Boat Reviews

New Seaward 42: A Serious Blue-Water Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on June 8, 2020 Boat Reviews

It’s always interesting to see a new cruising boat that actually looks – and behaves – like a real blue-water cruising boat. Take a look, for example, at the Seaward 42, built in Cowes on the Isle of Wight by a company that’s been making pilot boats and patrol boats for the past 40 years. The Seaward 42 is built to go to sea, even rough seas. Its semi-displacement hull, low profile, and sturdy build all say that this is a serious boat. With standard twin 370-hp Yanmar diesels, it can cruise up to 20 knots, and still be fuel-efficient…

Aquila Launches 100th Hull of 44 Power Cat

By Peter Janssen on June 8, 2020 Boat Reviews, Charter, Cruising Life

Aquila just built the 100th hull of its 44 power cat, attesting to the popularity of the spacious cruiser in both the private market and charter fleets around the world. Aquila 44s are now in more than 20 countries, and are used in Dream Yacht Charter fleets in France, Belgium and Greece, and by MarineMax Vacations in the British Virgin Islands. The 100th hull is going to a private buyer in Hong Kong. You can buy the Aquila 44 with either three or four cabins; the three-cabin version is more popular with private buyers; the four-cabin in charter fleets. The…

Numarine Launches 3 New Long-Range Cruisers on Same Day

By Peter Janssen on June 8, 2020 Boat Reviews

Numarine, the high-end Turkish builder, just had a big day. It launched three of its new 84-feet-long 26XP expedition cruisers in Istanbul, demonstrating the popularity of the model. The company said it now has a total of eight 26XPs out on the water, and three more have been sold and are under construction. Two of the three new boats have semi-displacement hulls with a bulbous bow. They are powered by two 560-hp MAN diesels have a top speed of 13.5 knots and a cruising speed of 9 knots. At 8 knots, the new cruisers have a range of 3,000 nm.…

Maritimo Planning New 55 Flybridge Blue-Water Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on June 2, 2020 Boat Reviews

Maritimo just announced that it’s building a new 55 motoryacht with a climate-controlled, fully enclosed skylounge flybridge. The latest addition to the Australian builder’s M Series of long-range, blue-water cruising yachts, the M55 Flybridge is scheduled to be launched early next year. The new Maritimo 55 Flybridge has three cabins below, a popular aft galley in the salon, and an ever-expanding “adventure deck” all the way aft that creates a new entertaining and watersports area. It also has Maritimo’s straight-shaft drive, variable deadrise hull, deep keel, and sharp bow entry that have earned the company a reputation for blue-water performance.…

Lazzara Building Two Huge New Luxury Cats in Turkey

By Peter Janssen on June 2, 2020 Boat Reviews

For all the obvious reasons, Lazzara has just changed the name of its new line of luxury catamarans from Corona to Lazzara Catamarans. It’s building the first two models, a 70 and an 85, in Turkey. And they’re both meant to be head-turning statements of space, light and design. The 85 is simply a larger version of the 70, but its size emphasizes the enormous parts of the yacht that open for light and air and entertaining on both the lower accommodations deck and the upper salon deck, plus the open flybridge protected under a canopy hardtop. The lower…

New Jeanneau NC 1095: An Outboard-Powered Family Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on June 1, 2020 Boat Reviews

The new Jeanneau NC 1095, the 34-foot flagship of the French builder’s outboard fleet, is a versatile boat. With three possible cabins, a head with a separate shower, and one-level living from transom to helm station, it’s a comfortable family weekend (or longer) cruiser. But you also can use it for casual fishing, waterskiing, picnics on the beach (just tilt up the outboards), or just about anything else you’d like to do on the water. And it performs. Powered by twin 300-hp Yamahas, the new Jeanneau tops out at 47 mph. It also has some nice touches to make cruising…

Aquanima 40: New Solar-Powered, Blue-Water Cruising Cat

By Peter Janssen on May 31, 2020 Boat Reviews

Azura Marine just launched the first boat in a new line of solar-powered, blue-water cruising catamarans in Bali, Indonesia, called the Aquanima 40. The new cat is designed to be self-sustaining, and the company says it can complete “non-stop ocean voyages powered only by sunlight.” And it costs about $540,000. Based in Singapore, Azura was started in 2012, and has been building solar-powered ferries and dive boats ever since. The Aquanima 40 is its first entry into the recreational market, and the company says it will launch a 45 before long. The Aquanima 40 has 602 square feet of solar…

Riva Comes Back with Sporty New 88 Lightning

By Peter Janssen on May 26, 2020 Boat Reviews

Riva just launched its new, sporty Folgore (Lightning) 88 at its yard in La Spezia, the first new boat since the coronavirus devasted Italy. Alberto Galassi, CEO of the Ferretti Group (Riva’s parent company), said the boat was “a dazzling flash of style” and “a tangible sign of a country that starts again.” The company said the new Riva’s exterior was inspired by luxury sports cars, and the looks carry on Riva’s tradition of glamorous Italian design that dates back to Brigitte Bardot and the Riva she kept in St. Tropez in the ‘60s (see picture above). The new Folgore…

New German Builder Launches Solar-Electric Power Cats

By Peter Janssen on May 25, 2020 Boat Reviews

Alva Yachts, an environmentally conscious German company, has just launched a new upscale line of solar-electric power catamarans called Ocean Eco, starting with a 60 and a 90. Alva uses a new manufacturing process to shape and integrate the solar panels into the coach-roof of the boats, providing the maximum number of panels possible. The company now has two orders for the Ocean Eco 60 (pictured at top). At their peak output, the solar panels can generate 20kW for the 60. They work with a 300k lithium battery bank to give the boat a range of 110 nm at 7…

Invictus Launches New 37 with Outboard Power

By Peter Janssen on May 19, 2020 Boat Reviews

Invictus Yachts, the innovative Italian builder, is just introducing a new GT370S, with twin 425-hp Yamaha outboards, to the U.S. It had launched a sterndrive version of the boat at the Miami Yacht Show in February, but now it is offering an outboard version because outboards have become so popular here. If the view of the Invictus’ stern has changed, the view of the bow remains the same. Invictus yachts are designed by Christian Grande, the Italian designer who has won many international awards for his out-of-the-box thinking. All Invictus GTs have what the company calls a “half-reverse” bow, which…

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