Author George Day

Now here’s something a little out of the ordinary for Cruising Odyssey, a 130-foot steel expedition yacht from the Hong Kong builder Cheoy Lee, also known as CL Yachts. The yacht, which will be built of steel instead of the company’s usual composite yacht-build method, will have transoceanic range so it will be capable of expeditions from the Arctic to the Antarctic and all points in between. While we are used to thinking of CL Yachts as builders of private yachts in the 65 to 90-foot range, this much larger yacht is not a stretch for the 150-year-old family-owned boat…

Azimut, one of Italy’s largest and most prestigious boat builders, has launch the Seadeck series of boats that are designed to reconnect boaters to the sea, build and cruise more sustainably and offer a slower and gentler lifestyle afloat. The Seadeck 6 is a 57-foot family cruiser powered by three Volvo IPS Drives 500s (380 hp.) that can be upgraded to the 480-hp. model. The expected top end speed will be 33 knots with a fast cruising speed of 24 knots. Azimut reports that technical efficiencies in. the power train and hull design will reduce the boat’s carbon emission by…

Based in Helsinki, Finland, XO Yachts recently introduced their new, aluminum-hulled EXPLR 44 for adventurous cruisers. The 44 has many interesting design features beginning the walk-around decks and high bulwarks, the enclosed pilot house and the 1350-horsepower delivered by the outboards. XO Yachts EXPLR 44 has a lot of current, Finish-design aspects that we have seen in Axopar and Saxdor express cruisers. The bows is plumb, the sheer straight and angled upward and the hull carries a hard chine all the way aft. The look is almost military in its severity. But the real story here is the EPLR 44,…

The Fairline Targa 40 debuted at the Dusseldorf boat show last January to quite a lot of acclaim. And, it is easy to see why. The design is aggressively modern with a full-figured bow section that provides a lot of interior volume. The bow is almost plumb at the top, but then curves neatly aft and flares to deflect spray. The glazing in the topsides are embedded in a wide, curved black band that mirrors the shapes of the cabin top and the cockpit’s wind screen and hard top. It’s quite interesting looking and attractive. It seems Fairline, a venerable…

Candela, the innovative Swedish builder of foiling electric boats and ferries, has partnered the Swedish EV manufacturer Polestar to create a cutting-edge E-boat with all the style of Polestar cars. This special edition of the C8 came together as a tribute to the boatbuilder’s close ties to the car maker. The just-launched 28 footer is painted in Polestar grays and blacks and can be fitted with jet black carbon hard top. The gold-painted foils are similar to the gold accents on Polestar’s automobiles. And, the boats’ seats have the same fine, hand-stitched quality as the electric cars. While the haute…

Slovenian builder Greenline has put sustainability at the forefront as the company introduces their new Greenline 58 Fly Hybrid at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September. The 58, which is the builder’s flagship, is driven by the company’s next-generation HDrive propulsion system that harnesses diesel-electric technology to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions. The combination of hybrid technology with lithium-ion batteries and large and efficient solar panel arrays makes the new 58 capable of motoring under electric power for up to 20 miles at six knots. “Greenline Yachts’ new 6G HDrive draws on 16 years of constant development,” said owner…

Last week we ran a preview of the new Grand Banks 62 design which the company announced at the beginning of July. The 62 is an evolution of the popular 60. But, the 62 is not a replacement model for the 60. In the design preview, we were able to show the plans and layouts but we did not have actual photos of the boat –they don’t exist yet– to show off the details that will make it a Grand Banks. So, we thought that this week we would offer a part two to the preview by providing you with…