On Watch with Peter Janssen

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…

Adm. Fagan, First Woman To Lead Coast Guard

By Peter Janssen on April 6, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

President Biden just nominated Admiral Linda L. Fagan as the next Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. If confirmed, Admiral Fagan, who started out as a deck officer on the Polar Star, a 399-foot icebreaker, will be the first woman Commandant of the Coast Guard and the first woman to lead any branch of the U.S. military. Admiral Fagan has served as the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard (essentially its CEO) since last June. She previously was Commander of the Pacific Area. Since her graduation from the Coast Guard Academy in 1985, she has served on all seven continents.…

New Northern Marine 57 with 5,000-Mile Range

By Peter Janssen on March 30, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Northern Marine has just launched its latest 57 pilothouse long-range expedition yacht, designed for an owner-operator to cruise anywhere in the world. Stuart Archer, the general manager of Northern Marine in Anacortes, Washington, wrote me that the 57, powered by a single 325-hp John Deere, has a range of 5,000 nm at 8.75 knots. The boat holds 2,600 gallons of fuel and burns 4.2 gph at that speed. Top speed is over 10 knots. Northern Marine has a rich heritage of making commercial fishing boats, working trawlers and long-range expedition yachts. It was bought by Seattle Yachts in 2019, with…

New Outer Reef 900 Debuts in Palm Beach

By Peter Janssen on March 22, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The new Outer Reef 900, a long-range cruiser with a legendary pedigree, is making its world debut at the Palm Beach boat show this week. The new 900 is powered by twin 750-hp John Deere diesels, giving it a top speed of 24 knots, and a range of 3,000 nm at 8.5 knots. Outer Reef has earned a solid reputation for its long-range cruisers lately. Indeed, two have gone around Cape Horn, one with company president Jeff Druek on board. This latest Outer Reef was ordered by veteran cruisers who have owned many top-tier yachts in the past. Two years…

New 16-Knot Hybrid Hardy 42 Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on March 14, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The new Hardy 42 is a solid, traditional trawler-type design with a high-tech twist. It’s a hybrid, with a 16-knot top speed coming from a single 440-hp Yanmar diesel, or a 6-knot top speed from its 20kW electric motor. The new Hardy is the first built by Cockwells in Falmouth, England, since Cockwells took over the Hardy line in 2020. The Hardy fleet runs from 32 to 65 feet. This 42 was already under construction then, ordered by an owner who wanted the offshore performance and range (600 nm at 13 knots) of the diesel with the eco-friendly qualities of…

Prestige Building New Line of Power Cats

By Peter Janssen on March 9, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Prestige, the high-end French builder, just announced that they’re launching a new line of power catamarans, starting with the M48. Prestige has been making yachts from 40 to 70 feet since 1989, but they’ve all been monohull motoryachts. The new M-Line, starting with the 48, will change all that. Part of the Beneteau Group, Prestige will have the new cat ready for the Cannes Yachting Festival next September. Powered by twin 320-hp Volvo diesels with V-drives, the M48 is projected to have a top speed of 20 knots and a range of 600 nm at 8 knots. At any speed,…

All Eyes on Palm Beach Show, Starting March 24

By Peter Janssen on March 2, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen, Palm Beach Boat Show

The 40th annual Palm Beach show that starts March 24 will be getting an extra amount of attention this year, as many people are waiting to see if all the record-setting performance of the past year, and the Miami show last month, will continue or will be hobbled by a host of recent events. For its part, the Miami show was a huge success, drawing more than 100,000 visitors to its five locations, and may boat companies reported record sales and profits. Dave Foulkes, the CEO of Brunswick, the largest boat builder in the U.S., said the show was “outstanding.”…

Candela Reaches iPhone Tipping Point

By Peter Janssen on February 22, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Candela, the innovative Swedish builder, says it’s at the iPhone-like tipping point for revolutionizing boating with its brand-new, all-electric C-8 foiling craft. After 16 months of development, Candela just tested the first C-8 at its headquarters in Stockholm and the company says it is now ready to start production. The C-8 foils at 16 knots, leaving no wake, noise or emissions behind. At 24 knots, the boat has a range of 50 nm. Top speed is 30 knots. Candela is expanding and moving to a new factory in May. It plans to produce 400 boats a year by 2024. The…

Miami Show Opens: A New Normal?

By Peter Janssen on February 17, 2022 Miami Boat Show, On Watch with Peter Janssen

The big Miami boat show just opened, with a mix of enthusiasm, innovation, high-tech and an undercurrent of worries about inflation, high prices, and supply-chain capabilities. On the tradition front, the show returned to the Miami Beach Convention Center for the first time since 2015, and everyone seemed happy about that. It also is on three locations in downtown Miami and on Watson Island (for superyachts). The entire show was cancelled last year because of the pandemic. If the Convention Center was a return to normal, there were lots of signs pointing to a new normal. Large dealers were accepting…

Navier Raises Money, Makes Boats in Maine

By Peter Janssen on February 8, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Navier, a San Francisco startup, just raised $7.2 million in seed money to build its all-electric foiling boats at the Lyman-Morse plant in Thomaston, Maine. Navier announced that the seed money came from Global Founders Capital and Treble, among other firms, plus some individual investors. Lyman-Morse is already laying up the hulls of the first two Navier 27s, made with advanced composites and smart software. Navier 27s are powered by two 50kW electric motors and foil, or fly, three to four feet above the water to reduce drag and improve efficiency. They use a foiling stabilization control system borrowed from…

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