Now here was something even I could afford—a kayak with sailing rig and this devilishly simple outrigger arrangement. “Hey, has anyone seen my fenders?”

In the middle of one of the halls sat this strange object – a Hanse 311 cut neatly down the middle, and serving as a mobile lecture stage for the German magazine Yacht. Perhaps Hunter or Catalina would volunteer one of their boats for a SAIL version?

Fickle creature that I am, as soon as I saw the YSA-10 I (nearly) forgot all about the B-38. Here we have a 34’ round-the-cans weapon displacing just over a ton, with a massive carbon rig, canting keel, twin rudders, daggerboard, and great big stinger of a bowsprit. Apply water, leave brain in toolbox, hoist kite, and heat ‘er up. Now hold on tight…

Have you ever stopped to wonder how two boats can look so totally different? Here’s a bow-on look at the curvy new Feeling 44, all flared topsides and narrow waterline, designed to float in a little over 2’ of water.

Compare that to the imposing, butch looks of the Nauticat 44; long keel, flared bows, teak-topped railing all the way round. I know which one I’d rather take to the Bahamas; and I know which one I’d rather take across the Atlantic.

The latest in Jeanneau’s line of deck saloon cruisers, the Sun Odyssey 50, made its debut here. Note the wide, smoked window and opening hatch just above it; light and ventilation seems to be priorities on many of the 2008 crop of new boats.

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