Boat of the Year Nominee

Photos by Walter Cooper

The SeaRail 19 is a pint-sized trimaran imported from Vietnam, built by a former Corsair Trimaran employee with imput from noted multihull designer Nigel Irens. The test boat was delivered straight from U.S. Customs, so its U.S. distributor, Bob Gleason, a multihull veteran, was on the water sorting it out before its test time. As we approached Gleason, he looked concerned and suggested the boat not be tested. “The [leeward] float is really burying, and there’s a lot of flexing in the forward beam,” he said. “I don’t think we should go through with this: The boat’s just not ready.”

“Nonsense,” BOTY judge Chuck Allen responded before rolling onto the SeaRail’s trampoline like a Navy SEAL. Off the two of them went, with the screacher deployed, reaching across the bay at a high rate of speed. Gleason was right, though. The other judges looked on as the leeward ama submerged every time a gust filled the sails. After an hour and a half of hard sailing, however, the boat was perfectly intact and the judges were pleasantly surprised. “It was easy to sail, had a high fun factor to it,” said Rich. “If they cleaned up the construction and got the buoyancy right, they’d have something worth talking about. It’s almost there.”

The standard pricing was quoted at $28,000.