Cruising Life

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…

Wicked New Brabus Shadow Black Ops 45

By Peter Janssen on February 1, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Here’s a boat with an attitude. The Brabus Shadow 1200 XC Black Ops Signature Edition was just unveiled at the big Düsseldorf show. The new, 45-foot 1200 XC is the biggest Brabus Shadow ever built, and it’s unique inside and out, with a mix of performance, comfort and luxurious ambiance. The company says the new boat “has absolutely everything, bringing next-level usability and versatility to the luxury boat segment.” The Shadow is the made by Brabus Marine, a partnership of Axopar, the innovative builder in Finland, and Brabus, a German company that specializes in transforming luxury cars (think Mercedes-AMG) into…

New Pershing GTX 80: Big and Bold

By Peter Janssen on February 1, 2024 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Pershing yachts are not for the modest. Indeed, the Ferretti Group, which owns Pershing, says the new Pershing GTX 80, with its striking looks, is “synonymous with fun, total control, and unchallenged supremacy.” It’s hard to live up to all that, but the Pershing GTX 80 certainly comes close. Its new design features Pershing’s signature lines, starting with an almost-vertical bow and including a slightly convex sheerline. The eye-catching bulwarks in the bow have been opened by a longitudinal slot; those in the stern incorporate winches for dock lines and also can swing down to provide space for sun lounging…

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