Sailboat preview: 2 sports boats we love

Asus 20.5

The feature-packed lineup of many new sailboats at the Annapolis Sailboat Show last fall included a few sporty multihulls that stood out from the crowd, largely because of what they didn’t have. Instead of boasting luxurious features and elaborate systems, the Astus 20.5 Sport Trimaran and Xquisite 30 Sportcat didn’t even have a padded cockpit cushion. No flat-screen TV. No air conditioning. No navigation instruments. No refrigerator or freezer. No toilet or shower. Nothing. Nothing.

What they did have, however, was the prospect of sailing fun. And with a sleeping bag, camp stove and cooler, any boat would make a great weekend getaway for cruising across bays or exploring shallow waters.

The 19ft 6in Astus is built in France and designed by VPLP, the same naval architects who designed Lagoon and Excess catamarans as well as racing machines such as Banque Popular XI, Comanche And Group photo 3With a price of 29,500 US dollars, the Astus was by far the cheapest sailboat that Cruise world The Boat of the Year jury has inspected it. The manufacturer, Astus Boats, offers proa and trimaran models ranging from 14 to 26 feet.

The 20.5’s center hull and outriggers are vacuum filled and the main hull curves above the waterline to avoid spray. The floats on either side are attached with tubes that can be retracted or extended and locked in place. When folded, the boat has a beam of 8’10” making it easy to transport on a trailer. When extended, the Tri is just under 15′ wide and quite stable, even with four people on board for a test drive in the Chesapeake Bay.

To be honest, the boat was overloaded, but even so, it just danced along in an 8-10 knot breeze. We were tacking into the wind with the mainsail and working jib and our GPS speed was 5.2 knots. With the Screecher unfurled on its furling reef on the boat’s aluminum bowsprit, we were reaching speeds in the 7 knot+ range with occasional peaks of 8 knots or so.

Red Beard Sailing’s local Astus dealer said the boat, which has a mast on a deck tabernacle, was fairly easy to rig and launch from the trailer. With the centerboard raised, the boat has a draft of just 10 inches; when extended, the draft is about 4 feet. For commuting to and from the slip or dock, the Astus can be powered by an outboard motor of up to 6 horsepower.

The mid-hull cabin offers ample seating height and enough room to escape the weather or fit a couple of people in to sleep. There’s room for a portable toilet under a V-shaped bunk. Otherwise, accommodation is minimal – and that’s the whole point. The Astus is intended to be a fast little machine that you can have fun with on your favorite body of water and then take home and store in the yard.

Astus 20.5 Sport Specifications

Xquisite 30 Sportcat

The Xquisite 30 Sportcat offers almost equally spartan comfort, but in two slightly more spacious hulls, thanks to an overall length of 30 feet, 4 inches. At first glance, the boat is somewhat reminiscent of the old Stiletto catamarans, thanks to hood-like hatches amidships in both hulls, which provide enough space underneath for a mattress, a place to stow gear, and a simple electrical system with LED lighting.

The Sportcat was designed by French naval architect Francois Perus, co-founder of The Yacht Design Collective. The idea, he said, was to build a fast family cruiser.

Like Xquisite’s larger ocean-going catamarans, the Sportcat is not a boat designed to sell for a specific price. Its hulls are foam-core and impregnated with vinylester resin, with carbon fiber reinforcements in high-wear areas. Crossbeams are made of carbon fiber, as are the rotating mast, rudders and bowsprit. The boat we sailed in Annapolis had mini keels; carbon fiber and epoxy centerboards are an option.

Net trampolines are used in the cockpit and foredeck to reduce weight, and the composite deck amidships is covered with Flexiteek synthetic decking for better traction. The sails on the Annapolis boat were made by North and included a square-top 3Di Endurance mainsail, jib and G-Zero gennaker. The boat we sailed was powered by a 6hp Mercury outboard; an electric motor is optional. Hull #1 was priced at $258,000, but according to the Xquisite website, the current price is $285,000.

Xquisite Yachts, whose main business is building luxury cruising catamarans, has chosen the Sportdesign primarily as a training platform for its large-boat customers who visit the company’s facility in the Bahamas. Some of its owners are relatively new to the sport, and the Sportcat is for them to get an idea of ​​what a multihull feels like under sail. But it’s also quite capable of exciting sailors who fancy getting out there and really letting it rip, and that’s exactly what the Boat of the Year team did early one morning in the Chesapeake Bay. There was a light breeze in the 5-8 knot range to start with, and we saw speeds of 6 and 7 knots as we sailed downwind with the working jib. With the gennaker unfurled, we were able to easily match the wind speed.

The boat’s two rudders are connected by a carbon tube and the boat is steered using a long tiller that allows the helmsman to sit on the outside of the windward hull, where he can easily see the mainsail and headsail indicator lights. When turning, the boat jumps over the rear trampoline – a fun maneuver once you get the hang of it.

Given the Sportcat’s outstanding performance and the quality of its construction and features, after over an hour on the water, we judges had no choice but to name it the Best Sport Boat of 2024.

Xquisite 30 Sportcat Specifications

Mark Pillsbury is a CW Editor-in-chief and juror of the Boat of the Year 2024.