Once you get into the category of cruising boats over 40 feet, all sorts of possibilities emerge. It’s a platform that supports plenty of volume below for accommodations and stowage, and that’s also large enough for a powerful rig to take you anywhere you wish to go. The key feature is versatility.
For this trio of contestants in the 40- to 45-foot sector, there was also a strong emphasis on performance. All three of these yachts sport all the cruising amenities, but they also perform well enough that competitive sailing will be an option for the club-racing set. Indeed, this Full-Size Cruiser division supplied the judging team with some of the finest Chesapeake Bay sailing in the entire contest. And one very special boat was doubly rewarded.
WINNER: J/40
J/Boats
The judges couldn’t quite get enough of the winner in this competitive Full-Size category, as Tim Murphy explained: “For pure sailing joy, this boat unanimously also earned its place as Cruising World’s 2025 Overall Boat of the Year. We saw a big divide in the fleet between simple house systems and cutting-edge, complex power systems designed to run high-powered items, often without a genset running. Several boats in the 2025 fleet operated on multiple voltages, with complicated converters and inverters to distribute the power. But, as one of the judges pointed out, ‘Sometimes it’s nice to have just a red wire and a black wire.’ The J/40 delivers that systems simplicity in a boat that offers the widest assortment of fine-tuning adjustments to the ample sail plan, starting with the mainsheet in the cockpit sole, which is easily accessible to the helm. Whether cruising or racing—and the J/40 will handle both duties with aplomb—the sailing experience will be exceptional.”
Judge Mark Pillsbury agreed: “Designer Al Johnstone described the J/40 as a cruiser-racer, and I’d say that description is spot-on. It’s a comfortable boat to be aboard, and when the breeze is up, you have all the tools readily at hand to drive hard or throttle back and enjoy the ride—your choice.”
Finalist: Catalina 426
Catalina Yachts
The second nominee from Catalina’s refreshed “6 Series” left judge Herb McCormick feeling a bit nostalgic. “Catalina Yachts was founded and associated with the late, great Frank Butler, who was a marine-industry legend,” he said. “But both of these boats were designed and engineered by Gerry Douglas, who might be one of the more underrated American naval architects. This was a fine boat to inspect and sail, and Douglas’ fingerprints and influence are all over it.”
Judge Tim Murphy concurred: “In 1988, Catalina launched its first 42-footer, a popular design from which 1,000 boats were subsequently built. In-house designer Douglas used what he’d learned from all those boats to create an all-new design in 2015, the Catalina 425. At the time, the charm of that boat was that it altogether avoided the trendiest trends of its day: the plumb bows, the hard chines, the drop-down transoms. In this 6-Series version, the updates include swept-back spreaders and refined interior treatments. Otherwise, the new 426 retains all the proven charms we loved so well in 2015.”
Mark Pillsbury added: “We had a chance to try out the new mainsheet system on the Catalina 356, and it worked pretty well going upwind, once we played around with it a bit and got the hang of it. Rather than a single sheet and traveler, the 6-Series employs a double-ended mainsheet led to winches on the cabin top, located on either side of the companionway. Close-hauled, you can set one end of the sheet for each tack, so nothing needs to be adjusted when coming about. The 6-Series version of Catalina’s popular 35-footer has a new Edson helm-station design called the Butler Pedestal. It’s a nice nod to Catalina Yachts founder Frank Butler.”
Finalist: Dufour 44
Dufour Yachts
Only the French could’ve created the Dufour 44. In assessing the boat, judge Tim Murphy offered up a history lesson: “It’s always fun to see which design features make their way into production boats from custom or thoroughbred race boats. A little over a decade ago, Sam Manuard introduced the ‘scow bow’ in the Mini Transat 6.50 fleet. The idea was to carry extreme beam into the hull’s forward sections, providing buoyancy that kept the bow up in surfing conditions. The scow bow caught on in the Class 40 and IMOCA fleets too; since the 2018 Route du Rhum, no other design has won a grand-prix transoceanic race among the Class 40s. In the latest run of Dufours from Umberto Felci’s drawing board, we see that concept applied to cruising boats. The exaggerated volume forward is used, in this case, not for ocean-surfing conditions as much as a stable sailing platform and room for one of the most spacious walkaround island queens in a forward cabin of a boat this size.”
Judge Mark Pillsbury was also taken by the boat’s volume and accommodations: “The Dufour comes with a couple of interesting layout options. The boat we saw in Annapolis had the feel of a studio apartment, with a dining area to port opposite an inline galley, which works well for a cruising couple. A galley forward by the main bulkhead is also offered. An owner can also forgo separate head and shower compartments to either side of the companionway and instead replace the port shower stall with a desk for working aboard. I think that will be appealing to potential buyers, me included.”
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