Boat Reviews

Inside Newport Yacht Builders’ Mussel Ridge 54

By George Day on August 22, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The salty and distinctive lines of Down East-style cruisers are admired around the world, and often copied by builders from Turkey to Australia. These designs take their lead from Maine lobster boats that have plied the New England coast for generations, and are known for their speed, stability, seaworthiness and large cockpits. Adapted into refined yacht-style cruisers, these lobster-boat hulls offer a very special platform for coastal cruising. In 2018, Newport Yacht Builders in Newport, Rhode Island, were approached by an experienced client to develop and build a cruising boat for his young family based off of the Mussel Ridge…

Sleek New Alia 43M Aimed at Miami Market

By Peter Janssen on August 22, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Alia Yachts just announced that they’re building a new 43M with sleek, low, aggressive lines. They call it a raised pilothouse design with an outdoor-centric appeal for a client in Miami who wants to enjoy an open-air lifestyle in Florida and the Bahamas. At 138-feet-long, the Alia 43M is certainly a bit larger than the boats we usually cover, but the “raised pilothouse” designation and long-range cruising capabilities (2,300 nm at 12 knots) caught our attention. This is definitely not the raised pilothouse design we associate with Pacific Northwest builders, but Alia, with its yard in Antalya, Turkey, has worked…

Helmsman Building New 46 Pilothouse Flagship

By Peter Janssen on August 21, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Helmsman is building its first 46 Pilothouse trawler, a comfortable but rugged cruiser designed for offshore passages. The new 46 Pilothouse was ordered by the owner of a Helmsman 38 who wanted a larger boat that he could use to go beyond coastal cruising. Hull number one of the 46 has a single 500-hp John Deere engine that is expected to deliver a top speed of 16 knots and a range of 1,440 nm at 8 knots. For future models, a 493-hp Cummins is an option. The new trawler as a semi-displacement hull with soft chines. It also has a…

Highfield Launching New Electric RIBs

By Peter Janssen on August 21, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Highfield just announced it will display a new electric-powered RIB at the Annapolis show starting October 5, and a new electric-jet RIB and a new Sport RIB at the Fort Lauderdale show later in the month. The Annapolis powerboat show will be the debut for the Highfield Classic 340E (pictured) powered by a 9.9 Navy 6.0 Evo electric outboard from ePropulsion. The new RIB is 11’ 1” long and it has a top speed of 10 knots under silent electric power. The aluminum hull has a 15 degree deadrise for performance, it weighs 157 pounds, and it can carry up…

Aquila Launching New 47 Power Cat

By Peter Janssen on August 15, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Aquila will launch its new 47 Molokai Power Catamaran this fall, the third boat and largest boat in its offshore Molokai line that starts at 28 feet. Aquila calls the new 47 the Big Kahuna, and says it’s the first in its new generation of power cats. The 47 Molokai is ready for fishing, with large fishboxes waiting for the day’s catch, but it also can easily serve as a versatile cruiser, with a 14-foot, 7-inch beam providing both stability and lots of room inside and out. A sliding door near the helm provides access to an interior cabin with…

Jeanneau To Debut New Family Cruiser in Miami

By Peter Janssen on August 14, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Jeanneau will introduce its all-new 30-foot NC 895 Series Two family weekend cruiser at the Miami International Boat Show in February. The NC 895 has two cabins and one head below. And it cruises at 20 knots, with power coming from twin 250-hp outboards. They make driving fun and maneuvering easy. The new Jeanneau is meant to be a safe, comfortable, versatile boat. There’s little maintenance involved; it’s the kind of boat that you can wash and put away. Jeanneau, part of the giant French Beneteau Group, has designed the NC 895 with a slash of windows running along the…

New Reina 44 “Houseyacht” Heading for Miami

By Peter Janssen on August 9, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The first in a new line of what the company calls luxury houseyachts, the Reina 44 will arrive in Miami from the factory in Turkey next month and make its global debut at the Fort Lauderdale show in October. Reina says it has launched a new category of boat that combines the best of a yacht, a power catamaran, and a houseboat. The new Reinas are built to serve both as a yacht and as a luxury home on the water. The builder, Reina Boats, was founded by Hayri Dayi and Emin Günal, who saw the leap of interest in…

New Sunseeker Makes Global Debut in Newport

By Peter Janssen on August 8, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sunseeker will hold the global debut of its new 88-foot luxury cruiser at the Newport International Boat Show, starting September 14. The upscale British builder will also display its new 65 Sport Yacht and a Manhattan 55 at the show, the start of the fall boat show season on the Atlantic coast. The new Sunseeker is called the Ocean 182, and it has a large, multi-purpose enclosed skylounge up top and five cabins, all with en suite heads, on its lower deck. There’s also a day head on the main deck, in the space separating the salon seating area from…

Dominator Launches New 35 Mini-Superyacht

By Peter Janssen on August 8, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Dominator Yachts just launched its new Midi Ilumin 35 luxury cruiser at a private event in Montenegro. The new 35 shares the lines – and a lot of the over-the-top superyacht touches – as its big sister, Dominator’s 92-foot Ilumen 28M. The head-turning 35 has the same no-nonsense reverse angle windshield and sweeping buttresses, glazed bulwarks and carbon-fiber hardtop as the 92-footer. It also has a hand-laid teak deck, polished stainless steel accents, bookmarked gray marble walls, and hand-stitched Nubuc leather in the cabin. On the lower deck, the head on the starboard side is separated by an electrochromic smart…

Eastern 27: User-Friendly Pocket Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on July 31, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The outboard-powered Eastern 27 Islander a user-friendly, no-frills, Down-East styled pocket cruiser. It’s also the top of Eastern’s fleet of 10 models from 20- to 27-feet. Easterns have been made in Milton, New Hampshire, since 1981.The company now also makes Rosborough Boats and Seaway Boats. The Eastern 27 Islander is designed as a couple’s cruiser, with a V-berth below plus an extra berth (or storage area) tucked under the helm deck. The V-berth can be converted to a settee with a table. There are also shelves, a hanging locker, and an enclosed head with shower. The helm deck can be…

Browsing: Boat Reviews