Cruising Life

New Study: The Orcas Are Just Bored

By co_admin on May 29, 2024 Cruising Life

All those orcas ramming and sinking boats are just bored? Well, that’s the conclusion of a new study as reported in a thorough story about the attacks in USA Today: For the last five years, killer whales have been ramming – and in some cases sinking – expensive yachts, fishing boats and motorboats in the crystalline waters off the coast of Spain, Portugal, France and Morocco. Why has been a mystery – until recently. A multinational group of orca experts that met in February and were sponsored by the governments of Spain and Portugal has released a report outlining why…

New Hi-Tech Batboat: 85 mph, $250,000

By Peter Janssen on May 28, 2024 Cruising Life

If you want to be the first superhero on your dock, take a look at the new Stormy Knight. It’s a sleek jet ski-like craft that looks like a Batboat and is a joint production of Hollywood and Silicon Valley that goes 85 mph and costs $250,000. The new hi-tech 14-foot “hyper vessel” is built by Wayne Enterprises, a luxury brand from Warner Bros., and T3MP3ST, a Silicon Valley sports company. It’s officially called the Maverick GT Stormy Knight, and the Bruce Wayne website says “It’s crafted by a team who are masters of their trade, with a long history…

EXTRA Building Low-Profile X90 Fast

By Peter Janssen on May 28, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

EXTRA Yachts just announced that it has sold the first hull of its new X90 Fast series and it’s building the low-profile cruiser in its factory in Ancona, Italy. The new EXTRA will be delivered in the summer of 2025. Designed by the Hot Lab studio in Milan, the new EXTRA has a distinctive profile that includes low windows that still admit lots of natural light to the interior. It has a mix of several entertaining and relaxing spaces inside and out, and the company offers a high range of customization. Power comes from three 1,000-hp Volvo IPS1350 pod drives.…

Riviera Launches 6800 Sport Yacht Flagship

By Peter Janssen on May 27, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Riviera just launched its new 6800 Sport Yacht at the Sanctuary Cove boat show on Australia’s Gold Coast. The new 68 is the flagship of Riviera’s Sport Yacht series, which already has a 46, 54 and 60. Designed by Luca Valebona, who usually works on superyachts, and the Riviera design team, Riviera’s Sport Yachts are meant to focus on timeless styling, single-level living, ease of operation, and blue-water performance. You can order the 68 with four cabins and three heads below, or three cabins and a lower lounge replacing a guest cabin on the starboard side. Owners also have a…

Omaya, New Power Cat Brand, Building a 50

By Peter Janssen on May 27, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The world of large power catamarans just keeps growing and growing. One of the latest entries comes from Omaya Yachts, a new brand from the three-decades-old Elica Group with its yard on the Danube in Bulgaria. The new Omaya 50 is scheduled to be launched this summer. Elica says it started Omaya Yachts to build luxury power cats for the worldwide private and charter market. Like the 50, they will be designed by i-Yacht in Hamburg, and will have large beams to provide room for comfortable cruising or living on board. Indeed, the beam of the 50 is 27’ 5”,…

Yacht Hits Drain Pipe, Sinks off St. Augustine

By Peter Janssen on May 27, 2024 Cruising Life

The Coast Guard and the St. John’s County Fire and Rescue saved two people on Saturday morning after their 80-foot yacht hit a submerged drain tank and sank three miles off St. Augustine Beach, Florida. The Coast Guard says it heard a call at 11:37 on channel 16 from the operator of the yacht Atlantis saying it hit something and was taking on water. The Coast Guard sent a boat to assist and coordinated with the St. John’s County team and a nearby good Samaritan vessel. The Coast Guard told the operator to turn on the boat’s EPIRB to help…

More Hurricanes Coming: NOAA

By co_admin on May 26, 2024 Cruising Life

Here’s some sobering news from NOAA about this year’s hurricane season: NOAA National Weather Service forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center predict above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin this year. NOAA’s outlook for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which spans from June 1 to November 30, predicts an 85% chance of an above-normal season, a 10% chance of a near-normal season and a 5% chance of a below-normal season. NOAA is forecasting a range of 17 to 25 total named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher). Of those, 8 to 13 are forecast to become hurricanes (winds of…

First Superyacht with Methane Power

By Peter Janssen on May 23, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sanlorenzo just launched the first superyacht in the world with methane power in a ceremony at its yard in La Spezia, Italy. The new 164-foot Almx will use methanol fuel cells to produce emissions-free power to run its hotel load at anchor without having to turn on its diesel engines or generator. The methane power can produce up to 100kW of carbon-neutral electricity, greatly extending the time the yacht can spend at anchor without using any diesel fuel. Massio Perotti, the head of the Sanlorenzo Group, said that with the launch the company “celebrates a fundamental milestone in its history,…

Zodiac Launches 32-Foot Hybrid Flagship

By Peter Janssen on May 22, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Zodiac has just launched a new 32-foot X10CC, the largest its ever built. It’s something of a hybrid, designed to combine the advantages of a conventional RIB with those of a fiberglass center console. The X10CC (Center Console) represents three years of R&D from the French builder, once a worldwide force in the RIB universe. It has high freeboard (something missing from most RIBs) with a rigid hull surrounded by tubes that offer both protection and floatation. Zodiac said it listened to RIB owners and potential owners, and realized that the market was changing. “They’re looking for bigger and bigger…

Staten Island Ferry for Auction: $155,000

By Peter Janssen on May 21, 2024 Cruising Life

If you’re looking for a new project boat, a very big project boat, consider the Andrew J. Barberi, a 310-foot-long decommissioned Staten Island ferry. It is now being auctioned by the City of New York with a starting price of $155,000. In today’s market, it’s hard to find a small pocket cruiser for sale for $155,000, so the Andrew J. Barberi may seem a bargain. After all, it holds 6,000 passengers, so you’d certainly have enough room to take all your friends. Think of the raft-up possibilities. And the last Staten Island ferry that was auctioned, the John F. Kennedy,…

Browsing: Cruising Life