This morning at a ceremony that opened the Sail Expo St. Petersburg boat show, Sailing World and Cruising World magazines presented the Farr 395 One-Design and the Voyage 440 as overall winners of the prestigious 2002 Boat of the Year (BOTY) Awards.

The Farr 395 One-Design, a 39-foot racer/cruiser, was selected by Sailing World judges as the top performance boat of the year. The Voyage 440, a 44-foot offshore multihull, was the selection of Cruising World judges as the top cruising design of 2002.

Following the lead of noted sailing commentator Gary Jobson, marine industry professionals crowded under the boat show tent to raise glasses of Champagne Mumm and toast these leaders in the field. The Farr 395 and Voyage 440 head a lineup of 10 category winners (see list below) in an annual award series that salutes the standout designs launched for the coming season.

"Each year, Sailing World and Cruising World hire separate, independent teams of experts to select the exceptional designs of the year. And it’s not an easy task," said Sally Helme, publisher of these two leading sailing magazines. "This year judges tested a wide range of boats, from performance dinghies to 60-footers built for blue water. They sea-trialed each boat, scrutinized details, and debated the merits of every design to select this group of winners--the designs that define excellence in sailboat design and construction."

Sailing World editor John Burnham presented the Farr 395 One-Design as the 2002 Sailing World Overall Performance Boat of the Year. Farr Yacht Design (Annapolis, Md.) and builder Carroll Marine (Bristol, R.I.) have collaborated to produce other Boat of the Year awards that, like the 395, are marketed by Farr International (also in Annapolis).

Sailing World judges used a numeric formula to assess each design; the formula factored sailing performance, rigging, construction quality, interior layout, systems, and six other factors. Because Sailing World readers value performance, this feature was given a 50 percent weight in the system. The Farr 395 was the unanimous choice amongst the judges, quickly earning the best score of all performance nominees.

"The Farr 395 has all the right things," said BOTY judge and naval architect Carl Schumacher. "This boat is easy to sail to its potential, which is very high." Joining Schumacher on the judges panel were Lynn Bowser, a veteran of the boatbuilding industry with 25+ years of experience who now serves as president of Westerly Marine (California), and Chuck Allen, a sailmaker and world-class racer. Schumacher, who opened his California design office in the late 1970s, is an avid racer on San Francisco Bay and a designer noted for his popular Express one-designs.

Cruising World editor Herb McCormick presented the Voyage 440 as the 2002 Cruising World Overall Cruising Boat of the Year. Built in Cape Town, South Africa, by Voyage Yachts and represented in the U.S. by Voyage Charters of Annapolis, this 44-foot multihull did not earn judges’ top marks for just one feature: judges noted an entire vocabulary of details that, when combined together, created a passagemaker worthy of this year’s BOTY title.

"Everything about the boat indicates that it’s seriously made for going to sea," said Cruising World judge and circumnavigator Alvah Simon. Judges applauded the boat’s comfort, speed and performance, construction details, and execution of systems.

In addition to Simon, three other blue water veterans served as Cruising World judges, including: Carol Hasse, a sailmaker and boatbuilder who has logged over 45,000 offshore miles, and owner of Hasse & Company, Port Townsend Sails (Washington); Skip Moyer, president of the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC), the organization that sets the technical and engineering standards for how boats should be built and maintained; and Ralph Naranjo, a former round-the-world cruiser and boatyard manager who now oversees the sailing program at the U.S. Naval Academy. Simon is a cruiser and author (North To The Night) who has spent some 16 years circumnavigating, two of which were spent exploring and wintering over in the Arctic. The complete lineup of winners in the 2002 Boat of the Year Awards follows. The presentation of winners at Sail Expo St. Petersburg was sponsored by Champagne Mumm.

CRUISING WORLD WINNERS: 2002 Cruising World Overall Cruising Boat of the Year - Voyage 440 Voyage Yachts (Cape Town, South Africa) / Distributed in the U.S. by Voyage Charters (Annapolis, Md.)

Best Cruising Multihull - Voyage 440 Voyage Yachts (Cape Town, South Africa) / Voyage Charters (Annapolis, Md.)

Best Luxury Cruiser - Legendary 58 Legendary Yachts (Washougal, Wash.)

Best Performance Cruiser - C&C 99 C & C Yachts (Fairport Harbor, Ohio)

Best Production Cruiser Under $200,000 - Hunter 356 Hunter Marine (Alachua, Fla.)

Best Production Cruiser Over $200,000 - Vilm 116 Bootsbau Rügen GmbH (Rügen, Germany) / Distributed in the U.S. by International Yachting Center (Columbia, N.C.)

Best Raised Deck Saloon/Pilothouse - Stellar 52 Center Cockpit Stellar Offshore Yachts LLC (Kirkland, Wash.) / Designed by Sparkman & Stephens (New York, N.Y.)

SAILING WORLD WINNERS: 2002 Sailing World Overall Performance Boat of the Year - Farr 395 One-Design Farr Yacht Design (Annapolis, Md.) / Built by Carroll Marine (Bristol, R.I.) / Marketed by Farr International (Annapolis, Md.)

Best Value - Beneteau First 36.7 Beneteau USA (Charleston, S.C.)

High-Performance Day Racer - Nacra F-18 Performance Catamarans (Santa Ana, Calif.)

Racer/Cruiser - Farr 395 One-Design Farr Yacht Design (Annapolis, Md.) / Built by Carroll Marine (Bristol, R.I.) / Marketed by Farr International (Annapolis, Md.)

Recreational Racer - Hobie Getaway Hobie Cat Company (Oceanside, Calif.)

Judging for the 2002 BOTY Awards was done at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis (Md.). The BOTY Awards in the performance category are presented by Sailing World magazine; the cruising awards are presented by Cruising World. This year, judges surveyed a group of some 55 boats ranging 10 to 65 feet in length. All nominees are new (or substantially redesigned) boats launched since October 2000.

The winners of the 2002 BOTY Awards will be featured in the December/January issue of Sailing World and the January issue of Cruising World. These leading sailing magazines, principal titles of the Miller Sports Group, are published in Newport, R.I. Miller Publishing LLC is headquartered in Los Angeles (Calif.).

Check out all the Sailing World winners here.