BEST BOATS 2020

How’s this for a thought experiment: imagine setting a diminutive Tiwal 2 inflatable dinghy alongside a Catalina 545 cruiser? It would be hard to imagine two more different watercraft, and yet they are both still very much sailboats. They are also both winners in this year’s SAIL magazine Best Boats contest, with the Tiwal winning in the “Honorable Mention” category and the Catalina taking the prize among monohulls 51ft and over.

And the fun doesn’t stop there. How about setting a new Cape Cod sloop, winner in the “Best Daysailer” category with its heartbreakingly gorgeous traditional lines and modern underwater appendages, against a cutting-edge Eagle Class 53, our “Best Large Multihull 51ft and Above?” Craziest of all, although these boats may look like they come from different planets, with their passenger-friendly cockpits and minimal accommodations, they are, in fact, both designed to serve much the same purpose as daysailers.

Same thing with the full-foiling F101 trimaran and J/99 performance monohull sloop. Who’s to say which provides the better adrenaline rush under sail? While very different in their conception, they are also similar in that they share the same outstanding build quality. Clearly, when it comes to naval architecture, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Something else that hasn’t changed is the way SAIL sets about determining the winners in its annual Best Boats contest: by having its editors fan out across the country sailing, studying, evaluating and discussing the latest the boatbuilding industry has to offer—an industry that even after centuries of hard work and innovation never seems to run out of fresh ideas. As always, enjoy, and congrats to this year’s winners!

EST LARGE MONOHULL 51FT AND ABOVE

Catalina 545

In the eyes of our panel of judges, the reason the new Catalina 545 stood out as this year’s best large monohull is because of the way its collection of engineering and design features all worked together to result in a truly outstanding vessel. Beyond that, although the company is including the new flagship in its 5-Series, Catalina fans will immediately notice some eyebrow-raising differences between it and the rest of the line.

A fiberglass “collar,” for example, is molded in all around the top of the hull. Shaped like a construction beam, this feature not only makes the hull more rigid, but provides a solid base for the deck, a strong