Author Peter Janssen

Cruising Life
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Fishing Boat Hits Containership, Sinks

A fishing boat hit a containership in the middle of the night and sank in the Atlantic about 55 miles southeast of Chincoteague, Virginia, in October, 2022, because the mate did not keep a lookout while he was trying to fix the boat’s malfunctioning gyrocompass, according to a just-issued report from the National Transportation Safety Board. All 13 people on board the fishing boat were saved by two good Samaritan vessels and a Coast Guard helicopter a few hours later. No one was injured. The NTSB report gives the following account of the collision: The Rita, a 1,066-foot-long containership, was…

Boat Reviews
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New, Light, Carbon-Fiber Latitude 86

The world of luxury power catamarans just keeps getting bigger and better. But now it’s also getting lighter and faster, as well. Indeed, the new long, low and lean 86-foot catamaran named Laniakea from Latitude Yachts is designed to be the lightest in the world for its size. Now being built at the Latitude factory in Riga, Latvia, on the Baltic, it is made of carbon fiber composite and will weigh in at 49.5 tons, or 30 or 40 tons less than other power cats the same size that are made of traditional fiberglass or aluminum. The light weight, of…

Boat Reviews
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MJM Launches New 4 with Volvo Diesels

MJM has launched its first MJM 4 open-bow performance yacht with twin Volvo diesel engines. In tests off its factory in Washington, North Carolina, the 46’ 8” boat topped out at just over 45 mph. And it was quiet. At an easy cruising speed of 29 knots, it registered just 71.3 dB(A) at the helm. I drove the original MJM 4 off Newport, Rhode Island, with Peter Johnstone, the president of the company, when it was launched in September, 2022. Then it was powered by two 600-hp Mercury V12 outboards. It was fun and fast, with a top speed of…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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New Tiara EX 54 To Debut in Miami

Tiara is building a new EX 54 express yacht, the second in its EX series after the flagship EX 60 was launched in 2022. The new EX 54 is scheduled to make its public debut at the big Miami boat show that starts on Feb. 14. The 54 is a three-stateroom, two-head cruiser with an open salon and a modular, customizable aft deck with terraces that fold down on both sides to make it even larger. Standard power comes from twin 725-hp Volvo IPS950 pod drives. We don’t have any estimated performance figures yet, but the EX 60, with 1,000-hp…

Boat Reviews
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Sunreef Unveils New, Slender 66 Ultima

Sunreef, the major Polish builder, just unveiled plans for a new 66 Ultima catamaran that the company says combines the best of both multihull and monohull luxury cruisers. Sunreef’s Ultima line, with four other cats from 44 to 88 feet, is thinner and sleeker, with a more modern look, than the company’s other yachts. Its reduced width (with a beam of just 23’ 9” on a 72’ 2”LOA) and high decks create a horizontal surface between the two hulls, resulting in an unusually spacious full-beam master stateroom. The 66 Ultima also has high bows inverted above a chine that runs…

Boat Reviews
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Cockwells Launches Hardy 50 Explorer

Cockwells has just launched its new Hardy 50DS blue-water cruiser, designed to take on the waters of the world. Powered by twin 725-hp Volvo diesels with straight shafts, the Hardy 50 can hit a top speed of 29 knots, but if you dial back to 8 knots the range is more than 1,500 nm. Cockwells, in Falmouth, England, bought the Hardy line in 2020 and launched a 65 two years ago as its motoryacht flagship. The new 50DS is designed as the little sister of the 65, with all the robust oceangoing capabilities, but in a smaller package, making it…

Boat Reviews
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New High-Tech Toro 40 Cat

Here’s a new brand of  power catamaran, the Foilborne 40 from Toro Yachts, a Holland, Michigan, builder that uses the talents and techniques of America’s Cup sailors and designers. Powered by twin 450-hp Mercury outboards (set wide apart on the cat’s 13-foot transom), Toro’s Foilborne 40 tops out at 57 knots, and has a range of a full 530 nm at 35 knots. Upgrading to twin 600-Mercury outboards adds another ten knots or so to the top speed. Toro Yachts was founded by Brian MacInnes and his wife, Danelle. A professional sailor, MacInnes has four America’s Cup campaigns with Oracle…

Charter
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Flexjet Starts Helicopter Flights to Bahamas

Flexjet has just started helicopter service from Florida to the Bahamas, making it easy to fly to and from your charter or your cruising boat in the islands. On one of the company’s Sikorsky S-76 helicopters, you can fly from Miami to Bimini in 25 minutes, or from Palm Beach to Baker’s Bay in the Abacos in an hour and 20 minutes. That means you could get back for an important business meeting, for example, or a wedding, or a medical procedure, and return to the islands easily without a major interruption in your cruising schedule. Flexjet won approval for…

Boat Reviews
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Candela Launches New Polestar Foiler

Candela, the Swedish electric boat builder, just teamed up with Polestar, the Swedish electric car builder, to create a new Candela Polestar Edition foiling sportboat using Polestar’s hefty electric powerpack. The 28’ 3” Candela C-8 Polestar Edition uses the same 69 kWh battery pack that’s in the Polestar 2 electric performance fastback car, which offers DC charging, so the foiling boat now has additional range and a fast charging time. The boat’s range is 57 nm at a cruising speed of 22 knots, and the ride is comfortable, since the boat flies above the waves on its foils, cruising without…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Austin Parker 56: High-Style Cat

The new Austin Parker Cat 56 is certainly not your average garden-variety power catamaran. Indeed, the high-styled cat looks like a state-of-the-art superyacht, overcoming the floating-box shape that has defined many recent entries in this fast-growing market segment. A boutique Italian builder, Austin Parker worked with some heavy hitters for the new 56, its first  power catamaran. It hired the legendary Pininfarina design office (think Ferrari Europa, Lancia Aurelia and Alfa Romeo Spider) and the creative Fulvio De Simoni Yacht Design office (Rossinavi, Pershing and Filippetti, as well as some recent Austin Parkers). The two designers set up an office…

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