The Annapolis Sailboat Show 2026 runs from Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October at City Dock in Annapolis, Maryland. We are not going. We sail a Fusion 40 between New Zealand and Fiji, and we have not seen or sailed any boat on this page or tested any of the kit. This is the list we would walk the docks with if we were there: four boats, three bits of kit and the questions we would ask at each one.
Dates, hours and tickets
These are from the Annapolis Sailboat Show page:
- Thursday 15 October, 10 am to 6.30 pm. This is preview day and the ticket is USD 55.
- Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October, 10 am to 6.30 pm. General admission is USD 32.
- Sunday 18 October, 10 am to 5 pm, also USD 32.
- Children 7 to 15 are USD 10. Six and under are free.
The organiser's own preview from July says more than 150 boats and over 500 exhibitors. It also says the tents have been moved and enlarged this year because City Dock is being rebuilt, so last year's show map will not help you. Ticket prices change, so check the show page before you travel.
Knysna 550, the world premiere
The Knysna 550 is a 55 ft semi-custom cat from South Africa, about 20 tonnes light, and Annapolis is its first public showing. The show listing had it on Dock K2 when we wrote our Knysna 550 preview. That post has the builder's numbers, the Sky Lounge and Solar Explorer versions and what a boat that size asks of two people, so we won't repeat it here. The one thing we would do on board is stand at the raised helm and check how much of each corner of the boat you can see from it.
Vaan R4, an aluminium cat our size with no diesel
The Cruising World show preview has the Vaan R4 as a 42 ft Dutch cat with a hull of 60 percent recycled aluminium and cork and flax inside. It is all-electric, charged by solar and by the props turning under sail, and it has a removable bimini where most cats have a hardtop. This is its first showing in North America.
The builder's Vaan R4 specifications give 12.80 m overall, 7.06 m beam, a draft of 1.30 m or 1.95 m with a retractable centreboard as an option, two electric saildrives, a 55 m² main, a 30 m² self-tacking jib and 60 cm of bridgedeck clearance.
That is close to our own boat. Mā Tori is 12.2 m by 7.0 m, draws 1.1 m and has two 29 hp Yanmar diesels. So this is the boat on the list we could compare most directly, and the comparison comes down to the engines.
A YACHT magazine test from April 2023 gave the weight as 10.9 tonnes, with two 12 or 15 kW motors, battery options of 28.8, 43.2 and 57.6 kWh and a base price of EUR 632,360 at the time. That price is three years old. We have not found a current one, or one in US dollars.
What we would ask for is the range under motor at 5 knots with full batteries and no sun, in miles. None of the sources gives it. Fiji to New Zealand is about 1,100 nautical miles, and a calm in the middle of that is when the number matters. On a diesel cat the answer is the fuel in the tank. On this one it is the battery, the sun and how fast the props put power back in.
The removable bimini is the other question. Our solar sits on a hard bimini. Ask where the panels go on a boat without one, and how many watts fit.
Balance 502, the hybrid with 3,000 W of solar
The same preview has the Balance 502 as a 50 ft cat launched in October 2025 and making its public debut at Annapolis. The hull is carbon-cored and the daggerboards and rudders are carbon. On the hybrid version there are twin diesels and electric motors that generate under sail, a 36 kWh battery bank and up to 3,000 W of solar.
The designer's Balance 502 design page gives 15.25 m overall, 7.9 m beam, a draft of 1.16 m with the boards up and 2.27 m with them down, and an equipped launch weight of 12,800 to 14,000 kg. The engines are two 45 hp Yanmars, and the hybrid adds two 15 kW Integrel electric drives.
3,000 W is more than four times our 700 W. The words are "up to", so we would ask how many watts are fitted on the boat at the dock, and how much of the array the boom shades at anchor.
On price, the Yachting World first look in February 2025 gave USD 1.785 million for the 502 with the hybrid drives. Get the current figure from the builder. It is well above anything in our guide to cruising catamarans under $500k, so for most buyers this is a boat to take ideas from.
Tartan 34, the one monohull on our list
The Tartan 34 is 33 ft 6 in, built in the United States, and at Annapolis for the first time. Cruising World gives it a carbon mast at about half the weight of a comparable aluminium one, a self-tacking jib, a furling masthead reacher and twin wheels with every sail control led aft to winches in reach of the helm. There are three keels, from a 6 ft fin to a centreboard version that draws 4 ft with the board up.
We are a catamaran crew, so why look. Mā Tori has her lines led aft to a protected helm and is set up for shorthanded sailing, and we would want to see how Tartan has done the same thing in a much smaller cockpit.
Three bits of kit for a boat with lithium
All three are on the SpinSheet new products list for the show. The CS-40 watermaker from the same list is in our low power watermakers post.
Digital Yacht SafeLi
SafeLi is a gas and temperature monitor for lithium battery installations. It has one sensor calibrated for hydrogen and one for battery heat. Digital Yacht's SafeLi listing says LiFePO4 batteries can vent gas if they are overcharged or hit by a voltage spike, and that the gas is mostly hydrogen. The unit is powered from the NMEA 2000 network and puts a warning on a compatible helm display.
We have a 540 Ah lithium bank, so this is the stand we would walk to first. Neither source gives a price. We would ask for that, for the gas level it alarms at, and whether it makes a noise without Digital Yacht's own klaxon wired in.
CMPower 450Ah battery
This one is from Custom Marine Products. SpinSheet calls it a solid state LiFePO4 battery with 300 A continuous discharge, up to 600 A for 10 seconds, NMEA 2000 and Bluetooth. The maker's CMPower 450Ah page calls it semi-solid state and gives 300 A continuous and 500 A for 30 seconds. It lists a Group 8D case, internal heating for charging below 0°C and a battery management system that can be replaced in the field. It also calls its own specifications preliminary.
Two sources, two peak figures, so get the datasheet before you size a fuse or an inverter from either. The part we would look hardest at is the replaceable BMS. If the BMS fails and you cannot change it, the battery is no use to you however full it is. We did not find a price. What our own bank runs is in the Fusion 40 review.
Roam Hub Gen 2
The Roam Hub is a boat monitor. It watches batteries, the bilge pump, high water, shore power, position and cabin conditions, and sends an alert when something needs attention. SpinSheet says the second generation adds built-in Wi-Fi, so it can use the boat's own internet including Starlink with cellular as the backup, and a NMEA 2000 input. The price is USD 299.90, or USD 250 at the show.
The Roam Devices site lists plans from USD 0 on your own Wi-Fi and cellular from USD 5 a month billed annually. The product page says NMEA 2000 data is read on the Premium plan and the cable is USD 29.90 extra, so ask what the plan you would need costs for a year. The company describes its support as US-based. We don't know if the cellular side works in Fiji or New Zealand. Over the boat's own Starlink it should not matter, and what the plans allow now is in our post on Starlink changes for cruising sailors.
What we would ask at every boat
- The weight of the boat as she sits at the dock, and what is included in it.
- For the electric and hybrid boats, the range under motor in miles with no sun.
- The solar watts fitted on the show boat. "Up to" is not a figure.
- Who services the boat and its drives in the Pacific. We don't know of a dealer for any of these four between Fiji and New Zealand.
- The price as shown with the options on it, and the delivery date in writing.
What we don't know
- How any of these boats sail or how any of the kit performs. We have not seen or tested one.
- Current prices for the Vaan R4, the Tartan 34, SafeLi and the CMPower battery.
- Anything announced at the show itself. This was written on 13 October 2026, before it opened.
Dates, hours, prices and specifications change. Check the organiser's current page before you book and the maker's current page before you order.
Questions people ask about the Annapolis Sailboat Show
When is the Annapolis Sailboat Show 2026?
15 to 18 October 2026 at City Dock, Annapolis, Maryland. It opens at 10 am each day and closes at 6.30 pm Thursday to Saturday and 5 pm on Sunday.
How much are tickets to the Annapolis Sailboat Show?
The show page lists general admission at USD 32, preview day on Thursday 15 October at USD 55, and children 7 to 15 at USD 10. Six and under are free. Check the show page for the current price.
What new boats are at the Annapolis Sailboat Show in 2026?
The organiser lists the Knysna 550 as a world premiere and the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 455 and Vaan R4 as North American debuts. Cruising World adds the public debut of the Balance 502 and the first Annapolis showing of the Tartan 34.
Is the crew of Mā Tori at the show?
No. We sail a Fusion 40 between New Zealand and Fiji and have not seen any of these boats or tested any of this kit.
Keep reading: why the fit-out matters more than the badge is in the owner-built against production guide, what to look at on a boat's systems before you pay is in the Catamaran Buyer's Pack, and our bluewater catamaran for sale is the boat this was written from.