Author Peter Janssen

Boat Reviews
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Riviera 645 SUV: 34-Knot, Blue-Water Flagship

Riviera just announced that it will launch its new 645 SUV, the flagship of its SUV fleet, in April. The largest luxury motor yacht builder in Australia, Riviera says the new 645 offers longer-range offshore cruising capability and more entertaining and living space than its previous models. The SUV fleet, now with six models starting at 39 feet, is designed to combine offshore performance with entertaining features to make life comfortable underway, even in Australia’s often-challenging sea conditions. The new 645 is powered by twin 1,300-hp MAN diesels, with straight shafts. MAN 1,550-hp powerplants are optional, and produce a cruising…

Cruising Life
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Sea Levels Rising Faster than Expected: New Study

Sea levels around the world are rising faster than current models predicted, according to a new study by a group of European researchers. A result of warming temperatures and climate change, the rising sea levels could result in massive coastal flooding and property damage. The new study was just published in Ocean Science, the journal of the European Geosciences Union. It considered more data to revise previous estimates made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that predicted that seal levels will rise about 39 inches by the end of this century. That prediction was based on data going back…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Changing Plans During Covid: A Year on Dirona

If you think the Covid pandemic caused a change of plans in your life last year, consider the cruising life of James and Jennifer Hamilton on their Nordhavn 52 Dirona. They started the year in Amsterdam and planned to go down to the Med, but Covid changed all that. They ended up spending 79 consecutive days on the boat in a harbor in southern Scotland, and finally, almost at the last moment, cruised across the North Sea to spend the winter in Norway. Plans change. In a review of the year, James wrote on their blog, mvdirona.com, that along with…

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New Otam 65: 60 Knots, Private Jet Design

With a 60-knot top speed, there’s no denying that the Otam 65 HT One Off is fast, very fast. Powered by twin 2,000-hp MAN diesels and Arneson drives, it cruises at 50 knots. But it also has a head-turning design, with the hull by Umberto Tagliavini of Marine Design in Rapallo and the interior by Francesco Guida Design studio in Naples, that’s inspired by private jets with a blend of carbon fiber, black leather and a black-and-white color scheme. Otam, in Genoa, specializes in customizing its yachts to fit each owner’s desires. The 65 HT was so customized that Otam…

Cruising Life
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Grandfather, 70, Rows Across Atlantic, Solo

A 70-year-old grandfather from Oldham, in the UK, just became the oldest man to row across the Atlantic, from the Canary Islands to Antiqua, by himself and without any help in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Frank Rothwell, an adventurer, father of two and grandfather of three, rowed 3,000 miles in his 24-foot, carbon-fiber, ocean rowing boat, raising more than $950,000 for Alzheimer’s research. His brother-in-law died of Alzheimer’s while Rothwell was underway. Rothwell’s wife, Judith, met him on the dock in Antigua. Rothwell left the Canaries on Dec. 12, and arrived in Nelson’s Harbor in Antigua on Feb. 6.…

Cruising Life
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How To Navigate with New AIS Chart Symbols

If you saw these symbols on your chartplotter, would you know what they mean? Here’s a very informative story from Skipper Tips that will give you the answer, and that will help you navigate with AIS. Read on: You enter between the breakwaters just after sunset, and, according to your electronic chart, you should see the channel buoys to port and starboard. Instead you see nothing at all. The buoys and beacons are gone! What now, skipper? How do AIS equipped buoys and beacons appear on your nautical or electronic chart? What is the difference between VISUAL and VIRTUAL aids?…

Boat Reviews
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Hunt To Launch New 76 with Enclosed Bridge

The Hinckley Company just announced that it will launch the first Hunt Ocean 76 Command Bridge, a luxurious offshore cruiser, this spring. It will be the first Hunt 76 with a fully enclosed, walk-around command bridge; previous models had open flybridges. The new Hunt 76 is designed as a user-friendly yacht. “From the command bridge, you have spectacular views and enhanced situation awareness,” said Mike Arieta, president of the Hinckley Company. “And with the walk-around deck, you can just step out to dock the boat from the perfect point of view.” The climate-controlled command bridge has two Stidd chairs, an…

Boat Reviews
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The Favors Downsize: Next Boat, a Ranger Tugs 25

A lot of us (including myself) were certainly surprised when we learned that Jim and Lisa Favors put their beloved, and well-traveled, Ranger Tugs 29 Kismet up for sale last summer, without any explanation of what they would do next. After all, the Favors have been cruising most of their adult lives, most recently on Ranger Tugs, and have written about them extensively on their website, trailertrawlerlife. Now we know what comes next: A new Ranger Tugs, but the Favors are downsizing. Their next Ranger will be a 25, with a single 250-hp Yamaha outboard to give them more performance…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Cruising Through Covid on “Our Own Little Island”

In a time of Covid, Patrick Schulte and his family seem to have found a good way to cope. They’ve been cruising, on their 1986 Grand Banks 42 named Bumfuzzle, around St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and they’re so content that they often don’t leave the boat – or the water – for long periods of time. “All we tend to do is on or in the water,” Schulte wrote on his blog, bumfuzzle.com. He and his wife, Ali, their daughter, Quest, 10, and son, Lowe, 9, have been living aboard Bumfuzzle since they bought it in Florida…

Cruising Life
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Italian Startup Creates Water Jet To Revolutionize Electric Boats

A groundbreaking Italian startup has developed a new water jet propulsion system that could revolutionize electric boats, giving them more speed and range than they have today. The outboard-mounted DeepSpeed hydro jet has already won several prizes for technology and innovation, and has patents from the European Union and Australia. It was developed by William Gobbo, an Italian banker and tech developer; Ernesto Benini, a professor of fluid dynamics at the University of Padua, and a team of 21 scientists, boat racers and hydrodynamic specialists under the umbrella company Sealence. DeepSpeed uses a holistic approach to powering an electric boat,…

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