparaged as a “leaky teaky.”

Murphy said: “I went through this boat closely, taking many pictures, because I also do some work with the ABYC for their study guides, and these are exemplary, exemplary installations. They’re really showing, in many ways, the high watermark in marine craftsmanship. So, whatever ideas people might have had about Taiwanese builders before this, this company totally turns that upside down.”

And Murphy was just ­getting started: “In terms of design, it felt very wholesome. We’ve talked thematically about some of the ways that innovation is used; some boats felt a little bit tired, like they were actively avoiding any innovation. Other boats may have strayed a little bit too far in that direction. I thought this boat was beautiful in the way they were taking on technology and innovation in a very seamanlike way. One example is the CZone ­digital-switching distribution that they use for electricity. It’s a 24-volt DC system with just a handful of 12-volt appliances. But the digital switching allows you to cut down on the wiring that’s run all through the boat. At the same time, there’s a manual backup. So if you have any trouble with any of the circuits, every single circuit is backed up by an actual physical fuse that you can swap out. And under sail, it felt really good. Again, thematically, one of the things we’ve seen throughout the whole fleet this year is twin rudders. And we saw them again here as well.”

Murphy concluded: “They even used 316 L stainless steel for the tankage. The L means ‘low carbon’ so that you’re using the same metal for the plate as for the welding material itself. Again, this is a thing where Far East builders had a horrible reputation because they were using cheap equipment. You’d hear about the black-iron Chinese tanks that would sort of corrode out after a while. This is top-of-the-line quality. And it’s everywhere.”

“The Hylas was just ­gorgeous,” Pillsbury seconded. “From the low-profile cabin top, to the thoroughly modern-looking sprit, to the wraparound windows, it was just a beautiful yacht. There were multiple blueprints with labeling for all of your plumbing, every single pump, every single through-hull fitting, the electrical circuit, and so on. The wiring was all color-coded and labeled. The level of detail was incredible. I mean, every seacock had a label on it. Engraved! Not written with a magic marker; it was engraved as to what that seacock did. There was even a little display in the galley showing you the temperature in both refrigerators and the freezer. Truly, the attention to detail in the boat was really quite something from a build standpoint.”

And then, finally, there was the ultimate compliment: “This Hylas feels like a boat built by sailors,” Pillsbury said. And winning sailors at that.

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