On Watch with Peter Janssen

Azimut Launching New Magellano 60 Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on August 1, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Azimut will launch its new Magellano 60, the smallest yacht in the Magellano long-range cruiser series, at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September. The new 60 joins the 66, 25M and 30M yachts in the Magellano lineup, and it carries all the DNA that has made the larger yachts so appealing in the cruising community. The 60 may be the baby in the series, but it’s still a 60-foot cruising yacht, with all the Italian style and comfort that Azimuts are known for. The Magellano 60 was designed in collaboration with Ken Freivokh, the UK superyacht designer, and it has…

101 Degrees in Florida Bay; Atlantic Near “Tipping Point”

By Peter Janssen on July 26, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Sea water temperatures hit a scorching 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit earlier this week for the first time in history off south Florida, threatening coral reefs and all marine life. Meanwhile, a new study says that the major currents in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf Stream, could weaken and hit an irreversible “tipping point” as soon as two years from now, affecting sea levels and weather patterns in the U.S., Canada and Europe. In the Florida Keys, unprecedented ocean temperatures have caused a mass bleaching of coral reefs. Marine scientists say many reefs are now completely bleached, or already dead. They…

Nordhavn Planning Versatile New 112 Yacht

By Peter Janssen on July 18, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Nordhavn just announced that it’s planning a new, versatile, 112-footer that will have all the amenities of a superyacht but at a size that’s manageable for a large group of owners. In a sense, the new Nordhavn is the Goldilocks of yachts, not too big; not too small. And just right for Nordhavn owners who look to the builder to fulfill their dreams of adventure and cruising the world. Nordhavn says the idea for the new 112 came Jeff Leishman, the company’s design director, when he saw a Nordhavn 120, the largest yacht in the Nordhavn fleet, docked next to…

Vripack Unveils Doggersbank 77 Long-Range Cruiser

By Peter Janssen on July 12, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Vripack, the Dutch yacht design firm, just unveiled a new Doggersbank 77 Offshore, a rugged adventure yacht with a creative, single-engine hybrid propulsion system. The new 77 will be the largest Doggersbank that Altena Shipyards, also in the Netherlands, has ever built. The Doggersbank line was started by Vripack founder Dick Boon in 1968; the name comes from a large sandbar in the North Sea. More than 750 Doggersbanks have been built since then, all marked by a high bow to cruise through rough water anywhere in the world, with steel hulls and aluminum superstructures. The new 77 was designed…

Simrad Launches Faster NXS Operating System

By Peter Janssen on July 10, 2023 Cruising Life, Electronics, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Simrad just introduced a new NSX operating system for mid-sized dayboats and center consoles with redesigned charts, its fastest routing ever, and seamless integration giving you more control of your boat. The NSX system is meant to be user-friendly, letting you spend less time playing with the screen and more time enjoying your time on the water. It is smoother, faster, and more intuitive than previous versions. It includes a new activities bar, a reconfigured activities menu, and a fully customizable instruments panel so you can make the system work the way you prefer. The new auto-routing is three times…

Titan Sub: “It’s a Lemon”

By Peter Janssen on July 6, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

On Sunday, June 18, the five men who were going to board the 22-foot submersible Titan gathered for a last-minute briefing on the Polar Prince, the sub’s mothership, at 5 a.m. The mood was serious. For three of the five, this was going to be their first dive on the Titan as it descended 12,500 feet down to explore the historic wreck of the Titanic. The three had been told to stick to a low-residue diet the day before, and not to drink coffee that morning. There was no head on the Titan; the men could use a bottle or…

Titan Tragedy: More Questions than Answers

By Peter Janssen on June 29, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

Twisted pieces of the doomed 22-foot submersible Titan were unloaded from the Horizon Arctic ship at a Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on Wednesday. They were covered in white tarps before cranes lifted them onto trucks taking them to an official investigation site. Among the wreckage: the titanium end cap that held the sub’s 21-inch wide porthole; the porthole was missing. All five people on board the sub died in what the U.S. Coast Guard said was “a catastrophic implosion” just one hour and 47 minutes after the Titan deployed from the Canadian expedition ship Polar Prince…

Brabus Offers Mercedes, Axopar, Watch for $1.5 Million

By Peter Janssen on June 21, 2023 Cruising Life, On Watch with Peter Janssen

Here’s something you probably haven’t thought of before. Brabus, the high-end German car customizer, is now offering a special Stealth Green Exclusivity Package, bundling a tricked-out Mercedes luxury off-road vehicle, a 38-foot Axopar boat, and a Panerai submersible watch, all for just $1.5 million. They all are painted Stealth Green. You could buy all these things separately, of course, piece by piece, but Brabus, which was founded in Bottrop, Germany, in 1977 to customize high-end cars, particularly Mercedes-Benz, now offers you the advantage of one-stop shopping. And then you have the Stealth Green thing too. The new Brabus 800 4X4…

Missing Sub’s Debris Found Near Titanic

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

At 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 18, the Canadian expedition ship Polar Prince launched its carbon-fiber and titanium 22-foot submersible, Titan, with five people on board, just over the wreck of the Titanic some 12,500 feet under the surface. Just 1 hour and 47 minutes later, the Polar Prince lost all communication with the sub. It had not been seen or heard from ever since. There was enough oxygen on board to last about 96 hours; the air would run out on Thursday morning. On Thursday afternoon, the Coast Guard said that a debris field, the result of a “catastrophic…

Just-Launched Akula: “A Boat for Cruising”

By Peter Janssen on June 15, 2023 On Watch with Peter Janssen

There are cruising boats and there are cruising boats. And then there’s Akula, the just-launched 195-foot-long, luxury expedition yacht built by Rossinavi in Italy. Don’t worry about running into Akula on your next cruise on the Great Loop. It won’t slide under the 19’ 6” fixed bridge on the Illinois River outside Chicago. And it certainly won’t be able to navigate the thin waters of the low countries on the ICW, where I’ve managed to make contact with the bottom on my 36-foot Grand Banks. Akula is a blue-water vessel, with a steel, ice-class hull meant to cruise safely to…

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