Innehållsförteckning för January/February 2020 från Cruising World

It was the calmest of times; it was the windiest of times. During the seatrials portion of the competition on Chesapeake Bay, a couple of contestants got skunked for breeze; a handful were sailed in torrential downpours; and a pair of catamarans were tested in the sportiest of conditions, complete with gale-force gusts. Another nominee went hard aground—a Chesapeake ritual—when its skipper found himself on the wrong side of a channel marker. Finally, two boats weren’t tested at all, stuck in the mud in marinas and unable to make their appointments, the victims of historically low tides and huge northwesterlies fun-neling the water down the bay. In other words, in over 20 years of conducting our annual Boat of the Year contest, there was never an edition quite like BOTY…

The battle for supremacy in the Midsize Cruiser class came down to a clash between builders from two nations: France and Sweden. The French were represented by two boats from longtime builder Dufour—the 390 and the 430—and the Swedes by the latest offering from the renowned Hallberg-Rassy yard: a 44-footer. Unfortunately, due to extreme conditions in the Chesapeake (see “A Little Bit of Everything,” page 67), the smaller of the two Dufours was unable to make its appointment for sea trials. The 430 performed admirably, though, with judge Ed Sherman especially impressed by how quiet it was under power. Calendar year 2020 is going to be a very interesting one for Dufour. The company is now in the stable of the growing boatbuilding conglomerate Fountaine Pajot, and it’s making a…

Excess. Or does it? That was the primary question to be answered when determining the top boat among this trio of nominees in the Midsize Cruising Catamaran division. The Excess 12 was the first highly anticipated model to debut in the United States from a new brand recently created by the French boatbuilding giant Groupe Beneteau. It was up against stiff competition from a pair of long-established, well-entrenched French cat builders: Fountaine Pajot, with its new Elba 45, and Lagoon Catamarans—also part of the Groupe Beneteau colossus—with a fresh 46-footer. Who would emerge victorious in this rousing cat fight? Judge Ed Sherman was impressed with the Elba 45 right from the get-go. “During our motoring test, it was immediately evident that this was one of the quietest boats in the…

It’s not every year that the BOTY panel presents a special prize to the Most Innovative yacht they inspect and sail, but it’s not every year that a truly radical—even revolutionary—vessel like the Eagle Class 53 appears in their sightlines, which made it an easy choice for the designation for 2020. There’s simply never been anything like it, so much so that it was beyond characterization (see “Three’s Company,” page 82). “This is one of the finest examples of engineering and workmanship I’ve ever seen,” judge Ed Sherman said unequivocally. “It’s more innovative than anything we’ve ever seen, ever. It’s just amazing how nicely this boat was finished. You know, with its wing sail and foils, you could say it’s a totally bizarre boat in every aspect of its design,…

COMPARE RATES WITH BOATJUMP Founded in 2016 in Spain, Boatjump, a digital charter platform, offers price comparisons for rentals of more than 15,000 bareboat and crewed sail and power vessels in hundreds of global ports. Vacation sailors can book a charter from start to finish assisted by Spanish-, French-, German- or English-speaking representatives. Boatjump is headquartered in Valencia, Spain, with an office in Miami. Detailed information on every boat, up-to-date prices, and real-time availability for a transparent transaction are key features of the service, according to the company. They have expanded availability into the Caribbean islands, as well as Mediterranean destinations such as the Balearic Islands of Spain. “The mission is to make sure people know that chartering a boat is not more expensive than spending one week in a…

MARQUESAS MAGIC On the fifth morning of our soggy upwind passage, a green smudge took shape on the horizon. The spray from the confused seas coated every surface on deck with a crusty layer of salt, and wormed its way through every portlight and hatch, dripping onto the berths and settees with irritating persistence. The unpredictable upwind motion tossed us around like a snow globe in the hands of a rambunctious child. We were bruised and exhausted. The anticipation was palpable. This upwind bash, while uncomfortable, had always been part of the plan. After crossing the Pacific on our Valiant 40, Halcyon, my husband and I started cruising the South Pacific in the Gambier Archipelago, in the southeast corner of French Polynesia, then slowly explored north and west through the…

IT’S taken me a s urprisingly long time, given how much of my life I’ve spent around oceans, but I’m finally into fishing. Fishing (and catching), I discovered as many others have before me, is the perfect complement to life aboard a sailboat. It’s fun—once you acclimate to the killing part. There’s nothing quite so delicious as truly fresh fish, and you have the great satisfaction of providing for yourself on the most basic level. I caught my first fish 10 years ago when my husband, Seth, and I were cruising in Fiji during our circumnavigation aboard our Spartan 1968 cutter Heretic. That first fish was a 25-pound mahimahi, and it provided us with delectable ceviche once I’d gotten over the trauma of killing it. I was 22 years old…

Every year, the Boat of the Year contest is an evolutionary affair that’s conducted over a nearly two-week period, and there are always surprises as the judging panel gets more at ease with each nominee and begins to truly understand their individual characteristics. For 2020, at each step along the way, the judges seemed to become more and more comfortable with one particular nomi nee. Still, when it came time to cast the ballots for “the best of the best,” collectively, it seemed that even they were somewhat astonished at the yacht that ultimately emerged atop the 22-boat fleet. Their final decision? The Catalina 545 is 2020’s Overall Boat of the Year. So, how did they get there? “This boat represents a significant change from previous Catalinas,” judge Ed Sherman…

The big-boat classes in the 2020 Boat of the Year competition presented some big problems for the judging panel. Take the Full-Size Cruiser 45 to 55 Feet fleet, with a quartet of extremely solid contenders across a wide range of price points and with different design briefs and objectives, ranging from versatile performance-style cruisers to a dedicated bluewater passagemaker. Decisions, decisions, decisions. At $550,000, the Bavaria C50 packed a lot of punch into a 50-footer. “It’s billed as a family cruiser, and features twin helms and a single rudder,” judge Dan Spurr said. “The representative who presented the boat emphasized the division between the entertainment area and the cockpit and working areas, and that cockpit really resonated with me—for a bigger boat, it’s very efficient to sail.” The Bavaria also…

It’s hard to imagine three vessels, in a single class, as different in layout, purpose and execution than the trio of multihulls that comprised the year’s Best Full-Size Multihull class. Two of the three were catamarans, and the third a most unusual craft: a cruising trimaran. Sorting out these unique boats was a challenge. The multimillion-dollar Eagle Class 53—built in Rhode Island to exacting standards and a radical design brief (with potential foiling capability and a solid wing mast that also incorporates a “soft” mainsail on its trailing edge)—was not, in any manner, a contemporary cruising boat. Yes, there is a pair of cabins with doubles aft, and the central living space includes a workable galley and one other notable feature. “It’s the only boat we sailed that even had…

Each year cruisers set out across the Pacific in search of sparkling lagoons, white sandy beaches and colorful coral. Unfortunately, the many atolls that are scattered throughout this region tend to hide their hazards, which can lead to the dream ending in a nightmare if boat meets reef. Some crews underestimate tricky lagoon passes or end up trapped in anchorages on a lee shore after wind shifts. So, is it safer to give those turquoise atolls a wide berth? Absolutely not—it just takes some preparation, caution, and a good dose of common sense to minimize the risk and live the dream of the South Seas without a nasty awakening. LAGOON PASSES Coral reefs grow in tropical waters, frequently around volcanic islands. The cones of these volcanoes sink back into the…

Avoiding a fall overboard is, or should be, foremost in the mind of every sailor. I first heard the axiom “one hand for yourself and one for the ship” as a student aboard the sail-training vessel Westward. Safety was of paramount concern, and we students were routinely reminded that falling overboard, especially offshore and at night, was an almost certain death sentence. It left an impression that has remained with me ever since. Now consider this: People have died falling overboard, into cold water, at night, because they could not reboard the vessel… while dockside. In a seaway, of course, the challenges and risks are exponentially greater. Walking the docks during this past season’s boat shows, it was difficult for me not to be struck by the lack of thought…

With five dedicated, dual-purpose racer/cruisers measuring in at under 37 feet, the Performance Cruiser class was not only the largest and most competitive division in the 2020 Boat of the Year contest, but it was also the most fun. Putting this roster of compact, peppy sailboats through their paces was nothing short of a blast. Judge Ralph Naranjo was perhaps the most performance-oriented sailor in this year’s judging panel, and he had strong opinions on all of the nominees. Regarding the Italia 9.98—one of two boats in the class built in Italy—he said: “The Italia appealed to me. I’m really looking at these smaller boats that offer both performance as well as some cruising amenities to get people into the activity. From that vantage point, what I saw here was…

So here come the Big Boys: the four finalists in the BOTY Class of 2020 vying for the title of “Mightiest Monohull” of them all. It would not be a cut-and-dry choice, however, as all four contestants were so radically different from one another. Unfortunately, due to the extreme and unusual weather during the sea-trials portion of the contest (see “A Little Bit of Everything,” page 67), the yacht with perhaps the greatest sailing potential—the Beneteau First Yacht 53—went untested on the water. The 53 is a departure for Beneteau, which is betting big on attracting the performance-cruising segment of the market. So the judges were left to ponder the boat’s fate based on their dockside inspections. It received high marks. Judge Ed Sherman said: “This is a very interesting…

There’s no question that crewed and bareboat chartering has become one of the largest, most profitable segments of the entire recreational marine industry. The annual US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, now dedicates an entire portion of its exhibits to charter companies—the popular “Vacation Basin”—and of course, a vast number of the new boats on display, particularly along the ever-growing catamaran ranks, will be employed in the charter trade. To recognize that fact, in recent years, the judging panel has awarded a special prize to the top charter boat, a practice that has continued for 2020. There was no lack of contenders: Bavaria has made huge inroads into chartering in the British Virgin Islands, and of course, a high percentage of boats from the big cat builders—a third to half…

Regardless of whether you sail a modern, fractional-rigged sloop or a wishbone-rigged staysail schooner, it’s the running rigging that sets, trims, reefs and furls the sails. In the bad old days, decks were full of wobbly, sheaved high-friction blocks and essentially one kind of cordage. Today, running rigging has attained full-system status, with its primary goal being friction abatement. Various types of syntheticfiber cordage, with specific strength, stretch and creep characteristics, run through ultraslippery blocks and fairleads. Each line is aimed at the exact spot a team of ergonomics experts determined it should go. Even the halyard hardware that attaches the line to the head of a sail has been computer-modeled and scrutinized with finite element analysis. Soft shackles and strops, made from Dyneema fiber rope, are showing up in…

Each year, the marine industry times its most exciting new-product releases to coincide with the fall and winter boat shows. For sailors, these expos are a chance to talk to the experts, try out new features and buy gear for the season ahead. Here are some of the coolest new kits you can expect to find on display. While good editors never play favorites, it’s tough not to be impressed with Vesper Marine’s Cortex safety and communications platform, which has been turning heads since its introduction this past fall. Somewhat akin to how smartphones revolutionized personal and business communications by creating an allin-one device for email, SMS, phone calls and apps, Cortex simplifies VHF radio operations and delivers Automatic Identification System, Digital Selective Calling and Wi-Ficommunications to a smartphone app…

ATLANTIC CRUISING YACHTS PRESENTS 2017 Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 – “My Obsession” Following Olivier Raccoupeau’s plans, “My Obsession” offers elegant and contemporary lines, an optimization of volumes with generous living spaces, a wonderful amount of light throughout the boat and a high level of quality. This Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 is a 3 Cabin / 2 Head Maestro Version and is equipped with a generator and airconditioning. She provides a spacious bathroom for the master suite and a large shared bathroom for guests with a true shower stall. Unique to catamarans in this size range, “My Obsession” features walk-around berths and a separate head closet in the owners en-suite. The proud owner of this vessel is ready to move up in size and is offering a great deal on this…