It’s a testament to the progressive design of the original J/97 that the new boat, the J/97 Evolution, required only modest design upgrades to make it stylistically competitive with the brand-

If you’ve ever imagined steering a rocketship but had your dreams dampened because you’re not a NASA astronaut, I have good news for you. The new C&C 30 one-design race boat provides fast acceleration, light-air performance and so much exhilaration you’ll be convinced this is exactly how it feels to hurtle through space as the hull planes across the water. And it doesn’t take long to grow accustomed to leaving slower boats in your wake.

 The Beneteau Oceanis 35 designed by Finot-Conq appears to be a very versatile design aimed at hitting a wide segment of the market. There is a daysailer model, a weekender model and a cruiser mo

This new model from Bavaria was designed by the Farr office in partnership with Design Unlimited. I’m not exactly sure who designed what but I think it’s safe to assume that the hull, appendages a

It’s said that the Dutch invented daysailing, and Didden Jachtbouw’s Koopmans 28 SQ daysailer shows that the Dutch still know how to enjoy a day on the water.  A good daysailer need only sa

Judel/Vrolijk is the design name behind this new Varianta model, built as an entry boat for the Hanse line. It’s a clean-looking boat with modest styling, and it is a little more conventional lookin

This new Elan model was designed by Rob Humphreys in the UK with an interior design by Gigo Design. I’ve been a Humphreys fan for many years. His designs always appeal to my eye, and he has a very g

I like the look of this new Marlow-Hunter. To my eye, the look combines European-styling elements with U.S.-style proportions. I find it a good look and well done considering the volume they were

Sailors who cruise in regions that experience summer calms will love Island Packet’s SP Cruiser Mk 2. The SP is a motorsailer designed as a cross between a trawler and sailboat; a boat equally at ho

In my perfect world it’s always 9:30 Sunday morning, about 65 degrees and a little sunny. I am finishing washing my big, dark Mercedes, while listening to Bach’s “Matthew Passion” on CBC2’s

Here’s a boat designed by my old friend Mark Mills that has a lot of people talking. The first boat is sailing and so far there have been big smiles all around. This new boat enters a tough niche in

The RM890 is a very interesting Marc Lombard design built by RM Yachts of France. One of the most interesting features of this boat is that it is built with plywood and epoxy using a multichine hull f

When Tony Castro designed the Jeanneau Sunshine 38 in the early 1980s, many other naval architects had not yet caught up with the notion that sailors might want a comfortable cruising yacht that was a

There was a time when only the largest production boats were customizable. But why should only owners of big boats get what they really want in an affordable production boat? Beneteau recognized owners’ desires to have the boat they want, without much compromise, regardless of its size, and in doing so have managed to create a 38-foot boat that sails and feels like a much bigger boat.

Now for the dessert. This new Jim Taylor design is a good example of my idea of “classic proportions,” but I’m limited by my jingoistic North American taste in yachts, and I’m not sure there is much I can do about that.

Philippe Briand and Andrew Winch designed this new Jeanneau. I suspect the interior is by Winch and the rest by Briand. Jeanneau Design is also listed, and I would guess it did much of the deck styling. The brochure says it was designed with “classic proportions,” but to my eye this design is thoroughly modern and very much in the dominant style of European yachts today. Do I like it? Sure I do; it’s sleek and sexy looking, but it’s not my definition of “classic.”

The new Xc 35 from X-Yachts is the smallest in the company’s line of cruising boats. The design work is by Niels Jeppesen, and he is a favorite designer of mine. My take is that the 35 is a hot rod-style family cruising boat. I like everything about it from the shapely stem profile to the traditional rake of the transom. This is a good-looking boat.

Appearances can be deceiving. From a distance the Arbor 26 looks like a modern, fast weekender with a nine-tenths fractional rig and the profile of an Open 60, but a closer look shows its inner beauty: The Arbor 26 has a finely crafted wood hull.