The Excess 14 was in high demand for test sails following the Annapolis Sailboat Show in October. It was easy to see why as the boat swung by my pickup point at the end of the South Annapolis Yacht Ce

It was about 5 a.m., I was awake and listening to the rain, thinking about my sailing reviews due later that morning. I began to think of all the production sailboats that were built in the U.S. in th

According to the Bavaria brochure, the C46 offers “ideal conditions for the ambitious sailor who values not only performance and easy handling, but also comfort and a sense of style.” The design i

In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Beneteau First cruiser-racers were winning regattas across the world. The popularity of multipurpose boats waned over the decades, with racing and cruising

Owners tend to wax enthusiastic about the Cabo Rico 38 cutter, attesting to its quality construction and ability to handle heavy seas during offshore passages. Mike and Linda Nixon of Sharpsburg, Geor

For this review, I should save the surprise for the end, but why make you wait? About a month ago, around midnight, depending on the version of the story, I rolled out of bed and fractured my bac

Nautor says, “The first Swan 51 represented a landmark in the inspirational evolution of the Nautor Swan brand.  Launched in 1981, the model marked the first collaboration between Swan and the

It will be fun to see what happens when we compare two catamarans with similar L/Ds using both hulls, and similar L/Ds using each hull individually, while reducing LOA by 9.62 feet.  The 48 Open

The Catana Group is launching its 14th Bali catamaran model, the 5.8, in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the line. The promo blurb says “always bigger,” and I’m not going to argue with

I first met Tim Kernan about 20 years ago when he was attending The Landing School of Boatbuilding and Design in Maine, taking its yacht design course. The students are required to complete an in

Dufour is a French builder that has been around as long or longer than I have been designing. Its Arpege model was hugely successful and began life as a half-tonner. This new Dufour is aimed at the cr

The Hunter Vision 32 has been described as a lazy sailor’s boat because it’s so effortless to sail. Key characteristics aboard this sloop mirror those found on earlier Freedom Yachts boats design

The newest design in the Elan series of cruising boats is this Rob Humphreys-designed Elan Impression 43, which marks 20 years of Humphreys designs for Elan. The deck is designed by the Pininfarina st

Regular readers probably know that years ago Mark Mills was an intern in my office. He was fun to have around and really knew sailing. I would listen to him talking to my clients on the phone with his

Now for that contrast I mentioned earlier: The Rapido 40 designed by Morrelli & Melvin in southern California, is a high-performance, high-tech, folding trimaran built by Triac Composites in Ho Ch

We have two very contrasting designs to review this month. The first is this very special design that I’ll call a “weekender” although there’s nothing to stop it from sailing out for a mo

It was a brisk autumn day, which also meant there was wind. That isn’t always the case on the Chesapeake Bay, and I was looking forward to sailing in the best conditions I’d seen all week. The day

When Yves-Marie, Chuck and I left Dick Carter’s tower in Nahant, Massachusetts, to try it on our own I don’t think either of us knew where the future would take us in the world of yacht design. We