Sail

PRESIDENT GARY DE SANCTIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WENDY MITMAN CLARKE MANAGING EDITOR LYDIA MULLAN WEB EDITOR EMME HURLEY CRUISING EDITOR CHARLES J. DOANE CHARTER EDITOR ZUZANA PROCHAZKA CONTRIBUTING EDITORS NIGEL CALDER, DON CASEY, TOM CUNLIFFE, DUNCAN KENT

When I first moved to Annapolis many moons ago, there were still production sailboat builders on the water-front, and one of them was in a shop between my office and the place I would sometimes go get coffee or a sandwich. It was impossible to walk p

Hot on the heels of its First 36 (a 2023 SAIL Top 10 Best Boats winner), Beneteau launches its First 44, an undeniable eye-catcher. Taking a page from their work with the Figaro design, Beneteau has given the “cruising” version of this boat water bal

Last year, we reviewed the new Hallberg-Rassy 400 and deemed it one of SAIL’s Top 10 Best Boats for 2023. Interestingly, it came to the U.S. ahead of its immediate predecessor, the center-cockpit 40C, which this year is making its U.S. debut though i

After selling more than 200 Hanse 460s in just a few years, Hanse is rolling out the big sister to this popular mid-sized model—the 510. Designed by Berret-Racoupeau, the design brief focused on fast, comfortable cruising and easy sailing. Performanc

Elan Yachts has created the second model in its cruising Impression line with an eye to the ultimate voyaging boat, with comfort, ease of use, and blue-water capabilities all part and parcel of the design brief. Double or even single handing is possi

With the new HH44-SC, HH Catamarans is producing a luxury, high-performance cat for cruising families and couples and answering what HH CEO Paul Hakes says has been sailors’ frustration at “the slow pace” of the marine industry’s adoption of electric

Beneteau’s new 37-footer is the latest in the seventh generation of the French builder’s Oceanis line, which began in 1986. It updates the popular 38.1, now in its its ninth season, and according to a media release, the brief given naval architect Ma

The new Italia Yachts 12.98 fits neatly between its big sister, the 14.98, and smaller sibling, the 11.98, in size, design, and purpose. While the bigger 14.98 is geared toward the speed-oriented sailor with luxurious long-term cruising in mind, and

The new VPLP-designed Outremer 52 is something of a natural hybrid between its enormously popular predecessor, the 51, and the more recent 55, expanding upon design innovations from the latter. It’s also a response to owner feedback, representing fou

Xquisite Catamarans are well known as comfortable, well-built, long-distance cruising cats, with all of the luxury one would expect—the antithesis, in other words, of minimalism. Which is why Xquisite’s new offering, the 30 Sportcat designed by Franç

Southern California was serving up a strong dose of its May Grey/June Gloom weather when I arrived in Santa Barbara. With a thick marine layer and cool temperatures, the breeze was light and the seas were flat. I had arrived to test the Oyster 495, a

I first saw Beneteau’s Excess brand of sailing catamarans in 2019 in Düsseldorf, Germany, with a room full of marine journalists, some of whom, like me, weren’t convinced of the brand’s vision. Most were perplexed, some got snarky. The models were ba

Even before they joined forces with Beneteau back in 2018, Seascape’s Slovenian principals, Andraž Mihelin and Kristian Hajnšek, were brainstorming with their go-to French designer, Sam Manuard, on how to create a truly multipurpose 36-foot performan

Coast Guard statistics are sobering. In the six-year period from 2016 through 2021, a total of 1,771 souls fell overboard in U.S. waters, and 64% of them perished. Any discussion of sailor overboard procedure, equipment, and technology must start wit