Monday, May 5

Browsing: Cruising Life

There are two very lucky powerboat racers in Arizona this week after what happened to their racing cat at 200 miles-per-hours. They lived. Last Saturday on Arizona’s Lake Havisaw, the Freedom One Racing Team was taking part in the annual three-quarter-mile speed run race with two crew aboard their Skater high-speed cat. The boat is designed to lift just onto the surface of the water, almost flying, where it has the least drag and thus the highest optimum speed. It was a gusty day and as the Skater hit 200-mph, the bows lifted, caught the wind and the boat soared…

Tamas and Sara Hamor launched the Xquisite Yacht company in South Africa in 2014 and have spent the last 10 years bringing truly innovative, luxurious sailing and now power cats to the market. To date, they have delivered 47 truly unique yachts to happy customers. For 2025 they are introducing a sporty 40-foot power cat that will be a fine warm weather cruiser. A two cabin, two head boat, the new 40 has a ton of outdoor space and open-air living area. On the wide deck between the hulls up forward, you’ll find two wide sunbeds with tilt-up back rests.…

In April, SeaTow, the nation-wide boating assistance and towing service, announced that it was working with boat builders and dealers to provide free memberships to the buyers of new boats, motors or trailers. The membership is designed to both provide dealers with added value that should help close sales and will save boat owners up to $249 for their first summer with their new boat. While this is a direct benefit to boaters, the new plan is also designed to make them feel more comfortable on the water so they use their boats more and become life-long members of the…

A few years ago, Fred and Stephanie Kaufhold aboard their Helmsman 37 Mariner Seville Dream Weaver, joined two buddy boats for a cruise to the remote and historic islands off the Pacific coast that are now known as the Haida Gwaii. These were known formally by their European name The Queen Charlotte Islands but were renamed in 2009. To get to the Gwaii islands, the Kaufholds and their friends first had to make the 65-mile crossing. of Hecate Strait which is known for fast moving weather systems and strong currents. They weren’t disappointed as the wind came up briskly creating…

The new Arksen 85 is billed by the company as the ultimate long-range explorer. It was conceived to satisfy the needs of modern adventurers, those mavericks with a twinkle in their eyes and the means to make big adventures come to fruition. The 85 is the company’s flagship. It is built of aluminum and engineered to be strong and safe enough to tackle the ice sheets of Greenland or the bergs of the Northwest Passage. According to the builder, the 85 is built with up to 70% recycled metal and, when its useful life is done, all that aluminum can…

That’s a mouthful of buzzwords – AI, augmented reality—but welcome to 2025 and the new age of smart machines that solve problems we didn’t even know we had. The new LOOKOUT camera is just such an invention. It looks ahead with a high powered camera’s eye and runs that data through a computer equipped with AI that also collects data from all of your nav instruments. The result is a screen filled with all the data your marine electrics can generate in a readable three-dimensional format. The software expands images of hazards, highlights buoys, tracks AIS signals from passing boats…

Now here’s something different, a fast cruising speed boat that tops out at 60-plus knots. It is not surprising, then, that this sleek, Italian speedster is the brainchild of the Lamborghini Motorcar Company. You hear the name Lambo and you immediately think of that magic combination of futuristic Italian styling blended with over the top performance and speed. You want a car that will go 200-miles-an hours? It’s a Lambo. Do you want a boat that will top 60 knots (72 miles-per-hour) then it’s a Lambo. The 63 is built by Tecnomar, which is a subsidiary of the Italian holding…

Maria Langer is a woman of many parts. She is a helicopter pilot, an adventure traveler, a professional yacht captain and a certified powerboat instructor. She is also a Great Looper who closed her circle on August 12 last summer in Chicago and is now writing a book about her Loop adventures. And, she’s a long-time blogger. Her Loop trip lasted 464 days and took her through 19 states and one Canadian Province. She covered 8,330 miles and burned 5,234 gallons of fuel. She spent 278 nights in marinas and the rest swinging on the anchor. All of this was…

The New Saxdor 40 GTC was introduced to the North American market last fall and is the Finnish builder’s flagship. A two-cabin, outboard express cruiser, the new boat packs a lot of amenities inside a relatively small envelope. The Saxdor company was founded by Sakari Matilla, a prolific boat-building entrepreneur, who also founded Axopar, Aquador, Paragon and XO Boats. While based in Finland, Saxdor builds most of their boats at their factory in Poland, a country that has become a boat building mecca. As of 2024, the company had grown to 600 employees. It has over 100 dealers in 50…

This year, Williams, the British builder of inflatable, jet-drive dinghies and sport boats, is celebrating 20 years in business. Over those two decades, Williams had become synonymous with high-tech, high-performance boats that are the class of the dinghy and tender market. The brand is so popular, builders of new boats often design dinghy garages and stern lifting planforms specifically for the Williams dinghy that will go with the new boats. To celebrate the anniversary, Wiliams is introducing three new models: the SportJet 460 and 520 and the DieselJet 625. The 460, at 15 feet is a suitable size tender for…

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