Boat Reviews

Sporty Azimut S7 Makes U.S. Debut

By Peter Janssen on October 23, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Azimut is introducing its sleek, sporty and sophisticated 71-foot S7 to the U.S. market this week at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The upscale Italian yard says the S7, powered by three 800-hp Volvo IPS1050 pod drives, is an eco-sport yacht, since it uses 30 percent less fuel, and produces 30 percent fewer emissions, than a shaft-driven boat of the same size. It has a top speed of 35 knots and a cruising speed of 27 knots. Azimut has used a lot of carbon fiber in the superstructure and the flybridge of the S7 to reduce weight and lower…

New Electric Hyperfoil Flies at 35 Knots

By Peter Janssen on October 23, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

A San Francisco startup has launched a new Valo Hyperfoil, built with a combination of carbon fiber, titanium and stainless steel, that flies over the water at 35 knots, leaving no noise, emissions or wake behind. Boundary Layer Technologies, the company, says the Valo “is a high-performance, semi-autonomous, electric hydrofoiling vehicle with wings to fly above the water. Think of it as jet ski, but 1,000 times more awesome.” The Valo Hyperfoil is about 11’ 6” long and weighs 595 pounds. It flies, or foils, at about 13 knots. Then it can fly for about two hours on a single…

Swan To Display New Shadow at FLIBS

By Peter Janssen on October 17, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Nautor Swan will show its elegant new 43-foot Swan Shadow powerboat at the Fort Lauderdale show next week. Powered by three 350-hp Mercury outboards, the latest Swan tops out at 55 knots. But on the Swan Shadow, what’s the hurry? Relax, soak up the sun, or whatever else the weatherman has in mind, and bask in the glow of the admiring glances from everyone else in the harbor. One of the most prestigious names in yachting, Swan has made more than 2,350 yachts, from 36 to 131 feet, in Finland over the past 50 years. Almost all of them, of…

Maritimo M60 Makes Debut at FLIBS

By Peter Janssen on October 17, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new M60 Flybridge Motor Yacht from the Australian builder Maritimo will make its U.S. debut at the Fort Lauderdale show, starting Nov. 25. With its creative use of space aft – including an upper cockpit, adventure deck and enormous swim platform – and a large fully enclosed skylounge up top, the new M60 is bound to generate a lot of attention. And it comes with Maritimo’s well-earned reputation for seakeeping abilities, cruising comfort, and craftsmanship. “This new M60 Flybridge Motor Yacht pays homage to Maritimo’s heritage, tracing its lineage back to the very first motor yacht we crafted two…

First Look: Outer Reef Launches 830 MY

By Peter Janssen on October 17, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Outer Reef just launched the first of its new 830 Classic Motoryacht series and is now shipping it from the factory in Taiwan to a young American couple who previously owned an Outer Reef 700 Classic. Wanting more room for entertaining, the new owners moved up in size, but were loyal to Outer Reef for its combination of craftsmanship, luxury and long-range cruising performance. Outer Reef has been building on its cruising pedigree lately. Two Outer Reef yachts have gone around Cape Horn, one with the company president, Jeff Druek, on board. The new 830 has a clean and contemporary…

Mathews Launches 40 Flybridge Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on October 16, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

I had an unexpected treat at the Annapolis show last week. Walking down the outer dock, a new 40-foot flybridge cruiser caught my eye. It had just enough of the lines of a classic trawler to remind me of my old much-beloved Grand Banks 36, but it was slimmer, newer, lighter. I was looking at hull number one of a Mathews Brothers 40 flybridge, the latest of the company’s “true Chesapeake boats,” a tough customer with an all-fiberglass hull made in the family’s yard in Denton, up the Choptank River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Mathews also makes a sedan version…

Boston Boatworks 44 Offshore Express

Boston Boatworks Unveils New 44 Express

By Peter Janssen on October 16, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Boston Boatworks has unveiled plans for its second Offshore Express model, a 44-footer, powered by twin Volvo D6s with Aquamatic Drives. It’s already started work on the first two hulls at its factory in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The new 44 comes a few months after Boston Boatworks introduced its first Offshore Express, a 52, made for an owner-operator. The Offshore Express series was designed by Doug Zurn, the Marblehead, Massachusetts, naval architect who’s worked with Boston Boatworks on several other boats in recent years, while Winch Design, the London firm that usually works on superyachts, has done the interiors. Boston Boatworks…

Absolute Building New Navetta 70

By Peter Janssen on October 12, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Absolute just announced that they’re making a new Navetta 70 that they’ll launch at the Cannes Yachting Festival next September. The new 70 represents a new direction for the Italian yard. The Navetta 70 will keep much of Absolute’s original architecture, including the open lateral gunwales, covered walkways, extensive glazing on the main and lower decks, fold-out terraces in the cockpit, high ceilings, and minimal use of steps to make moving around the yacht safe and easy. But now it will introduce a contemporary interior with bleached wood and bronze finishes, a larger galley, and an enlarged flybridge that’s a…

New Electric Frauscher x Porsche Just Launched

By Peter Janssen on October 11, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air was just launched at Lago di Garda in northern Italy for the first time. The innovative new 28-foot electric runabout uses powertrain technology from Porsche’s all-electric Macan, which is still under development. The Frauscher x Porsche comes with 400 kW of electric power and has a top speed of 46 knots. At its optimum cruising speed of 22 knots, the lithium-ion battery with a 100 kWh capacity lasts about an hour; the battery also comes from the Macan. The boat uses 80-volt technology for fast charging. The battery can be charged with…

Sirena 78 To Make Debut at FLIBS

By Peter Janssen on October 10, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Sirena 78, the upscale Turkish builder’s first enclosed-flybridge cruiser, will make its U.S. debut at the big Fort Lauderdale show starting Oct. 25. The new, four-cabin, 25-knot Sirena comes with an impressive pedigree. Germán Frers, the famed Argentine, designed the exterior, while Cor D. Rover, with his award-winning studio in The Netherlands, did the interior. Frers at first resisted the idea of the flybridge; it added weight up top. To compensate, he added five tons of ballast in the keel along the centerline. With twin 1,550-hp MANs and V-drives, the elegant new 78 tops out at more than 25…

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