fast racer cruiser sailboats

Dehler   New sailboats designed for fast sailing and cruising pleasure

Experience the original performance cruiser: Dehler. No other type of sailing boat so elegantly bridges the gap between high-performance sports sailing, and stylish, highly aesthetic living comfort. The shipyard has demonstrated ongoing innovative craftsmanship ever since its founding back in 1963. Numerous awards, regatta sailing records set, and major wins are a testimony to the Dehler racing yacht pedigree. Each and every design feature on board a Dehler is a testament to the creativity of the yacht builders. Our cruiser boats are built by passionate sailors for passionate sailors with the very highest quality of craftsmanship and precision, which has always been the hallmark of the ‘Made in Germany’ seal of quality. Dehler offers high quality modern and fast cruiser boats that are intelligently designed for fast sailing and cruising pleasure. 

Fast lane   Limited offer

This is the time to enjoy performance cruising even more. Take the FAST LANE to get your new Dehler 34, Dehler 38 SQ and Dehler 46 SQ sooner and with exceptionally affordable equipment. For the packages included we offer you a 100% discount from April to June 2024, a 75% discount in July & August 2024 and 50% in September 2024.*

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Sailing Yachts   Fast racer cruisers & cruising yachts

Presented just for you   your dream sailboat.

We invite all lived aboard, world cruisers, sail racers, and day sailors to a custom tailored boat show. Dehler dealers are looking forward to meeting you for an exclusive presentation on the Dehler model of your choice. Find out what hull plan and sail plan are perfect for you. Get ready for exciting details on and below the deck of our sailing boats. This private tour means no time constraints and no crowds. Schedule your exclusive consultation today and get ready for an exciting presentation on the sailboat of your dreams!

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Sail Dehler   Play Harder

New 3d-configurator   exclusively for the dehler 46 sq.

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Dehler   performance sailing philosophy

At dehler, our yachts sailing performance is one of its most important virtues..

Why? Because it continually thrills you and makes you want to feel the power of the hull cutting through waves with speed and precision. The thrill is what sailing is all about. This is why our yachts will always have a sports gene. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our performance on the water. Our sailing vessels offer custom packages that include innovations like the fixed prop Stealth Drive, carbon fiber masts, and high-performance sail plans for faster boat speeds. We are always looking for ways to optimize our boats to your unique sailing style, no matter if you are long-distance coastal cruising or sailing in high speed ocean races.

A yacht beaming with intelligence.

The interior furnishings leave nothing more to be desired. The design is a fusion of function and aesthetics, with craftsmanship that is flawless down to the smallest detail. Each type of sailboat built features many clever ideas that will amaze you. We feel obligated to satisfy these high standards at Dehler every day.

Dehler stands for the values of the “Made in Germany” global seal of quality.

Thoroughness above all is what counts for us. Precision in every detail shapes how we think and act, as well as who we choose to partner with. This includes the internationally renowned yacht designers at judel/vrolijk & co. You can see this in the timeless shapes, thoughtful deck layouts, and dynamically elegant lines of each Dehler.

Sailboat shows   Tour our fast cruising and racing yachts

2024-06-20 - 2024-06-23 san diego international boat show.

• Dehler 38 SQ
• Hanse Yachts US LLC
• Seattle Yachts

2024-09-12 - 2024-09-15 Newport International Boat Show

2024-10-10 - 2024-10-14 annapolis sailboat show.

(*) Disclaimer: The maximum price advantage refers to the Dehler yacht described above until the end of June 2024. In other markets, discounts may vary depending on the applicable VAT. Not valid in conjunction with other discounts or benefits. No refund if individual components are not purchased. Errors excepted.

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• Oceanis 30.1
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Specifications

Flagship of the new FIRST line, the First 27 is unquestionably  the fastest and safest cruiser  in this size range. Her  modern  and state-of-the-art design brings the magic of planing sailing to families, couples, and solo sailors alike, wherever the cruising ground and whatever the weather conditions. A true pocket yacht, she has an inboard Yanmar diesel, a working galley, a real head and plenty of storage, as well as room for up to six crew members for  overnight adventures . 

NAVAL ARCHITECT : Samuel Manuard INTERIOR DESIGN : Sito Concept & R&D : Seascape

WHY FIRST 27 ?

MODERN & FAST

A light vacuum-infused hull, a modern design and a deep low-center-of-gravity keel make the First 27 significantly faster, delivering stable and safe planing sailing to anyone who sails her.

Very high stability due to an unsinkable hull combined with three unsinkable chambers, a crash-box, an inboard engine, and balanced twin rudders for complete control make safety one of her strongest points. 

UNDER CONTROL

Carefully thought-out cockpit ergonomics, minimized and simplified deck controls, double winches, and a perfectly balanced steering system assure easy handling in single-handed, double-handed or fully-crewed setups.

A reliable 15 HP inboard engine coupled with simple linear shaft drive and foldable propeller guarantees high cruising speeds, ease of use and low maintenance.  

Even with a fixed keel, the First 27 is a fully trailerable boat offering you a new level of freedom. You can easily discover distant shores without long sea deliveries, save on marina costs, and store your boat in your backyard during the off season.

SAILING EXPERIENCE

The main promise of the First 27 is her performance and unique sailing experience. Again and again, she will surprise you by getting to plane with as little as 12 knots of wind. Her stability comes from her wide, flat hull on the waterline and a lead T-bulb keel, and her easy handling comes from her carefully thought-out design and cockpit ergonomics. Increased bow volume, accompanied by a balanced twin-rudder steering system, keeps you in complete control, whether you are sailing upwind or safely planing downwind. The excitement of her lively planing and easy handling will become your afternoon sailing routine on the First 27!

LIVING ONBOARD

On top of matching the speeds of most racing boats, she also offers a surprising level of comfort. The clean and minimalistic light-weight interior offers all essential amenities for onboard living. She is designed to sleep up to 6 adults, 2 in the bow cabin and up to 4 in a very bright and openly-spaced salon, and is also equipped with a removable table and fridge. At the midpoint, you'll find a galley with a gas burner and a sink with fresh water. Thanks to innovative, foldable magnetic doors, the midpoint can also be converted into a proper marine toilet with a black water tank or used as a front cabin extension. A large and open cockpit welcomes you with comfortable benches, a removable indoor/outdoor table and a swim ladder with a shower on the stern. 

360° WALKTROUGH

Equipped with seanapps.

The easiest way to keep your boat safe and ready to cruise anytime.

The new Seanapps  app is the ultimate solution to help you indulge your passion for boating. With the touch of your finger, you can easily connect, monitor and order services for your boat – from routine maintenance, to requesting a wash or fuel or having us complete a repair.

The information below is intended for general informational purposes only and is subject to change without notice and does not constitute a contractual agreement. Any descriptions, representations, or statements made in this document are not to be considered binding unless explicitly stated otherwise in a formal contractual agreement.

Length Overall

Beam overall

Light displacement

3902,18 lbs

Air Draft Max

Max. engine power

Cabin Number

Yanmar inboard

CE Certification

SV Lenny takes a spot on the 2023 Transpac podium!

After 11 days at sea, the SV Lenny and her crew placed second in their class. The crew gave their feedback on the boat pre and post race.

2023 Transpac - Meet the Crew of SV Lenny

In June 2023, a few days before SV Lenny started the 2023 Transpac, we spoke to the crew about the race, the boat and their connection to the legendary BENETEAU First boats. 

New First 44 “Lenny” will race in the 2023 Transpac

Two legendary races, one Ocean, a new boat from a long successful line of great boats, and a remarkable crew who have sailed on major boat races around the world … BENETEAU’s First 44 is starting a Pacific adventure like no other before.

Customer Care

Buying a BENETEAU doesn’t have to be a daunting task. We have teams of experts to guide you through the entire process – everything from sea trials, financing, and customization to after-sale commissioning, service, and maintenance. We are proud to have one of the largest, most highly-regarded dealer networks in the world. We’re ready to provide you with the assistance and expertise needed to launch you and your BENETEAU on a lifetime of happy, rewarding, and memorable voyages.

Other models in the range

4.3 m / 14’1’’

1.7 m / 5’7’’

7.29 m / 23’ 11’’

2.5 m / 8’ 2’’

10.97 m / 36'0"

3.8 m / 12'6''

14.65 m / 48’1’’

4.25 m / 13'11''

17.12 m / 56’2’’

5 m / 16’5’’

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• Sailboat Reviews

The Modern Classic Racer-Cruiser

40-year-old islander 36 proves to be a comfortable and fast ride..

The Islander 36 was built from 1971 to 1985, making it one of the longest-lived 36-footers ever on the U.S. market. More than 750 of the Alan Gurney-designed racer-cruiser sloops were built, with production spanning almost the entire history of Islander Yachts.

When it was first introduced, the Islander 36 seemed conservatively modern in appearance, with a flattish but concave sheerline, a fin keel, and a skeg-mounted rudder. The boat was designed as a racer-cruiser under the then-new International Offshore Rule (IOR) , but you would be hard-pressed to say that the same rule could create both the I36 and a modern IOR design. The Islander 36 was launched during the infancy of the IOR, before boat designers took advantage of the rules loopholes. As a result, its hull shape is undistorted and bears more resemblance to a modern fast cruiser than to a contemporary IOR racer.

While custom boats were the biggest force in racing in 1971, it was still possible to be competitive in local regattas with a production racer-cruiser. That all changed very quickly. Boats like the Islander 36-which were out-designed under the IOR but were still reasonably fast and easy to sail-served as the foundation for the movement that became the Model A of handicap racing: the Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF). And still today, I36s often take podium positions in PHRF races, particularly where I36 fleets are most popular, particularly in the San Francisco Bay area.

Even by todays standards, the hull proportions of the Islander 36 are nearly ideal for a modern racer-cruiser. The beam is moderate and carried well aft, offering fairly good hull volume aft, so that the boat does not squat excessively when cockpit lockers are loaded with cruising gear. Despite the age of the design, the I36 is not dated in appearance. You could even say that the boat is a modern classic.

The Islander 36 is predominantly a West Coast boat, but youll find them throughout the U.S. Most of the owners responding to our survey use the boat for daysailing, club racing, and coastal cruising.

Sailing Performance

Despite being designed as a racer-cruiser with an IOR Mk I rating of 27.9, the Islander 36 was not a particularly fast or successful IOR boat. However, under the PHRF rating system, a well-sailed Islander 36 is a reasonably competitive boat; many are still active in club racing, with the largest contingent in California, where conditions are a good match for the I36.

The Islander 36s rig is a simple, untapered aluminum spar stepped through the deck. It has two sets of spreaders and double lower shrouds. The shrouds are set well inboard, and genoa tracks are set just outboard of the cabin trunk to take advantage of the tight sheeting angles.

The Islander 36 is well-balanced under sail, although like many boats of its era with relatively small mainsails, you need a variety of headsails to keep the boat moving her best in all conditions. While this isn’t a problem on a crewed racing boat, todays fast cruisers tend to have slightly larger mainsails so that less-frequent headsail changes are required. The original I36 sailplan shows genoa overlaps as large as 180 percent; genoas that large are generally a nuisance to handle and tack.

Both deep and shoal draft keels were available on the Islander 36. Most boats have the deep keel, and this version of the boat is generally about six seconds per mile faster. The shoal-draft boat has an additional 150 pounds of ballast to compensate for the keels higher center of gravity.

The mainsheet traveler is positioned at the forward end of the companionway hatch. Late-model boats have a small molded breakwater aft of the traveler so that a companionway dodger can be installed. On boats without the breakwater, installing a dodger is trickier. Since the mainsheet is attached almost exactly to the middle of the boom, sheet loads are fairly high, and youll need a winch to trim the main in heavier air.

Original steering, mostly Edson brand, was the typical chain and sprocket with the steering cable led through sheaves to a quadrant clamped to the rudder post. The boat was designed with a tiller, but most owners have retrofitted wheel steering over the years. Since there are very few owner complaints about excessive weather helm, changing to wheel steering was more a matter of personal choice than necessity.

You will find slight differences in deck layouts, depending on whether the boat has been used predominantly for racing or cruising. On racing boats, the primary headsail-sheet winches are usually located on the forward portion of the cockpit coamings, with the secondaries aft. That position is often reversed on cruising boats. Likewise, racing boats may have most halyard and lift winches mounted at the base of the mast; cruisers use fewer winches, mounted on the mast itself. For shorthanded family cruising and daysailing-the type of sailing for which the boat is best suited-we would suggest larger-than-standard multi-speed self-tailing headsail sheet winches installed on the coaming, near the helmsman.

The I36s cockpit is very deep, which can make it challenging for some to see over the cabin when seated. Other cockpit features make it less than ideal for offshore work: cockpit drains are fairly small and there is no bridgedeck. To comply with the International Sailing Federations (ISAF) Offshore Special Regulations for offshore racing, the companionway dropboards would have to be fixed in place up to the level of the aft cockpit coaming, which would make it extremely difficult to get below.

Like most boats with a long production history, a variety of engines were used in the Islander 36-and most have been replaced over the years-making generalizations about performance under power difficult.

The I36 was first powered with an Atomic Four gasoline engine; that was followed by the undersized Palmer P-60 gas engine, the optional Perkins 4-108 diesel, and then the optional Westerbeke L-25 four-cylinder diesel. Islander even used a Volkswagen diesel engine, the Pathfinder 42 horsepower, in the 36 at one point, and by the end of the boats production run, a 30-horsepower Yanmar diesel was used. Most of these original auxillaries have since been replaced.

The most common replacement engines youll find in contemporary Islander 36s are Yanmars, usually in the 30- to 37-horsepower range. They are lighter, and with about a 2:1 reduction and a 13-inch three-blade, fixed prop, the I36 can approach 7 knots in flat water.

Given this wide variety of engines-some left-handed, some right-handed-and the mix of fixed, folding, and feathering props, Islanders will often pull from one side to another when backing up. With all but the smallest two-blade, folding props, skippers will need good seamanship skills for well-behaved backing into slips and docks. The knack is to get the boat moving astern with modest power, idle to keep speed under 2 knots, then use the large rudder and skeg to ease into a berth.

The Islander 36s interior finish is one of its best selling points. However, there are several interior-design shortcomings that are typical of boats of the early 1970s. Two of the biggest changes in boat interiors since then have been in navigation stations and galleys. The marine electronics boom had not begun in 1971. Loran C was new, and very expensive. Only hot race boats had wind instrumentation. Satnav was a far-off dream for recreational sailors, as were such things as personal computers and weather facsimile machines. For this reason, nav stations on cruising 36-footers in the early 1970s were rudimentary, when they existed at all.

The nav station of the Islander 36 is no exception. It is tucked away under the sidedeck, and the cabin sole in front of it slopes awkwardly upward. There are no drawers beneath the chart table, no good place for chart stowage. Theres no place to sit, and if you use the shelf above the table for electronics, theres no space for books. On late model I36s, there are drawers just forward of the chart table behind the port settee, but by modern standards, the boats nav station is nothing to brag about.

The shortfalls have given owners reason to use their sailorly ingenuity and a little creativity to come up with ways to add GPS, chartplotter, AIS, SSB, and radar instruments to the cozy nav station area. Youll find as many different solutions as there are I36s on the used boat market, and the I36 Owners Association website (www.islander36.org) offers some good examples.

The original I36 galley also is a relic from the days when a lot of people considered cruising in a sailboat just one step above camping out in a tent. The sloping cabin sole in the galley makes it difficult to work at the sink or reach the bottom of the icebox. There is relatively little counter space or storage space. There is no provision for galley ventilation except the main companionway, and without a dodger, the companionway cannot be left open in the rain because of the forward-sloping aft bulkhead.

A large number of Islanders were built with alcohol stoves, many of which have been replaced with propane or natural gas. Microwaves also have been added to current I36 galleys. Some I36s were produced with refrigeration systems, and many others have been added along the way. Pressure water systems are also common in todays Islander 36s, though not universal.

Aft of the nav station on the port side, there is a quarterberth tucked completely beneath the cockpit. The lack of ventilation in the quarterberth is a problem in warm climates, and its location is not one for the claustrophobic.

The main saloon itself is quite comfortable. The settees on either side are long enough to be comfortable berths. The starboard settee folds out into a double berth, but it is not the most convenient to set up or use. Above and behind each settee, there is a fair amount of storage space. Late model boats have lockers and drawers outboard of the port settee, while earlier boats have only a shelf. It would be fairly easy to build storage lockers in this area on an older boat, and many owners have.

Most boats of this size have fixed cabin tables, but the Islander 36s folds up against the bulkhead at the forward end of the main cabin. It is just possible to squeeze by the table along the starboard side when it is in use.

Ventilation is a weak point in the Islander 36, as it is with a lot of boats. Late model I36s have a ventilation hatch overhead in the middle of the main cabin; theres no reason you couldnt add one to an older boat. A hatch in the cabin trunk over the forward cabin provides fair-weather ventilation, but theres no provision for air?ow in bad weather. You can add cowl vents in dorade boxes, but the installation is tricky due to the vinyl headliner. The original foam and vinyl headliners had zippers to access the backs of fittings, but they tend to corrode shut. Many owners have opted to replace the headliners.

The head compartment is to port at the forward end of the main cabin, with lockers opposite on the starboard side. Headroom of over 6 feet is carried all the way forward. Drawers under the V-berth and a narrow hanging locker to starboard offer reasonable storage. A door at the aft end of the forward cabin can be secured in the open position to provide privacy for the forward cabin.

Conclusions

Unlike a lot of boats with long production histories, there are relatively few differences between the first and last Islander 36s. This means that youll likely be able to find a well-kept boat at a pretty good price. Most have seen systems upgrades and creative interior makeovers that make this modern classic a competitor for newer used production boats. The I36 also boasts a very active and large owners association, an invaluable resource for those buying-or thinking about buying-an older used boat. Since so many Islander 36s were built, theres a well-established used boat market, and you should not have trouble reselling one in the future, particularly if youre West Coast based.

Because of the cockpit design and relatively light construction, this is not the type of boat that we would choose for extended offshore voyaging, but there have been several I36s that have successfully raced from California to Hawaii, and a number have made circumnavigations. In our opinion, the I36 is best suited for coastal cruising, club racing, or even daysailing and weekend getaways.

As with any older boat, a careful survey is mandatory. Pay particular attention to the chainplates, gelcoat condition, rig, and the mast step. We would also look hard at the engine installation, fuel system, and the hull structure near the mast. Try working in the galley and at the chart table to see if you can live with them.

All in all, the Islander 36 is a well-mannered, fast-sailing boat, at its best in a breeze. With proper, modern sail-handling equipment, it can easily be handled by a couple for shorthanded cruising. With good sails and a smooth bottom, it is also can be a competitive PHRF club racer.

Owners Comments

The boat is easy to sail single-handed, especially with an autopilot. It has great speed and points well into the wind. It offers plenty of space for a single person or a couple for full-time cruising. I upgraded the galleywitha three-burner stove and oven, and replaced the holding tanks. Im still working with the original Pathfinder 42-horsepower diesel engine. It has plenty of power, butit isn’t always easy to find parts or someone to work on it. – Len Diegel; Katana, 1980 Islander 36; Lake Grapevine, Texas

The I36 is a fun and fast boat in most wind conditions, and it does respectable in its class in local races. Improvements that would make the I36 even better would be the addition of well-placed cabin handholds to aid in moving about the cabin in bad weather, and a better-designed navigation station, which is too small and offers no place to sit. – Jack and Anneke Wolf; Trillium, 1976 I36; Muskegon, Mich.

We purchased our I36 in 2012, from the second owner who had maintained it in like new condition. This boat must represent the very best value in a coastal cruising boat for the San Francisco Bay area. Having been a racer for 40 years, my wife didnt appreciate sailing with me until we bought this boat and settled into pleasure sailing. Comfortable, stable, quick, and roomy all describe our experiences. It has put the pleasure into sailing for us. – Gene Novak; Fantasy, 1980 Islander 36, hull #581; San Francisco, Calif.

We have sailed the boat in 80-mile-per-hour winds with no problem. The Islander 36 is the perfect daysailer-coastal cruiser. My only criticism is with the galley, which is poorly designed and not very functional. – 1972 model, Texas

This is an excellent boat for cruising. It can be singlehanded with the help of self-tailing winches. Our aluminum holding tank failed. – l977 model, California

We bought the boat for its appearance, reputation, and size. Its a great boat for San Francisco Bay and the Pacific coast. Weve sailed it south to the Channel Islands and north to Canada. – l978 model, California

Very fast for a comfortable cruising boat. The boat seems to be a good compromise between being light enough to sail well and heavy enough to be safe and solid. Gelcoat has crazed in spots. – 1979 model, Michigan

The intermediate and lower shroud chainplate is pulling out of the bulkhead. – l980 model, California

The only real problem with the boat is lack of ventilation. It is an excellent blend of sailing performance for the cruising couple or club racer. I suggest looking for an older model since they are often exceptional buys and are essentially the same boat that was produced until 1984. – 1973 model, Florida

The cockpit sole is flush with the companionway sill, which is not a seaworthy setup for going offshore. The aft bulkhead is too slanted to leave the companionway dropboards out when its raining unless you have a dodger. – l980 model, Maryland

• Age Calls for Close Inspection

• I36 Owners Association

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Measures & weight.

• Length (LOA ): 12,70 mt
• Length (LWL): 11,50 m
• Beam (Bmax): 3,99 mt
• Draft: 2,70 or 3,00 mt
• Displacement (Light): 5200kg
• Ballast: 2245 kg
• Keel: 2500 kg
• ORC GPH: 528/533
• IRC TCF: 1.185/1200

WATER & FUEL

• Water Tanks: 200 lt
• Fuel Tanks: 100 lt

ENGINE / OMOLOGATION / CREW

• Engine: Saildrive 30 hp
• CE Category: A ‐ Ocean
• Crew Max: 10
• Sail Area Upwind: 105 m2
• Sail Area Downwind (Gennaker): 230 m2
• Main Sail Area: 60 m2
• Jib Area: 45 m2
• Assymmetric Spi Area:170 m2
• Concept: Neo Yachts & Composites
• Builder: Neo Yachts & Composites
• Designer: Ceccarelli Yacht Design

THE LOFT VERSIONS

• An innovative solution for maximum living space under sail
• Long sailbags can be stored on the side of the centerboard case
• 3 pivoting beds allow comfortable sleep to the windward side for max stability when sailing in strong wind
• The front dinette allows great dining space for 10 people
• It is ideal when dropping sails during the race
• It can be transformed in a comfortable double bed big cabin

T4T VERSION

• 1 front owner cabin
• 1 large guest cabin
• 2 bathrooms
• 1 large separate shower
• 1 extra large service room/locker
• 1 central dinette
• navstation to be reversible to sofa

SPC VERSION

Supercomfort fast.

• 2 large guest cabin
• 1 large bathrooms with shower

SMART SOLUTION

• Fast yacth need deep draft for stability and upwind sailing ability
• Cruising yachts need low draft for easy mooring
• Rudder and Keel of Neo 400 are retractable without the use of hydraulic systems (OPTIONAL)
• This system will allow fast split from ORCì to IRC keel and rudder
• Speed and comfort while sailing and easy anchoring also in shallow waters
• Weldox keel fin and lead bulb all CNC machined to perfection
• Carbon hi aspect ratio rudder to improve upwind ability

PIVOTING BERTHS

More space outside than a bigger boat.

• 3 people can comfortably sleep to windward in the back part of the yacht even when sailing in rough seas

COMPOSITE INTERNALS

• Easy to clean
• Long lasting

INTERNAL DETAILS

• Low profile cabin is well integrated in a modern design concept
• Flush, curves, continuous windows
• Reverse bow emphasizes virtual water lenght keeping boat dry
• Concave sheerline for beam effect
• Composite stanchions and pulpits maintain outline clean and light
• A deck plan designed by people who know what racing means
• A wide cockpit comfortable while cruising, ergonomic while racing
• On deck mast, on deck manouvers, make Neo 400+ safe and dry
• Waterproof bulkheads give Neo serious offshore sailing attitude

DECK DETAILS

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Full carbon construction.

STATE OF THE ART FULL CARBON CONSTRUCTION

• Direct female mould
• Prepreg Technology from Gurit
• Epoxi resin cured at 70°
• Multiaxial and unidirectional carbon fibers
• A light and strong structure allows a light displacement yacht with 52% of the weight in the keel
• Category A yacht engineered by "Ceccarelli yacht design and engineering"

How Fast Do Racing Sailboats Go?

Last Updated by

Jacob Collier

August 30, 2022

Speed thrills, and in a sailboat, it thrills even more. Sailboat racers like to push their boats to the limit. But just how fast do racing sailboats go?

Sailboats come in a variety of shapes and sizes. If you are a speed enthusiast, you must wonder about the maximum speeds of different sailboats and if larger sailboats can go faster than smaller ones.

Racing sailboats usually skim over the water at around 15 to 20 knots. For comparison, the average speed of a traditional sailboat is only around 5 to 8 knots. Some custom-designed boats can reach record-breaking speeds of up to 50 or more knots.

Since sailboats don't rely on internal power for speed, many factors determine the speed of a sailboat, and every sailboat has different top speeds.

Experienced sailboat sailors believe that several factors influence the top speed. The size and shape of the boat, sails, and skill level all play a crucial role in determining the speed of a sailboat. Even more than the internal factors, external factors such as the waves and the wind can greatly boost or hinder sailboat speed.

Table of contents

‍ What Influences Sailboat Speed

Sailboats have different shapes and sizes, and different sailboats can reach different speeds. There are many internal factors, such as those related directly to the boat, and external factors, such as weather, ocean currents, etc., that influence the speed of a sailboat.

Boat Size and Length

The most crucial thing that plays a role in speed is the sailboat's length and overall surface area. What does size have to do with speed, you ask? For a sailboat to go fast, you need to maximize the propulsion by the wind and keep drag and resistive forces to a minimum.

As the sailboat moves through the water, it generates waves. One wave that is created among others constantly rides with the boat. It has its peak just in front of the bow, while its trough is at the stern. If this wave is long enough, it can act as a wall of water to the boat.

The aerodynamic shape of the bow is designed to push up and rise above this wave. This allows the boat to lift the bow out of the water and rise above the water surface. As the bow rises, the stern gets pushed down into the water. This reduces the drag and also allows the boat to glide above waves.

But this wall of water creates resistance for the boat, and the sailboat requires power and momentum to break through this resistance. A larger sailboat has more momentum, which allows it to break through the barrier easily. This makes it possible for the larger boat to go faster.

You might think that a smaller boat is lighter and will offer less resistance and drag. Yes, this is true, but a smaller boat generates multiple small waves, which offer more resistance. Lightweight boats are also more susceptible to wind shear and tend to veer off course.

Different boats have different hull designs. The hulls are designed to be narrow and precisely engineered for racing sailboats to offer minimum resistance. It makes sense that a boat with a hull like a bathtub will not even come close to a sailboat with a narrow and streamlined hull.

The hull design also plays a vital role in the speed of a sailboat. A hull built for speed will have a straight line from the lowest point to the aft, and the aft will be wider. This design makes the boat stable and allows it to reach higher speeds.

On the other hand, a boat with multiple curves on the hull and a narrow transom will not be as fast. The reason for the hull playing a vital role in speed is simple. It needs to cut through the water to ensure the least resistance.

There are three major hull types for sailboats.

As the name implies, monohull sailboats comprise one hull. These boats offer high levels of stability, making them extremely difficult to capsize. The hull is designed to cut through the water, which keeps the boat stable, and allows it to pick up speed. The hull can be raised out of the water if you need to go faster. Monohull boats are traditionally designed to sail below 10 knots.

A catamaran, more commonly known as a cat, comprises two hulls running side by side. These hulls are similar in size. Cats are significantly faster than monohulls and can reach between 15 knots and even go more than 50 knots.

The Trimaran is also known as the double outrigger. Trimarans have three hulls, which means they offer more stability and are extremely buoyant. The three hulls allow the boat to gain speed because it rises above the water surface with little resistance. Tamarans can reach speeds of up to 20 knots.

Skill Level

Sailboat racing has become a highly competitive sport. When it comes to speedboats, you can use engine power to hit maximum speeds, but it takes a lot of skill and experience to get your sailboat to move at speeds three times the wind.

The amount of training, skill, and experience you have is crucial to how fast your racing sailboat goes.

The only propulsion you have on a sailboat is the wind. With a good wind in your sails, your boat will move much faster. Both types of winds, apparent and true, play a crucial role in your sailboat's performance. The stronger the true winds, the faster the boat will move.

Waves play a crucial role in your boat's performance. They influence the speed and determine your and your vessel's safety. Calm and serene water can quickly turn aggressive and furious without prior notice.

If the waves are strong enough, and you don't know how to navigate through them, they can easily capsize your boat. Depending on their direction, they can also significantly increase or decrease the speed of your sailboat.

When the medium you are running on, water, is moving fast, your boat will experience a significant increase in speed. You can think of it as walking on a travelator. If you are walking in the same direction as the travelator, your speed will be increased. But, if you decide to walk in the opposite direction to the travelator, you will look weird and will be considerably slowed down.

Going Faster Than The Wind

Two types of winds influence the speed of a sailboat; these are true wind and apparent wind. To understand these better, let us look at an example. Imagine you are riding a motorcycle when there is no wind. As you pick up speed, you begin to feel the wind in your face; this is called apparent wind. It is the air pressure you feel while moving through the still air.

Say you are riding at 20 mph on your motorcycle; the wind you will feel on yourself will be 20 mph. Now let's add true wind to the equation. Say the wind is naturally blowing at 20 mph, and you are heading in the same direction as the wind. The wind pushing you and the apparent wind will cancel each other out if they are perfectly reverse-parallel to one another.

The sails experience the same apparent wind you felt while on the motorcycle when you are on the sailboat. The sails are designed to put the apparent wind to use and help propel the boat further. As you increase your speed, the apparent wind grows stronger, which leads to more wind in your sails.

How Fast do Racing Sailboats Go?

Now that we know the factors that influence sailboat speed, let us look at how fast racing sailboats go. If you are a traditional sailboat sailor, you will be lucky if you can hit 10 knots. But with racing sailboats, you can achieve over 15 knots, and many racing sailboats can hit 20 knots. The fastest anyone has ever achieved on a sailboat is 65.45 knots , a world record.

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Born into a family of sailing enthusiasts, words like “ballast” and “jibing” were often a part of dinner conversations. These days Jacob sails a Hallberg-Rassy 44, having covered almost 6000 NM. While he’s made several voyages, his favorite one is the trip from California to Hawaii as it was his first fully independent voyage.

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• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

Fastest sailboats: The teams aiming to break 80 knots

• April 6, 2022

It's been nearly a decade since Sailrocket set a new record to become the world's fastest sailboat. Now two teams are hoping to set a new record with their radical designs, Mark Chisnell reports

On 24 November 2012, Paul Larsen and his Sailrocket team rewrote our understanding of the physics of sailboats, stamping their names indelibly in the record books as they set a new record for the world’s fastest sailboat.

A little over a week earlier, at a spot called Walvis Bay on the coast of Namibia, Sailrocket 2 had pushed the outright sailing speed record up by the biggest-ever margin – from 55.65 to 59.23 knots. The performance on the 24th smashed it beyond all expectations though, a gloriously windy day that saw Sailrocket 2 deliver a 65.45 knot average officially becoming the world’s fastest sailboat.

It was a remarkable human achievement, piloting a boat down a 500m course at speeds that had previously been thought impossible. “Your job is to go 100% down that course, there’s no halfway about it,” Paul Larsen told me, almost a decade later. “By the time you’ve got a big team and all the momentum of that project going, your biggest fear is not going fast.”

The risks are inescapable though, as Larsen had revealed in a blog; “As I lay awake in bed that morning I considered writing a little note that I hoped would never be read and stashing it somewhere. Too morbid. Just get it right, Larsen.”

Growth of the world’s fastest sailboat

To put Sailrocket’s performance into context you need to consider the trajectory and history of the sailing speed record . It started back in 1972 with Tim Colman and Crossbow setting an opening mark of 26.30 knots.

Yellow Pages in 1993. Photo: Frederick Clement/DPPI Media/Alamy

By 1993, Yellow Pages had upped that all the way to 46.52 knots – an average improvement of almost a knot every year. But then something changes, progress halts for over a decade. The windsurfers and kiteboarders eventually start nudging it back up, but it’s 16 years before another yacht – Alain Thebault’s foil-borne L’Hydroptère – sets a new record, not even five knots quicker than Yellow Pages .

It was thought that the speed of sailing machines was reaching a ceiling, a physical limit defined by the cavitation point. If you have ever made a cup of tea at altitude then you will know that the boiling point (the transformation point where water changes from a liquid into a vapour), varies with pressure. The lower the pressure, the lower the temperature required for water to boil. So, at the top of Everest, water will boil at about 68°C.

There’s also low pressure on the leeward side of an aero- or hydrofoil . Foils provide a lifting force because of the pressure difference between one side and the other. This difference creates the force as the foil tries to equalise the pressure.

L’Hydroptère claimed the record in 2009. Photo: Christophe Launay

If a hydrofoil goes fast enough then the pressure to leeward will drop sufficiently that the water starts to ‘boil’ or vaporise. This creates a loss of lift, and instability as smooth flow turns chaotic, with vapour bubbles flowing down the foil to an area of higher pressure where they collapse.

It’s this speed limit that we see America’s Cup and SailGP foilers hit on a reach. Once the speed gets much above 50 knots the foils – which are designed to suppress cavitation for as long as possible – finally start to cavitate and the boats just can’t go any faster.

To get past this point a completely different type of foil is required, one that does not try to eliminate cavitation but instead tries to stabilise it, and this is the secret to the 65-knot speed of Sailrocket 2 . “That’s the brilliant [foil] design that we settled on, with a lot of help from guys like Aerotrope and Chris Hornzee-Jones. Chris did amazing work behind the scenes on that project, including designing the final foils,” said Larsen.

Article continues below…

Syroco: Radical design aiming to set a new speed record

If having a top-flight speed sailor as a part of your team taking on the challenge of creating the world’s…

SP80: Swiss team hoping to build the fastest sailboat

SP80 was conceived by three graduates of Swiss engineering school, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Benoît Gaudiot, Xavier Lepercq and…

Sailrocket obliterates world record….again

Matthew Sheahan talks to Paul Larsen shortly after he exceeds 65 knots, shattering his own world record

The team realised the foil didn’t need to be impossibly thin to suppress and avoid cavitation. Instead, they could encourage it and push past the cavitation point with a foil that would cavitate in a stable fashion.

“To make a dinghy or a powerboat analogy, it’s like when you get over that hump and the boat gets up on the plane. We all know when the water separates off the back of the boat, you don’t want your transom gurgling around at the back there with all that drag,” Larsen explains.

Current speed record holders Paul Larsen and Vestas Sailrocket 2. Photo: Vestas SailRocket

In a similar fashion, Sailrocket 2 ’s foil is able to shed the turbulent, draggy flow of early cavitation and replace it with a single smooth pocket of vapour around the foil as air sucks down from the surface. Larsen calls this a base ventilated foil, it’s also sometimes termed a super-ventilating foil.

“So you end up with these very shallow camber, base ventilated foils, and they’re not overly efficient but they don’t have a limit,” he explained. “They keep working. It’s like a jet fighter’s wings. They’re not efficient, but if you put a big jet engine behind them, they keep going where the others stop and hit the ceiling.”

Force alignment

The jet engine was the other part of the problem. How do you generate enough power from the aerofoil to push a horribly inefficient hydrofoil up to the speeds required to start cavitation, and then blow through that barrier?

The answer lay in a decades-old idea – force alignment. In conventional sailboats, be they dinghies, multihulls or yachts, the aerodynamic force created by the sails is both pushing the boat forward and pushing it over.

The force is resisted by a combination of a hydrodynamic force from a foil in the water, and weight – either the crew’s bodyweight or the weight of a keel. These two forces act at a distance from the centre of effort of the sail – creating opposing levers, with the forces of mass and hydrodynamic lift opposing the aerodynamic force generated by the sail (or wingsail).

The use of these forces to create a propulsive forward force demands a structure of a commensurate size and strength. So to go faster required more force and/or lighter overall weight, but also stronger structures. It was big improvements in the strength and weight characteristics of materials that allowed much of the jumps in speeds set through the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

Vestas Sailrocket 2 used force alignment to achieve her remarkable speeds

But there was another way: by offsetting the forces and aligning them. “So [you] have the centre of effort of the aerodynamic forces, the sail or the wing, directly aligned with the opposing force of the foil,” explains Larsen. In other words, remove the levers by having the force from the sail directly oppose the force from the hydrofoil.

“We didn’t come up with that concept, that was written about in the 1960s by Bernard Smith in the book The 40-Knot Sailboat ,” Larsen adds. Smith’s insights were so far ahead of his time that it took almost five decades for them to be fully realised in Sailrocket 2’s record.

Sailrocket 2 achieved the force alignment with a wing mounted on the leeward hull that was canted over the windward hull by 30°. The force it generated was driving the boat forward and trying to lift the windward hull out of the water.

This force was resisted by a foil under the windward hull. And so that foil was pulling down rather than pushing up. It’s a crucial distinction between Sailrocket 2 and the type of foiling craft used in the America’s Cup or SailGP. In those boats, it’s the leeward hydrofoil that pushes back against the sail force. It also lifts the whole boat up and out of the water.

These two breakthrough ideas – force alignment and super-ventilated foils – along with a ‘no guts, no glory’ attitude, took Larsen and his Sailrocket 2 team over 65 knots, a mark that has been held for almost a decade. But might the time have come for that record to be broken?

“I think we’ve sat on it for long enough and it’s definitely time for it to be challenged,” Larsen says. “There was a time I was quite protective and proud of it, and wanted to sit on that throne for a while. But right now I want to see what other people can do with it and see what their solutions might be. I’ll see if it motivates me enough to get back out there myself!”

New fastest sailboat challengers

There are two major challenges shaping up to take on the Sailrocket team’s record and both should take to the water later this year or early in 2023. One of them, Syroco , has been set up by Alex Caizergues, the first man to travel sail-powered at over 100km/h on water, and twice holder of the outright sailing speed record on his kiteboard. The other, SP80 , has come out of the Swiss engineering school École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

Kite-powered SP80 challenge uses a super-ventilating surface piercing foil. Photo: SP80

Both are using the principles that Larsen established, and both teams think they won’t just break the record but will smash it. Syroco ’s stated target is 150km/h, a breathtaking 80.99 knots. SP80 is also chasing the 80-knot barrier.

“I actually like where both projects are aiming,” said Larsen. “They’re definitely using the force alignment concept.” Both the SP80 and Syroco teams will use a kite, aligning its aerodynamic force with the hydrodynamic force from a foil. This should allow the generation of an immense drive force on a relatively light structure. They will need all the power they can get to push through the cavitation point.

The SP80 project is also using a super-ventilating, surface piercing foil like Sailrocket’s. “Vestas Sailrocket and the work done by Paul Larsen and his team was the main source of inspiration that we used to develop the boat,” said Benoît Gaudiot, one of the three founders of SP80 .

They started throwing around ideas in 2017, building super-ventilated fins for a kiteboard. Gaudiot, an experience kitespeed sailor quickly got it to 41 knots. They were going to need a different approach to beat the record though.

“The body cannot handle the power that is required to reach more than 60 knots,” said Gaudiot.

SP80 co-founders Xavier Lepercq, Mayeul van den Broek and Benoît Gaudiot. Photo: SP80

Another of the founders, Xavier Lepercq, built a simulation tool, and they started developing designs. What they came up with was a trimaran powered by a kite, whose aligned force was balanced by a surface-piercing foil.

Once this was formulated the team quickly grew, with EPFL pledging its support and sponsors coming on board. “In the team, we have six full-time employees and almost 40 students from EPFL,” explained Mayeul van den Broek, the team’s project manager. They tested a prototype on Lake Geneva in 2020 and in June 2021 began construction of the full-size craft at Persico Marine.

The transition to a kite means that the biggest challenge to both teams is control – accurately balancing the aero and hydrodynamic forces. SP80 has tackled it with what they call the ‘power module’. “The idea behind this is to balance the force. The way we designed the boat, the main thing to achieve was stability,” said Gaudiot.

The exact mechanism of the power module is confidential, but it’s visible at the back of the boat in their visualisations and animations. It provides a direct link between the kite and the hydrofoil and appears to ‘trim’ the hydrofoil depending on the force vector coming from the kite. The shape of the foil and the linkage to the power module are key to the flight stability of the craft.

Swiss SP80 team has been testing its prototype on Lake Geneva. Photo: SP80

“It’s fully mechanical and it’s fully adjusting the balance by itself,” said Gaudiot. “The controls will be quite simple for the pilot. There will be no need for me to control the height, the elevation of the boat, just the direction. And the power of the kite.” The kite lines will run to the cockpit and be controlled with the hands, while the direction of the boat will be controlled with the feet.

The SP80 team plan to challenge the record from a base in the south of France early in 2023, and Paul Larsen is looking forward to it. “I think the SP80 is a more practical solution that has made compromises for practicality. And I think I can get my head around that one a bit more. I think SP80 is probably closer to getting results. And I want to see how a kite’s going to go against the [Sailrocket] wing, because historically wings are faster.”

Flight on water

Looking to spoil the Swiss party is Syroco , a French company that comes to the world sailing speed record with gold-plated credentials. Co-founder and CEO Alex Caizergues has already held the record on his kiteboard.

“Since Paul broke the sailing speed record, I knew that we had to change the software and the way to go fast on water. I knew that I had to assemble around me a team of people able to build this kind of craft,” Caizergues recalls.

Caizergues isn’t just an athlete, he’s a business school graduate with an entrepreneurial track record. Syroco was set up in 2019 with four co-founders and support from technology entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

Artist’s rendering of how the Syroco craft will look in action. Photo: Syroco

They want to do more than just break the record, building a technology business around the attempt. The team has about 15 people working in Marseille with specialists in fluid mechanics, structures, software and data analytics.

“Our l’aile d’eau concept… it’s a little bit like Sailrocket,” said Caizergues. The concept is very simple; a hydrofoil will ‘fly’ underwater, pulled along by a cable that’s connected to a kite flying in the air above it.

Suspended between the two is a capsule containing the pilot Alex Caizergues, and a co-pilot. The aero and hydrodynamic forces oppose each other in an almost perfect representation of the aligned forces concept that powered Sailrocket 2 .

It should have the greatest speed potential because there is nothing extraneous. The capsule is only there because both the aero and hydrodynamic wings must be controlled, and the forces balanced by the pilots (not automated).

The Syroco prototype under test being towed by a RIB. Photo: Syroco

And that’s the tough part, controlling it, particularly keeping the foil in the water. “Nope,” responds Alex, quickly, when I mention this possibility. “The foil never goes out of the water.” The Syroco foil isn’t surface piercing, it runs below the surface, only connected to the capsule and the kite by a cable.

It doesn’t rely on dragging air from the surface to stabilise the cavitation around the foil. Instead, it will rely on the cavitation creating its own stable pocket of water vapour around the foil – this is called super-cavitation. When it occurs the water flows around the bubble of vapour as though it were a solid, significantly enhancing the performance of the foil – as long as the bubble remains stable.

The problem is keeping the bubble intact. Paul Larsen pointed out that the cable gives the air a pathway down to the super-cavitating foil. “How they’re going to stop air sucking down from the surface and rupturing the bubble, that’s the real trick. It’s a very dynamic problem to solve. It’ll be interesting to see how well their simulations live up to the reality of what they’re about to strap themselves into…”

The control mechanisms for the final craft are still being worked on, but they have flown a prototype, towed by a RIB rigged with a 5m-high mast that simulated the force from the kite. The team hopes to commit to a final design with construction starting in the spring.

Human element

And then of course, there will be the matter of executing the plan on the day. “If you’ve done your maths, you’ve done your engineering, you’ve been thorough, that gives you confidence when you stand up on top of that course on one of those big days and you’re not exactly sure what’s about to happen,” recalls Larsen.

Kiteboarder and businessman Alex Caizergues leads the Syroco project. Photo: Syroco

“You know it’s probably just slightly above your top wind range but all the cameras are rolling and the drones are in the air and everyone’s waiting with their stopwatches. That gives you the confidence to say: ‘Yeah, I’m going to go and wring its neck.’”

“Any crashes I had [and there were several] usually all the systems I had in place [for safety] were still completely locked on among all the wreckage. You’d go and flick off that lever you were going to use to control something – because by the time you’ve realised what’s happening, it’s happened.”

“If we go again with Sailrocket, then safety will feature bigger. I wouldn’t get in that boat and go that speed again. We got away with it because we had to.”

“Safety is really important for us,” agrees Benoît Gaudiot. They have built a kevlar cockpit for protection, installed a six-point harness and an F1-inspired seat. Gaudiot will wear a helmet with oxygen that will switch on if the helmet detects water in contact with its mask. “I would be able to stay in the water for a few minutes to have a diver come and open it.”

“The critical point on the boat is the hydrofoil. If the hydrofoil breaks, the boat…” Van den Broek interjects. “…will take off,” Gaudiot finishes the sentence for him.

Their enthusiasm for the project is infectious, the words tumbling out. And no one wants the boat to take off. One big advantage that they have that Larsen did not, is that they can release the power source. “With a kite it’s a few lines and you can just cut it super-fast,” says Gaudiot. “You can do it by yourself. You can do it from a distance, from the chase boat. You can do it automatically.”

“I think both those guys [Caizergues and Gaudiot], they’ve got the mentality,” said Larsen. “They’re not going to get up there and be scared of what they’re doing or intimidated too much by the craft.”

And what if they do break the record that Paul Larsen and his team have owned for almost a decade?

“We opened the door on a whole new world full of potential. And so there is a part of me that’s curious as to what lies further down that path. We validated the concepts that could get above what people thought were the cavitation limits and the ceilings of speed sailing. We proved you could get beyond that. They can take you to new levels of physics.

“The boat [ Sailrocket 2 ] is sitting there in perfect shape. It was made to last forever… we could rig that thing up and do 65 knots in a week or two.” And if his record goes, I wouldn’t put it past him to dust her off and do just that.

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25 Sailboats Under 40′

• By Cruising World Staff
• Updated: March 25, 2014

Catalina 275 Sport

“This is a complete package; it’s a good sailing boat and well-thought-out. It’s definitely ready for prime time,” says Boat of the Year judge Ed Sherman. Click here to read why the Catalina 275 Sport won Best Pocket Cruiser in 2014.

Beneteau First 30

As they approached the First 30 to conduct their dockside evaluation during the boat show, the BOTY judges may have been just a little skeptical of this performance-oriented 30-footer’s cruisability. But that skepticism turned into appreciation as soon as they stepped below, and they were downright enamored with how the boat sailed. Click here to read why the Beneteau First 30 won Best Small Cruiser, 20 feet and Under in 2011.

The Presto 30 is an innovative, well-built, good looking cruising boat that satisfied its stated design brief as well as any other boat the judges looked at, though it’s not what you might expect from an average cruising boat. Cruising World judges also noted that this easy-to-handle boat may attract new sailors to the sport so they can learn the ropes and then trade up to another model, an approach that’s important to the health of the entire industry. Click here to read how the Presto 30 won the Cruising Spirit Award in 2011.

Catalina 309

“I think that for the purpose it was put on the water, to be able to walk down, jump aboard, and simply go enjoy it on a weekend, the boat not only hit the price in terms of value but also hit the mark in terms of use,” remarked judge Alvah Simon, a world voyager. Click to read why the Catalina 309 won Domestic Boat of the Year for 2007 .

The J/95’s retractable centerboard and dual rudders make it possible to sail in just 3 feet of water. During our dockside visit, designer Rod Johnstone told us that he wanted to build a comfortable coastal cruiser that could keep people sailing by providing “high performance in shallow water,” and the J/95 did exactly what Rod said it would. Click here to read how it won Best Weekender and Domestic Boat of the Year for 2010.

Catalina 315

This nifty pocket cruiser raises the Catalina quality bar with more comfort and better performance. It’s the little things that make this boat special, including the tall rig, the wide cockpit, the large anchor locker, the sprit for the asymmetric kite, and the clever use of space below. Click here to read how the Catalina 315 won Best Inshore Cruiser for 2013.

The Delphia 33 is a boat that’s maximized every inch of available space, and the overall fit and finish, from the joiner work to the systems installation to the structural integrity of the boat, is well done. Click here to read why the Delphia 33 won Import Boat of the Year in 2008.

“With this introductory cruiser, Hunter is trying to bring people up through its ranks and into cruising from trailer-sailers and smaller boats,” said Alvah Simon. “And the company has done that with a 33-footer that has quality and affordability but is still manageable and unintimidating.” Click here to read why the Hunter e33 won Best Compact Cruiser for 2012.

C&C 101

The 33-foot C&C 101 boasts thoroughly modern lines and a nice turn of speed but also features a fine layout belowdecks, with cherry furniture and a teak cabin sole. Click here to read why the C&C 101 won Domestic Boat of the Year and Best Performance Cruiser in 2013.

This dual-purpose cruiser is both easy to handle and zippy on the racecourse. Click here to read why the X-34 won Best Racer-Cruiser for 2009.

Beneteau 34

This affordable performance cruiser is a blast to sail, with details often lacking on more expensive boats. Click here to read a boat review of the Beneteau 34. Click here to read why the Beneteau 34 won the award for Best Value in 2009.

Tartan 3400

The Tartan 3400, with double cabins fore and aft, was still sufficiently nimble and distinctive to cop the 2006 Boat of the Year award for Best Production Cruiser from 31 to 36 Feet. Click here to read more.

The BOTY judges found lots on which to agree as they proclaimed the Najad 355 to be the Best Small Cruiser of 2008: great sails, solid motion through the water, practical interior, well-laid-out deck. Click here to read more.

Catalina 355

Two themes—consideration and principles—epitomize the Catalina 355. Click here to read why it won Domestic Boat of the Year in 2011.

Sabre Spirit

Andrew Burton found the 36-foot Sabre Spirit boat not only easily handled and fast but also a sheer delight to sail; no wonder it won the Judges’ Choice Award in Cruising World’s 2008 Boat of the Year contest. Click here to read more .

Island Packet Estero

Comfortable surroundings are easily driven by a fully self-tending and roller-furling rig on the 36-foot Island Packet Estero. Click here to read why it won Best Midsize Cruiser Under 40 feet in 2010.

Hallberg-Rassy 37

Like the Swedes who manufacture it, the Hallberg-Rassy 37 is a hardy sailer. The boat’s seakindly performance gives the assurance that it can take you anywhere, and once you get aboard, that’s exactly where you’ll want to go. Click here to read why it won Import Boat of the Year in 2006.

Malö 37 Classic

This purpose-built craft is a dream to steer and a delight to the eyes. Click here to read how it won Import Boat of the Year for 2009. Click here to read a full boat review.

Catalina 375

Solid construction and thoughtful amenities make life onboard this boat more comfortable. Click here to read why the Catalina 375 won Best All-Purpose Cruiser, 30 to 40 Feet in 2009.

Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 379

This midsize offering from Jeanneau has a modern look and is ready for sea. Click here to read why it won Domestic Boat of the Year and Best Midsize Cruiser for 2012.

“This very responsive sailboat scoots along quite nicely, I think as well as anything we sailed in this fleet,” says Boat of the Year judge Mark Schrader. Click here to read why the Dehler 38 won Best Cruising Sailboat Under 38 Feet in 2014.

Better-than-expected performance, good design ideas, and follow-through in their execution led to the Hunter 38 winning Best Production Cruiser Under 40 feet for 2005. Click here to read more.

Who says a cruising cat under 40 feet isn’t big enough for comfortable accommodations? The 38’s hulls are narrow where they meet the water for performance purposes but flare out to create ample interior space. Click here to read why the Leopard 38 won Import Boat of the Year in 2010.

Seawind 1160

This 38-foot cat will appeal to cruisers who want a well-built boat that can sail away in a hurry. Click here to read why the Seawind 1160 won Best Multihull Cruiser and Most Innovative Boat for 2007.

“The company is mixing traditional aesthetics with modern gear–from the carbon rudder to tweakers on the jib tracks, and it works really well,” said Boat of the Year judge Steve Callahan of the Sabre 386. Click here to read why it was named Domestic Boat of the Year for 2005.

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This Crackerbox is a purely authentic example. I know little of its history, but its pedigree is easily verifiable. The power plant is verified late 50s small block Chevy 283. And man, canit pull !!! Many of the other components such as valve covers, timing chain cover, etc. are of the same era. - Cal Custom went out of business years ago. But their parts have held up perfectly for all these years.

I know it is not a Glen-L, since I have purchased the plans and patterns for that boat. Comparing those plans and patterns to my Crackerbox it becomes quite obvious. Having gone through every square inch, inside and out, I know it's not a Glen-L. The Glen-L has a different arrangement of bulkheads - and one less bulkhead. From the outside, the only really obvious differences are two:

• The Glen-L has a more rounded transom than does this Crackerbox. Rounded at the shear line that is. I find the Glen-L rounded transom much more fitting the nostalgic look of the boat. Very attractive. Oh well.
• The beam, or height of the Glen-L is a little higher. But this gives me a feeling of a more boxy or square look. Not a harsh criticism or anything, but more of a preference that I do not share.

These are the most recent pics as of 2005. Click on a thumbnail for a larger view.

Good thing I didn't let the horrible looks overshadow the beautiful boat underneath this hideous paint job.

No signs of a hull with any problem . Good as new

Note the changes from the original. Besides the change in paint job.

• The small air scoop sitting atop half a coffee can was removed in favor of a nice nostalgic bell shaped air scoop.
• Lousy tachometer attached near the steering wheel is replaced with a nostalgic deck mount tach tube.
• The proper boat type gas filler cap replaced with likewise marine flip top cap similar in design to those found on Corvettes of the same vintage.

Amongst many of the changes, these few are the most noticeable used to achieve the desired nostalgic look that this design deserves. Despite the fact that the Crackerbox has origins as far back as the 1920s (I suspect its original purpose was mainly for boot legging whiskey) I felt that a more 50s nostalgic look and feel would really be the best scheme for bringing out the beautiful and unusual qualities of a Crackerbox. Note: although the paint job has come a long way from when I bought it (pictures above), the yellow base below prompted a few 'banana' comments. So the below pictures are prior to the silver-gray used currently.

Scotts Crackerbox Racing Boat Specifications:

Hull Length: 15 feet 6 inches Beam: 6 feet Draft: 2 feet 6 inches Weight: heavy Original Build Data: Early 1960's Speeds: Two - fast and stop. Engine Year: 1959 small block Chevy 283 - Corvette bored 40 over Carburetor: Holley 1502, stock carbueration RPM: 5000 Sound: Purrs like an angry kitten outa hell!

Overall Drive: Direct drive. No neutral or reverse Prop: 12 inch diameter, 15 inch pitch Speed: How fast you wanna go??? Steering: Outboard rudder with cable/pulley mechanism