This week at France’s Cannes Festival of Yachting, the Polish builder of sport cruisers unveiled a surprise for the cruising market, the all-new Galeon 430 Explorer.  The new 43-footer is their first boat in the long-range trawler style and promises to open new audiences for the builder. The design has a purposeful trawler styling with a fly bridge, a high saloon with expansive glazing and a large aft cockpit and swim platform. This last feature is enhanced by fold-down bulwarks on both sides that almost double the cockpit’s deck area. The helm at the front of the saloon is up…

West Navitech is a relatively new commercial shipyard based near La Spezia, Italy. Over the last decade they have earned a reputation for building robust aluminum commercial vessels of the highest strength and quality. They build passenger vessels, tugs, Coast Guard rescue craft and fireboats. Plus, they build aluminum hulls for other yacht builders in the La Spezia region. So, it is a little surprising to hear this month that the builder was venturing into the luxury yacht market with a new aluminum family cruiser called the Forte 47. The name Forte come from the Italian word for strength and…

When you first glimpse the new Marlow Avalon 65 from Marlow Yachts and owner David Marlow, you know the company and its owner have created an owner-operated cruising boat that has a entirely new look. Gone are the stepped sheer line and the square windows in the salon, bridge and hull. Instead, we have a high sided hull with a straight sheer, a noticeable flare at the bow and a curvaceous cabin and bridge structure with a swept back look and cats-eye windows. Plus the hull ports are oval. The whole look of the Avalon 65 has a retro feel…

With the new 46, Aquila catamarans is venturing into the explorer or adventure cat realm by combining big-boat innovations with a power plant designed to travel long distances without refueling.  The target market will be independent, adventurous couples. The published specs call for twin Volvo 320-horsepower engines that will deliver a top-end-speed of 28 knots. The tanks hold 425 gallons of diesel so running at moderate cruising speeds of 15 knots or so and burning about six gallons an hour, you have a useful range of roughly 1,000 miles. For long-haul and off-the-grid capabilities, you can opt for Aquila’s Hydroglide…