Sailboats Over 40ft

Nick Nicholson recently returned from the Marblehead-Halifax Race, in which he was aboard the winning boat as navigator. He decided to devote his column this month to a review of that boat.

One of a handful of production boats built today with epoxy resin in the laminate, this is a good-looking, fast racer/cruiser from Tim Jackett.

Although it conforms to CE ratings for ocean sailing, this boat is better suited for coastal cruising in comfort and short offshore passages. It's got a great set of layout options for living aboard.

This Bob Perry design is a strong amalgam of shapes and functions, all serving real cruising needs.

A company as powerful as Jeanneau can build a big production boat of a quality comparable to custom boats costing much more. The Sun Odyssey 43 fits this description.

The 410 is billed as an offshore cruiser, something of a departure for a company that has otherwise concentrated on comparatively inexpensive coastal cruisers.

Lots of room at relatively low cost makes this aging center-cockpit cruiser a prime candidate for upgrading.

The first new C&C since the acquisition of the C&C name by Tartan, the 110 is available with a surprising number of keel and rigging choices. She’s fast and fun to sail, but as a cruiser her stowage comes up short.

An innovative Ray Richards design built by the earliest Asian yard is a rock solid cruiser, but with a lot of teak to maintain as well as potentially troublesome metalwork.

In the mid-1970 Dutchman Willem Eickholt, part owner at the time of Flying Dutchman Yachts, decided to build his dreamboat. A lifelong sailor, he knew he wanted an aft-cockpit, flush-decked cutter of moderate displacement and minimum wetted surface with a fin keel, skeg rudder, canoe stern, and clipper bow. "I also wanted her to be fast. Long passages bore me," says Eickholt. "Last but not least, I wanted her to be pretty in a timeless way."