Every year, it seems, Cruising World?s annual Boat of the Year contest develops its own unique personality, and for the 2016 competition, the trend continued with a distinct accent all its own.

Call it what you will ? a mariner?s melting pot, the United Nations of new yachts ? but the fleet of nominees that gathered last October at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, had a decidedly international flavor. Actually, it was much more than that, as no fewer than 19 of the 20 BOTY entrants were fashioned in faraway lands. So we?ll begin with a shout-out to the Floridians from Marlow-Hunter, who arrived on Chesapeake Bay with a truly nifty 31-footer.

Without the Stars and Stripes fluttering off the transom of their innovative cruiser, Uncle Sam would have been left out of the competition entirely.

Part of it, surely, was timing. Hinckley Yachts debuted its new Bill Tripp-designed Bermuda 50 last summer ? the company?s first new sailing model in many years ? but last-?minute scheduling issues prevented the boat from participating in BOTY. And several other American builders have major projects in the works in various stages of completion, including Island Packet?s eagerly awaited 520 and a new 42-footer from Catalina, among others. If you?re in the market for a new model with a ?Made in the U.S.A.? stamp, there are choices looming on the horizon.

However, the BOTY finalists for model year 2016 were nothing less than a foreign legion, with a fleet represented by boats built in 10 ?different countries: China, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. On multiple levels, it was an unprecedented showing.

As always, our independent panel of judges reviewed the boats in two stages over a 10-day period, conducting both dockside inspections and sea trials.