VX960
The overall winner of Sailing World‘s 25th annual Boat of the Year awards is the VX One from Bennett Yachting Technologies (Savannah, GA).
The VX One and three other new boats won awards from an independent panel of experts, which evaluated 12 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 2012 issue will feature all four winners.
“Over the past decade the sportboat market has really been driven by the bigger keelboats, so it’s great to finally see something that combines the excitement of sportboat and dinghy sailing in a reasonably priced 19-footer,” says Sailing World editor and Boat of the Year director Dave Reed. “I sailed the VX One a month before its BOTY test, and I knew then the judges would be impressed. This boat has great potential to spark one-design sailing in the United States.”
“Bennett Yachting put an impressive level of thought into the production to keep this boat competitive for years,” says BOTY judge Dobbs Davis, whose enthusiasm is echoed by fellow judge and professional sailmaker Chuck Allen: “The VX was an obvious choice as Boat of the Year.”
“My first impression when we walked up to the boat was how cool the hull and rig package were,” says Greg Stewart, a naval architect and veteran BOTY judge. “It’s a great boat for high-performance sailing, with the latest technology and exhilarating performance downwind.”
Other winners in Sailing World‘s 2012 Boat of the Year competition are:
• Best One-Design Sportboat: VX One (Bennett Yachting Technologies, Savannah, GA.)
• Best Offshore One-Design: Farr 400 (Premiere Composite Technologies, U.A.E.)
• Best Multihull: Topaz 14CX (Topper Sailboats, U.K.)
• Best Performance Cruiser: Tartan 4000 (Painesville, OH.)
_For more about the boats, click here, or view a PDF about the contest, and be sure to pick up a copy of our January/February 2012 issue.
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