Boat Reviews

New Aquila Flagship: Luxurious, Spacious 48-foot Power Cat

By Peter Janssen on August 14, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new flagship of the Aquila power catamaran fleet, the Aquila 48 offers a combination of space, luxury, performance and easy living, whether you’re on an ocean cruise or a charter vacation. Designed from the start as a powerboat, the Aquila 48 comes in two versions: one with three cabins and three heads, or the other with four cabins and four heads. In the three-cabin arrangement, privacy is assured, with the owner’s stateroom taking up the entire port hull, with a large en suite head and shower, while two matching guest cabins are in the starboard hull, each with its…

Beneteau’s New Flagship: Gran Turismo 50 with Lots of French Styling

By Peter Janssen on August 9, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Beneteau is planning a new flagship, the Gran Turismo 50, with either two or three staterooms, the company’s trademark French styling, and lots of social and entertaining spaces inside and out. The large lounge in the cockpit is fully flush with the salon, creating an easy flow of guests inside and out. The cockpit is protected by the overhang from the flybridge, and is meant for entertaining with an exterior galley and grill. The large swim platform is submersible for water sports, and the garage is large enough to hold a Williams Minijet. The interior, by Andreani Design, is bright,…

Helmsman Trawlers Bring New 38-foot Cruiser to the Chesapeake

By Peter Janssen on August 2, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Helmsman Trawlers, single-engine cruisers built in China and popular on the West Coast, now have a demo boat for sale in the Chesapeake area. The new Helmsman Trawlers 38E will be at Bay Bridge Marina on Kent Island, across the bay from Annapolis; it will be displayed at the Annapolis power show in October. Built in Fuzhou, China, Helmsman are designed for owners who want a quality cruising boat but don’t want to overpay for one. They are sold factory direct, to reduce costs to consumers. The Helmsman line runs from 31 to 43 feet. The 38E has a unique…

Nordhavn 59 Coastal Pilot Heads for East Coast Shows

By Peter Janssen on August 1, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Hull number one of the 20-knot Nordhavn 59 Coastal Pilot is on its way to the east coast, where it will be displayed at the fall boat shows, starting with Newport, Rhode Island, in early September. This three-stateroom, two-head Nordhavn, which tops out at twice the speed of previous Nordhavns, is the first to be built for coastal cruising, as opposed to the open-ocean, blue-water boats that have made the company famous. “This is a boat for people who don’t need ocean-crossing capabilities,” says Jim Leishman, vice president of PAE, Nordhavn’s parent company. Designed for owners moving down from larger…

Inviting New Leader 33: A Creative Cruiser with Lots Space

By Peter Janssen on July 25, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Leader 33 has some of the most creative uses of space, both in the cockpit (which simply flows into the helm deck) and the master stateroom (which converts into a below-deck social area) that I’ve encountered in recent memory. To give owners even more choices, the Leader 33 has various gas and diesel power options that range from MerCruiser sterndrives to Volvos with a joystick. You step on board the new Leader, made by Jeanneau, the prestigious French builder, through a small stainless-steel swinging gate leading from the starboard side of the large swim platform into the cockpit.…

Owners Take 1,200-Mile Shakedown Cruise on New Outer Reef 610

By Peter Janssen on July 18, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

How’s this for a shakedown cruise? The new owners of an Outer Reef 610 Motoryacht just took it from Fort Lauderdale to their home port of Newport, Rhode Island., covering 1,200 nm in five days and six hours with just two pit stops along the way. The good news: Sandana, the new boat, didn’t miss a beat along the way. As part of the shakedown, Outer Reef Captain John Dennison helped drive the boat, while the owners, Dan and Sandy, got used to their new 61-footer and all its systems. They’re shown above enjoying the view from Sandana’s Portuguese bridge…

Beneteau Launches New Swift Trawler 35, an Upgrade of a Cruising Favorite

By Peter Janssen on July 17, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Beneteau is updating its popular Swift Trawler 34 this fall with a new Swift Trawler 35 after an eight-year run. The new 35 has all the features of the 34, plus upgrades inside and out, the most obvious being new twin transom doors that open out to create a massive open space from the swim platform through the cockpit into the salon. I have a very warm spot in my heart for the Beneteau Swift Trawler 34. Five years ago, I spent more than a week on one with George Sass Sr., the photographer, as we cruised 700 miles of…

We Test the New MJM 35Z with Twin Outboards. WOW!

By Peter Janssen on July 13, 2017 Boat Reviews

It was a Chamber of Commerce summer morning when we headed out of Newport Shipyard on Zinnia, hull number one of the new MJM 35Z, with a beautiful light blue sky, the wind coming in from the ocean at an easy 15 knots or so, the waves on Narragansett Bay just about two feet with gentle, breaking, white foam on top. Leaving the dock, Bob Johnstone, the founder of MJM Yachts (and J/Boats before that), turned the teak joystick under his left hand and walked the boat sideways, the twin 300-hp Mercury Verado outboards pushing the boat in any direction…

Sunreef Launches Supreme 68 Power Cat With Lots of Light and Space

By Peter Janssen on July 11, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sunreef will introduce its new, massive Supreme 68 power catamaran at the Cannes yacht show in September, the newest model in the Supreme line that runs from 48 to 88 feet. The amount of attractive, modern, bright living space on the new Sunreef Supreme 68 is simply stunning: Indeed, the company says the new cat has 3,250 square feet of living space, more than many upscale New York City apartments. You enter the boat from two wide staircases leading up from the swim platform, and walk into the salon through large glass doors. Filled with light, the salon has sole-to-ceiling…

Iconic John’s Bay Boat Company Launches New 42-foot Down East Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on July 4, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

For Peter Kass, who’s run the John’s Bay Boat Company in South Bristol, Maine, for the past 34 years, each boat is an original. So far, he’s built 60 boats, all plank on frame, and each one – whether a working lobster boat or a pleasure boat version – is unique. Kass’ boats also are in demand, with a five-year waiting list. If you order a John’s Bay boat today, you can plan for the launch party in 2022. Kass just launched his latest, a 42-foot lobster-yacht called Rhum, for Leslie and Alan Hull, two former sailors from Friendship, Maine.…

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