2012 BOAT SHOW PREVIEW: MONOHULLS •

While the design trends over the past few years have been dominated by the new crop of angular and voluminous cruisers from Europe, it is interesting to note that several quite traditional looking designs—large and small—are appearing from U.S. builders. The boats will surely stir up the American fondness for sweeping sheers and traditional transoms.

Among the more modern boats, the sugar-scoop transom long favored by cruisers seems to be fading away, being replaced by fold-down transoms that offer huge areas for sunning, swimming and tending the dinghy. And when folded up, the new look provides the designs with a pleasing, purposeful look.

This year, we continue to see innovation from designers, whether in the form of twin rudders, drop keels or cockpit arches. The state of sailboat design remains vibrant and intriguing. Here are 28 new boats to dream about owning and sailing into the sunset.

BAVARIA
Bavaria USA has spent the last 12 months launching a new company in North America. Their first office opened in Annapolis, MD, and their second is opening this fall in Mystic, CT. Bavaria USA sells their Farr-designed, German-built cruising boats factory direct, so you can order your new boat exactly as you want it and have it delivered in about eight weeks.

Last year, Bavaria launched their new Cruiser line. They put the 32, 36, 40 and 45 into a charter fleet in Annapolis and sold direct to customers. This year, they are bringing in a new Cruiser 50 and the classy Vision 46.

The 50, similar to the rest of the Cruiser line, is a roomy, easy-to-sail performance cruiser that will appeal to families who need a lot of space or couples who will be living aboard for long periods. BWS sailed the twin-wheel, twin-rudder 50 last year in Turkey and found it to be a remarkably good sailboat that is close-winded and slippery off the wind.

The new Vision 46, which debuted in Annapolis in July and will be shown at the Newport and Annapolis shows, is a raised deck saloon design with a sweet curved cabin house, a huge cockpit, a fine sailing hull, and a truly innovative approach to living and entertaining aboard. See our full review on page 70. www.bavariayachts.com

BENETEAU
Over the last three years, as the sailing market has been in a deep recession, Beneteau has taken the opportunity to reinvent the Oceanis line of cruising boats and to introduce a completely new line of cruisers under the Sense brand.

With the Oceanis 45 and 41, the company developed the theme of sleek-hulled, low-cabin styling on hulls that have added beam and a slight chine aft to increase cockpit volume. The addition of a cockpit arch for mounting the mainsheet out of the cockpit adds to the distinct look and functionality of the new designs. This fall, Beneteau will introduce to the U.S. market the new Oceanis 48, which extends the brand and emphasizes modern styling and commodious living aboard. The 48’s cockpit has twin wheels and a centerline table with folding leaves and a pod on the aft end for the chartplotter. The stern folds down to make a wide swim platform. The new 48’s interior is a study in understated elegance. The boat comes standard with a mahogany-colored finish on the Alpi wood surfaces, offset by expanses of white overhead panels and light-colored fabrics. The aft cabin, aft galley configuration will make the 48 a fine sea boat.

The new Sense 55 follows on the heels of the Sense 50 and 43. The boat has a definite “wow” factor, as it is a true indoor-outdoor cruiser that offers many of the benefits of a cruising catamaran combined with the convenience, elegance and practicality of a monohull. Like its little sisters, the 55 redefines the living spaces into the outdoor “patio,” the living room-like saloon and the private sleeping quarters forward. The living spaces flow together smoothly, and huge windows and opening ports enhance ventilation, brightness below and communication between crew. The new boat has highly lacquered cabinet surfaces, finely finished built-in furniture, and a clean and elegant look on deck and below. See our full review in the August 2012 edition of BWS. www.beneteauusa.com

CATALINA
Catalina Yachts, once the largest sailboat builder in North America, if not the world, has seen its horizons narrowed during the recession. Nevertheless, over the last three years Gerry Douglas and Frank Butler have come up with four new boats that have set a new design trend for the company and given Catalina owners a reason to buy a new boat. It all started with the 445, which was an immediate success. The boat had a sleeker cabin top than previous models, a finely fitted out interior, and a sensible rig with roller furling on both the headsail and mainsail.

The 445 was followed by the 385 and the 355, and then last winter the company introduced the nifty little Catalina 315. The 31-footer was a hit right from the start as it filled a need for a capable small cruising boat at a reasonable price. We sailed the 315 in Florida last winter and came away thoroughly impressed with the boat’s sailing qualities, fine turn of speed and big-boat feel under a press of sail. Even better, we were stunned by the amount of living space—it felt like a 35-footer below deck. A great little cruiser, the Catalina 315 is a fine starter boat or a really fun cruiser for an experienced couple. See our review in the July 2012 issue of BWS. www.catalinayachts.com

COM-PAC
Com-Pac Yachts began building small cruisers and daysailers in 1974 and has led the way in building trailerable pocket cruisers for real people for almost 40 years. Their range includes beamy little cat boats, sleek daysailers and innovative cruisers to 35 feet.

This year the company launched the new Com-Pac 23 Pilothouse. The boat is 23 feet overall, but has been designed and fitted out to be a capable cruiser with three full-size berths, an enclosed head and an inboard diesel.

The 23 has a tabernacle mast that can be lowered easily. The boat’s beam is small enough to allow it to be trailered on any road. There are two helming stations—one in the cockpit and one in the pilothouse, both with engine controls. The saloon has a small dinette, galley, and plenty of storage for a week or two of cruising. The water tanks hold 20 gallons. The V-berth forward is surprisingly large, and two hanging lockers and cabinets have been provided for clothing.

With a 12 hp diesel to get you home when the wind dies and a true shallow draft for coastal gunkholing, the new Com-Pac 23 Pilothouse is the epitome of the perfect little pocket cruiser. www.com-pacyachts.com

DUFOUR
French builder Dufour has been building stylish modern cruising boats and racer-cruisers for almost 40 years under various owners and management teams. Now part of the Bavaria and Grand Soleil group, Dufour is redefining its position in the marketplace with two lines. Grand Large-branded designs are modern cruising boats with an emphasis on elegance, comfort and sailing convenience—even though the boats BWS has sailed are very fast, too. The Dufour 405 and 445 are two of the GL line, from 33 to 50 feet, that you will see at the fall shows. BWS sailed the 405 last year and found it to be a lot of fun and a very capable cruising boat. See the review in the September 2011 issue. And we sailed the 445 in Annapolis recently and will be running the review in an upcoming issue. The Performance line has been created to offer skippers a real shot at the silver whether racing around the buoys or in longer point-to-point races. The new 36P will make its debut at the fall boats shows in Newport and Annapolis and will no doubt turn a few heads. The hull is optimized for good sailing qualities with a high aspect rudder and a deep T-bulb keel. The tall rig gives it plenty of horsepower in light or heavy air, and the sailing or racing layout makes it easy for a crew to manage sheets and halyards. The cockpit lockers are removable to make sheet trimming easier. Down below, the boat is more “cruise” than “race” and has the finely finished feel that discerning owners—whether they’re cruisers or racers—prefer. Dufour has always stood for innovation, quality and fine sailing, and the new 36P fits that legend well. www.dufour-yachts.com

HAKE SEAWARD 46
Nick Hake at Hake Yachts has been building innovative retracting keel cruising boats for 30 years and has earned a reputation for coming up with original and practical solutions in the design and construction of shoal draft cruisers. The Seaward 26 and 32—the current models in his fleet—have proven to be both excellent thin-water cruising boats and fine sailboats. Late last year, Hake introduced a new flagship to the line. The Seaward 46RK is the retracting keel concept on steroids. The new boat is one of the most innovative designs to join the cruising fleet in many years. The boat has a retracting keel that offers seven-and-a-half feet of draft for upwind sailing and two-and-a-half feet when poking around the shallows or even running downwind. The two rudders are also retractable, so you can beach the boat without worry. The mast is deck-stepped in a tabernacle so it can be lowered easily and quickly if you need to get under a fixed bridge or haul out in a yard with overhead power lines. Hull number one was equipped with twin 54 hp auxiliary engines for reliability and speed. Down below, the chart table/pilot’s station is at the foot of the companionway and from there you have good visibility to both sides and forward. The accommodation plan has been set up for a cruising couple who have the occasional visit from friends and family. The boat holds 180 gallons each of water and fuel, so you have a wide cruising range. A perfect choice for the west coast of Florida, the Bahamas, the Chesapeake Bay and many other shoal cruising grounds, the new Seaward 46RK is a truly interesting and unique cruising boat. www.seawardyachts.com

HANSE
German builder Hanse Yachts has been pushing the design envelope as hard and far as any builder in the last few years. Their boats are designed to be both ultra-modern cruisers and commodious homes afloat. And, they are also set up to be easy to sail and very swift through the water. BWS reviewed the new Hanse 495 in the June 2012 edition and concluded that the boat and the company are on the leading edge of the sailing market. This fall, Hanse USA will bring three new boats to the shows that will certainly turn heads. The Hanse 385, 415 and 445 are all cut from the same modernist fabric. With self-tacking jibs and large, slab-reefed mainsails, the boats can be handled by one person. The cockpits are huge, with centerline tables that will seat up to eight for al fresco meals. Down below the styling is simple, elegant Euro-modern with an emphasis on lightness, open spaces and pleasing sightlines. Hanse specializes in building boats that are configured just how each owner wants them to be. On their website, you can select the model you are interested in and open the Hanse Configurator to view all of the cabin, color, rig and equipment options. If you press “send,” the choices you select will be sent to a dealer near you who will respond shortly with a price quote. Not only are the boats thoroughly modern, but the way you buy them is modern, too. www.hanseyachts.com

ISLAND PACKET
A new cruising boat from Island Packet is coming this fall, but at press time IPY’s owner, Bob Johnson, and VP of marketing, Bill Bolin, had their lips tightly sealed. The secret boat is in build, but we won’t know what it is until the fall. All we can say at this point is that IPY is going to bring their loyal fans a cruising boat that is new and a little different. Stay tuned. www.ipy.com

JEANNEAU
Jeanneau, a division of Group Beneteau, has been on a roll the last few years, and according to those who know these things, the company has gained significantly in market share in the U.S. The reasons for this success are many, but at the most basic level it is because the company consistently provides good cruising boats at fair value. They compete primarily with their sister company, Beneteau, and we have heard that the rivalry is spirited. The current Sun Odyssey models that have been so popular in the U.S. all have something to do with the number nine. We are not sure what this means, but the launch of the SO 409 was followed by the 439, the 379 and the 509. And next winter we will see the launch of the 469. The boats in the “9 Line” all have powerful hulls with a slight chine aft and sleek decks with many windows and hatches. The cockpits are large and well laid out for sailing as well as entertaining at the dock. Down below, you will find the styling to be somewhat traditional and the color schemes pleasantly evocative of teak and holly. BWS sailed the 509 in Florida not long ago and found it to be a fine ocean sailing yacht that embodies the Jeanneau philosophy of delivering quality and value in a package that is both comfortable to live aboard and fun to sail. Look for our review of the SO 509 in the upcoming October issue of BWS. Also new this fall is the Sun Odyssey 41 DS. A deck saloon design, the 41 has a raised deck and large cat’s-eye windows on both sides. The hull has a chine that runs almost all the way forward from the stern, which enhances interior volume, and a hint of added stability. Down below the 41DS offers a huge owner’s stateroom aft, a large guest cabin forward, and a roomy and sociable saloon with a large galley. The new 41DS packs a lot of cruising accommodations and style in a 41-foot hull. www.jeanneau.com

MOODY
Several years ago, the Moody brand was bought by Hanse in Germany and relaunched as a luxury yacht brand with an innovative 45-foot raised pilothouse cruising boat. Following that, the brand was supplemented with a more traditional-looking sloop design that evokes a North Sea or Scandinavian style. The Moody 41 will be on display at the fall boats shows. The boat has a traditional transom, which folds to make a swim platform, and a fairly plumb bow. The cockpit has twin wheel, a centerline table and a partial windshield as in a Hallberg Rassy or Najad. Down below, the 41 is fitted out in classic Bristol fashion with white bulkheads and highly varnished mahogany cabinets, drawers and details. It all looks very elegant, comfortable and delightfully traditional. The Moody 41 will make a fine world cruiser for a couple who wants modern design with a traditional touch. www.moodyboats.com

MORRIS
The new Morris 52 is the latest and largest M Yacht in the Morris line of classic-looking daysailers, weekenders and cruisers. The 52 has a sweeping sheer, long overhangs, a low-slung cabin and a large, deep cockpit. Her beam is modest by modern standards and her rig large enough to be really impressive. The sail plan offers a huge mainsail and a self-tacking jib. Unique among modern designs, the 52 has no bow or stern pulpit, so her lines look uncluttered and sweet. Down below the 52 has a bright interior that evokes centuries of classic sailboats and the sea. A standard layout would offer a large double cabin aft and a master suite forward with a comfortable saloon and small galley in between. The bulkheads and doors are raised panel joinery that is either painted white or varnished with the typical Morris deep shine. BWS sailed the 52 last summer, so look for the review in the October issue. www.morrisyachts.com

TARTAN and C&C
This fall at the big boat shows, you are bound to find a good collection of Tartans and C&Cs on display. Tartan now builds their classic American-style cruisers in sizes from 34 to 53 feet, and each is created with an epoxy hull, carbon spars and Cruise Control headsail rig. Under new ownership, Tartan and C&C seem to be finding a new lease on business life and have been able to introduce two all-new designs to their fleet this year. The Tartan Fantail 26 is a nifty little daysailer or weekender that has traditional lines above the water with a counter stern, pleasant sheer, fairly plumb bow and a short bowsprit. Below the water, the boat has a spade rudder and a high aspect bulbed fin keel. The rig will be self-tacking and in downwind conditions you can fly an asymmetrical chute from the sprit. The Fantail will have a small auxiliary engine and accommodations for a couple overnighting in simple style. The Fantail 26 was conceived to be available as a daysailer, a club sailboat and a weekender. www.tartanyachts.com The first new boat from Tartan and C&C not designed by Tim Jackett in many years, the new C&C 101 was drawn by Tom McNeill, who works as an in house designer at the company. A flashy little sprit boat, the 101 has a thoroughly modern and powerful hull with nearly 11 feet of beam and a six-foot, six-inch keel. The boat will be able to carry a lot of sail. No doubt the 101 will be a winner on the racecourse. Down below, the boat will have the simple but refined accommodations one expects from a C&C. For those looking for a true racer-cruiser in the small end of the fleet, the new C&C 101 will fit the bill. www.c-cyachts.com

BWS takes a look at the fleet of cruising monohulls drawing less than five feet

Pacific Seacraft 37

Blue water tends to be deep water and that is what lies between the land masses we live on and the islands or continents we want to visit. But, at home and in the new landfalls that make the cruising life so wonderful, the water often gets very thin. So the compromise all cruisers have to face is whether to sail with a deep draft and avoid thin water cruising or sail with a shallow draft and live with the slightly poorer windward sailing ability of shoal draft designs.

Many of America’s best cruising grounds have fairly thin water running through them. In the Northeast, the popular sailing regions around Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are all shallow and riddled with sand banks. Many of the boats designed for the region, and Long Island Sound as well, have always been centerboarders, whether they were drawn by Herreshoff, Ted Hood or Olin Stephens.

And shallow cruising waters extend right down the U.S. East Coast through Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, through the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds and all the length of the Intracoastal Waterway right to the Florida Keys.

The Gulf Coast from Key West all the way to Corpus Christi, Texas, is sandy and shallow with narrow harbor entrances and extensive sandy shoals. Once you get to the West Coast, deep water runs right up to the coast in most areas. But head deep into San Francisco Bay or up the Sacramento River delta and the water thins out rapidly.

Once we leave North America it doesn’t necessarily get any deeper. The Bahamas are notoriously shallow, and if you want to get off the beaten track amongst the islands you need a true shoal draft cruiser. The water throughout the Caribbean is generally deep but there are lots of great anchorages around islands like Anguilla, Anegada and Barbuda where a shallow draft boat will get you close to the beach and out of the wind or swell.

In Europe, most of the coastal waters are deep with the exception of Holland and Germany. In the Med, you will find mostly deep water but again there are hundreds of great anchorages throughout the sea where less draft will really be to your benefit. And, if you want to use the European canal systems to cruise from the North Sea to the Med, shallow draft is a must.

Variations on the Theme

Designing a boat that combines shoal draft with reasonable or even good sailing performance is one of the challenges that yacht designers have been wrestling with for hundreds of years.

There are seven basic solutions to the shoal draft compromise and of these each offers different sailing characteristics. Multihulls are all shoal draft cruisers; some have small keels and some have daggerboards. But all of them draw less than five feet.

Bilge keelers are all shoal-draft boats with less than five feet of draft. But, none are available from builders in the United States, and the design style, once very popular in England and tidal regions of France, Holland and the North Sea have gone somewhat out of favor. That leaves us with five modern styles to consider.

Full shoal-draft keels

The classic shoal draft keel design was the full-length keel with a cutaway forefoot and an attached rudder. The long keel was easy to build in a wood plank-and-frame method, was strong, could withstand a grounding safely and could be dried out on its own bottom for painting or repairs. Although not the best for close winded sailing, the full keel design excels at reaching and running by offering an easy motion and good directional stability.

Today, Island Packet and Pacific Seacraft lead the fleet of full keel boat builders with very successful and capable ranges of boats.

Island Packet Estero

Island Packets are designed by founder Bob Johnson who spent 30 years perfecting what is now called the Full Foil Keel design. The full-length keel distributes the internal ballast in a full-length, foil-shaped keel that adds stability, directional stability, and improves the keel’s lift when sailing to windward. It is worth noting that all of Island Packet’s current models have less than five feet of draft, including the new 460, which is 46 feet overall. If there is one builder in North America who has fully embraced the virtues of shoal draft sailing it is Island Packet.

Pacific Seacraft designs have wine-glass sections that lower the boat’s center of gravity and make them stiff and weatherly. The 31, 34 and 37 all draw less than five feet. The full keel designs are traditional by modern standards yet have proven to be forgiving and capable at sea. Because the hull and keel are all one piece, Pacific Seacraft hulls have enormous integral strength so if the hull lands hard on an immovable object, like a rock ledge or coral reef, the keel will distribute the loads throughout the hull. World cruisers have long believed that shoal draft full keel designs like the Pacific Seacrafts and Island Packets are most suitable for any and all conditions.

Fixed Wing keels

Modern shoal draft fin keels began to evolve in the 1980s, particularly after Australia won the America’s Cup in 1983 with a revolutionary wing-keel design. Most if not all production builders of cruising boats offer shoal draft versions of their models with modern cruising fins with either wings or bulbs.

The principle is to gain the most lift possible with a NACA foil shaped keel that has as much weight concentrated in the wings or bulb as possible to lower the center of gravity. The wings or bulbs also provide an end-plate effect, which channels water flow evenly across the keel instead of allowing it to fall off at the bottom as it does on a standard fin keel.

In the early days of wing keels, builders worried that the wings might act as suction cups when the boats were run hard aground on mud banks. A lot of grounding tests were run with these early designs with positive results.

Catalina 37S

Catalina has made a significant commitment to shoal-draft, fin-keel designs and has five models over 35 feet that draw less than five feet. The keels that designer Gerry Douglas works with have swept back shapes with elliptical trailing edges and large aft fins. This shape provides a large amount of foil surface for lift and a low center of gravity. Catalina uses all-lead keels, so the density of the material enhances the designs’ innate stability.

Both Beneteau and Hunter have cruising designs between 33 and 37 feet that have drafts less than five feet. Beneteau uses a bulb designed with an aft swept foil keel. The bulb trails aft of the keel where it won’t collect seaweed or crab pot lines and where it will place the bulk of the casting’s weight directly below the boat’s center of gravity. The shoal-draft version of the new Beneteau 37 draws only four feet, seven inches but is still able to fly plenty of sail and has been noted as a fast, close winded cruiser.

Hunter 36

Hunter has developed its own brand of wing keel design for their shoal draft models that combines the efficiencies of NACA foils with the low center of gravity and end-plate effect of a wing keel. The Hunter 36 draws four feet, 11 inches while the smaller Hunter 33 draws only four feet, six inches. The Hunters come standard with roller furling mainsails and jibs, which are easy on the crew. The keel shapes and the depth of the centers of gravity both aid the boats upwind and provide an easy stable ride.

Sabre Yachts in Maine offers wing keels as an option to the deep performance keels they provide as standard equipment. The Sabre 386 has a shoal draft of only four feet, 10 inches. Designed by Jim Taylor, the shoal keels are advanced cruising fins with hydrodynamic wings that add stability and lift. Sabre builds classic high quality cruiser-racers that have proven to be both winners on the race course and excellent cruising boats. With the shoal draft option, the 386 can take her crew anywhere.

ComPac 35

ComPac Yachts in Florida has been building shoal draft small cruisers for years. Not long ago the builders introduced the new ComPac 35, which was designed as a couple’s cruiser with a shoal draft Scheel keel that is both offshore ready but capable of cruising thin water, too. The Scheel keel has a swept back bulb that lowers the center of gravity and creates minimum drag as water flows over the foil. Built on the west coast of Florida where cruising depths are often under five feet, the ComPac 35 is right in its element.

Hanse 350

Hanse from Germany has two boats in their cruising line that draw under five feet, the 320 and 350, and true to the company’s mission the keel design and configuration are tilted toward modern shapes and performance characteristics. The shoal keels are modified cruising fins with fairly deep chords and aft sweeping ballast bulbs. This design allows Hanse to enhance ballast-to-displacement ratios and performance upwind.

The fixed shoal keel solution to the designer’s problem of draft version performance is the simplest and least expensive to build. And, in the long run should require the least maintenance.

Keel-Centerboard Designs

When you think of classic New England builders, most of us think of names like Hinckley, Morris, Sabre, Tartan (actually Midwest), Bristol and Little Harbor. Because these builders and the designers behind them were creating boats for sailors who cruised and raced in New England in the summer and then headed south to Florida, the Bahamas, Bermuda and Caribbean in the winter, the boats had to have shallow drafts but they also had to perform well upwind and they had to be offshore capable.

Tartan 4100

Certainly over the years there have been issues with centerboards. They can bang annoyingly as the boat rolls. They can be lodged either up or down. And, they can actually fall out of the boat if a pin fails. But, these days, the problems once associated with centerboards have largely been subdued with innovative technology.

The only production builder offering modern keel-centerboard designs in 2009 is Tartan Yachts, which has three models, the 3400, 3700 and 4100, all of which draw less than five feet with their boards up. Tim Jackett designs the Tartans and has created a line of cruisers that carries on the classic Tartan traditions of quality, performance and comfort.

There are other keel-centerboard designs out there that can be had on a custom or semi-custom basis from builders like Shannon Yachts in Rhode Island.

Swing Keels

The option to add ballast to the centerboard gives a designer and builder the chance to create a truly shoal draft boat that will also sail upwind with the alacrity of a modern fin keeler.

In essence the swing keel is a cast foil keel that hinges inside the hull. When retracted the trailing edge of the keel fits into a slot in the bottom of the hull and the leading edge is parallel with the bottom of the boat. In the retracted position, and with the rudder(s) kicked up, a design of this type will sit nicely when dried out.

With the keel down, the foil is in place to provide lift as you sail to windward and the ballast in the keel is low where it adds stability.

The only production builder who offers cruising boats over 35 feet with swing keels is Southerly in England. The southerly line ranges from 35 to 57 feet and with the keels retracted all of the boats draw less than three feet—even the new Southerly 57RS (raised saloon).

Southerly 38

Southerly has been building swing keel boats for 20 years and has perfected the science of deploying and swinging heavy moveable ballast that is also a sailing foil.

Retracting keels

Retracting keels have become popular on mega yachts that need the depth of a deep keel for performance but need shallow drafts to enter normal ports. And, we have seen occasional custom cruisers equipped with retracting keels, since the principal is so attractive.

A retracting keel does just as you would imagine, it retracts into the boat when you want to sail in shoal-draft mode and is then lowered when you want the lift and stability of a full fin keel in deep water.

Because the keel is a ballast keel, the unit is heavy and requires a mechanism to raise and lower it in a controlled way. Muscle power can work on boats of up to 40 feet or so, but above that a powered winch is required, all of which adds complexity to the boat.

Hake 35

The only production builder in North America to offer a cruising boat with a retracting keel is Hake Yachts in Florida. The Hake 32 RK is a compact but capable cruising boat that can sail or power in as little as 20 inches of water but, with the keel lowered will draw a healthy six feet, six inches.

The 32RK was designed specifically for Southern Florida and Bahamian waters and has proven to be an excellent cruising solution that will work just about anywhere the water is thin.

Thin water cruising can be the most fun way to explore new islands and cruising grounds. So, if you have plans to venture over the horizon be sure to check the depths in the places you want to visit before you decide on the right boat to sail there.

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