Cruising Life

Fast & Sleek New Infiniti 60 Power Cat

By Peter Janssen on April 18, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Infiniti Yachts, a Gibraltar company with a history of building racing sailboats, just unveiled its first powerboat, a sleek, fast and lightweight 60-foot catamaran powered by two 600-hp Mercury V8 outboards. Equipped with retractable foils, the Infiniti 60 cruises at 28 knots and tops out at 40 knots, according to the company. Electric propulsion is an option. With its large, raked windshield, a flybridge set far aft and covered by a carbon-fiber hardtop with an opening sunroof, reverse bows for extra waterline length, an enormous sun pad covering most of the foredeck, and an open aft deck with terraces folding…

Safehaven’s Sea Trial in a Storm

By Peter Janssen on April 17, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Don’t try this at home. But Frank Kowalski, the head of Safehaven Marine, wanted to give his new Voyager T-2000 70-foot explorer yacht a good sea trial, so he took it straight out of Cork Harbour in Ireland in a storm with 70-mph winds and 13-foot waves (see the video below). The Voyager, and Kowalski, escaped unscathed, and returned safely to the factory. The idea was to give the Voyager, a recreational vessel, the same real-world testing that Safehaven gives its commercial, military and search-and-rescue craft. Founded in 1998, Safehaven has made more than 160 vessels so far. The Voyager…

Maserati Unveils New All-Electric Tridente

By Peter Janssen on April 17, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Maserati, the Italian luxury car builder, just announced that it’s making a new 34-foot, electric-powered day boat with low, elegant lines and a matte rose-gold paint job. Maserati introduced the new boat, called Tridente, at a company event in Rimini, on the Adriatic, where it also unveiled a new electric convertible, the GranCabro Folgore, with a matching color scheme. For the Tridente, Maserati teamed up with Vita Power in England for a state-of-the-art electric drivetrain. The Tridente was built by Hodgdon Yachts in East Boothbay, Maine. Hodgdon, a 200-year-old family company, worked with Vita last year to make its revolutionary…

Owner Sues To Dock Yacht Behind House

By Peter Janssen on April 16, 2024 Cruising Life

When can you dock your boat behind your house? Or more specifically, how big is too big to be able to dock your boat behind your house? What if it’s a 164-foot Westport megayacht? Those are the questions driving a suit that Michael Bozzuto has filed against the Village of North Palm Beach, Florida (pop:13,000), where he’s lived for 20 years. Bozzuto has been fighting for several years for the right to dock his yacht, named Honey, behind his house at 932 Shore Drive there. He bought the house in 2014 for $840,247. He also bought Honey about that time,…

New Galeon 450 HTC Family Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on April 16, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Galeon 450 HTC (Hard Top Cruiser) is a comfortable family cruiser with a full-length glass roof and a “beach mode” aft with large terraces that fold out of the bulwarks. Powered by twin 480-hp Volvo diesels with straight shafts, the Galeon tops out at 28 knots. It’s easy for a couple, or even a solo captain, to handle, and a door next to the helm opens to the starboard side deck so the captain can help with docking. The railings open on both sides for easy boarding from a dock. The Galeon’s salon has panoramic windows that are…

Sunseeker Building New Predator 55

By Peter Janssen on April 16, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sunseeker, the major British builder, just unveiled a new Predator 55 with a low-profile and aggressively sloping hardtop that tops out at 36 knots. Meanwhile. Bloomberg reports that the same Miami holding company that bought Cigarette three years ago is now in the process of buying Sunseeker. Sunseeker says the new Predator 55 is a blend of luxury and performance. It certainly has all the latest bells and whistles, including Garmin’s high-tech Surround View that has six cameras built into the hull to provide 360-degree views and computerized assistance in docking. And an optional gyro stabilizer will keep everyone on…

Oceans Warming: Storms Ahead

By Peter Janssen on April 15, 2024 Cruising Life

Ocean temperatures are setting records all around the world, according to new reports, and the rising temperatures will probably lead to more storms ahead. The average global sea surface temperature in February was the highest for any month ever measured, according to Copernicus, a climate arm of the European Union. February also set the record for any single month, 69.9 degrees Fahrenheit. The previous record was just in August, at 69.7 Fahrenheit. Copernicus measured the temperatures in all the oceans of the world between 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south. The World Meteorological Organization reports that “Every month since…

Castaways Spell HELP on Beach: Get Rescued

By Peter Janssen on April 14, 2024 Cruising Life

Three fishermen who were stranded on an uninhabited South Pacific island for more than a week were rescued by the Navy and the Coast Guard after they used palm fronds to write “HELP” on the white-sand beach. The men subsisted by eating coconut meat. They had some fresh water from a well. On Easter Sunday, the three, all experienced fishermen in their 40s, left their homes on Polowat Atoll in Micronesia to fish off Pikelot Atoll, about 100 nm away on a 20-foot open skiff. As they neared Pikelot, the boat swamped in heavy weather. The outboard quit but they…

Silent Launches First 62 Tri-Deck

By Peter Janssen on April 10, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Silent Yachts, the creative Austrian builder, just launched its first 62 solar/electric tri-deck at its yard in Fano, Italy. The blue-water catamaran, with a CE A certification, has a trans-oceanic range at its cruising speed of 6 to 8 knots. The new Silent 62 is based on the company’s well-received 60, which won a Multihull of the Year Award and a Best of Boats Award when it was launched in 2021. It’s two feet longer, of course, but it has the third upper deck, giving it something of a superyacht flair. The new Silent has a reverse bow and a…

BluNav Studies Whales: Builds New Prop

By Peter Janssen on April 10, 2024 Cruising Life, Engine Room

BluNav, a French start-up, has a new idea for boat propellers. After studying humpback whales, it developed a Whale Design prop for its electric drives with the blades set on a magnetically driven inner ring. So far, of course, traditional boat propellers have been mounted on a shaft. But BluNav likes to think outside the box. Founded in 2020, the company wants to promote electric power for recreational and commercial vessels. Recently it has taken a hybrid approach, developing its BlueSpin electric propulsion system that can be used with a boat’s original combustion engine. The BlueSpin provides silent propulsion with…

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