Sailboat Reviews

Introduced last year, the sleek J/95 is a lightweight, 30-foot sloop with a plumb bow, a bronze centerboard, twin rudders, and a Spartan interior. The J/95 is the brainchild of Rod Johnstone and is built by C&C Fiberglass Composites (CCFC) in Bristol, Rhode Island. An ideal option for baby boomers settling in the shallow estuary areas of the Carolinas and Southwest Florida, the race-ready J/95 is a high performance daysailer thats fun and easy to sail right off the dock. It also offers the potential to take off as a one-design race boat.

The BMW Oracle teams recent win of the Americas Cup-along with a flood of e-mail from multihull fans-has given us good reason to revisit the performance multihull alternative. In this reader-requested sequel to our Need For Speed monohull report (September 2009), we focus on design features that make multihulls fast and fun to sail, and examine why many feel that two or three hulls are better than one. It quickly becomes obvious that todays boats diverge sharply from the iconic Hobie Cat 16. To really get excited about performance in sailing catamarans and trimarans, lightweight, lean hulls and sizable sail area are a must. In this review we look at five terrific performance multihulls: The Hobie Getaway, Weta Trimaran, Windrider Rave, Corsair Dash 750, and Telstar.

After starting out in monohulls many years ago, Im now cruising aboard my third catamaran. All of my cats-a Maine Cat 30, a Kelsall 40, and now an Outremer 45-could be classified as performance cruisers: light weight, narrow hulls, daggerboards, and generous sailplans. I try to stay out of the mono/multi debate-were all sailors, and all boats have their pros and cons. One of the first questions that comes up regarding cruising cat design is whether daggerboards or fixed keels are better. My Maine Cat had one daggerboard, and my Outremer has two. My Kelsall came with keels, which I eventually cut off and replaced with daggerboards. I like boards, but the pros and cons are worth considering.

Confession: I did not bother to tune in to the last Americas Cup. Yep. Rather roll in poison ivy than endorse that billionaires game gone awry. Besides, even if I were paying attention, no coverage materialized on my bargain cable service. Sure, I admire the engineering feats and sailing expertise that went into the contenders as much as the next water rat, but if it takes a team of lawyers to wrangle over the meanings of "constructed" just to stage a sailboat race, Im gone. Sure would like a ride on one of those machines though . . . (sigh).

Cape Dory sloops-even those like the 25, which was not designed by Carl Alberg-have one of the most loyal followings among production boats. These loyal owners, added to a reputation for quality construction, enables Cape Dory boats to hold their resale value well, making them prime candidates for a do-it-yourself project boat like Practical Sailors test boat, Satori, a 1981 Cape Dory 25.Satori was purchased in 2008 in Sarasota, Fla., for $1,500. Although structurally sound for a boat her age, the interior had been gutted.Satoris sale price included an inventory of like-new sails, a new 5-horsepower Nissan outboard, and ground tackle. Completely rebuilding a boats interior would seem daunting to many, but Satori owner Jon Perkins is a carpenter by trade so he had the tools, resources, and know-how to get the job done. Cape Dory is an ideal fixer-upper boat, if the owner is up for the project. On today market, the Cape Dory 25 can fetch $3,000-$8,000. The pocket cruiser is also an excellent boat to fix and sail as a nice weekend cruiser for a family or a coastal cruiser for a couple.

While not the best boat for light-air sailing, the Union 36 is a good sailboat for the bluewater cruiser. It wont get you there fast, but it will get you there comfortably and in one piece. The boats teak decks and lavish use of interior wood is attractive but requires much upkeep and maintenance. A product of the Taiwan-U.S. boatbuilding industry, the Union 36 is a heavy-displacement, full-keel, cutter-rigged double-ender designed for ocean sailing. The Union 36 is nearly identical to several other boats built during the same period: the Hans Christian 36, Mariner Polaris 36, and the EO36. According to well-known naval architect Bob Perry, the Union 36 and its cousins are all based on the design of a 34-footer that Perry was commissioned to create back in the early 70s.

The February 2010 issue of Practical Sailor has letters on the following topics: requests for more used boat reviews, foggy electronics, hard varnishes, propane fridges and Iphone apps.

If you think your boat is a bear to maintain, you might take some consolation in this months used-boat review of the Union 36. It is a fiberglass boat, but considering the amount of teak on deck and belowdecks, it might as well be made of wood. Not that there is anything very wrong with that. The 32-footer my wife Theresa and I cruised on for 11 years was very similar-a big, heavy double-ender-and ours was made of wood. While our 1937 William Atkin Thistle design differed significantly from the Union 36 and the modern double-enders that Bob Perry would later unveil (the Tayana 37 and Valiant 40, among the better known), these boats can be broadly traced to a common ancestor: the North Sea rescue boats designed by the renowned Norwegian naval architect Colin Archer.

The lines on the carbon-fiber Wing Dinghy date back to Nat Herreshoffs Frost Fish, a dinghy with a reputation for performance under sail and when being rowed. Diana Russells Wing Dinghy hull weighs only 55 pounds. Built by Savage River Works using conventional fiberglass FRP skin, carbon outer skin, and Kevlar inner hull skin, the 9-foot dinghy tests well against the popular Bruce Bingham-designed Trinka 10. The Wing Dinghy also scored well in the sailing, hoisting, towing, and rowing tests.

Boat maintenance master Don Casey, on the BoatUS website (www.boatus.com), suggests cleaning the surface using a mild abrasive like Bar Keeper’s Friend (www.barkeepersfriend.com) and fine bronze wool, and then sealing the surface with a wax. Sparmaker Seldén Mast recommends applying Woody Wax (www.woody-wax.com) using bronze wool to seal the surface and remove the pox. Casey cautions against using a polish on aluminum as some are so abrasive they will peel away the anodizing. We’ve had success with Mothers (www.mothers.com) and Prism Polish (www.mppros.com), but we do not recommend using the Mothers with the Powerball on aluminum. Be sure to read the label on any polish before using it; some advise against use on anodized aluminum.