Sunday, December 22

Browsing: Boat Reviews

By now, we’re all familiar with the “beach club” or “terrace” trends in current yacht design, where the aft deck and swim platform combine into a social zone that extends out over the water or the sides of the bulwarks drop down to provide more useable space when the yacht’s stopped. To varying degrees, you could see these concepts on boats both large and small at boat shows all around the world in the past few years. Now, Pastrovich Studios in Monaco has taken those ideas one step (or several steps) further. Pastrovich, a highly regarded firm with a reputation…

Lyman-Morse just announced that it’s building a new cold-molded Hood 42 flybridge cruiser, representing the third joint venture between Lyman-Morse, in Thomaston, Maine, and C.W. Hood Yachts, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The two companies have already created the Hood 35 LM and the Hood 57 LM, all carrying a timeless Downeast profile, lines and pedigree. The design is inspired by classic Wasque cruisers. Lyman-Morse says that while the new Hood 42 LM “may evoke a golden age of yachting on the outside, under the waterline she sports a modern hull shape optimized for comfort and performance, and she’s constructed with the…

Maritimo, the Australian builder that’s celebrating its 20th anniversary, just announced that its launching a new Black Edition series of refinements and upgrades across its 55, 60 and 600 series of luxury motor yachts. The changes start with Maritimo’s already spacious open cockpits that connect to full cruising galleys inside the salon. The new Black Edition includes a redesigned larger transom island that separates the swim platform from the cockpit. The Black Edition has an upgraded lounge and barbeque area and a new forward-facing cockpit lounge. There’s  also a new door to access the lazarette, next to the built-in fridge,…

Princess Yachts, the upscale British builder, just announced at the Palm Beach show that it’s building a new F58, a three-stateroom luxury flybridge cruiser. The F58 is the latest member of Princess’ F series, which already includes a 55 and 65. Easily handled by a couple, with helm stations in the salon and up top on the open flybridge, the new Princess is powered by twin 1,000-hp MAN diesels. Optional 1,200-hp MANs are upgrades if you want even more power. It comes with a low profile, particularly for a flybridge yacht, with sporty lines accented by a slash of glazing…

A German start-up is now starting sea trials on its new all-electric, high-performance 31-foot RIB that cruises at 30 knots and hits 50 knots at its top speed. The company is called eD-TEC, which stands for Electric Driven Technology. Based in Munich, the company was founded by Michael Jost, the former chief strategy officer for Volkswagen, and the new carbon-fiber monohull was developed by Sven Akermann, who’s been designing performance sail and power boats since 2007. The 31-footer is the first in a range of RIBS from 22 to 55 feet. It’s due to be delivered this summer, and it’s…

Lexus just unveiled its new 68-foot LY (for Luxury Yacht) 680, a new and slightly larger version of the LY 650 it launched in 2018. The new 68 will be built by the Horizon Group in Taiwan, which produces models from 52 to 150 feet. Lexus says that Horizon has “a reputation for its advanced technological capabilities, which have been honed through the construction of superyachts.” Standard power is twin 800-hp Volvo IPS1050 pod drives; twin 1,000-hp IPS1350s are upgrades. Lexus says the concept of the new 680 is “to feel like a hideout in the middle of the sea,…

Hull number one of Nordhavn’s new 51-foot blue-water cruiser just took a 600-nm shakedown run from Istanbul, near its factory in Turkey, to Rhodes in Greece, through some of the most beautiful cruising grounds in the world. Along the way, the new owners, Mark and Fiona Rammell, were able to try out their new boat on its first venture in what they plan as a multi-year exploration of the Med, the coast of England and then the U.S. before returning to their home waters in New Zealand. Rammell is a retired pilot for Air New Zealand, and he and Fiona…

It may have been the somewhat-orange color, or it may have been the idea of a helicopter landing on the top deck, but The Keys, a custom Valder Yachts 66-foot foiling catamaran, got a lot of attention at the Palm Beach show last week. Built in New Zealand, the brainchild of offshore racer Wayne Valder, The Keys is designed as a fast, comfortable offshore boat powered by twin 1,300-hp MAN turbo diesels, ZF gears and custom five-blade props. It has a foil about half way aft in the hull that lifts the boat up above the surface at 17.5 knots.…

Riviera has launched its new 58 Sports Motor Yacht, a versatile cruiser with room for a family or group of friends to spend a lot of time on board in a variety of settings. One appealing spot is a terrace that’s aft of the salon and just a few steps up from the lower cockpit. This al fresco deck is protected by the overhang from the flybridge up top, and by glass quarter panels on the sides. It has U-shaped seating around a high-gloss dining table and a settee, and a window opens to connect it directly to the galley…

North Pacific Yachts is making its new flagship, a 590 Pilothouse, designed for serious cruising couples or families who want to spend a long time on board. With offices in Surrey, British Columbia, just outside Vancouver, North Pacific makes five models from 44 to 59 feet. John Brice and his son, Trevor, started the company by showing their first boat, a 43, at the Seattle show in 2004. They’ve made more than 150 yachts since then, and Trevor runs the company. The boats are made near Shanghai, China. North Pacific prides itself on working directly with its owners. The first…

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