On Watch with Peter Janssen

New 55-Knot AB 80: “Formula 1 of the Seas”

By Peter Janssen on April 23, 2024 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen, On Watch With Peter Janssen

AB Yachts in Viareggio, Italy, just launched its latest AB 80, a luxury speedster that the company calls “a real Formula 1 car of the seas.” Powered by three 2,000-hp MAN V12 diesels, the sleek, silver and sporty AB 80 tops out at 55 knots. AB says it has a range of 500 nm at 45 knots, something few other builders can achieve. With a state-of-the-art aerodynamic design and a composite hull, the new AB 80 is designed for family trips, a very fast getaway, or simply an extra adrenaline rush. It can be run by an owner-operator or a…

Beneteau Unveils New Swift Trawler 54

By Peter Janssen on April 3, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Beneteau just announced that it’s building a totally new Swift Trawler 54 that will make its debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September before coming to the U.S. The new boat, with three staterooms, two heads, and an unusual amount of glazing to provide light throughout the salon and the accommodations deck below, will be powered by two 550-hp diesels with a top speed of 20 knots, and a range of 800 nm at 9 knots. It has a new “fusion” hull by Bill Dixon that is supposed to be fuel efficient and seaworthy while providing more interior volume.…

Ship Loses Power, Topples Baltimore Bridge

By Peter Janssen on March 29, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen

About 00:39 on Tuesday morning, the 984-foot-long container ship MV Dali left the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore, heading down the Patapsco River to the Chesapeake and ultimately to Sri Lanka. It was fully loaded with 4,900 containers, a crew of 21 Indian nationals, and two harbor pilots (one was an apprentice). Two tugs escorted the Dali out the harbor for about 20 minutes, as was the custom, until they headed back home. Everything was under control. A spring tide was ebbing, and the Dali, powered by a single 55,630-hp, 9-cylinder MAN engine, was cruising at about 8 knots. About…

Ship Loses Power, Topples Baltimore Bridge

By Peter Janssen on March 27, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Iconic Hinckley Picnic Boat Turns 30

By Peter Janssen on March 14, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The late-morning fog had just lifted when I climbed on board Dasher, the just-launched hull number one of the Hinckley Picnic boat with Shep McKenney, the chairman of the company. A few lobster boats passed by the Hinckley dock in Southwest Harbor, Maine, as we cast off; he said their lines had inspired his idea for the boat. The Picnic Boat was a gamble for Hinckley. The company was suffering from the lasting effects of the 1990 luxury tax, which had decimated the recreational boating industry in the U.S. And the sailboat market, which had been Hinckley’s main business since…

Ferretti Building New 80 with Foredeck Terrace

By Peter Janssen on March 4, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Ferretti just announced that it’s making a new Infynito 80 with a lot of volume inside and out and a creative covered “all season terrace” on the foredeck. It also has a more conventional multi-deck beach club aft. The Infynito 80 is a smaller sister to the Infynito 90 that was introduced last year, representing something of a design break from the Italian builder’s sleek and luxurious line of motoryachts. The idea is to provide more interior space for relaxing and entertaining on a blue-water cruiser, starting with a raised, plumb bow with lots of beam carried forward. It’s 78…

Ever-Better Palm Beach Show Opens March 21

By Peter Janssen on February 26, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen, Palm Beach Boat Show

The Palm Beach International Boat Show, which just gets better and better every year, opens on Thursday, March 21, and runs through Sunday, March 24. Only a month after the Miami show, the Palm Beach affair gathers a variety of upscale cruising boats in an inviting, relaxed, and easy-to-navigate venue that has an appeal all its own. To my mind, Palm Beach is the Goldilocks of boat shows; not too big, not too small. It’s a boat-show case of less is more. The Palm Beach show is smaller than Miami, but some 800 boats will be on display this year,…

New Sialia 80: High-Tech Electric Explorer

By Peter Janssen on February 22, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Sialia just unveiled what it calls “the world’s most advanced explorer yacht,” a Sialia 80 Explorer electric long-range cruiser. The new Sialia was designed by Vripack, the leading Dutch design and naval architectural firm. The hull was drawn specifically for electric power, offering low resistance and sophisticated balance for the high-tech vessel. Sialia says the all-aluminum 80 offers silent, emissions-free cruising around the world, combining the luxury and comfort of a superyacht with the sustainability of electric power. “The Sialia 80 Explorer is designed to redefine exploration and sustainability; to thrive in a variety of environmental conditions, traveling to some…

Palm Beach GT60 Turns Heads in Miami

By Peter Janssen on February 12, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The long, low, lean and unmistakably luxurious Palm Beach GT60 is on display at the big Miami show, running from Feb. 14 through 18. The new sleek, fast and low-slung motor yacht with its long sheerline and low center of gravity is bound to turn heads everywhere from Malaysia (where it’s built, just outside Singapore) to Monaco and the Herald Plaza docks in Miami. Looks, of course, are one thing; performance is another. And it’s in performance that the GT60 shows its stuff. The new Palm Beach has the builder’s proprietary V-Warp hull, with a fine entry to slice through…

Nordhavn Splashes Much-Heralded 51-01

By Peter Janssen on February 8, 2024 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Lots of new boat buyers, particularly those who sign up for hull number one, go to far lengths to visit the factory as the actual construction goes along, to check on the progress, to make final decisions, or simply to become part of the process of creating a brand new yacht. But Mark and Fiona Rammell, who described themselves as lifelong Kiwis, have taken all this to an entirely new level. Mark, a retired Air New Zealand pilot, has created a series of videos of their new Nordhavn, hull number one of the 51 series, being built in Turkey. The…

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