The Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show is one of America’s largest in-the-water shows and has boats on exhibit from six to 250 feet – all powerboats and motor yachts. Here’s a quick look at eightboats and yachts that are new to the North American market and are good examples of the latest design and build trends. In the power cruising world. Pearl 100 Hybrid – 100 feet: The new flagship from Pearl Yachts is the builder’s largest and most advanced model to date and the first in its fleet to feature hybrid propulsion. The raised pilothouse superyacht combines a…
Browsing: Cruising Life
The team behind the Slovenian boat builder Greenline made a commitment from the company’s inception. In 2008 to build boats that are as eco-friendly as possible. They pioneered solar charging and battery systems and worked with vendors to create electric propulsion systems, including proprietary management software. The concept was an immediate hit and propelled Greenline to rapid growth not only in Europe where eco-friendliness is a passion, but around the world. The U.S. became their largest market and Yacht Sales International in Ft. Lauderdale one of their biggest dealers. YSI announced this week that they will have the all-new Greenline…
There certainly is something special about the new Sunreef Ultima 88 mega power cats that appeals to a very select group of elite sportsmen. Since tennis legend Rafa Nadal ordered one three years ago, tennis champion Carlos Alcaraz and Formula One drivers Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg have bought one. Messi is next in line. “It’s a real pleasure to join the Sunreef family,” Messi said in a statement. My family and I have always loved spending time at sea whenever we get the chance.” The model is the apex of the Ultima line and was first introduced in 2023.…
Marco and Karen Johnson had caught the cruising bug and that turned into a full-blown cruising dream. They bought a Nordhavn 40, which they named Epic, learned to manage it by themselves without crew and then took the big leap. First, they joined the annual Nordhavn Taco Run in Mexico and then staged in a La Paz marina for the big one, the 2,800-mile crossing from Mexico to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. It would be a challenging passage and one of the longest along the Pacific’s famous “coconut milk run.” They foaded Epic with 1,216 gallons of fuel…
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 2026 Annapolis Powerboat Show gets underway next week. This year there is a host of new boats that will have their Annapolis debuts and six of them fit neatly into the trawler, sport cruiser and luxury cruiser categories that Cruising Odyssey focuses on. Herewith a brief preview of the six new stars in the power cruising firmament. Askari 65 Crafted in Cape Town, South Africa, the Askari 65 P Long Range Aluminum Cruiser is engineered for global exploration. She offers a comfortable cruising speed of 10 knots and has a range of approximately 2,500 nm. This marine-grade aluminum vessel…
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…
With the fall season well underway for those cruising south to Florida and the Bahamas for the winter, it is time to revisit the changing regulations, permits and fees that the Bahamas have recently enacted for foreign boats visiting the country. On July 1, 2025, the Bahamian government put In place dramatic increases to the fees it chargesqwass visiting boats. These were onerous enough that marina owners and the operators of marine facilities and chandleries ganged together to protest the new rules. Their point was the higher fees would reduce traffic from the U.S. and seriously cut into their winter…
At the Newport Boat international Show on Thursday morning, I ran into Winn Willard, president of Ray Hunt Yacht Design, aboard the new Hunt 56 by DiMillo’s which he and his team designed. While we were admiring this handsome new cruiser, which we have reviewed, Winn mentioned that Lyman Morse was at work building a custom Lyman-Morse 70. That pricked my interest, so I wandered over to the Lyman-Morse stand, where they are showing the new Hood LM 42, also recently reviewed, and ran into Drew Lymam, president of LM. Yes, indeed, he is building the new Lyman-Morse 70 and…