Mini-Cruiser Madness: Round 1 Complete

Here's a recap...

Okay sailboat fans, the first round is complete! The left-hand bracket matchups were tough, but the right-hand matchups saw plenty of good boats defeated as well.

(Want to know what Mini-Cruiser Madness is all about? Click here. Want to see an example matchup? Click here.)

The legendary Drascombe Lugger very nearly upset the extremely popular Montgomery 15, but the Monty came back to eek out the victory (51%).

Virtually every comment was enthusiastically in the Bolger-designed Dovekie camp, but the silent majority (63%) favored the roomy little Sparrow 16.

The Cape Dory Typhoon looks like a “boat to beat” in this contest as voters didn’t hesitate (76%) to choose it over the Nordica/Danica 16, with several commenters calling the Typhoon “the best looking small boat ever.”

In the most lopsided matchup in our short history, the Com-Pac Sun Cat eliminated the ubiquitous Siren 17 without even needing to shake a reef. The Com-Pac took 98% of the vote! Prepare yourselves for a real war as the Sun Cat advances to face the Typhoon.

Versatile sail & oar boats have done well in this competition so far, with the Norseboat (54%) out-pointing the Canadian Sandpiper 565.

After 107 votes it was a dead heat between the Wayfarer dinghy and the Marshall Catboat, but eventually the simple open boat bested the classic Catboat cruiser, with the Wayfarer taking 55% of the votes.

Few boats have been more popular with SCA readers than the West Wight Potters, but the P-19 was ultimately no match for the most popular trailerable cruiser ever—the Catalina 22 (60%).

We expected the rabid Rhodes 22 fans would step up against the relatively new Sage 17 design, but it didn’t go like that. The Sage (59%) was roundly lauded by readers. One commenter wrote: “The Sage 17 is easily the best sailboat in this contest, and arguably the best sailboat ever made.”

OK, on to round 2. Stay tuned! —Eds