Cruising Life

Sleek Itama 62RS Debuts in Miami

By Peter Janssen on February 13, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

If you liked the looks of classic Rivas, you’ll certainly love new Itama. Indeed, the Itama 62RS, making its U.S. debut at the Miami show from Feb. 14 through 18, takes more than a few design cues from the iconic wooden Rivas whose ownership ranged from Brigitte Bardot and Sophia Loren to the Aga Khan. In the U.S., the new Itama also touches the fast-driving, fast-living world of Miami Vice days but with a lot more room and amenities than Sonny Crocket ever dreamed of. The teak foredeck, for example, goes on forever, and has luxurious sun pads for lounging…

Lazzara Building Wide-Open 85-Foot Cat

By Peter Janssen on February 12, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Lazzara LPC500 gives a whole new meaning to the idea of an open layout. On the lower deck of the 85-foot luxury power cat, both sides drop down from the owner’s massive, full-beam midships stateroom, so you can eat breakfast, lunch or dinner sitting out over the ocean, while enjoying the breeze from the other side. On the main deck, the port, starboard and aft glass walls slide open to provide a massive open area so you can enjoy the view, or the weather, in three directions. The cat’s 35-foot beam ensures a lot of fresh air moving…

First WiLder 60 Launches in Italy

By Peter Janssen on February 12, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

WiLder, the new brand from Wider Yachts, just launched its first hull, a 60, in Italy. Wider says the new WiLder, a semi-custom cruiser, is designed “to appeal to the wilder side in us all.” Wider usually builds superyachts. The idea behind WiLder is to bring superyacht-quality fit and finish and construction to a wider market with a 60-foot yacht. In the new 60, the hull is all aluminum, and all the amenities are indeed what you’d usually find in much larger vessels. The new boat “represents a leap forward in what a 60-footer can offer and how it can…

Swan Unveils New 76-foot Arrow Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on February 7, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Finland’s Nautor Swan, one of the most iconic names in luxury sailboats, just unveiled a new 76-foot Swan Arrow, their largest powerboat yet. Last fall, the 43-foot Swan Shadow made its U.S. debut at the Fort Lauderdale boat show. A dayboat powered by three 350-Mercury Verado outboards, it had a top speed of 55 knots. The new Arrow is a very large leap up, in size and function. With two or three cabins below and a salon that can be open or enclosed, it’s a highly styled cruiser powered by two or three 1,000-hp Volvo IPS1350 pod drives. With two,…

Sunreef Unveils New 77 Ultima Cat

By Peter Janssen on February 6, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Sunreef just unveiled its new 77 Ultima luxurious power catamaran with a sleek hull, sporty lines, a Jacuzzi on the flybridge, a spectacular master cabin that stretches between the two hulls, and an aft deck that folds out with a Jet Ski garage that doubles as a giant sun pad. And it’s eco-friendly, with a solar skin to provide clean energy, custom batteries that Sunreef says are 30 percent lighter than others on the market, and hybrid electric/diesel power. The slim, aerodynamic hull is designed to reduce drag, and the new Sunreef can be fitted with computer-controlled hydrofoils to fly…

Two Women Set New Atlantic Record

By Peter Janssen on February 6, 2024 Cruising Life

An American and a Canadian woman just broke the world’s record by rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic in 45 days, 1 hour and 27 minutes. They beat the old record, set in 2021, by 5 hours and 58 minutes. Called “the world’s toughest row,” the race starts in La Gomera in the Canary Islands and ends in English Harbour, Antiqua. Lauren (“Nini”) Champion, from Annapolis, and Lisa Roland, who was born in Canada but now refers to herself as a citizen of the world, took roughly 1.5 million oar strokes crossing the Atlantic. For the entire trip each one…

NTSB: Use This To Save Your Life

By Peter Janssen on February 5, 2024 Cruising Life

The National Transportation Safety Board just issued a safety alert urging boat owners to give everyone on board a personal locator device to improve their chances of being rescued in an emergency. PLBs or satellite emergency notification devices can pinpoint your location in an emergency, so that others will know where to find you and they can coordinate rescue efforts. The NTSB says that current PLBs are accurate within about 300 feet and that they almost immediate notify search-and-rescue organizations when they’re activated. The NTSB said that the use of PLBs in the sinking of the U.S. cargo ship El…

Maine Man Rescued After Missed Calls

By Peter Janssen on February 5, 2024 Cruising Life

Last Sunday afternoon, a mid-coast Maine man took his skiff out to retrieve parts of his dock that had been washed away by a storm. Somehow, the skiff turned over, and he was thrown into the frigid water near Tenants Harbor. As it turns out, a Facebook posting that he had shared with friends, just to tell them what he was up to that afternoon, plus a missed check-in call with his wife, probably saved his life The rescue started when the man’s wife said he missed a check-in call at 4:15. She called him again and again, but her…

Floating Sauna Saves Sinking Tesla

By co_admin on February 5, 2024 Cruising Life

Here’s a truly bizarre story we just saw on Boatblurb.com: One of the most unlikely maritime rescue operations just took place on an Oslo fjord. After a Tesla commuter inexplicably drove into the frigid waterway and began sinking, the captain of the floating sauna immediately came to their rescue, albeit at a meager pace and with the unlikeliest of rescue vessels. “One of the guests came running and alerted me that a car had fallen into the water. Then I went full throttle at the people who came climbing out of the car,” captain Nicholay Nordahl told Norwegian website VG.…

New Azimut Fly 72 To Debut in Miami

By Peter Janssen on February 5, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Azimut Fly 72, another Italian beauty, will make its U.S. debut at the Herald Plaza location of the Miami show, starting on Feb. 14. The new Azimut has four staterooms (plus one for crew under the cockpit), all with their own heads, plus a larger than usual social foredeck, a large flybridge, and a light-filled salon with lots of entertaining space and an extra dinette. Power comes from twin 1,400-hp MAN V12 diesels, paired to straight shafts and delivering a cruising speed of 26 knots and a top speed of 31 knots. The foredeck is made for lounging…

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