Dufour is one of the oldest French production builders still in business. In 1974 I raced a Dufour Arpege in the Chicago-Mackinac race. The Arpege was an older design at that time. This latest Dufour,

This month we have two new European builds to review, the Dehler 38 SQ and the Dufour 430 Grand Large. It would be nice to compare the differences in the two designs, but most of the differences are i

Here’s a handsome new design by my friend Kevin Dibley. Kevin is a very good designer and a nice guy. The builder is Lyman-Morse and the company’s pedigree goes back many years. I have been to tha

This month we have two very nice cruising boats to review. It’s hard these days to clearly define “cruising boat.” My definition is any boat that you can cruise. That leaves a lot of latitude.&n

Leopard Catamarans has 25 years of cruising catamaran experience. The result is this new 42-foot model that builds off the success of the Leopard 40 model along with advances in styling made with the

The French catamaran builder Catana started building cruising cats 20 years ago, and at that time, cruising cats were far from mainstream. If you went to the Annapolis boat show back then you might se

I was cruising through Facebook one morning and I saw a post that referenced a “Robert Perry Yacht Design Fan Club.” I thought it must be a joke, so I did a search. I found a very well-compos

Here’s a new Beneteau Oceanis model that ticks all the boxes. About the only thing I can see that’s not offered is a hard dodger and that would be hard to work in with this deck plan. The thing th

This new catamaran was designed by VPLP with an interior design from Patrick Le Quement. Like almost all cruising cats the profile is a bit brutal and this is a function of pulling all the beam—21 f

If my buddy calls and invited me for a sail aboard his new daysailer I think I have a pretty good idea what to expect and how to prepare for the day. I’d bring some bottled water, sunscreen, a sandw

We have two high-performance daysailers to review this month. Both boats are promoted as daysailers, which begs the question: “Exactly what is a daysailer?” Is it a boat you sail during the day? A

Every month I pester my editor Greta, “Find me something interesting. Find me something I can sink my teeth into.” Well, this month she has outdone herself. Thanks Greta. I think the most fun for

I get some unusual design commissions but this is the first time another yacht designer has asked me to design a boat for him. Rob Leighton­—I call him Capt. Rob—is an accomplished yacht des

Here’s an unusual catamaran project from my old friend Dudley Dix. It’s unusual because the client was Phil Harvey, builder of the Gunboat cats in South Africa, Dudley’s previous home. Dudley an

Ithink it was about eight years ago when I heard that Chuck Paine had retired. I was incredulous. How do you walk away from your life? I called Chuck and found him a bit bitter due to the complication

If you were walking the docks last weekend you probably didn’t notice the three old codgers sitting on the bench at the end of the pier. No reason you should except for the fact that the three of th

The newest boat in the Dufour line is the 530 designed by Felci Yacht Design. When I review a new boat I look for some defining feature that sets it apart from the competition. In this case we have a

This is the newest boat from the Arcona yard in Gustavsberg, Sweden. I think it is the perfect size for family cruising. Nothing is overwhelming. Space is tight but you can get everything you need in