Yacht designer Chris Hood and Maine boat builder Lyman Morse have had a long and creative partnership. The Hood 35LM and Hood 57LM are both modern classics that combine Downeast style with comfortable accommodations and stellar performance. In 2025, Lyman Morse with launch the all-new Hood 42 LM Flybridge again designed by Hood. Like her sisters, the 42 will have a sweeping sheer line and a very traditional looking hull and cabin. But, like her sisters, she will also have a thoroughly modern underbody that will provide excellent stability and tracking, will reduce pounding in head seas and will provide…

Good things do indeed come in small packages and the Leopard 40 Power Cat fits that old adage perfectly. Winner of the European Boat of the Year 2024, the 40 fulfills its mission extremely well by delivering a cat that has a ton of living space, a good turn of speed and admirable fuel efficiency. Designed by Simonis Voogd and built by Robertson & Caine in Cape Town, South Africa, the 40 is the little sister to the Leopard 46 and 53, both of which have proven to be handsome, durable and comfortable cruisers that work well both as private…

Every. Since the Aquila brand emerged on the market, it has been known for it’s constant innovation. The designers created angular lines and large windows and vast living spaces in catamarans that decidedly unique. The concept caught on. Today, Aquila is one of the world’s largest builders of cruising power cats. Now they have broken the mold again by introducing the new 46 Coupe and it’s little sister the 42 Coupe. The bigger of the two shows just how much they can do inside a 46-foot high performance cruising cat. First, the 46 is outboard driven and makes good use…

At the end of January, Aspen Power Catamarans announced that the builder of unique, proa-style power cats was hard at work on hull number one of the brand new Aspen C128. The new boat will have twin Suzuki 300-horsepower engines each with twin counter-rotating stainless steel props. The C128 is now Aspen’s flagship and demonstrates resoundingly just how much room, quality and performance can be engineered into an innovative 44-foot power cat. The new design is based on Founder and CEO Larry Graff’s patented asymmetrical proa catamaran hulls.  By making one hull narrower than the other, the design reduces drag…

Silent Yachts, which pioneered the solar-powered, all-electric propulsion system for their cruising cats announced last week that the company is on track to deliver nine new Silent 62s this year. This comes after a year in which they delivered six 62s.  The company is now on such solid footings that they can expand their line with a new 80-foot model. Silent Yachts employs the highest tech solar generation and battery management systems. And the company works closely with battery manufacturers to arrive at storage capabilities that improve every year. Silent is still the only builder of all-electric yachts to have…

Sirena Yachts, based in Turkey, announced at BOOT Dusseldorf that the builder was launching the design of a new Sirena 60. The new boat will replace the Sirena 58 that has proven so successful in the mid-range cruising market. Sirena celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2024 so they are kicking off their second decade with a stylish new 60 footer. The new yacht, designed by German Frers, carries all of the design DNA that has made the company such a world-wide success, including the plumb bow, extended swim platform and huge dark glazing that contrasts dramatically with the gleaming white…

At the Ft. Lauderdale boat show I had the chance to climb aboard the Sialia 59 Weekender which is now the company’s flagship. The boat is nothing short of jaw dropping for several reasons. First it is drop-dead beautiful in a modern, muscular way much like a Porsche 911. It doesn’t have any odd or gratuitous angles or strangely shaped hull glazings. Its look is sleek, purposeful and the curved front windshield and cockpit cover gives the impression that it is already speeding past you. Second, the boat is all electric and the system is the product of a highly…

The Nordic Tug 44 is one of those classic cruising boats that will never go out of style. Introduced in 2017 and still in production, the 44 is an upgrade and replacement for the NT 42, which was and is a terrific coastal cruiser. But there were a couple of issues in the 42 that owners and the builders wanted to address. The 44 is the result of their input and labors. A two-cabin, two-head design, the 44 has a larger master cabin and the salon has been extended by a couple of feet. This additional space makes a lot…

In February at the Miami International Boat Show, Aquiia Catamarans will introduce the new Couple 42 and Coupe 46. But, here’s a sneak peek at what Aquila has in store for us. Both cats are sleek outboard or inboard-powered speedsters with a low air draft and spacious forward cockpits. With two staterooms and en suite heads, both are proper cruising boats that will blow your hair back as you jet from one cruising landfall to the next. The new designs make good use of Aquila’s trademark double-stepped hull configuration and the Hydro Glide Foil System. The hulls are configured to…

It should be no surprise that Poland has become a leading yacht builder. It was at the Gdansk Shipyard in 1980 that shipbuilder Lech Walesa founded the Solidarity Union, which led the way a decade later to independence from the dying Soviet Union. Today, more than a dozen Polish yacht yards build hundreds of new boats ever year, many for brands based in Scandinavia and Europe. But one of its home-grown brands, Cobra Yachts, has an expanding reputation for delivering interesting family cruising boats from 37 to 48 feet, that combine modern Italian-yacht design with the great value to be…