Cruising Life

Best Marine Design Winners Named

By Peter Janssen on November 15, 2023 Cruising Life, Gear

The annual DAME Awards recognizing superior design were just announced at the opening of the big METSTRADE marine equipment show in Amsterdam. The awards were started in 1991 to promote design in all boating fields and to recognize the best-designed products at the show. This year a record 53 products from 100 entries were shortlisted for the awards. An international jury of eight industry veterans then chose the winners in eight categories, plus 14 special mentions. The overall winner was the HighPower ServoProp 25 from Oceanvolt, the Finnish electric inboard pioneer. It’s a 25-kW electric saildrive with a controllable pitch…

Coast Guard Helicopter Crashes in Alaska

By Peter Janssen on November 15, 2023 Cruising Life

A Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter crashed Monday night while on a rescue mission in Southeast Alaska. The four crew on board were rescued by a second Coast Guard helicopter. Two had serious injuries, and all four were flown to a hospital in Seattle for treatment. The incident started when the crew of the Lydia Maria, a commercial crabbing boat, reported flooding; it was in Farragut Bay, near Petersburg. A Coast Guard helicopter from Sitka responded. At 11:05 p.m. the Lydia Maria reported that the Coast Guard helicopter had crashed on Read Island in the bay. Rescue crews from Alaska Wildlife…

Azimut Grande 36M: High-Style Winner

By Peter Janssen on November 14, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The Azimut Grande 36M was introduced to the United States market at the recent Fort Lauderdale show, and it wasted no time in making itself known. Indeed, the sleek 116-foot super yacht was named Best of the Show by a panel of independent judges. For the award, Azimut faced some heavy competition, including the Benetti 4M Oasis, Princess Y95, wallywhy150, and Sunreef 80 Eco, among others. But the Azimut stood out for both its innovative design and its creative hull shape, a coupling that was hard to beat. The new Azimut was launched in Viareggio last August, and it caused…

Princeton Team Sets Electric Speed Record

By Peter Janssen on November 14, 2023 Cruising Life

A team of Princeton students designed an electric boat that just shattered the world speed record. The boat, a 14-foot hydroplane named Big Bird, flew over a measured kilo course on Lake Townsend in North Carolina on a two-way average speed of 114.4 mph. The previous world record of 88.6 mph was set by Jaguar Vector Racing, a professional racing organization, in 2018. The Princeton team, organized as Princeton Electric Speedboating, started work in February, 2022. It’s made up of more than 40 undergrad and grad students with a wide range of majors, but a heavy concentration on engineering and…

New EZRaft Tender for Smaller Spaces

By Peter Janssen on November 14, 2023 Cruising Life, Gear

Here’s a new possibility as a tender for smaller cruising boats that don’t have enough room on the swim platform or lazarette for a traditional inflatable or RIB. The company says the EZRaft 250 is the “ultimate in portability and convenience.” Built in The Netherlands, the EZRaft is just 8’ 2” long and 4’ 7” wide, and it folds down to just 2’ 6” by 10” to fit into its own carrying bag. It also weighs just 24 pounds, so it’s easy to carry. You can inflate/deflate it in about five minutes, using the supplied electric pump. It doesn’t have…

Vicem 55 Classic: A Down-East Favorite

By Peter Janssen on November 13, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Over the years, the elegant Vicem 55 Classic with its eye-pleasing Down-East lines has been one of the Turkish builder’s most popular boats. Indeed, the company has built more than 150 of them in the past 20 years. Until recently, the 55, like most other Vicems, was built with a cold-molded process, involving layers of mahogany at different angles that are saturated with epoxy over a computer-designed mold. The idea was that the combination of wood and resins produced a hull that was lighter, stronger and quieter than most fiberglass hulls. The problem was that cold-molding takes time, and many…

Fire at La Paz Marina Sinks 5 Yachts

By Peter Janssen on November 8, 2023 Cruising Life

A sudden, late-night fire destroyed or heavily damaged at least 10 yachts last week at the Marina Palmira in La Paz, Mexico. Local accounts said at least five boats sank and five others were damaged in a fire that started about 3 a.m. One boat, a 107-foot Hatteras named Optimus, caught on fire and drifted away from its dock before burning to the waterline against a seawall (see picture below). Optimus was launched in 2019 and took its maiden voyage from the Hatteras factory in New Bern, North Carolina, to New York. Marina Palmira is a full-service marina with 180…

Dive boat Conception. Photo by Ventura County Fire Department

Dive Boat Captain Guilty in 34 Deaths

By Peter Janssen on November 8, 2023 Cruising Life

A federal court jury in Los Angeles found the captain of the dive boat Conception guilty of “seaman’s manslaughter” on Monday, as a result of the fire on Labor Day weekend in 2019 that killed 33 sleeping passengers and one crew member and sank the 75-foot boat in Platt’s Harbor off Santa Cruz Island in Southern California. The jury decided that the captain, Jerry Nehl Boylan, was guilty of “misconduct, gross negligence and inattention to his duties,” charges that amount to the “seaman’s manslaughter” characterization. Five crew members, including Boylan, jumped into the water and escaped as the fast-moving fire…

Hunt Delivers New Ocean 63 Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on November 7, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Hunt Yachts has delivered its latest Ocean 63 series to its new owner, with a custom galley since the owner represents the third generation of chefs. The Hunt 63 is a popular boat. The latest, named Lady B, is hull number three, and four more are under construction. They all share the same basic Hunt envelope and propulsion, but otherwise they are custom built to suit each owner. In this case, cooking is a family affair, and Lady B is the first 63 to have the galley up in the deckhouse. It runs the full length of the deckhouse on…

New Targa 46: All-Weather Flagship

By Peter Janssen on November 7, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Targa 46 flagship is the largest and most powerful Targa yet. A solid blue-water performer, the 46 has a top speed of more than 40 knots with its standard 480-hp Volvo IPS650 pod drives. But the Targa 46 is about much more than speed. Targa has been building boats in Finland for 40 years, earning a reputation for creating tough, safe and comfortable cruisers that will go anywhere in all kinds of weather. If you want to make sure you can cruise Down East even in sloppy weather, or reach your island destination in the Pacific Northwest all-year-round,…

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