{"id":61813,"date":"2026-02-03T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=61813"},"modified":"2026-02-04T11:53:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:53:34","slug":"boat-of-the-year-2026-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/sailboats\/boat-of-the-year-2026-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Boat of the Year 2026 Preview: Changes in the Weather"},"content":{"rendered":"\n        <section class=\"hydra-container\">\n\n\t\t\t                <div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Sirius-35-DN-0363-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"hydra-image disable-lazyload\" alt=\"Sirius 35 DS\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Sirius-35-DN-0363-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Sirius-35-DN-0363-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Sirius-35-DN-0363-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Sirius-35-DN-0363-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Sirius-35-DN-0363.jpg 2000w\" \/>                <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n            <figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Smart German design meets bluewater toughness in the Sirius 35 DS, a compact cruiser built for every forecast.<\/span>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t            <\/figcaption>\n        <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n<iframe id=\"gkstfcayky\" src=\"https:\/\/cruisingworld.dragonforms.com\/gkstfcayky\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:165px;border:none;overflow:hidden;\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/boat-of-the-year-2026\/\">Explore More of <em>Cruising World<\/em>&#8216;s 2026 Boat of the Year Competition<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was the concluding day of the Annapolis Sailboat Show in Maryland. Along with longtime sailing mates and colleagues Tim Murphy and Ralph Naranjo, I was the third member of the judging panel for <em>Cruising World<\/em>\u2019s 2026 Boat of the Year contest, with sea trials scheduled to commence on Chesapeake Bay the next day. And yet, all I could think of was the early Bob Dylan classic A Hard Rain\u2019s A-Gonna Fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unbeknownst to Dylan, he\u2019d nailed the short-term forecast. An early autumn nor\u2019easter was spinning up the mid-Atlantic coastline, accompanied by serious breeze and heavy precipitation to match. <em>Cruising World<\/em> Editor-in-Chief Andrew Parkinson had already called off the next day\u2019s full sailing schedule for the contest\u2019s 14 current nominees, and was scrambling to assemble a workable plan B for the rest of the week. (We did manage a windy, truncated test sail aboard the intriguing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/sailboats\/leopard-52-sailing-catamaran\/\">Leopard 52<\/a> hybrid-power catamaran in the pelting rain, but will hope to line up another spin in better conditions at a later date.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As it turned out, though, good things\u2014and for our purposes, exceedingly sweet sailing conditions\u2014come to those who wait. A ridge of high pressure filled in across the bay after the storm, pumping in ideal northwesterly winds under sunny skies for the remainder of the week. We put the entire slate of entrants through their paces in the sort of steady breeze they were intended to sail. And once underway, we were in for one treat after another. The official sea trials of the 2026 competition may not have featured the largest Annapolis contingent ever, with just 14 of the nominees present, but it was an incredibly diverse, intriguing and well-rounded roster of yachts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personally, I\u2019ve had a long and intimate history with the Boat of the Year contest. Indeed, I organized, established the rules for, and conducted the testing for the very first competition in the early 1990s. Since then, with the exception of a few years near the turn of this century when I was off on my own sailing adventures, I\u2019ve participated in every contest as the director or a judge. I\u2019ve sailed, inspected and reviewed hundreds of boats, nearly every production sailboat introduced in the United States the past several decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a cruising and racing sailor, being part of this contest has been a huge privilege and significant opportunity to review and sail the latest offerings consistently, often in the company of their builders and designers. It has also given me the chance to witness firsthand the latest trends in designs, building practices, evolving systems and emerging technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With all of that perspective, I can tell you that weather isn\u2019t the only thing changing on Chesapeake Bay. So, too, are the locations where U.S. imports are being built, how their systems are evolving, and what sailors prioritize when shopping for new vessels.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n        <section class=\"hydra-container\">\n\n\t\t\t                <div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dragonfly_38_Performance-0066-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"Dragonfly 36\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dragonfly_38_Performance-0066-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dragonfly_38_Performance-0066-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dragonfly_38_Performance-0066-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dragonfly_38_Performance-0066-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dragonfly_38_Performance-0066.jpg 2000w\" \/>                <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n            <figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">\u201cYou feel alive on this boat!\u201d exclaims builder and designer Jens Quorning, and aboard the Dragonfly 36, slicing along in the low teens, you absolutely do.<\/span>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t            <\/figcaption>\n        <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Crunching Numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The fleet of new boats for 2026 was manufactured in China, Denmark, France, Germany, Slovenia, South Africa and Thailand. The rather glaring, obvious omission? For the first time in the long history of the contest, there was not a single production boat from the United States. (To add insult to injury, during the boat show, longtime industry stalwart Catalina Yachts announced that it was ceasing production, at least temporarily, at its Florida facility.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reasons behind the collapse in American boatbuilding are worthy of an entire article, but if you\u2019d told me as recently as a year ago that Slovenia (with an interesting pair of Boat of the Year nominees) would surpass the United States in creating production sailboats, I wouldn\u2019t have believed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cost of new boats also made me blink twice. At $200,000, the sweet-sailing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/sailboats\/new-boat-preview-beneteau-first-30\/\">Beneteau First 30<\/a> was the least-expensive boat in the fleet; at the opposite side of the ledger was the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/sailboats\/new-boat-preview-balance-580\/\">Balance 580<\/a>, with a price tag of $3.6 million. But the Balance had plenty of company up in the stratosphere, with the asking price of a half dozen nominees cresting the million-dollar mark. In fact, the average price of new boats for 2026 is close to a rather remarkable $1.3 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As judges, one of our standard questions to builders is: \u201cWho do you see in the marketplace as your main competition?\u201d This year, one of the marine-industry veterans we\u2019ve sailed with over the course of many contests took a long moment before answering: \u201cUsed boats.\u201d It was the first time I\u2019d heard that one, and it turns out part of the reason why is that many of the brokerage boats sold during the pandemic are now back on the market. More than a few first-time owners have come to the realization that when you buy a boat, that first check you write will be far from the last. Discerning buyers, as always, will consider all their options, perhaps now more than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the docks of Annapolis this year, we also heard a new word being bandied about: \u201ctariffs.\u201d A sign prominently posted on one of the imports we inspected stated: \u201cThis vessel is not for sale. It is under temporary import bond and is on display only as a sample of the builder\u2019s prospect.\u201d (It was, of course, for sale, but the transaction could be a relatively complicated one.) Similar signs, with slightly different language, appeared on other Boat of the Year entrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tariff situation is obviously a moving target, and many overseas builders expressed their cross-fingered hope that it\u2019s a temporary obstacle. In the meantime, everyone affected is approaching it steadfastly and in different ways. For European imports, at press time, the tariffs add 15 percent to the cost of a new boat. For the many catamarans now being built in South Africa, that figure rises to 30 percent. Some builders have folded that tariff number into the bottom-line cost of the boat with the duty included and paid; others are delivering yachts ultimately destined for U.S. ports to offshore locations to work around the tariffs. Everyone is being creative. In challenging economic times, it\u2019s one more challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last, my fellow judge Tim Murphy\u2019s \u201cday job\u201d is serving as education director at the American Boat &amp; Yacht Council. His technical expertise and insights are always enlightening. One of the design vectors he applies when evaluating new boats on his detailed spreadsheets is what he labels \u201c$\/Disp.\u201d It\u2019s is quite simply the cost per pound to produce any given boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By that metric, the most expensive yachts in the 2026 contest were the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/sailboats\/new-boat-preview-dragonfly-36\/\">Dragonfly 36 trimaran<\/a> ($89.71 per pound), the HH52 catamaran ($97.70 per pound) and the aforementioned Balance 580 ($97.95 per pound). These are all produced in relatively limited numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the opposite end of the scale, the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 415 ($28.38 per pound) and Beneteau First 30 ($29.85 per pound) were the least-costly boats to produce. That makes sense. They will have significantly higher production runs and benefit from operations that purchase materials, engines, hardware and equipment in much higher numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, Murphy cautions that these figures should be viewed in their proper perspectives, and with a close look at the boats themselves. \u201cThose $\/Disp figures accurately depict the quality of construction,\u201d he said. \u201cThe three boats in the $90 $\/lb category are unquestionably the best-built boats in the fleet on a strength\/weight basis: lots of carbon, and post-cured epoxy or vinylester resin. Still, that $\/Disp figure has long been a controversial one. The key is to hold each boat\u2019s respective D\/L ratio in your mind at the same time. Together, they tell you a lot about how to compare boats in the fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between 2000 and 2008, production boats came in between $12 and $15 per pound. After 2010, boats from high-production builders were in the low $20s per pound. Since the pandemic, they\u2019re near $30 per pound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n        <section class=\"hydra-container\">\n\n\t\t\t                <div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HH52_CW-0211-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"HH52\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HH52_CW-0211-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HH52_CW-0211-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HH52_CW-0211-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HH52_CW-0211-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HH52_CW-0211.jpg 2000w\" \/>                <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n            <figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">From the carbon-built HH52\u2019s outboard bucket seat to the Balance 580\u2019s clever dual Versa-Helm, these high-performance cats redefine fast cruising, with double-digit speeds, razor-sharp handling and design ingenuity that keeps sailors grinning.<\/span>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t            <\/figcaption>\n        <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Hybrid Revolution?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The rapid advancement of lithium-ion battery technology has led to its widespread use in everyday life, including marine applications. Compared to lead-acid batteries, deep-cycle 12- and 24-volt lithium-ion batteries offer significant benefits: They can be deeply discharged to a 10-percent state of charge (compared to 50 percent with lead-acid batteries) and they take charging current much faster than lead-acid counterparts. In real life at anchor, that means much less engine run-time to charge batteries. It\u2019s your basic win-win proposition with a true quality-of-life improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This has prompted more and more builders to explore hybrid solutions to address auxiliary propulsion and battery-charging options, including parallel diesel engine\/electric drive tandems; and electric motors in concert with a standard diesel genset. Each of these options is almost always supplemented by solar arrays, and sometimes wind and water generators. These hybrid approaches are rapidly gaining traction and popularity, and were on display aboard several 2026 Boat of the Year contestants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These systems are inherently complex, but the percentage of yachts with dedicated or optional hybrid approaches increases every year. For 2026, nearly half the nominees offered varying approaches to electric-drive systems: the Balance 580, Dufour 48 Smart Electric, HH52, Island Spirit 525e, Leopard 52 Hybrid and Royal Cape Majestic 530 Hybrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a trend toward high-capacity 24- and 48-volt DC power systems with the goal of eliminating or at least mitigating genset usage,\u201d Murphy says, drawing on his work at the ABYC. \u201cThis includes the 400- and 480-volt DC management systems like the Joool OneBox system with a charger and controller that we\u2019re seeing from Dufour and Leopard. The outermost example we reviewed was on the RC Majestic, an approach largely conceived by its owner, a former Microsoft software engineer. It generates or consumes 25 to 30 kW-hours per day and stores 90 kW-hours. Just for comparison, my marginally insulated, 1850 farmhouse in Massachusetts consumes 17.3 kW-hours per day, and that includes an EV car charger. Seeing the new consumption rate on today\u2019s boats is stunning. But today\u2019s lithium-ion technology makes it possible to live on the water as you would at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, at least, all this comes with a steep learning curve, as I suspect it will for many owners. And it comes with some growing pains. In a recent Boat of the Year contest, we inspected the first HH44 all-hybrid cat, and at the end of our test sail, Murphy predicted there would be some blips along the way as the tech came online. That proved to be a prescient observation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn some of these instances,\u201d Murphy says now, \u201cI\u2019d boil down the question to prospective owners to this: Are you willing to be part of the builder\u2019s experiment? Some owners are. But you need to go in knowing that\u2019s what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It all begs the question: Is the growing hybrid-power approach revolutionary? It remains to be seen. The late, great Gil Scott-Heron once proclaimed that \u201cthe revolution will not be televised.\u201d But if the builders advancing this emerging technology have a say, it will be marinized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n        <section class=\"hydra-container\">\n\n\t\t\t                <div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Jeanneau_Sun_Odyssey_415-0163-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 415\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Jeanneau_Sun_Odyssey_415-0163-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Jeanneau_Sun_Odyssey_415-0163-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Jeanneau_Sun_Odyssey_415-0163-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Jeanneau_Sun_Odyssey_415-0163-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Jeanneau_Sun_Odyssey_415-0163.jpg 1800w\" \/>                <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n            <figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">The Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 415\u2019s performance pedigree, and its hallmark comfort and control, made an impromptu tack under the Severn River Bridge feel like a well-versed maneuver.<\/span>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t            <\/figcaption>\n        <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Performance and Perspectives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the end of the day, at least for me, the best part of the Boat of the Year experience inevitably happens when the sails are raised, and we all get the chance to take the helm. I always get a completely different perspective when testing a yacht once we\u2019re untethered from the dock, free from the boat-show mobs, and happily underway. For 2026, as always, the real insights and excitement came from the simple act of going sailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this year, there were a series of standout moments. The sheer variety of this latest collection of new boats was notable and outstanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s always a thrill sailing the latest offering from Balance Catamarans, and driving the 580 as the breeze crested into the high teens and we trucked along at nearly 13 knots was not something I\u2019ll soon forget. It was also the perfect opportunity to really check out the company\u2019s dual Versa-Helm arrangement, which provides two driving options. A raised wheel accesses the heightened steering station; when it\u2019s lowered, you drive at cockpit-deck level and have excellent sightlines forward, which was a welcome arrangement once the spray started to fly. And I always learn something when sailing with Balance\u2019s Phil Berman. For instance, I never knew that raising the leeward daggerboard on a cat in breezy conditions equates to tucking a reef in the mainsail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s also always educational when I\u2019m testing one of the latest Dragonfly trimarans from Denmark\u2019s Quorning Boats, because builder and designer Jens Quorning is the sailor putting the boat (and us) through its paces. The Dragonfly 36 is exquisitely rendered and crafted, and it hauls the mail under sail. In about 12 to 14 knots of true wind, we sliced to weather at 8 and 9 knots. But the real fun came when we swapped the jib for a code zero and went into power-reach mode, zipping along in the low teens. The best part was Quorning\u2019s infectious, joyous response to it all: \u201cYou feel alive on this boat!\u201d he shouted, with a huge smile. \u201cYou feel like you\u2019re really sailing!\u201d Yes, I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The smallest boat in the fleet, the Beneteau First 30 (one of those two Slovenian-built craft, the other being the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/sailboats\/new-boat-preview-pegasus-50\/\">Pegasus 50<\/a>) punched way above its weight with performance chops, and justified its nickname as a \u201cplaning cruiser.\u201d I\u2019ve always been a sucker for a tiller-steered boat, where I\u2019m more or less linked directly to the rudder, and every small adjustment elicits an immediate response. This is a minimalistic boat, something I really relate to, and is an absolute blast to sail. Once we cracked off and unfurled the screecher, the \u201cjoy of planing\u201d wasn\u2019t just a slogan, but a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Slovenian cousin, the 50-foot Pegasus, is the polar opposite of the Beneteau, and there\u2019s nothing minimal about it: The yacht is a true all-oceans cruiser with a \u201ctandem keel\u201d that is basically a pair of deep fins connected by a substantial lead bulb. I loved just about everything on this boat, from the triple-headsail rig and twin rudders to the innovative, spacious, protected cockpit to the well-thought-out technical locker below. The fact that the boat sailed like a witch\u20148.5 knots to weather under jib, nearly 10 knots on a tight reach with the code zero deployed\u2014was icing on the cake. This was my first exposure to the Pegasus brand, and I sincerely hope it wasn\u2019t the last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, I\u2019d be remiss without a shout-out to a quartet of boats that also left me with positive and lasting impressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to production-sailboat performance, I\u2019ve always been especially fond of the Jeanneau line, and we had a wonderful sail on the Sun Odyssey 415. It was so good, in fact, that I couldn\u2019t help myself and tacked right under the Severn River Bridge, much to the dismay of the company\u2019s reps. (Sorry, guys!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/sailboats\/new-boat-preview-sirius-35-ds\/\">Sirius 35 DS<\/a> was a remarkable little yacht in every way, an innovative testament to German engineering with true bluewater capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s always fun testing the latest Excess offering with the builder\u2019s enthusiastic French team, and the 42-foot Excess 13 continues their legacy: a sailboat by and for sailors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And taking command of the tiller of the fast, light HH52 cat in the aft, outboard bucket seat\u2014creaming along at double-digit speeds with the water ripping past\u2014is an experience I wish every true sailor could enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The prizes for the 2026 Boat of the Year contest are yet to be determined, but I came away from the latest competition with one surefire impression. After several days of sailing on this gleaming collection of new boats, I was a bona fide winner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From storms to hybrid tech, the initial 2026 Boat of the Year trials revealed major shifts in cruising design and priorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":61817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Herb McCormick","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","sponsored_image":false,"sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"alternate_title_newsletter":"","alternate_content_newsletter":""},"categories":[167],"tags":[2174,282,2169,195],"class_list":["post-61813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sailboats","tag-2026-boat-of-the-year","tag-boat-of-the-year","tag-february-2026","tag-sailboats"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}