Boat Reviews

VisionF Making New 100-foot Cat with Kevlar

By Peter Janssen on February 7, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

VisionF, the fairly new Turkish yard, just announced that it’s building a massive, luxurious 100-foot-long power catamaran, the flagship of its growing fleet. The new VisionF 100 will be built out of Kevlar composite, instead of the aluminum used in the previous yachts. The yard is using Kevlar in the new 100 because of its strength and light weight. It’s also strong and rigid. The yacht is powered by four 900-hp Volvo IPS1050 pod drives, delivering a top speed of 22 knots. Its draft of just 3’ 9” means it can safely go in the shallow waters of the Bahamas…

Fairline To Show Sporty Targa 45 in Miami

By Peter Janssen on February 6, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Fairline will be showing its sporty, prize-wining Targa 45 Open at the Miami show that starts on February 15. The Targa 45 Open will be at show’s Herald Plaza location, with an outboard-powered Fairline 33 and a Fairline Squadron 50 cruiser. A well-respected British builder, Fairline has grown its dealer network in the U.S. in the past two years. The Targa 45 Open has won a Motor Boat of the Year Award in its size range. The company says it has a touch of Riviera glamor with its low profile, huge opening sun roof and sun pads available for some…

Viking Polaris

Coast Guard Investigating Deaths in Antarctic

By Peter Janssen on February 6, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating a series of accidents involving the deaths of four Americans and injuries of five more on expedition cruise ships in the Antarctic. The accidents all occurred in the two weeks from Nov. 15 through Dec. 1 in some of the harshest marine environments in the world. The Coast Guard and NTSB have sent teams to Ushuaia, Argentina, the jumping-off point for cruise ships heading for the Antarctic. They are working with investigators from other countries where the ships are flagged. Two U.S. citizens died when a RIB from the…

Silent Launches First Yacht from Italian Yard

By Peter Janssen on February 6, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Silent-Yachts, the pioneering Austrian company, is continuing its growth mode, just launching the first yacht, a Silent 60 solar-electric power catamaran, at its yard in Fano, Italy. Silent bought the five-acre Fano yard last spring. It had been making its yachts in Thailand and Turkey. It launched its first 60 two years ago. But the launch of its first boat at the Fano plant shows how rapidly Silent has grown, and signals the continued growth of the rapidly expanding solar-electric power market. Silent is building several other 60s in Fano for delivery this year, plus its first Silent 62, due…

New Delta 48: Upscale Fast Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 30, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Delta 48 Coupe from Sweden is a sharp-looking, upscale, lightweight cruiser that comes with either twin diesel sterndrives or twin outboard power. Delta has been building clean, elegant powerboats for the past 20 years. The new 48 Coupe is the result of a collaboration with Mannerfelt Design, which specializes in fast race boats as well as high-performing recreational boats. The Delta 48 is built with an all carbon-fiber hull and deck to keep its weight down and to boost performance. You can order it with either twin 440-hp Volvo diesel sterndrives, or twin 600-hp Mercury V12 Verado outboards.…

New Electric Persico Zagato 100.2

By Peter Janssen on January 30, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Let’s face it: A lot of the early electric-powered boats were, well, to put it charitably, aesthetically challenged. Not so the new Persico Zagato 100.2, unveiled last week at Zagato’s headquarters in Milan. Zagato’s announcement called it “an innovative hyperboat featuring aesthetic purity of design,” combining Persico’s technology, electric jet propulsion, and Zagato’s supercar-like looks. A little history: The boat’s100.2 nomenclature celebrates Zagato’s second century in business. It was founded “to dress cars and planes with customized bodywork,” and its most famous designs include work for Aston Martin, Lamborghini, and Alfa Romeo, among many others. The new 26-foot Persico Zagato…

C-Dory TomCat: Stable Pocket Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 24, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

If you’re thinking about an outboard-powered pocket cruiser, the 25-foot C-Dory TomCat has a lot going for it. Per its name, the C-Dory TomCat is a catamaran, so it has a cat’s stability and space; indeed, the cockpit is a full 7 feet long and 7 feet wide, not bad for a 25-foot boat. And the twin outboards are mounted pretty far apart on the transom, so docking and low-speed maneuvering are relatively painless. The ride is flat and fairly dry, and the TomCat doesn’t bank in turns. You can run it up on a beach for a picnic, if…

Pardo Unveils New 72 Long-Range Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 24, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Pardo just unveiled plans for its new Endurance 72 at the Düsseldorf show, the second in its line of long-range cruisers. The Italian yard introduced its first Endurance, a 60, at the Fort Lauderdale show last October, and the new 72 has the same slightly reversed bow, raked windshield, tinted wraparound windows, and barely visible flybridge as the original. It’s scheduled to be launched in the spring of 2024. Standard power on the new 72 comes from twin 800-hp Volvo IPS1050 pod drives. With optional 1,000-hp IPS1350s, the boat has a range of 900 nm at 12 knots. The large…

Wellcraft Adds New 435 Fast Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 24, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Wellcraft just announced that it’s building a second boat in its new Performance Cruiser line, a Wellcraft 435 that’s designed for “a new breed of boaters.” The 435 follows the start of Wellcraft’s new Performance Cruiser series last May with a 355. That announcement was well received, and was a sign that Wellcraft meant to return to its heyday as a world leader in performance boats in the 1980s when Don Johnson was driving a Wellcraft Scarab 38 on Miami Vice. The Beneteau Group bought Wellcraft in 2014; it’s now making boats from 20 to 44 feet. Wellcraft says “the…

New Cheoy Lee 72 Heading for U.S.

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

Cheoy Lee just finished sea trials on its latest CLB 72 family cruiser in Hong Kong. It’s now on a ship heading for the U.S. The 72 is one of CL’s most successful yachts. A spinoff of the historic Cheoy Lee Shipyards, CL Yachts introduced its first boats at the Miami show in 2019. The new CLB 72 is hull #49. It’s a four-stateroom, four-head cruiser with a two-berth crew cabin and head aft. Hull #49 heading this way has new sliding windows in the galley, up/down windows in the salon, and opening portlights in the four staterooms on the…

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