In the rarified air of the ultra-wealthy, sometime even the very best money can buy will fit into a relatively small package. And, so it is with the newly launched Zeelander 5. The Dutch builder recently delivered a new semi-custom version of their Zeelander 5 model to a Turkish billionaire, and the boat was tailored specifically for him. He wanted it to mirror the style of his luxury super cars, plane and home décor so what he got was an elegant blend of Bentley on the outside and Hermes on the inside. Zeelander builds four models, the 49-foot 5, the…
Turkish builder Renda Yachts which is based in the beautiful coastal town of Marmaris, has set for itself a lofty goal: They intend to build yachts for owner operators that deliver mega-yacht style and finish. Their new Renda 62S has a very distinctive and aggressive look with an angular sheer, plumb bow, low black cabin and wide open transom. In a way, with its dark tinted windows, it looks like a boat for the villain of a Jame Bond novel complete with a giant laser to atomize his foes. With aluminum hulls and deck structures, the boats are light and…
Last Saturday night at about 10:25 pm, a 22-foot Bayliner bow rider with 14 people aboard capsized near Liberty Island in New York Harbor. All passengers were tossed into the water and two tragically lost their lives. The boat operator, Manuel Hernandez, 46, has been arrested and charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment. The Coast Guard is working with the NYPD to “determine whether the boat in question was engaged in an illegal charter operation.” When the capsize happened, a nearby boater called 911 and rescue teams from New Jersey and New York were quickly on the scene and…
Italian builder Invictus recently launched their new ST550 which is now the builder’s flagship. Designed by Christian Grande, the new Invictus has the brand’s unique “half-reverse” bow and the styling and aggressive lines that are unmistakably Invictus. The ST550 emphasizes living space –the S in ST stands for “space”– and being close to nature with a huge sunning lounge and sitting area forward and a large cockpit with sun beds and sofas on the aft deck that can be expanded with the fold down platforms on both sides. The side decks from cockpit to bow have high bulwarks that will…
Costa Rica is a favorite winter destination for adventurous Americans, but it has not been known as a yachting destination. Instead, most of the cruising boats that visit the Central American country while making the run to or from the Panama Canal. But that is changing slong the country’s Pacific Coast. In the north, marinas have been built and the word has got out that not only is Costa Rica and splendid eco-travel destination it is also a fun coast to cruise with marine facilities that cruisers need. While the north is built up and full of tourists, the south…
In 1918, the USS Cyclops enroute across the Atlantic disappeared in the region south of Bermuda now known as the Bermuda Triangle without a trace. Her crew were all lost with no survivors and no bodies to recover. In 1921, the sailing ship the Carroll A. Deeriing, a five-masted trading schooner, made a voyage through the triangle from Barbados to Bermuda. Reported missing, the ship was later found on a reef with all crew missing. All that remained aboard were three cats. In 1945, a flight of Navy bombers known as Flight 19 took off from Ft. Lauderdale for Europe,…
On Tuesday this week, Michael Simpson, 51, was arrested by Miami police and charged with second degree attempted murder. He was brought before a judge to hear the chage and then released on a $10,000 bond. Authorities allege that at 530 am on July 29 two men were anchored in a well known lobstering spot when Simpson arrived in his own boat. An argument ensued between the original boat owner and Simpson, who accused the man and his friend of lobstering in “Simpson’s spot.” While this was going on, one of the two men was in the water diving for…
Bering Yachts, the respected Turkish builder of motor yachts and expedition cruisers, launched the new B88 in 2024 and announced this spring that hulls two, three and four are in build. The 88-foot size puts these broad-shouldered mini-ships under the 24-meter threshold which in Europe makes the boats owner-operated yachts instead of captained mega yachts. This designation greatly simplifies registration insurance and crew requirements Yet, at 88 feet and with a cruising range of over 5,000 miles at 8.5 knots, the B88 is a true explorer yacht and has the interior volume of a boat 15 feet longer. She has…
The German builder Fjord was one of the earliest adopters of the aggressively modern styling, the straight sheer, plumb bow and large hull glazing that is so popular today, particularly in Europe. And, while the brand has many competitors in the Sport Cruising market, they certainly have not lost their edge. The new 490 Sport underlines that fact with a big black Sharpie. Driven by three 600-horsepower Mercury Verado outboards, the new design rides on a hull with a stepped, deep-V design. It will have a top end speed of over 40 knots and its ride through the chop will…
Twenty two years ago, Italian Olympic sailor and yacht designer Luca Satella had a vision for starting a boat building enterprise that would break all the old molds and disrupt the conventions of European yachting. The result was Bluegame Yachts. In partnership with naval architect Lou Codega, Bluegame created a series of day boats, express cruisers and motor yachts that were unlike anything on the market and, in way, set the stage for the modern trends in European yacht design. The new BG 64 that was launched this year carries all the DNA that has set Bluegame apart from the…
Yacht designer Doug Zurn and his team over the last 30 years have designed some of the most iconic power boats, express cruisers and motor yachts on the market. One of their key partnerships is with the venerable builder Hinckley Yachts of Portsmouth, Rhode Island which announced recently that they are introducing the new Zurn-designed Hinckely 41. The new boat follows on the successful launch in 2025 of the Hinckley 39, the company’s first family day boat and weekender with a forward cockpit. The 39 was an immediate hit and Hinckley took 25 orders before the first boat was launched.…
YANMAR Marine International has announced the launch of its VC30 at Metstrade, a third-generation Vessel Control System, with advanced design and functionality, a newly designed precision-engineered joystickand easy installation. YANMAR’s most advanced control system to date, the VC30 is designed to simplify throttle control and docking in one integrated system, whilst making it easier to view data and create a seamless dashboard. The full system is enhanced by a high-quality display and modern design, including alarger, 4.3” 1000cd optically bonded screen, to reduce reflection and improve readability, with NMEA2000 output. The display unit has an auto dimming function for dark…
On September 10, 1982, three passengers aboard a light aircraft crashed into the sea off the Canadian Maritimes. They were able to deploy their life raft and they had with them the earliest version an Emergency Position Indicating Beacon (EPIRB). They switched it on and set in motion the very first COSPAS-SARSAT rescue. They were found and rescued in a matter of hours instead of the days such search and rescue missions took before the satellite rescue system was in place. Since then, more than 50,000 people have been saved from a watery end by EPIRB technology. For those of…
Whether you are looking to add radar to your boat or it’s just time to replace an old and out of date unit, there are a lot of considerations that should go into the decision-making process. To start, you need to be certain that a new or replacement radar is compatible with your existing marine electronics. In other words, will the radar display appear on your multifunction display so you can overlay the images onto the digital chart. For simplicity’s sake, it makes sense to stick with one brand for all electronics. The size of radar you choose depends on…
This is a down-and-dirty topic but fuel-water separators in your boat’s fuel lines are without doubt your first and most important line of defense in the war against contaminated diesel fuel. This is particularly true of you are cruising away from your home fuel dock and taking on diesel of unknown purity. Water in your fuel can come from several sources. First, it may be in the fuel dock’s own tanks that may have a leak or may not be well insulated and thus can sweat condensation in humid conditions Or, your own on-board metal tanks can sweat moisture from…
The Great Loop has many attractions from the coral reefs of Florida’s Dry Tortugas to the wilds of Georgian Bay in Lake Huron, but many a veteran looper will tell you that Canada’s Trent-Severn Waterway is the jewel in crown of the loop experience. And, for those who are not ready to ditch the work-a-day life and spend a year on the Loop, you can still experience the Trent-Severn aboard a self-drive or bareboat charter boat. The French canal charter boat company Le Boat has a base on Lake Ontario and from there you can spend days or weeks discovering…
Picture yourself at the helm of a 40-foot cabin cruiser motoring at 5 knots or so along a narrow canal that is bordered on both sides by towering plane trees whose roots form the natural reinforcement for the canal’s sides. Beyond, there are wide open fields of ripening wheat and sunflowers and huge rolling vineyards. It is hot and the air is still. You are on the Canal du Midi in the south of France and you are very close to heaven. For many a cruiser, a week or two on this ancient and historic canal ranks high on their…
The British Virgin Islands are the world’s most popular charter destination. There are hundreds of boats to charter, both power and sail. There are dozens of anchorages, some with moorings and some without. And, there are a score of beach bars and restaurants that all have been rebuilt since Hurricane Ivan struck the islands in 2017. If you are in the BVIs on your own boat or aboard charter boat, there are some regular attractions that most people tick off. There’s the Bite an Norman’s. There’s the wreck of the Rhone to snorkel over. There are the famous Baths on…
The Great Loop circles the eastern half of the United states and is comprised of 6,000 miles of connected rivers, waterways, canals and lakes. It can take nine months or more to complete a full circuit of the loop and along the way you’ll explore the whole east coast, the Great Lakes, the mighty rivers running south to the Gulf of Mexico and both coasts of Florida. Such a journey has long been on the bucket lists of many a cruiser, yet it is a big bite of the adventure apple to undertake with many challenges to impede your progress.…
In the last few years as I’ve been making offshore trips as crew for my friends, whether back and forth to the Caribbean from New England or across the Atlantic, it seems that a lot of the crew aboard show up with their own hand-held GPSs and an InReach or a satphone. This is a “just-in-case” level of preparation by sailors who have in fact been on boats that were hit by lightning or suffered a battery bank collapse that meant built-in marine electronics were no longer working or reliable. Garmin has long been a leader in hand-held GPSs and…
Volvo Penta has been working on electric propulsion and hybrid diesel-electric systems for a decades. The diesel-electric system coupkled to IPS drives is now available for commercial and recreational use and provides an elegant and proven technology that will allow boats to run silent and carbon free. The electric motor in the system fits between the main engine and the IPS pod and is engaged with a clutch. The motors run off a bank of lithium-ion batteries that can be sized for each boat’s specific tasks and requirements. “A hybrid provides a flexible solution, one that maintains the high efficiency…
Most of the modern fast cruisers that run at planing speeds have trim tabs that are adjusted manually to level the boat off and make it run more comfortably and efficiently. Adjusting trim tabs takes practice and skill and affects trim slowly, not dynamically. Swedish inventor Niclas Olofsson, who has a PhD in hydrodynamics had a better idea. In 1994, while on a business trip to Fremantle, Australia, the boat builder he was calling on had a problem. The Chinese company that had ordered several small fast ferry boats had rejected the products because the ferries could not reach the…
Of all the natural phenomena that we run into out on the water, lightning may be the most worrisome. A direct strike can blow a thru-hull right off the boat creating a gaping hole, it can fry your electrical panel and battery bank and it can start a fire. Even near misses can create a mess inside marine electronics and the autopilot, or in the alternator and starter motor on your engine, or it can blow up an inverter-charger. Lightning works in mysterious ways so you can never predict where it will go and what damage it can do. That…
Here’s a tragic story about a young, adventurous woman whose life was cut short. Last week, while moored in the Harbour Island resort and marina in the Bahamas, the crew of the 142-foot motor yacht Far From It was preparing the vessel for a charter when they noticed that their stewardess Paige Bell was missing. A search of the yacht brought tragic results. Bell was found stabbed to death in the engine room and near her was the yacht’s engineer Birgito Munoz with self-inflicted but non-fatal knife wounds. The scene suggested a violent and likely sexual assault. Munoz was arrested,…
We had just dropped the mooring off The Bitter End in Virgin Gorda’s North Sound in the BVI and started the 15-mile passage north to Anagada when a gusty squall swept in from the Atlantic and began pelting us with rain drops the size of grapes. But, there was no panic, no rushing to the mast to drop the mainsail, no frantic rolling up of the headsail. That’s because we were snug at the inside helm of a 45-foot power cat. The squall passed and soon we climbed to the bridge to enjoy the sunlight and the view of the…
The Galley Guys are three couples who often take boating vacations together and then write up their adventures in Canadian Boating magazine. This installment saw them chartering a power cruiser from Le Boat in which to explore the famously beautiful Trent-Severn Waterway. Le Boat charter craft have been designed to be simple to operate and safe for all levels of expertise. They only go six knots and have fenders all around in anticipation of collisions with lock sides, marina pilings and other boats. They have bow and stern thrusters so they are simple to maneuver and will turn in their…
At last September’s Cannes Festival of Yachting in the South of France, I attended Beneteau’s annual press event and was introduced to the innovative electric Island Cruising Concept Yacht. Always an innovator, Beneteau had a vision of boating and chartering in the future. Now, Dream Yacht Charters is offering that future in the BVI. Their fleet of sail and power boats now includes the boxy-looking electric hybrid power boats that are like floating beach houses with accommodations for a normal chart6er party The Island Cruising Concept is all about indoor-outdoor living and practical sustainability. The idea is to be close…