https://sailingmagazine.net/articles.sec-113-1-perry-on-design.html Thu, 25 Apr 24 00:00:00 -0400 en hourly 1 https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2557-full-circle-30.html It’s hard to find interesting designs for review these days. So this month I thought we’d try a little different approach. In early 1973 I quit my design job in Seattle, loaded my Peugeot wagon an...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2558-tanton-no-309.html When Yves-Marie, Chuck and I left Dick Carter’s tower in Nahant, Massachusetts, to try it on our own I don’t think either of us knew where the future would take us in the world of yacht design. We...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2546-dragonfly-40.html Holy cow! We have a 40-foot folding trimaran to review. This will be fun. My buddy Doug, who lived on the next beach, had one. It wasn’t a Dragonfly but it was similar and not as nice as the Dragonf...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2547-x49.html This month we are going to look at a revamp of the X4.9. I’m not very familiar with the 4.9 but the promotional material I have does a good job of highlighting the changes and there are many. X-Yach...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2534-solaris-44.html Here’s a new model from the Solaris yard in Aquileia, Italy. The design is by Javier Soto Acebal, with design contributions from the yard’s in-house design team. In keeping with the well-establish...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2535-tartan-455.html I can’t recall seeing a Tim Jackett design I did not admire. Tim’s eye captures class proportions and shapes while insuring that performance does not take a back set to aesthetics. It’s sim...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2522-wallyrocket-51.html I’m not sure when I first became aware of Wally yachts. They are built in Milan, Italy. The company concentrates on maxi types with very sophisticated design work from a number of top designers. The...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2523-rapide-41.html It’s exciting to see Mark Mills step away from his ultra-high-performance sportboats and show us what he can do when asked for a custom 41-foot cruising boat. The client asked for a fast cruiser tha...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2515-hanse-460.html Now we will flip the design focus 180 degrees and see what designers Berrett-Racoupeau do when the focus is on volume for an LOA limit as opposed to the SwanClub 28’s focus on boat speed for a given...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2516-clubswan-28.html I’m struggling to find a name for the new crop of high-performance racers like this brand new ClubSwan 28. They are not extreme. I’d say the label of extreme belongs to the foiling America’s Cup...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2501-beneteau-oceanis-371.html Beneteau is certainly the big name in production boats today. It has a lot of practice providing boats that serve a wide range of buyers. Part of the company’s success is its pursuit of interior vol...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2502-mat-122.html Once in a while someone will ask me, “Who is your favorite designer?” It depends on the day and my mood but I usually have a very short list, if you rule out designers no longer with us. Currently...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2497-falken.html It was quiet in my office, except for my hi-fi. It seemed like with my move to the new beach shack there was the inference that I had retired. Not so. I’m not dead yet. Bruised maybe, but not dead. ...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2485-jeanneau-yachts-55.html We have two big production built cruising boats to review this month and both are from very prestigious yacht design offices and built by very successful builders. Our theme for this month will b...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2486-hallberg-rassy-57.html Now let’s see what Hallberg-Rassy working with my favorite designer, German Frers, can do with the volume issue. This is a substantially heavier boat than the Jeanneau. Heavier means more displ...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2468-code-x.html I’m proud this month to bring you two reviews of boats designed by two of the many interns I have had in the office over the last 48 years, Mark Mills and Paul Bieker. I have had interns from all ov...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2469-cape-31.html Here’s a new design from Mark Mills in Ireland. The Cape 31, built in South Africa, has been selling very well and as of this printing will probably have at least 50 boats racing all over Europe and...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2470-green-56.html You may not be familiar with the name Mark Fitzgerald but if you have followed the design work of Chuck Paine’s office you have seen Mark’s work. Mark has been Chuck’s right-hand man for years a...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2471-areys-xfc-22.html I was 14 years old and beginning to get very interested in yacht design. I have no idea why. Nobody in my family had ever owned a sailboat. I had probably been sailing twice. But with the focus a...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2457-excess-14.html It’s multihull month, aren’t we lucky? But there’s no point in getting all curmudgeonly about it. Today the charter boat scene is dominated by catamarans. They have a big footprint on the water ...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2458-lagoon-51.html Let’s take a look at what the same designers, VPLP, can do with an extra 6 feet 6 inches of LOA. If you compare the two sailplan profiles I think you’ll see the establishment of a specific type of...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2445-dufour-37.html I have a soft spot for Dufour boats. I once sailed the Chicago-Mackinac Race in a Dufour Arpege 30. We were the slowest rated boat in the race and we lived up to our rating. I remember the heat a...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2446-moody-ds41.html I live in the Pacific Northwest where we get more than our fair share of rain. I understand the appeal of a raised-saloon boat. Drop the hook in a remote harbor and sit inside dry, warm and comfy...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2436-swan-55.html Oh boy! I’ve been looking forward to reviewing this new Swan 55. Why? German Frers is my favorite designer. He has an eye for subtle beauty, never “over designing” and he sure knows how to desig...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2437-beneteau-first-44.html I think it’s fair to call the Beneteau First series the Beneteau “premier” line. These boats have a very good reputation for speed on the race course and the durability required to be raced...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2431-x43.html This month we have two handsome European designs in the contemporary style. The two boats are 7 feet 8 inches apart in LOA, but if you compare the profiles they are very close to identical. Seems like...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2435-arcona-50.html Now let’s look at the Arcona 50 and see what having another 7 feet 8 inches of LOA buys you. But first and I do think this is a first in the history of my design reviews: try as she might, Greta, my...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2432-italia-yachts-1498.html Here is a new design from Italian designer Maurizio Cossutti and the Italia Yachts design team. This boat is 2 feet longer on deck than the Dehler. The Italia group provided me with an extensive set o...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2433-dehler-46sq.html We can have some fun this month comparing two new European production boats that have almost the same LOA. As you would expect, both boats are in the “contemporary” style. I’m inclined to use th...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2428-gypsy.html My client writes: “I’ve admired Bob Perry’s designs for years and in 2010 we were fortunate enough to have our own Valiant 42 built (sadly the last hull laid up). She has taken care of us for th...]]>