The Evolution of Sailboats

We’ve been in the sailing business for 40 years, and we’ve noticed two big in changes.

The first is how much easier and safer it is to sail, thanks to modern electronics such as GPS, AIS, radar, EPIRBs and such. In the old days, it took a lot of work to have a decent idea of where the heck you were, and god help you if had an emergency and needed help.

The second big change is in how much larger boats are for any given length. Today’s 30-ft boats often have nearly as much useable space as the 40-footers of the ’70s. We were reminded of this a couple of weeks ago when we walked down the docks of BVI Yacht Charters in Tortola and took a couple of photos of a new Beneteau Oceanis 41.

Check out that transom! It’s almost like the boat has her own little marina. As for the cockpit, there’s probably four times as much useable space as a similar length boat of the ’70s.