Boat Reviews

Iliad Launching New 60 Long-Range Cat

By Peter Janssen on March 30, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Iliad Catamarans in Australia is making a new 60-foot power cat that it calls the ultimate voyager. The new Iliad will have a range of 3,500 nm at 7 knots when it’s launched in July, and it is one more example of the growth in long-range power cats around the world. Iliad Catamarans were launched just two years ago by Multihull Solutions in Mooloolaba, Queensland, on the Coral Sea. So far they have launched a 50 and a 70, and are working on an 80 after they complete the new 60. All the boats are made in China. The 60…

Navier 27: Semi-Autonomous Foiling Electric Boat

By Peter Janssen on March 29, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The people at Navier, a Silicon Valley startup, like to think big. Indeed, they say they are “reinventing the boat as we know it,” and they are designing “the boat of the future.” Hyperbole aside, the Navier 27, still in the design stage, will be the first U.S.-made foiling electric boat, and it will be semi-autonomous, at least at first. Later on, the company says that software updates will include self-driving capabilities, making the Navier 27 fully autonomous. Navier was founded by a pair of MIT engineers with backgrounds in ocean robotics, aerospace hydrodynamics and autonomous systems. The resulting Navier…

Front Street Shipyard Making New Hunt 41 Dayboat

By Peter Janssen on March 29, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Front Street Shipyard in Belfast, Maine, is building a new, custom 41-foot Hunt Dayboat, powered by twin 480-hp Volvo IPS650 pod drives. With Hunt’s classic deep-V hull, the new 41 is expected to top out at 38 knots and cruise at 32 knots. The new boat has classic Down East lines, with a fine entry, long sheer and low profile, all the work of the iconic Ray Hunt Design studio in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Hunts have been known for their superior seakeeping abilities for past 60 years, ever since C. Raymond Hunt developed the first deep-V hull. The Hunt Dayboat…

Arksen Sells First 85 Explorer with 7,000-nm Range

By Peter Janssen on March 29, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Arksen has sold its first hybrid-powered 85 explorer yacht, with a range of 7,000 nm at 9 knots, to a family that plans to cruise around the world, starting with the fjords of Norway next spring. Arksen is a new company, the brainchild of Jasper Smith, a tech entrepreneur and adventurer, working with Humphreys Yacht Design in the UK and the Wight Shipyard on the Isle of Wight for construction. Design Unlimited did the interior. The Arksen 85 is designed for long-range cruising efficiency and it’s built to minimize its carbon footprint. It has a hybrid propulsion system, with an…

Silent-Yachts Building New 62 Tri-Deck Cat

By Peter Janssen on March 24, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Silent-Yachts is working on a new solar-electric 62 tri-deck catamaran, and the innovative Austrian builder has already sold three of them, two to Americans and one to a European. The new 62 is based on the platform of Silent’s popular 60, but with two additional feet aft and with the third deck, providing another level of space. The new yacht also will have a lot of carbon fiber to reduce weight. The self-sufficient cat has 42 solar panels, providing 17kWp, two 250kW electric motors and a battery capacity of 210kWh. The yacht has a cruising speed of 6 to 8…

Evo Designing Innovative 79-foot Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on March 24, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Here’s a new concept from Evo Yachts in Naples, Italy: A 79-feet-long combination of a sailboat and powerboat, with four helm stations, an aft “beach” area that’s just above the water, and an entirely new way of looking at the cruising experience. The new yacht is called the Evo V8, the first model in Evo’s new V line. Valerio Rivellini, the Neapolitan yacht designer, says the Evo V8 is at the intersection of sail and power. “Motor yacht owners begin their holiday when they reach their destination, either at anchor or in port,” he says, “whereas sailing yacht owners start…

Numarine Builds 26XP Explorer with 3,000-nm Range

By Peter Janssen on March 22, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Numarine just built a new 84-feet 26XP explorer yacht with solar panels and extra batteries for extended self-reliant cruising. Powered by twin 560-hp MAN diesels, the displacement yacht has a bulbous bow a top speed of 13.5 knots and a range of 3,000 nm at 8 knots. Built in Istanbul, the latest Numarine is the 12th 26XP to be delivered in just the past three years. And it represents advances in both solar and quiet operation. “The new yacht is the most innovative in the entire 26XP fleet,” says Omer Malaz, the Numarine founder and chairman. “She has a super-silent…

New Bertram 50 Express: Fish and Cruise

By Peter Janssen on March 21, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Make no mistake. Bertram is still making serious fishing boats, including some battlewagons, in fact. But it’s also making more versatile boats, vessels that can be equally at home fishing far offshore or cruising on the ICW or even on the Great Loop. Take a look at the new Bertram 50 Express, for example. Powered by optional twin MAN V12, 1,550-hp diesels it can head to the any fishing grounds offshore at 45 knots. Dial back a bit, swap out the tackle center for two mezzanine seats, add a swim platform and stay with the standard power of twin 1,150-hp…

Burger Building New 66 Cruiser. See Video

By Peter Janssen on March 21, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Burger, the famed Wisconsin builder, just announced that it’s working on a new 66-foot aluminum motoryacht with a design by Vripack. We don’t have too many details yet, but the new Burger is meant to build on the success of the 48 cruiser that Burger launched in 2018. The 66 is being developed as a mid-sized flybridge yacht, with three staterooms, all with en suite heads, and a large salon and open galley. The new Burger also will have a forward seating area, a large aft deck for al fresco dining and relaxing, and a hydraulic swim platform that’s large…

Nordhavn Building New 625 and 71 Passagemaker

By Peter Janssen on March 17, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Pacific Asian Enterprises, the parent company for Nordhavn, just announced that it is building two new models, a Nordhavn 625 and a Nordhavn 71. The 625 is a variation on the current Nordhavn 60 hull, while the 71 is designed as a completely new, contemporary option for buyers in the 65- to 75-foot range. In the past few years, Nordhavn has experienced considerable success in moving the hull sizes for its various models forward; onward and upward. By refreshing existing hulls, the company is able to introduce updated, modern hulls. The new 625, for example, is based on the popular…

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