Sailboat Reviews

Shopping for a sailboat? Whether you are buying your first boat or just making a change, you will quickly come up against the classic...

Buyers looking for a good used sailboat should ask themselves, When is a bargain really a bargain? The time-tested Pearson Rhodes 41 is one of the most popular boats on the used-boat market. They have a strong following, and an aging Pearson 41 with a previous owners accumulated TLC is one of the smartest buys among used boats. The Pearson 41 is a modest draft sailboat with a lean, long overhang and real sea berths. It features a solid fiberglass hull with encapsulated lead ballast. The low-aspect sailplan, which relies on a big genoa to boost horsepower. The Pearson 41 has an easy motion and enough functional space to qualify as a good inshore or offshore cruiser. It makes an excellent DIY candidate. Most of the 50 Pearson Rhodes 41s, built from 1961 to 1968, are still around today and have a cult following, making it one of the most sought-after used boats.

Along a stretch of Atlantic coastline in Brittany, France, a 41-foot wooden catamaran is taking shape in a modest workshop where the rusty corrugated...

The Beneteau 38.1, considered by many sailors to be an optimal size for a coastal cruising couple with occasional guests, has been in production...

The Cabot 36 is a sought-after, medium-displacement, 36-ft. cutter from the 1970s that can provide security and comfort for a budget-conscious sailor willing to...

With several hundred boats sailing the seas of the world, the Tayana 37 has been one of the most successful products of the U.S.s Taiwan-built boat invasion that began in the early 1970s. Its shapely Baltic stern, scribed plank seams molded into the glass hull, and lavish use of teak above and belowdecks have come to epitomize the image associated with Oriental boats.

If you’ve ever looked at a sailboat and thought, “Yeah, but what if it didn’t suck when the wind dies?” welcome to the wonderful,...

Designed by Phillip Rhodes back in 1960, the Rhodes 22 is a trailerable cruiser for a couple that wants the amenities of a larger boat without putting up with the hassles and expenses of a larger boat. It's clearly not a racing boat. It's also not a "shoehorn special," whose claim to fame is how many persons it can sleep. And it's not an inexpensive boat for its size. The Rhodes 22, from its inception, has been a purpose-built boat. And, with a history of detail improvements and some innovative thinking, it meets that purpose quite well.

By today's standards, the Morgan 34 is a small boat, comparable in accommodations to a lot of 30-footers. When the boat was designed, she was as big as most other boats of her overall length. In profile, the boat has a sweeping, moderately concave sheer. The ends of the boat are beautifully balanced: the bow profile is a slight convex curve, the overhanging counter aft is slightly concave. Esthetically, hull shapes of this period from the best designers are still hard to beat.

This 1981 Bill Shaw design is a late-IOR racer/cruiser.