What is your favorite Boat at the Annapolis Show?

Paul Mermelstein · Oct 10, 2010

Just got home from the boat show. It was very well attended and there were many more vendors and boats than last year. I asked vendors if they were having a good (as in financially rewarding) show and they all said yes. It seems the economy may be swinging up ... or at least consumer sentiment in the boating community is improving.

I looked at a number of boats. I have a Beneteau and am partial to them, but frankly there were many very nice boats. I was actually impressed with the larger Hunters (45 and up), and same with Beneteau.

There was a new Beneteau line, the Sense; in this case a 50 footer. It has a 360 degree rotating sail drive and bow thruster; both are integrated by computer and actuated by a joystick. So the boat can not only pivot in its own length, but also crab sideways, diagonally, or whatever you want using the joystick. Very very cool. It also has a different design with all cabins forward of the salon, and all mechanicals and large storage aft (under the cockpit). Yes, the layout was different, and I would have to get used to it, but it was very interesting. The Annapolis Yacht Sales broker I know said they sold 3 of them. So, for interesting viewing, and a fresh approach, I would say the Beneteau Sense would be a contender for my favority of the show.

Scott T-Bird · Oct 10, 2010

We are more realistically interested in boats under 40' and we looked at Catalina 387 and Tartan 3700. Sue liked the Catalina, I liked the Tartan. One of the guys on board the Catalina with us pointed out the aft berth that opens to the cockpit when the cockpit seat is opened. He said it is a notorious leaker and made the comment that a friend of his loves the boat except that the cockpit leaks into the berth.

As for dreaming, we loved that Lyman Morse (Amalie?) and also the Outbound 52!

4arch · Oct 11, 2010

The Halberg-Rassy 40 was our favorite but a very distant dream. We liked the Tartans, Dufours and the Hanses - though I'm not sold on the Hanse's self-tacking jib. We were not impressed with the Jeanneau's and Bene's we saw - we thought we had somehow wandered out of the boat show and into some new waterfront condo development!

We're happy to see a lot of builders moving away from going overboard with dark, fussy interior woodwork. We heard some others mumbling disparagingly about it on the docks, but in my view, by the time you fill a boat with all the requisite "stuff", clean lines and bright spaces would be a welcome sight. We were a little disappointed to see so much exterior teak even on some of the lower priced boats.

seadaddler · Oct 11, 2010

Hunter X 36

Was the new Hunter X 36 at the show and did you take any Photo's.
Nick

Ducati · Oct 11, 2010

New Beneteau 50

It was a great show, the weather on Thursday and Friday was fantastic and I even got a parking spot on Conduit Street.

There were fewer vendors peddling Shamwows and the like but for the most part the serious boat suppliers were all there. We went there to see boats, eat crab, drink beer and take in the cool history of Annapolis. My two daughters fell in love with the place.

I really liked the new Beneteau 50 with its fancy pivoting sail-drive + bow thruster. Not that I can afford it but the start price of $350,000 plus extras is alot of boat for that kind of dough. It looks to have a flatter hull bottom profile with hard chines so my guess it that it resists heeling. Don't know what affect that will have on speed but will watch for future boat reviews. The interior is simple and clean however all doors and hatches have hard square edges which will become a nightmare to fix. The new design makes the Island Packets and Tartans look tired and dated. (Can't wait for the Packet+Tartan sailors to take issue with that comment).

Berndahle · Oct 11, 2010

Re: New Beneteau 50

My favorite this year was the same as last year...the Leopard 39 (38 last year but essentially the same boat). Nice layout, clean lines, good craftsmanship, good quality hardware, and great value. I'm always surprised at how cheaply the Lagoons are made with some obvious "what were they thinking??". Otherwise the boat that caught my eye from afar without even knowing what it was at first was the Hunter e36. A few very nice changes to the version I have and I just love the blue hull

. However, what's with all these new boats and their fold down transoms? That seems very awkward and I'm not sure what the advantage is.

Scott B · Oct 11, 2010

ix:

We don't get the bigger custom boats at the Toronto shows.... someday we'll have to do the bigger US shows.

THECUSCUS · Oct 11, 2010

I'm a trailer-sailor, and the Presto 30 would take my vote as favorite. But with a $100k plus price tag, there would be many other choices, with more boat for the money. Still an interesting boat, with some innovative ideas.

Sea Dancer · Oct 11, 2010

New Hunter 50 at the Newport Int'l Boat Show

My hubby and I were very impressed with the new Hunter 50. Not within our reach today, but it was the best boat we saw. Absoutlely gorgeous with the navy colored hull!

RAD · Oct 11, 2010

I always see an ad for a shoal draft 32 ft trailer sailboat in the sail mag every month and thought it was an interesting boat.....well they were at the show and I was quite impressed cause its fast,can go offshore,has a shallow draft and if you put it on a trailer you can expand your cruising grounds in a shorter time and along the dream or if I win the lottery the 57 Najad

Mark Ferrick · Oct 11, 2010

Tartan 53..

but who has a million disposable bucks. On a more realistic note, the Tartan 37 ( did not like the cabin seating arrangement as displayed ) or the Tartan 34. I also liked the mid sized Hunters.....

Capn Bill · Oct 11, 2010

Our favorite was the Beneteau 43. Great ergonomics for the perfect size boat!

mccary · Oct 11, 2010

It is hard to say which boat is "best". I am not currently in the market for a "new" (new or used) boat. I am, like so many others, looking with an eye to upgrade a size. I currently sail a 27' Catalina, she is paid for and does me well. But a new boat would be nice. I looked at boats in the 30' range. I was at the show last year. The Catalina 309 looked pretty good to me and at $104,000 seemed in line with what i expected. This year THE same model boat was $131,000. It did have AC that I don't recall last year's boat as having, but that is just $6K. I saw signs at the Hunter display that said "Prices rolled back to 2008" and I had to wonder if the 2008 prices were in fact higher than 200i9...

Scott T-Bird · Oct 11, 2010

It's a funny thing about boats ...

I couldn't own one that doesn't appeal visually ... and I don't think I am all that much of a traditionalist. I don't like those sugar scoop sterns of the past, but I do like a stern that is swept back (not too aggressively as you see on some racing vessels). One thing that is a must is that the bow has to have an overhang. We didn't even step on board a Beneteau because they all feature a vertical bow and twin wheels. I do like the layout, quality and pricetag of the Dufour and we looked at the 37' to 40' models but I can't get past the way I don't like the vertical bow and I'm not crazy about the twin wheels (even though the salesman tried to impress me with his thought that no other 37' boats have a twin wheel. I guess I am not really a fan of the wide aft sections of the new boats that make a twin wheel necessary. Also, I like a masthead rig ... I guess that is why we narrow it down to Tartan and Catalina with Tartan definitely getting the nod for overall quality, fit and finish. I like the Tartans for the ability to use the aft forestay for self-tacking and smaller headsails. Those prominent pricetags on the Jeuneaus are a huge turnoff to me. Seeing those large boats with ridiculously low prices seems to scream lack of anything attractive. At previous boat shows we had looked at those boats and came to the conclusion that the sterility and lack of any style whatsoever of the boat was a reflection of the cheap price.

When it comes to dreaming, once we move over that 40 foot thresh hold, then the only boats we would be interested in looking at are center cockpits ... which seem to need a length of about 44' feet to work well. So we have limited our choices at 37' to 40' for aft cockpit and 45' to 55' for center cockpit boats ... nothing else captures our interest. Well, maybe those Oysters, but we didn't look at any ... I was too embarrassed to even step on board!

jberger714 · Oct 11, 2010

Annapolis boat show

Salty said:
I attended the show on Saturday. I think this is the most crowded show I have seen over the years. It was a beautiful day with great boats and fun crowd.
I have to admit I didn’t get to see some of the boats due to the crowd but my favorite affordable boat was the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409.

What was your favorite?

Saturday was a beautilful day at the boat show, I thought the Sun Odyssey 453 was beautiful.

rpwillia · Oct 11, 2010

Not impressed with the X36

seadaddler said:
Was the new Hunter X 36 at the show and did you take any Photo's. Nick

Was on one and pushed on the liner and a lighting lense popped out. It also seemed a bit aggravating that a lot of things you would want on the racer or cruiser were options. I may be biased as I am not crazy about Hunter's in the first place.

rpwillia · Oct 11, 2010

Can you clarify which hatch?

Scott T-Bird said:
... Catalina ... Sue liked the Catalina ... One of the guys on board the Catalina with us pointed out the aft berth that opens to the cockpit when the cockpit seat is opened. He said it is a notorious leaker and made the comment that a friend of his loves the boat except that the cockpit leaks into the berth.

Are you referring to the overhead hatch that a lot of Catalina's have? On my 310 I have never had a problem with that hatch, but it does not get used much either.

rpwillia · Oct 11, 2010

The Admiral's Favorite was ...

the Island Packet 370. It was not part of the Island Packet display, but from a charting fleet thing. At $439,000.00 it was a bit pricey, but definitely had it laid out the best for our tastes.

At 2nd was the Catalina 355, but they did a few stupid things like the sink and shower.

Scott T-Bird · Oct 11, 2010

rp ... pretty sure it was Catalina 387 ...

Correction, it was the 375 ... also, I believe the larger boat we looked at was the 445 (which I wasn't impressed with).

The boat showed the option of a second aft berth. Without the berth, the space would be a locker accessed by opening the bench on port side (they showed the locker on the 44' boat, I believe). On this model, the locker can still be opened to the cabin below ... they didn't redesign a proper roof over the cabin. There is only a minimal rain gutter at the edge of the locker opening. Somebody made the comment that the locker leaks and if it happens to be into the optional aft cabin, it is a problem.

There is a bulkhead between aft cabin on stbd side and the optional cabin on port side which is structural, I was told.

BTW, for that size boat, I did like the layout quite a bit and I always prefer the looks of Catalina over Hunters ... but that is just more or less personal preference.