Thursday, March 28

Browsing: On Watch

Now that the huge Miami boat shows have ended, it’s time to look at some trends that will determine the nature of cruising powerboats in the years ahead. After all, when you get 1,800 boats together (the combined total from the boat show and the yacht show), some dynamics have to emerge. The basic trends involve a growing number of power catamarans, the continued growth of outboards on cruising boats, the move to high technology on almost every aspect of boat building and performance (which includes solar/electric power), the inclusion of more social areas on boats (from “beach clubs” under…

After following its launch and super-extended break-in cruise from Portland, Maine, down to Miami in time for the yacht show there, I had been looking forward to seeing the new Sabre 58 Salon Express in person. And once I climbed on board the boat at the show, it was more than worth the wait. I already knew the boat’s lines. It is a contemporary classic with a clean Down East look, fitting well into Sabre’s made-in-Maine heritage. But once I was on board, I realized how big this new cruiser really is; it has lots of usable room to make…

Cutwater Boats just won a prestigious Innovation Award at the Miami International Boat Show for its new 32 Command Bridge. In announcing the awards, one of the judges said, “A lot of engineering went into making a trailerable 32-foot retractable flybridge boat with all the features included.” The annual Innovation Awards are a joint effort by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, which sponsors the boat show, and Boating Writers International. The jury is made up of seven boating writers. The awards recognize groundbreaking new consumer boating products. The Cutwater 32 CB (pictured above) is powered by two 300-hp Yamaha outboards.…

The big Miami boat shows have just started, and I’ve already found my next boat, or rather my next half dozen boats. (In my dreams, of course.) And considering that there are 1,800 boats here, displayed at the yacht show downtown and the boat show on Virginia Key, I still have a way to go. I’ve been fortunate enough to have already climbed on half a dozen boats making their debuts here, just enough to whet my appetite for more, and to rekindle my taste for adventure. Standing at the helm of the brand-new, beautiful Sabre 58 Salon Express, which…

After cruising in Mexico since October on their 2005 Nordhavn 55 Red Rover, Kevin and Allison Jeffries took a break recently to fly home to Seattle for the big boat show there. The time away from the boat gave them the chance to reflect on their trip, and to put together some thoughts that might help other cruising people heading that way. The Jeffries (and their two shelter dogs, Zoe and Max) are hardly new to cruising. They’ve put more than 6,000 nm under their hull since they sold their house in Seattle and moved aboard Red Rover full time…

The long Presidents’ Day weekend is coming up and so are the two large Miami boat shows, the Miami International Boat Show on Rickenbacker Causeway on Virginia Key, and the Miami Yacht Show downtown. Both shows run from Thursday, February 13, through Monday, February 17, and they’ll have a total of about 1,800 boats on display and expected crowds of 132,000 people. The larger, more established show at the Miami Marine Stadium Park and Basin on Virginia Key (pictured above), is produced by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, and this will be its 79th year. It will have more than…

Beneteau has some big news: It’s starting Project E to launch two new luxurious cruising boats, a 62 and a 73, its largest boats yet, and they’ll have innovative displacement hulls for comfort, space and range. The “E” stands for “expedition,” among other things, and the company says the 62 (pictured above) will have a range of 900 nm at 8 knots, while the 73 (pictured at top) will have a range of 1,400 nm at 10 knots. Announcing the new boats at the Düsseldorf show, Beneteau says they are designed to build on the popularity of its Swift Trawler…

Earlier this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed spending $300 million over the next five years to improve the historic Erie Canal. Some $135 million of this amount was earmarked to research recommendations made by the Reimagine Task Force, which dealt with mitigating floods, preventing invasive species, and restoring the canal’s ecosystem. Some of these recommendations could affect anyone cruising on the canal, including the great majority of people who are cruising on the Great Loop. Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic, an enormous boon to economic growth at the time. It’s…

Hull number one of the new Sabre 58 Salon Express is scheduled to leave Portland, Maine, on Monday and cruise south. The latest Down East cruiser from Sabre, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, will make its public debut at the Miami yacht show, starting Feb. 13, and then appear again at the Palm Beach show, starting March 26. The new 58, with a low profile and clean, classic lines, arrived at DiMillo’s in Portland just before Christmas and has been undergoing sea trials with Sabre’s design and engineering staff. The trials, on Casco Bay, showed that the…

The Coast Guard rescued four people from a life raft after their boat sank 25 miles northwest of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, on Sunday morning. One of the men lost parts of two fingers while deploying the raft, but he kept them on ice and flew to Cornell Medical Center in New York where they were reattached. The boat, a Marlow 76 named Clam Chowder, from Shelter Island, New York, was on its way from Puerto Rico to the Turks and Caicos when it suffered a catastrophic failure. Four people were on board. The owner, was not. The boat spent the…

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