Boat Reviews

First Look at New, Outboard-Powered Back Cove 34O Running at 39 Knots. See the Video

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

Here’s a first look at the brand-new Back Cove 34O running with twin 350-hp Suzukis. The first outboard Back Cove (and the first twin-engine Back Cove), this new made-in-Maine cruiser topped out at a rapid pace of 39 knots right out of the box. It is still being tweaked, and will make its first public appearance at the Newport International Boat Show starting Sept. 13. The boat represents a major breakthrough for Back Cove, which has been building single-engine, diesel-powered cruisers since 2003. It is based on the Back Cove 32, a classic Down East couple’s boat, which was named…

New Axopar 37: A Fun, Fast and Very Cool Cruiser from Finland

By Peter Janssen on August 15, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The long, low, slender Axopar 37 Cabin, along with its smaller sibling, the Axopar 28 Cabin, caught my eye as I was walking down the dock at the recent Maine Boat Show in Rockland. The Axopars are definitely distinctive; they don’t look like any other boat out there. And they did attract a lot of attention, for two obvious reasons: They look like they’re fun, and they’re built for the way a lot of people are using their boats today. Axopars, it turns out, have impressed a lot of people around the world. Indeed, the 37 was voted Motor Boat…

Beneteau Launches New Antares Line of Outboard-Powered Pocket Cruisers

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

Beneteau has just launched a new line of outboard-powered pocket coastal cruisers. Called the Antares, the new line has a 27, 23 and 21, all products of the Beneteau design team and meant to be introductory boats for coastal or lake cruising. All powered by Mercury outboards, the 27 has twin 200-hp engines; the 23 a single 250-hp engine, and the 21 a single 175-hp engine. A bow thruster is optional to help with docking. The Antares 27 has a glass sliding door opening to the salon from the cockpit. With light coming in from a panoramic sunroof and large…

For a First, Selene Builds a New 19.5-Knot 59 Ocean Clipper, A Pilothouse Trawler with a Touch of Speed

By Peter Janssen on August 7, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The 59 Ocean Clipper represents a new chapter for Selene, which has a well-earned reputation for building traditional full-displacement trawler yachts. But a Selene repeat owner wanted a faster boat to explore the Med. As a result, Selene built the new 59 Ocean Clipper, which combines all the long-range cruising comfort and space of a trawler with a new semi-displacement hull and twin 715-hp Cummins diesels that produce a top speed of 19.5 knots. For the new 59 Ocean Clipper, Selene worked with the veteran Dutch designer Guido de Groot. The boat is a contemporary, teak-filled pilothouse cruiser, with three…

Tactical 77: Brand-New, Go-Anywhere, Long-Range Cruiser with an Attitude

By Peter Janssen on August 1, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Here’s a new long-range cruiser with a different look and an attitude: the Tactical 77 Fast Pilothouse Motoryacht. Serious and military-looking on the outside, the new Tactical 77 is luxurious and comfortable on the inside, ready to take its owner and guests just about anywhere in the world. The boat was designed by William Prince Yacht Design, in Port Washington, Wisconsin, and it’s being built by Tactical Custom Boats in British Columbia. Prince designed the aluminum yacht for a North American client who wanted a military look combined with a contemporary and sleek interior. The superstructure is built with carbon-fiber…

Azimut Launches New 59-foot High-Tech, High-Style S6 Sport Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on July 26, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Azimut will launch its new high-style, high-tech, 59-foot S6 sport cruiser at the Cannes Yachting Festival starting Sept. 11. The latest in the Italian builder’s S series, the three-stateroom, two-head boat features the glazed hull surfaces and distinct bow cap that make the series easily recognizable. It also features carbon fiber construction and three Volvo 550-hp diesels with IPS700 pod drives for fuel efficiency, quiet cruising and fingertip-easy low-speed maneuvering around a dock. With an exterior by superyacht designer Stefano Righini, the Azimut S6 sports a low profile, highly raked windshield and equally low and raked radar arch. The interior…

New All-Electric Q30 from Finland: Elegant Lines, 80-nm Range, and Light Enough to Tow Behind Your Tesla

By Peter Janssen on July 23, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

With its super-modern, minimalist clean lines and all-white aesthetic, the new all-electric Q30 from Finland’s Q-Yachts is designed to make a statement. It wants to be the future of boating. It already is quiet and has no emissions, almost no wake, and a cool factor that is off the charts. As one reviewer said, if Apple were to introduce a 30-foot boat, the Q30 would be it. And it performs. The Q30 is powered by a single Oceanvolt AXC20 electric motor and an Oceanvolt 30kWh lithium battery pack; a 60kWh pack is an option. It cruises at 9 knots and…

Hunt Launches New 54 Express, Smallest in Its Prize-Winning Ocean Series

By Peter Janssen on July 16, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Hull number one of Hunt Yachts’ new 54 Express is just getting out of the test tank in Taiwan and is almost ready to ship. The smallest yacht in Hunt’s Ocean Series, which goes up to 84 feet, the new 54 Express carries all of Hunt’s legendary craftsmanship, elegant, clean lines, and the deep-V hull that has defined superior offshore performance for more than half a century. The new 54 has the same low profile, long sheer and classic looks that have made Hunts easily recognizable around the world. The first in this new series has a foam-green-colored hull, which…

Palm Beach Launches New Line of Elegant, Head-Turning Performance Yachts

By Peter Janssen on July 10, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Palm Beach has just launched a new GT series of elegant, fuel-efficient, high performance and head-turning yachts. Indeed, take a look at the wraparound windshield, the low profile, the long sheer line and the gorgeous tumblehome that would do a Down East boat proud, all on hull number one of the new Palm Beach GT50 Express. That boat will have its world debut at the Newport International Boat Show, starting Sept. 13, while other models in the series, going up to 70-footer, will follow. Palm Beach said it developed the GT series after finding a void in the high-performance motor…

New Low, Fast, Pretty, 63-foot Lynx Commuter from Zurn Yacht Design

By Peter Janssen on July 10, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Doug Zurn has done it again: Another pretty boat, from Zurn Yacht Design. The new 63-foot Lynx Commuter has most of Zurn’s traditional design elements, many dating back to the Shelter Island 38 Runabout that was launched more than two decades ago. Hull number one of the Lynx Commuter, a modern version of the low, fast, commuter boats that carried the rich and famous from their Long Island mansions to work on Wall Street in the 1930s, was designed as a tender for a superyacht, but subsequent hulls can function as a day cruiser or weekender in their own right.…

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