BOTY

Photos by Walter Cooper

Rondar president Paul Young told our Boat of the Year judges that nearly 100 of these 15-foot singlehanded keelboats have been sold in England, with the typical buyer being middle-aged and preferring to "not end up in the drink every time they go sailing." That's a pretty specific ask for a narrow and lightweight (286-pound) dinghy, one that's accomplished with a 137-pound bulb attached to a lifting keel. To keep it interesting, they designed a clever jib-pole system that the judges said was easy to deploy for wing-on-wing sailing. They liked its upwind performance, but off the breeze, said Chuck Allen, "it was nothing special." Fellow panelist Tom Rich said the boat was fun to sail, and lively, but its $15,000 price tag would be a barrier to one-design class development.

Photos by Walter Cooper

The Harbor 30, from California's W.D. Schock, turned out to be a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing. The model our judges sailed was somewhat of a "de-tuned" version, sans optional asymmetric spinnaker and other features one might add for beer can racing. It wasn't quite finished at the factory, either, said the dealer, because it had to be rushed to the U.S. Sailboat Show, and the judges picked up on a few interior finish details that might otherwise be sorted at commissioning.

They were ready to dismiss it at the dock, but once they trimmed the sails and put the bow down, they were all impressed with how well it sailed. "Easy, and surprisingly, quick," is how BOTY judge Chuck Allen put it after his turn on the helm. It's a pretty boat for for some casual weekend cruising, and set up well for shorthanded and family sailing.

Photos by Walter Cooper

The C&C 101 is billed as a return to C&C’s racing roots, and for this they tapped young in-house designer Tom McNeill. Teased by dying winds and a shortened test sail, the judges sailed the boat on two separate days so as to give it a fair test.

Short-tacking up the shoreline of the Naval Academy, the boat accelerated quickly out of the tacks, and was responsive on the helm to subtle course changes, characteristics the judges liked. The build quality and interior were positives as well, but there numerous issues of which the judges were critical, including the mainsheet system, which was difficult to trim, and the cockpit ergonomics, which while wide, and open, were not comfortable (the floor being too low, for example).

The judging panel from our sister publication, Cruising World, however, found no such issues and were most impressed with its entry-level pricing—$175K—bestowing the boat with their Domestic Boat of the Year award.