Boat Reviews

MJM Launches New 4 with Volvo Diesels

By Peter Janssen on January 3, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

MJM has launched its first MJM 4 open-bow performance yacht with twin Volvo diesel engines. In tests off its factory in Washington, North Carolina, the 46’ 8” boat topped out at just over 45 mph. And it was quiet. At an easy cruising speed of 29 knots, it registered just 71.3 dB(A) at the helm. I drove the original MJM 4 off Newport, Rhode Island, with Peter Johnstone, the president of the company, when it was launched in September, 2022. Then it was powered by two 600-hp Mercury V12 outboards. It was fun and fast, with a top speed of…

Sunreef Unveils New, Slender 66 Ultima

By Peter Janssen on January 2, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sunreef, the major Polish builder, just unveiled plans for a new 66 Ultima catamaran that the company says combines the best of both multihull and monohull luxury cruisers. Sunreef’s Ultima line, with four other cats from 44 to 88 feet, is thinner and sleeker, with a more modern look, than the company’s other yachts. Its reduced width (with a beam of just 23’ 9” on a 72’ 2”LOA) and high decks create a horizontal surface between the two hulls, resulting in an unusually spacious full-beam master stateroom. The 66 Ultima also has high bows inverted above a chine that runs…

Cockwells Launches Hardy 50 Explorer

By Peter Janssen on January 2, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Cockwells has just launched its new Hardy 50DS blue-water cruiser, designed to take on the waters of the world. Powered by twin 725-hp Volvo diesels with straight shafts, the Hardy 50 can hit a top speed of 29 knots, but if you dial back to 8 knots the range is more than 1,500 nm. Cockwells, in Falmouth, England, bought the Hardy line in 2020 and launched a 65 two years ago as its motoryacht flagship. The new 50DS is designed as the little sister of the 65, with all the robust oceangoing capabilities, but in a smaller package, making it…

New High-Tech Toro 40 Cat

By Peter Janssen on January 1, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Here’s a new brand of power catamaran, the Foilborne 40 from Toro Yachts, a Holland, Michigan, builder that uses the talents and techniques of America’s Cup sailors and designers. Powered by twin 450-hp Mercury outboards (set wide apart on the cat’s 13-foot transom), Toro’s Foilborne 40 tops out at 57 knots, and has a range of a full 530 nm at 35 knots. Upgrading to twin 600-Mercury outboards adds another ten knots or so to the top speed. Toro Yachts was founded by Brian MacInnes and his wife, Danelle. A professional sailor, MacInnes has four America’s Cup campaigns with Oracle…

Candela Launches New Polestar Foiler

By Peter Janssen on January 1, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Candela, the Swedish electric boat builder, just teamed up with Polestar, the Swedish electric car builder, to create a new Candela Polestar Edition foiling sportboat using Polestar’s hefty electric powerpack. The 28’ 3” Candela C-8 Polestar Edition uses the same 69 kWh battery pack that’s in the Polestar 2 electric performance fastback car, which offers DC charging, so the foiling boat now has additional range and a fast charging time. The boat’s range is 57 nm at a cruising speed of 22 knots, and the ride is comfortable, since the boat flies above the waves on its foils, cruising without…

XO Boats Unveils EXPLR 44

By Peter Janssen on December 13, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

XO Boats in Finland just announced that they will unveil their EXPLR 44, their first yacht, at the big Düsseldorf show starting Jan. 20. In the past, XO has made smaller all-aluminum adventure boats, but the EXPLR 44 is designed as a true family cruiser with forward and aft cabins, two heads, and room for two more people sleeping in the pilothouse. But it will still have XO’s durable aluminum build, with 8 mm aluminum stringers and 5 mm in the deep-V hull so it can go anywhere. Indeed, the company says it’s “the ultimate exploration yacht.” The new 44,…

New All-Electric Maine Commuter

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

The creative people at Stephens Waring Design in Belfast, Maine, just came up with an all-electric 26-foot commuter boat with lines inspired by the iconic and glamorous Italian-made Rivas of the 1950s. Stephens Waring developed the boat for a long-time (five boats over 20 years) client who wanted a boat to reach her vacation home on a remote island in Maine. She also wanted the boat to reflect the quiet and serenity of the lake itself, while having enough performance to reach a 25-mph speed for water sports. And the boat had to be big enough to carry passengers and…

Prestige X60: More Outdoor Space

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

The new Prestige X60 flybridge is a French-styled luxury cruiser with a creative “infinity deck” aft and an extra sliding glass door in the salon leading to an innovative mix of indoor and outdoor space. The aft deck, with modular furniture that can be moved around, has a low glass see-through transom so the views, even from inside the salon, reach out to the horizon aft. Most of the aft deck is protected by the overhang from the flybridge up top. A lounge and convertible sun pad provide relaxing and lounging space. Steps on both sides lead down to the…

New Alen 77 Flagship Now in U.S.

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

The new Alen 77, the flagship of the Turkish builder, is distinguished by its elegant long, straight sheer and clean lines, and that’s before you see the wide side decks and the extended swim platform with teak all around. Alen has been making boats, starting at 44 feet, for the past 20 years. The new 77 is available in flybridge or sedan models. The sedan was on display at the recent Fort Lauderdale show with a price of $4.5 million, a very competitive number for a solid, comfortable, well-built 77-foot yacht. Powered by twin 1,000-hp Volvo IPS1350 pod drives, the…

Sealine S390: Well-Designed Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on December 7, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sealine’s new S390 is a versatile sportcruiser with lots of space for a day or weekend on board and even has room to sleep five on its accommodations deck below. Powered by twin 380-hp Volvo D6 diesel sterndrives, the new Sealine tops out at about 34 knots while providing a fun, safe ride for everyone on board. Designed by Britain’s Bill Dixon, who often works in the superyacht space, the new Sealine seems to have more room for relaxing and enjoying a cruise than is usual in this size range. The foredeck, for example, has 48 square feet of lounging…

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