One of the highlights for me at this year’s Newport International Boat Show, last week, was taking part in Palm Beach Yachts’ thirtieth anniversary celebration. The elegant dinner was hosted by Palm Beach’s founder and CEO Mark Richards who in turn invited a dozen or more Palm Beach owners and a whole gang of the Palm Beach team to be part of the event. In after-diner remarks, Mark emphasized that he might be the visionary who launched Palm Beach thirty years ago, but it is the owners and the dedicated staff that make the whole process of building the boats…

We’ve been covering the Sialia project for a year now and have had a chance to spend time on the first all-electric cruiser from the builder at last year’s Ft. Lauderdale boat show. The reason for our continued attention is simply that the company’s founders may well have found the holy grail of electric boats: extended range and high top speed. The Sialia 45 is being built in Poland and will be launched in a few weeks. This boat is the culmination of years of work on hull design, advanced composite construction and the latest in battery power and electric…

Every year, we like to dedicate the last issue of the summer to a cruising adventure that is uniquely American, that is as big a Paul Bunyon and as tall as some of Mark Twain’s tales. It is America’s Great Loop. The 6,000-mile route around the eastern third of the American continent is made up of many parts, each with its own character, challenges and rewards for cruisers. Many cruisers sample only sections of the route, while a special few become true loopers by completing the full circuit. The Great Loop Cruising Association provides an umbrella organization for want-to-be loopers,…

Yesterday, August 14, Hinckley Yachts based in Portsmouth, Rhode Island held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newest addition to the company’s expanding storage and service businesses  The building that was the focus of the event is a brand new 24,000 square foot steel structure that was designed and built to withstand the winds and floods of a hundred-year storm. Hinckley’s CEO Gavin McClintock addressed the crowd with a vision for the company’s future. “After almost 100 years in business, the Hinckley company is investing heavily in the future, and this new structure is a significant part of where we…

We all know the Great Loop, one of America’s most famous year-long cruising adventures. And, we know the Great Eastern Loop that leads from New York City up the Hudson River and then out the St. Lawrence Seaway and around the Canadian Maritimes before closing the circle back in the city. But what about the FLOOP or what’s better known as Florida’s  Southern Loop?  For snowbirds heading south in the fall along the Intracoastal Waterway to the Sunshine State, the FLOOP is a natural cruising attraction. Why stay plugged into a marina all winter when you can go exploring and…