Sailing World Announces 2014 Boat of the Year Winners

Middletown, RI (December 19, 2013) – Sailing World magazine announced the winners of its annual Boat of the Year awards, the most anticipated awards in the sailboat-building industry. Topping this year’s field of winners as the Boat of the Year is the Xp 44 from X-Yachts, of Haderslev, Denmark.

The Xp 44 and five other new boats won awards from an independent panel of experts that evaluated nominees following the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Md., in October. Selections were based on extensive inspections and sea trials of all the boats. Sailing World’s January/February 2014 issue will feature all six winners.

“Traditionally it’s a strictly high-performance sort of raceboat that runs away with the top prize,” says Sailing World editor and Boat of the Year director Dave Reed, “but for our judges the Xp 44 was such a complete boat there was very little debate about it standing out as the best of the best. The boat is impressive in so many ways, from how well it’s built to how gracefully it sails, but the Xp 44’s greatest asset is its potential as both an ocean-racing thoroughbred and a performance cruiser.”

“I walked up to it, and it looked like a great yacht,” says BOTY judge and naval architect Greg Stewart. Fellow judge, professional boatbuilder Tom Rich, shares Stewart’s sentiment, saying, “I couldn’t find a single flaw. The craftsmanship throughout the boat is really impressive.”

“The boat is amazing,” says professional sailmaker and veteran BOTY judge Chuck Allen. “It’s only 44 feet, but has the feel of a 60-footer. It sailed awesomely – the best of all the boats.”

The other winners in Sailing World’s 2014 Boat of the Year competition are:
Best One-Design: J/88 (J Boats and CCF Composites, Bristol, R.I.)
Best Recreational Racer: Catalina 275 Sport (Catalina Yachts, Largo, Fla.)
Best Dinghy: RS Cat 16 (RS Sailing, Brockley, United Kingdom)
Best Crossover: Dehler 38 (Dehler by Hanse Yachts, Greifswald, Germany)
Best Innovation: Tiwal 3.2 (Vannes, France)

Go to www.sailingworld.com for more information on all the winners.

Sailing World, the authority on performance sailing, is based in Middletown, R.I., and published six times a year by Bonnier Corp. Advice on the latest boat models and equipment, racing tips, tactics and techniques makes it a must-read for sailors who race to win.

Bonnier Corp. (www.bonnier.com) is one of the largest consumer publishing groups in America and is the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences through special-interest magazines and related multimedia projects and events. Bonnier Corp. is the U.S. division of the Bonnier Group (www.bonnier.com), a 200-year-old family-owned media group based in Sweden with business operations in 25 countries.