On Watch with Peter Janssen

Meet the All-Electric Cybercat With a Tesla

By Peter Janssen on February 7, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Maybe it’s the pandemic; maybe it’s too many glasses of wine, or maybe it’s just a very creative mind at work. In any event, here’s a look at the new Cybercat all-electric amphibious boat, using a not-yet-made Tesla Cybertruck. The Cybercat, and its upgrade, the Cybercat Foiler, are the products of Anthony Diamond’s fertile mind. Diamond, a young entrepreneur from the Seattle area, has an engineering PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and an engineering BS from Stanford. He was featured in Forbes list of 30 Under 30 in 2017. Just as relevant, Diamond drives a Tesla and…

55-Foot Yacht Stuck on North Carolina Beach

By Peter Janssen on February 2, 2022 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

A 55-foot Novatec flybridge motoryacht has been stuck on a North Carolina beach for more than a week after it ran aground about 1 a.m. on January 25. The Coast Guard, TowBoatUS, and the owner have been trying to get it floating again ever since. The boat is named Vivens Aqua and it ran aground after the owner, Scott Pumphrey, from Salisbury, Maryland, said it suffered steering failure. It ended up on the beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore near the south end of Ocracoke Island. Pumphrey was trying to get through Ocracoke Inlet, notorious for its shifting sand, and…

Head-Turning Mulder Healey 60: Lots of New Ideas

By Peter Janssen on February 2, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The new 60-foot Mulder Healey 1800 comes with both a back story and some head-turning innovations, including a helm seat that rises through an opening in the hardtop reminiscent of a special effects scene from a James Bond film. The back story is that the boat was built to recreate some of the spirit and style of an Austin Healey sports car. The boat’s owner, David Healey, is the grandson of Donald Healey, who created the famous British cars. David Healey founded Healeys Cornish Cyder Farm in the UK. He’s now 65 and retired and his sons are running the…

Astra Rounds Horn on Epic Circumnavigation

By Peter Janssen on January 26, 2022 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Earlier this week, Iain Macneil and his crew rounded Cape Horn on his converted 77-foot rescue boat Astra, on week eight of what they hope is a record-breaking trip around every cape in the Southern Ocean. Macneil, the CEO of Witherbys, a maritime publishing company in Scotland and former Merchant Navy seaman, bought the boat more than a year ago and renovated it for the voyage. It had served in the Swedish Rescue Service from 1995 to 2016. His goal: To set a record for a full-displacement powerboat less than 24 meters (78’ 7”) circumnavigating the world via every cape…

Sunreef Launches All-Electric 80 Eco Cat

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

Sunreef just launched its new all-electric 80 Eco catamaran at its yard in Gdansk, Poland. The company says it represents the next generation in green energy and offers unlimited range for luxurious cruising. The Sunreef 80 Eco can be ordered in sail or power versions. It uses ultra-light composite solar panels that are integrated into the cat’s hull sides, superstructure and Bimini; they can deliver up to 40kWp. Sunreef says its ultralight battery bank is 30 percent lighter than the average used in the boating industry; the big cat’s batteries can store from 360kW to 640kW. The advantages of the…

New Sea Ranger MMS 55: A Bulletproof Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on January 3, 2022 Boat Reviews, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Spoiler alert: Keep reading only if you’re interested in bulletproof expedition-type cruising boats made to tackle rough sea conditions anywhere in the world. The new Sea Ranger MMS 55, made by a commercial yard in northern England, isn’t meant to stay at the dock. I don’t know how many people it can hold for cocktails or a sunset cruise around the harbor. The Sea Ranger has a sturdy steel-plate hull; it weighs almost 60 tons. It comes with the looks and the performance of a North Sea trawler, with a high bow and decks lined with scuppers. Powered by twin…

Nordhavn 76 Crosses Atlantic, Lands in Barbados

By Peter Janssen on December 23, 2021 On Watch with Peter Janssen

The Spirit of Ulysses, a Nordhavn 76, just completed a 2,000-nm transatlantic voyage, arriving in Barbados on Sunday, Dec. 19, just 17 days after it left Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. But then the five members of the crew had to wait six hours on the boat for a doctor to arrive and give them a Covid clearance. Once that happened, they tied up in Port St. Charles and took off for a celebratory dinner in a beachside restaurant. There was much to celebrate. Ulysses, a 2007 model, was the first boat that Mike Ridgway ever owned. A retired computer…

Nordhavn 76 Completing Epic Transatlantic Voyage

By Peter Janssen on December 16, 2021 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

The Spirit of Ulysses, a Nordhavn 76, is within days of the finish line of its epic 2,000-nm transatlantic voyage from the Canary Islands to Barbados. If conditions hold, the crew now expects to make landfall in Barbados on Sunday morning. Ulysses, a 2007 Nordhavn with twin 400-hp Detroits, left Lanzarote in the Canary Islands on Dec. 3 and almost immediately ran into some gnarly conditions, including wind gusts up to 53 knots and sea swells from 10 to 15 feet. At first the crew couldn’t even land a Dorado they hooked up, and cooking and eating was problematic. After…

Maritimo Building M75 Offshore Cruising Flagship

By Peter Janssen on December 9, 2021 Boat Reviews, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Maritimo, the highly successful Australian builder of luxury offshore cruising yachts, just announced that it’s developing a new M75 Flybridge Motor Yacht flagship. The new Maritimo is a four-stateroom, three-head, blue-water cruiser with an enclosed flybridge, a creative and expansive aft deck, and a lower “adventure deck.” Low-angle, straight-shaft drives connect to twin 1150-hp Scania diesels and reduce the yacht’s draft to just 4’ 11” so it can explore more destinations around the world. It holds 2,641 gallons of fuel to ensure long-range cruising. Maritimo’s announcement Thursday evening underscored the company’s most successful year in its almost 20-year history. Indeed,…

Beneteau Making New Swift Trawler 48

By Peter Janssen on November 30, 2021 Boat Reviews, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Beneteau just announced that it’s launching a new Swift Trawler 48. Hull number one, with twin 380-hp Cummins diesels, will have its world premiere at the Düsseldorf show in January; hull number two, with twin 425-hp Cummins, will make its U.S. debut at the Miami show in February. The 48 is the flagship of Beneteau’s Swift Trawler line, which starts at 35 feet. Beneteau also makes a Grand Trawler 62, but it has a displacement hull for long-range voyages. The new 48 is a three-stateroom, two head cruiser; top speed is 23 knots with the 380-hp engines, and 26 knots…

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