Boat Reviews

New Schaefer 660: A Winner from Brazil

By Peter Janssen on January 18, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Today, when we think of larger, luxurious motoryachts, Brazil probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. But Schaefer has built more than 3,500 yachts there in the past 31 years; it’s now Brazil’s largest builder, with models from 33 to 82 feet, and U.S. headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. The new Schaefer 66 flybridge motoryacht compares well with other builders around the world. The 66 has modern lines that won’t go out of style but that are appealing to the eye. And the 66, with four cabins and three heads below, has all the room for cruising with a…

Zeelander Building New 79-foot Flagship

By Peter Janssen on January 16, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Zeelander just announced that it’s building a new 79-foot-long Zeelander 8 flagship in its recently expanded plant in Holland. This latest Zeelander will be launched this summer, and it will carry the same unmistakable low profile reminiscent of America’s commuter boats of the 1930s and the company’s tapered transom and extendable beach club that set new standards for creating more space on the water. The Zeelander fleet already has a model 5, at 48’ 3”; a 6, at 55’ 9″; and a 7, at 66’ 7”. They all have the same lines, and the new 8 will have the same…

Popular Prestige 520: Still Going Strong

By Peter Janssen on January 15, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Ever since it was first introduced at the Cannes Yachting Festival in 2017, the Prestige 520 flybridge motoryacht has been one of the French builder’s most popular models. Taking a good look at the newest 520, continually updated through the years, helps to understand why. The Prestige 520 is an elegant, comfortable, easy-to-handle cruiser, with separate social areas in almost every direction. The salon, with an aft galley that serves the cockpit as well as the flybridge, has large windows that provide views all around. In the salon, says Camillo Garroni, of Garroni Design in Genoa, who designed the yacht,…

Quarken Launches New 35 Weekender

By Peter Janssen on January 14, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Quarken, the Finnish builder, is introducing its new 35 Cabin at the big Düsseldorf show, starting Jan. 20. The 35 is Quarken’s largest boat yet. The 35 has the same lines as Quarken’s 27, just stretched quite a bit – a fairly plumb bow, an asymmetrical wheelhouse to provide as much interior room as possible, with a wider deck on the starboard side. But it also has a forward cabin below that’s large enough to sleep two adults and a sofa that can be extended to hold two children. The enclosed head has a shower. The new Quarken’s windshield is…

New Bluegame BGX63: Prize-Winning Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 9, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Bluegame BGXC63 is anything but one more luxurious, high-style Italian-made motoryacht. Indeed, its looks set it apart at the first glance, with low dark wraparound windows, an almost-military-looking, highly raked front windshield, and the hint of a slash of dark glazing along the hull sides running aft. A closer look reveals a creative two-tier design that opens up the salon and aft deck with so much glass that the interior and exterior tend to blend together. And below, the centrally located master stateroom is so big that it has its own private sitting area that can serve as another…

New Omikron OT-60: Comfort, Not Speed

By Peter Janssen on January 9, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Omikron, a Greek yard, will unveil its new OT-60 at the big Düsseldorf show, starting Jan. 20. The company says the 60, its first production boat, is “a motoryacht that feels like a sailboat,” offering “the perfect combination of the quiet, easygoing lifestyle of sailing and the convenience and space of a power yacht.” Standard power comes from twin 250-hp Yanmar diesels, producing a top speed of 16 knots, a quiet cruising speed of 12 knots, and a range of more than 1,000 nm at 8 knots. Omikron says the OT-60 is not designed for speed, but for comfortable cruising…

Arksen Starting New Line of Offshore RIBs

By Peter Janssen on January 8, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Arksen, the smart and ambitious new kid on the block in the expedition yacht neighborhood, just keeps growing. It’s finishing its flagship 85 on the Isle of Wight in Great Britain; it also has a 75 and a 65 in its Explorer series. It makes small boats too, introducing its 28 and 32 to the U.S. market at the Palm Beach show last March. Now it just announced that it’s starting a new Arksen 8 Discovery series of what it calls offshore open adventure boats, sturdy RIBs that are 26’ 2” long and have seats for 12. Available with single…

Now: Summit 54 with IPS Pod Drives

By Peter Janssen on January 8, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Summit just announced that it will offer Volvo’s IPS pod drives on its 54 Motoryacht. It’s building the first one with IPS now in its factory in Taiwan. Summits have come with standard 542-hp Cummins diesels and straight shafts since the first one was launched in March, 2020. Designed by Sarasota-based naval architect Michael Peters, who’s drawn everything from Hinckleys and Magnums to superyachts, the Summit 54 tops out at just over 24 knots. The IPS package, with twin 600-hp Volvo IPS800 pod drives, is expected to add four or five knots to that speed. “With IPS power, we’ll be…

North-Line 42: Sturdy Dutch Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 7, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Dutch-built North-Line 42 Wheelhouse is a traditional-looking, blue-water cruising boat, a no-nonsense affair built to tackle the boisterous waters of the North Sea and come back home safely. There’s nothing fancy here; the bulwarks don’t fold out for a floating beach club, the boat won’t drive or park itself. But, powered by twin 480-hp Cummins dieses, it will hit a top speed of about 30 knots; dial back to a displacement speed of 8 knots and it will have a range of 840 nm. The North-Line 42 has a Class A Ocean-Going certificate. Built for a cruising family, the…

New, Light, Carbon-Fiber Latitude 86

By Peter Janssen on January 3, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The world of luxury power catamarans just keeps getting bigger and better. But now it’s also getting lighter and faster, as well. Indeed, the new long, low and lean 86-foot catamaran named Laniakea from Latitude Yachts is designed to be the lightest in the world for its size. Now being built at the Latitude factory in Riga, Latvia, on the Baltic, it is made of carbon fiber composite and will weigh in at 49.5 tons, or 30 or 40 tons less than other power cats the same size that are made of traditional fiberglass or aluminum. The light weight, of…

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