Sailboats Over 40ft

The Beneteau 40.7 is a versatile boat that will satisfy club racers and cruisers with a penchant for speed. She's spacious and nicely finished. Longer-term cruisers may have to convert one stateroom to stowage.Priced at $154,900, fob East Coast port of entry, the boat's list of standard equipment includes a suit of sails, ProFurl furler, and Volvo engine. Spinnaker gear, racing sails, and a complete electronic package will add $10,000-$30,000 to the purchase price.The Beneteau 40.7 incorporates a number of clever and sensible design features that we like, such as the plumbing manifold and removable cockpit seat modules.

One of the most successful large boats ever built, the Catalina 42 offers good looks, comfortable accommodations, and decent sailing ability at a low price.

The 42s7 is a boat that will flee before a storm, claw off a lee shore, and provide crew comfort above and belowdecks.

Beneteau’s new Oceanis 41 features a unique hull shape and a new cruising perspective, with a design that focuses on style, comfort, and ease of operation. After sailing the boat, Practical Sailor editors walked away impressed with the wide-body sloop. French naval architects Finot-Conq skillfully distributed the boat’s volume, placed the rig and foils exactly where they belong and revised the deck layout. A chine-like edge— affectionately known as the “kink”—interrupts the smooth curve of the topsides. Other new features on the Oceanis 41 include a transformable transom-swim platform and convertible cabin furniture.

Fast passages and Franco-Italian flair

Eighteen knots? Maybe not, but theres plenty to like about this cat.

A proven builder of boats for others, Henry Hinckley envisioned the Hinckley 49 as a comfortable cruiser for his own family. He saw the H49 as more motorsailer than racing sailboat. The big, beamy (for the era), shoal-draft centerboard ketch is a capable cruiser, at home in Maines cooler waters or while meandering the near-tropical conditions of the Bahamas. And for those so inclined, the H49 also lives up to the demands of around-the-world voyaging. Most of the center-cockpit 49s were rigged as ketches, but later retrofits of most included switch-overs to furling sails and power winches, which make sail handling even easier.

A top-quality production boat, proven as an offshore passagemaker - with a few bits and pieces that cause concern.

What kind of blue-water cruising sailboat should you consider when your thoughts turn offshore? We posed that question to Practical Sailor readers, and Puget...

Questions arise at cruising seminars and it’s always encouraging when attendees provide the answers. In one such case, a young couple asked how much...