Author Peter Janssen

Boat Reviews
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Axopar Launching New 22-Foot Starter Boat

In the past few years, Axopar has gained a large following by thinking outside the box, building its 28- and 37-foot models with their iconic looks and head-turning performance. Now, it seems, Axopar wants to become even more popular by thinking inside the box or, to put it more accurately, delivering its new 22-foot starter boat to you in its own box. That move alone would save several thousands of dollars over the usual shipping costs from the Axopar factory in Finland to the east coast of the U.S. In every other respect, the 22 carries on with the traditions…

Boat Reviews
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Beneteau Swift Trawler 41: A 24-knot Family Cruiser

Beneteau’s new Swift Trawler 41 is the Goldilocks of coastal cruisers: It’s large enough to hold a crowd, but it’s small enough to be handled easily by a couple. The Swift Trawler 41 does indeed have a lot of living and entertaining space, inside and out, but it’s also a seaworthy cruising boat, giving a stable and comfortable ride throughout the speed range. And it’s easy to handle around a dock, with bow and stern thrusters. Experienced cruisers also will appreciate the side door next to the helm that gives immediate access to the starboard side deck, for help with…

Cruising Life
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Orca Who Carried Dead Calf Gives Birth Again

Here’s a story with a happy ending, from The New York Times: An orca that once spent 17 days carrying her dead calf — a dramatic saga of apparent mourning — has become a mother once again. The orca, identified by researchers as J35 and also known as Tahlequah, became a symbol in 2018 of the plight of the Southern Resident whales, which were 88 in number when they were listed as endangered in 2005 and have dwindled further since then. The birth of the new orca, which was seen for the first time by researchers on Saturday, brings the…

Charter
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New 51-Foot Cat for Charter in Bora Bora Lagoon

Want to drift through the drop-dead gorgeous turquoise waters of Bora Bora, without having to go through all the trouble of actually cruising there? Here’s the solution: Charter a 51-foot, four-cabin, solar-powered catamaran that’s already there, and sit back and enjoy. Built by ELYT Charter Tahiti, the new cat will be ready to charter in the Bora Bora Lagoon by the end of the year. It sleeps eight in the four cabins, and it has two heads and a large central living room and kitchenette on the main deck. The upper deck is basically a rooftop with 360-degree views, a…

Boat Reviews
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New Cape50: The Result of One Man’s Passion

The all-new Cape50, the result of one man’s passion, will be launched in November in Australia, and the aggressive cruiser with a low profile, plumb bow, beautiful tumblehome and reverse transom is built to handle the often-rough seas Down Under. The Cape50 was conceived, designed and built by Steve Campbell and his company, Composites Construction, outside Melbourne. Campbell has been a master shipwright for the past 30 years; he’s sailed on America’s Cup boats, and he’s built racing sailboats. Since 2009, he’s also built 40 racing ski boats that top out at more than 100 mph. A few years ago…

Electronics
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Garmin Launches Powerful New Open-Array Radar Series

Garmin just launched its new GMR Fantom 254/256 open-array radar series, and the company says it’s the highest-powered solid-state marine radar on the market. The new Fantom radars have 250W of pulse compression power, and they can detect targets from just 20 feet away to 96 nm away, providing the best short- and long-range target detection and consistency. They more than double the power of Garmin’s existing series, and they maximize energy and range resolution for cruising boat owners. The Fantom 254/256 use Garmin’s MotionScope technology with an adjustable speed threshold to detect and highlight moving targets, in different colors,…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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New Spirit P70: A Very Special Long-Range Cruiser

Before we get to the basics, let’s consider some numbers about the elegant new Spirit P70 long-range cruiser. Sean McMillan, the head designer and CEO of Spirit, drew 22 exterior profiles of the boat before the owner signed off one. It took three men seven months to varnish the mahogany interior. It took eight craftsmen three years to build the boat. The boat has a range of 1,000 nm at its cruising speed of 18 knots, something the owner stipulated so that he could cruise from his home port of Southampton in the U.K. to the Baltic without having to…

Cruising Life
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Riva, the Choice of Stars, Makes a Movie

Riva and the movies. They go together. The iconic Italian boat and the iconic movie stars who’ve owned one. Think Brigitte Bardot (pictured above), Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly, even James Bond, back in the day. Today, George Clooney is said to keep one at his waterfront villa on Lake Como, although when my wife and I cruised by on a Hinckley a few years ago we didn’t see George or the Riva; maybe he was driving it somewhere else on the lake at the time. Now Riva, part of the Ferretti Group, is celebrating Riva’s ties to the movies, by…

Cruising Life
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CEO Faces Criminal Charges in Lauderdale Crash

The cruise on a brand-new Hydra-Sports Custom 42 started out as a birthday celebration last Dec. 30 in Fort Lauderdale. It ended up as a tragedy, with one of the three passengers on board (the birthday girl) so badly injured that she’s had two major brain surgeries. Now the boat’s owner, the CEO of an insurance holding company, is facing criminal charges in a Florida court. The crash occurred just after midnight on Dec. 31, when Daniel Towriss, 47, drove his HCB 42 into the south jetty of the Port Everglades Inlet at a high speed. On board with him…

Boat Reviews
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Life Proof Boats Launches New 35 Full-Cabin Cruiser

Life Proof Boats just introduced a new 35-foot series, a Full Cabin and a GT Coupe, that are built to handle rough water and still provide a dry, safe ride at speeds up to 50 knots (see the video below). The boats are built with high-quality, commercial-grade 5086 aluminum with a stabilized buoyancy collar, shock mitigation, and self-bailing decks. Life Proof also makes boats for the military and government agencies, and they are designed to be indestructible and virtually unsinkable The boats have deep-V hulls for rough water performance, and a patented foam/air collar. Performance fins below the collars keep…

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