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What To Look for at FLIBS: New Boats, New Trends, New Dreams

By Peter A. Janssen

Take a good look the yacht above, one of the 1,500 new boats you can see at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show that starts next Wednesday, Oct. 31, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 4. It’s the Utopia IV from the Rossinavi yard in Italy, and it’s 207 feet long. It’s powered by four 2,600-hp MTU diesels and it tops out at 33 knots. If you want to get some exercise, or just get wet, it has three swimming pools, plus a “beach club” aft, a lounge at the waterline. And if you have to ask  how much it costs…(but the answer is about $50 million, give or take).

For the rest of us, here are some new cruising boats you can see at the show. Let’s start with examples of the latest, and still-growing, trend – the move to outboard power on cruising boats. At the entry-level (as opposed to the Utopia IV), the Ranger 23, the smallest Ranger Tug, is powered by a single 200-hp Yamaha, and is ready to cruise. The base price is $114,937, and the boat is already so popular (particularly with retired couples and young families) that the company can’t build them fast enough.

Ranger’s sister company, Cutwater Boats, is showing its new 30-foot C302 Coupe , with two Yamahas and a top speed of 50 mph. It can sleep six and it’s fully equipped; buy it at the show and start the Great Loop or a trip to Key West. Base price: $314,937.

The Back Cove 34O (the company’s first outboard-powered cruiser) also is ready for the Loop or the ICW or a long summer in Maine, where it’s built. Kevin Burns designed the hull for twin 300-hp Yamahas; it topped out at 37.5 knots when I tested it recently on Long Island Sound. A couple’s cruiser, it was named Best New Powerboat Under 35 Feet as well as the winner of the People’ Choice Award at the Newport, Rhode Island, show in September.

Moving up, the MJM 35Z, a collaboration of Bob Johnstone and Doug Zurn, is powered by two 300-hp Mercury Verados. A serious offshore boat with high-tech construction, it topped out at 39 knots when I tested it in choppy conditions on Narragansett Bay off Newport. It is definitely fun to drive, and it has a sophisticated combination of power, performance and fuel efficiency.

Hinckley just introduced its first outboard boat, a 40 sport boat with three 300-hp Mercury Verados. The Hunt design team drew the hull, and the new Hinckley tops out at 47 knots and handles like a sports car. True to its roots, the new Hinckley is one of the most luxurious sports boats on the market; the cappuccino machine in the cabin is standard.

For innovation and a proven cruising record, take a look at Larry Graf’s new 40-foot Aspen Power Cat, the C120, a sistership to the one that just completed the 10,000 mile tour of the United States, from Alaska to its home in Annapolis, Maryland. With Graf’s patented twin-hull, proa design and a single 435-hp Volvo D6, the Aspen burns just 10 gph at 16 knots, and it provided a comfortable and safe ride even in some nasty days on the Pacific.

Multihulls also are becoming more popular. The new Fountaine Pajot 37 MY, the French builder’s entry-level cruiser, has all the space – and seakeeping ability – inherent in a catamaran design. It also has the modern, European esthetic that makes it stand out in a harbor anywhere in the world. Twin 220-hp Volvos power it to a top speed of 22 knots; dial back to 7 knots and it has a range of more than 1,100 nm.

For long-range cruising, Mark Richards is displaying the Grand Banks 60 Skylounge, which can go from New York to Palm Beach at 21 knots without stopping. Not bad for a classic cruiser with an unusually smooth ride; I tested the flybridge version of the Grand Banks 60 last year and it provided one of the smoothest rides I’ve ever had, and that was at 31 knots on Long Island Sound.

Palm Beach, Grand Banks’ sister company, will have its beautiful long, low, sleek GT50, the first of a new line, at the show. Powered by twin 600-hp Volvo IPS800s, it tops out at 42 knots, burning just 24 gph at a cruising speed of 25 knots. It was named the Best New Powerboat at the Newport show.

Another trend is the move to larger and larger owner-operated cruising boats. New technology, particularly in pod drives such as Volvo’s IPS, make it easy for a couple to handle larger boats, even up to the 70-foot range. IPS provides fingertip control during docking and maneuvering; so do ever-more-powerful bow and stern thrusters.

Some examples here include the Sirena 58, a long-range cruiser designed by German Frers; the Vicem 65 IPS Classic with IPS1050 drives; the Outer Reef 70 MY, another easy-handling long-range cruiser with a soft ride and lots of cruising comforts, and the redesigned Fleming 78 Classic, “the ultimate cruising yacht” with a blue-water heritage and range of 2,000 nm at 10 knots.

Finally, if none of these boats is exactly what you’re looking for, you can always go back to the Utopia IV. Just remember to win the lottery first.

For our reviews of 40 new cruising boats at the show:

https://cruisingodyssey.com/2018/10/16/fort-lauderdale-18-a-new-look-new-entrance-new-food-drink-and-1500-new-boats-plus-our-reviews-of-38-new-cruising-boats-there/

For more about the show itself:

http://flibs.com

 

 

 

 

 

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