When Groupe Beneteau’s Excess Catamarans introduced its first model in 2019, a test sail in winds approaching 40 knots made it abundantly clear that the 38-foot-7-inch Excess 12 wasn’t just another pretty new face in the ever-growing cat crowd. That boat could sail.

A recent light-air outing aboard the company’s newest model, the Excess 14, was perhaps equally revealing. With a hull length right around 44 feet and a beam of 25 feet, 9 inches, this is a big, roomy and comfortable cruising cat. But in just 5 knots of breeze, sailing with the main and working jib set, the chart plotter’s speed over ground read 4.1 knots heading upwind with the sails sheeted hard. A little later, with the jib rolled up and the code zero unfurled and set on a sprit that brings the boat’s LOA to 52 feet, 5 inches, our boatspeed was 5.7 knots on a reach in wind gusting to maybe 6. 

Those were conditions that would have left a lot of similar-size multihulls parked, but the Excess 14 felt relatively lively underway and “tacked quickly,” I wrote in my notes. I also noted that line handling was easy, thanks to sheet winches within reach of the helms and an electric Harken FlatWinder winch that handles a traveler mounted outboard of a comfortable bench seat that spans most of the transom.

For the record, I’m a fan of the Excess brand DNA that calls for outdoor helm stations located far aft on either stern. Sitting at them underway, you can see and hear the water rush by and feel the breeze in your face. You know, like when you’re sailing. You can converse with people seated in the cockpit, and you have easy access to the salon should you care to set the autopilot and keep watch out of the elements, through windows that provide nearly 360 degrees of visibility.

Open to fresh ideas, the team at Excess started with a blank slate when they conceived the 14, and they gave naval architects at VPLP Design some liberty in terms of hull design in their quest for better performance. VPLP, drawing from their experience with a long line of racing machines, then tested and ultimately opted for asymmetrical hulls—think of a monohull sliced lengthwise down the middle and then separated—that tend to reduce the size of the waves produced between the hulls, thereby reducing drag that slows down the boat.

The design team also toyed with replacing the stub keels affixed to most cruising cats, including earlier Excess models, with the sort of lifting daggerboards found on high-performance cats. They dropped that idea, however, because daggerboards add complexity when sailing and take away from living space below. Instead, the 14 has more-efficient, deeper and thinner fixed foils that increase draft to 4 feet, 10 inches—a few inches deeper than what you would expect to find on cats of a similar size.

There are also interesting ­innovations found in the 14’s interior, where saving weight has a direct relationship to livelier sailing. Relatively lighter carbon-fiber cloth is employed in some structural areas for strength, and some bulkheads are infused using foam coring. And there’s less wood used in furniture, drawers and stowage areas. Overhead, the cabin top is injected-molded, eliminating the need for a liner. And in hulls with two staterooms and two head compartments located amidships, the toilets share a single holding tank to reduce plumbing, while the staterooms share one larger Webasto air-conditioning unit, saving the weight and wiring required for two. 

Excess is also involved with Groupe Beneteau’s overall efforts to adopt more-sustainable building practices. Laminates used for the performance mainsail and genoa are recycled material, and hemp fibers are used in place of fiberglass and injected with partly bio-sourced resin in some nonstructural parts such as locker lids. Even furniture knobs have been replaced by neat little loops of rope.

Buyers have a few decisions to make when ordering an Excess 14. There is a four-­stateroom version that would be well-suited for charter, and there are a couple of three-stateroom options. In one, the owner gets a large fore-and-aft bunk aft, a sitting area with a desk at the foot of the companionway, a head and shower forward, and a walk-in closet in place of a V-berth. A second plan, called the Transformer Version, has bunks far forward that can be folded down for sleeping or up for stowage. (One company photo shows a paddleboard stashed away there.) That’s the layout we saw in Miami and the one I’d choose if it were my boat. In all the layouts, the salon gets lots of sunlight and has a pleasant, airy feeling with the sliding door and window open aft. There’s an abundance of fridge and freezer space adjacent to the galley to port. Dining tables are indoors, at the front of the salon, and in the cockpit. 

The Miami boat included a pair of optional 57 hp Yanmar diesels with saildrives (45 hp engines come standard) that pushed us along at 7.8 knots in cruising speed and 8.4 knots in get-home-quick mode. Gear included an electric winch at the starboard helm to make raising the main easier, as well as engine controls at either wheel to make docking simpler. Davits are available, as are canvas Biminis over the wheels for shade.

The boat also had an optional seating area on the flybridge. It reminded me a bit of a stretch version of the footwell that you’d find on a Sunfish. I’m not sure if it’s an option I’d choose, and with the boom set relatively low on the mast, it wouldn’t be a place to lounge underway. Some might like to sit up there while at anchor to enjoy the view though.

The sail-away price for the boat we visited is right around $980,000, but that’s loaded with gear, including an Onan generator and a Pulse rig and sail package that includes a 70-foot-8-inch mast instead of the standard 64-foot-11-inch spar. The upwind Pulse rig sail area of 1,453 square feet will be appreciated by those who sail in variable conditions and like to go fast; in the trades, the standard 1,323 square feet might suffice, and the shorter rig would let you just squeeze under most Intracoastal Waterway bridges.

Me? I was happy to have the added horsepower provided by the bigger square-top main. Sailing a big cat in 5 knots of breeze isn’t always fun, but aboard the Excess 14, we had a jolly old time.

Excess 14 Specifications

Sea Trial

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Few boats would merit a glance from a savvy, experienced skipper looking to consolidate the best qualities of his performance cruiser and his motoryacht into just one boat.

Someone might even ask: “Are you kidding me? Can you do that?”

Enter the Oyster 495.

As the smallest yacht the company has developed from concept since 2005, the 495 is rigorously detailed. It is true to the heritage of a builder where a 50-footer has become the entry-level model. 

For this latest raised-salon offering, Oyster created a new facility in Hythe, on the Southampton shores of southern England. The aim is to build 12 boats a year, and sales to date suggest that this figure is not overly ambitious. 

I encountered Genevieve, the well-traveled Hull No. 1, in Southern California, where the boat had been delivered to the owner in Santa Barbara after being shown extensively in Europe. She was purchased to replace a performance cruiser and a powerboat. 

First impressions count, and the 495 makes a great one. If you’re switching over from a different brand, forget about bringing along your plates and glassware. All of that is provided, with subtle logos and fitted stowage. Mood lighting is available at the touch of a button. The TV raises and disappears with another button. In the guest stateroom forward, hatches overhead open in opposite directions. The queen berth in the owner’s stateroom could be a boat-show sales tool, but the cabin top is equipped for the lee cloths you will need when the boat is doing what it is meant to do: go places. 

To that end, an aluminum mast with electric furling is standard, but Genevieve is equipped with a Seldén carbon rig with in-mast electric furling and a hydraulics package including a mainsheet, vang, outhaul, backstay, and ­in-boom ram. In operation, it was whisper-quiet. 

The twin wheels offer clear sightlines from secure footing, along with command posts that have buttons to deploy and furl sails, and to adjust everything adjustable without straining a finger or risking a hangnail. Lewmar EVO primaries are handy, just outboard of the helm stations. Optional dual thrusters make everyone a hero going and coming to the dock, and smaller items such as pre-rigged preventers speak to that shadowy concierge who seems to have been everywhere. 

With four of us aboard, the cockpit was more than ­generous. I imagined many sociable scenes to come as the sails came out. The Yanmar saildrive was so quiet, it had to go off for me to even notice it had been on. Put that down to sandwich insulation glued, not screwed. 

The breeze was single digits, not enough to make the boat light up under a 105 percent jib, and we were dragging a wide transom and two rudders. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable sailing. I also appreciated seeing the cabin house square to the seating, to make a comfortable backrest looking aft, stretched out on passage. Rounding the forward backing the way some manufacturers do may work when you’re not going anywhere, but what is a boat for? 

The cockpit is laid out to walk on a single level back to a full-beam lazarette, which has ample stowage and access to the steering, backstay, exhaust and seacocks. Step back farther, and you are stepping down a reverse transom to a shower and an electronically operated swim platform. When the boat is stern-tied, that will be the boarding ladder. 

Belowdecks is bright, with close attention to ­ventilation. The opening coachroof windows in the salon will delight passengers in a tropical anchorage with the breeze wafting through. Batteries and tankage are centered under the salon sole, focusing the weight where it belongs. A U-shaped galley, two steps down to port, places most of the cook’s needs at hand in a space where it will be easy to brace underway, and the cook is not isolated from crew and guests. The twin sinks are on centerline for efficient drainage. 

The saloon table lowers to bed height for those who are overblessed with kids or grandkids, and the step-down nav station is separated but not isolated. A swing-out computer screen is here, along with CZone control and monitoring instead of fuse panels. A freezer is abaft the nav station, where it won’t see a lot of traffic unless it’s stocked with ice cream for those kids. 

Opposite the nav station, twin doors open wide to an engine compartment thoughtfully laid out to be serviced without provoking naughty words. Clear labeling matters, and I liked seeing the Panda generator within a sound-­insulated compartment.  

All the way aft, the owner’s stateroom has 6 feet, 4 inches of headroom, a sofa, cedar-lined lockers, escape hatches, and Oyster’s signature vertical portlights for a special view of the world. Forward of the salon is a cozy over/under double that shares a head and shower with the bright and airy forward stateroom. Nowhere above or belowdecks does the level of fit-and-finish fall short. 

Oyster describes the hull as an “overspecified laminate resin structure with a combination of stringers and frames for extreme strength and durability.” I believe it. Genevieve had the L-shaped standard keel and a draft of 7 feet, 5 inches. A shoal-draft keel is an option. 

Lunch waited ashore, ­creating an opportunity to ­observe how magically the sails disappeared and how comfortably the boat motored at 9-plus knots. It’s replacing a powerboat, remember. There was also a moment to ­demonstrate that, under power, the Oyster 495 will spin in its own length. That gave me a grin too.

Oyster 495 Specifications

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Back in the day, ­after Cruising World launched in the mid-1970s, a steady helping of rugged, well-built cruising boats—from a collection of British builders that included Westerly, Nicholson, Oyster, Contessa and many others—frequently appeared in these pages. Personally, I was most attracted to the Moody line, perhaps because one of its frequent naval architects, Angus Primrose, was a close friend of the magazine’s publisher and a regular contributor. Plus, having been founded by boatbuilder John Moody in the early 19th century, Moody struck me as the quintessential English shipyard.

Moody began to produce fiberglass sailboats in 1965, with Laurent Giles and Bill Dixon joining Primrose as the principal designers. During the next 30 years, Moody launched 39 models and knocked out more than 4,000 yachts, a notable run that concluded in 2005, when production ceased. 

In 2007, German marine conglomerate Hanse Yachts AG acquired the brand, and any concerns about the new landlords taking it all in a completely different direction were quickly put to rest when it named Dixon as the designer for all its new models.

Which brings us to the accomplished master’s latest creation, the inspired Moody DS41 (the initials stand for “deck saloon”). Excuse me while I gush, and please pardon the cliché, but the DS41 is solid proof that a seasoned dog like Dixon, who drew the lines for one of the more interesting new boats for 2023, still has some fancy tricks up his sleeve. Indeed, as a member of our most recent Boat of the Year judging panel, I joined my colleagues in unanimous agreement while naming the DS41 the year’s Best Full-Size Cruiser. 

Oyster may have been the company most responsible for the deck-saloon frenzy of this century’s early aughts, but Dixon has taken the concept to a fresh new level, borrowing elements from the contemporary catamaran craze to produce a monohull that shares several traits with modern cats. 

For starters, with its nearly 14-foot beam and walkaround deck, it’s a wide, accessible platform that’s easy to negotiate. Sliding patio doors open to a spacious cockpit with a retractable sun awning that can be open or shut depending on conditions. As with a cat, those doors, when opened, allow a seamless transition from the saloon to the great outdoors, essentially creating a single-level open floor plan on the main deck. Forward, a sun pad on the foredeck (with an adjustable headrest) converts to a bench seat. It’s hard to believe that this is all happening in a 41-foot footprint.

To my eye, it’s a quite good-looking vessel. At the pointy end, the plumb bow maximizes the waterline length and is home to a pair of headsails: a code-zero-type reacher on the forward stay and a self-tacking jib on the after one. A trio of hull windows rests under a substantial bulwark, capped by an impressive stainless-steel handrail. The low-slung coachroof has a wraparound window and is carried well aft in service of the aforementioned cockpit awning. The obligatory hard chines are barely noticeable with everything else going on, but they are responsible for the wide beam that’s carried well aft, as well as the generous interior volume. The twin wheels (with a pair of rudders) are positioned well aft and outboard, permitting easy egress between them to access the drop-down teak swim platform. (Did I mention that all this is contained within 41 feet?)

The saloon is well-thought-out, with a straight-line galley to port facing an L-shaped settee and dining table to starboard. Just forward of the galley is a navigation station that included, on our test boat, the optional autopilot and engine controls for inside steering and operation when the weather turns funky. It’s a wonderful feature that should be at the top of the list of additions for any owner. 

On the lower deck, there are a quartet of interior layouts, all of them two-stateroom configurations (this is a couple’s boat, I’d say, with room for occasional guests). The master stateroom forward is the centerpiece of all four accommodations plans, while the guest stateroom can be configured with twin berths or a double. A wide choice of colors for the hull and upholstery are available, and the interior furniture options include oak, teak, and mahogany.

My fellow Boat of the Year judge Ed Sherman was equally smitten by the details: “The boat was equipped with all high-end Victron electrical gear and done to a high standard. I particularly liked the nearly 1-inch-round handrail that takes the place of traditional lifelines around the entire deck. Because the engine is under the cockpit sole and pretty much isolated from the interior deckhouse, our sound test while motoring was among the quietest in our group at 60 decibels at 2,000 rpm while making 6.8 knots, and 66 decibels at 2,400 rpm while making 8.3 knots.”

Collectively, what blew us judges away was something unexpected: the stellar sailing performance. “I expected this boat to sail like a typical motorsailer, i.e., not so well,” Sherman wrote. “Boy, was I wrong.” 

Judge Mark Pillsbury seconded that sentiment: “The most surprising aspect of the Moody DS41 wasn’t the near-360-degree view from the saloon or the creative use of interior space. … No, it was the sailing performance, which had us clipping along at 8 knots in about 13 knots of breeze.” A nod here goes to the team at Quantum Sails, which delivered the superb inventory on our test boat. 

Truthfully, however, what sealed the deal for all of us was that the new owner of the Moody DS41 that we sailed was on board for our sea trials, and his joy was infectious. Jim Eisenhart is a vastly experienced California sailor who’d decided it was time to move over to the “dark side” and purchase a trawler for what may well be his last boat. But the combination of that inside steering station and easy, fantastic sailing was too hard to resist. 

And he was clearly quite pleased with his decision. As well he should be. The Moody DS41 speaks to the sailor in all of us.

Moody DS41 Specifications

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For most of the ­decade starting around 2010, Dufour Yachts approached the business of making and marketing its performance cruising boats in a uniform manner. Nowhere was this more obvious than at gatherings such as the annual sailboat show in Annapolis, Maryland, where the company’s Grand Large line of boats was displayed, all clearly from the same lineage. They had nearly identical hull shapes and profiles, and matching beige canvas dodgers and Bimini tops. The only major thing that set them apart was the length of their waterlines. I quite liked those boats, which sailed well and offered extremely good value; in fact, I often had Dufour at the top of my list of favorite French production boatyards. 

Then, in 2018, Dufour was acquired by another iconic French yard—catamaran builder Fountaine Pajot—which slowly but surely is stamping its own imprint on the brand. The latest example of this evolution is the Dufour 37 that was introduced in Annapolis this past fall, replacing the 360 in the lineup (and measuring closer to 35 feet than 37 feet). 

Fountaine Pajot made no secret about its intention to modernize the Dufour line, which was clearly a priority in the aesthetics of the 37. The freeboard is ample, the angular windows in the hull and coachroof are flashy and accent one another, and the integrated bowsprit forward gives the whole shooting match a sense of purpose and performance. Throw in a forward sun deck with an inflatable lounging pad that can be stashed away when not in use (the catamaran guys in the building surely had a say here), and you have a contemporary package in looks and feel. 

But dive in a little closer, and the recent Dufour DNA is also evident. Which isn’t surprising, considering that the naval architect is perennial Dufour designer Umberto Felci, the creative force behind the previous Grand Large assemblage. This boat has all the hallmarks we’ve come to expect in a Dufour offering in recent years: a traditional full-battened mainsail (not a furling main), a plumb bow, twin wheels and a single rudder, a roomy cockpit, a “plancha” grill aft, and a ­drop-down transom. 

I’m thinking about features like these because nowadays, I’m spending about half the year living aboard a “classic plastic” 36-foot production cruiser from the mid-1970s (see “Off Watch,” page 82), an experience that has convinced me that this size range is pretty ideal for a cruising couple. But the Dufour 37 has also driven home how much more voluminous and comfortable—thanks to major advancements in design and execution—a modern yacht in the 35-foot size range can be. Almost all that extra volume is attributable to the boat’s considerable beam (a generous 12 feet, 6 inches or a 3-to-1 length-beam ratio) that makes for fuller forward sections and that is carried well aft. Compared with my old Pearson, it’s absolutely astounding how much more square footage has been added to the interior of boats of similar lengths.

The 37 is available in two layouts: a three-­stateroom version with a pair of ­double staterooms aft, and a two-stateroom plan that was on our test boat (each has a single head, which is significantly larger in the latter version). Settees and tables in the salon and cockpit convert to bunks, which means the three-stateroom model can sleep eight people. I believe this reflects the communal French approach to cruising, where it’s not uncommon to see a small platoon of friends and family take to sea. For the ways I use a boat—with a significant other and occasional guests—the two-stateroom layout is ideal, and all the better for the massive stowage compartment you get in lieu of one of those aft staterooms.

Construction is straightforward, with an infused hull that incorporates a foam core above the waterline and a deck injected with closed-cell foam. The keel is fitted with a substantial ballast bulb for stiffness and stability. The standard engine is an 18.8 hp Volvo Penta, but our test boat had the optional 30 hp diesel (both are saildrive configurations) that caught the eye of Boat of the Year judge Ed Sherman. “There are a lot of nice, small touches here that make a difference,” he said. “For example, while motoring, the boat was among the quietest in our group this year, rivaling some of its competitors costing significantly more money.” 

At the end of the day, ­however, no matter what building methods have been employed or how many beds you’ve got, for me, on any sailboat, what matters most is simply the quality of the sailing experience. Otherwise, why buy a new sailboat? And I have to say, on that count, the Dufour 37 delivers big time. 

There are three performance packages available—Easy (with self-tacking jib), Ocean and Performance—with upgraded winch and hardware features as you ascend the performance scale. Our test boat was tricked out with an overlapping headsail, a whopper of an asymmetric spinnaker, and the related gear necessary for optimal trimming, which felt right; this isn’t a boat where you want to put a governor on the sailing experience. 

Chesapeake Bay was in a cooperative mood, with a solid 12 to 14 knots of southwesterly breeze pumping across the waters. Upwind, the boat was quick and easy to steer, but the highlight was setting the kite and attaining liftoff. Powered up, the boat was fast, reaching at more than 8 knots, and it tracked like a racehorse, but with a helm still under fingertip control. Our Boat of the Year panel enjoyed many a rocking great sail, and the Dufour 37 provided one of the more memorable.

In short, with its new landlords in place, Dufour still has changes coming. Yet, as the company approaches its 60th year of operation, it remains on a straight, smooth course.

Dufour 34 Specifications

Herb McCormick is a yachting correspondent for The New York Times and former editor-in-chief of Cruising World. An author of five ­nautical books, he’s owned several sailboats, including his current Pearson 365 and Pearson Ensign. 

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When France’s Groupe Beneteau purchased the Slovenian shipyard Seascape in 2018, it acquired designs, tooling and production facilities, along with a team of sailors who know how to build no-frills boats that are slippery and fast. And, yes, very fun to sail.

So much fun, in fact, that once Cruising World’s Boat of the Year judges named winners for the formal 2023 categories, we chose to conjure up a judges’ special recognition award for the First 36 as Best Sportboat. Our dilemma, you see, was that in the fleet of 17 sailboats we considered, there wasn’t really anything quite like the First 36 in terms of size or performance. But, oh, what a ride we had.

With about 12 knots of breeze blowing up a moderate chop, right out of the chute we hoisted a full main, set the big kite and were off, pegging 10 knots SOG on a broad reach. Later, in a bit more breeze and with the reacher safely stowed, we pounded upwind at close to 8 knots under the jib and single-reefed main. Big sail, little jib—it didn’t matter. The Jefa steering and twin rudders were buttery-smooth and totally in control.

Boat of the Year judge Herb McCormick noted: “This is a boat that was conceived ­working backward from the goal of a pure, unfettered sailing experience, and it fully delivers on that score. No surprise, our colleagues at the performance mag Sailing World honored it with their top Boat of the Year prize.”

Beneteau now has two First production lines, the First SE (SE stands for Seascape Edition and includes the former Seascape 14, 24 and 27) and the ­Beneteau-conceived First 44 and First 53 ­models. Like the First and First SEs up to 40 feet, the naval architect behind the 36 is Samuel Manuard. Design is by Lorenzo Argento (designer of the 44 and 53); structural details are by Pure Design & Engineering; and interior styling is by the Slovenian industrial design studio SITO. 

The idea was to build a boat equally adept at cruising as it is at doublehanded and club handicap racing. The trade-offs involved are immediately apparent when you step aboard through the First’s open transom and twin wheels. Removable cockpit boxes (with cushions) provide seating and storage in cruise mode, or can be left on the dock to make room for a racing crew. Hardware is all top notch, from suppliers such as Ronstan, Harken, Spinlock and Antal. The First even has fittings in the cockpit sole for a drop-leaf table that can come and go, depending on the type of sailing to be done.

On deck, jib sheets are routed through adjustable downhauls and inhauls that provide endless ways to shape the head sail. Forward, a 3-foot-3-inch composite sprit does double duty as an anchor roller and place to tack down off-wind sails.

The boat we sailed in Annapolis, Maryland, was fitted with the standard aluminum rig; a carbon-fiber mast is an option, as are several North Sails packages The First’s base price, posted online, is $260,000. But well fitted out, like the boat we sailed, a more realistic number is $350,000.

The First 36 is built using construction techniques in which all components are tied together to contribute to structural stiffness. Hull, deck, and interior bulkheads are vacuum-infused and cored to add stiffness and save weight. Furniture modules are also vacuum-infused and bonded to be part of the boat’s structure. Below, there is just enough wood used for fiddles and trim to give the interior, with LED lighting, a sense of warmth.

Beneteau initially offered just one keel configuration for the First, a 7-foot-5-inch ­cast-iron fin with a T-bulb down low. An option for a shoal-draft foil of 6 feet, 3 inches is in the works.

The builder also offers just one interior layout, with twin staterooms aft and a V-berth forward. There is a single head, also forward, that includes a shower, as well as a clever fold-up sink over the toilet to ­maximize usable space.

In the salon, an L-shaped galley with a sink, a two-burner stove and an oven is to port at the foot of the companionway; opposite is a sit-down nav station. In between, on centerline, there’s a stand-alone island icebox (a fridge is an option) whose top is at counter height, making it a handy place to set things down. Forward, two outboard settees flank a drop-leaf table. Both seats would make handy sea berths ­underway. As McCormick said, accommodations are more than ­adequate for spending ­extended time aboard, ­whether en route to a regatta or off coastal cruising on weekends or vacation. 

Here’s my take on the First 36: It might not be the boat for an owner looking for all the creature comforts of home in a dockside setting, but if the idea is to get out there and go sailing, well, it might be the ideal boat. 

Beneteau First 36 Specifications

Mark Pillsbury is a CW editor-at-large and served as a 2023 Boat of the Year judge.

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Speaking on behalf of the 2023 Boat of the Year team, I can say none of us could have predicted a better grand finale to our multiple days of sea trials that immediately followed the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, this past October. With 17 boats in the hunt for honors, we lucked out with two days of blue skies and honking northerlies, followed by a windshift to the south that picked up where the previous breezes left off. It was the first time I can remember when every entry enjoyed such generosity from the Chesapeake wind gods. And by the time we boarded our last vessel—the handsome and rugged Tartan 365—along with designer Tim Jackett, the whitecap-covered bay was the ideal venue for a performance cruiser to, well, perform.

I’ll let my colleague Herb McCormick, describe the scene: “On a sporty Chesapeake Bay day with choppy seas and gusty winds—the sort of conditions where prudence might’ve called for a reef or maybe two in the main—we instead opted for a full-hoist mainsail and were treated to one of the best test sails in our entire Boat of the Year sea trials. 

“With the efficient double-­headsail Cruise Control Rig, we dialed up the staysail, which provided plenty of grunt going to weather and ample horsepower off the breeze. At the wheel, the helm was light and exact; down below, out of the fray, all was tight and quiet. The 365 certainly wasn’t one of the larger boats in the contest, but the size and dimensions seem just about ideal for a cruising couple, and it was clear that the boat would happily take you just about anywhere you wished to go.”

Alrighty then. Once we’d all taken a turn at the wheel and confirmed the agility of the boat pounding to weather, we cracked off, furled the working jib, and rolled out the big reacher—a convenient way to shift gears using the Cruise Control Rig. With breeze abaft the beam, we headed for the United States Naval Academy and the mouth of the Severn River, the 365 trucking along as though riding on rails. And once we learned that it was Jackett’s first time aboard the boat under sail, we turned over the helm to its creator. We sat back and enjoyed what turned into a flat-water ride to remember through a long New England winter.

Tartan has been building boats in Ohio since 1960, and Jackett has been at the drawing board, initially in collaboration with Sparkman & Stephens and later with an in-house design team, since 1977. The decades-long ­collaboration has resulted in a long run of fine-sailing cruising sailboats, with deck layouts, equipment, and interior accommodations designed to meet the needs of owners who often sail shorthanded or with occasional family and guests aboard. Several models have won top honors in Cruising World’s Boat of the Year contests, including the 365, which was named 2023 Best Midsize Cruiser.

The company was purchased by Seattle Yachts in 2020, and during the pandemic, manufacturing was moved from Fairport Harbor to a new facility in Painesville, Ohio. Besides being chief designer, Jackett now also manages production.

The 365’s fiberglass hull is foam-cored and infused using epoxy vinylester resin; the deck is cored with balsa and infused with epoxy. Hull and deck penetrations are through solid-glass windows; aluminum plates are added to the laminate where hardware is mounted. The primary bulkheads are foam-cored too, with rich wood veneers on exposed surfaces. The boat we saw in Annapolis had a light-cherry interior and solid-wood furniture; teak and maple are also options. 

The layout and fit-and-finish of the interior are as upscale as they are practical. The owner’s berth is forward. In the salon, a centerline drop-leaf table sits just abaft the mast, with settees to either side. A galley is aft and to port; a full nav station sits opposite. There’s generous counter space for a boat of this size, and deep fiddles will keep dishes and ingredients where they belong underway. Abaft the companionway, there’s a double-berth guest stateroom to port and a head to ­starboard, with stowage behind. All told, there can be berths for six to seven crew.

I really liked the look of the cherry furniture and ­aqua-colored cushions set off against a white cabin top. The interior popped.

Tartan makes its own carbon-fiber masts and booms, both of which come as standard equipment. Jackett says that they add to the vessel’s inherent stability because they reduce weight aloft and the tendency for hobbyhorsing in a seaway. The 365 in Annapolis sported an optional Leisure Furl boom that worked flawlessly when we set sail. The single rudder has a carbon-fiber shaft, held in place by Jefa bearings, making the twin-helm Edson steering butter-smooth.

If I had a need to pick a nit, it would be the cam cleats used to secure the furling lines for the headsails. They are located along the lifelines, just outside the port cockpit coaming, where they can be inadvertently released, as we found out during one of our upwind tacks. A cleat or other positive locking mechanism would be an easy fix, I’d guess.

Otherwise, I thought that the topsides ergonomics worked quite well. Hardware and electronics from Harken, Raymarine and the like were top-notch, and sails were by Sobstad. There was plenty of room abaft the wheels to work, seating forward in the cockpit was comfortable, and the wide side decks going forward were easy to traverse. Overall, the feeling was snug, I noted, which it should be on a cruising boat, where the crew wants to sail safely and stay rested for the long haul.

Perhaps my fellow judge Ed Sherman summed up the Tartan 365 most succinctly: “First class all the way here.” 

Tartan 365 Specifications

Boat of the Year judge and CW editor­-at-large Mark Pillsbury is a die-hard sailor who has owned a number of sailboats, including a Sabre 34, on which he lived for 15 years.

The post Sailboat Review: Tartan 365 appeared first on Cruising World.

In the ongoing history of production-yacht construction, one of the more astonishing lists covers what seemed like iconic, top-notch sailboat brands—Little Harbor, Alden, Valiant and Tayana, to name a few—that have simply ceased to exist. But then there’s the story of shipyards such as Sweden’s Hallberg-Rassy, named for the founding boatbuilders Harry Hallberg and Christoph Rassy. In one iteration or another, it’s been knocking out boats for 80 years now. After splashing nearly 10,000 yachts, it shows no signs of slowing. 

There are lots of reasons for this longevity, a major one being that once a sailor has owned a Hallberg-Rassy, at some point he or she will likely trade up or down for another one. Quality, after all, begets quality, and it’s a testament to the brand that there are so many repeat customers. 

Another strong ­reason is that, with the ­brilliant Argentine naval architect Germán Frers driving Hallberg-Rassy’s design efforts for several decades, the company has continued to evolve. 

At no time has this been more evident than with Frers’ latest creation: the aft-cockpit, twin-rudder, performance-­oriented Hallberg-Rassy 400. (A sistership, the Hallberg-Rassy 40 C, shares the same hull but has the center-cockpit configuration that’s synonymous with the company.) As a judge in our 2023 Boat of the Year competition, I was part of the unanimous panel that named the 400 our Import Boat of the Year. 

With its integrated bowsprit, triple-spreader Seldén rig, rectangular hull windows and dual helm stations, the 400 at first glance appears to occupy the same sort of territory we’re used to seeing from all the hot French naval architects who dominate contemporary sailboat design. Yet here is an important difference: no chines. In the pursuit of a seakindly ride and good manners offshore, Frers has instead gone with a rounder hull form, not a V-shape—a most effective approach. 

With the plumb bow, Frers has also maximized the waterline, which is something you notice as soon as you step aboard: The 400 seems like a much larger vessel than 40 feet. But don’t fret, Hallberg-Rassy aficionados: Frers has kept one of the line’s signature features, the nifty windshield that accents the front edge of the cockpit, with the traveler and a pair of solar panels stationed just forward. 

It’s a beamy boat (another reason for the sense of volume and space on board). That beam is carried well aft, a fact that necessitated the twin wheel/rudder setup, which also provides the benefit of total control when well-heeled under sail. The double helms and a split backstay allow easy access to the optional drop-down swim platform aft. While a self-tacking jib is also an option, the standard headsail is slightly overlapped, about 110 percent, which is big enough to provide plenty of power but is still easily tacked. The sheet leads run between the inboard and outboard shrouds, giving the skipper very tight sheeting angles to optimize closehauled upwind performance while making egress unimpeded when moving forward or aft along the side decks. I’m having an extremely difficult time understanding why every builder doesn’t do this.

The hand-laid laminate construction includes a Divinycell PVC foam core for insulation and a favorable strength-to-weight ratio, and what the company calls an integrated “keel stiffener,” an internal reinforcement that runs longitudinally and fore and aft, and is laminated to the hull, as is the hull/deck bond, capped by a formidable bulwark. The result is a strong, robust, monolithic structure. The stiffener negates the need for a central bulkhead in the interior, and this, along with the deck-stepped mast, truly opens up the inviting central salon. 

Mahogany is standard for the interior furniture, though our test boat had the inviting European oak option. The joiner work is nothing less than exquisite; the Swedes are certainly craftsmen of the highest order. Tankage (two fuel tanks and three water tanks) is centralized in the hull, again in the interest of optimizing performance. 

There is a trio of different layouts, the major differences being the choice of one or two staterooms aft, one or two heads, and three designs for the owner’s stateroom forward. Options include a ­dishwasher, washing machine, extra freezer, lee cloths, TV and so on. Our test boat had retractable bow and stern thrusters, electric furling for the main and jib, electric winches, and air conditioning, all optional. 

Interestingly, our test boat lacked a generator (the owner, who was aboard for our sea trials, laughed and said, “I don’t want to service two engines”). Our in-house tech guru and Boat of the Year judge, Ed Sherman, definitely approved. “This boat was one of several in our group that has taken a no-generator approach,” he said. “Using Mastervolt lithium batteries and both 12- and 24-volt electrical subsystems, this fully equipped cruiser will regenerate battery voltage via the 60 hp main engine when needed. It was beautifully executed.”

Our test sail got off to a ­disappointing start, as the wind on Chesapeake Bay was nearly imperceptible. But it slowly filled in, and while the breeze never topped 10 knots, the performance was eye-opening, especially when we unleashed the code zero headsail tacked to the bowsprit and reached off at nearly 8 knots, an impressive number given the conditions. Those twin wheels with ­rack-and-pinion steering provided exact fingertip control, and the sightlines sitting well outboard were terrific. It’s a boat built to go places with style and efficiency. 

Frers has been at this game for quite some time now, but clearly, he hasn’t lost his fastball. Hallberg-Rassy has built its reputation on tough boats that fare well under sail in the stormy northern seas, and the 400 ratchets up the performance side of the equation. That’s what you get when the worlds of tradition and advancement collide. 

Hallberg-Rassy 400 Specifications

Herb McCormick is former editor-in-chief of Cruising World and the yachting correspondent for The New York Times. An author of five nautical books, he’s owned several sailboats, including his current Pearson 365 and Pearson Ensign.

The post Sailboat Review: 2023 Boat of the Year Hallberg-Rassy 400 appeared first on Cruising World.

Over the years, I’ve heard marketing folks offer some pretty ambitious descriptions of a given vessel’s aims and capabilities. A couple of years ago, a sales rep said that I could take his company’s new 40-something-footer and “do a Bermuda Race on it, or live aboard, or sail around the world.” Except the deck layout was horrible for racing, the galley and storage were too tight for long-term ­habitation, and there wasn’t nearly enough tankage for crossing oceans. In reality, it was a pretty fair coastal cruiser. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t win any prizes.

In sharp contrast to that experience, it was refreshing to step aboard the Voyage 590. The marketing was actually the straightforward skinny: This 59-foot cat, built in South Africa, is a high-end charter boat with a half-dozen equally sumptuous staterooms. Not a long-range cruiser. Not for living aboard. 

What’s more, it has one and only one chartering venue: the British Virgin Islands, from a base at Tortola’s Soper’s Hole. Not the Mediterranean or South Pacific—just the BVI. Simple, no? What wasn’t said is that the 590 is an engineering marvel that addresses its design writ superbly. But I was about to discover all that on my own. 

Voyage founders Robin and Jo-Ann Downing set out from South Africa to the Caribbean aboard their own boat—a custom monohull design that Robin was not only sailing, but also selling—nearly 40 years ago. They then returned home and switched allegiances to cruising catamarans. The first two Voyage cats launched in 1995. By 2017, Voyage ran some 30 charter boats in the BVI and offered dedicated cruising boats beyond those sold into their ­charter-management program. 

Then Hurricane Irma happened, decimating their fleet. With help from their three kids (and their spouses), the Downings regrouped and carried forth with their family-run BVI charter business. It is now replenishing its charter-boat numbers, at this time exclusively with the 590. Going forward, the company has completed preliminary designs for “owner’s layouts” with fewer staterooms, as well as different amenities for long-range cruising and living aboard. The first is expected to launch in early 2024.

Phil Southwell is the ­company’s current naval ­architect of record, but the 590’s concept, layout and objective are all Robin Downing’s. And he is clear about what he was after. 

“It’s a six-cabin layout with slightly different configurations but all of equal size,” he said. “It fills a niche in the market.” 

Of course, not everyone wants to vacation with a dozen companions, but if you do, here you go. Bareboats are available to super-qualified sailors—we’re basically talking longtime, repeat customers—but many charter parties go all-inclusive with a captain and chef, or at least a captain. Which makes sense. The 590 is a lot of boat, my friends. As such, it was named Best Charter Boat in CW’s 2022 Boat of the Year competition. 

The comfort of vacationers was on Downing’s mind when it came to propulsion and charging systems. The 590 is available in a dedicated all-electric version, or a hybrid setup with a diesel engine for propulsion augmented by a set of Bellmarine electric generators (and accompanying solar panels). In all instances, there’s a bank of lithium-ion batteries. Voyage wants its guests to enjoy full nights of air-conditioned comfort without the noise and bother of a diesel generator. Anyone who has picked up a mooring in a crowded BVI anchorage will also appreciate this silence.

“It’s a techy boat, and they’re doing a lot of cool things with lithium tech and 24-volt systems,” BOTY judge and systems expert Ed Sherman said. “In terms of the systems integration, they’re using very high-end inverters with variable-speed air-conditioning systems that step down as it gets cooler at night. That’s pretty cool stuff. They’ve selected the MG lithium battery banks, which were originally created and designed by Victron Energy in Europe. And there are a lot of refrigeration units on board. They want to make sure the beer is chilled, and they went to great lengths to ensure that it is.”

Nothing is simple about the 590’s construction, including the hand-laid, three-piece hull mold. There’s another vast mold for the deck. All of it, including the structural grid, is foam-cored and vacuum-­bagged in a laminate that incorporates a vinylester skin. It’s all extremely solid and well-executed. 

How to describe the rest of the boat? My notes had two related entries: “laid out for gracious living” and “party palace.” Both were meant to be high compliments.

Stashed in the hulls, those aforementioned six staterooms—four with athwartships bunks, and another pair with fore-and-aft berths—are indeed of equal size and appointments, though with different color schemes and accoutrements for a bit of variety. Topside and aft, swim platforms in each hull step up to a wide boarding platform that accesses the cockpit, with sliding doors that lead to the saloon. With those doors open, the layout makes for a sweeping, integrated space. There’s an outdoor grill, naturally, and a couple of members of the related fridge family. The dining table is long and wide enough for the entire New England Patriots offensive unit. 

The galley is forward with a window for ventilation and easy entree to a forward cockpit, in the event one wishes to throw separate parties at the same time. Five steps lead up to the flybridge, which hosts all the sailing controls and running rigging, ably tamed by a trio of electric stainless-­steel Andersen winches and a series of Spinlock clutches managing color-coded lines. A single wheel is to starboard, with engine controls for the twin Yanmars and a suite of B&G instrumentation. There’s a hard Bimini overhead with windows to the mainsail, in addition to the windshield. Sun pads for lounging are here, there and everywhere. 

The gargantuan mainsail is of course raised by an electric winch, and I was surprised to see what I thought was a black carbon laminate, but it turned out to be Dacron painted black (it still looked cool as could be). The next surprise under sail was the steering, which I thought would be hydraulic on such a beast of a boat. It turned out to be a standard wire Lewmar arrangement that wasn’t exactly sensitive, but it was more than adequate. In 8 to 10 knots of breeze upwind, we made better than 6 knots and sped up to better than 7 on a reach. The fact that these boats are delivered on their own bottom to the Caribbean is a testament to their seaworthiness. 

I asked Robin about top-end boatspeed, and with a look of mock horror, he said: “You don’t want to ever do more than 12 on this boat. It’s 26 tons.” He then listed the many things you’d need to compromise to go faster: slender hulls (which would erase the spaciousness of the accommodations), a higher bridge deck (ditto) and so on. Besides, on the 590, haste is definitely not the point of the exercise. 

BOTY judge Gerry Douglas said that the 590 reminded him of “a boutique hotel.” His words ring true to me, and I personally would be more than happy to check in anytime. 

Voyage 590 Specifications

The post Sailboat Review: Voyage 590 appeared first on Cruising World.

This February, I was on a powerboat off Anse Marcel on the French side of the Caribbean island of Saint-Martin when a fleet of fast performance-cruising multihulls set sail into the windy Anguilla Channel for the rally portion of the annual Caribbean Multihull Challenge. A pair of Balance 442 cats named Sage and Umoya, with reefed mains and drawing spinnakers, were blasting their way into the channel’s whitecapped waters, roiled by the 20-plus-knot easterly trade winds. 

Though they were practically the smallest cats in the fray, the 442s were more than holding their own against the bigger craft, which included a quartet of Balance 482s (including company president and founder Phil Berman’s In Balance). Five months earlier, during our annual Boat of the Year contest, I’d sailed the very same Umoya in somewhat lighter air. Now I knew what the 442s looked like under sail in sportier conditions while hauling the mail: buoyant, sprightly and packed with horsepower. The yacht’s angular aesthetics are crisp, clean and, to my eye, quite fetching. There’s a deck-stepped mast and a working sail plan consisting of a big, square-topped fully battened mainsail and self-tacking jib; relatively narrow hulls with high freeboard and curved, wave-piercing bows that maximize waterline length; an integral sprit for the reaching and running sails; and a substantial coachroof topped with solar panels
and accented by generous, tempered-glass windows. 

Balance Catamarans are built in South Africa, where almost 500 employees operate out of two separate facilities, building about 25 boats a year spanning several models. They all share, as Berman told me, a common purpose and the same DNA: They’re performance-oriented, liveaboard cruising boats that are bluewater capable and sail well on all points of sail. The carbon-infused daggerboards, a feature shared with every model in the brand, are largely responsible for their notable windward ability. 

The build, systems and layout are, at once, both complex and straightforward. The hand-laid hull and deck laminates are vacuum-bagged and employ a vinylester outer skin with a polyester inner skin sandwiching a closed-cell foam core with carbon reinforcements in high-load areas (and in the structural crossbeams). To keep the ­vessel as light as possible without compromising strength, the bulkheads and furniture are foam-cored. 

While the contemporary construction techniques and materials are decidedly high-tech, the power and charging systems aren’t especially complicated; Berman said that another overall goal was to keep the boats as simple as possible to sail and operate. For example, Ed Sherman, our BOTY judge who concentrates on systems, was somewhat surprised that the builder did not opt for the digital-­switching configurations so prevalent now across the industry. Still, he liked what he saw, perhaps even more so.  

“This boat is yet another variation of the ‘no-dedicated-­onboard-generator direction’ we are moving in. It uses integral engine-driven alternators—in this case, a pair of them—that create 48-volt power and run this power through Victron converters to run 24- or 12-volt appliances (or the 48-volt equipment just becoming available in the marine marketplace). Energy is stored in lithium-ion battery banks and can be run through DC/AC inverters to run 120- or 220-volt AC appliances. I see the future of onboard electrical systems on this boat.” 

The accommodations plans are also well-thought-out. At 44 feet length overall, and with the daggerboards to account for, this boat has less interior volume than you’d find on other production cats in this size range. But the Balance team maximized the space available, particularly with the big sliding-glass doors that, when open, incorporate the interior lounge, galley and salon with the cockpit. There’s a choice of four staterooms or, as we had on our test boat, three. In the latter setup, a pair of double-berth ­staterooms are to port (one with an athwartship berth forward and a fore-and-aft bunk aft) while a dedicated owner’s stateroom spans the hull to starboard. In either configuration, stowage is abundant. 

The deck also has nifty things of note: the dual mainsheet system that allows the boom angle to be fine-tuned, negating the need for a traveler; the taut, split trampolines forward that provide an excellent bridle system for the ground tackle centered between them; the grab rails on the coachroof top, serving as handholds and rain catchers; the dedicated winch forward for the spinnaker halyard or code zero; and the huge sail locker that can be accessed from the deck. The davit system also works well. Ullman sails are standard. For electronics, owners can choose Garmin or Raymarine kit.

It was under sail, however, that I truly began to appreciate the 442’s proportions, and came to realize what an ideal-size boat this is for a cruising couple. It’s large enough to address most any cruisers’ plans and itinerary, but not so big that you need to bring additional crew on board to go cruising. 

Our test sail was conducted in considerably more mellow conditions than those off Anse Marcel, but in a building southerly that topped out around 15 knots, there was more than enough breeze to strut the 442’s stuff. The VersaHelm that’s offered on every Balance lives up to its name: The convertible wheel can be locked down at cockpit level in inclement conditions, out of the weather, though thanks to those wide windows, there’s good visibility. Or it can be raised up to the elevated helm station to starboard, where a pair of winches and three sets of rope clutches serve the color-coded ­running rigging that’s all right at hand. The engine controls and instrumentation are mounted here as well, making this an easy boat to sail solo. 

We tacked upwind to gain sea room, gliding along at a pretty effortless 8-plus knots, then swapped the jib for the code zero, turned and burned on a broad reach, and easily topped 11 knots. That was clearly the cat’s sweet spot. It was evident that you could easily match that speed for miles and miles and, on passage, knock out consistent 200-plus-mile days. 

To sum up, what you get with the Balance 442 is comfort at anchor and performance underway. Sounds to me like it all balances out.

Balance 442 Specifications

Herb McCormick is former editor-in-chief of Cruising World and the yachting correspondent for The New York Times. The author of five nautical books, he’s owned several sailboats, including his current Pearson 365 and Pearson Ensign.

The post Sailboat Review: Performance Catamaran Balance 442 appeared first on Cruising World.

Once the Boat of the Year team was aboard the Neel 43 trimaran and we had the sails set, it didn’t take me long to find my sweet spot. You know, the place you want to sit and watch the miles fly by as the hulls slice through the waves. Nearly every boat I’ve sailed has one, though sometimes it’s hard to find.

But not on the Neel.

With my fellow judges at work at the raised helm station, I stepped from the wheel onto the wide starboard side deck, took a couple of steps down into the ­cockpit, and wandered into the brightly lit salon where the door to the owner’s cabin was open, as though beckoning in a visitor. Inside, I sat on the edge of the fore-and-aft double berth, set a hand on the bunk, and leaned over to gaze out the long horizontal window, imagining coming off watch and lying there to drift off to sleep. Or waking up in some exotic anchorage, with morning sunlight streaking in. Even dockside, during our preliminary inspection of the boat and a briefing with Neel founder Eric Bruneel, that was the space that caught my eye.

On the inboard side of the stateroom, a long horizontal glass panel covered by an ­adjustable shade looks in toward the center of the boat and over the inline galley ­located on the salon’s starboard side. Forward, there are more windows that let you look ahead at where you’re ­going. Aft, a light-colored wood bulkhead separates the cabin from the head compartment at the rear of the salon. With storage outboard of the berth, it’s a well-laid-out space for living aboard.

Described by Bruneel as a “fast cruiser,” the Neel 43 is designed to sail comfortably at 9 to 10 knots and knock off 250-mile trade-wind days. That description wasn’t far off, from what we saw the day we went sailing on Chesapeake Bay, right after the close of the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland. The wind was light when set out, only about 8 knots, but we hustled right along upwind at 6 to 7 knots with the twin-headsail rig’s smaller inner jib set. Later, with the reaching sail rolled out in just a bit more breeze, we added a knot or more. During my trick on the wheel, I spotted 8.2 knots on the speedo for a spell.

And the sailing was easy, thanks to the buoyancy of the leeward hull that minimizes heel, and the fact that all the weight—engine, tanks, pumps and filters—is located low in the center hull. That, combined with the interior space made possible by spreading accommodations over three hulls, is what makes these trimarans comfortable at sea, Bruneel says.

Neel builds its trimarans at its yard in La Rochelle, France. The 43 is the smallest model in a five-boat range that goes up to 65 feet. The 43 is a Marc Lombard design.

Hulls and deck are made of resin-infused fiberglass with foam coring to save weight. Where practical in nonstructural areas, the yard uses natural fibers such as linen and cork rather than fiberglass, in a push toward greener boatbuilding. 

The fit-and-finish of the boat we looked at in Annapolis was noteworthy. The cockpit has a table to port with an L-shaped seating area outboard and aft, located under the Bimini top. To starboard is a grill built into the transom, as well as a cushioned lounging area beneath the helm station.

A wall of glass, with a large opening door and window, spans the aft side of the wide cabin, whose other three sides are lined with ports so that from the interior, one has nearly 360-degree visibility.

A second table is located just inside the salon, to port, also with L-shaped seating. Outboard of it, there’s a guest cabin, separated from the salon by another glass partition. 

An additional seating area and nav station equipped with a B&G chart plotter, displays, autopilot control and radio are far forward on the port side of the salon, with the well-appointed galley opposite. A third crew cabin is four steps down, in the forepeak of the center hull. 

Beneath the main hull’s sole is an equipment room providing excellent access to the motor (a 50 hp Volvo with saildrive), steering ­quadrant, systems and electrical ­boxes—a true engine room, which is hard to find on a boat in this size range. 

“It had absolutely the best service access to systems of all the boats we looked at this year,” Boat of the Year judge Ed Sherman noted. 

Topside, broad side decks make it easy to move about. There is a wide seat at the helm, with room for three. All sail-control lines run across the cabin top to a bank of line clutches and a pair of winches, all from Antal, that are easily reached while steering. Singlehanding the Neel would not be a problem. 

The boat in Annapolis sported an Intracoastal Waterway-friendly 62-foot aluminum spar; a carbon-fiber rig is an option. The boat also came equipped with three 170-watt solar panels and a bow thruster. Loaded with gear, it carried a price tag of $575,000.

Overall, I thought that the Neel’s open-living layout would be just fine for a couple who might have occasional guests aboard for a passage, or a small family with children out for an extended cruise. But I’ll give Boat of the Year judge Herb McCormick the last word here: “It was a remarkably fun and exciting boat to sail, a light and lovely helm. Eric Bruneel has amply demonstrated that if you’re looking to go the multihull route, a trimaran is a viable alternative to a cat.” 

Neel 43 Trimaran Specifications

Mark Pillsbury, Boat of the Year judge and CW editor-­at-large, is a die-hard sailor who has owned a number of sailboats, including a Sabre 34, on which he lived for 15 years.

The post Sailboat Review: Neel 43 Trimaran appeared first on Cruising World.