West Coast Yacht is finding continued success in the year 2005!! Nearly 80 Hallberg-Rassys have been ordered since West Coast Yachts became the importer for Hallberg-Rassy fine yachts in 1996. We are thrilled to see the number of Hallberg-Rassys grace our local waters and beyond. Hallberg-Rassy yachts are 100% hand laid glass and are delivered with CE certificate-category A (unlimited ocean voyages). Each Hallberg-Rassy yacht is built under the supervision of Germanisher Lloyd- not only the hull, deck, and engine installation, but the rigging, steering system, safety equipment, stability range, and more. Please call for an appointment to view the size of boat just right for your needs, and see what everyone is talking about.

These are the 7th and the 8th honorable awards in less than two years for Hallberg-Rassy. The HR 40 has just won not only the title Best Live aboard Cruising Boat, but also Best Overall Vessel in the US Cruising World magazine. The HR 40 beat out 31 other nominees.

Judges called the Hallberg-Rassy 40 "A true sailor's boat". The jury also said: "The Hallberg-Rassy has maintained a lot of traditional types of quality while updating the underbody to produce a boat that sails and handles well. It met my desire for balance, comfort and safety with class. I would be proud to row away from this yacht."

In Cruising World's January issue covering its 10th annual Boat of the Year Awards, Executive Editor Tim Murphy further describes the highlights of the Hallberg-Rassy 40, noting the quality of its sandwich construction of fiberglass and Divinycell foam, light-mahogany interior and ideal cockpit layout. "Through and through, she's a vessel that was thought out for a couple who want to be underway comfortably," he writes.

The 31 nominated boats were judged by two independent panels, which evaluated and tested the boats.

This means that the Hallberg-Rassy 40 has won honorable awards all over the globe: Sailboat of the Show in Stockholm, European Boat of the Year, and in the United States Best live aboard cruiser and Best overall cruising boat of the year.

The Hallberg-Rassy 40 has been voted "European Yacht of the Year" in the biggest category. This is Hallberg-Rassy's fifth award in just 12 months. The HR 40 received the prestigious award in the largest class, Yachts up to 15 meters. The winner was voted for by journalists from 11 European yacht magazines; Yachting World (UK), Yacht (Germany), Segling (Sweden), Seilas (Norway), Bådnyt (Denmark), Yacht Revue (Austria), SwissBoat (Switzerland), Voiles (France), Fare Vela (Italy), Yate (Spain), Yachting (Greece)

Five awards in 12 months

The HR 43 was awarded "Top 10" by the American "Sail" magazine.

HR 40 has also won the award "Sailboat of the Show" in Stockholm, voted for by journalists.

Twelve months ago Hallberg-Rassy 43 won the award "Yacht des Jahres" (Yacht of the Year) in the biggest category. Selected by the readers of the largest sailing magazine in Europe, "Yacht" from Germany.

Hallberg-Rassy has won five awards in just 12 months! This must be some kind of record.

Swedish Hallberg-Rassy has won another prestigious award: “Top 10” 2003 in the American Sail magazine. The prize, a beautiful crystal sculpture, was handed over at the Atlantic Sail Expo in Atlantic City, USA, and is followed by a feature in the February 2003 issue of Sail. In eight full days of testing, Sail’s judges test-sailed, critiqued, analyzed, and debated on pros and cons of 37 new boats. Here’s what they found- and what you need to know about the winner:

“The Hallberg-Rassy 43, designed by German Frers, is a comfortable offshore cruiser from a well-respected Swedish builder. Hull and deck construction meet the high standards we have come to expect from Hallberg-Rassy, as does the excellent mahogany joinery down below. The interior accommodation includes many features we like to find on long-distance cruising boats: a well-positioned wet locker, lots of solid handholds, lots of general stowage space (though it is somewhat limited in the galley), and generous fuel and water capacity. We liked the commodious staterooms fore and aft and were agog at the large heads. The forward head has room for an optional washer installation; this seems the most logical place for such equipment. We found the systems to be above average and were particularly impressed by the DC high-current panel and clean AD installation. There were some anomalies, such as untinned wire and less-than-optimal battery clams and cables, that are commonly found on European boats.

We were unable to press the boat in light conditions on Narragansett Bay, but we have no reason to believe this Hallberg-Rassy will not be up to more rigorous conditions. Buyers can safely expect to do some very serious sailing in a vessel of this ilk, and our judges agreed that, at the relatively modest asking price, the 43 is a lot of bluewater boat for the money.”

Hallberg-Rassy has now won five prestigious awards in just 12 months:

HR 43 has in Cruising World won both “Best Midsize Cruiser” and “Overall Cruising boat of the year”, in German Yacht magazine she was voted “Yacht des Jahres” (Yacht of the Year) and in American Sail magazine she won “Top 10”. The HR 40 has been elected “Sailboat of the Show” in Stockholm and also “European Yacht of the Year” in the biggest category.

"In 1998, Italian fashion magnate Leonardo Ferragamo bought Nautor’s Swan and immediately started to enhance and alter the company’s reputation, which was for seaworthy and reasonably fast boats, first gained from a stock Swan 65’s victory in the 1974 Whitbread Race. Under Ferragamo the company set out to build high-tech race boats- starting with two new 60-footers for the Volvo Ocean Race—and setting up a one-design technical division in a new facility in Borgmastargrundet, Finland. The Swan 45, designed by German Frers, is the first product of that division, and it was our panel’s selection for the best racer/cruiser for 2003.

“The boat’s performance is a positive step for Swan,” says Andrews. “The plump bow maximizes waterline length, and the higher sail area (1,414 sq. ft.) To weight (19,510 lbs.) ratio makes this boat very fast in light and moderate winds.” The Swan 45 isn’t a stripped-out Volvo boat, but neither is it a traditional Swan—it’s more racer than performance cruiser. Sure, the judges admire the meticulous teak decks and eye-pleasing aesthetics, but it was the boat’s performance that got their blood pumping. Even in the light winds encountered during sea trials, the boat demonstrated great speed.

Technologically, the boat boasts an inventive keel bulb, a dinette table that conceals batteries, and a new deck construction technique called SPRINT, which uses pre-impregnated cloth to control exact amounts of resin and control weight. The keel bulb’s nosecone opens to allow ballast rods to be removed, reducing bulb weight by as much as 800 pounds for grand-pris racing when the rail is stacked with bodies.

Judges did have concerns with the boat’s rough finish in the lazerette—atypical of Swan quality—and a safety issue with the length and height of the boom potentially hitting the helmsman in the face on a jibe. But the boat’s performance and styling overwhelmed these addressable concerns, and other strengths, such as the Hall carbon rig and excellent ergonomics, sped this boat to the top of our list. The Swan 45 is listed at a base price of $568,075, excluding sales and electronics."

-- Sailing World Magazine, January 2003

“One boat had the best aft cabin Carol Hasse has ever seen, and another, the sweetest woodwork. One boat had fellow judge Skip Mayer’s favorite system for deploying and retrieving anchors. Still another treated Ralph Naranjo to his most thrilling ride in a week of sailing 30 boats.

But none of these earned the title of Cruising World Boat of the Year for 2003.

The winning vessel was the one that most effectively brought together all the complementary feature that make up a seaworthy cruising boat—design, structure, deck layout, rig, cabin arrangement, system installation, aesthetics, sailing dexterity, and, not lastly, price.

We grouped the nominees into five categories- four monohulls, based on size and cost, and one of multihulls—and also awarded prizes for Best Value and Most Innovative. The average length was 42 feet; the average price was $348,000.

Those are the facts. In the pages ahead, we’re honored to present Cruising World’s choices for best boats for 2003...

The Malo 41, the Sabre 426, and the Hallberg-Rassy 43: Here are three boats that are the same length as those in the previous group but with prices $150,000 higher. How can they account for the difference?

The two simple answers are man-hours and handcraftsmanship.

From the first wow factor you feel when you step into the cabins to the details you uncover the deeper you dig, what Skip said of the Sabre could be true of any member of this trio: “This is a boat I could be proud of—proud to own and proud to sail.”

Of the Malo’s joinery, he said, “That companionway ladder with it’s inlaid wood for nonskid—you could take it out and put it in the Museum of Modern Art. It’s stunning.”

Considering the humble deck locker. “All the locker hatches on deck drain,” said the Skip of the Hallberg-Rassy. “They have big rubber gaskets on them and big dogs. Ever locker I look in was dry.”

Look inside the lockers below. “You just couldn’t find anything that had been overlooked,” he said of the Malo. “Nothing that hadn’t been sanded smooth. You cold rub your fingers in places you couldn’t possibly see, and the edges were all finished. It was spectacular.” Aboard the Sabre: “All the drawers are dovetailed and on rails that moved beautifully. And the doors have self-closing hinges. When you get them close, they shut.”

On each of these boats, cleats, stanchions, and winches are substantially backed. The engineering, wiring, and plumbing on all three boats, especially the Sabre and Malo, were impeccable. The decks of all three boats were easy to navigate. “No ducking around shrouds,” said Skip.

Of course, every boat has it’s compromises. The Malo and Hallberg-Rassy shared a trait that Ralph liked least: teak decks screwed into a cored sandwich structure. “The reality of those decks,” he said, “is that 15 years down the road, you’re facing a significant repair or refit bill.”

Both the Malo and the Hallberg-Rassy featured hard dodgers over the companionway and part of the cockpit. The Sabre, by contrast, has a companionway hatch recessed far enough forward to accommodate a comfortable ladder angle but a dodger that shelters little of the cockpit. “The dodger solved water down the hatch but gave poor protection for the crew,” said Ralph.

Of the Sabre’s rig, which is a three-spreader Hall Spars mast supported by continuous rod and rigging and a hydraulic backstay, Carol said, “Call me old-fashioned, but I would prefer to sea with wire rigging. To take advantage of that rig, you’d have to be n the hydraulic backstay. That’s neat for the performance cruiser, but I would just prefer simple die-form wire and spreaders that are in-line rather than raked aft, so that you’re not compromising downwind performance. But I do like that it’s continuous, so you don’t have to go through gyrations to tune it”

Of these three boats, the judges felt the Malo has the best interior and the Sabre, the peppiest performance. For the most well-rounded doublehanded passagemaker, the award goes to the Hallberg-Rassy.

“For me,” said Ralph, “her performance was that of a Frers pedigree.”

“From the helm of the Hallberg-Rassy, everything seemed very manageable,” said Carol.

“Sailing the boat, I was very surprised,” said Skip. “It tracked like a locomotive. I walked away form the helm, left my hand off for 40 seconds, and it didn’t move a degree.” An impressive performance...

OVER ALL CRUISING BOAT OF THE YEAR: The big question, of course, comes down to which boat, drawn form among the category winners, would take the overall award. After 10 days of sea trials and dockside inspections, the choice came down to two very different boats: the Aerodyne 47 or the Hallberg-Rassy 43.

“This is a real apples-and-oranges thing,” said Carol. “They’re both excellent, excellent boats, and one of the joys of sailing each of these boats was the ease of movement on deck. But on the Hallberg-Rassy, everything seemed so logical to me: where it was place, where my movement would go. If I were going to take a boat anywhere around the world, and I mean anywhere, for me it would be the Hallberg-Rassy.”

Ultimately, after lengthy deliberations, it was Carol’s argument that carried the day. Congratulations to all of the folks who put together the Hallberg-Rassy 43, the 2003 Cruising World Boat of the Year.”

--Cruising World Magazine, January 2003

West Coast Yachts

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