Morris Yachts, located in Bass Harbor, Maine, has established a reputation as a builder of sailing yachts that are known for their performance, craftsmanship and ease of handling. Established in 1972, Morris has used the designs of Chuck Paine and Sparkman & Stephens two establish two lines of yachts – the Ocean Series and the M-Series. While the Ocean Series targets the yacht owner who may have long-distance sailing in mind, the M-Series is engineered for owners who want to get sailing as quickly as possible. Push-button sail raising is one of the features that makes the M-Series perfect for local cruising.

All of the boats build by Morris Yachts can be customized and personalized to meet owner requirements. Find out more at the Morris Yachts website. You can also read a detailed M29 and M52 review in Yachting Magazine.

On Sunday, July 10, the yacht Rambler 100 was first to cross the finish line of the Transatlantic Race 2011.  The yacht set a new course record with an elapsed time of 6 days, 22 hours and 8 minutes for the 2975 nautical mile course which began in Newport, Rhode Island and finished at Lizard Point, South Cornwall, UK.

The final yacht to finish was the Sasha, which crossed the finish line on July 17 — 22 days after leaving Newport. The Sasha experienced the roughest weather of any participating yacht.

The Transatlantic Race was a collaboration between the Royal Yacht Squadron (founded in 1815), the New York Yacht Club (1844), the Royal Ocean Racing Club (1925) and the Storm Trysail Club (1938). It has been defined as “a defining race in ocean racing.”

Read more about the results of TR 2011 on the official race website.

The Hobie Cat is the best selling sailing catamaran in the world. The Hobie Cat Company began as a surfboard manufacturer in the late 1950s and added catamaran sailboats to its line of products in the late 1960s. Today, more than 100,000 Hobie Cats can be found sailing around the world. Many are members of Hobie fleets and participate in regattas. To find out more about Hobie Catamarans, visit the Hobie Cat Company website.

Chuck Paine, one of the most prolific yacht designers, has written a book that tells the story of 40 years in the yacht design field.  My Yacht Designs and Lessons They Taught Me is filled with stories about the yacht-building trade as well as stunning photos of Chuck Paine-designed yachts.

Paine’s specialty is high-end custom yachts, both power and sail.  To date, more than 1000 yachts have been build from Chuck Paine designs.   Since retiring as a yacht designer in 2008, Paine has spent time as a lecturer on the subject of design.  His website, chuckpaine.com, receives more than 1 million hits per year, making it one of the most popular design websites in the world.

Read more about Chuck Paine on the Cruising World Blogs website.  You can also visit Paine’s website to see some of his yacht designs and order his book.