Boat Reviews

Archipelago Launching Methanol-Powered Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on April 23, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Archipelago zero.63, built by Chartwell Marine on the Isle of Wight, aims to become the first expedition-class, recreational boat using methanol power. A relatively new British company, Archipelago launched its first boat, an aluminum-hulled 47 power cat with twin 420-hp Iveco diesels, a 30-knot top speed and a 3,000-nm range, just last summer. Now it wants to bring the methanol-powered version to market, estimating it will have a 20-knot top speed and a 4,000-nm range. The new cat will be powered by a combination of a methanol-reforming system and a methanol combustion engine. It will have a dedicated…

A New Look at U-Boat Worx’s 123-foot Sub

By Peter Janssen on April 19, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

We usually deal with boats that go on top of the water, and cruising boats that are owner-operated, to boot. But U-Boat Worx, the Dutch submarine builder, just released some renderings of its 123-foot Nautilus, and they’re just too good not to share. U-Boat Worx says that Nautilus is “the ultimate adventure vessel” because it’s both a luxurious superyacht on the surface and a submarine that can dive down to 650 feet below the surface, carrying up to 10 passengers and seven crew. Power comes from a series of diesel/electric motors ad a 1,200kWh battery pack. Nautilus was designed in…

Silent Launches New All-Electric Tender

By Peter Janssen on April 19, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Silent Yachts, the creative Austrian builder of solar-powered catamarans, just launched its first all-electric tender, a 13’ 1” Silent Tender 400 that holds six people and can hit a top speed of 20 knots. With a carbon fiber hull, the Silent Tender weighs just 199 pounds, so it can fit on the swim platform of a Silent 60, the company’s smallest cat. The tender also replicates some of the 60’s styling, with angular lines, a lowered bulwark, and a black-and-white finish. The hull is surrounded by a stripe of rubber coating; the company says it resembles the signature window stripe…

Lazzara Building Luxury 70 Power Cat

By Peter Janssen on April 18, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Lazzara Yachts of Tampa is building its first 70 LPC luxury power cat for an owner who wants to cruise the Med. The new Lazzara has some nice luxury touches, including the pool on the upper deck, a full-beam (29 feet) master stateroom with a balcony that folds out of the hull on the starboard side, and glazing all around the main deck to provide spectacular views in every direction. The 70 will be powered by twin 1,000-hp Volvo IPS1350 pod drives, producing a top speed of 28 knots, a cruising speed of 18 knots, and a range of 1,000…

Italy’s Fiart 43 Seawalker: Now in the U.S.

By Peter Janssen on April 17, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Italian-made Fiart 43 Seawalker was something of an eye-catching standout at the recent Palm Beach show, with its plumb stem, low lines and post-modern European design. Although it’s relatively new to the U.S., Fiart is a well-known name in Europe. The company was founded on the Gulf of Naples in 1960. Since then, it’s designed 150 different models and built thousands of boats that were sold across the continent. Fiart now has offices in Spain, France, Croatia, Turkey and Israel. It is represented here by YachtCreators in Fort Lauderdale. The 43 is the flagship of Fiart’s Seawalker line. It’s…

Maritimo To Launch Two New 75s

By Peter Janssen on April 17, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Maritimo will hold the global launches of its new M75 and S75 luxury motor yachts at the Sanctuary Cove boat show in Australia on May 25. The M75, pictured here, is the flybridge version, while the S75 is the sport version of the latest in Maritimo’s highly regarded lineup of made-in-Australia, blue-water cruising yachts. Both have supersized beach clubs aft for lounging, entertaining and enjoying water sports. Made to be the leader of Maritimo’s fleet, the M75 has the space, style, comfort and seakeeping ability to accommodate a family for an offshore cruising vacation. It has four cabins, including a…

New ALVA 90: No Fossil Fuel At All

By Peter Janssen on April 12, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

ALVA Yachts keeps pushing the envelope, building bigger and more high-tech solar/electric yachts. Its latest is a 90-foot luxurious solar/electric catamaran superyacht that gets additional clean power from hydrogen and wing sails. ALVA, a German company founded just three years ago, says its new OCEAN ECO 90 H2, currently in production, will be the first superyacht to run without any fossil fuel at all, with silent, sustainable power and zero emissions. The new 90 H2 will be launched late next year and it should have virtually unlimited range. Standard power for the new yacht comes from two 250-kW electric motors,…

Candela Building Foiling Electric Center Console

By Peter Janssen on April 12, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Candela just announced that it’s building a new 29-foot foiling boat that it says will be the first all-electric center console in the world. The new C-8 CC uses the same high-tech platform as the Candela Daycruiser that was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January. Candela says the Daycruiser is now the best-selling electric boat in the world, with more than 150 orders. An innovative Swedish builder, Candela now wants to enter the center-console market, the largest segment in the U.S., with more than 50,000 boats sold last year. The C-8 CC has two seats…

Greenline To Focus on Larger Yachts

By Peter Janssen on April 12, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Greenline, the trend-setting Slovenian builder, just announced that it will focus on building larger yachts and will discontinue its popular 33 in the summer of 2024. Back in 2008, Greenline staked out its position as the world’s leader in building hybrid production boats with its now iconic 33. It has delivered about 500 of them since then to owners in 50 countries around the world. The Greenline 33 also garnered more than 30 awards along the way, including one for International Boat of the Year. The Greenline 33 was innovative in more than its use of clean solar/electric/diesel technology. The…

Makai 37: A New Cat from a New Builder

By Peter Janssen on April 10, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

A new boat from a new builder, the Makai 37 is building on the growing popularity of power catamarans in a popular size range. The new Makai 37 is a two-stateroom, two-head cruiser with two 320-hp Yanmar diesels and surface-piercing props, delivering a top speed of 38 knots and a range of 750 nm. Twin 370-hp Yanmars are upgrades. Makais are built in Split, Croatia, by a new company lead by people with 20 years of experience in the industry, primarily on the catamaran side. The boat as designed by the Italian designer Emanuele Rossi. On its website, Makai says…

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