2024 Boat of the Year Best Crossover: Italia 14.98
The Italia 14.98 stands out amongst the crowd with a style, luxury and undeniable performance all its own.
From a starting dozen nominees, five Boat of the Year 2025 nominees emerge as the defining performance sailing designs for those looking for a new ride in the new year.
The server hands me a pile of white paper napkins. I am crammed into a high-backed booth inside a strip-mall barbeque joint in Annapolis, Md., alongside our Boat of the Year judges: Monica Morgan, Mike Ingham and Dobbs Davis. Between them and Erik Shampain earlier in the year, they have sailed 17 new boats in two sessions and talked about them for hours. It’s decision time, but here at the table, they cannot all agree on an overall winner. Before they even get to look at the dessert menu, they have to agree. That’s the rule. Votes are cast, and the nod, 2-1, goes to the ClubSwan 28, a sophisticated sportboat that sold the judges across the basic criteria: what it’s for, how it’s built and ultimately how it sails on its test day. The ClubSwan 28, the judges agree, checks all the boxes. Not to steal its thunder, four other boats do as well, but there can be one Boat of the Year.
With its ClubSwan 28, Nautor Swan crams a bunch of grand-prix sophistication into a pint-sized sportboat.
Stay tuned for upcoming category winners…
The Italia 14.98 stands out amongst the crowd with a style, luxury and undeniable performance all its own.
The Dragonfly 40 Ultimate is a work of art inside and out, and when the sails are up, this tri flies.
RS Sailboats does rotomolded dinghies like no one else and the Toura, their latest 15-footer, is its best yet.
Auster Yachts’ Z24, a refreshing and fun all-purpose daysailer, is a top choice for its simplicity and speed.
Judges: Monica Morgan, Mike Ingham and Dobbs Davis
Boat of the Year Director: Dave Reed
Official RIB Supplier: Club Coach Boats
Photography: Walter Cooper
Boat of the Year testing was conducted in February in St. Petersburg, Florida and Annapolis, Maryland, this year, allowing for a broader fleet of entries.
Bigger, roomier and sportier on the water than it looks on the dock, the Fusion 2 is designed to get new sailing adults excited and learning. The judges agreed that it sails great and would appeal to clubs and families.
The Maverick is the multitool of watersports. For sailing, there are inflatable seats and it tracks upwind just fine. Pop in the windsurf rig or practice your wing technique. No wind? Bust out the SUP paddle. For waterside living, this 10-foot, 95-pound dinghy will entertain all summer.
A gem of a dinghy from Mackay Boats, the VX Two was the top boat from our BOTY session in St. Pete. The judges described it as perfect in every way, a sophisticated but simple skiff-style dinghy for more experienced sailors.
The IODA is a 10-foot foiler that the judges felt was challenging to sail as first-timers. It’s better suited for smaller and more nimble sailors. The judges felt that the BirdyFish S was far easier to sail and more versatile.
The BirdyFish Race was a contender from our St. Pete session. It’s a bigger scow-shaped craft than the BirdyFish S, and it was praised for its excellent construction, robust foils and the ability to sail two-up and share the fun. The Race’s gennaker takes the fun factor up a big notch.
The J/7 made its BOTY debut in St. Pete in February, and in the lighter conditions, without a spinnaker, it was difficult for the judges to really assess the true performance of the boat. As a targeted multipurpose boat, it has all the traits of a J Boat: lightweight, roomy, responsive and great upwind.
The development of the Storm 18 was thorough and the result is a legitimate multipurpose boat that’s built to last the abuses of adult sailing lessons, club team racing and recreational sailing. The judges praised the boat’s performance and versatility, but the demo tested in St. Petersburg was not yet perfected. Production is now apace, however, with several U.S. yacht clubs committed to fleets.
With the Beneteau First 30’s highly refined hull and obsessive attention to detail with weight management, the engineers and builders at Beneteau have delivered what they tout as the first in a new genre of “planing cruisers.” Belowdecks is a weekender-worthy interior, and on deck, the sail-control systems and cockpit ergonomics all add up to make it an excellent platform for coastal and shorthanded races, especially courses with predominant downwind angles where its planing attributes can deliver.
The Argentinian-built Zonda Z28 follows the award-winning Z24, selected as the 2024 Best Recreational Racer. Whereas the Z24 was light and sporty, however, the 28 is much more of a cruiser-leaning design. With a lot of interior volume, an electrified lifting keel and a retractable transom-hung carbon rudder for shallow-water venues, the judges noted it being well-priced and well-built. With the rig out of tune for the test, they did, however, have helm control issues in the day’s 15-knot breeze.
As the most sophisticated HH Catamaran ever tested as part of Boat of the Year, the HH52 delivered an exceptional sailing experience for the judges who praised it for its ergonomics and systems. Whatever the sail combination or angle, the judges said, the feel on the tiller was sensational as was the level of detail in the construction and execution. As a multimillion-dollar catamaran loaded with performance features, it will make many a happy owner.
The 15-foot inflatable Happy Cat Star Carbon is one not to be overlooked by adventure-race fanatics. Super durable rubber tubes for the hulls and a carbon frame to keep it all stiff and fast made for high-speed and thrilling test for the judges. With a gennaker deployed, they had the fun-meter pegged. The entire boat breaks down into duffel bags, and the accessories list from Grabner, the builder in Germany, is extensive.
After a stunning session on the Happy Cat, the judges were left wanting on the MiniCat 520 Explorer, which did not have the same level of stiffness or balance. As a recreational inflatable catamaran, they didn’t feel it was suited for serious adventure racing.
