Presto 30 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

Martin’s hull is 30 feet on deck with a waterline just under 29 feet, an 8-foot-6 beam that keeps it legal to trailer in all 50 states without permits, and a displacement around 3,915 pounds. The builder describes the vinyl-ester, resin-infused Corecell hull as both light and tough, with a blister-proof bottom that owners will appreciate, and the structure is claimed to be designed and built to American Bureau of Shipping standards and to meet international ORC standards. Internal lead ballast of 1,000 pounds is encapsulated in the bottom, and a watertight forward bulkhead supports the foremast while adding crash protection. The centerboard and rudder are fiberglass, essential to the boat’s beachable safety case, and the sealed carbon-fiber masts contribute buoyancy that helps the boat resist a full capsize.

Rig and Handling

The split rig—called a schooner by Martin and a cat-ketch by Ryder—carries 320 square feet in two full-batten wishbone sails as standard, with a performance package boosting area to 400 square feet through lighter Hall Spars prepreg carbon masts and roached sails. The sealed, free-standing carbon-fiber masts weigh under 40 pounds and can be stepped or struck by two people, and all sail controls run aft to the cockpit. The self-tacking split rig gives low heeling effect and easy maneuvering, with no preventers, vangs, runners, or jibsheets to manage when tacking or jibing; testers found tacking angles near 45 degrees and noted the boat will not point like a sloop but foots well when cracked off 5 to 10 degrees. Reaching is the hull’s primary mission, and with a staysail set between the masts testers logged 6.7 to 7.2 knots. The boat is initially tender as a narrow shoal-draft sailboat, but the low-aspect rig and encapsulated lead help offset that. A known handling caveat from Practical Sailor’s survey is that the rudder is hard to steer when kicked up for shallow water, owing to the unbalanced blade; a later version addresses this with a foil rudder in a cassette.

Accommodations

The cockpit is a remarkable 10 feet 6 inches long, with seats over 7 feet 6 inches for sleeping under the stars, three gasketed lockers under the settees, and a sole locker for dive gear or a roll-up dinghy. Below, the standard layout has a 6-foot-6 V-berth and two 6-foot-4 settees with berths for four, a Port-a-Potti under the V-berth, and an optional galley that slides away under the cockpit. The initial hulls offered a pop-top raising headroom past 6 feet at anchor, but Ryder dropped that in favor of an optional pilothouse model and an optional Sky-Top giving 6-foot-6 headroom with 360-degree visibility. The centerboard trunk splits the narrow saloon and folds out as a dining table.

Known Issues

In its deck-layout assessment, Practical Sailor’s survey crew cited the narrow side-decks as the chief complaint, a common trait of narrow-beam boats, and noted the stern cleats are mounted too low so dock lines chafe the toerail. The rudder balance issue when raised has already been covered.

Refits and Ownership

The new-version foil rudder in a cassette is the main factory evolution, correcting the raised-rudder steering complaint. Propulsion is flexible: owners have fitted a 12 hp inboard diesel with folding prop, a stern-bracket outboard, or a well-mounted 9.9 hp hi-thrust outboard, plus a Torqued Cruise R electric equivalent. The boat’s light tow weight—about 6,600 pounds loaded—means a full-size SUV can haul it, and its beachable nature lets an owner settle it on the flat bottom at low tide or sail off a grounding by raising the board a touch.

The Verdict

The Presto 30 is a distinctive, trailerable sharpie that trades pointing ability for shoal-water freedom, easy rig handling, and a surprising turn of speed on a reach. Its construction credentials and self-righting math are serious, but the narrow beam and rudder behavior when raised are real compromises.

Pros