Reader Boat: Cygnet 20

This new sailboat design from Australia is getting a lot of attention

We had a lot of questions about the new Cygnet after Al shared some photos of his recently imported yacht, so we asked him if he could tell us a little more about the boat so far and share photos. —Eds

by Al Freihofer

In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare wrote “All things that are / Are with more spirit chased than enjoyed.”

When I read this play with my students, they found great truth in the idea of “the waiting” being often more gratifying than ‘the doing.” There was the frenetic run-up before Christmas, for example, or the breathless anticipation of a first date, or flashing those coveted front-row tickets before a big concert. But Christmas is over in a flash, first dates can be problematic, and that big concert often ends up being a jostling mosh pit. My students agreed that anticipation often can be better than the real thing.

But none of my students have (yet) anticipated and then christened their own Cygnet 20 from Bluewater Cruising Yachts in Australia. And since I’m retired now, I don’t have to argue this exception to Shakespeare. I’ve spent almost a year dreaming of this lovely little boat and now that it’s here, it’s far better than I had anticipated.