Boat Reviews

For a First, Selene Builds a New 19.5-Knot 59 Ocean Clipper, A Pilothouse Trawler with a Touch of Speed

By Peter Janssen on August 7, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The 59 Ocean Clipper represents a new chapter for Selene, which has a well-earned reputation for building traditional full-displacement trawler yachts. But a Selene repeat owner wanted a faster boat to explore the Med. As a result, Selene built the new 59 Ocean Clipper, which combines all the long-range cruising comfort and space of a trawler with a new semi-displacement hull and twin 715-hp Cummins diesels that produce a top speed of 19.5 knots. For the new 59 Ocean Clipper, Selene worked with the veteran Dutch designer Guido de Groot. The boat is a contemporary, teak-filled pilothouse cruiser, with three…

Tactical 77: Brand-New, Go-Anywhere, Long-Range Cruiser with an Attitude

By Peter Janssen on August 1, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Here’s a new long-range cruiser with a different look and an attitude: the Tactical 77 Fast Pilothouse Motoryacht. Serious and military-looking on the outside, the new Tactical 77 is luxurious and comfortable on the inside, ready to take its owner and guests just about anywhere in the world. The boat was designed by William Prince Yacht Design, in Port Washington, Wisconsin, and it’s being built by Tactical Custom Boats in British Columbia. Prince designed the aluminum yacht for a North American client who wanted a military look combined with a contemporary and sleek interior. The superstructure is built with carbon-fiber…

Azimut Launches New 59-foot High-Tech, High-Style S6 Sport Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on July 26, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Azimut will launch its new high-style, high-tech, 59-foot S6 sport cruiser at the Cannes Yachting Festival starting Sept. 11. The latest in the Italian builder’s S series, the three-stateroom, two-head boat features the glazed hull surfaces and distinct bow cap that make the series easily recognizable. It also features carbon fiber construction and three Volvo 550-hp diesels with IPS700 pod drives for fuel efficiency, quiet cruising and fingertip-easy low-speed maneuvering around a dock. With an exterior by superyacht designer Stefano Righini, the Azimut S6 sports a low profile, highly raked windshield and equally low and raked radar arch. The interior…

New All-Electric Q30 from Finland: Elegant Lines, 80-nm Range, and Light Enough to Tow Behind Your Tesla

By Peter Janssen on July 23, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

With its super-modern, minimalist clean lines and all-white aesthetic, the new all-electric Q30 from Finland’s Q-Yachts is designed to make a statement. It wants to be the future of boating. It already is quiet and has no emissions, almost no wake, and a cool factor that is off the charts. As one reviewer said, if Apple were to introduce a 30-foot boat, the Q30 would be it. And it performs. The Q30 is powered by a single Oceanvolt AXC20 electric motor and an Oceanvolt 30kWh lithium battery pack; a 60kWh pack is an option. It cruises at 9 knots and…

Hunt Launches New 54 Express, Smallest in Its Prize-Winning Ocean Series

By Peter Janssen on July 16, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Hull number one of Hunt Yachts’ new 54 Express is just getting out of the test tank in Taiwan and is almost ready to ship. The smallest yacht in Hunt’s Ocean Series, which goes up to 84 feet, the new 54 Express carries all of Hunt’s legendary craftsmanship, elegant, clean lines, and the deep-V hull that has defined superior offshore performance for more than half a century. The new 54 has the same low profile, long sheer and classic looks that have made Hunts easily recognizable around the world. The first in this new series has a foam-green-colored hull, which…

Palm Beach Launches New Line of Elegant, Head-Turning Performance Yachts

By Peter Janssen on July 10, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Palm Beach has just launched a new GT series of elegant, fuel-efficient, high performance and head-turning yachts. Indeed, take a look at the wraparound windshield, the low profile, the long sheer line and the gorgeous tumblehome that would do a Down East boat proud, all on hull number one of the new Palm Beach GT50 Express. That boat will have its world debut at the Newport International Boat Show, starting Sept. 13, while other models in the series, going up to 70-footer, will follow. Palm Beach said it developed the GT series after finding a void in the high-performance motor…

New Low, Fast, Pretty, 63-foot Lynx Commuter from Zurn Yacht Design

By Peter Janssen on July 10, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Doug Zurn has done it again: Another pretty boat, from Zurn Yacht Design. The new 63-foot Lynx Commuter has most of Zurn’s traditional design elements, many dating back to the Shelter Island 38 Runabout that was launched more than two decades ago. Hull number one of the Lynx Commuter, a modern version of the low, fast, commuter boats that carried the rich and famous from their Long Island mansions to work on Wall Street in the 1930s, was designed as a tender for a superyacht, but subsequent hulls can function as a day cruiser or weekender in their own right.…

Prestige Launches Luxurious 590, the Flagship of its Flybridge Fleet

By Peter Janssen on July 9, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Prestige, the high-end French builder, will launch its new 590, the flagship of its Flybridge line, at the Cannes Yachting Festival, starting Sept. 11, and then in the United States at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, starting Oct. 31. The low-profile Prestige 590 has fluid lines, a thoroughly modern, light-filled European interior, and a top speed of 29 knots. Started in 1989 as part of the powerhouse Beneteau Group, Prestige has been a worldwide success story. It has produced more than 4,000 boats, and says it is number two in registered powerboats from 50 to 60 feet in the…

New Beneteau Swift Trawler 47: The Fifth Model in its Popular Cruising Lineup

By Peter Janssen on July 2, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Beneteau will introduce its new Swift Trawler 47 at the Cannes Yachting Festival on Sept. 11, the fifth model in its popular Swift Trawler line. It has three staterooms, two heads, a light-filled salon and galley, a low profile even with its flybridge, and a contemporary French look that will appeal to cruisers around the world. Full disclosure: I have a soft spot for Beneteau’s Swift Trawlers. A few years ago, George Sass, Sr., the photojournalist, and I spent a week on a new Beneteau Swift Trawler 34, The Greatest Loop, cruising from the top of Lake Michigan down to St.…

Hinckley Launches New Picnic Boat 40, the Largest Yet, but with Same Iconic Lines and Appeal

By Peter Janssen on July 2, 2018 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Hinckley just launched its all-new Picnic Boat 40, the largest Picnic Boat yet, with sea trials off Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard on the weekend before the Fourth of July. With a hull designed by the highly acclaimed Michael Peters, the new Picnic Boat retains all the drop-dead iconic Down East looks and waterjet performance that have made the brand famous around the world. The new layout in the 40 offers a seamless flow from the transom to the helm, with large social areas, a wet bar, overhead protection from Sureshade and great visibility, whether you’re sitting at the helm or…

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