Saturday, December 21

Browsing: Boat Reviews

The Finnish builder of stylish, purposeful express cruisers, Sargo introduced their flagship 45 at the Dusseldorf show in 2023. It still is a head turner. A two or three-cabin express cruiser with a large, all-weather salon, the 45 has a sleek low roof profile, forward windows that are tilted forward and a useful cockpit and slim platform aft. The salon windows are huge and can be opened in warm weather. Starting at the swim platform, you’ll find a large locker for fenders and docking lines built into the deck. On the port side, a stern anchor and roller is fully…

The Dutch builder Doggersbank which has been building rugged steel-hulled offshore cruising boats since 1968 took the opportunity at the Cannes boat show to introduce two new models at 90 and 105 feet. Designed by the Dutch naval architects Vripack, the new designs add modern styling and updated arrangements to the line. In both designs, the bows are sharper than in the past, the sheer lines are crisper and the glazings in the hulls, salon and bridge are much larger with modern shapes. The boats will still have the Doggersbank DNA with welded steel hulls that can stand up to…

One of the boats that caught my eye while at the Cannes Boat Show was the Greek-built Omikron 60 power cruiser. The boat was designed by Juan Koyoumdjian who is best known for his stylish and fast cruising and racing sailboats. The builder’s brief to the designer was for a family cruiser that offers the quiet and peace of a sailboat with the luxury and conveniences of a powerboat. The Omikron 60 is the result and it’s traditional deck house and strong sheer line have echoes of Eastern Mediterranean boats from the 1950s. Missing is the acre of varnished mahogany,…

Cannes, France—This afternoon at the Cannes Boat Show, I had the good fortune to discover one of the best kept secrets, from Americans anyway, in family cruising boats. Along the crowded quay in a section with several Scandinavian builders, there were four sport-style coupes with teak decks, large aft platforms and streamlined cabins that had something different about them. Across from the boats was a tasteful and stylish land booth for Marex Yachts of Norway. This was not entirely an accident as sometimes happens at boat shows. I had been invited to visit the boats and the booth by our…

Coming to America this fall for a debut at the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show in October, the new Riviera 6800 Platinum Edition represents the pinnacle of design, style and engineering from this highly regarded Australian builder. Now in their 44th year, Riviera, based on Australia’s Gold Coast, has launched more than 6,000 motor yachts and is distributed through dealers around the world. The Sport Yacht line, one of five on the builder’s product list, is comprised of family cruising sedans with multiple living and lounging spaces. Rebranding the Sport Yacht line as the new Platinum Edition emphasizes the long…

Built in the Netherlands on a semi-custom basis, the Globemaster 50 LRX is a long-range-exploration vessel for an adventurous couple. The design brief, created by designer and builder Erik Leander, was to build a CE Class A all-ocean boat in aluminum that would be self-sufficient while cruising and could be recycled when its cruising days are done. The hull and deck are unfinished 7mm aluminum plate that give the craft a workboat or military appearance in much the same way the Steve Dashew’s cruising powerboats do. This all-business style outside is offset by a warm, wood-finished interior that evokes old-time…

Here is something a little different for Cruising Odyssey, a 60-knot, aluminum speedster with twin outboards and only basic accommodations. The builder, Viggo Yachts, is based in Oregrund Sweden where it builds only aluminum power boats, all of them designed and engineered for speed. The C10 that was introduced recently, has a narrow beam and a double chined hull under the water. This configuration allows the boat to get up onto a plane very quickly despite the hull’s 24 degrees of deadrise. The deep V hull, which is a sharper V than most hulls of this type, will provide those…

The new, one-off, electric-powered runabout built by Spirit Yachts in England started life as the brainchild of an existing owner of a Spirit sailboat. The brief that he passed along to the builder was for a modern, efficient runabout that evokes the look of rum runners from the 1920s. But then the project developed wings, or more accurately, foils. And it got an electric propulsion system. Partnering with BAR Technologies, a leader in the field of marine foiling systems, Spirit was able to create an entirely new type of motorboat. The finished product, the F35, is not only classically beautiful,…

Safehaven Marine, based in County Cork, Ireland, builds boats and small ships for just about every purpose in marine world. They build pilot boats, rescue craft, working boats for offshore oil rigs, naval vessels and yachts. Their motto is, “When you demand strength and seakeeping, turn to Safehaven.” The company’s crew also holds a world marine speed record in a boat of their own design and build. So, it is not surprising that Safehaven’s yachts are both robustly built and endowed with excellent seakeeping characteristics. The new 70-foot T 2000 Voyager has all of the company’s DNA in a narrow-hulled,…

The Bristol, Rhode Island builder NorthCoast is a family-run company that has a big reputation for their sea-kindly center console and pilot house designs that are offshore-capable and prized among sportfishermen. Their new 415HT is a dual-purpose boat that will be a capable sportfisherman and a couple’s fast cruising boat. With NorthCoast’s familiar Downeast styling and an enclosed salon, this design compliments the existing line but with a difference. The 415HT has the builder’s deep V hull design with a whopping 24 degrees of dead rise at the transom. This deep V-shape provides a soft ride in chop and a…

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