Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Mercury Launches First V10 Outboards

Mercury Marine just introduced two new 350-hp and 400-hp 5.7L Verados, the industry’s first V10 outboards. They’re powerful, smooth and quiet, and they’re designed for a wide range of applications. The new  V10s weigh just 695 pounds, and have 26-inch mount spacing, the same as Mercury’s V8 outboards  They are compatible with most boat designs, either  for OEM applications or for repowering. Mercury now makes outboards in V6, V8, V10 and V12 configurations. The heart of the new V10 is its naturally aspirated powerhead with a quad-cam design. It has a standard 150-amp alternator, capable of charging the boat’s batteries.…

Cruising Life
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RescueME Wins DAME Design Award

The annual DAME Awards recognizing superior design were just announced at the opening of the big METSTRADE marine equipment exhibition in Amsterdam. The awards were started in 1991 to promote design in all fields and to recognize the best-designed products at the show. This year the DAME Design Award winner was the Ocean Signal RescueME PLB3 AIS Personal Locator Beacon (pictured at top). The jury said it is a “combination of an AIS man overboard device and GPS with a Cospas-Sarsat personal locator beacon.” It called the RescueMe “a standout product” because of “its harnessing of multiple technologies to save…

Engine Room
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ZF Unveils New Pod Drive System

ZF Marine just unveiled its new pod propulsion system for the first time in North America at the recent Fort Lauderdale show. It’s already in use on an Azimut superyacht in Europe, but now it will be available here also. The new ZF 4600 POD system is designed for yachts form 80 to 130 feet with planing or semi-displacement hulls. It’s compatible with all major brand engines up to 1,700 hp. It can be configured for twin installation in yachts from 80 to 99 feet and triple installation for larger vessels. Each pod weighs 3,395 pounds. The ZF pods have…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Magnolia Building New Retro-Trawler

Magnolia Yachts, a new Turkish yard, just announced that they’re building their first boat, a 78-foot mahogany trawler with some retro looks and what the company calls “megayacht ergonomics” throughout. The new yacht, called Magnolia One, has three cabins below for six guests plus two more for three crew. It’s powered by twin 600-hp Cummins diesels, producing a top speed of 14 knots, a cruising speed of 12 knots, and a range of 2,200 nm at 9 knots. Magnolia was started in 2019 by the fourth generation owners of the Yardimci Shipping Group, a commercial ship builder. With a yard…

Destinations
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Beaufort, SC: Charm on the Waterway

To my mind, the Low Country, the winding, tidal flats and marshlands that run through the southern part of South Carolina, is the best part of the Intracoastal Waterway. You can’t be in a hurry; there are so many S-curves that you can think you’re cruising back on yourself. But that’s the point. Everything is virtually at sea level, with an absolutely golden hue at the beginning and end of the day, so it’s easy to relax and feel peaceful about the world. Dating to 1711, Beaufort is one of the most inviting spots there. You can choose from several…

Electronics
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New Icom Sat Phone for Worldwide Connections

The new Icom IC-SAT100 provides worldwide real-time communication at the push of a button. Icom says it’s the world’s first satellite PTT (Press To Talk) mobile radio that uses the Iridium satellite communication network. The new radio provides communication between a group of people at any time, anywhere in the world, including both poles. It uses the 66 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites of the Iridium network. The regular IC-SAT100 can be a fixed mount on a vessel, a vehicle, or in a building. The IC-SAT100M is a mobile device (pictured at top) that can work within 400 feet of…

Boat Reviews
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Outer Reef Updates Its Popular 650 Classic

Outer Reef is re-engineering its 650 Classic Motoryacht, a size range that’s popular with cruising owner-operators. The updates include many trends that American owners have desired on their yachts in recent years. Outer Reef has been making the 650 for more than a decade, and Jeff Druek, the builder’s president and CEO, said they considered feedback from existing and potential owners before re-engineering the 650. Many of the changes have already been incorporated in the Outer Reef 700 Classic, one of the company’s most popular models. But some owners prefer a slightly smaller yacht than the 700 for a variety…

Boat Reviews
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Bluegame Unveils New Power Cat Lineup

Bluegame just announced that it’s building a new line of luxury multihull yachts, called BGM, that will start with a highly creative 75 and include Volvo’s hybrid diesel-electric powertrain. Bluegame, part of Italy’s Sanlorenzo Group, unveiled plans for the new BGM75 at the Cannes Yachting Festival; the boat is scheduled to be ready for the same event next September. It was designed by Philippe Briand, the London-based, performance-oriented naval architect. The idea was to create the space and efficiency of a multihull with the style of a monohull. The BGM75 has a relatively narrow beam for a 75-foot power cat,…

Boat Reviews
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Longreach 44 Power Cat “Ticks All the Boxes”

Looking for a long-range, comfortable power catamaran, an experienced cruising couple from Las Vegas have just bought a Longreach 44 in Australia. They plan to take delivery next spring and keep the boat in Seattle in the summer and San Diego in the winter. The couple, Chad and Maren Schwartz, filmed a video with Longreach at the Sydney boat show. (A new company, Longreach is based just outside Sydney.) They said they originally wanted to cruise around the world, but had trouble finding the right boat. They decided they wanted a catamaran platform for its comfortable ride. About four years…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Prize-Winning Bronson 50 Comes to U.S.

The prize-winning and tough Bronson 50 from the Dutch builder Steeler Yachts just made its U.S. debut at the Fort Lauderdale show. The high-performance cruiser was already named the Dutch Powerboat of the Year when it was launched two years ago, and it was a finalist for the European Powerboat of the Year last year. The Bronson comes with a back story. The CEO of Steeler is a big fan of Charles Bronson, the American tough-guy actor. In 2008, he wanted to spin off a new company, making tough, aluminum-hulled luxury cruisers, and Bronson Marine was the result. The Bronson…

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