Boat Reviews

New Vicem 65 IPS Classic: A Down-East Look from a Veteran Turkish Builder

By Peter Janssen on September 29, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Vicem 65 IPS Classic, the Turkish-built yacht with classic Down East lines, will have its world debut at the Annapolis powerboat show starting Oct. 11. The new low-profile beauty with its long sheerline and built-in-Maine-like tumblehome is the 153rd yacht built in Vicem’s 27-year history, and its 12th in the 60-foot segment. Powered by twin 800-hp Volvo diesels with IPS 1050 pod drives, the new Vicem cruises at 26 knots and tops out at 30 knots. At its cruising speed, the boat has a range of about 420 nm. Because of its cold-molded construction process using marine mahogany, Vicem…

We Test the New, Prize-Winning Back Cove 34O: A Fast, Fun and Game-Changing Couple’s Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on September 25, 2018 Boat Reviews

I nailed it. As I jammed the throttles all the way forward, I realized this isn’t your father’s Back Cove. Actually, it isn’t like any other Back Cove ever, and I’ve driven every new model since Back Cove introduced its first one, a 29, in 2003. Back then, Sabre Yachts created Back Cove as a single-diesel, low-maintenance, user-friendly Down East cruising boat. But now, on this brand-new Back Cove 34O, all that was ancient history. Powered by twin 300-hp Yamaha outboards, the Back Cove simply took off. As the props dug in, there was a bit of bow rise and…

New 38-Knot Princess V60 Cruiser To Make Debut in Annapolis

By Peter Janssen on September 25, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new 38-knot Princess V60 will make its U.S. debut at the Annapolis powerboat show, starting Oct. 11. Twin 1,200-hp MAN V-8 diesels power the new Princess, with three staterooms and two heads and a clean, Euro-style salon, to a cruising speed of 32 knots. Built at the Princess factory in Plymouth, England, the new V60 is designed for luxury, sociability and performance. The cockpit is a major social center, with a U-shaped lounge with a teak folding table and directors chairs. It’s equipped with a full wet bar and barbeque. It has a large sunpad aft; a garage below…

New Sunreef 40 Luxury Power Cat Wins Second Award for Innovation

By Peter Janssen on September 21, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The innovative, creative and greatly expandable Sunreef 40 just won the award for the Best Power-Driven Catamaran at the World Yachts Trophies ceremony at Cannes during the yacht show there. The award recognized the Sunreef 40 Open Power Diamond Limited Edition as one of the best and most innovative yachts in the world. The Cannes award was the second for the Sunreef 40. It also won the award as the Best Recreational Boat Up To 45 Feet at the Asian Boating Awards during the Singapore Yacht Show in April. Sunreef introduced its first foiling cat at the Cannes show four years…

New, All-Electric, Foiling Sea Bubble Is Built to Beat Traffic. See It In Action in Paris

By Peter Janssen on September 19, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Now being tested in the Seine in Paris, the all-electric Sea Bubble, a 16-foot, all-electric hydrofoil, could be the water taxi of the future. In other permutations, it also could take you around your harbor or lake, or simply give you a new, cool, eco-friendly vessel. The founders of Sea Bubble say you should think of it as “a James Bond car, available for everybody, but with zero waves, zero noise, zero CO2 emissions.” Designed by Alain Thébault, who also designed the record-setting 50-knot-plus Hydroptère, a sailing hydrofoil trimaran, the Sea Bubble is powered by two electrically driven props. You…

New Bracewell 41 Trawler Makes East Coast Debut in Annapolis; Based on Hull from Camano 41

By Peter Janssen on September 17, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Bracewell 41 trawler, built from the tooling for the popular Camano 41, will make its east coast debut at the Annapolis powerboat show, starting Oct. 11. The Bracewell has already been shown in Seattle. The new two-stateroom Bracewell uses Camano’s seaworthy hull and keel design, with its low center of gravity, and it include lots of upgrades for more comfort and aesthetics. Powered by a standard 435-hp Volvo diesel or a 480-hp Cummins, the Bracewell cruises efficiently in the 8- to 16-knot range. The boat has a pronounced bow flare to knock down spray. The side decks are…

Jeanneau Launches New 35-Foot Cruising Boat With Twin 300-hp Yamahas

By Peter Janssen on September 11, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Jeanneau has just launched its new 35-foot outboard-powered NC 1095 cruising boat, the flagship of its NC (New Concept) fleet. The new 38-knot cruiser will make its U.S. debut at the Annapolis powerboat show, starting Oct. 11. The new cruiser from the prestigious French builder is powered by twin 300-hp Yamaha F300 four-stroke outboards. It cruises at about 25 knots, and is remarkably fuel efficient, burning about 1 nmpg at that speed. It is available in a two- or three-stateroom arrangement, with additional sleeping space for two in the convertible dinette area in the salon. The cockpit and salon are…

Lexus Will Launch Its New LY 650 Luxury Yacht, Built in Wisconsin, Next Year

By Peter Janssen on September 9, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Lexus just announced it will launch its new LY 650 luxury yacht, which will be built in Wisconsin, in 2019. The LY 650 is the fourth in the brand’s new fleet, a 65-footer that Lexus says will be designed with the “L-finesse” language and aesthetic. The company, part of Toyota, unveiled its Lexus Sport Yacht Concept at the Miami boat show in 2017. That design won the “Boat of the Year” award at the Japan International Boat Show, where Shigeki Tomoyama, the executive vice president of Toyota, announced the company’s partnership with the Marquis-Larson Boat Group in Pulaski, Wisconsin. Marquis-Larson…

Back Cove Tests Twin 300-hp Yamaha and 350-hp Suzuki Outboards on Its New 34O. The Suzukis Are 3 Knots Faster

By Peter Janssen on September 5, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

It’s not often that you can compare the performance of a brand-new boat with different power configurations, but Back Cove has just released that information for its new 34O (for outboard) cruiser that will make its public debut at the Newport International Boat Show, starting Sept. 13. The standard power for the Maine-built couple’s cruiser is two 300-hp Yamaha outboards; two 350-hp Suzukis are an option. Here’s how they performed. Back Cove tested the two power options three days apart in mid-August with about the same fuel, water and load in similar sea conditions on West Penobscot Bay near the…

Sleek and Luxurious New Hunton 55: Cruising in the Fast Lane

By Peter Janssen on September 2, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Going back to its racing and high-performance heritage, Hunton Yachts is building a new 55-foot luxury cruiser with twin MAN 1,0000-hp diesels and Arneson surface-piercing drives that is expected to top out at a swift 55 to 60 knots. That means you could cruise from say, Miami to Nassau in the Bahamas, or New York to Nantucket, and leave after breakfast and arrive in time for lunch. And with the Hunton’s spectacular looks, you’ll be guaranteed to catch a lot of attention along the way. The new Hunton will be constructed using all epoxy composite and the vacuum bagged, resin-infusion…

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