Cruising Life

New Delta 48: Upscale Fast Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 30, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

The new Delta 48 Coupe from Sweden is a sharp-looking, upscale, lightweight cruiser that comes with either twin diesel sterndrives or twin outboard power. Delta has been building clean, elegant powerboats for the past 20 years. The new 48 Coupe is the result of a collaboration with Mannerfelt Design, which specializes in fast race boats as well as high-performing recreational boats. The Delta 48 is built with an all carbon-fiber hull and deck to keep its weight down and to boost performance. You can order it with either twin 440-hp Volvo diesel sterndrives, or twin 600-hp Mercury V12 Verado outboards.…

New Electric Persico Zagato 100.2

By Peter Janssen on January 30, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Let’s face it: A lot of the early electric-powered boats were, well, to put it charitably, aesthetically challenged. Not so the new Persico Zagato 100.2, unveiled last week at Zagato’s headquarters in Milan. Zagato’s announcement called it “an innovative hyperboat featuring aesthetic purity of design,” combining Persico’s technology, electric jet propulsion, and Zagato’s supercar-like looks. A little history: The boat’s100.2 nomenclature celebrates Zagato’s second century in business. It was founded “to dress cars and planes with customized bodywork,” and its most famous designs include work for Aston Martin, Lamborghini, and Alfa Romeo, among many others. The new 26-foot Persico Zagato…

European Boat of the Year Awards

By Peter Janssen on January 26, 2023 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

The winners of the annual European Boat of the Year Awards were just announced at the Düsseldorf show. The winners are chosen by a panel of judges from 12 European boating magazines, and they consider each boat’s workmanship, handling, layout, safety, value, and new ideas and concepts. For this year’s contest, the judges looked at more than 250 new boats, and ultimately choose the winners, and multiple finalists, in six categories. (The Prestige M 48 is shown at top.) The winners are: Sportboats up to 8 Meters (26’): Winner: Askelladen C 78 Cruiser (above) Finalists: Bayliner M19, Beneteau Flyer 8…

Family Rescues Missing Florida Diver

By Peter Janssen on January 25, 2023 Cruising Life

Dylan Gartenmayer, 22, has been diving in the waters near his Key West home for the past 11 years. As it turns out, a few days ago his own fast thinking and his family’s fast rescue efforts probably saved his life. Gartenmayer was free diving in about 35 feet of water off Western Sambo Reef, when a strong current swept him away. When he surfaced, he realized he was about a mile from his boat, with two friends on board. He could see the boat; his friends couldn’t see him. The friends searched for half an hour and called the…

Peter B. Wright

By Peter Janssen on January 25, 2023 Cruising Life

I was immensely saddened to learn that Peter B. Wright, my friend, former colleague, and one of the best blue-marlin fishermen of all time, just died at his home in Stuart, Florida. Peter passed away a few days after his 79th birthday, with his wife, Erin, and daughter, Bimini, at his side. Peter grew up in Fort Lauderdale and started fishing when he was 11 years old, working on charter boats out of Hillsboro Inlet. He never stopped. In 1968, after college, with degrees in marine biology, he went to Cairns, Australia, and caught his first grander (a marlin weighing…

C-Dory TomCat: Stable Pocket Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 24, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

If you’re thinking about an outboard-powered pocket cruiser, the 25-foot C-Dory TomCat has a lot going for it. Per its name, the C-Dory TomCat is a catamaran, so it has a cat’s stability and space; indeed, the cockpit is a full 7 feet long and 7 feet wide, not bad for a 25-foot boat. And the twin outboards are mounted pretty far apart on the transom, so docking and low-speed maneuvering are relatively painless. The ride is flat and fairly dry, and the TomCat doesn’t bank in turns. You can run it up on a beach for a picnic, if…

Pardo Unveils New 72 Long-Range Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 24, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Pardo just unveiled plans for its new Endurance 72 at the Düsseldorf show, the second in its line of long-range cruisers. The Italian yard introduced its first Endurance, a 60, at the Fort Lauderdale show last October, and the new 72 has the same slightly reversed bow, raked windshield, tinted wraparound windows, and barely visible flybridge as the original. It’s scheduled to be launched in the spring of 2024. Standard power on the new 72 comes from twin 800-hp Volvo IPS1050 pod drives. With optional 1,000-hp IPS1350s, the boat has a range of 900 nm at 12 knots. The large…

Wellcraft Adds New 435 Fast Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 24, 2023 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life

Wellcraft just announced that it’s building a second boat in its new Performance Cruiser line, a Wellcraft 435 that’s designed for “a new breed of boaters.” The 435 follows the start of Wellcraft’s new Performance Cruiser series last May with a 355. That announcement was well received, and was a sign that Wellcraft meant to return to its heyday as a world leader in performance boats in the 1980s when Don Johnson was driving a Wellcraft Scarab 38 on Miami Vice. The Beneteau Group bought Wellcraft in 2014; it’s now making boats from 20 to 44 feet. Wellcraft says “the…

Yamaha Makes New 450-hp Outboard

By Peter Janssen on January 23, 2023 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Yamaha just launched its most powerful outboard yet, a 450-hp, V8 four-stroke with more torque, faster acceleration and a higher top speed than ever before. It’s called a 450 XTO, which stands for Xtreme Thrust Output. It’s a larger version of Yamaha’s 425 XTO, and it’s naturally aspirated with a 5.7L displacement. The new Yamaha is designed for larger, and heavier, boats, and it comes with Yamaha’s updated Helm Master EX controls that are built to handle up to three of the new 450s on a single transom. The new 450 has several important improvements, including a high-out alternator system…

Volvo, Beneteau Developing Hybrid Electric Systems

By Peter Janssen on January 23, 2023 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Volvo Penta and Groupe Beneteau just announced that they’ve formed a partnership to involve customers and dealers in developing their new hybrid-electric power systems for recreational boating. The two companies say they want immediate feedback so they can develop new technology that provides a quiet and sustainable power for boating in the future. Volvo already has run a successful commercial hybrid-electric system on a tour boat for Hurtigruten Svalbard in the past year. Now it’s turning to the recreational market. The new demo boat will be one of Beneteau’s Jeanneau NC 37 models (see rendering above). It will be at…

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