On Watch with Peter Janssen

Rhea Launches New 45-Knot 32 Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on June 15, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Rhea Marine, the well-regarded French builder, just launched its first, all-new 32 Timonier, a solid 45-knot cruiser with more than a touch of style and character. The new 32 is powered by two 350-hp Suzuki outboards that promise speed plus a lot of fun behind the wheel. And there’s a lot to like here. The latest Rhea has deep bulwarks, walkaround decks, boarding gates, and a sliding door next to the helm so the captain has easy access to the side deck for line handling and docking. Rich in details, with just enough teak to keep traditionalists happy, the Rhea…

Axopar Launches Long, Low, Lean 45

By Peter Janssen on June 4, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Axopar has just launched its new flagship 45 XC Cross Cabin, an adventure cruiser that tops out at 45 knots with three fuel-efficient 300-hp Mercury Verado outboards. This latest and largest Axopar is long, low and lean, with a beam of only 13’ 6” and it shares the company’s increasingly popular lineup of fast boats that now starts at 22 feet. The innovative builder from Finland says the 45 is aimed at owners who want the same adventuresome spirit of smaller Axopars, but with more interior volume and deck space. Axopar says the 45 is an alternative to larger and…

After Stroke, Nordhavn Owner To Cross Atlantic

By Peter Janssen on May 29, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

In May, 2015, Philippe Guglielmetti, who was then running a 3-D printing business in San Francisco, was taking a vacation in Paris. He suffered a hemorrhagic stroke; it was so bad that when he got to the hospital he could only move a finger. Now, after years of rehab, therapy and a spirit that doesn’t know how to quit, Guglielmetti is starting a trip from his new home in Miami across the Atlantic on his 2001 Nordhavn 40, appropriately named Embracing Life. He’s not only going across the Atlantic, to Lisbon, but he’s making a roundtrip, coming back to New…

Sergio Davi Finishes 9,201-nm Voyage in LA

By Peter Janssen on May 24, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

In a major triumph for one man’s will and determination, Sergio Davi, a 65-year-old Italian adventurer, just arrived in Los Angeles, completing his 9,201-nm voyage from Sicily on his 37-foot RIB. Davi was greeted at the dock by officials from Suzuki, the Italian consulate in LA, and some fishermen from Terrasihi, a small fishing village near Palermo, where Davi started his trip on Dec. 15. The route took Davi along three continents (Europe, Africa and the Americas), and included a 6-day, 8-hour, 1,770-nm crossing of the Atlantic from Cape Verde off Africa to French Guyana in South America. The boat,…

Wellcraft Comes Back with 355 Adventure Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on May 18, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Wellcraft is coming back – back, at least, to the world of fast cruising boats where it once was a major player. Now owned by the Beneteau Group, Wellcraft just announced that it’s making a new 35-foot cruiser, powered by three outboards with 1,050-hp as part of a new direction. We’ll have more details in a few weeks, and the first boat, the Wellcraft 355 (pictured above), will be displayed at the Cannes show in September. I well remember Wellcraft’s heyday in the 1980s, when Bob Long was running the company, Irwin Jacobs owned it, and Don Johnson, aka Sonny…

Captain Sets Autopilot, Leaves Helm, Boat Crashes

By Peter Janssen on May 11, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The captain of a fishing boat set the autopilot as it was heading out of the St. Marys River Channel south of Cumberland Island, Georgia, last June, and then went below to talk on his cell phone, leaving the helm unattended. A few minutes later, the 78-foot boat ran into the channel’s north jetty and subsequently sank, leaking more than 2,000 gallons of fuel and oil into the water. The National Transportation Safety Board just issued its report about the accident, concluding that “leaving the wheelhouse unattended is imprudent, especially when navigating areas like the St. Marys entrance, which included…

Jeanneau Launches Stunning New DB43

By Peter Janssen on May 4, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Jeanneau just launched its breakthrough DB43 premium day boat, starting a new style and a new line for the French builder. The first boat, powered by twin 380-hp Volvo diesels, has a top speed of 33 knots, and a range of 276 nm at 8 knots. The DB43 represents a major move by Jeanneau, part of the Beneteau Group, a worldwide giant in both the power and sail markets. With its plumb bow, low profile and Euro-modern design, it is more reminiscent of a new Axopar or Pardo than of the traditional Jeanneau cruisers. But that’s the point. The DB43,…

Astra Rounds All 5 Capes in Southern Ocean

By Peter Janssen on April 27, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Earlier this week, Iain Macneil and his four-man crew rounded the Cape of Good Hope off South Africa on his converted 77-foot rescue boat Astra, completing their voyage around all five capes on the Southern Ocean. Just after sunrise on April 26, 146 days after Astra left Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, the crew celebrated rounding the Cape of Good Hope with a bottle of champagne (see picture above, with Macneil in foreground). “The views of Cape of Good Hope and the rising sun over Africa were truly stunning and a truly fitting backdrop for this final cape,” he wrote…

NTSB: Anatomy of an Accident

By Peter Janssen on April 18, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The National Transportation Safety Board has just released its report about an accident on the lower Mississippi River involving a 599-foot tanker and a 70-foot tow boat with two barges that has some lessons for us all. The NTSB said the accident was probably caused by the tanker captain’s decision to pass the tow and its barges in a large bend in the river, with lots of other traffic around and a strong following current, as well as poor communications between the captains of both boats. The accident occurred in the afternoon of March 16, 2021, near mile 104 of…

New Absolute 60 Fly; Light Everywhere

By Peter Janssen on April 12, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

It catches your eye by day, but the Absolute 60 Fly is simply stunning at night, when all the light from the windows all around, even in the large cutouts in the hull forward and amidships, show their stuff. Absolute calls the new Fly line Prisma, or prism, and the name is certainly appropriate, given the combination of light and space throughout the yacht. The 60 Fly is designed for an owner-operator, and it’s powered by twin 725-hp Volvo IPS950 pod drives, with fingertip joystick control. Absolutes also have Volvo’s Assisted Docking system that coordinates GPS and sensors to make…

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