Browsing: Volvo

Cruising Life
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Visit Historic Montreal on the Favors’ Ranger Tugs 29 Kismet

You can’t say that Jim and Lisa Favors, from Traverse City, Michigan, don’t get around. In fact, they’re two of the most accomplished cruisers we know, having already completed the Great Loop. They’ve also cruised in many areas of the U.S. on various boats, including their Ranger Tugs 27 and for the past two years their Ranger Tugs 29, both named Kismet. That’s the new Kismet, with the red hull, in the picture above, in Montreal, which the Favors loved. Here’s Lisa’s account of that trip, along with a series of great photos: Montreal – The End of Our Trent Severn Waterway,…

Cruising Life
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Grand Banks Working on Elegant and Efficient New 54; Will Launch in September

Grand Banks has started construction on its new 54, an elegant, efficient two-or-three stateroom cruiser that will make its debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival next September. In earlier announcements, Grand Banks had called the new boat a 52, but it’s grown a bit. It also comes in the middle of a growth spurt for iconic builder, following on the heels of the Grand Banks 60 and Grand Banks 60 Skylounge. The new 54 also will have the high-tech, lightweight, warped-hull design as that on the 60; it stays in the water and leaves little wake throughout the speed range.…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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New Zurn 60 Powercat, Filled with Light, Space and Innovation

With his new Zurn 60 Powercat, Doug Zurn has definitely stepped out of the box – again. There’s a lot going on in this boat, originally designed for an experienced ocean-cruising owner, from its innovative layout to its 23-knot top speed, but the main themes are privacy, space and light. Ever since he drew the first Shelter Island Runabout two decades ago, Zurn has designed low-profile, long-sheerline, Downeast-style boats with generous tumblehome, head-turning looks and head-snapping performance. Bob Johnstone saw that boat and had Zurn design the first MJM, a 34z (the “z,” of course, is for Zurn), in 2003.…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Is Your Boat Smarter Than You Are?

We already have smart phones, smart cars, and perhaps even smart refrigerators. Now we’re getting smart boats too. Consider this: Numarine will introduce its new 78HTS as “the world’s most innovative smart yacht” at the Palm Beach International Boat Show, starting March 28. The boat actually was displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January to promote its new artificial intelligence systems worked out with Furrion, the luxury innovation company. The Numarine 78 (pictured above) is indeed smart. On board, you can interact with Angel, a virtual onboard concierge, and with a series of Smart Mirrors that…

Cruising Life
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Maritimo Set To Launch Innovative New X50, with Beach Club or Third Cabin Aft

Building on the success of its creative X60 that was launched last year, Maritimo, the highly regarded Australian builder, is launching a new X50 at the Sanctuary Cove boat show south of Brisbane next month. With its low profile, race-bred hull and innovative “beach club’” aft cabin, the Maritimo X60 set sales records for the company after its introduction last  year in Australia and was equally well received in the U.S., starting with the Annapolis powerboat show in October. The new X50 is a two-cabin, two-head boat, with a highly customizable third cabin or beach club lounge area aft, accessible…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Report from Miami: More Power, More Smart Boats

The big Miami shows just opened with a new emphasis on high-tech, artificial intelligence and power and more power. Mercury introduced a brand new 400-hp outboard, it’s most powerful yet for recreational use, while Volvo teamed up with Tiara to launch a new outboard version of its revolutionary IPS pod drives for inboards (see the picture at top), and Raymarine showed off its artificial intelligence assisted docking system that I just tested – and I’m still smiling. To celebrate Mercury’s 80th anniversary, Mercury President John Pfeifer unveiled the new 400-hp Verado, which he said was an upgrade from the 350-hp Verado,…

Cruising Life
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Lots of Enthusiasm, Happy People, at the New York Boat Show

It seemed like old times, the best of times, on Saturday afternoon at the New York Boat  Show. The aisles at the Javits Center were filled with people looking at the 350 new boats and probably a thousand or so new boating accessories, and everybody seemed in a good mood. “We just had one of our best  years ever,” a New England dealer told me. “And it looks like this one is off to a pretty good start.” People were lined up to look at the new boats; indeed, the line to climb on the Azimut 60, the queen of…

Boat Reviews
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New Grand Banks 52: A Long-Range, Smooth-Running, High-Tech Cruiser

Grand Banks just announced that they are building a new 52, a long-range cruiser with a high-tech, slippery, 30-knot hull that will be launched at the Newport, Rhode Island, boat show next September. The GB 52 will be the latest in the newly reinvigorated Grand Banks lineup, coming after the Grand Banks 60 and Grand Banks 60 Skylounge. Mark Richards, the company’s president and CEO, made the announcement at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. “The 52 will combine weight reduction, strength and a low vertical center of gravity,” he said. “Of course, efficiency doesn’t matter without comfort, so we…

Boat Reviews
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New Bracewell 41 Trawler Makes East Coast Debut in Annapolis; Based on Hull from Camano 41

The new Bracewell 41 trawler, built from the tooling for the popular Camano 41, will make its east coast debut at the Annapolis powerboat show, starting Oct. 11. The Bracewell has already been shown in Seattle. The new two-stateroom Bracewell uses Camano’s seaworthy hull and keel design, with its low center of gravity, and it include lots of upgrades for more comfort and aesthetics. Powered by a standard 435-hp Volvo diesel or a 480-hp Cummins, the Bracewell cruises efficiently in the 8- to 16-knot range. The boat has a pronounced bow flare to knock down spray. The side decks are…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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On Watch

From Seattle to Michigan to Florida to the Trent Severn Waterway in Canada: The Favors Find the Advantages of a Trailerable Ranger 29 By Peter A. Janssen When we last visited Jim and Lisa Favors, they had just bought their Ranger Tug 29 in Seattle and were spending a few weeks cruising and getting used to their new boat. Not that they needed an introduction to Ranger or to cruising. They already had cruised extensively on their Ranger 27 (completing the Great Loop, for example), but a year ago they wanted to move up in size and traded up to…

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