Boat Reviews

New Strand Craft V8; PWC on Steroids

By Peter Janssen on August 11, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Kurt Strand, the Florida-based Norwegian yacht designer, is building the Strand Craft V8 Daytona GT, a jet ski beast that he calls “the ultimate personal watercraft.” Strand, who usually designs large yachts, says he’s been working on the V8 Daytona GT for the past five years. It’s 16’ 6” long and weighs 1,250 pounds and will be powered by a 6.7-liter supercharged aluminum V-8 engine with a high-performance water jet. We don’t have any details about speed or range yet; it will have a 22-gallon fuel tank. The hull will be either fiberglass or aluminum and the jet ski “marries…

New CMY 57 Powered by 3 Diesel Outboards

By Peter Janssen on August 11, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Compact Mega Yachts, a start-up from Finland, is building two new cruisers powered by three 300-hp OXE diesel outboards. The company says the boats will have a top speed of 27 knots, and when they’re driven by just one outboard in an “adaptable powering” mode they will have a range of about 3,000 nm. The two boats are the CMY161 at 53 feet LOA, and the CMY173 at 57 feet LOA (pictured above). The two are essentially the same, except the CMY173 has a third cabin in the accommodation deck below because of its extra length. The three outboards, developed…

Numarine Launches 37XP with 6,000-nm Range

By Peter Janssen on August 8, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Numarine, the Turkish builder, just launched the first hull of its 37XP expedition yacht in Istanbul. It’s now on its way to the south of France for its showing at the Cannes Yachting Festival, starting Sept. 7. With a steel, full-displacement hull, the Numarine 37XP is powered by twin 800-hp CAT diesels, giving it a top speed of 14 knots and an ocean-crossing range of 6,000 nm at 8 knots (it holds 13,472 gallons of fuel). The 121-foot yacht is larger than what we usually cover, but I think it’s interesting to see what’s out there in the long-range, expedition…

Vripack Launches Luxury Version of California 52

By Peter Janssen on August 4, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Vripack, the Dutch yacht design studio that is working with Nordhavn for some of its larger yachts, just launched a semi-custom California 52 XT weekender in Ibiza. Built by Waterdream in the Netherlands, the California 52 XT is bound to turn heads anywhere in the world, and it has a two-tone paint job that matches the colors of a BMW M8. Waterdream, founded by Prince Bernhard van Oranje of the Netherlands, won the Best Innovation Award at the Cannes World Yacht Trophies with the California 52 last year. At that point, the Prince got the idea to make a special…

Vicem Offers Restyled 65 Classic in Fiberglass

By Peter Janssen on August 3, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Vicem, the highly regarded Turkish builder, is reintroducing its restyled and re-engineered 65 Classic yacht, but this time owners have a choice of building it in cold-molded wood (per the 2018 original) or in fiberglass. The company says it has moved to the fiberglass option for a faster build time, as well as for lower maintenance costs. It now has three of the new 65 Classics under construction, two in fiberglass and one cold-molded. The latest version of the 65, with its low profile, long sheerline, beautiful tumblehome and timeless Downeast-style looks, has a new full-beam master stateroom amidships. It…

Sessa Launches Innovative Fly 68 Gullwing

By Peter Janssen on August 3, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sessa has launched its innovative, open Fly 68 Gullwing, with original glass doors that fold up from the sides of the salon. If they remind you of the iconic Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing (produced from 1954 to 1963), that’s not an accident. The Sessa gullwings create a large opening in the salon; they fold up and out of the way, providing immediate access to the wide side decks while flooding the salon with light and fresh air. With its raked-back windshield, low, open flybridge, windows all around and enormous sun pad on the foredeck, the new Sessa flagship is a…

New All-Electric 20m Eegle: “Perfect Coastal Cruiser”

By Peter Janssen on July 28, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The creative, all-electric 20m Eegle trawler-like cruiser is being completed in a yard in the south of France. BYD, the Spanish naval architectural firm that drew the yacht, says that it is “designed to be the perfect coastal cruiser,” combining “the space and comfort of a beach apartment with the effortless mobility and seaworthiness of a highly capable motoryacht.” The new Eegle is 65’ 6” long with a beam of 16’4” and it’s powered by four 150-kW motors to give it a top speed of 20 knots and a range of 80 nm. An optional larger fuel tank and genset…

Azimut Launching New 68 World Yacht

By Peter Janssen on July 26, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Azimut will launch its new 68 at the Cannes Yachting Festival starting Sept. 7, the latest in its Flybridge Collection of nine yachts from 50 to 78 feet. Azimut calls the 68 a world yacht, because it offers buyers three layout choices for the salon and dining areas on the main deck. With its growing popularity around the world, Azimut recognizes that people in different cultures use their yachts in different ways. Now they can choose the layout that best reflects how they like to spend their time on board. The first layout provides an elegant living area in the…

Prestige Launching New X60 Luxury Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on July 20, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Prestige will introduce the upscale, highly designed X60, the second yacht in its new X series, at the Cannes Yachting Festival, starting on Sept. 7. It launched the inaugural yacht in the series, the innovative X70, just a year ago. The new X60 is a three-stateroom, three-head flybridge motor yacht with an unusually large and open salon. It’s powered by twin 600-hp Cummins diesels with v-drives, producing a cruising speed of about 20 knots and a top speed of 25 knots. With a combination of curved and straight lines, the X60 has a state-of-the-art European look, all created by Garroni…

Sabre Building New 43 SE with Volvo IPS

By Peter Janssen on July 14, 2021 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Earlier this week, Sabre announced that it’s planning a new 43 Salon Express, an updated classic Down-East styled cruiser that will replace the recently retired Sabre 42 Salon Express. The 40- to 45-foot range is a winner for Sabre. Indeed, the company has built more than 660 yachts in that size range since it launched the first Sabre 42 sailboat in 1987. While keeping true to Sabre’s made-in-Maine heritage, the new 43 has some state-of-the-art innovations. It’s the first full-network Sabre under 58 feet, for example, where owners can check critical functions and control any circuit on the boat from…

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