On Watch with Peter Janssen

Bob Johnstone: “Time To Get Creative”

By Peter Janssen on May 16, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

If it’s appropriate to apply a boating term to a human being (and in this case it is), Bob Johnstone is a one-off, a combination of a world-class sailor, prize-winning marketing genius, and sharp-minded entrepreneur (starting two boat companies, one sail, one power, plus a highly profitable graphic arts business). Now that he’s 89 years old, Johnstone is also a published author, with the new Maverick Marketer (398 pages, Palmetto Publishing) under his belt. The book is a pleasure to read, largely because it reflects Johnstone’s wide-ranging intellect, humor and collected first-hand wisdom from both the business and boating worlds.…

Sirena 58 Hits Home Run in U.S.

By Peter Janssen on May 8, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Sirena Yachts, the luxury Turkish builder, seems to have hit a home run in the U.S. with its 58. Indeed, it just launched its latest one headed here, to new owners in California. The latest (hull #58) is the 30th hull built for U.S. owners, representing more than half of all 58s built so far, and the yard is building seven more for American buyers. Sirena initially introduced the 58 here at the Fort Lauderdale show in 2018, a semi-displacement yacht built for performance and easy living. The hull and exterior were developed by Germán Frers, the famed Argentine naval…

Ex-Tesla Engineer Making 800-hp Electric Boat

By Peter Janssen on April 30, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

John Yo thinks he has a better idea. Yo, 51, the former head of global manufacturing for Tesla who escaped from Vietnam when he was 16, is working on a 30-foot electric boat with two 400-hp motors, far more horsepower than other electric boats of this size. His new boat, called the R30, will have a top speed of about 40 knots and a range of a few hours at its cruising speed of 20 knots. A prototype will be ready in October; the first production boats are scheduled to be delivered in the spring of 2024. Chuan (John) Yo…

Wajer Building Smart 44 Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on April 24, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Wajer Yachts in The Netherlands just announced that it’s making a new, high-tech 44 couples’ cruiser. The first is due to be launched this summer. Wajer says it’s already sold 20 of them. The lines for the new Wajer were drawn by Van Oossanen Naval Architects, and the boat has a deep-V hull with a 21-degree deadrise at the transom for maximum performance. With twin 480-hp Volvo IPS650 pod drives, top speed is 40 knots, and the range is about 300 nm at a cruising speed of 26 knots. The boat uses Wajer’s Smart Boating concept, where owners use the…

Sarp’s Edge: Thinking Outside the Box

By Peter Janssen on April 19, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

When Sarp launched the first hull in its XSR 85 line in Turkey last summer, it said the head-turning yacht represented thinking outside the box; it was aimed a fresh generation of owners. Hull number one, named Edge, got a lot of attention when it was shown at the Cannes and Monaco shows last fall. Edge was indeed hard to miss. The hull was painted in “Porsche Guards Red,” a unique color not found in many other yachting venues. It was a finalist in two categories of the 2023 Boat International Design & Innovation Awards, “Outstanding Exterior” and “Best New…

New Frauscher 1414 Demon: Custom Cool

By Peter Janssen on April 11, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

If you’re looking for cool, the new Frauscher 1414 Demon should fill the bill. Indeed, it’s one of the coolest looking boats (at least in my humble opinion) made in Europe today. The plain-vanilla 45-foot 1414 Demon isn’t too shabby, but the Austrian builder will customize yours almost any way you want. Consider the Frauscher 1414 Demon displayed at the Düsseldorf show in January, for example. That boat had a unique customized dark metallic grey finish to match the color of the owner’s Audi. And every stainless-steel fitting (more than 1,000 screws, fittings and cleats) was powder-coated in matte black…

ChatGPT: Best Boat for the Great Loop?

By Peter Janssen on April 4, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

ChatGPT, the latest major iteration of Artificial Intelligence, has been getting a lot of attention recently, becoming the subject of front-page articles in leading newspapers, on blogs, even in casual conversations at the Palm Beach show. Founded by a Stanford dropout and funded by hundreds of millions of dollars from Microsoft, ChatGPT was launched just last November as an AI chatbot. Its parent company, OpenAI, was then valued at $29 billion. ChatGPT is nothing of not versatile: It can write computer programs, compose music, create short stories in the voice of Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald, do your kid’s…

U.S. Debut for 31-Knot Numarine 26XP Fast

By Peter Janssen on March 27, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Numarine just held the world debut for its new 26XP Fast, an 85-foot explorer yacht with lots of light, space, and a 31-knot turn of speed, at the Palm Beach show. The Turkish company says it’s the fastest 85-footer in its class. The new 26XP Fast is powered by twin 1800-hp MANs and carries slightly more than 2,900 gallons of fuel, giving it a range of 1,800 nm at 8.5 knots. The four-stateroom, five-head Numarine is much more than the sum of its numbers. Walking through it at the show, I was struck by the idea that this is a …

New Princess F65 Making Debut in Palm Beach

By Peter Janssen on March 20, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The new Princess F65, the flagship of the British builder’s popular F Series, is making its U.S. debut at the Palm Beach show this week. A four-stateroom, three-head flybridge cruiser, the new Princess is powered by twin 1,200-hp MAN diesels, producing a top speed of about 33 knots. The trip should be comfortable at any speed; the Princess F Series has earned a reputation in the luxury cruising market for providing a safe and easy ride. The F Series now consists of the new 65 plus a 55, 50, and 40 flybridge yachts. The 65 is marked by its sculpted…

Riva Launches Sleek New 76 Perseo Super

By Peter Janssen on March 16, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Riva just launched its sleek and glamorous new 76 Perseo Super at the Düsseldorf show in January, where it got a lot of attention, with at least one British magazine calling it “Europe’s coolest superboat.” It’s easy to see why. Rivas have been the boats of choice for kings and movie stars ever since Pietro Riva, a local craftsman, started the yard on Lake d’Iseo in northern Italy in 1842 (think King Hussein, Prince Rainier, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot and Sean Connery in the past; today, George Clooney keeps one at his home on Lake Como). Riva won some awards…

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