X-Yachts is introducing a third line of boats to complement  its Xp (performance) models and Xc (cruising) models. The range will be the X series and the first one will be the X6 followed by this X4 model at 41 feet LOA. I have been a fan of the X-Yachts models for many years. Its in-house design team does a great job with both styling and performance. The new X series will combine comfort and speed with the latest build technologies and exceptionally high-quality materials.Schedule

The Jeanneau 64—the French builder’s new flagship built in its state-of-the-art facility—and I go way back. I happened to be visiting the plant in late 2013 when the very first 64 was making its way down the production line. 

 This new Oceanis model from Beneteau makes a very good contrast to the J112E. The biggest difference is that J/112E might be more appealing to the skipper inclined to do some racing while the Oc

The Melges 24 may not have been the first “sportboat” but it sure kicked the design of sportboats in the pants good and hard. The gloves came off. The new 40, designed by Botin Partners Naval Architecture, appears to be an extension of the same all or nothing approach to a 40-foot one-design sportboat. That’s a lot of sport. 

Here is the latest J/Boats entry into the cruising boat field. I’m going to assume the design is a collaborative in-house effort like the other J/Boats. Many thanks to J/Boats for providing me with actual design drawings.  I have said this before in the reviews but the cruising boats that J/Boats has produced have always managed to echo my own thoughts on what the perfect cruising boat would be for me. They combine comfort, efficiency and style into a total design package that I find very appealing. It would work for me.

The Miami Boat Show is a catamaran sailor’s fantasy venue. Leading multihull manufacturers from around the world display not just their latest models, but in many cases their full range of boats. There’s no denying that spacious cruising cats with their mix of outdoor and indoor living spaces are ideal for tropical waters and the palm-tree-lined Miami setting is apropos. Every year we review at least one cat after the show and this year we chose the popular Leopard 44.

 I can’t remember when I did not associate the name Chris White with offshore multihulls. Chris has always had his own approach and he has been successful with it. Chris is probably best k

 To my eye, designer Pierre Delion designed the Explocat with comfort in mind. The D/L is 133 and that indicates a boat of “medium” displacement. But a warning here. The displacement listed i

 My son took my 4-year-old granddaughter sailing in our new dinghy for the first time last weekend. I asked her, “Did you like sailing, Violet?” She said, “Yes, but I didn’t like tipping.

Beneteau introduced its latest model at the Strictly Sail Miami boat show in February, and while the sleek Oceanis 41.1 had a steady stream of admirers, dreamers and serious buyers, I confess it left me feeling just a bit nostalgic. Don’t get me wrong, the 41.1 is undeniably modern. Silky smooth lines with a full-length chine, a low-slung cabintop gracefully disguising generous freeboard, wide beam carried aft and long ends leave no doubt that the Finot-Conq 41.1 hull design will look fresh a decade from now. What intrigued me was the multifaceted aspect of the design. 

 Forty years ago Rod Johnstone built a boat in his garage. He did his own design work. It took Rod 17 months to finish the build and in May 1976 Ragtime was launched. That summer of racing saw Ragtime win 15 out of 17 races. People were paying attention to the fast, plain-looking 24-footer and asking “Can you build one for me?” 

 I remember my first sail on a multihull. It was 1963 and the boat was a 17-foot Cougar Cat owned by some friends. At that time there were a few one-design cat classes starting up but none really caught on until Hobie started building his cats. But cruising multihulls would remain scarce for many more years. There were various designers promoting catamarans and trimarans but they were mostly aimed at selling plans to home builders. The multihull world was a bit “cultish” and most certainly far from mainstream.

 Now we come to the boat I chose as the most noteworthy racing boat of the last 50 years. This was a hard choice. I chose Bill Lee’s design Merlin. But Merlin was not designed to the IOR so Merlin was quickly followed by another Bill design, the Santa Cruz 70, essentially an IOR-friendly version of Merlin. Why are these boats so important? Four words: Ultra Light Displacement Boat or ULDB. 

 
 I chose the Valiant for the cruising category because it is generally considered the boat that began the move to “performance cruisers.” There were plenty of fast cruising boats before the Valiant but I think the Valiant is remembered for a couple of reasons. The term “performance cruiser” was attached to the V-40 early on and it became an easy way to identify the type. Also, the V-40 was a distinctive looking design that was very easy to recognize. People like what they know. And yes, I can’t deny it, I am the proud designer of the V-40. So with that in mind I will try to be objective.

 Four decades ago, yacht designer Robert H. Perry challenged a review of one of his designs that had been published in SAILING Magazine, saying he could do a better job on design reviews. Then-editor Micca Hutchins took him up on his offer and his first design review—of an Allton Dunsford and Son-designed 26-footer called Carolina—was published in the April 1975 issue of SAILING.

 The 1975 sales brochure described the Westsail 28 as a world cruiser and the boat lived up to that promise. Although only 78 hulls were built, far fewer than the impressively popular Westsail 32, most of the small cruisers are still sailing the far-flung corners of the globe. 

The MC31 one-design, built by McConaghy Boats in Australia, looks to be a very fast boat. The design is most interesting but I really had to dig through the company’s material to find the designer’s name, Harry Dunning. 

The Salona 35 is built in Croatia and was designed by the Slovenian design team J&J. This is a very nice looking boat in the genre of the true dual-purpose boat. You can race this boat or you can cruise this boat. It is designed to be well suited to both uses. Kind of the way Islanders, Pearsons and Ericsons were back in the 1970s. Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?