If you wanted to identify the best new yachts on the market how would you go about it? The obvious answer would be to set up a comparative on-water test, but with yards spread across the globe this presents a significant logistical hurdle.
Yachting World has been a jury member for the European Yacht of the Year awards since its inception in 2004, a programme that enables us to set up such comparative tests. The testing panel has grown to include 12 judges from across Europe, each leading voices on boat testing in their respective countries.
This time we were able to gather 14 shortlisted yachts at Port Ginesta in Barcelona for six days of testing. In terms of trends, 2019 saw the rise of the short-handed race boats. These are punchy pocket rockets of 30-35ft that can be tweaked and trimmed, plane easily and respond to the growing demand for racing fast with a smaller crew.
The 40-55ft monohull sector is dominated by fast cruisers, yachts that can be raced but are designed first and foremost for enjoyable, speedy cruising with minimal crew.
Cruising-orientated multihulls are also starting to edge further towards performance.
At the top end of the price bracket are some seriously impressive bluewater yachts that offer a perfected recipe in a ready to sail package.
PERFORMANCE CRUISERS
In recent years performance cruisers have moved away from conventional cruiser-racers to fast and fun yachts with leisure-orientated decks and comfortable interiors. These boats can be handled easily, are a joy to sail at pace and may be optimized for occasional racing. And they always make for one of the tightest and most exciting categories.
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