Boat of the Year 2024

With sweet, early autumn sailing conditions on Chesapeake Bay, a strong fleet of 19 contenders competed for top honors in our annual Boat of the Year competition. Once the spray had settled and the votes were tallied, the judges awarded prizes in seven categories for monohulls and multihulls. The overall winner? The surprising, innovative Jeanneau Yachts 55.

- HERB MCCORMICK

An Impressive Boat of the Year Ensemble Sets Sail

We must be getting lucky. The denizens of Annapolis, Maryland, have dubbed their city "the sailing capital of the United States" for many reasons: the abundance of yachts; myriad nearby rivers, creeks and backwaters on which to explore and cruise; the abundance of marinas and shipyards; the frenetic local racing scene; and the annual in-water Annapolis Sailboat Show, the country's biggest and best. While we largely agree with the moniker, after decades of testing sailboats for our annual Boat of the Year (BOTY) contest in the days following that Annapolis show, we also know that this is true: Chesapeake Bay can be a light-air crapshoot and a fickle test bed in early autumn.

Which is where our luck came in. For the third straight year, our on-the-water assessments-following our BOTY dockside inspections during the show-were blessed with several days of near-ideal sailing conditions. It wasn't perfect, and we did have a couple of drifters, but for the most part, all 19 nominees in the competition got to strut their stuff in wind and weather that helped them shine.

The marine industry is continuing to shake off the effects of the pandemic, when supply chains were mightily disrupted and builders put the usual R&D for new models on hold while scrambling to address suddenly overflowing order books for their existing models. But this year, longtime major production builders such as Jeanneau were back with a vengeance. HallbergRassy, a major BOTY player seemingly every year, had not one but two intriguing nominees to judge. Newcomers such as the Rapido 40 tri added spice to the endeavor.