40 Best Sailboats

[jimbim]

Correction. Beneteau is indeed a French builder.
True, it does have the volume to advertise willy-nilly.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by defjef

I dunno about idiots and liars... but there purpose is clear... to rah rah the boating mfg's

bet that is why there are so many boats from builders who haven't built a boat for 20+ years on the list, that way they get in good with those guys to get advertisement

[letsgetsailing3]

Any boat that leaves off whatever boat I have is a ridiculous list.

Also, it's good if they leave off the boat I don't have.

[nwdiver]

My boat is there, voted for something else.............

[Kenomac]

Democracy gone wild.

[letsgetsailing3]

Any LIST that leaves off whatever boat I currently have is a ridiculous list.

Also, it's good if they leave off the boat I like to trash online.

Honestly, these lists are only worthy of bar debates, as different boats are good for different things. Lots of different boats can be suitable for cruising, depending on one's priorities.

As Tyler Durden would say, "You are not your online poll-approved boat."

It's been said many times that the properly-configured boat in the hands of a capable skipper will get you almost anywhere you want to go.

[Ocean Girl]

CW article is 40 best production boats with one criteria being modest cruising. It was a vote system and it is an American Magazine so it stands to reason most will be American made. I'm not sticking up for this article cause both Ocean Girl (sister) and Rain Dog ( big brother) are in it..really..

The 40 Best Sailboats. Ever.
It all began with such a simple question, one that’s probably been posed at one time or another in any bar where sailors meet to raise a glass or two: If you had to pick, what’re the best sailboats ever built?

In no time, a dozen or more were on the table and the debate was on. And so, having fun with it, we decided to put the same question to a handful of CW’s friends: writers and sailors and designers and builders whose opinions we value. Their favorites poured in and soon an inkling of a list began to take shape. To corral things a bit and avoid going all the way back to Joshua Slocum and his venerable Spray—Hell, to Noah and his infamous Ark—we decided to focus our concentration on production monohull sailboats, which literally opened up the sport to anyone who wanted to get out on the water. And since CW is on the verge or turning 40, we decided that would be a nice round number at which to draw the line and usher in our coming ruby anniversary.

Our criteria for inclusion were kept deliberately vague. In fact, here’s what we wrote when we went hunting for suggestions:

“All you have to do is identify some of the sailboats that you think have changed the way boats are built, sailed, or otherwise enjoyed. Year of manufacture does not matter, though because we’re talking production boats here, it will be by default a celebration of the fiberglass age.

“Size does matter. Nominees will need to be big enough and with kit enough for at least modest cruising. And they’ll need to be small enough to be easily handled by a couple.”

When our list was complete, at first, we thought we should take the next step and rank them. But oh, that got dicey. Better, we concluded, to just put it all out there and see what you think. Read through the list, and then take a moment and vote for your favorite. Then, let’s say around Labor Day, we’ll see where the tally stands and rearrange the list accordingly.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by jimbim

Ridiculous list, designed to sell advertising to their American clients. Silly that there is not a single Najad on the list, nevermind the 380, which Jeanne Socrates just sailed non-stop around the world. Not a single French builder, either.

How far CW has fallen.

Beneteau and Dufour aren't French?

[SkiprJohn]

Don,

Pretty good list. It has a Hunter and a Catalina on it. Very smart CW people there.

The Contessa 26 is nearly the same as the International Folkboat 26 and is a great little boat but, wow, a cruising boat? Can do it but very small, cramped interior. I am happy to see that they didn't just pick the big boats and had some smaller ones in there as well.

[Capt RonB]

The list got the Tartan 34 & OI 41 but missed many other significant cruising designs no doubt because they have even less marketing value than the T34 and OI41.

I know, I know, hard to believe ...

[VirtualVagabond]

The list lost all credibility when it didn't have CT54s at the top

No Swan? Sparkman and Stevens? Not even sure if there was a Hinkley...

Lairs the lot of them

Vic

[Factor]

I dont do the facebook thing - can anyone put the list here so a multihull bloke can have fun watching the fight amongst the mono kids

[colemj]

Don, your boat wasn't listed - the Hunter on that list was a different model. People here do not have problems with Hunter's in general, just the Hunter 410. Actually, they only have problems with YOUR Hunter 410...

Mark

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by colemj

People here do not have problems with Hunter's in general, just the Hunter 410. Actually, they only have problems with YOUR Hunter 410...

Mark

Yeah I've long known this. People should be ashamed as envy is a sin.

I just posted the link and said that people were going to be pissed off. I never said that I wasn't also pissed off. Did you see some of the old POS boat tanks on the list?

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Don L

Did you see some of the old POS boat tanks on the list?

Your are talking to the wrong guy Don. I appreciate most of those "POS boat tanks" on that list.

Except that damn Hunter - what were they thinking?

Also, too bad they couldn't broaden their horizons to multihulls. There were also a lot of the old POS boats there that broke molds and rules.

Mark