Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Autonomous Tug Ready for 1,000-nm Cruise

A 35-foot totally autonomous tugboat is ready to start a 1,000-nm cruise around Denmark controlled by captains operating a computer system with 300 main processors back in Boston, Massachusetts. The tug, named Nellie Bly, was made by the Damen yard in the Netherlands, and it is run by Sea Machines Robotics in Boston. The goal of the cruise, named Machine Odyssey after Homer’s epic poem, is to determine if such a voyage, including stops at 14 ports along the way, is possible for a commercial vessel. The tug is scheduled to leave Hamburg, Germany, on Sept. 30. It will have…

Cruising Life
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Hunt, Huckins, Back Cove Big Winners in Newport

The Hunt 63, the Huckins Sportsman 38, and the Back Cove 39O were big winners at the Newport boat show, all collecting awards in various categories. The electric outboard by Flux Marine won an award in the show’s green products category. The awards are part of the show’s Newport For New Products showcase, open to domestic and foreign products that were launched in the U.S. after April 1, 2021, that made their debut at the Newport show. Winners were selected by a panel of judges, industry experts, on the basis of innovation, value to the consumer, safety, and aesthetics. An…

Destinations
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Bitter End Yacht Club Plans To Reopen Soon

The iconic Bitter End Yacht Club, one of the most popular cruising, charter and watersports vacation destinations in the world, is getting ready to open up again. Located on 64 acres with a mile of waterfront on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, the Bitter End, along with most other resorts and charter fleets in the area, was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017. Founded in 1969, the Bitter End got its name because it’s the last island outpost before the Caribbean meets the Atlantic. But its very location, on North Sound at the east end of Virgin Gorda,…

On Watch
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Grand Banks Consolidates Its Three Brands

Grand Banks just announced that it’s consolidating its three brands – Grand Banks, of course, plus Eastbay and Palm Beach Motoryachts –  under the umbrella of the GB Marine Group. They will all be manufactured in Malaysia; Palm Beach moved there from Australia last year to join the other two brands. And they all will use Mark Richards’ V-Warp hull. Richards used it when it launched his first motoryacht, a Palm Beach 28, in 1998, and he’s been incorporating it on Grand Banks and Eastbays ever since Grand Banks bought out Palm Beach in 2014 and put him in charge…

Cruising Life
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The Story Behind a Terrible Bridge Accident. Video

Here’s the full story from gCaptain behind a frightening video of a bridge on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada, crashing down on the 730-foot-long bulk carrier Windoc. Take a look: In August, 2001, the Bulk Carrier Windoc was lined up on the Welland Canal’s Bridge 11 in Ontario, Canada. After receiving the flashing amber approach light indicating that the bridge operator was aware of the vessel, the captain lined up on the centerline and maintained a speed of 5 knots. Minutes later while the vessel was half way through the bridge started descending. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Wn2RDzsvg When the vessel was…

Cruising Life
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New Aroha 29: A Light, Fuel-Efficient Cruiser

The new, lightweight Aroha 29 was launched at the Brooklin Boat Yard in Maine a few months ago. It then was taken down to the Newport boat show where it was entered in the new green products category. The Aroha is indeed fuel efficient. Powered by a 38-hp Beta Marine diesel, the wooden coastal cruiser will cruise at 12 knots and top out at 16 knots. What’s most remarkable is the Aroha’s fuel burn: 0.26 gallons per hour at 7.5 knots, and 2.1 gallons per hour at 17.5 knots. The boat’s back story starts in New Zealand, where Maynard Bray,…

Cruising Life
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Floating Motors Turns Vintage Cars Into New Boats

Here’s a fun idea for your next boat: A floating vintage car that can be powered with electric motors or outboards to hit a top speed of 55 knots, turning heads all along the way. The car-boats are made by Floating Motors, a new company that’s a joint venture between Jet Capsule and the Lazzarini Design Studio in Rome. The idea is to take a vintage car, remove all its mechanical parts, mount it on a catamaran or hydrofoil base, and then set it loose on the nearest body of water. The company says the result is “a delightful combination…

Boat Reviews
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Zeelander Announces Details of New 48-Footer

Zeelander, the Dutch builder of distinctive luxury yachts, just announced details of its new 48-foot Zeelander 5 at the Cannes Yachting Festival. The new yacht, available with three Volvo IPS650 pod drives, will have  a top speed of 45 knots. It will be launched next year at the company’s yard in Groot-Ammers, just east of Rotterdam. The Zeelander 5 carries all the lines and amenities that have marked the brand, particularly its gracious curves and generous tumblehome leading to a large sun lounge and swim platform that fold out from the transom. The fit and finish, including elegant woods and…

Boat Reviews
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Blue Game Launches Creative New 72 at Cannes

Blue Game just unveiled its hard-to-define new 72 at the Cannes Yachting Festival, where the aggressively styled cruiser with an aft deck that seems to go on forever caught a lot of attention. An Italian builder, Blue Game is a brand of San Lorenzo yachts, and it specializes in non-traditional styling that defies the usual yacht categories. Indeed, the company says the new 72 “is the perfect expression of its cross-over soul that escapes from belonging to a single segment.” The interiors can be customized, but the standard power comes from twin 900-hp Volvo IPS1200 pod drives for easy maneuvering…

Cruising Life
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Prestige Planning New Luxury Power Cat

Here’s some big news on the power catamaran front. Prestige, the French builder of luxury motoryachts and part of the powerful Groupe Beneteau, will start making luxury power cats. Erwin Bamps, the Prestige general manager, made the announcement at a Groupe Beneteau press conference at the Cannes Yachting Festival. He did not reveal any details, and said he would have much more about the new cat at the Düsseldorf boat show in January. But Bamps did say the cat was an expansion of the company’s “private island concept” and it would be aimed at both the charter and owner-operator markets…

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