Boats

Photos by Walter Cooper

The Ker 40 was designed strictly for IRC racing in overseas fleets (1.188), and in order to reduce the higher cost of a custom IRC build, McConaghy Boats offers the boat as a semi-custom option. The hull and deck are essentially fixed dimensions, but the interior and deck layout can be customized to suit the owner's racing agenda, including options for wheel versus tiller, and winch pedestal or not.

The judges sailed Catapult, built for East Coast owner Marc Glimcher, which has a schedule of primarily distance races, so the boat was set up to go offshore with nav station, berths, etc. The judges were most impressed with the quality of the build coming out of McConaghy's operation in China, as areas of clear coat interior exposed good attention to detail and finish. The boat, the judges said, was well balanced, and the high-aspect sailplan delivered plenty of power in the light-wind testing conditions. Base boat price is $318K.

Read more about the Ker 40 here.

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.