Boat Reviews

Lagoon 630: A Large, Luxurious, Long-Legged Cat

By Peter Janssen on February 4, 2017 Boat Reviews

A large power catamaran from a highly regarded French builder, the new Lagoon 630 offers a combination of blue-water performance and luxurious living on board. Hull number one of the new 630 cruised on her own bottom from France to Florida, evidence of her sea-going qualities. And the cat’s twin hulls, with 32-foot-plus beam, provide stability at sea plus opening up enormous amounts of space for entertaining and relaxing underway or at anchor. Part of the Beneteau Group, Lagoon has made more than 3,000 large sailing catamarans over the years. The new power 630 is built on the successful Lagoon…

Sirena Yachts 64: First of a New Brand of German-Frers Designed Cruisers

By Peter Janssen on February 1, 2017 Boat Reviews

Just introduced at the large Dusseldorf boat show, the new Sirena Yachts 64 offers a world-class design pedigree and the promise of comfortable long-range cruising on a three-stateroom, three-head thoroughly modern yacht. The new Sirena 64 is designed by German Frers, one of the best names in naval architecture, with an interior by Spadolini Design Studio. It is built in Turkey, the first hull produced by Sirena Yachts, the powerboat arm of Sirena Marine. Founded in 2008, Sirena Marine has built some 250 powerboats so far, including the Magellano brand for Azimut. The new 64 has been an immediate hit.…

Sunreef 60: A New Power Cat with a Luxurious Master Stateroom

By Peter Janssen on January 31, 2017 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

One of the larger and more luxurious power catamarans, the new 60 Sunreef Power Ocean’s 11 comes with a seaworthy hull, spacious public and private areas (inside and out) offering panoramic views, and a cruising range of some 3,000 nm. Sunreef was started in 2003 by Francis Lapp, who was then running a catamaran charter company; he wanted to build his own large custom cats to supply his fleet using the historic shipyard in Gdansk, Poland. Today, more than 90 large Sunreef cats, power and sail, are cruising in waters around the world. But the new 60 Sunreef Power Ocean’s…

New, Retro Huckins 36: Coming Full Circle

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

Some boat designs are meant to last, to have the same appeal many years – or generations – down the road as they did the day they were first launched. That certainly is the case with the new Huckins 36 Sportsman, which the legendary company is calling the 36-36 Sportsman because the original Sportsman 36 was created by Frank Pembroke Huckins, the company’s founder, back in 1936. Today the Jacksonville builder is run by Huckins’ granddaughter, Cindy Purcell, and her husband, Buddy. They say that with the new 36 that Huckins isn’t jumping on the retro bandwagon – since they…

New Doug Zurn-Designed Duffield 58: Quiet, Elegant, Fuel-Efficient

By Peter Janssen on January 18, 2017 Boat Reviews

It’s not a surprise that when Marshall “Duffy” Duffield wanted a new cruising boat for himself that fuel efficiency and quiet operation were top priorities. After all, Duffield owns the Duffy Electric Boat Company, and electric boats are nothing if not quiet and fuel efficient. To design his new trawler, which Duffy will run himself, he turned to Doug Zurn, the Marblehead, Mass., designer who’s already drawn fuel-efficient, quiet – and beautiful – boats for MJM Yachts, Marlow, Vanquish and Samoset, plus the Shelter Island Runabout and Vendetta for Billy Joel. “I wanted a traditional-looking boat that was proportionally correct…

New Cutwater 30: Easy Cruising with Twin Yamaha 300s

By Peter Janssen on December 14, 2016 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The trend toward outboard power keeps getting stronger and stronger. Now Cutwater Boats is introducing a new 30-footer with twin Yamaha 300-hp outboards because, says Cutwater President John Livingston, “We’ve had customers asking us to build a boat like this for a while now.” Livingston also says the new boat is “our biggest, fastest and most exciting Cutwater to date. The boat absolutely screams across the water.” I haven’t tried the new 30 yet, but two summers ago I drove a Cutwater 28, with a single 260-hp Volvo diesel, from New York Harbor to Quebec City, and it cruised easily…

First Look at New, Super-Exclusive Mercedes-Benz 46-footer Sea Trial

By Peter Janssen on December 1, 2016 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Yes, I know this isn’t the typical cruising boat that we usually write about, but I think it’s just too cool to ignore. The first-ever Mercedes-Benz boat, here on a sea trial, will be ready for sale next spring. With twin 480-hp Yanmars, the new 46-foot-long Benz is supposed to top out at 40 knots (I had a Mercedes many years ago that did that in second gear!), but then this boat is both multi-national and super-exclusive. The German Mercedes-Benz boat is being built by Silver Arrows Marine Project in Monaco, although construction is in Switzerland. And they’re only going…

Aspen C120: A Cat with a Difference

By Peter Janssen on November 17, 2016 Boat Reviews

The new 42-foot Aspen C120 power cat is anything but just another pretty boat. Developed by Larry Graf, one of the more creative people in boating, the new C120, like all Aspens, has an asymmetrical proa hull (think of native boats in the South Pacific), where the port side is 35 percent narrower than the starboard side, which houses the single 330-hp Volvo diesel. The point: Stability, performance and above all, fuel efficiency. Graf says the boat burns just 11 gph at 17 knots. Graf founded Aspen Power Catamarans in Burlington, Washington, in 2008; he had founded Glacier Bay Power…

MJM 35Z: An Elegant, Fast, Outboard Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on November 1, 2016 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

We first reported on plans for the new MJM 35Z back in September. Now we can flesh out the details of this latest collaboration between Douz Zurn, the designer, and Bob Johnstone, the founder of MJM, and so far the new outboard-powered 35Z is living up to our expectations. It’s no surprise that the new boat has all the classic Down East lines of earlier MJMs, with its low profile, gentle tumblehome and long sheerline. Or that it’s a serious offshore boat, with a 20-degree deadrise at the transom and the highest rating for stability and seaworthiness for any boat…

Eye-Catching, But Still Traditional, Ellis 28 Just Launched

By Peter Janssen on October 31, 2016 Boat Reviews

It doesn’t get much more traditional and Down East than this – an Ellis 28 “lobsteryacht” just launched in the company’s family-owned yard in Southwest Harbor, Maine. I’m pretty sure that it never crossed Don Ellis’ mind that he’d be building a red-hulled boat when he took over the Bunker and Ellis yard in the early ‘80s. He’s launched 300 boats since then, with the 28 as the most popular. (The Ellis line goes from 20 to 36 feet, and Ellis’ two sons are now running things.) Ellis started out with traditional lobster boats and then turned to fishing and…

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