Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Futuristic RaceBird for Electric-Boat Racing Circuit

The 24-foot, electric-powered, foiling RaceBird certainly doesn’t qualify as one of the cruising boats that we usually cover, but I think it illustrates the growing interest in electric boats around the world. The RaceBird is now being built at Victory Marine in the UK. It was designed by SeaBird Technologies and has partnerships with Mercury Racing for its propulsion system and Simrad and Navico for its electronics. A prototype of the boat was introduced at Monaco this fall, launched by the founders of the new E1 racing circuit; that’s similar to the Formula 1 circuit for cars but this is…

Cruising Life
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Okeechobee Lock Closed Until March 31

Well, it’s happened. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has closed the St. Lucie Lock, effectively shutting down the Okeechobee Waterway for boats hoping to take the shortcut from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Coast of Florida until March 31. The closure started on Jan. 4. The Army Corps said the lock is closed or maintenance for the first total closure in ten years. The maintenance is needed to repair the lock’s aging and damaged infrastructure, and the lock will have to be dewatered so crews can replace corroded steel structures, install new gate seals, and repair Manatee Protection…

Destinations
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Top 10 Pictures of the British Virgin Islands

The new year certainly has gotten off to a rocky start, with snow and ice from the Northeast to Seattle, hundreds of cars stranded for more than a day on I-95 in Virginia, airlines cancelling flights left and right, and schools opened/closed/hybrid in cities and towns across the U.S. It’s time to think of happier (and warmer) days ahead. In a shameless promotion, the British Virgin Islands Tourist Information Center will help us with that, since they just posted their top ten photos from 2021. The BVI, of course, have some of the best cruising and chartering grounds in the…

Boat Reviews
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Hynova Launching Hydrogen-Powered 42

Hynova, a French startup committed to building the first hydrogen-powered recreational motor boat, has come a very long way in a very short time. Chloé Zaied, an entrepreneurial, climate-conscious French yacht captain, founded the company in January, 2020. She drove the first demonstrator, the Hynova 40, around the harbor at the Cannes show in September. Now, Hynova is building the first of its production boats, the Hynova 42, in La Ciotat Shipyards near the Riviera in the south of France. The Hynova 42 will be 41’ 9” long with a 12’ 4” beam and a 16,000-pound displacement. It will be…

Boat Reviews
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CL Yachts Launches New, Prize-Winning 96

CL Yachts has just launched its innovative, prize-winning CLX96 in Hong Kong, and it’s meant to have the luxurious conveniences of a contemporary flybridge motoryacht with the offshore capabilities of an expedition yacht. The CLX96 is the first in the company‘s line of Sea Activity Vessels, with a larger-than-usual amount of interior volume for comfortable living. It also is the first yacht ever designed by Jozeph Forakis from Milan and New York. The yard said it turned to Forakis to bring a “rebel’s insight” into the 96’s lines, and he said he was inspired by the New York City loft…

Boat Reviews
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Sunseeker Plans New Superhawk 55 Cruiser

Sunseeker just announced that it’s building a new Superhawk 55 luxury performance cruiser, the first Superhawk the British company has launched since 2009. The aggressively styled Superhawk 55 is built for sporty handling and blue-water performance, powered by twin 725-hp Volvo IPS950 pod drives. The new Superhawk has the long, low profile of its predecessors, with a wraparound curved windshield. The new centered helm station is flanked by two navigators’ seats. In a change from previous models, the lower deck houses a salon and galley amidships and two cabins fore and aft. The long hull-side windows providing light to the…

Boat Reviews
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Spirit Building Retro 35 Foiler with Electric Power

Spirit Yachts is working with BAR Technologies in the UK to build a high-tech, electric-powered, foiling speedboat that’s modeled on an American Gold Cup racer from the 1920s. The new boat, called the Spirit 35 Foiler, will have an Alaskan yellow-cedar frame covered with carbon fiber, solid titanium retractable foilers, and African Sipo wood topsides. Sean McMillan, the CEO and chief designer of Spirit Yachts, says he drew the boat along the lines of the classic 30-foot Baby Bootlegger racer that was powered by a converted World War 1 type Hispano Suiza aircraft engine and won the Gold Cup in…

Boat Reviews
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New Sea Ranger MMS 55: A Bulletproof Cruiser

Spoiler alert: Keep reading only if you’re interested in bulletproof expedition-type cruising boats made to tackle rough sea conditions anywhere in the world. The new Sea Ranger MMS 55, made by a commercial yard in northern England, isn’t meant to stay at the dock. I don’t know how many people it can hold for cocktails or a sunset cruise around the harbor. The Sea Ranger has a sturdy steel-plate hull; it weighs almost 60 tons. It comes with the looks and the performance of a North Sea trawler, with a high bow and decks lined with scuppers. Powered by twin…

Cruising Life
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New: Electric Motors for Your Kayak

Like many of us, you like to paddle your kayak at the end of a cruising day, once you’ve dropped the hook and you just want to relax and explore a bit. But after a while your arms get tired; the next cove is just a bit too far away. Now PacMotor, a startup company in Fort Myers, Florida, has something to help you out: A new system that lets you mount two electric-powered motors, one on either side, to the hull of your kayak. The company says the motors can power a ten-foot kayak at 5 mph for about…

Cruising Life
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$51 Million Superyacht Sinks Tanker in Bahamas

A 207-foot superyacht hit the stern of a 160-foot gas tanker in the Bahamas on Christmas Eve and sank it in 2,000 feet of water. The $51million yacht, Utopia IV, built by the Italian yard Rossinavi in 2018 with an aluminum hull, collided with the Tropic Breeze tanker about 15 miles north/northwest of New Providence Island. A nearby yacht rescued the seven crew on board the tanker before it sank. The Utopia IV suffered damage to the starboard side of its bow and was escorted to the Prince George Wharf by the Harbor Patrol. Maritime Management LLC, which owns the…

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