One of the fun things about reviewing a Mark Mills design is that I get to Skype Mark and chat with him for an hour. Mark was not shy about explaining the details of his latest work to me. In this case, it's his exciting new 38-foot 9-inch IRC racer now being built in Turkey at the Gurit yard.

I  live in the Pacific Northwest, and do everything in the rain, and  it does not bother me. The sun bothers me. When I saw this  new design from my buddy Paul Waring and his partner Robert  Stephens I thought, "Perfect! I can get out of the sun." 

I have been a fan of the Rustler series for years. They are so English. The company’s style is in contrast to what my buddy Tom calls the “Euro bloated tennis shoe” look. 

It’s nice to get real designer drawings from Kevin Dibley. The drawings are expertly produced and a clear sign that Kevin loves his work. Kevin calls this sailboat a performance voyager. 

The most fun reviews I do are of the boats I would like to own myself. I sure like this catboat. It would be the perfect boat for me to introduce my grandchildren to sailing. 

This great looking boat is a Judel/Vrolijk design built by Dehler Yachts. The vertical stem and transom give the boat a very strong look. Of course we see this in almost all the new boats but with 46

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

 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.”

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.