Sunday, October 13

Browsing: Boat Reviews

The Turkish builder Numarine, which is celebrating its 22nd year in business, will mark the occasion this summer with the launch of the new 30XP Expedition Yacht.  In keeping with the times, the 30XP is the first boat made by the builder with optional diesel-electric hybrid propulsion. Known for their angular and voluminous yachts, Numarine has carved out a nice as a leader in long range cruising in self-sufficient boats. The 30XP, designed by Can Yalman, may be the most exotically angular of all his designs. Note the almost vertical bow that is high enough to meet the top of…

Wider Yachts, based near Venice, Italy, builds super yachts for owners who can and do drive super cars like Ferraris and Lamborghinis. So, when an owner asked them to build a 60-foot motorboat along the lines of a super car, Wider knew what to do. The WiLder 60 is the result, with the capital L added for emphasis. This all aluminum, sleek and distinctive yacht evokes the futuristic designs of super cars and combines that with the luxurious accommodation and appointments of  Wider’s super yachts. To be used primarily as a sporty day boat, the 60 has large lounging planforms…

The America’s Cup, the oldest continuous sporting event in the world, has always fostered development-class yacht design and racing. This year the teams from six nations will be competing in 75-foot foiling catamarans that regularly sail at 50 knots or more. So, what kind of support boat could keep up with the sailing monsters and do so with zero-carbon emissions? For the answer the team American Magic, representing the New York Yacht Club, turned to the Italian boat builder Bluegame who came up with an innovative design for a foiling power cat driven by a hydrogen fueled engine. The foiling…

Here’s some good news. Hunt Yachts of Portsmouth, RI, has introduced the design for a new 56-footer in their Ocean series. The Hunt Associates design, with its patented Deep-V hull, includes all of the classic qualities that have made Hunt Yachts renown for their superb seakeeping abilities in all weather, high cruising speeds and elegant fit and finish. The 56 joins the Ocean 63, 68 and 76. The 56, which is in the final stages of the design process, will be offered with either a flybridge or as a coupe. The flybridge model will have a hard top for protection…

The launch of the Absolute 52 Fly , following the introduction of her sisterships the 56 and 60 Fly, enlarges the builder’s Flybridge line to six models. All of the Fly range share the same snub bows, complex hull forms, voluminous interiors and distinctive hull glazing. Built in Podenzano, Italy the new 52 Fly is a Mediterranean family cruiser designed for indoor-outdoor living and relaxing vacations. Connecting cruising families and friends to the natural world and seascapes around them, especially during the Med’s hot summers, is a popular design trend in Europe that Absolute embraces. The main outdoor living spaces…

Focus Yachts has carved out a special niche in the express-cruiser and day-boat market in Europe and now has a distributor in the U.S.A. The new 38-foot 3x, just launched this summer, combines exceptional performance with luxury and style that you might equate with a Maserati or Aston-Martin motorcar. One could easily imagine James Bond and a special Bond girl chasing villains in one of these. But, we digress. The new 3x is the latest design to be introduced by this family-run boat building business based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It joins four sister ships from 37 to 50 feet…

Offshore Yachts, one of America’s oldest and most respected boat builders, has launched a new series of modern cruisers under the CE series label from 65 to 72 feet.  For the first time, the Newport Beach, California, builder has partnered with a European design firm for the naval architecture of the new CE series. Baracuda Yacht Design, based in Spain, worked closely with the Offshore team to create a more modern and slightly European looking styling that also will improve fuel efficiency and seakeeping qualities. The new CE 65 has all of the Offshore DNA, based on a boat building…

The new Glacier 48 from the Latvian builder Glacier Yachts is an intriguing new design from the offices of Guido de Groot.  This all-aluminum build has a purposeful, expedition-yacht look from the bow. But as your eyes sweep aft you pick out a lot of subtle and interesting details that show how versatile this design can be. The 48 has a central saloon with open side decks running forward on both sides. These are contained by high bulwarks and there are sturdy handrails so you and your guests will feel secure moving forward to moor or anchor the boat or…

YOT Catamarans, based in France, is a new brand in the power cruising market. It launched the business last year with an attractive, modern 36-foot cruising cat designed by Slovenian design wizards JnJ Yacht Design. The cats are built in France by the famous Catana yard, which is known for its high-quality performance sailing cats. Catana also builds the Bali line of charter cats. The brief behind the design of the YOT 36 takes two concepts seriously, efficient performance and spacious indoor-outdoor living. On the performance side of the equation, it is worthwhile pointing out that power cats are inherently…

Now here’s something a little out of the ordinary for Cruising Odyssey, a 130-foot steel expedition yacht from the Hong Kong builder Cheoy Lee, also known as CL Yachts. The yacht, which will be built of steel instead of the company’s usual composite yacht-build method, will have transoceanic range so it will be capable of expeditions from the Arctic to the Antarctic and all points in between. While we are used to thinking of CL Yachts as builders of private yachts in the 65 to 90-foot range, this much larger yacht is not a stretch for the 150-year-old family-owned boat…

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