Ten prettiest sailing yachts ever. Eight: the Rustler 33

Your humble correspondent and (at the tiller), Adrian Jones of Rustler Yachts (no relation to Stephen Jones, the boat's designer). Off the Cornish coast in 2014

Number 8 on my list, which isn't in any particular order, is the Rustler 33. Not everyone will agree, but when you’ve seen the sweeping sheerlines and elegant counter sterns of a hundred Fifes, the eye begins to hunger for something a little less generic: enter the more modern retrousse counter stern, a shape developed (by S&S?) just before the war, but a shape that became synonymous with the 1950s era of racing for the America’s Cup in 12-M yachts. Stephen Jones, the man responsible for most of Rustler’s designs, is quite matter-of-fact about the design, likening her to  post-war 12-Ms, in particular Columbia. There is some resemblance, but when that slim, metre-style hull form is married to a low-profile cabin trunk whose line breaks sharply into the cockpit coaming, the result is even better... a perfectly sharp, ‘modern retro’ sloop. The R33 is not just my favourite-looking boat from one manufacturer, but my favourite of all spirit-of-tradition yachts - probably. 

The Rustler 57, Stephen Jones's favourite of his heavier cruising designs for the builder

See the interview with Stephen Jones here

See my test of the Rustler 33 here