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At the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Md., Cruising World—and our sister publication, Sailing World—announced nominees for the 2012 Boat of the Year awards. The BOTY awards recognize and honor the best new sailboat models introduced to the North American market.
The new sailboat models were examined by special nominating panels, consisting of each magazine’s editors and select members of the judging panels.
"This year's collection of nominees represents a broad cross-section of excellent cruising boats and high-performance ocean voyagers," says Herb McCormick, Cruising World's Boat of the Year director. "The judges are really looking forward to getting on the water and putting the boats through their paces."
Cruising World nominated the following 22 boats in five categories (see them for yourself in our Showcase photo galleries):
Compact Cruisers, 30 to 35 Feet
· Bavaria Cruiser 32
· Hunter e33
· J/108
· Mystery 35
Midsize Cruisers, 36 to 40 Feet
· Bavaria Cruiser 36
· Catalina 385
· Hallberg-Rassy 372
· Island Packet 360
· Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 379
Midsize Cruisers, 40 to 45 Feet
· Bavaria Cruiser 40
· Beneteau Oceanis 41
· Dufour Grand' Large 445
· Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 439
· Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 44 DS
· Tartan 4000
Full-Size Cruisers, 45 Feet and Above
· Bavaria Cruiser 45
· Beneteau Oceanis 45
· Passport Vista 545 CC
Cruising Multihulls
· Leopard 44
· Nexus 600
· Outremer 49
· Performance Multihulls PT-11
Sailing World nominated 12 performance-oriented models for its awards: Performance Multihulls PT11; Bavaria 32 and 54; Corsair Sprint 750 Mark II; Aquila RP45; VX One-Design; Farr 400 One-Design; Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 379; Dufour 445 GL; Topaz 14CX; Tartan 4000; and J/108.
The nominated boats will now move on to the judging round. The Cruising World judges will focus on production boats laid out and equipped for coastal and offshore cruising and voyaging, while judges on the Sailing World panel will concentrate on boats designed and built with racing in mind.
The 2012 BOTY winners will be announced in the January issue of Cruising World and the January/February issue of Sailing World – both set to hit newsstands in mid-December. The 2012 awards mark the 19th anniversary of the BOTY awards for Cruising World and the 28th for Sailing World.
