Sailboats 36-40ft

Most are familiar with Charles Morgan and his Out Island 41, primarily made to cruise and charter in the Bahamas, but not many are...

This well-built cruising boat, Caliber 40 LRC with an attractive wood interior has loads of room but sails marginally to windward and has a few problems with its tanks.

A Mexican vacation with her husband had Debbie Bulk dreaming of a better way to see local village life, away from the regular tourist...

Hans Christian 34/36 - While not a good boat for the weekend coastal cruiser, or for anyone who does much sailing in light-to-moderate air, this is an excellent choice for the serious blue-water sailor. This is a boat that will take you offshore to Bermuda or just about anywhere and will stand up to a gale. The 34/36 wont get you there fast, but it will get you there safely.

The Tartan 37 is a moderately high performance, shoal-draft cruiser built between 1967 and 1988 by Tartan Marine, a company that helped usher in the fiberglass era under Charlie Britton in the 1960s. At the time of the Tartan 37s introduction, the company had its headquarters in Grand River, Ohio, and a factory in Hamlet, N.C.

For cruising in comfort and sailing with ease it's hard to top modern designs like the Beneteau 393. Openness, creature comfort, and smooth-running systems put boats like these well ahead of the "narrow, dark, cavelike" designs of just a few years ago. However, if your need is to claw off a lee shore in a gale, to go where the waves are bigger than you are, or to cast off with "anything goes" readiness, these new coastal cruising designs aren't as good as the old.

When classical musicians start playing rock and roll, fans take note. When their first songs a hit, everyone listens to the lyrics. Bob Johnson, Bill Bolin, and the Island Packet Yachts (IP) crew have decades of experience delivering traditional cruisers to appreciative owners, but IPs newest player has increased the tempo.

Cheoy Lee Shipyards of Hong Kong has been a commercial builder since the early 1900s and is one of the first molders of fiberglass boats in Asia. Production of fiberglass boats began in the early 1960s and continues today, although the company-like many big yards around the world-has turned its focus toward commercial ships and the mega-yacht market. Looking at the line of 78- to 100-plus-foot yachts catering to Far East millionaires and billionaires, it is clear that any concerns about what would happen to Cheoy Lee when Hong Kong reverted to China were way off target.

In a search for a budget cruiser, Practical Sailor has made it a point over the years to look at used boats from a prior...

In the 13 years since naval architect Bob Johnson founded Island Packet Yachts, he's developed quite a following. We've had many requests to review one of his boats, mostly from satisfied owners. The others have come from couples considering the boat for living aboard and cruising. In a period when most boatbuilders are foundering, Island Packet has found a niche and is servicing it admirably.