On Watch with Peter Janssen

The Comms Revolution Continues: T-Mobile Links Phones to Starlink Satellites

By George Day on January 16, 2025 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

On Tuesday of this week, cell-phone provider T-Mobile started beta testing its new satellite phone service in partnership with Starlink. At present the satellite phone service is only available through T-Moible and on certain Samsung smart phones. By providing a high-speed internet connection anywhere in the world at a reasonable cost, Starlink has already revolutionized communications from our boats. Being able to handle all internet chores while crossing large bodies of water, even oceans, or while swinging on the anchor is some remote paradise, we now can now take our shoreside life with us while cruising. This is both a…

Is 2025 the Year Electric Powerboats Go Mainstream?

By George Day on January 9, 2025 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

Last fall, when the successful Finnish builder Axopar celebrated its 10th Anniversary at the Cannes boat show, it did so by introducing two new electric-powered runabouts. This is no small statement for a company that made its bones building incredibly fast and muscular outboard boats with an attitude. Now, they’re building boats that purr. The electronic wave is definitely upon us. Battery technology and thus range improves every year to the point that new brand Sialia boasts their new day-cruiser can run at 25 knots for up to 70 miles. That was unthinkable five years ago. Advanced batteries in combination…

Introducing the Innovative, New Makai 37 Power Cat

By George Day on December 19, 2024 Advertise, Annapolis Boat Show, Cruising Life, Ft Lauderdale Boat Show, Maintenance, Miami Boat Show, Newport Boat Show, On Watch With Peter Janssen, On Watch with Peter Janssen, Palm Beach Boat Show, Video of the Week

Power cats are intriguing for many reasons. They offer excellent stability, fine bow entries for a smooth ride, plenty of living space for a given length and high average cruising speeds with efficient fuel consumption. If that sound like a winning formula, the designers behind the new Makai 37, the ERYD Design Group, heard you. The 37, designed in Italy and built in Croatia, has the look of a modern sports car and the handling of a thoroughbred performance cruiser with all the benefits of catamaran design. The hulls developed for the 37 have what the designers call the Air-Glide…

Hinckley Yachts Adds Mercury Outboard Dealership to Stuart, Florida

By George Day on December 12, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

Hinckley Yachts, builders of the classic Downeast-style picnic boats, sport boats and Talaria Yachts, announced last week that the company had become a certified Mercury Marine outboard dealer. The dealership will be based in Hinckley’s large boatyard and marine facility in Stuart, Florida. The move to become a Mercury dealer underscore Hinckley’s commitment to providing top service to their outboard owners as well as to the wider market of discerning boat owners who make the Stuart facility their homebase for all marine sales, service and repairs. “As a company known for meticulous attention to detail and world-class service, becoming a…

Italy’s Pershing Yachts Launches Cruiser-Friendly GTX80

By George Day on December 5, 2024 Advertise, Annapolis Boat Show, Cruising Life, Ft Lauderdale Boat Show, Maintenance, Miami Boat Show, Newport Boat Show, On Watch with Peter Janssen, Palm Beach Boat Show, Video of the Week

When you try to put Italy’s Pershing Yachts in context amongst the host of other companies that build luxury yachts, it is helpful to think of Lamborghini motorcars. That quintessential Italian blend of radical design, eye-watering speed and luxury is what make the famous cars unique and in very much the same way made Pershing stand out from the crowd. Pershing designed and built yachts have always been rocket ships with blinding speed and sports-car handling. These are boats that have top end speeds of 50-plus knots and some of them will top 60-knots while also providing sumptuous styling, finish…

Marex Boats of Norway Announces North American Operations

Here’s a interesting news item that came across our desk this week. Marex is a boutique builder of fine family cruisers based in Norway that has always focused on the Scandinavian and European markets. Yet, they have known for a long time that the designs, the performance and the quality of their boat would appeal to North American buyers. So, Marex is opening North American operation. Oslo, Norway / Greenwich, CT, December 2024: Marex Boats, a Norwegian boat builder with production facilities in Lithuania, is proud to announce the establishment of operations and sales in North America. The new office…

Nautor Swan Launches a True Yachting Diva in the 75-foot Arrow

By George Day on November 21, 2024 Boat Reviews, On Watch With Peter Janssen, On Watch with Peter Janssen

The Cannes boat show in September brought a star studded collection of yachts to the famous French resort for what is now the largest in-the-water show in Europe. So, it is not easy, even for a brand as respected Nautor Swan, to stand out from the crowd. But the brand-new Swan Arrow did just that. Moored right next to the bridge over the channel that leads to the inner harbor and the bulk of the boats in the show, the new 75-foot Arrow had the most conspicuous stage in the whole show, visible to everyone coming and going for sea…

The Electric Revolution is Upon Us

By George Day on November 14, 2024 Boat Reviews, On Watch With Peter Janssen, On Watch with Peter Janssen

At last count, there were more than 40 boat building companies offering electric-powered craft to the day-boat and cruising market and innovation in this field seems to double every year with battery technology advancements and efficient new hull designs. At the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show last month I got a chance to inspect the new Sialia 59, a next-generation design that has a top speed of 25 knots, a cruising speed of 16 knots and a range at cruising speed of over 80 miles. Check out our review of the 59 here. Fun running speeds and expanded ranges are the…

Maritimo Introduces Flagship M75 to the U.S.

By George Day on November 7, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

The Australian builder of hand-crafted cruising boats introduced their flagship, the Maritimo M75, to the U.S market last week at the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show. They also brought the first new M55 Black Edition to be landed in America. I had the chance to thoroughly look at the new M745 at FLIBS and saw at once that the flagship represents the pinnacle of Maritimo’s boat building art. When you step aboard, you realize at once how big the boat truly is. A flybridge, sport cruiser with four cabins below and a spacious salon, the 75 has a huge amount…

Zeelander 8 Number 2 Launched in Early October. A Study in Marine Elegance

By George Day on October 17, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

On October 4, Zeelander launched hull number two of their 79-foot 8 model. The gala party for the launch was held at the builder’s facilities in The Netherlands and was attended by the family that bought the new 8, many other owners and the Zeelander staff. The new 8 represents the apex of the Zeelanded line and is a highly refined motor yacht that combines the company’s unique curvaceous hull and cabin designs with the highest of high-tech engineering and onboard systems. As the builder likes to say, Zeelander yachts are not for everyone. The 8 is a three-season cruising…

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