On Watch With Peter Janssen

Marex Launches in USA at Palm Beach Boat Show This Week

By George Day on March 20, 2025 Boat Reviews, Cruising Life, On Watch With Peter Janssen, On Watch with Peter Janssen

The Norwegian builder of fine family cruisers has a fleet of its unique and innovative designs at the Palm Beach International Boat Show this week as they launch Marex USA with American partner Chris Hughes. In the fleet at Palm Beach, the Marex 330 Scandinavian is a perfect example of what makes the Marex line so special. First of all, at 35-feet overall, the 330 packs a huge amount of living space and relaxing areas into a relatively compact envelope. This is accomplished in a number of subtle ways. The hull form has full sections forward and fairly high freeboard…

Hinckley Feeds the Need for Speed, Introduces 53-knot 41 Outboard

By George Day on March 13, 2025 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

This week, Hinckley Yachts of Portsmouth, Rhode Island Introduced a Hinckley Picnic Boat on steroids. The new 41-footer, based on the successful launch of the 39 last summer, has all of Hinckley’s classic Down East looks with the gleam of an impeccable hull finish and the teak trim and tables shining with a dozen coats of varnish. But it also has three outboards that will give it a top end of 53 knots. “The Hinckley 41 is for those who desire the thrill of outboard power while embracing the artistry and pedigree that define our brand,” said Gavin McClintock, CEO…

Stylish, New Grand Banks 62 to Debut at Palm Beach Show

By George Day on March 6, 2025 Cruising Life, On Watch With Peter Janssen, On Watch with Peter Janssen

The new Grand Banks 62 that will make its American debut at this month’s Palm. Beach Boat Show was designed to replace the highly successful GB 60 and continues the evolution of the Grand Banks design philosophy that began when CEO Mark Richards, founder of Palm Beach Yachts, assumed leadership of the brand. Founded in 1953, Grand Banks pioneered the trawler-cruising market with handsome, traditional designs that cruised efficiently at eight knots. The Grand Banks 36, the original model, became the archetype for all the cruising trawlers that followed. Today, eight knots does not meet the needs of all modern…

USS United States Nears Destination in Alabama. Track Progress

By George Day on February 27, 2025 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

Last week, the USS United States was towed from her berth in Philadelphia, where she has been moored since 1997 and began her last journey to a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. The greatest ocean liner ever built in America, the majestic ship, now in disrepair, will spend a year being stripped and decontaminated before being scuttled off Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida, to become the largest man-made reef in the world. The ship is being towed by a mighty ocean-going tug with a 5,600 horsepower engine and shepherded by two assistant tugs. The route took them down Delaware Bay, south to…

Outer Reef Introduces New 540 Adventure

By George Day on February 20, 2025 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

This week Outer Reef Yachts announced the introduction of the new 540 Adventure. The new boat follows in the wake of the 780 Adventure that was introduced last summer. Like the bigger model, the new 54-footer will be built in The Netherlands. The new 540 was designed by the Dutch firm Bern Weel Design and carries the same purposeful, expedition styling as the 780. It will be built in fiberglass, with Divinicell coring above the waterline and in the deck and super structure. Powered by twin Volvo D8-600 engines with conventional straight shafts, the new boat will have a range…

Hull Number One of New Helmsman 46 Trawler Hits the Water

By George Day on February 13, 2025 On Watch With Peter Janssen, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Helmsman Trawlers, based in Seattle, Washington, has built a reputation for designing and building true American-style trawlers for adventurous cruisers, cruisers who want the range to go far and wide and the seakeeping comfort of a semi-displacement trawler hull. Recently, Helmsman launched hull number one of their all new 46 and the new design, while very much bearing the builder’s family resemblance, is strikingly handsome, with a trim flying bridge and hard top, reversed raked windshields in the pilothouse and a sheer that really evokes a trawler heritage. Helmsman’s founder and CEO Scott Helker commented to me during a recent…

Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show Kicks Off Next Week

By George Day on February 6, 2025 On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

From February 12 through the 16th, the Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show takes over the city of Miami and Miami Beach to create one of the world’s largest in-the-water boat shows. The show is produced by Informa Markets and owned by the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association and the International Yacht Broker’s Association. The show expects more than 100,000 people to attend over the course of four days. More than a thousand brands will be on display and attendees will have a chance to climb aboard and ogle over a thousand boats, both in the water and on dry land.…

Six New Launches of Note at BOOT Dusseldorf

By George Day on January 23, 2025 On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

The world’s largest indoor boat and watersports show is running this week in Dusseldorf, Germany. The show occupies 16 large halls and there are more than 1,500 exhibitors displaying everything to do with boating and watersports. The show runs through January 26. One of the fun things about the show is you get to see some models and brands that aren’t often seen in U.S. shows. While there are dozens of new boats being introduced this week, here’s a quick look at six that caught our eye. Aquador 400HT The Swedish builder Nimbus has their new Aquador 40 hard top…

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…

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