On Watch with Peter Janssen

All Eyes on Palm Beach Show, Starting March 24

By Peter Janssen on March 2, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen, Palm Beach Boat Show

The 40th annual Palm Beach show that starts March 24 will be getting an extra amount of attention this year, as many people are waiting to see if all the record-setting performance of the past year, and the Miami show last month, will continue or will be hobbled by a host of recent events. For its part, the Miami show was a huge success, drawing more than 100,000 visitors to its five locations, and may boat companies reported record sales and profits. Dave Foulkes, the CEO of Brunswick, the largest boat builder in the U.S., said the show was “outstanding.”…

Candela Reaches iPhone Tipping Point

By Peter Janssen on February 22, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Candela, the innovative Swedish builder, says it’s at the iPhone-like tipping point for revolutionizing boating with its brand-new, all-electric C-8 foiling craft. After 16 months of development, Candela just tested the first C-8 at its headquarters in Stockholm and the company says it is now ready to start production. The C-8 foils at 16 knots, leaving no wake, noise or emissions behind. At 24 knots, the boat has a range of 50 nm. Top speed is 30 knots. Candela is expanding and moving to a new factory in May. It plans to produce 400 boats a year by 2024. The…

Miami Show Opens: A New Normal?

By Peter Janssen on February 17, 2022 Miami Boat Show, On Watch with Peter Janssen

The big Miami boat show just opened, with a mix of enthusiasm, innovation, high-tech and an undercurrent of worries about inflation, high prices, and supply-chain capabilities. On the tradition front, the show returned to the Miami Beach Convention Center for the first time since 2015, and everyone seemed happy about that. It also is on three locations in downtown Miami and on Watson Island (for superyachts). The entire show was cancelled last year because of the pandemic. If the Convention Center was a return to normal, there were lots of signs pointing to a new normal. Large dealers were accepting…

Navier Raises Money, Makes Boats in Maine

By Peter Janssen on February 8, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Navier, a San Francisco startup, just raised $7.2 million in seed money to build its all-electric foiling boats at the Lyman-Morse plant in Thomaston, Maine. Navier announced that the seed money came from Global Founders Capital and Treble, among other firms, plus some individual investors. Lyman-Morse is already laying up the hulls of the first two Navier 27s, made with advanced composites and smart software. Navier 27s are powered by two 50kW electric motors and foil, or fly, three to four feet above the water to reduce drag and improve efficiency. They use a foiling stabilization control system borrowed from…

Meet the All-Electric Cybercat With a Tesla

By Peter Janssen on February 7, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Maybe it’s the pandemic; maybe it’s too many glasses of wine, or maybe it’s just a very creative mind at work. In any event, here’s a look at the new Cybercat all-electric amphibious boat, using a not-yet-made Tesla Cybertruck. The Cybercat, and its upgrade, the Cybercat Foiler, are the products of Anthony Diamond’s fertile mind. Diamond, a young entrepreneur from the Seattle area, has an engineering PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and an engineering BS from Stanford. He was featured in Forbes list of 30 Under 30 in 2017. Just as relevant, Diamond drives a Tesla and…

55-Foot Yacht Stuck on North Carolina Beach

By Peter Janssen on February 2, 2022 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

A 55-foot Novatec flybridge motoryacht has been stuck on a North Carolina beach for more than a week after it ran aground about 1 a.m. on January 25. The Coast Guard, TowBoatUS, and the owner have been trying to get it floating again ever since. The boat is named Vivens Aqua and it ran aground after the owner, Scott Pumphrey, from Salisbury, Maryland, said it suffered steering failure. It ended up on the beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore near the south end of Ocracoke Island. Pumphrey was trying to get through Ocracoke Inlet, notorious for its shifting sand, and…

Head-Turning Mulder Healey 60: Lots of New Ideas

By Peter Janssen on February 2, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The new 60-foot Mulder Healey 1800 comes with both a back story and some head-turning innovations, including a helm seat that rises through an opening in the hardtop reminiscent of a special effects scene from a James Bond film. The back story is that the boat was built to recreate some of the spirit and style of an Austin Healey sports car. The boat’s owner, David Healey, is the grandson of Donald Healey, who created the famous British cars. David Healey founded Healeys Cornish Cyder Farm in the UK. He’s now 65 and retired and his sons are running the…

Astra Rounds Horn on Epic Circumnavigation

By Peter Janssen on January 26, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Earlier this week, Iain Macneil and his crew rounded Cape Horn on his converted 77-foot rescue boat Astra, on week eight of what they hope is a record-breaking trip around every cape in the Southern Ocean. Macneil, the CEO of Witherbys, a maritime publishing company in Scotland and former Merchant Navy seaman, bought the boat more than a year ago and renovated it for the voyage. It had served in the Swedish Rescue Service from 1995 to 2016. His goal: To set a record for a full-displacement powerboat less than 24 meters (78’ 7”) circumnavigating the world via every cape…

Sunreef Launches All-Electric 80 Eco Cat

By Peter Janssen on January 11, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Sunreef just launched its new all-electric 80 Eco catamaran at its yard in Gdansk, Poland. The company says it represents the next generation in green energy and offers unlimited range for luxurious cruising. The Sunreef 80 Eco can be ordered in sail or power versions. It uses ultra-light composite solar panels that are integrated into the cat’s hull sides, superstructure and Bimini; they can deliver up to 40kWp. Sunreef says its ultralight battery bank is 30 percent lighter than the average used in the boating industry; the big cat’s batteries can store from 360kW to 640kW. The advantages of the…

New Sea Ranger MMS 55: A Bulletproof Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 3, 2022 Boat Reviews, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Spoiler alert: Keep reading only if you’re interested in bulletproof expedition-type cruising boats made to tackle rough sea conditions anywhere in the world. The new Sea Ranger MMS 55, made by a commercial yard in northern England, isn’t meant to stay at the dock. I don’t know how many people it can hold for cocktails or a sunset cruise around the harbor. The Sea Ranger has a sturdy steel-plate hull; it weighs almost 60 tons. It comes with the looks and the performance of a North Sea trawler, with a high bow and decks lined with scuppers. Powered by twin…

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