NEWPORT, R.I. – Sailing World magazine unveils its 22nd annual salute to boat design innovation with the 2006 Boat of the Year Awards, featured in the January/February 2006 issue. Subscribers will start receiving this must-read issue December 19. Of the 15 boats nominated, four received awards; the C&C 115, built by Novis Marine Ltd., took top honors as overall Boat of the Year and Best Racer/Cruiser. According to Sailing World’s Boat of the Year Director, Tony Bessinger: “The C&C 115 is the height of competent duality, a racer/cruiser deserving high accolades.” The boats were inspected and sailed by independent judges Meade Gougeon, of Gougeon Brothers, Alan Andrews, of Alan Andrews Yacht Design, and Chuck Allen, head of North Sails One Design for New England. Judges toured the boats at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Md., and sailed them over four days on Chesapeake Bay. In addition to an overall award, the judges named Boat of the Year winners in three categories: Best Dinghy is Vanguard Sailboats’ RS Feva, Best Multihull is the Reynolds 33, and Best Innovation is the Wyliecat 44.”I could see it wasn’t very easy for our judges to come to their final decisions this year,” said Bessinger. “The 15 BOTY entries all had a lot going for them, but by the end of the week of test sailing in good breeze, the cream rose to the top. The overall winner, the C&C 115, rose the highest; it’s a very well done racer/cruiser with grand-prix accouterments such as a carbon rig and a stiff epoxy hull, and an interior any cruiser could envy. With 37 boats already sold, the 37-footer has the potential to be a strong one-design class as well as being a capable handicap racer.”Models introduced to the North American market between the 2004 and 2005 U.S. Sailboat Shows were eligible for Sailing World’s contest, which encourages entries of boats designed and built with racing in mind. Links to individual reviews of each award winner can be found below. Sister publication Cruising World ran a parallel Boat of the Year contest featured in the magazine’s January 2006 issue, click here for Cruising World’s BOTY contest winners.2006 Sailing World Boat of the Year Winners Click below for individual reviewsOverall winner and Best Racer/CruiserC&C 115Best MultihullReynolds 33Best DinghyRS FevaBest InnovationWyliecat 44
