Browsing: Back Cove

Boat Reviews
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Back Cove 372 Debuts at Annapolis Show

Back Cove just launched its newly redesigned 372 family cruiser at the Annapolis powerboat show, running through Sunday, Oct. 10. The 372 is a new iteration of the original Back Cove 37 that was first launched in 2009; that turned out to be one of the Maine builder’s most  popular models. More than 200 of them were sold, and the tooling was getting worn out. With a single diesel engine, a low profile and its Down East lines, the 37 was popular because it was a Goldilocks boat – not too big, not too small. A single person could handle…

Cruising Life
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Back Cove Delivers 1,000th Yacht

I remember testing the very first Back Cove, a 29, in Biscayne Bay off Miami, in 2003 with Bentley Collins, the company’s vice president of marketing and sales. I was the editorial director of both Yachting and Motorboating then, and I wrote in my notebook, twice, the words “I like this boat.” So did a lot of other people. Indeed, Back Cove, the sister company to Sabre Yachts, just built its 1,000th boat, a 39O, and it was a long way from the original 29 that I liked so much. The 390 is the fastest and quietest Back Cove yet. Instead of…

Boat Reviews
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New 43-Knot Back Cove 39O Down-East Cruiser

Back Cove just launched its new 39O, and it’s the fastest and quietest Back Cove yet. Indeed, powered by three 400-hp Mercury Verado outboards, the new Maine-built cruiser tops out at 43 knots, and it’s so efficient it has a range of 300 nm at 30 knots, a remarkable performance. It also registers a sound level of just 73 dB(a) at the helm, which means you can talk and listen to your playlist and generally enjoy yourself on a long day’s cruise. (See the boat’s performance numbers at the end of this story.) The 39O is Back Cove’s second outboard…

Cruising Life
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Trends 2020: More Cruising Boats with Outboard Power

Perhaps the strongest trend in recent years has been the rapid growth of outboard power on cruising boats, even on some of the most traditional brands. The reasons are easy to understand, and they start with performance. Outboard boats are fun, they’re fast and agile, and they’re easy to drive and park. Outboards also are easier to repair, maintain, and ultimately replace, if necessary, than traditional inboards are, and they open up a lot of space inside the boat where inboards used to be. And you don’t  have to worry about a lot of through-hulls, shafts, and struts. The HCB…

Cruising Life
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Sabre Getting Ready To Launch New 58 Salon Express in October

Sabre Getting Ready To Launch New 58 Salon Express in October, Celebrate 50th Anniversary All Year There’s lots going on this summer at Sabre Yachts. The Down East builder just put the deck on the hull of its new 58 Salon Express in its factory in Raymond, Maine, and it’s also busy planning its 50th anniversary, with a big Sabre and Back Cove rendezvous next June in Portland; there will be celebrations throughout the year. The new Sabre 58 is scheduled to be launched for sea trials in October in Portland. Sabre already has several orders for the boat and they…

Palm Beach Boat Show
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Popular Palm Beach Show Starts March 28 with More New Cruising Boats

The increasingly popular Palm Beach International Boat Show starts next Thursday, March 28, and runs through Sunday, March 31. The show’s location, in downtown Palm Beach along the Intracoastal Waterway, makes it easy to get to and easy to enjoy; it does not have the logistics problems and large crowds that hampered the big Miami shows last month. It also has the reputation as both a buyer’s and seller’s show, as people get ready for the spring and summer boating seasons. As a result, it will have a strong showing of a wide variety of new cruising powerboats. This will…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Popular Palm Beach Boat Show Opens March 28 with Strong Showing of New Cruising Powerboats

The increasingly popular Palm Beach International Boat Show starts next Thursday, March 28, and runs through Sunday, March 31. The show’s location, in downtown Palm Beach along the Intracoastal Waterway, makes it easy to get to and easy to enjoy; it does not have the logistics problems and large crowds that hampered the big Miami shows last month. It also has the reputation as both a buyer’s and seller’s show, as people get ready for the spring and summer boating seasons. As a result, it will have a strong showing of a wide variety of new cruising powerboats. This will…

Cruising Life
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Lots of Enthusiasm, Happy People, at the New York Boat Show

It seemed like old times, the best of times, on Saturday afternoon at the New York Boat  Show. The aisles at the Javits Center were filled with people looking at the 350 new boats and probably a thousand or so new boating accessories, and everybody seemed in a good mood. “We just had one of our best  years ever,” a New England dealer told me. “And it looks like this one is off to a pretty good start.” People were lined up to look at the new boats; indeed, the line to climb on the Azimut 60, the queen of…

Boat Reviews
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First Look at New, Outboard-Powered Back Cove 34O Running at 39 Knots. See the Video

Here’s a first look at the brand-new Back Cove 34O running with twin 350-hp Suzukis. The first outboard Back Cove (and the first twin-engine Back Cove), this new made-in-Maine cruiser topped out at a rapid pace of 39 knots right out of the box. It is still being tweaked, and will make its first public appearance at the Newport International Boat Show starting Sept. 13. The boat represents a major breakthrough for Back Cove, which has been building single-engine, diesel-powered cruisers since 2003. It is based on the Back Cove 32, a classic Down East couple’s boat, which was named…

Boat Reviews
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Back Cove 32: Best Under 35 Feet at Newport

The Back Cove 32 was just named Best Powerboat Under 35 Feet at the Newport International Boat Show, a major honor for the Maine-built classic couple’s cruiser. I’ve been a fan of Back Coves since I tested the very first one they made, a 26, ten years ago, and I’ve tested every model since then. The single-diesel, fuel-efficient, user-friendly themes of the brand, combined with their iconic Downeast lines, make them very appealing, and the new 32 lives up to the company’s reputation. You walk on the boat through a centerline door in the transom, and then the deck is…