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Newport, Rhode Island – Sailing World magazine unveiled its annual salute to boat design innovation with the 2005 Boat of the Year Awards, featured in the Sailing World December 2004/January 2005 issue. Subscribers will be receiving the must-read issue this week. It's available on newsstands December 7.

Of the 16 boats nominated, four received awards; top honors as overall Boat of the Year went to the J/100, a fast, simple 33-foot day-racer and daysailer with modest accommodations belowdecks. This marks the second year in a row that the designers at J Boats (Newport, R.I.) and the builders at TPI (Warren, R.I.) have taken the award. In 2004 the J/133 racer/cruiser earned Sailing World's overall Boat of the Year honors.

The boats were inspected and sailed by independent judges Meade Gougeon, of Gougeon Brothers, Alan Andrews, of Alan Andrews Yacht Design, and Chuck Allen, head of North Sails One Design for New England. Judges toured the boats at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Md., and sailed them over four days on Chesapeake Bay. In addition to an overall award, the judges named Boat of the Year winners in three categories: Best Raceboat was the British-built Seaquest 36, Best Cruiser/Racer went to the French-built Beneteau First 44.7, and Best Performance Boat was the Nacra A2 singlehanded catamaran.

The J/100 came out on top of Sailing World's 21st annual competition because, as Allen said, "It accelerated well and got in, and stayed in, a groove." The magazine's Boat of theYear Director, Tony Bessinger, said, "It came down to how the boat sailed, how it was put together, and the fact that any one of the judges would have been delighted to take on any weekday evening PHRF fleet in the country with the J/100."

Models introduced to the North American market between the 2003 and 2004 U.S. Sailboat Shows were eligible for Sailing World's contest, which encourages entries of boats designed and built with racing in mind. Sister publication Cruising World ran a parallel Boat of the Year contest to be featured in the magazine's January issue and announced in early December. Additional info on the winners is at www.sailingworld.com.

Sailing World is published 10 times a year by World Publications. Articles on the latest boat models and equipment, as well as racing tips, tactics and techniques, make it a must-read for sailors who race to win.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Dean Turcol
Communications Director
407-571-4732
Dean.Turcol@worldpub.net