Author Peter Janssen

Boat Reviews
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New Virtue V10, Gas or Electric Outboards

The latest entry in the modern Scandinavian minimalist design genre (think Axopar and Saxdor, among others), the new Virtue V10 is made in Poland but the hull is designed in Sweden. It also is made to be powered by gas outboards, reaching speeds of 50 knots, or Evoy electric outboards, that are slower but offer a green, emissions-free propulsion system. Above all else, the Virtue V10 is meant to be a functional, user-friendly boat. It’s small enough so it can find room at most marinas or anchorages, and it has a beam of 9’ 6” so it can fit on…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Ex-Tesla Engineer Making 800-hp Electric Boat

John Yo thinks he has a better idea. Yo, 51, the former head of global manufacturing for Tesla who escaped from Vietnam when he was 16, is working on a 30-foot electric boat with two 400-hp motors, far more horsepower than other electric boats of this size. His new boat, called the R30, will have a top speed of about 40 knots and a range of a few hours at its cruising speed of 20 knots. A prototype will be ready in October; the first production boats are scheduled to be delivered in the spring of 2024. Chuan (John) Yo…

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Northcoast Unveils New 415HT Flagship

Northcoast Boats in Bristol, Rhode Island, just announced that it’s building a new flagship Northcoast 415HT that the company says is “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” The new Northcoast carries traditional, no-frills New England lines and a dedication to seaworthiness and performance. “Our goal is to satisfy the most experienced mariners who choose to own a real boat with a timeless practical design, clean and simple,” said Jose Daponte, owner of Northcoast Boats and C&C Fiberglass Components, Inc. Powered by four 300-hp Yamaha outboards, the 415HD has a projected top speed of more than 50 mph. The hull has a…

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Formula’s Fast New 500 Flagship

Formula’s new 500 SSC is a 60-knot flagship that will serve well as a platform for an afternoon picnic on an island beach or a week-long cruise in the Bahamas (or anywhere else). Formula has always managed to pack in a lot of amenities and comfort in its smaller boats, as well as a turn of speed based on its double-step FAS3Tech hull. The new 50-footer simply carries these virtues to a new level, where both the living and the ride are easy. Power for the 500 comes from four 600-hp V12 Mercury Verado state-of-the-art outboards. These not only produce…

Cruising Life
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Record Blob Closing in on Florida

The giant blob of Sargassum that stretches 5,500 miles across the Atlantic from Africa grew larger than ever last month, scientists report. It’s already hitting beaches in Florida and Mexico, and much more is on the way. Researchers from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory at the University of South Florida have been studying satellite images of the blog, taken by NASA and other agencies, and measuring its size and direction. They report that it weighed in at 13.5 million tons in March, an all-time-record for that month. “These blooms are getting bigger and bigger and this year looks like it’s going…

Boat Reviews
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BMW Planning Electric-Powered Boat

BMW and Tyde, a high-tech German startup, just announced that they’ll unveil a new luxury electric-powered boat at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17. The two companies said they have developed the new boat under “strict secrecy” and would not divulge any details, except to say that its name is Icon and that it would have zero emissions. Icon, it turns out, was developed by BMW’s Designworks studio, and it will have a futuristic look. It also will take some cues from BMWs i car line, using BMW’s green technologies. The new boat will be designed to the highest…

Cruising Life
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90-Foot Yacht Is Sold, Sinks

The Astor, one of two Vitech 90s ever built, sank off the East Sussex coast of the UK recently, just a few months after it had been sold. The yacht, described as the flagship of the Vitech fleet when it was launched in Taiwan in 1993, had spent the past decade at the Brighton Marina. It was sold in January, and the new owner reportedly was moving it earlier this month for refurbishing. The asking price had been the equivalent of about $186,000. The British Coastguard rescued the crew of two people by helicopter when the Astor started to sink.…

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Mochi 44: New England Lines, Italian Style

Mochi-Craft 44, the Italian version of a New England lobster boat, was first launched almost two decades ago. But the new version, with its Coral Red hull and twin 600-hp Cummins diesels, is still turning heads on both sides of the Atlantic. Mochi dates its origins to the early 1960s and the port of Pesaro on the Adriatic. For a while it made flybridge yachts, but in 2001 the Ferretti Group bought it, moved it to nearby Forli, and launched a new line called the Dolphin. Today, the Mochi-Craft line runs from the 44 up to a 74. The 44…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Wajer Building Smart 44 Cruiser

Wajer Yachts in The Netherlands just announced that it’s making a new, high-tech 44 couples’ cruiser. The first is due to be launched this summer. Wajer says it’s already sold 20 of them. The lines for the new Wajer were drawn by Van Oossanen Naval Architects, and the boat has a deep-V hull with a 21-degree deadrise at the transom for maximum performance. With twin 480-hp Volvo IPS650 pod drives, top speed is 40 knots, and the range is about 300 nm at a cruising speed of 26 knots. The boat uses Wajer’s Smart Boating concept, where owners use the…

Cruising Life
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How Safe Are Lithium Batteries?

How safe are lithium batteries on boats? That is a question that is becoming increasingly important as more and more builders around the world are using lithium-ion batteries to power solar/electric vessels, and as more and more boat owners and guests are bringing small lithium-powered devices on board. A symposium of marine industry experts recently met in the UK to try to find some answers, and to judge the fire risk that lithium-ion batteries pose on boats big and small. Their conclusions, as reported in Motor Boat & Yachting, the British publication: The technology is safe, but the risks increase…

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