At a press conference held on the bow of a catamaran at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, Sailing World associate editor Tony Bessinger announced the nominees for our annual Boat of the Year (BOTY) awards.  "This
may be be the biggest Boat of the Year event the magazine has ever
held, with 19 entries, and it's a great lineup," said Bessinger. "Our
smallest is a high-tech, foil-borne Moth class dinghy from Australia,
the Blade Rider, our largest, the Beneteau First 50, designed by
Philippe Briand. Our judges will be going through the boats from stem
to stern dockside during the U.S. Sailboat Show, then putting them
through their paces out on the Chesapeake the following week. To be
able to test so many boats in a relatively short time span is an
incredible opportunity, and we're looking forward to it."

Winners of Sailing World's 2007 BOTY awards will be announced in the January/February issue of Sailing World. (A complete list of all BOTY nominees follows this story.)Shortly before the Sailing World announcement, Cruising World editor John Burnham announced nominees for CW's BOTY awards.  
Burnham addressed the boat manufacturers and journalists
onhand for the ceremony, commenting, "This year we have something for
everyone, ranging from motorsailers and a 39-footer that fits in a
shipping container to entry-level 30-footers and million dollar
voyagers."
The
Cruising World judges nominated 26 boats in six categories: small production cruisers,
midsize cruisers, multihulls, full-size production cruisers, full-size
cruisers and a special-purpose category called, "Nothing quite like
it."  BOTY winners will be announced in the January issue of Cruising World, available on newsstands in mid-December. This year marks the 12th anniversary of CW's BOTY contest.Two independent judging panels evaluate and test boats for the BOTY contents. The Cruising World awards focus on production boats laid out and equipped for coastal and offshore cruising and voyaging, while the Sailing World awards focus on boats designed and built with racing in mind. Any
sailboat model introduced to the North American market between the 2005
and 2006 Annapolis Boat Shows is eligible, and builders may enter boats
in both contests. In order to determine the nominees, judges
scrutinized preliminary entries at the Newport Boat Show and during the
opening days of the Annapolis show, evaluating the boats in terms of
design, construction, seaworthiness, performance, purpose of the boat,
fitness for the use intended, and cost.

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 Sailing World Boat of the Year NomineesBeneteau First 10RBeneteau First 50Corsair Sprint 750e33esse 850Flying Tiger 10MGrand Soleil 37J/124J/92-SMaestro 40Nacra Formula 18Open 5.70O'pen BicPixelRaptor 16Salona 37Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49 PerformanceBlade RiderX-35

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Cruising World Boat of the Year NomineesSmall Production Cruisers
Bavaria 30 Cruiser
Catalina 309
Dufour 325

Midsize Cruisers
Alubat Ovni 395
Maestro 40
Malo 40
Najad 440

Multihulls
Broadblue 385
Lagoon 420
Leopard 46
Nautitech 47
Seawind 1160

Full-Size Production Cruisers
Bavaria 46 Cruiser
Beneteau 49
Hunter 45 CC
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49 Performance
Moorings 51.5

Full-Size Cruisers
Amel 54
Beneteau First 50
Hallberg-Rassy 48
Passport Vista 515
Trintella 50

Special Purpose  ("Nothing Quite Like It")
Alerion Express 38
Far Harbor 39
Island Packet SP Cruiser
M-42