One of the boats that caught my eye while at the Cannes Boat Show was the Greek-built Omikron 60 power cruiser. The boat was designed by Juan Koyoumdjian who is best known for his stylish and fast cruising and racing sailboats. The builder’s brief to the designer was for a family cruiser that offers the quiet and peace of a sailboat with the luxury and conveniences of a powerboat. The Omikron 60 is the result and it’s traditional deck house and strong sheer line have echoes of Eastern Mediterranean boats from the 1950s. Missing is the acre of varnished mahogany,…

The East Bay line of family cruisers was launched in 1993 by Grand Banks to enter the performance cruising market with a sleek Downeast sedan. Traditional Grand Banks boats of that period were eight to 10-knot trawlers that did not compete well against the modern cruisers built by Sabre, Back Cove and others. Today, East Bay builds two models, the flagship 60 and the mid-range 44. The smaller boat has been given many upgrades by the new owners of Grand Banks yet still is endowed with the classic features that made the original East Bay 38 such a popular boat.…

The Solara brand was introduced by Fluid Motion nearly a decade ago and has proven to be a real hit with America’s performance cruiser aficionados. Built in the U.S. by the builder of Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats, the Solara style is that of a classic American sport cruiser. The B in its name stands for the flybridge, a feature seldom seen on boats that are only 31-feet long. The builder likes to emphasize that the 310 SB is a multi-purpose boat. It can take you offshore for sport fishing, it can run the family to the beach for an…

Next week in Newport Rhode Island, cruising enthusiasts from all over the Northeast will make their annual pilgrimage to the ity by the Sea to attend the Newport International Boat Show. The show has grown in size and importance over the last decade and is now the place for many boat builders to debut their newest models. Here’s a look at nine new cruisers and trawlers that are having their debutant parties in Newport next week: Hunt 56 by DiMillo’s The new Hunt 56 marks the first model introduced under Hunt Yachts by DiMillo’s, pairing the legendary Ray Hunt Deep-V…

You have to hand it to the brand managers and designers at Jeanneau for constantly thinking outside the box. If fact, it seems at times that they don’t  know there is a box. The Sea Loft 480 proves the point. And it is informative that in the description of the boat on the Jeanneau website and brochure the concept of “cooking’ is an oft repeated theme. Sure, we all cook when we cruise, but they seem to be inferring that what’s going on here is instead cruising while actually cooking. And why not, the new design was created for families…