In the expansive world of performance cruising boats from top European production boatyards, perhaps not surprisingly, the Italians play the game differently. In the cruiser-racer segment, when it comes to a consistent blend of refined style and ­serious sailing chops, the following brands leap immediately to mind: Grand Soleil, Italia and Solaris. Speed and grace—and racing, to various ­degrees—are clearly ­important ­attributes to Italian sailors. (And a shout-out to X-Yachts of Denmark, whose­ lineup in looks and feel is a comparable match.)

Still, I have to admit, before serving as a judge in the 2024 Boat of the Year contest, Solaris was a company that wasn’t on my personal radar. That changed soon after I sailed the Solaris 44 on an ­ideal Chesapeake Bay afternoon in a sweet 10- to 12-knot southerly. After a memorable stint driving the sleek 44-footer upwind and down, I jotted this in my notebook: “Beautiful helm. A Ferrari.”

The Solaris 44 is one among 11 models that the builder offers from 40 to 111 feet. This is a boat with an all-business profile that looks quick even parked in a slip. With its plumb bow and straight-edge walk-through transom, the long waterline is completely stretched out. A flat sheerline and low, sloped coachroof—paired with a couple of rectangular hull windows and a fixed, extended bowsprit, which accommodates a code-zero headsail that bolsters the off-wind sail area—add to the contemporary styling. 

The cockpit, with a pair of outboard helm stations coupled to a set of twin rudders, is spacious and accommodating. A full crew of racing sailors won’t worry about tripping over one another when tacking or flying a kite. The running rigging is stashed mostly below the deck, and leads to a pair of winches and clutches to port and starboard. Even the wide traveler is recessed under the cockpit sole to keep lines and clutter to a minimum. The real teak decks are awesome, though a faux composite deck is optional.

Back to that sweet sailing, which is the 44’s clear raison d’être. All of those sailhandling elements came together nicely on our test ride. Off the wind on a deep reach with the big headsail, the boat tracked along well at 8 knots, and the speedo leapt accordingly to a solid 10 knots as we headed up a few degrees and brought the breeze abeam. We then swapped the code zero for the self-tacking jib and made an easy and respectable 7.6 knots closehauled. The wheels were as light and responsive as can be, and those two rudders offered complete control. 

The inventory of 3Di North Sails was impressive. And our test boat was loaded with options: bow thruster, air conditioner, generator, and full B&G instrumentation. The standard double-spreader Seldén rig is aluminum, but owners can specify a carbon stick. The 60 hp Volvo Penta diesel (30 hp is standard, and 75 hp is available) with sail drive performed well, making better than 8 knots when ticking over at 2,400 rpm.

Vacuum-bagged construction is a straightforward laminate that employs vinylester resin matched with Airex foam core in the hull and deck. Likewise, the tabbed forward and main bulkheads are a composite sandwich. The T-shaped keel (available in deep and shallow versions of 8 feet, 5 inches and 7 feet, 10 inches, respectively) pair a cast-iron steel foil with a substantial lead ballast bulb. Obviously, this is not a boat destined to gunkhole through the Bahamas.

The floor plan belowdecks, with three staterooms and two heads, is clearly laid out to accommodate an offshore racing crew or, in cruising mode, an owner and several guests. On a distance race with a crew of 10 who are on five-person watches, there’s plenty of room for the off-watch team to crash. Cushions in the double-berth staterooms aft are split to provide a lee cloth, and two settees in the main stateroom will serve as comfortable berths. 

There’s an L-shaped galley to port at the foot of the companionway and a real navigation station (a must, in my eyes) to starboard. The owner’s stateroom, with a centerline double berth and en suite head, is forward. The light-oak furniture we saw was quite handsome. There’s nothing revolutionary in this layout, but it’s all addressed to high standards. 

Having the opportunity to trial the Solaris 44 provided one happy surprise after another. I have a soft spot for dual-purpose yachts that will serve the racing and cruising modes more than adequately. The Italians have an adjective that I believe works well here: bellissima.

 Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.

Solaris 44 Specifications

Take the Next Step

Price: $700,000
Contact: solarisyachts.com

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Fifty years ago this month, the first issue of Cruising World magazine debuted at the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland. It was an ideal time to launch a cruising and sailing periodical, as a revolution in production fiberglass boatbuilding was underway. Huge numbers of sailors were eager to purchase new boats, and the choices in size, price and purpose were plentiful. 

Sure, there were lots of imports on the market, especially from France and the Far East, but there were plenty of great boats born in the USA. The builders and their brands were practically synonymous: Hunter (Warren Luhrs), Catalina (Frank Butler), Morgan Yachts (Charley Morgan), Irwin Yachts (Ted Irwin), Pearson (Bill Shaw), Sabre (Roger Hewson), Shannon Yachts (Walter Schulz), and on and on.

Why bring all this up? Well, of all those companies, only Catalina still builds sailboats, and in limited sizes and numbers. All those other former household maritime names are little more than fond memories. The once-powerful US production-sailboat industry has basically ceased to exist. 

But cruising remains as ­alluring as ever—nature abhors a vacuum—and several of the production-boat builders that have filled it are conglomerates aimed at serving the nautical masses. 

One of the most notable, with a trio of popular lines (Hanse, Dehler and Moody), is Hanse Yachts AG, the German manufacturing colossus based on the Baltic Sea. This past fall, in our annual Boat of the Year competition, we tested their latest offering to the US market, the Hanse 510. It’s a rangy, state-of-the-art marvel that on many levels will never be confused with your basic Catalina 30. 

In contemporary cruising boats, some five decades down the track, the names aren’t the only things that have changed. One huge difference? The relative cost. Of the 19 nominees in the 2024 Boat of the Year fleet, over a third sported price tags at over a million bucks, including the Hanse 510.

From a design perspective, the 510 represents a new direction for Hanse. For many years, the Judel/Vrolijk design office was the firm’s principal naval architecture firm. But in 2021, Hanse handed the keys to the French team of Berret-Racoupeau. They delivered the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Hanse 460, with more than 230 boats sold.  

“The next logical step,” says US Hanse importer Doug Brophy, “was to replace our 508 with the 510. The 508 originated with the Hanse 490 and then went through a series of facelifts. We decided not to do facelifts anymore, but to develop a new boat with a new launch. And I think it would be harder to find a larger cockpit on a 50-foot boat than this one.”

Berret-Racoupeau has become a major force in the industry, with a client list that includes most of the top French and European catamaran and monohull builders. In a way, they’ve become a 21st-century Gallic version of Nathanael Herreshoff. However, where Capt. Nat generally reveled in rounded curves, low freeboard and overhanging sterns, the Frenchmen opt for hard angles, maximized beam and length, and voluminous interiors. Metaphorically speaking, comparing the Herreshoff school (or, for that matter, any of the designs of the 1960s and 1970s inspired by the Cruising Club of America’s CCA Rule) with contemporary production boats is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. 

Want proof? Check out the profile of the 510. The waterline is completely maxed out, with a reverse wave-piercing bow forward and a straight, razor-sharp transom astern (a drop-down transom gate serves as a swim platform and opens to a dinghy garage to stash a nearly 9-foot fully inflated tender). There’s not one but two sets of chines, forward and aft, an element that considerably opens up the interior floor plan. There are three windows in the hull, and, with 14 opening hatches on deck, the belowdecks staterooms are flooded with natural light and fresh air. 

Our test boat was adorned with a hardtop Bimini, which covered the entire cockpit with shade and had a sliding panel on Ronstan cars to open things up; a forward glass windshield linked to a fiberglass arch via an acrylic panel that shielded the cockpit from the breeze; and a barbecue and sink. All of which are options (as is a solar array), but these are such worthy, well-executed features that I couldn’t really imagine going without them. There are split cockpit tables, but you can also specify a high/low adjustable table that converts into a lounge, which would go along well with the foredeck sun pad. For the decks, there’s a choice between real teak and synthetic Flexiteek; for the hull colors, the choices in gelcoats are white and gray.  

The freeboard is as tall and considerable as the coachroof is low and sleek; aesthetically, it’s almost an afterthought. Bow and stern thrusters are practically a must because that freeboard represents considerable windage in tight quarters with the breeze on the beam. A forward sprit does double duty as the tack for a reaching sail and home to the ground tackle (a hefty Delta anchor). The single rudder is a deep blade (there are twin helms with Jefa steering), and a significant ballast bulb is attached to the keels (both the shoal and deep versions). Even dockside, the 510 looks raring to go. 

Construction is robust and straightforward. The hull and deck are balsa-cored, while the laminate is solid glass below the waterline. There’s a significant interior fiberglass grid to which the keel is anchored. The hull and deck are bonded and integrated with the toe-rail bulwarks. Additional fasteners are beneath each stanchion. The bulkheads are taped and bonded to the hull, and there are aluminum backing plates beneath each deck fitting. The main bulkhead is a reinforced composite laminate that serves as a compression post for the deck-stepped Seldén rig.

Our test ride sported a 12-volt electrical system with AGM batteries, but a lithium package is available. This boat was loaded with an air conditioner, a Fischer Panda generator, and a 110 hp Yanmar diesel with sail drive that trucked along at almost 8 knots with the throttle down to 2,500 rpm. The smooth emergency-­steering setup was as good as or better than anything we tested for the 2024 contest. 

Accommodations are equal to or roomier than a comfy shoreside condo. Our test boat was set up with the owner’s stateroom forward and a pair of good double-berth staterooms aft. The straight-line galley is to starboard, forward of the navigation desk, AC/DC panels and so on. There are a trio of fridges along with a freezer. (You will never want for a cold beverage on the 510.) To port, there’s a long settee with a high/low table that drops and converts to a berth. There’s a central island down the middle of the main cabin that includes, among other things, a pop-up television set. 

A four-stateroom, four-head layout is aimed at the charter trade. It includes a taut skipper’s cabin forward, which is a sail locker in the three-­staterooms configuration.  

Topsides, that aforementioned bowsprit opens up a foretriangle that accommodates a double-headsail rig: an outer stay with a genoa and an inner stay with a self-tacking jib, both easily controlled with Furlex furling drums. On our test boat, an in-mast furling mainsail was set off the tall spar (77 feet), though a traditional main is another option. The German-style double-ended mainsheet is a midboom arrangement. All the running rigging is led through belowdecks channels to winches and clutches well aft in the cockpit, and then to the dual steering pedestals. It’s a clean and tidy assemblage. 

In 10 to 12 knots of autumn breeze on Chesapeake Bay, the 510 acquitted itself very well. With the big headsail unfurled, it made close to 6 knots on a deep reach and scooted up to more than 8 knots coming up with the wind on the beam. Swapping over to the jib, the boatspeeds were equally favorable, making anywhere between 6 and 8 knots closehauled as the pressure fluctuated in the lulls and puffs. That deep rudder provided a lot of bite, and for pure performance, you can’t beat a long waterline. It was a very pleasant sail.

From soup to nuts, the yacht did everything you’d expect it to, with speed and dispatch—and it’s stylish to boot. There are good reasons that the big yards have come to dominate the big-boat marketplace. The Hanse 510 is a solid example why.

Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.

Hanse 510 Specifications

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Price: $1,050,000
Contact: hanseyachtsag.com

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Built in Orust, Sweden, to withstand the harsh conditions of the North Sea, Hallberg-Rassy yachts over the years have tended to pull at the heartstrings of Cruising World’s Boat of the Year judges, mine included. So it came as no surprise that when I stepped aboard the HR 40C at last year’s Annapolis Sailboat Show, I was instantly smitten.

So too was my fellow judge Tim Murphy, who in numerous notes used the word “best” to describe such attributes as construction, equipment access, electrical system, soundproofing, and the like.

On some new boats, one can’t help but ponder what they might look like after a few thousand miles. With the Hallberg-Rassy 40C, there was no wondering, because the boat had already sailed 10,000 miles across the Atlantic, through the Caribbean, and up the East Coast. How did it look upon arrival on the dock in Annapolis? Perfect.

Even in the pouring rain, the 40C’s teak decks appeared elegant when we arrived for our dockside inspection. The deep cockpit was inviting, and the glass windshield and dodger offered protection from the drizzle. Below, the glow of the mahogany interior woodwork and plush upholstery promised equal measures of comfort and practicality to keep a crew rested and safe no matter the passage.

Thanks to a longtime collaboration with the Germán Frers design team, Hallberg-Rassy’s range has a consistent look and feel. But that hasn’t precluded the introduction of modern design elements such as wider beam carried aft to provide increased interior volume, twin rudders for better handling, and a plumb bow that increases the 40C’s waterline.

HR hulls are hand-laid and cored with Divinycell foam, except around where the lead keel is attached. There the laminate is solid, as it is where hardware is mounted on the Divinycell-cored deck, cockpit and coachroof.

Topsides, there are three options for decking: nonslip gelcoat, PU teak (polyurethane substitute) or real Burmese teak, which was on the boat we got to sail. The latter two materials are glued down to avoid fasteners that can allow water to penetrate.

A buyer has several choices when it comes to interior layouts. The boat we visited had an optional centerline queen berth in the aft stateroom rather than the standard two separate berths. In the salon, an L-shaped settee to port surrounds a wood drop-leaf table. Opposite, the starboard settee can be replaced by a pair of armchairs and a cocktail table. A head and shower, and a double berth, are forward.

The 40C also has two cruising-friendly galley designs. The larger option provides more counter and stowage space at the cost of less room in the starboard cockpit locker. That’s how the boat in Annapolis was laid out, and I think it’s the option I’d go with. 

In recent aft-stateroom models, including the 40C, HR has employed a nifty design trick that involves a slightly wider cockpit coaming topsides to allow for more headroom in the belowdecks passageway aft. It works well, as does the engine placement in the 40C. The 60 hp Volvo Penta diesel is installed abaft the boat’s saildrive, which opens up room under the companionway steps for a genset. Access to both motors is excellent when checking fluids or changing filters, and the space is well-insulated, so sound levels are quiet underway.

Judging colleague Herb McCormick had this to say about accommodations: “The HR 40C is a flat-out great sailboat, with all the care and attention to detail you’d find in the brand’s larger offerings in a sweet, compact package. I was a bit skeptical that HR could pull off their signature center-cockpit configuration in a 40-foot yacht, but the layout is crisp and well-executed above deck and below. In fact, that cockpit was as comfy and efficient as just about any boat we sailed in the 2024 fleet—the great sight lines and visibility were icing on the cake.”

For his part, Murphy noted that the boat’s battery bank—6-volt, wet-cell Trojan truck batteries, run in series to create a 12-volt system—has the advantage of being able to drain to 40 percent rather than the customary 50 percent discharge common with AGM batteries. This setup gives the system greater usable capacity. (Lithium batteries are an option.) The 40C’s stern and bow thrusters run on 24 volts.

The standard rig for the boat is a three-spreader Seldén spar with a full-batten main. The boat in Annapolis had an electric in-mast furling main and an electric jib furler, allowing sails to be set and doused with the touch of a couple of buttons. Electric winches also ensured that sails—main, 110 percent genoa and code zero—could be easily tamed.

Conditions were light for our test sail. The breeze was only 6 knots, and I was afraid at first that we wouldn’t be able to learn much about the boat’s performance. Instead, my colleagues and I were blown away when we took off at 5 knots and change. Sitting to the side of the boat’s single, large steering wheel, I found the visibility forward to be excellent, and the telltales on the jib and code zero were easy to keep an eye on.

And the feel of the Lewmar rod steering? Well, I wrote, “smooth as butter” in my notebook. But on this attribute, I’ll give Murphy the last word. “Steering is absolutely divine,” he wrote in his.

Mark Pillsbury is a CW editor-at-large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.

Hallberg-Rassy 40C Specifications

Take the next step

Price: $800,000
Contact: 410-867-9022 
hallberg-rassy.com

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When it comes to a discussion of the great European naval architects of contemporary times—and it’s a long list, indeed—certain names immediately pop to mind. Many are French. Philippe Briand made his mark creating boats for a roster of production builders (Baltic, Jeanneau, CNB) before pivoting to the superyacht set (Perini Navi, Royal Huisman). Jean-Marie Finot was more or less the father of an era of the best Vendée Globe solo round-the-world racers ever to compete in that grueling contest. Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot Prévost (VPLP Design) are the current masters of offshore multihulls. The talented tandem of Jean Berret and Olivier Racoupeau are ubiquitous as the creators of many French brands, and sit at the forefront of their profession. 

To me, however, one of the more underrated European ­design mavens, and one who definitely belongs in that rarefied grouping, is Umberto Felci. While Felci was born in Milan and still operates from his base in Italy, I’ve always considered him a huge influence in French ­boatbuilding­—largely because of his longtime association with Dufour Yachts, where he’s been the principal designer for some 15 years. 

During that time, I’ve sailed many a Felci boat, as he’s been a consistent presence in Cruising World’s annual Boat of the Year contest. He has won multiple times with his Dufour entries, including the 560 Grand Large (2014), the 382 Grand Large (2015), and the 520 Grand Large (2018). All of these Grand Large boats shared a similar DNA, and the Dufour booths at the major boat shows were easily ­recognizable for their similar lines and matching beige canvas dodgers and sail covers. The only huge difference across the fleet was their respective sizes.

All that changed in a big way in 2019, after the Fountaine Pajot group acquired Dufour and decided to make each new offering a singular model in form and styling. Which brings us to Felci’s newest design, the Dufour 41. 

Aesthetically, it’s safe to say that the bright-blue Dufour 41 at this past year’s Annapolis Sailboat Show in Maryland was one of the more distinctive-looking yachts on display. It has a rounded bow, ample beam, and not one but two chines, both carried almost the entire length of the boat—one just above the waterline, another just below the reverse sheer line, which is accentuated by prominent molded bulwarks. This boat looks and feels much larger than its 41 feet length overall. Forward, an integrated bowsprit for the ground tackle and the tack point for the asymmetric kite heightens the futuristic vibe. As does the series of three sleek windows in the hull (along with the additional pair of windows overhead in the coachroof). There is not a stick of timber to be found anywhere. 

Topsides, the ­combination of wide side decks and outboard shrouds makes for easy egress when moving forward or aft. The emphasis on “outdoor living” is underscored by a generous cockpit with twin wheels (but, as with all Dufours, a single rudder, which makes backing down easier and with more control). There’s also wraparound seating, including a cushioned daybed, as well as a drop-down transom, which doubles as the porch/platform for the barbecue well aft. All this is revolved around a table—a pretty sweet, comfortable layout that lends the impression of lounging aboard a much bigger boat. 

All the related equipment is first-rate. There’s B&G instrumentation, including the chart plotter and autopilot; a Quick vertical windlass with helm controls for the Delta anchor; and a Side-Power (Sleipner) bow thruster, which I reckon is a luxurious touch on a 41-footer. Our test boat was set up with a nice set of Elvstrøm sails, including a traditional mainsail (an in-mast furling mainsail is available) with a cool stack-pack arrangement that tucks into itself and is secured with shock cords. For our Boat of the Year trials, we test all the emergency rudders, and the one on the 41 was exceptional. 

Construction is straightforward and robust. The hull is vacuum-infused with solid glass below the waterline and a foam core above. There are a pair of molded-in channels for the plumbing and electrical wiring. The plywood bulkheads are laminated to the hull. The keel is cast iron. And, as with every Dufour going back to the company’s origins, a wine rack is stashed under the floorboards. 

Ardizio Design is ­responsible for the belowdecks accoutrements, accommodations and floor plan. Its team used those aforementioned chines and, more specifically, the voluminous interior that the chines created, to wide advantage. As with Dufour’s other models, there are three packages of features, trim and equipment—on the 41, these are labeled Adventure, Ocean and Performance—depending on how the boat will be used (basic sailing, dedicated cruising or racing). With the 41, there are also two interior options: either three or four staterooms. Both have a straight-line galley to starboard, with the dining table and wraparound settee to port.

Our test boat had the three-stateroom layout, with a spacious master forward and a pair of double-berth staterooms aft. It also had three heads, which, to be honest, seems like a bit of overkill on a 41-foot boat. The second head, in the center of the boat, can be replaced with stowage, which is the setup I’d prefer. 

The 41 sports a double-­spreader rig with swept-back spreaders and a self-­tacking jib. The double-ended German-style mainsheet, anchored at midboom, is easily trimmed with a pair of electric winches (an optional electric winch for the mainsail is ­available). There’s no traveler; after all, this is a cruising boat. 

Under power, the 50 hp Volvo Penta with a saildrive configuration had us zipping along at better than 6 knots. This was one of the quieter boats, decibel-wise, in the 2024 fleet. But we were all itching to hoist the sails, and we were not disappointed. At first, in a fitful breeze that was just filling in, we still made over 5 knots in 6 to 8 knots of wind. Soon enough, the pressure built into the 10- to 12-knot range, just in time to hoist the boat’s big asymmetric kite. On a tight reach, we made an effortless 7.5 knots, and the helm was just delightful, with only a light three-finger touch required for full control. 

Those Grand Large prizewinners from years past were, of course, all Felci designs. While this new Dufour looks absolutely nothing like its older siblings, it sails just as well, if not better. Felci may have changed the recipe under the company’s new regime, but he hasn’t forgotten that what we really want is pretty simple: We want to go for a fine sail.

Dufour 41 Specifications

Did You Know?

French boatbuilders were pioneers in fiberglass-sailboat manufacturing. Naval architect/engineer Michel Dufour joined their ranks in 1964 with the launching of the Sylphe, a radical (for its time) 21-foot pocket cruiser with a masthead rig and fin keel with attached ballast bulb. More than 400 were built in a 10-year production run.

Dufour has ramped up its introduction of new models in the past five years, and now has nine in production ranging from 37 to 61 feet, with a 44-footer on tap to be introduced in the United States this fall. Of that collection, the company’s 41, 470 and 530 are all available with electric auxiliary-propulsion options.

Dufour has laid out an aggressive growth strategy, planning to introduce two models each year for the next several years, and replacing its entire fleet within four years. As for the 41, a company representative said that about a third of the run will go to private owners, a third will be purchased by charter operators, and a third will go into charter-management programs.

Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.

The post Sailboat Review: Dufour 41 appeared first on Cruising World.

A funny thing has happened in the evolution of cruising catamarans. The category, at the outset, was defined by straightforward simplicity. This was true going back to the double-hulled Polynesian voyaging canoes, through the iconic designs of the visionary James Wharram, on to the custom cats built on Caribbean beaches by Peter Spronk, and including the early production cats of the modern era from Fountaine Pajot and Lagoon. Cruising catamarans were basically a pair of narrow hulls with a rather minimalistic living and working space sandwiched between them. 

It wasn’t too long before builders and designers realized that if they added a bit of volume to those hulls and stretched them, they could fill them with comfortable double-berth staterooms, en suite heads and other amenities. And, thanks largely to the ­catamaran’s emergence as an excellent platform for bareboat charter, designers could also make them taller (the “wedding-cake effect”). That brought us not only upper-deck lounges with day beds, grills and refrigerators, but also dedicated flybridges with steering stations that were once the exclusive domain of trawlers and sport-fishing craft.

Everything’s gotten bigger these days. Certainly, here in my hometown of Newport, Rhode Island, and in nearby destinations including Long Island, Cape Cod and Nantucket, modest seaside homes have been razed to make room for garish mansions with gyms, pools and astronomical square footage. In contemporary cruising cats, I’m feeling comparable vibes. 

As a judge for the 2024 Boat of the Year awards, I was struck by the technology, sophistication and similarities of the contestants vying for Best Cruising Catamaran Over 50 Feet. Both were from French builders, both were 51 feet, and both had seven-figure price tags. The Lagoon 51 was a very different beast than the first Lagoon I ever stepped aboard, the compact Lagoon 37. And the winning boat, the Fountaine Pajot Aura 51, was a far cry from the basic Louisiane 37 that launched the company’s foray into cruising cats back in 1983. 

Fountaine Pajot has certainly placed a big bet on the Aura 51, as it’s replacing the Saba 50, of which some 300 hulls were sold. Describing the overall aesthetic by Berret-Racoupeau Design is no simple task. The lines are actually pretty sweet for a gargantuan 51-footer with a beam of more than 25 feet. As with all contemporary cats, the waterline is maxed out, with a plumb bow and an extended boarding step in the squarish transom. The hull windows and the wraparound window treatment in the coachroof complement each other well.

Clearly, the goal was to optimize comfort at anchor. There are cushioned seats in the forward deck, just abaft the trampolines. What the company calls the “sky lounge” is topside on the roof of the Bimini hardtop over the cockpit, with a 2,000-watt array of solar panels sharing this space.

The steering wheel is to starboard, a few steps up from the cockpit, putting the skipper in a strategic location to communicate with mates on the lower or upper level, which is another four steps up from the wheel. Everything’s a compromise when it comes to boats, and the drawback here is that there are blind spots to port, particularly if coming along a portside berth. You’re going to want a mate calling out the distance. (There is no flybridge wheel.)

That said, I’m actually a big fan of the split steering station, with the wheel, engine controls and Garmin instruments on a pedestal under a canvas Bimini top, and a trio of Lewmar self-tailing electric winches, a pair of Spinlock rope clutches, and all the running rigging led to a dedicated pod just forward of the helmsman. This is a signature Fountaine Pajot feature on several models. Frankly, with imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, I’m surprised more builders have not adopted this layout. It really does allow for solo sailing; the driver can put the boat on autopilot, slip a couple of steps forward, and trim and reef to the heart’s delight. 

Unfortunately, for our sea trial on Chesapeake Bay, we didn’t have the double-digit windspeeds needed to put the Aura 51 through its proper paces, but the boat moved well in the 5- to 8-knot northerly, making over 4 knots closehauled, and an even 4 when cracked off on a beam reach. A company rep suggested that in better breeze, the boat would generally make speeds about half that of the true-wind pressure. There’s an optional bowsprit arrangement with all the associated hardware to set a code-zero-style headsail.

There certainly is no lack of sail area, particularly the square-topped full-battened mainsail that’s set off a whopping 76-foot spar. We see quite a few sails from French sailmaker Incidence on French-built boats, like the ones on our test ride, and they are always top-notch. The boat we tested also had optional twin 75 hp Volvo Pentas with saildrives (60 hp engines are standard). The boat galloped along at over 8 knots at 2,400 rpm. Decibel-wise, it was one of the quietest in the entire 2024 Boat of the Year fleet. The composite construction is a rather straightforward combination of resin injection and infusion with balsa core in the hulls and Divinycell foam in the deck.

All of which brings us to the vessel’s true raison d’être: the open floor plan with condolike cabins and accommodations, which are impressive. 

The sliding doors separating the main cabin and cockpit can be fully opened. The main dining table is in the cockpit and can be fully enclosed with canopies. The straight-line galley is inside and to port, bordered by an island that doubles as counters and a workspace for the cook. There’s plenty of seating, and the views through the coachroof windows are terrific. Surprisingly, there is no dedicated navigation station, which to me seems like an oversight on a boat of this size.

Several layouts are available. Our test model had the “double maestro”: a master stateroom aft in each hull, accessed from the interior or through a pair of gullwing doors in the cockpit. Guest staterooms are forward. Boat of the Year judge Mark Pillsbury noted that this could be a nice setup for two owners to share, whether sailing separately or together. Regarding our choice of the Aura 51 over the Lagoon for Boat of the Year, our panel collectively felt that both boats would do well in charter, but that the Aura was better suited to real cruising as opposed to being aimed more toward vacation sailing. 

No pun intended, but there’s a definite aura to this rangy cat that separates it from the other models that Fountaine Pajot produces. This is a boat meant to be lived on and in, for extended periods, in high comfort bordering on true luxury. Bring friends and family. On the Aura 51, there is definitely room for the whole gang. 

Herb McCormick is a CW editor at large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.

Did You Know?

■ Fountaine Pajot is pioneering a “zero-emission energy system” in the Aura 51. The Smart Electric version of the boat incorporates electric motors, folding props, solar panels, a generator, and a pair of lithium-ion battery banks capable of storing 54 kilowatt hours. Under sail via hydrogeneration, the system can recharge the batteries in 48 hours. 

■ Founded in 1976 by a quartet that included Olympic sailor Jean-François Fountaine and offshore racer Yves Pajot, Fountaine Pajot specialized at the start in racing dinghies and IOR-rule monohulls. The company later delved into large, record-setting transoceanic catamarans and trimarans. It wasn’t until 1983 that the yard pivoted to cruising cats, beginning with the Louisiana 37. 

■ During the past four decades, Fountaine Pajot has produced more than three dozen models, many named after the destinations or islands that inspired them: Tobago 35, Saba 50, Eleuthera 60 and so on. Today, the company also includes Dufour Yachts, a range of power cats, and eight cruising/sailing cat models from 40 to 80 feet.

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Before he became a cruising sailor, Aussie yacht designer and boatbuilder Richard Ward was a surfer. Yes, the driving force behind Seawind Catamarans for more than four decades now was already more than a little familiar with the abundance of inviting point breaks up and down the coast of New South Wales. His surfing experiences have played a major role in his design career. He creates clean, straightforward lines that translate into easily driven hulls. His innate love of the ocean, also informed from the nose and rails of a surfboard sluicing down waves, is icing on the cake. 

Seawind’s latest offering, the 39-foot Seawind 1170, is a compact package that combines well-tested features from previous models with a fresh helping of new technology. In spirit and layout, it is expressly geared toward cruising couples. Cruising cats seem to be getting larger and rangier; delivering all the necessary amenities and performance in a vessel under 40 feet is a challenge—one that the 1170 addresses quite nicely. 

In profile, the cat looks sleek and contemporary. The bows are raked slightly aft, and the generous freeboard is accented by a reverse sheerline. There’s a fixed carbon bowsprit for setting a code-zero-style screecher forward, and there are molded-in steps from the deck to the waterline in the transoms. A chine in the hull that increases the interior volume in the belowdecks staterooms extends almost the length of the waterline, and is aligned with the parallel windows in the hull. The solid coachroof extends aft over the entire cockpit, offering protection from the elements. The visuals all come together nicely. 

The first two boats off the line, including our test boat for the 2024 Boat of the Year contest, were built in Seawind’s longtime Vietnam facility. Going forward, the boat also will be produced in the company’s new boatyard in Turkey. The infused hulls and deck are vinylester with a PVC foam core that is cut with kerfs to accommodate the curved surfaces. The bulkheads are composite laminates, and there is carbon reinforcement in high-load areas. Molded ­channels in the coachroof serve as a gutter of sorts for catching rain, and a hose with a filter can be led directly to the water tanks to get topped off in the squalls.

The test boat we inspected had a CZone digital switching system, a set of lithium-ion batteries, and a full suite of coachroof-mounted solar panels (all options). A company representative said that this arrangement offers the juice necessary to power an air-conditioning unit overnight. 

The owner’s stateroom occupies the entire port hull, with an island berth forward and an en suite head with a walk-in shower aft. To starboard, the straight-line galley is sandwiched by a pair of double staterooms fore and aft. This galley-down plan opens up the main cabin, with a wraparound settee whose port side doubles as a day bed and the bench for the navigation station. An offset table can be spun around to seat guests or dropped down to make a double berth—a good option for the off-watch crew to stretch out on passage but still be close to everything. The coachroof windows can be raised to let plenty of fresh air course through. 

Topside, the features will be familiar to Seawind fans, including a trifold door that can be raised to the underside of the coachroof to integrate the cockpit and main cabin into an open space. The twin wheels are mounted well outboard and on the same level as the cockpit sole, providing terrific 360-degree visibility of the entire boat when sailing or docking. The mainsheet and traveler arrangement is overhead on the coachroof to keep the cockpit uncluttered. All the gear is top-shelf, including the Harken furlers, Gori propellers and Maxwell windlass. 

We sailed the boat on a pleasant fall Chesapeake Bay day with a breeze between 8 and 12 knots. The 1170 acquitted itself well. With the self-tacking Doyle jib employed sailing to weather, we touched almost 6 knots. When we stashed the jib and swapped over to the screecher, things got lively. On a tight reach sailing at about 60 degrees apparent, the boat zipped along at more than 7 knots. Cracked off to a beam reach, the speedo notched up to nearly 8 knots. Steerage was sweet and light, and it was a lot of fun dashing from one helm station to another on tacks and jibes. 

All in all, the 1170 did ­everything we expected it to do, with style and panache. The seasoned surfer responsible for it wasn’t around that day, but his spirit and intent most certainly were evident.

Seawind 1170 Specifications

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With  a bright and inviting interior, numerous on-deck places to relax or socialize, good sailing manners, and a versatile array of layouts for couples, families or chartering, the Lagoon 51 does a number of things right.

The 51, designed by Lagoon’s longtime naval architect collaborators at VPLP Design, replaces the Lagoon 50, which was introduced roughly five years ago. The new model lands dead center in the company’s lineup of cruising catamarans that range from 40 to 77 feet. The Lagoon 50 is the largest model intended for an owner-operator; starting with the Lagoon 55, there’s likely to be a captain and/or crew involved.

The company, which builds some 275 boats a year, projects that it will build 45 to 50 hulls of the new 51, with about a third sold for private use and the remainder going into charter. With that in mind, it makes sense that the interior design of the 51 includes multiple accommodations layouts. 

The four-stateroom version is more likely to appeal to a private owner, whose suite takes the entire starboard hull. It has a queen-size berth aft that’s adjacent to one of three rectangular ports in the hull, providing a tremendous view of the world outdoors. Amidships, there’s a desk and seating area outboard with a view. Opposite are hanging lockers along with a walk-in closet/dressing room. A head and shower are forward, and are kept bright in daylight hours with natural light.

Three guest staterooms occupy the port hull. The aft stateroom has an en suite head and shower. The remaining two staterooms—one ­forward and the other located inboard and amidships—share a head and shower. 

A four-stateroom, ­four-head version is also available, and there’s a charter-friendly six-stateroom, four-head option as well.

The 51 is built in Lagoon’s yard in Bordeaux, France, on the same production line as the Lagoon 55. Lagoon infuses its balsa-cored composite hulls and decks, a process that helps to control weight during construction. The Bimini top over the flybridge is injection-molded. The 51 has a 12-volt electrical system.

On recent Lagoon models, VPLP designers placed the mast farther aft than on older models, employing a shorter boom and high-aspect main, a trend made popular on big racing multihulls. On those boats, race crews rely on a quiver of headsails, often set on furlers, to quickly power up or down the sail plan to match conditions. Most cruisers and charter boats, though, are rigged with a single jib or small genoa, a setup that can affect performance in light conditions. On the 51, Lagoon returned the rig to a more forward position, and the mainsail will be cut for a bit more power. This should mean better performance in light air. Moving the mast ahead also opens up space in the salon. 

Another interesting design choice on the 51 is the placement of large transoms on either side of a swim platform that can be lowered into the water at anchor, or be raised and used to store a tender underway. The oversize transoms extend abaft the sides of the hull, making it easier to step aboard from a dock or tender. And they make a good place to sit and dangle your feet in the water. 

There are essentially four places to congregate on the 51. A padded, U-shaped seating area is on the foredeck, with a window abaft it that opens from the salon, and through which snacks can be passed. That window also provides increased indoor ventilation.

The open salon has a galley aft with L-shaped counters on either side of the sliding cockpit door. Stove, oven and sink are to port; fridges and freezer drawers are to starboard. There is a side-facing nav desk in the forward starboard corner, adjacent to a dining table with seating all around. Visibility is great forward, aft and to either side, thanks to Lagoon’s signature vertical windows.

The cockpit offers a second alfresco dining option, with a table to port. A sun lounge is opposite, and more couch-style seating is across the stern between transom stairs. There’s an outdoor sink too, along with a fridge and ice maker.

The real party place, though, is one level up, on the flybridge. My guess is that’s where people will hang out most of the time. 

There is access to the ­flybridge from the cockpit below via steps on the port side next to the outdoor dining table, or from the starboard deck. The helm station with a bench seat is forward; abaft it is U-shaped seating surrounding a cocktail table. A pair of sun pads is forward of the helm on the cabin top, on either side of the mast.

I know there’s debate about whether flybridge steering is better for chartering than long-range cruising, when a helmsman might prefer to be more protected from the elements, but on the 51, I really liked the flybridge setup. First off, there’s good all-round visibility. Second, the person driving has space to work but can still be part of the conversation. 

Three Harken electric winches are within an arm’s reach of the wheel, and all sail-control lines except for the traveler are led to them (there’s a Harken side-wind winch for the traveler nearby). During my trick at the wheel, I found that tacking the boat singlehanded was quite easy. Underway, a window overhead in the Bimini top gives the skipper a clear view of the square-top mainsail. That’s a nice feature when trimming or hoisting sail. One caveat, however: The combination of flybridge and Bimini top means the height of the boom is fairly high off the water.

Though it was not available on the boat that our team got aboard in Annapolis, Maryland, a unique roller-­furler boom is available for the 51. Lagoon developed it in conjunction with Wichard and Incidence Sails. Buyers can watch a video of it in action.

As I said at the start, the 51 has good sailing manners. In 10 to 14 knots of breeze, we saw speeds in the low 6s closehauled and nearly 7 knots on a broad reach. The top speed of the day that I jotted down in my notebook was just over 7.5 knots. In these conditions, it would have been fun to roll out a big reaching sail, if we’d had one. The boat is set up for it with an aluminum sprit.

With the 51, Lagoon has what I might call a Goldilocks boat: not too big, not too small, capable for cruising, and comfortable for chartering. In a lot of ways, it’s pretty much just right.

Mark Pillsbury is a CW editor at large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.

Toward a Green(er) Machine

From resin and cloth to solar power and more-efficient systems, the Lagoon 51 takes advantage of ongoing development work that Groupe Beneteau employs across its many brands to make boats cleaner to construct and operate.

Let’s face it: While the act of sailing might be considered a green pastime, building boats definitely isn’t. A lot of resin, fiberglass, adhesives, and sealants are required to build a structure that’s 50 feet long, nearly 27 feet wide, and three stories tall—and strong enough to hold its own in a bluewater environment.

A boat that size needs a pair of beefy (80 hp) diesel engines for motoring. And it has numerous energy-gobbling systems and appliances such as air conditioning, fridges and freezers, a washer and dryer, and the like, all of which need to be fed.

Any steps toward greater sustainability are strides in the right direction. With the 51, Lagoon began to add bio-sourced resin when laying up nonstructural small parts. In place of fiberglass cloth, the company is experimenting with natural fibers such as hemp and linen. And for years now, Lagoon has infused its hulls, which allows better control of the resin while reducing vapors released into the atmosphere.

An array of custom XXL solar panels—more than 3,400 watts’ worth—line the perimeter of the flybridge and its hard Bimini top, helping to reduce (or eliminate, if the air conditioner is not on) the amount of engine (or diesel generator) run time needed to keep the battery bank topped up. Adding to the power equation is the use of more-efficient cooling units and LED lighting.

Throughout the boat, Forest Stewardship Council-approved Alpi wood is used, and upholstery is made from 100 percent recycled materials. New Lagoons come with eco-friendly cleaning products. Starting this year, the boats also will be equipped with UV water filters to reduce the need for single-use plastic bottles for drinking water.

“In a nutshell, Lagoon is committed to sustainability through various initiatives such as using FSC-certified wood, recycled materials for upholstery, and bio-sourced resins,” says Lagoon Americas director Andre Hernandez. “Our production sites are ISO-certified for environmental management. We incorporate XXL solar panels on our boats and offer biodegradable maintenance kits. Lagoon also invests in hybrid-propulsion research and supports projects such as Anima Mundi and Escape to Nature to promote environmental conservation.” —MP

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There are many outstanding, even outrageous, things one can say about the HH44-SC catamaran. It’s the latest in a series of upscale boats conceived by HH CEO Paul Hakes, with structural engineering by the naval-architecture duo of Melvin & Morrelli and built in China by the Hudson Wang manufacturing conglomerate, which sold more than three dozen hulls on drawings and renderings alone, before a single boat was built. The waiting list is now about two years long.

I’m no math whiz, but with the boat’s sticker price, all up, of over $1.6 million, it’s safe to say that HH Catamarans had something like $50 million of orders on the books in advance of a sole customer actually pushing the button on an electric winch to raise the hefty, full-battened mainsail. Which leads to a pretty simple question: Who are those guys?

In an interview I conducted with Morrelli several years ago, he spoke about the sort of buyer drawn to the HH brand: “It’s unbelievable to me the percentage of newbie owners we attract to HH. More than 50 percent are first-time boat owners, guys who are buying $2 million and $3 million boats. I find that a bit shocking, but they were successful at something at some point in their life, and they’re trying to roll that success and confidence into something else.”

Allow me to take that one step ­further, because I’ve met a few HH owners, and I believe that the boat is catnip to a certain type of tech-savvy consumer. They definitely find the boat’s clean lines and tantalizing performance sleek and sexy, but they also are passionately drawn to the forward-thinking technology itself. I’ve heard folks refer to certain products in the marine sector as something Elon Musk might’ve dreamed up, but the HH44 may in fact be the closest thing there is to a Tesla of sailboats. I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that more than a few HH owners have one of those parked in their driveway. 

What, exactly, are those folks getting for their seven figures? There are two versions of the boat: the HH44-OC (Ocean Cruising), a dedicated bluewater cruising cat with mini keels instead of daggerboards; and the HH44-SC (Sports Cruising), a no-holds-barred rocket ship with C-shaped carbon boards, a solar array, and the company’s EcoDrive auxiliary propulsion package, which we’ll delve into shortly. The SC is the model we tested for the 2024 Boat of the Year contest. Spoiler alert: We were fairly blown away by the boat, and honored it with a Judges Special Recognition Award. Our sister publication, the performance-oriented Sailing World, named it overall Boat of the Year and described it as “the performance sailor’s retirement race boat.”

Aesthetically, in theme and execution, the HH44-SC presents a futuristic appearance. There’s a fixed bowsprit forward; ample freeboard in the relatively narrow hulls (at least compared with your average cruising cat from mainstream builders); a slash of integrated hull windows that offer natural light in the staterooms and double as a nice visual accent; a pair of drop-down swim platforms in the transoms; and a set of dinghy davits in between. The coachroof extends well aft and doubles as a hardtop Bimini over the cockpit, while serving as the base for the traveler and mainsheet arrangement, and as the base for more than 4,000 watts of mounted solar panels. 

Quick aside: The hulls are painted, and I reckon that more than a few owners will go with colors not usually found in genteel yacht surroundings. Our test boat, Titan, the first HH44-SC off the line, is bound for the Caribbean with a magnificent bright-red exterior. The intent is clear: You can go garishly or go home.  

Forward-facing windows in the main cabin can be opened to allow the fresh breeze to course through. M&M employed forward cockpits for steering and sailhandling in many of their previous designs, but eschewed that layout here. Instead, there’s a set of Jefa helm stations well aft that can rotate outboard for increased visibility when driving upwind, or that can be tilted inboard under the Bimini top in inclement conditions or to access line handling by gaining proximity to the winches. It’s a versatile, well-reasoned solution that I like a lot. I wish more cats were laid out similarly. 

Below, a dedicated en suite owner’s stateroom runs the length of the starboard hull. A pair of double-berth staterooms to port share a central head and shower. 

So, that serves as the basic overview of the 44-footer. But what about the ­technology? The big stories there are the propulsion and construction.

The most eye-opening feature is the hybrid auxiliary setup. Boat of the Year judge Tim Murphy is the educational director for the American Boat and Yacht Council and our go-to expert for all technical matters. Here’s his take on the system developed by UK firm Hybrid Marine: “It had the most sophisticated house systems and propulsion we’ve seen in the contest, starting with their parallel hybrid drive, a system unlike any we’ve inspected on any boat before this one.” 

Electric motors are built onto the back of the twin 30 hp Beta Marine diesels (or optional Yanmar 40 hp engines) with a coupling to the transmission. The electric motors can effectively be used as a pair of 5 kW generators to charge the battery bank. Adding regeneration while sailing provides up to 2 kW per shaft at 10 knots of boatspeed. An additional 43 kWh of energy is produced by the solar array on the cabin top.

What this translates to is silent ­operation under power in full electric mode, augmented by hydrogeneration to top off batteries while sailing, with the good old-fashioned reliability of those diesel engines as a backup, or for motoring through high pressure on passages. 

It’s a boat that covers a lot of bases, though Murphy is also quick to note that it will be interesting to see how all this translates to real-world operations, given that it’s new tech. He wouldn’t be ­surprised if, at the outset, there are ­growing pains bringing it all online (though company representatives note that the system has been used in European canal boats for more than 10 years). 

HH president Seth Hynes says: “At full battery capacity, you can run the boat at full throttle using the two 10-kilowatt electric motors and get 7 knots of boatspeed for approximately two hours. In light air, you can even keep your leeward electric motor running to build yourself some apparent wind.”

Murphy is also impressed with the build quality: “It’s thermal-foam construction with panels of Corecell foam core that’s heated up to make the complex shapes of the hull with no slits or kerfs in between. So you’re using those flat sheets to construct complex curves, and then you’re using the best resin ­available—which is epoxy—in the laminate, which also employs carbon cloth. This is infused epoxy construction, post-cured after that fact, so they are very, very high-quality hulls.” 

Carbon reinforcements are also used in high-load areas such as the wing deck, coachroof and daggerboard trunks. The Marstrom rig on the HH44-SC is all carbon (the OC version has a standard aluminum mast with the option to upgrade). 

At the end of the day, the reason one is attracted to a light, fast cat is pretty simple: performance. HH has been well-represented in previous Boat of the Year competitions, with its HH66, HH55 and HH50 all previous nominees (the latter two won awards in 2018 and 2021, respectively). To be honest, I’ve always been startled by the fact that many of these cats have gone to first-time boat owners with varying degrees of experience. I’ve been sailing for decades, and I’d be fairly intimidated to head offshore with a shorthanded crew on the larger HH cats, which are not simple vessels, but rather extremely powerful boats where things can escalate quickly if the first domino falls. 

One doesn’t need to be Superman, however, to sail the scaled-down HH44. Our test boat arrived in Annapolis, Maryland, with only a set of basic ­working sails (main, self-tacking ­staysail), so we didn’t get the full-on, off-wind power-reaching sleigh ride that is essentially the boat’s reason for being, but the sailing was still fast and sprightly. (A hat tip to the HH commissioning team, who had the boat sailing just two days after it was offloaded from a freighter in New Jersey.) Closehauled, with the deep, nearly 10-foot boards deployed, the boat tracked like a train and quite easily flirted with 10 knots of boatspeed. I can only imagine what it would be like to set a kite, then turn and burn, but it’s safe to say that you’ll regularly be registering double-digit boatspeeds. HH reps say that our test boat hit 23 knots on the delivery south to the Caribbean. 

All in all, the HH44-SC is quite a machine to behold. The story of ­production-boat building, starting way back in the 1960s, has been an ongoing evolution—piece by piece, boat by boat. Now this very cool cat has penned its own chapter. There’s really nothing else like it.

Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.

FYI

The “HH” in HH Catamarans represents the initials of Chinese businessman and ­manufacturer Hudson Wang, who founded the company, and CEO Paul Hakes, a New Zealand boatbuilder who joined forces with Wang in 2012 to launch the brand. There are currently eight models in the HH lineup, ranging in size from 44 feet to 88 feet, including the HH50, which was named the Best Luxury Cruiser in the 2021 Boat of the Year contest. The HH Catamarans design team of Melvin & Morrelli is well-known for their America’s Cup contenders, maxi offshore cats such as the 125-foot PlayStation, the pioneering Gunboat cruising cats, and the current line of Rapido performance trimarans. 

The post Sailboat Review: HH Catamarans HH44 appeared first on Cruising World.

Astus 20.5

The lineup of feature-­packed new sailboats at this past fall’s Annapolis Sailboat Show included a couple of sporty multihulls that stood out from the crowd, mostly because of what they went without. Rather than boasting plush ­accommodations and elaborate systems, the Astus 20.5 Sport trimaran and the Xquisite 30 Sportcat didn’t have so much as a padded cockpit cushion between them. No flat-screen TV. No air conditioning. No suite of navigation instruments. No fridge or freezer. No en suite head and shower. Zip. Nada. Nuttin’.

What they did have, ­however, was the promise of fun sailing. And with a sleeping bag, a camp stove and a cooler, either boat would be a fine weekender on which to fly across bays or explore skinny water.

The 19-foot-6-inch Astus is built in France and designed by VPLP, the same naval architects who design Lagoon and Excess catamarans, and racing machines such as Banque Populaire XI, Comanche and Groupama 3. With a price tag of $29,500, the Astus was by far the least-expensive sailboat that Cruising World Boat of the Year judges inspected. The builder, Astus Boats, has proa and trimaran models that range from 14 to 26 feet. 

The 20.5’s center hull and amas are vacuum-infused, and the main hull flares out above the waterline to cut down on spray. The floats to either side are attached with tubes that can be retracted or extended and pinned in place. Collapsed, the boat has a beam of 8 feet, 2 inches, making it easily trailerable. Extended, the tri is just under 15 feet wide and quite stable, even with four of us aboard for a test sail on Chesapeake Bay. 

To be honest, the boat was overloaded, but still, it danced right along in an 8- to 10-knot breeze. Tacking upwind with the main and working jib, our GPS speed was 5.2 knots. With the screecher rolled out on its continuous-line furler set on the boat’s aluminum bowsprit, we saw speeds in the high-7-knot range with occasional bursts of 8 or so.

The local Astus dealer from Red Beard Sailing said that the boat, with its mast stepped on a tabernacle on deck, is fairly simple to rig and get into the water from its trailer. With its centerboard up, the boat draws just 10 inches; down, the draft is about 4 feet. For getting to and from the launch ramp or dock, the Astus can handle up to a 6 hp outboard.

The cabin in the center hull has sitting headroom and enough space to escape the weather, or for a couple of people to sleep. There’s space for a portable toilet under a V-berth. Other than that, accommodations are minimal—and that’s point. The Astus is intended to be a speedy little machine to enjoy on your favorite body of water and then be taken home and stored in the yard.

Astus 20.5 Sport Specifications

Xquisite 30 Sportcat

The Xquisite 30 Sportcat has just about equally spartan creature comforts, though in two slightly more spacious hulls, thanks to a length overall of 30 feet, 4 inches. At first glance, the boat is somewhat reminiscent of the old Stiletto Catamarans, thanks to cowl-like hatches amidships in either hull that open to enough room below for a mattress, a place to stow gear, and a basic electrical system with LED lighting. 

The Sportcat is designed by French naval architect Francois Perus, co-founder of The Yacht Design Collective. The idea, he said, was to build a fast family cruiser.

As with Xquisite’s larger bluewater cruising cats, the Sportcat is not a vessel built to a price point. Its hulls are foam-cored and infused using vinylester resin, with carbon-­fiber reinforcements in high-load areas. Crossbeams are also made with carbon fiber, as are the rotating mast, rudders and bowsprit. The boat we sailed in Annapolis came with mini keels; carbon-fiber and epoxy daggerboards are an option.

Mesh trampolines are used in the cockpit and foredeck to reduce weight, and the composite deck amidships is covered with Flexiteek synthetic decking for traction. Sails on the boat in Annapolis were made by North and included a square-top 3Di Endurance main, jib, and G-Zero gennaker. The boat we sailed was powered by a 6 hp Mercury outboard; an electric motor is an option. Hull No. 1 carried a price tag of $258,000, but according to the Xquisite website, the current price is $285,000.

Xquisite Yachts, whose primary business is building luxury cruising catamarans, chose the sport design primarily as a training platform for its big-boat customers who visit the company’s facility in the Bahamas. Some of its owners are relatively new to the sport, and the Sportcat is intended for them to get an idea of how a multihull feels under sail. But it also is quite capable of pleasing sailors with a desire to go out and rip it up, which is just what the Boat of the Year team did one early morning on Chesapeake Bay. At the outset, the breeze was light, in the 5- to 8-knot range, and we saw speeds of 6 and 7 knots sailing upwind with the working jib. With the gennaker rolled out, we were matching windspeed, no problem.

The boat’s twin rudders are tied together by a carbon pipe, and the boat is steered using a long tiller extension, which lets the helmsman sit outboard on the windward hull, where there’s good visibility of main and headsail telltales. Tacking involves a bouncy dash across the aft trampoline—a fun maneuver once you get the hang of it.

After an hour or more on the water, given the Sportcat’s sparkling performance and the quality of its build and equipment, we judges had no other option but to name it Best Sportboat of 2024.

Xquisite 30 Sportcat Specifications

Mark Pillsbury is a CW editor at large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.

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Several months after visiting the Vision 444 at the Annapolis Boat Show with my colleagues on the Boat of the Year judging team, three things still stick out when I think about this South African-built entry that we named Best Cruising Catamaran Under 50 Feet.

First, unlike any other production ­catamaran that I can think of, the Vision has a full-size, forward-facing navigation desk to starboard, just inside the sliding glass door that separates the cockpit and salon. The desk is a few steps removed from the raised helm station in the cockpit, and about the same distance from the owner’s stateroom below it in the after portion of the starboard hull. In other words, it’s immediately accessible from both key locations. At the desk, the skipper is surrounded by instruments and electrical switches to control the boat’s systems, and there is a clear view forward for being inside to stand watch, work out waypoints or update the log.

Second is the workshop, which has a workbench, vice, shelves, and bins for tools and gear. It’s located in the forepeak of the starboard hull, forward of the owner’s head and shower. After seeing it, all I could think was, What cruising sailor wouldn’t want one of these?

And third: The Vision is a cat that can sail. Jubilee, Hull No. 8, was picked up at the Vision yard in Knysna by her owner, David Stein, in 2022. With a hired captain aboard to help him learn about the boat, he and his daughter set out on a shakedown cruise to Mozambique before returning to South Africa. From there, Jubilee set sail for Grenada, via Saint Helena, and averaged 7.6 knots during the crossing. By the time they arrived in the Caribbean, Stein was ready to take charge. His need for hired hands was over.

In Annapolis, with some 14,000 miles under the keels, Stein was still excited to talk about his boat, and after the show, he was more than eager to take us sailing. Out on Chesapeake Bay, I found it enlightening to watch him at work getting Jubilee underway, since one of the criteria we use when judging a sailboat is how well it measures up to its design brief. In the case of the Vision 444, the boat is intended to be an efficient, safe liveaboard boat for a cruising couple or otherwise shorthanded crew.  

To raise the main, Stein set the autopilot to head-to-wind, which freed his hands to attend to the halyard, reef lines and whatnot. For upwind sailing, the Vision has a self-tacking jib, which means coming about is as easy as turning the wheel. Stein says that in apparent wind of 16 knots or better, the boat can hold a course with an apparent-wind angle in the high 30s, which is respectfully close-winded for a roomy cat with short, fixed keels rather than daggerboards.

His go-to sail when singlehanding or on passage when varying conditions are expected is a code 55 (he carries a larger code 65 as well) that can be easily furled. Conditions for our sea trial were fairly light, around 12 knots, so after a couple of tacks, we quickly furled up the small jib and rolled out the smaller of the two reaching sails because that was the one already mounted on the continuous-line furler. Cracked off slightly to a close reach, we jogged along at 7 to 8 knots.

And of course, we encouraged Stein to set his asymmetric spinnaker, just to see how it would go. With that sail up, we managed to gain another knot or so.

Vision builds just the one model. Hulls, deck and furniture are all foam-cored and infused with vinylester resin. Furniture is tabbed and bonded in place, becoming part of the structure of the boat. 

Stein says that each hull so far is a little different, thanks to owner input and advances in technology. Hull No. 1, for instance, was built for a mobility-impaired owner, and doors were cut into the cockpit coamings to add accessibility from the dock or a tender. The idea proved useful and was incorporated into the design of subsequent models. 

Another neat feature on the Vision is having washboards that can be fitted across the stern of each hull to prevent following seas from washing aboard over the sugar-scoop transoms. A third washboard can be placed across the door to the salon.

All Visions come with a 24-volt lithium battery bank. On Jubilee, the bank is recharged by alternators of the same voltage mounted on two 40 hp Yanmar diesels, as well as by power from six 370-watt solar panels. Stein says that the boat’s original alternators were early models and installed just as 24-volt systems were becoming popular. They stopped working in December 2022, around the time he reached the Caribbean. It took three months to get replacements, but he and his guests had plenty of electricity without them, even with an electric induction cooktop (there is a propane stove too), espresso machine, countertop electric toaster ovens (Stein passed on a built-in oven in order to gain stowage), air conditioning, and a full suite of electronics. 

More-recent Visions are fitted out with 38-Nanni diesels (simple engines that are easy to work on) and eight solar panels, providing even more power, he says.

The interior layout of the Vision is straightforward enough, but even so, there are noteworthy elements. The owner has the starboard hull. Guests get the port hull, with an athwartships berth forward, and a head and shower in the forepeak. Another stateroom is aft, with a second head and shower. 

Amidships in both hulls, there are outboard lockers where wiring, hoses, through-hulls, and machinery are all neatly labeled and easy to reach. Engine access is well thought out too. On most cats, engine rooms are accessed through hatches in the cockpit sole, where they’re exposed to the elements. On the Vision, the aft berths in each hull lift up, and the engines are right there, with plenty of room to work on them without worrying about what’s happening outside. Adequate soundproofing keeps the staterooms ­relatively quiet underway when motoring.

Topsides, large cabin windows let in lots of light and provide good all-round visibility. The center two forward windows have hatches that open for ventilation. The L-shaped galley to port has deep double sinks and plenty of stowage. A dining table is forward to port, and can be lowered to make a berth that would be a handy place for off-watch crew to rest while on passage.

Gear throughout the boat was top-notch and included North Sails, B&G electronics, four electric Harken winches, a fridge, and two freezers.

During most of our Boat of the Year inspections, the judging team has to wonder how a boat will hold up with a few thousand miles under its keel, and how its systems and layout will work when owners find themselves out there on some dark, stormy evening. Not so with the Vision. Jubilee and Stein have been out there and done that, and both looked just fine. 

Mark Pillsbury is a CW editor-at-large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.

One Sailor’s Jubilee

On my first visit to David Stein’s Vision 444 catamaran at the dock during the Annapolis Boat Show this past fall, I got a kick out of a graphic on the bow with the boat’s name, Jubilee. Below it was a circle around the whimsical drawing of a bear playing some sort of crooked horn. Later, when we were out on Chesapeake Bay and sailing the boat, we hoisted the spinnaker and hauled up the snuffer, and saw the same quirky image, this time in white on the black asymmetric chute.

I had to ask the owner, “What’s up with the bear?”

Turns out, it’s a pretty good story.

Stein hails from western New York, where he had an ­insurance brokerage firm. Before buying the Vision, he’d done most of his sailing on smaller race boats, but in 2008, he took his family on their first charter vacation, aboard a 38-foot Beneteau in the Grenadines. And with that, he was hooked.

“As soon as I got home from that trip, I started building a spreadsheet on how, when my son graduated from high school, I’d be able to do this,” he said. He put down a deposit on the Vision in 2020 and took delivery of Jubilee in July 2022 at the builder’s yard in Knysna, South Africa.

Stein is a self-confessed (Grateful) Deadhead, and one day, he was listening to one of his favorite songs, “Sugaree.” Jerry Garcia sings, “Shake it up now, Sugaree/I’ll meet you at the jubilee/And if that jubilee don’t come/Baby, I’ll meet you on the run.”

Stein said he always thought a jubilee was a party, but then when he did a little research, he discovered that the word has an older biblical meaning: a person’s jubilee year, when you turn 50 or 51. At that age, if for some reason you had to lease your family land because of financial difficulties, you got your property back, or if you’d sold yourself into indentured servitude, you got your freedom.

“You were supposed to spend the entirety of your jubilee year not working, and getting good with God and the universe,” Stein said. “Therefore, I’ve got a Grateful Dead bear trumpeting a kudu shofar, which you’re supposed to do apparently to signal to everybody that you’re starting your year. My jubilee year is apparently several years long, but who’s counting?”

Stein retold the story when I spoke with him by phone in April. He was sitting aboard Jubilee at the dock at the Antigua Yacht Club, where he was tied up to repair the seawater pump on his watermaker. 

After Annapolis, his plan had been to sail south with the Salty Dog Rally, but instead, he took a left and headed for the Bahamas. He spent the holidays in the northern Eleuthera area with his wife and kids, and his parents came to sail with him in the Abacos.

From there, he headed south to St. Thomas. It was a five-day windward trip, but he and his crew endured the ordeal by catching four big tuna, four mahimahi and three marlin. They had so much fish, they had to pitch frozen pizza overboard to make room for it.

For passages, Stein brings friends aboard, and finds mates from the Vision owners group, which now numbers about 40 ­current and future owners. Around half have placed an order for a boat, and they’re eager to spend time aboard Jubilee while they wait for theirs.

After exploring the US and British Virgin Islands, Stein said, they had a perfect overnight sail to St. Maarten, where he caught the Heineken Regatta and the St. Barts Bucket regatta. 

Stein’s daughter will be joining him soon in Antigua to start the journey back north, where he plans to put the boat on the hard for the summer in Virginia. 

 “I feel like every day I’m doing stuff that’s physically and mentally engaging, so I haven’t gotten bored yet,” he said. “That absolutely hasn’t happened.”

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