Sailboats
Most sailboats can be categorized as belonging to the racing, fast cruising, motorsailer, luxury motorsailer.  Draft is a concern, as a deep keel helps with performance and pointing into the wind – however hinders shoal operation, thus many cruising sailboats have a ¾ keel or daggerboard (raises and lowers within the existing keel).  Popular sail designs include the sloop (one mast with a mainsail and genoa or jib), cutter (same as a sloop but with a staysail – another small sail behind the genoa), ketch (two masts with the smaller mizzen being aft – a yawl is another variation of this with even a smaller mizzen mast even further aft) and schooner (the mizzen or shorter mast is forward of the main mast).  Most cruising sailors prefer roller-furling (including the main and mizzen sails) and electric winches.Hull designs are sleek and try to offer as least resistance as possible to the ocean and wind.Typical construction is FRP sandwich, although some are still built in wood, aluminum, steel and even concrete. Layouts below typically offer a main cabin aft with a centralized salon and galley and then 2-3 cabins forward. Pilothouse designs are especially nice to cruise out of weather. One or two diesel engines are the norm with folding propellers to reduce drag. 

Sailboats manufacturers include;
Pereni Navi, Farr, Irwin, Gulfstar, CT, Tayana, Morgan, C&C, Little Harbor, Mason, Abeking Rasmussen,
Huisman.

North American builders have exploited the large sailing market for many years with builders such as Hunter, C&C, Catalina and no longer in business (but hugely popular) – Irwin, Gulstar.

Asian (Taiwan) builders include Mason, Tayana, Formosa, CT, Little Harbor (Lien Hwa)

Europeans have always dominated the high-end aspect of the market with Swan, Abeking & Rasmussen, Royal Huisman and Pereni Navi.