Author Peter Janssen

Boat Reviews
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Pardo To Build New GT65 with IPS1350s

Cantiere del Pardo, the large Italian builder, just announced at the Düsseldorf show that it’s planning a new Pardo GT65 cruiser with a walkaround deck, flexible layout, and Volvo IPS power. The 65 will be the third model in Pardo’s GT series, falling between the existing 52 and the 75 that’s coming later this year. The new GT65 will carry all of Pardo’s signature lines, with its reverse bow and low profile. It has wraparound glazing, a folding aft window in the salon that opens to the cockpit, a sliding glass sun roof in the salon, and large windows and…

Cruising Life
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Yamaha Unveils New, Light, V6 F350 Outboard

Yamaha just announced that it’s making a new 4.3L V6 Offshore F350 outboard that weighs just 629 pounds and that delivers a powerful 11:1 compression ratio. The new F350, available for OEM or repowering applications, fits between Yamaha’s F300 and EXT Offshore 425 outboards. It replaces the V8 350 that  Yamaha produced from 2007 to 2019, which was popular for its horsepower but had a high power-to-weight ratio. The new V6 F350 comes in at 175 pounds less than the old V8; indeed, Yamaha says the new F350 has the best power-to-weight ratio in its class. It produces 70 amps…

Boat Reviews
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Bolide 80: 73 Knots, Loro Piana Interior

You probably won’t want to take the new Bolide 80 on a trip around the Great Loop, but it sure would be fun for a run over to Bimini, or Key West, or Catalina. One thing’s for sure: It would get a lot of attention, wherever it goes. The Bolide 80 looks fast and it is fast. Powered by three 2,000-hp MANs, that are staggered in the engine compartment, the Bolide 80 tops out at 73 knots. The long, low, aerodynamic hull has steps for efficiency; the Bolide has a range of 240 nm at 50 knots (not that it’s…

Cruising Life
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Shark Bites Boy at Bahamas Resort

A 10-year-old boy from Maryland was bitten by a shark at a resort on Paradise Island, the Bahamas, on Monday afternoon. The Royal Bahamas Police Force issued a news release saying “the boy was bitten on the right leg while participating in an expedition in a shark tank at a local resort.” The boy was taken to Doctors Hospital in Nassau in serious but stable condition and was recovering from surgery. He was to be airlifted back to Maryland. The attack occurred at Atlantis Paradise Island Blue Adventures. Stuart Cove’s, the organization that runs the shark diving program, said it…

Boat Reviews
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New Schaefer 660: A Winner from Brazil

Today, when we think of larger, luxurious motoryachts, Brazil probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. But Schaefer has built more than 3,500 yachts there in the past 31 years; it’s now Brazil’s largest builder, with models from 33 to 82 feet, and U.S. headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. The new Schaefer 66 flybridge motoryacht compares well with other builders around the world. The 66 has modern lines that won’t go out of style but that are appealing to the eye. And the 66, with four cabins and three heads below, has all the room for cruising with a…

Charter
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Azimut Starts New Charter Club

Azimut, the upscale Italian builder, just announced that it is starting a new Charter Club, providing tailor-made charter holidays on board some of its recent  yachts. Azimut says the idea behind the club is to offer unforgettable experiences on Azimut yachts that make the yachting lifestyle easy and attractive. The club is designed to provide personalized service throughout the charter, with attention to even small details, all backed by Azimut’s extensive network of dealers and partners. The club will offer a fleet of fully equipped Azimuts up to 78 feet that have been made in the past five years and…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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3 Top New Boats at Dusseldorf

The Düsseldorf show gets underway this Saturday, Jan. 20, with the largest indoor collection of boats of all sizes and shapes in Europe. Many of the boats introduced there by the larger builders make their way to the U.S. for the shows starting next fall; others just drop off our radar screens. But it’s always fun to see what’s being shown there, just to get some fresh ideas. Here are three that caught my eye, and they’re all very different. Steeler 50S TA, where the TA stands for Trans-Atlantic (pictured): A rugged steel and aluminum cruiser that the Dutch builder…

Boat Reviews
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Zeelander Building New 79-foot Flagship

Zeelander just announced that it’s building a new 79-foot-long Zeelander 8 flagship in its recently expanded plant in Holland. This latest Zeelander will be launched this summer, and it will carry the same unmistakable low profile reminiscent of America’s commuter boats of the 1930s and the company’s tapered transom and extendable beach club that set new standards for creating more space on the water. The Zeelander fleet already has a model 5, at 48’ 3”; a 6, at 55’ 9″; and a 7, at 66’ 7”. They all have the same lines, and the new 8 will have the same…

Cruising Life
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Mercury Debuts 2 New Electric Outboards

Mercury just introduced two new, more powerful, Avator electric outboards at the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Mercury now has a total of five electric outboards on the market. The new outboards are called the Avator 75e  (10-hp) and the Avator 110e (15-hp). The high-torque, portable and rechargeable outboards are designed for small boats or tenders for cruising boats. The appeal for larger boat owners is that they can have an environment-friendly outboard for their tender and they don’t have to carry gas on board if they have a diesel-powered cruiser. The new Avators require minimal maintenance, and…

Boat Reviews
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Popular Prestige 520: Still Going Strong

Ever since it was first introduced at the Cannes Yachting Festival in 2017, the Prestige 520 flybridge motoryacht has been one of the French builder’s most popular models. Taking a good look at the newest 520, continually updated through the years, helps to understand why. The Prestige 520 is an elegant, comfortable, easy-to-handle cruiser, with separate social areas in almost every direction. The salon, with an aft galley that serves the cockpit as well as the flybridge, has large windows that provide views all around. In the salon, says Camillo Garroni, of Garroni Design in Genoa, who designed the yacht,…

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