Sailing Magazine
By Richard Crockett
Since the launch of the first Shearwater 39 in November 1987, Dudley Dix’s creation turned heads and stolen admiring glances. She’s still a beauty that will never age, a remarkably fine sailer too, and a design still in demand the world over.
Those who watched the Dudley Dix-designed Shearwater 39 under development at Nebe Boats in Cape Town never doubted that from a practical and aesthetic viewpoint this boat was undoubtedly a cruising man’s dream come true. The one question which haunted every potential buyer was: “Will her performance be as good as her looks?”
All these doubts and misgivings have now been dispelled – in a flurry of smooth, sure motion, easy speed and acceleration, quick manoeuverability, simple handling and fingertip control. Even designer Dix was pleasantly surprised as feature after feature exceeded his expectations.
READ IT ALL HERE: Pages from 1988 01 – SAILING Magazine – OCR
