SMALLER BOATS
FAREAST 19R
A smaller version of the slippery and powerful Fareast 28R, which won a SAIL Best Boat’s award back in 2016, the Fareast 19R offers the same combination of performance and quality construction at an affordable price point. Highlights include a vacuum- infused hull, lifting T- keel with a carbon fin and lead bulb, carbon rudder, tiller and tiller extension and a retractable aluminum sprit. The backstayless rig makes it possible to fly a powerful square- top main, and hardware is by Harken. In contrast to many other other Asian boatbuilders, Fareast is not just an outsourcing outfit, but an indigenous operation that first cut its teeth building top- quality foils in anticipation of the Beijing Olympics. The resulting build quality of its boats is therefore second to none. Fareast/Sturgis Boat
REVERSO AIR Imagine it: a performance dinghy that breaks down into four separate segments small enough to be fit into the back (as opposed to on top) of a mid-sized SUV, and which can be easily assembled without using any tools in mere minutes. The 11ft Reverso is a clever little dinghy from France that can not only be singlehanded, but can accommodate either two adults or an adult and a couple of kids. And make no mistake, this is not just a toy, but a serious sailboat, with a performance square-top main, hiking straps, super-chic tumblehome bow and flared hiking winglets for getting your weight outboard in a breeze. The four sections when “nested” take up a space measuring just 3ft by 4ft 9in by 2ft 5in. All-up weight is a mere 165lb. Reverso/Red Beard Sailing, redbeardsailing.com
UFO FOILER Ever since full-foiling became part and parcel of Moth racing, the builders and designers of the world have striven to find a way to bring that same performance to the masses, and now the Rhode Island-based father and son team of Steve and Dave Clark may have finally cracked the code with the UFO foiler. Nominally a catamaran (since the hulls ideally spend little actual time in the water) the boat employs a Moth-style T-keel in which a wand controls a set of trim tabs to regulate lift and height when airborne. Thanks to the aforementioned twin hulls, getting out to where you can actually start foiling is no longer a hair-raising balancing act, and the cost is less than $8,000, putting it well within the range of ordinary sailors. Fulcrum Speed Works, fulcrumspeedworks.com
MALBEC 18
Big boats are impressive, but there is a joy to small boats that can’t be beat. The brainchild of Argentinian naval designer Heraldo Norbert Ruesch, the Malbec 18 pocket cruiser has a 6ft-long cockpit, while below, there’s room for a Porta-Potti and sleeping accommodations for a family of four, as well an optional slide-out galley with sink. A high-aspect rig and centerboard work together to provide the necessary performance for the boat to also serve as a nifty little club racer. Aesthetically, we love the way the Malbec 18’s chines, springy sheer and carefully modelled cabintrunk all work together to create a look that is both sporty and purposeful. Ventura Sport
Boats, venturasportboats.com
HOBIE GETAWAY Hobie Cat has been upgrading a number of its most successful beach cats to incorporate the latest in multihull design, and the most recent model to receive this treatment is the 17ft Getaway: a sporty little workhorse of a boat that can carry up to six sailors. Upgrades include wave-piercing bows and an extra 6in of LOA in the interest of increasing boatspeed and carrying capacity. Features carried over from the original include a roller-furling jib, EZ Loc rudders for beaching and launching, and a fully-battened boomless main. The hulls are also still rotomolded, meaning they are more than up to the challenge of regular beachings and/ or anything the kids can and inevitably will throw at it. Hobie Cat, hobie.com
ZIM HARTLEY 15
The latest design from Britain’s Hartley Boats, the robust 15ft 5in Zim Hartley rotomolded dinghy is one of those great-looking little boats that manages to combine plenty of zip with safe, predictable performance under sail. The wide beam creates an extremely stable platform, while the high boom, “gnav” over-boom strut vang and internal bench seating make life pleasant for both passengers and budding future Olympians. Other features include a center-mounted hoop that raises the mainsheet out of the cockpit at the same time it provides a sturdy handhold, self-bailing cockpit and a simple asymmetrical spinnaker. Zim Sailing, zimsailing.com