Considering my grandfather, Charles Wadham Lyne, chose to be a poor vicar, he wasn’t quite as hard up as he might have been thanks to the decisions of his forebears. Thankfully his great uncle Charles Lyne chose to be a rich merchant, which meant my grandparents could indulge in the occasional luxury, such as boating holidays on the Broads during the 1920s.

Given his interest in boating, there is every chance he spotted their holidays advertised in The Motor Boat, which by then was already a well-established periodical, having published its first issue in 1904.

Coincidentally, at about the same time, Hugh Poths of Boston, Lincolnshire, and almost certainly another reader of The Motor Boat, retired from his position as the manager of the Tai Thong Rubber Works Co., in Malaya (now Malaysia). Before leaving, Hugh had purchased and arranged for a quantity of the local teak to be shipped back to England for a special project.

Moored on the river Witham in Boston circa 1930. Photo: Charles Lyne

Cover star

Hugh had decided to have a boat built which he and his family could enjoy cruising on the local rivers. Once resettled in Lincolnshire, he chose H C Banham Ltd as the company to build it. As well as being local, Banhams ran a holiday charter business and knew what was required of an inland waterways boat.

Making available his ample supply of quality Malayan teak, Hugh commissioned a boat that would allow him to enjoy the delights of the inland waterways, including the narrow canals.

Sometime in 1925, Banham’s designer, A. H. Comben, put pencil to paper and adapted one of his existing Broads cruiser designs to meet Hugh’s wishes. Boatbuilder John A. Hodgkinson then set about creating this rather special boat.

Photo: Charles Lyne

As it neared completion in the spring of 1926, someone suggested that it might be of interest to The Motor Boat magazine, and sure enough, in the April 1926 issue, it was featured over one-and-a-half pages.

Described as being a “most interesting vessel” the article continues “due to the restrictions necessitated by lock dimensions, it is by no means an easy matter to evolve a good canal cruiser, but in this case the designer appears to have achieved the desired object and the boat is of by no means unprepossessing appearance.”

With the old diesel engine gone, the forward cockpit has been repurposed as a four-person dinette. Photo: Charles Lyne

Reading between the lines, the author was pleasantly surprised by how pretty it was, despite its unusually long, thin design – the LOA of 40ft dwarfs its narrow 6ft 11in beam.

On 10 May 1926 (amidst the turmoil of the General Strike), Hugh Poths registered this boat as ship no. 147966 with a 9.7bhp motor and a cruising speed of 5.6 mph. He named it Malaya.

Malaya crossing The Wash in summer 1938 – quite an undertaking in a boat designed for sheltered inland waterways. Photo: Charles Lyne

Lone Survivor

Malaya may not have been the first cruiser designed specifically as a leisure craft for use on the narrow canals of England and Wales (rather than a converted barge) but as far as we know, she is the oldest surviving example.

The Poths family enjoyed their unique boat for more than three decades, undertaking several long voyages. In the summer of 1938, for instance, Hugh’s eldest son Jack took Malaya across the Wash from Boston to King’s Lynn and up the Great Ouse to Denver Sluice and beyond, to Cambridge– a 14-hour voyage across open seas in a boat designed for inland waters.

Jack Poths with Hugh Poths (jnr) and Mary. Photo: Charles Lyne

After 33 years of happy ownership, the Poths family decided to sell Malaya. Her new owner, Jack Craddock, was a garage owner and a keen supporter of the newly formed Inland Waterways Association. Her history gets a little murky after that before she appeared on the market once again in 1980.

This time she was sold to Rod Beever, who saved her from being scrapped but was possibly not well advised on the subsequent restoration, which removed all her internal bulkheads in a rather ill-fated attempt to modernise her.

The lack of bulkheads, which formed an integral part of the structure, meant that Malaya gradually developed a middle-aged spread to the point where she struggled to pass through some of the narrow canal locks she was originally designed for.

Moored outside the Cutter Inn, Ely, in 1953. Photo: Charles Lyne

Going Cheap

By the time I first spotted an advert for her in 2012, Malaya was in a very sorry state. Being newly retired with lots of time on my hands but very little money, it sounded like just the kind of project I was looking for.

I’d been into boats for years, having grown up watching my grandfather’s 9.5mm films of holidaying on the Broads, so later in life, with an adaptable wife and three sons in tow, I suggested we try exactly the same sort of holiday I’d seen my grandparents enjoying: a cruiser on The Broads. We all loved it.

Hugh Poths (jnr) at the wheel of Malaya. Photo: Charles Lyne

One thing led to another and soon we were regularly hiring narrowboats for holidays. Then in 1998, we purchased a 1/12th share in a purpose-built narrowboat, giving us four weeks of cruising every year at a much lower cost than hiring.

We enjoyed many happy days on that ‘Ditch Crawler’, as some coastal boaters like to call it, and while its speed obviously fell some way short of an adrenalin rush, it most certainly boosted our dopamine and endorphin levels as we pottered along, taking in the fascinating sights and sounds of the rich variety of canal and river scenes.

In Boggs Lock on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal in 1963. Photo: Charles Lyne

So, many years later, when I spotted an advert for an elderly wooden narrowboat in need of restoration, my interest was piqued. Further investigation revealed that it was being sold very cheaply (to the right buyer) as it needed a significant amount of work: £20,000 – £30,000, according to the surveyor’s report.

It came with some disadvantages – such as a rather large and extremely noisy diesel engine – and was only configured to sleep two people. But, with a bit of work from us, she could be ours to cruise whenever we fancied.

Malaya takes to the water again in 2018 after a six-year restoration. Photo: Charles Lyne

Restoring an old narrowboat: Test drive

A short demonstration cruise on the River Weaver proved to be rather interesting! At some point Malaya had been fitted with a 37.5hp Beta diesel engine. It sounded monstrous; every stroke of the pistons reverberated through the structure.

New owner Charles Lyne at the helm of his lovingly restored Malaya. Photo: Charles Lyne

We later discovered that the owners wore ear-defenders whenever they went for a cruise.

Thankfully, I already had a plan to replace it with an electric motor and knew of a spacious under-cover area where I could restore it. I also discovered that the father of one of our son’s friends was a carpenter and a bit of a wooden boat specialist.

Malaya being wheeled into the cow shed in 2012. Photo: Charles Lyne

I invited Dave up to the River Weaver so he could check what work was needed. His response was largely positive but it would require considerable time and expense. He’d be able to do the skilled work as long as I could do the rest of it.

That was all the encouragement I needed. On a cold December day Dave and I drove up to the boatyard to oversee her being craned onto the back of a low-loader but first we needed to remove the heavy diesel engine. Dave set about disconnecting the engine from the diesel tank, cooling system, exhaust, battery and throttles.

Removing the old Beta diesel engine. Photo: Charles Lyne

Even then the engine couldn’t just be lifted out due to the limited gap between the gunwales and the roof. It had to be done in stages: lifting the engine, supporting it on pallets, shortening the strops and repeating multiple times until the strops were short enough to clear it.

Shirley and Hugh Poths, previous owners Mac and Dave, and Barbara Lyne formally relaunch Malaya in 2019. Photo: Charles Lyne

Disaster strikes

Two days later, a huge low-loader arrived at our farmyard with what looked like a very small boat on its back. In the intervening days, Dave had been busy assembling a custom-built trolley from old lorry wheels, timber beams and steel plates, so we could wheel our new (old) boat into the cowshed/workshop.

With Malaya safely under cover, we celebrated Christmas with our traditional Boxing Day BBQ. While the BBQ was warming up, I popped over to the cowshed to check on our investment. Disaster! The rain had flooded the farmyard and the shed. Malaya was still high and dry but many of the things I’d bought to restore her, including an expensive diesel generator, were already underwater. Not a good start.

Sparks fly as the restoration begins. Photo: Charles Lyne

The weather continued to dog our efforts. By mid-January we were under several inches of snow but eventually work could begin. Dave had given me a brief: clear the inside of the boat of everything. Partitions and flooring went first, then the sea toilet, which after polishing up its brasswork and adding a smart new seat, I sold on Ebay.

With the boat empty, we now had to decide where to site the new electric motor – up at the front where the diesel had been or in the middle, closer to the centre of gravity and the batteries in order to minimise cable losses. We chose the latter. Dave set about cutting down the propshaft with a disc cutter while I stood by with a fire extinguisher in case the stream of red-hot sparks set fire to Malaya’s drying timbers.

New deck beams. Photo: Charles Lyne

In order to prevent the boat from changing shape any more than it had already, I supported the roof with Acrow props and once the windows had been removed, we wrapped heavy duty ratchet straps around the hull and through the window frames to squeeze the beam back into shape.

Meanwhile, Dave taught me all about copper nails and roves, so I could assist him with the 2,000 fastenings that were required to hold all the planks securely in place.

The restored helm. Photo: Charles Lyne

Article continues below…

Renovating a bargain boat: I ended up with so much boat for so little money

After a 13-month delay our Rustler 41 motor yacht is finally ready!

Launch day

Perhaps inevitably, the restoration proved far more time consuming and expensive than expected. I’d hoped we’d finish it in two or three years, in the end it was almost exactly six years before we gently lowered Malaya into the Thames at Lechlade.

The original throttle was adapted for use on Malaya’s new electric motor. Photo: Charles Lyne

Despite having carefully caulked all the joins in the carvel-built hull prior to painting, I knew that it would be some time before the dry timbers below the waterline would swell and start to seal properly. I’d armed myself with a variety of pumps for that very reason but I still spent an anxious first night aboard, bilge-watching and pumping until the leakage rate gradually slowed.

‘Sea’ trials proved that most things worked as intended. The one disappointing aspect was the cruising range. I’d made up two coffin-sized battery boxes under the seats in the centre cabin to keep the high current cables (up to 450 amps) as short as possible. Each bank contained six 110 Ah batteries, each of which I’d hoped would be sufficient for a day’s cruising, so I could recharge alternate banks overnight.

Newly rebuilt foredeck overhang. Photo: Charles Lyne

In practice, even with both banks in parallel, there wasn’t enough capacity for a day’s cruising. I tried replacing them with 130 Ah lead-carbon batteries, which were better, but still disappointing. Eventually, I bit the bullet and installed LiFePO4 (lithium-iron phosphate) batteries which offer significantly more usable capacity in the same volume.

This has proved to be been hugely beneficial, not just in terms of range but also because I can now monitor the battery charging, temperatures and tank levels by remote.

A fully restored Malaya is lifted into the Thames at Lechlade. Photo: Charles Lyne

Hooray Henley

That was all in the future, though, back in 2019 we were still learning about our ‘new’ boat. For some years during the restoration we’d been visiting the Thames Traditional Boat Festival in Henley-on-Thames and decided this would be the ideal place to show off her newly completed restoration.

Malaya’s original registration number. Photo: Charles Lyne

Our progress downriver from Lechlade to Henley can best be described as stately. Although we could certainly go faster, doing so flattened the batteries too quickly, so we soon got used to being overtaken by almost every other river user from swans to paddle boarders!

The helm gives few clues to its new power source. Photo: Charles Lyne

We did eventually get to Henley – albeit four days later – having recharged at various locks and in at least one case, a charging point belonging to a fellow electric boat owner.

Having had the good fortune to find the descendants of Hugh Poths still residing in the Lincolnshire area, it seemed appropriate to ask the youngest Hugh Poths to officially relaunch his great grandfather’s old boat at Henley.

Galley mixes modern appliances with classic style. Photo: Charles Lyne

Hugh and his wife Shirley have since joined us at many of the subsequent Henley Trads and will hopefully join us again for Malaya’s 100th anniversary this year.

Malaya recharging her batteries outside the Kings Arms at Sandford Lock. Photo: Charles Lyne

We’re hoping that perhaps Motor Boat & Yachting would like to attend this milestone as well and complete the happy reunion that started all those years ago…

The new electrics panel. Photo: Charles Lyne

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

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This article Restoring an old narrowboat: The 100-Year-Old teak canal cruiser’s journey to electric power appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Two years ago we started looking for our first motor yacht. Little did we know then how long that journey would take and how difficult the decisions would be, but given the money involved, we wanted to take our time, do the research and make the right choices.

Although this would be our first big motor yacht, we are not new to boating as we already have a fabulous Ribeye 811, which we originally berthed in Lymington and then moved to Salcombe, where we also have a holiday house.

Having decided to buy a proper cruising yacht, our first step was to visit a number of different boat shows to get a clearer idea of exactly what was out there, including the Southampton Boat Show, The British Motor Yacht Show and the Palma Boat Show. Who knew there were so many yachts to choose from and so many important decisions to be made?

Duncan and Sophie Fergusson. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

The first thing we had to consider was where to base the boat. We love the Solent and the West County but with the unpredictable British summer, we wanted to base our new boat somewhere different and reliably warm, like the Mediterranean.

We have been visiting Mallorca on and off for more than 12 years now, staying near Puerto Portals and Palma and chartering day boats from time to time. We love the island and basing our new boat there would give us the opportunity to explore all the other Balearic islands as well. We decided this was the best place to start our yachting journey.

Daughters Lucy, Tilly and family making the most of their new purchase. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

Sportscruiser or Flybridge?

The second decision was to choose between a sports-style yacht or a flybridge and work out what drives people to choose one over the other. We always try to buy British if we can and we also really liked the design and quality of the Princess, Sunseeker and Fairline range of boats, so this is where we started.

One of the first ones we seriously considered was the Princess V55 and this still remains one of our favourite yachts.

The deal included a full-time captain, stewardess and management team who handle the running of the yacht. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

The large connected open space between the saloon and cockpit make it really sociable and perfect for entertaining. With great proportions and the added advantage of a tender garage with sunbeds over it, it makes a very compelling package.

We were, however, a little wary of only having an inside helm to drive from. But having not yet had any hands-on helming experience of a flybridge to qualify
this concern, we weren’t sure how important it was.

At anchor off Mallorca. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

All the manufacturers we dealt with were really helpful and surprisingly unbiased. I imagine they must be used to educating first-time buyers like ourselves and the time it can take to make a decision.

We learnt that families with young children often opt for the single-deck sportscruiser so they can keep an eye on their children. Then again, a flybridge gives extra space for entertaining and a place for grumpy teenagers to retreat to. Another plus in the Med is the superior visibility you get thanks to the extra height and lack of obstructions on an open flybridge.

Given that we have four children in their early 20s and one in their late teens, and hoped to invite other family and friends to join us on our travels, we decided a flybridge was the way to go. With that decision settled, we could now move onto choosing the make and model.

Full-time crew take care of the boat maintenance and catering. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

Princess, Sunseeker or Fairline?

We looked at both the Princess F55 and Sunseeker Manhattan 55. Both were really excellent and hard to choose between the two. In the end the Sunseeker won us over. With its large flybridge, multiple fridges (including a separate wine fridge), beach club set-up and crew cabin all beautifully executed in a stylish
and relatively compact package, the Manhattan really stood out as the boat most suited to our requirements.

We thought we were there at last and were close to placing an order for the Sunseeker but then we saw the new Fairline Squadron 58. Three foot seemed more like three metres.

The space was incredible, the flybridge was huge as was the master cabin with a king bed instead of a queen, large saloon and impressive crew cabin. And of course it had those magical folding balconies and bar stools. It was so easy to imagine how well this would all work in Mallorca.

With two master suites, a double VIP and a twin, the Pearl 72 can sleep 8. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

We were now torn between the Manhattan 55 and the much larger and more costly Squadron 58. If that weren’t enough, we also found ourselves tempted by a second-hand Princess S62 and Sunseeker Manhattan 68.

We needed to make a decision and hang our hat on an option, otherwise we would miss out on the 2026 season. Ultimately, we decided a 55ft yacht would be too small for the size of our family and wider friend group.

We knew from our RIBs that when you actually count how many weeks a year you use them (always a bad idea in boating), it’s a surprisingly small number. With busy work commitments, even if we were going to Mallorca one week a month during the higher season, that’s a lot of money sitting there unused for the rest of the
time, even before you calculate the running costs.

Article continues below…

Princess V55 yacht tour: Practically perfect in every way?

Pearl 72 review: What we learned from our Mallorca test drive

What about a Boat Share?

No matter how hard we tried to make it work out, unless or until I either went part time or retired we couldn’t use the yacht enough for the numbers to make sense, especially when splitting our free time between our homes in the Cotswolds, Salcombe and Mallorca. We also didn’t want to be in the position where we felt obliged to go to the yacht to justify the cost instead of exploring other countries with the limited spare time we had.

The flybridge on board. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

I guess if we didn’t have a place in Salcombe, our thinking could well have been different. It was at this point we started to explore the idea of buying into a yacht sharing programme. Princess Yacht Quarters and The Yacht Share Network both had suitable options in Mallorca and both came highly recommended.

The basic premise is that you buy shares in a yacht to give you the number of weeks a year you can spend on it, according to your personal circumstances. The running costs are then apportioned between you and the other owners.

Not only does this reduce both the capital outlay and the running costs but it often enables you to buy into a larger yacht. In our case we were choosing between a Princess Y72 moored in Palma with Princess Yacht Quarters, a Pearl 72 moored in Antibes or a Pearl 72 in Puerto Portals with The Yacht Share Network. The deal included a full time captain, stewardess and a management team who handle the running of the yacht so you don’t have to worry about it.

Duncan and Sophie Fergusson in Mallorca. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

You liaise with the captain and management company as needed but in reality you turn up and the yacht is ready to go and fully provisioned with your preferred food and drink. You don’t have to do a thing.

You can be more engaged and hands-on if you want to; if you have a day skipper licence you can drive the yacht too, but the captain must always be present to protect the other owners’ interests.

Sophie relaxing on the foredeck of their new boat. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

It was a difficult decision to choose between Princess Yacht Quarters and The Yacht Share Network, particularly because we had built up such a good relationship with our contact at Princess.

However, the Yacht Share Network team was equally professional, spending a significant amount of time explaining how it all worked, answering all our questions and meeting us on board the Pearl 72 at Puerto Portals to go through the whole process. We also had the opportunity to meet the captain and stewardess, as well as their day-to-day management team who were based in Mallorca.

They also looked at and sea trialled the latest Fairline Squadron 58. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

We really wanted to be based in Puerto Portals and ultimately, this is what we based our decision on. We have now bought shares via the Yacht Share Network in the Pearl 72 in Portals.

We are confident this was the right decision for our circumstances, at least until I retire or go part time. Sharing the purchase price of the yacht and the running costs feels like better value and lower risk than buying an entire yacht ourselves and it enables us to enjoy all the benefits of a bigger yacht
with a full time captain and stewardess with less hassle and more quality holiday time.

The Pearl 72 also really surprised us with how good it looks and how well designed it is.

Daughter Tilly enjoying the life. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

You have two huge master cabins with more storage space than you need, a double VIP and a twin cabin, sleeping eight plus two crew. The Kelly Hoppen interior has a smart modern vibe to it and is a lovely place to be when you want to move inside. It’s also practical and spacious – even with two crew on board you never feel you need your own space.

The vast flybridge is broken up into different areas with a bar, dining table, sunbeds, and second small dinette next to the helm. It’s also one of the few flybridge boats with a large garage that holds a Williams 345 as well as a jet ski and two Seabobs.

The Pearl 72 wasn’t even on their radar until the idea of a yacht share entered the equation. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

Happy Ever After?

So what is it really like to own a share of a yacht like this with a full time captain and stewardess? Initially, we weren’t sure how comfortable we would be being looked after by a professional crew but the reality is so much easier and more enjoyable than we expected.

When getting up in the morning, we can have our own time and space, or wander up to the cockpit where the stewardess will have already laid out a lovely breakfast for us. We’ll often have breakfast while the captain heads out of port to our chosen destination for a spot swimming or playing with the toys.

The boat came fully equipped with all the toys. Photo: Duncan and Sophie Fergusson

For lunch, the stewardess will either prepare another delicious meal or we might choose to head to a beach club instead, in which case the captain will ferry us there and back in the tender so I can enjoy a glass or two of rosé without having to worry about driving the boat.

After lunch, we’ll head off to another spot to relax and swim while the children buzz around having the time of their lives on the Seabobs. As the afternoon lazily meanders on we’ll head to our evening destination, sitting on the bow enjoying some tunes in the setting sun, watching the coastline of Mallorca scroll by while our glasses are topped up a bit too frequently!

When life is as good as this, why would you do it any other way?

Contact details: www.yachtshare.com

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article Buying a boat share: A flybridge gives extra space for entertaining and a place for grumpy teenagers to retreat to' appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Southern Brittany is an idyllic place to visit by boat – it seems to have its own climate once you go ‘around the corner’. It also enjoys much smaller tides than northern Brittany and Normandy.

As we are based in Guernsey, it seemed like an ideal place for us to explore in our newly acquired Princess V50, Echo Beach, but would the small harbours and marinas there be able to take a 15m boat, and would we be able to find fuel when most of the local pumps have a card limit of €180? There was only one way to find out…

The Princess V50. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Guernsey to Brest in a Princess V50

We always try to do the long mileages at the start of the trip. Even when travelling from the Channel Islands, let alone the South Coast of England, it is a fair distance to the west coast of Brittany.

We left Guernsey on Wednesday 21 May and headed directly to Brest Château marina. The wind was F3 to F4 from the NW, with gusts of F5. The boat handled the conditions really well, and we passed inside the Sept Îles rocks off Ploumanac’h, where we slowed down for a quick sandwich and cup of tea.

We timed our departure to arrive at the Chenal du Four with a following tide and the wind behind us; it was one of the calmest parts of the trip. This helped us make good time, covering the 140nm in 5 ½ hours at an average speed of 25 knots.

Aboard the Princess V50. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Our friend, John, an experienced yachtsman, was keen to expand his knowledge and experience by coming on this section of the trip with us. Brest Château marina was welcoming and efficient and an ideal functional stopover with easy fuelling and a nearby station for John to catch a train onwards.

Crucially, it’s also an approved port of entry (PPF) so we could clear passport control. The surrounding buildings are commercial but the area by the Marina office has a number of decent bars and restaurants.

We had sent in our forms to the Brest Douane for entry into the Schengen area as per the instructions on the Digimap Marinas website, and sure enough, on arrival in Brest, the stamped forms were already in our email inbox.

Colin and Linda with Echo Beach. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Very helpful, but in our case, we needed to have our passports stamped, as John would be leaving France on a ferry, and we’d be picking up our friends David and Debra for the return leg home. The rules require everyone on board to check out of the Schengen area together, and the only way of doing this was for us all to
have our passports stamped.

We walked to the Douane office, which is seven minutes from the marina, and explained the situation. They were very helpful and duly stamped all our passports. We were now free to enter any other marina without more form filling.

Brest is an interesting city and there is a maritime museum within walking distance of the marina. The other good news is that there is a Paul’s boulangerie near the port, one of our favourites. We stayed for two nights.

There are two fuel pumps at Brest on either side of the pontoon. This worked well as it meant we could fill up without upsetting the local boats and yachties, who only wanted a few litres. We called the office on VHF9 and they overrode the credit card limit of the pump, so we did not have to keep restarting the process every 100 litres or so. Fuelling completed, (Euro 1.77 a litre), we paid our bill at the marina office and went on our way for the next stage of our adventure.

Relaxing under the sunroof as the cruise gets underway. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Raz de Sein

Timing our arrival at the Raz de Sein was crucial. The short, sharp overfalls are notorious and need to be respected. Once again, we used Digimap Marinas’ times. It worked a treat, the tide had slackened and the white-capped passage became calmer as we approached.

Echo Beach took the short waves in its stride. With the two famous towers behind us, we enjoyed a calm run towards Bénodet, completing the 70nm trip in 2.5 hours.

Watching the sun set over the bathing platform of their Princess V50
on the River Étel. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Sainte-Marine

This is a beautiful stretch of Southern Brittany and we were delighted to be back. We were even more pleased to see a couple of vacant moorings on the visitors’ pontoon at Sainte-Marine on the opposite side to Bénodet.

Sainte Marine has a beautiful cove with good restaurants and crêperies and a nice walk to the headland. Bénodet is on the Odet River, and, like most tidal rivers, it is best to moor at HW or LW when the tidal flow is slack. Bénodet also has fuelling and they too were able to override the card limit from the office.

Étel Semaphore flying the flag to warn boaters of the ever-shifting sand bank. Photo: Colin Le Conte

A ferry runs between Bénodet and Sainte- Marine for the princely sum of €2 and there are good walks to the headland on both sides of the Odet River. We found a good patisserie in the road parallel to the riverfront, called Nektar, where we bought a selection of cakes to celebrate Linda’s birthday.

One of the joys of owning a V50 is that there’s enough space in the tender garage to stow our bikes, and the next day we cycled the customs path to Île Tudy (7km). We also took the ferry to Loctudy to check out the marina there.

Squeezing along the narrow channel to the marina. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Port-Louis, Lorient

We made an early start to beat the forecasted arrival of a F5 wind. Our target was Lorient, a relatively short hop of 37nm. We’d heard good things about the area and Port Louis seemed to be the boaters’ marina of choice.

The impressive Citadelle de Port-Louis stands over the entrance to the Bay of Lorient and Port Louis is on the right as you pass it. We were met by a RIB, which showed us to a prime hammerhead berth.

Most of the shops and restaurants in Brittany are closed on Mondays but we found a lovely one called La Reine Suzette in the town, about 10 minutes’ walk from the boat.

The following day, we caught the ferry to Port de Pêche on the Lorient side. It was a 30-minute walk from there to the K3 submarine pens but once we’d found the ticket office (in the Eric Tabarly building) they were well worth seeing.

The tidal gate leading to Vannes. Photo: Colin Le Conte

These massive structures are effectively bomb- proof and still used for commercial activities. You need to take the guided tour to go inside them (in French only, except mid-summer) but you can visit the Submarine Museum and the Flore S645 submarine using multilingual headsets. We can also recommend a detour to the tasty on-site crêperie!

The following day, we caught the ferry to Île de Groix. We had considered taking our boat, but it’s a small marina, and with the F5 winds continuing, we felt this was the sensible choice. Good fuelling is available at the main marina called Kernevel. Access is through the southern end but beware of the beach.

Colin takes the helm. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Étel

Most UK boaters seem to give Étel a miss as there’s a sandbar at the entrance to the river, however, a friend of ours told us it was well worth the effort. Given that it’s only 11nm from Port Louis, we decided to take a look.

We had timed our arrival for HW on a 92 coefficient tide but as the sandbank is constantly shifting, we took things very slowly and were soon safely into the deeper waters of the river Étel.

View from Saint Michel church on the Île aux Moines. Photo: Colin Le Conte

There are new facilities at the marina and the visitors moorings are on the outside of the marina wall. True to our friend’s word, Étel is beautiful. Our stay was slightly spoiled by the wash from passing boats – the locals show no respect for the 5-knot limit – but once they’d all come back in for the night we had a peaceful night’s sleep until 6am, when they all decided to go back out to catch the fish they missed the previous day!

We rode our bikes to Île de Saint Cado and the lovely town of Erdeven, where there’s a great walking and cycle route to Carnac, taking in the historic menhirs, dolmens and stone alignments known as the “Sentier des Mégalithes”.

We also took a small ferry up on a very scenic route up the River Étel via the oyster beds and back down again to the Barre d’Étel at the river entrance.

Article continues below…

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Crouesty

We wanted to be in Vannes in two days’ time to meet up with our friends David and Debra. As the crow flies, the journey is less than 20nm but you have to go around the southern tip of Quiberon, increasing the distance to 25nm.

We did consider some of the inside passages around the tip of Quiberon but decided that given the speed and size of our boat, it was safer to go around the Phare de la Teignouse.

As we passed the lighthouse, we could see 100 or more yachts battling it out in a race towards the island of Houat. We had already been warned by Trinité-sur-Mer that they could not accommodate us until early June due to the Arman Yacht Race, and sure enough, when we arrived at Crouesty, it looked like rush hour. This is a very large marina with over 1,500 boats but the fairways are not that wide, so you have to keep a lookout in all directions.

Île aux Moines was lovely. We ate on board that evening. Photo: Colin Le Conte

We made it to the fuelling pontoon under the tall tower to find no fewer than five pumps: two for smaller boats on the far side of the pontoon and three larger ones on the fairway side.

Once again we called the marina office and someone came to override the pump’s card limit, taking payment at the small office on the fuelling pontoon. Just allow plenty of time, as the marina attendants are all very busy!

‘We timed our departure to arrive at the Chenal du Four with a following tide and the wind behind us; it was one of the calmest parts of the trip’. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Crouesty is a stopping-off point for lots of boats so it’s well set up for it, with four sets of toilets dotted around the marina. The Passport Escales card worked well for accessing these facilities here and at other marinas – a handy tip if you haven’t got the code from the marina office.

Once settled, we walked to the headland of Port-Navalo to see the full force of the Semaine du Golfe festival of traditional boats. It was heaving with people, boats, tents, bands and parades. No wonder the marina was busy!

Safely berthed on a pontoon in Île aux Moines. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Île aux Moines

Turn right out of the marina and you are at the entrance to the Morbihan, a huge lagoon containing an archipelago of over 45 islands but with an entrance just half a mile wide so the tide rushes in and out.

We timed our entry half an hour after HW during neaps but we still had 2-3 knots of tide with us as we passed through the entrance. High Water in Vannes, at the top of the Morbihan, is almost two hours later than at the entrance, so water is still flowing into the Bay even when HW has passed.

With the tide behind us and travelling at a GPS speed of just over 5 knots, our Garmin chart plotter reported a range of over 1,000nm on our full tanks. If only that were always the case!

Calmer waters inside the magical Golfe du Morbihan. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Our destination was Île aux Moines, as recommended by visitors to the Digimap Marinas website. There are two pontoons for visitors outside a harbour in idyllic settings. The pontoons are supposed to have electricity and water but often one or other of them seems to be broken.

On this occasion, it was the water. There are no toilet facilities on the pontoon but there is a free water taxi service during marina office hours. Outside of these times, you are on your own.

The seagull-speckled crags of the Sept Îles. Photo: Colin Le Conte

We were worried there might not be a space for us as there were so many boats around for the festival. However, the marina office had said there should be room and sure enough we were soon moored alongside the outside of pontoon A, only to be moved to pontoon B as they wanted to keep the deeper water available for any yachts.

Île aux Moines was lovely. We ate on board that evening and watched the many boats passing through the passage between us and the mainland only 700m away – but a world apart in terms of tranquillity.

One of the many small fishing boats whizzing in and out of the entrance to the river. Photo: Colin Le Conte

Vannes

The next day was our big one as it would take us to Vannes – the furthest point of our cruise. We timed the one-hour journey to arrive 30 minutes after the gate was due to open.

Vannes Marina had been very helpful, responding to emails and advising us not to come until the big Morbihan event had finished. On arrival, a RIB met us and asked us to wait on the waiting pontoon for an hour, while some boats left but after 15 minutes we were told to follow the marina attendant in.

Southern Brittany. Photo: Colin Le Conte

It is not the widest channel but we made it through just fine and were directed to moor outside the Capitainerie. Watched by a number of visitors, we spun Echo Beach round and moored perfectly.

With a sense of satisfaction and a certain amount of pride we had reached our destination. Our friends from Guernsey would join us the next day for the return leg of our adventure and the opportunity to visit a number of new and not-so-new marinas.

Next month: the return voyage to Guernsey, a handful of surprises and final lessons learned.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

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This article Boating in a Princess V50 to Southern Brittany part 1: 'The Semaine du Golfe festival was heaving with people' appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

I’ve always loved boats, both sail and power, and have been lucky enough to own a number of different ones over the years. I sold my last motor boat, a Palm Beach GT60, a couple of years ago.

It was a beautiful boat that my wife and I cruised extensively in the US and the UK, but someone made me a good offer for it, and I decided to accept it while I pondered over what our next purchase might be.

In the meantime, I went in search of something smaller we could use locally in the Solent.

A full respray helped restore this 1997 Hinckley Picnic to as-new condition

We used to have a RIB for this and while it was fast and seaworthy, we often ended up getting cold and wet on the way home, so I wanted something that would give us a bit more protection. It still needed to be a good sea boat with a decent turn of speed and enough space to host family and friends during the day but also small enough for me to handle on my own. And as with all my boats, it had to be pretty to look at and properly built. Not much to ask, then!

As luck would have it, a fellow member of the Royal Yacht Squadron was selling a Hinckley Picnic Boat. It was a 1997 model called Picnic that wasn’t in great condition but ticked all the boxes. It had a good pedigree from a well regarded US boat builder, a proven hull design, timeless good looks and a layout that suited our needs.

Owner Stuart is delighted with the finished result

The hardtop provided a good level of protection for the helm and co-pilot, but there was still a big open aft cockpit for day guests. It even had a small cabin and heads compartment so my wife Emma and I could stay onboard for a night or two at a time.

As with all Hinckley Picnic Boats, it had a waterjet drive, which I wasn’t too sure about, but I reckoned I could live with it given the advantages it offered in terms of speed, manoeuvrability and draft.

The bowsprit was custom made from teak to hold the anchor clear of the stem

A Lucky find: Spotting the Hinckley Picnic Boat

It was being sold through the UK Hinckley centre, Vortec Marine, and because of its age and condition the asking price was below £100,000. I knew it would need some work doing to it, but it was safe to use and everything was running ok. I made an offer, and before long, Picnic was mine.

I decided to run it for the rest of the season before having any work done. As well as making the most of the summer months, it would enable me to get to know the boat better and figure out what needed doing. I did, however, take the precaution of signing up to Sea Start, just in case!

The new Yanmar 440hp is lowered into the engine bay

For the most part it performed as expected but as well as looking rather tired inside and out, there were a number of things that I wanted to get sorted.

The antifouling needed stripping off and redoing; all the varnishing was shot; the headlining was sagging; there were hairline cracks in the gelcoat; the helm and co-pilot seats were a bit ropey; and the only way of dropping anchor / anchor types was physically heaving it out of the locker and chucking it overboard. I was also concerned about the long-term reliability of the drivetrain.

If my wife and young adult children were ever going to have the confidence to take it out on their own, both they and I needed to know it would look after them. I asked Vortec to draw up a full schedule of works, including a new engine and waterjet. There didn’t seem much point in going to all the effort and expense of a refit and still being stuck with a near 30-year-old engine.

The new waterjet required a completely different transom mount

Richard Burlingham at Vortec had a good look at the boat and came back with his recommendations. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite as simple as we’d hoped; the hairline cracks in the topsides had actually penetrated through to the fibreglass beneath so the whole lot needed to be taken back and rebuilt before it could be repainted.

There were also signs of rot in some of the structural bulkheads due to water ingress in the bilges. And while the new 440hp Yanmar 6RY engine should be a relatively simple swap for the old one, replacing the waterjet was another story. Hamilton no longer made that model and the new one had a completely different transom and intake mount.

Needless to say, it all added to the expense but at this point half-measures weren’t really an option. I gave him the go-ahead and in October 2023 Picnic was lifted out for the work to be done over winter.

The topside gelcoat was ground back to the fibreglass matting

Sorting the topsides out went pretty much to plan. A gelplane was used to grind back the gelcoat, a thin layer of Biaxial cloth was then laminated to the existing fibreglass with epoxy resin to reinforce it before it was built back up again with three layers of Awlfair fairing and boarded back to leave a perfectly smooth surface.

A final layer of epoxy sealed it all in before being repainted in the same light grey Awlcraft colour I’ve had on all my boats. I think it adds a more modern look to the classic Hinckley lines and helps it stand out from all the other dark blue Picnic Boats out there.

A new layer of biaxial cloth was epoxied on as an extra protective layer

Out with the old

The damp bulkheads proved rather more problematic. It appears that a drainage duct in the bottom of the bilges had split, allowing water to seep into the unsealed bulkhead holes which had then tracked up to the deck itself.

All these damp areas had to be cut out and a new drainage pipe bonded into place before the deck and bulkheads could be rebuilt. They also fitted new carbon stiffeners to the boat hull and laminated over the new conduit to ensure it wouldn’t leak in future.

After applying the biaxial cloth, it was then filled and fared to leave a totally smooth painting surfaces

The only good news was that because we were also removing the engine, waterjet and tanks, the Vortec team had full access to all areas of the bilges. With everything out, the whole bilge area could be thoroughly cleaned, sanded and recoated with a resin gel wash to leave a completely clean surface.

Before that could happen, the transom had to be adapted to take the new waterjet. While the old jet had a round mounting plate, the new one was square and considerably larger. To accommodate this the transom had to be rebuilt with a special recess for the new mounting plates. As waterjets can go from full ahead to full astern without any gear box change, this also meant calling in a structural engineer to ensure it was strong enough to take the sudden change of loading.

The entire transom had to be rebuilt with a specially shaped recess to accept the new drive

The water inlet underneath the hull was a bit simpler but still had to be remade in a different shape and size to accept the new mounting plates. It’s not something you want to get wrong when you’re cutting a big hole in the bottom of your boat! Inevitably the new engine also needed slightly different mounting beds so these had to be rebuilt as well, not to mention a new coupling and shaft to connect it up to the waterjet.

Much like a shaft- drive boat, this all had to be carefully aligned to ensure it was at exactly the high water and angle. New fuel and black-water waste tank were also fitted before the engine was installed to avoid any chance of them having to come out again.

Soggy bulkheads had to be removed

The final piece of the re-engining jigsaw was fitting new helm controls. We’d intended to replace the original Hinckley jet-stick like for like but there was a six-month lead time before a new one could be delivered. Vortec suggested using a Glendinning system instead, which was not only easier to get hold of but roughly half the cost.

Full fly-by-wire throttle, steering and joystick controls now gives us fingertip control for both docking and cruising. Working out how to fit a satisfactory remote anchor mechanism was another mission. The Picnic’s upright stem means that a simple bow roller would risk the anchor flukes scratching the topsides every time it was deployed.

The refitters had to chock up the deck while a new water conduit was fitted

The only way to avoid this was by fitting a bowsprit that projected out far enough in front of the stem for the anchor to drop well clear of it. In the end, Vortec designed and made up a bespoke teak and stainless steel bowsprit with a matching Lewmar Delta anchor and windlass.

This did involve adding a new bulkhead and access hatch at the forward end of the cabin but the end result looks very neat and is so much safer and easier than dropping and retrieving it by hand. With the engineering now complete, the team could move onto the cockpit and interior changes.

The bowsprit starts to take shape in Vortec’s wood shop

This was largely a refresh rather than a full refit, the one exception being the helm and navigator’s seats. The original layout had a basic pedestal helm seat on either side of the companionway. I decided to replace this with a more supportive electric Stidd helm seat to starboard and a back-to-back co-pilot seat to port. This would give us an extra aft-facing seat under the cover of the hardtop and create a more sociable layout in the cockpit.

Once secure, new bulkheads and engine beds were installed

We also fitted Flexiteek decking throughout the cockpit and on the bathing platform, partly for aesthetic reasons but also because it’s softer and non-slip under foot than the previous moulded GRP.

While we were at it I asked for an extra grabhandle and transom shower to make climbing out and rinsing down after a swim easier.

A revitalised Picnic should be good for another 20 years of use by Stuart and his family

Inside job

All the varnished exterior woodwork including the window frames, capping rails, cockpit table and companionway doors were sanded back to bare wood and 10 new coats of Awlwood applied. Vortec originally allowed 180 hours for this but it ended up taking 425, which thankfully they didn’t bill for!

All the fittings were sanded back to bare wood and coated with multiple layers of varnish

The coachroof also had to be ground back, reinforced and repainted to repair some localised cracks and delamination. The final part of the equation was updating the interior fit-out. The sagging headlining was replaced with fresh vinyl and all the lighting inside and out was changed to LEDs.

The galley worktop was machined to accept the existing fridge and hob

A new Tecma toilet was fitted in the heads along with new taps both here and in the galley. The old galley’s worksurface was also removed and a new Corian one fitted with cut-outs for the two ring hob, sink and best boat fridge. Lastly, the teak and holly floor was replaced.

I always knew it was going to be a bit of a mission to get the job done on time and on budget, and needless to say, costs did creep up, largely because of unseen complications that only became apparent once the engine and waterjet were removed.

Modern Corian worktop and taps add a new lease of life to the original galley

The total refit ended up costing around £350,000 but it has totally transformed our enjoyment of the boat. My wife is now comfortable taking it out on her own, it’s a simpler and easier boat to helm and a safer one too thanks to the new anchoring mechanism.

It’s also a more comfortable boat to spend time on thanks to the new helm seat, heads and cockpit changes. I’m not sure it will have added that much to the secondhand value of the boat but that was never the intention.

New fly-by-wire Glendinning throttle and joystick replace the original Hinckley items

What it has done is given us a craft that is now perfectly suited to our needs with all the style, quality and reliability of a brand new Hinckley Picnic for a fraction of the cost. We have taken it across the English Channel to Guernsey, cruised it up the Thames to Henley and back and are now planning to head off to the West Country for a week or two.

Measuring the shaft alignment between the engine and the waterjet

Giving it a new lease of life means it’ll be good for another 20 years and when we do decide to sell it, its timeless design means there will always be a ready buyer for it.

New Stidd captain’s chair and a back-to-back navigator’s seat add comfort and versatility

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article Saving a Beloved Hinckley Picnic Boat With a £350K Refit appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

It’s one of those immutable rules of the marine world that car manufacturers cannot build boats. Many have tried and they have been largely terrible. Mercedes came up with something very pointy a few years ago but forgot to add basic boaty stuff like side decks or any outside seating, bar the helm and navigator’s seats.

At least it had those – BMW’s Designworks recently put something out that looked like it had been designed by someone who had never even seen a boat. Or water. It was a sort of big glass-sided floating lounge. Lexus made a pretty good fist of collaborating with American boatbuilder Marquis Yachts to create the LY650 flybridge.

To be fair, this was actually a pretty decent-looking craft, but I don’t imagine anyone at Sea Ray lost too much sleep over it, let alone at Princess or Sunseeker.

But of course there has to be an exception to prove the rule, and Ferrari provided it back in the 1980s. Collaborating with, and built by, Riva, the boat was simply called the Riva Ferrari 32. Hardly surprisingly, given its parentage, it was fantastically cool.

Carbon-fibre wing and two iconic badges guarantee entry to the most exclusive of marinas

Finished in bright red (a few were yellow), it came with a black carbon-fibre central wing suspended on two narrow forward sloping spars that looked like it had been pinched from one of its F1 cars. On the side were strakes like a Ferrari Testarossa and it was long, low and sleek, just like a real Ferrari.

On board the layout was pure muscle boat, a cuddy cabin that could sleep two (finished appropriately in gloss black with bright red upholstery), then outside there was a helm and navigator seat with a bench seat behind and a sunpad over the engine space behind that.

Naturally, it had the go to match the show. Two 390hp BPM Vulcano V8 petrol engines linked to race-style surface drives with Rolla propellers gave triple figure performance. Admittedly, the marketing team achieved such lofty heights by quoting kph (100kph, to be exact), a highly respectable 53 knots.

And yes, of course there are faster boats and roomier boats and bigger boats and more practical boats. But really, could there be anything cooler in the entire world than rocking up in Port Hercule, Monaco, in one of only 40 Riva Ferraris ever built? I think not.

Article continues below…

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Riva Ferrari 32 Specifications:

Year: 1989
LOA: 32ft 6in (9.92m)
Beam: 8ft 6in (2.65m)
Power: Twin 390hp BPM Vulcano V8 petrol engines
Speed: 55 knots
Price when new: $400,000

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article World's coolest boats: Riva Ferrari 32 - A marriage made in heaven appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Surely by chance: that’s how my journey into boating began. I was working as a security guard at Canary Wharf, and as our children were starting to fly the nest, my wife and I were looking for a weekend hobby to keep us occupied. A friend at work mentioned he owned a boat and invited us to join them for a day out. When we arrived at North Fambridge marina and saw his Sealine F43, it felt like stepping into another world – the boat looked huge, as did the bills.

However, we soon discovered that everyone was really friendly. We ended up visiting quite a few times over the next few months, being invited to events at the marina and getting to meet a lot of new people. The social scene was great and nobody cared about the size of your boat. At the time, it did feel a bit out of our league.

The £12,000 Crownline 27 that kickstarted their passion for boating

I was just starting my own one-man business, so money was tight and buying our own boat seemed beyond our reach. But when we heard there was a boat for sale just a few berths away from my friend’s, we couldn’t resist having a quick look. It turned out to be a lovely 27ft Crownline called Lazy Daze at an asking price of £12,000.

That was a huge sum for us back then but our new friends helped check it over – we still had no clue what we were doing– and after some hesitation, we decided to buy it. Despite losing a few nights’ sleep over spending all that money on a weekend hobby, we loved our new purchase and started spending all our weekends making the boat our own and enjoying the marina life.

Glen’s Fairline Phantom 43 is constantly being upgraded to keep it up to date. Photo: Glen Stanford

We began learning everything about boating and all that comes with it. We found out about tides – quite important apparently – and soon after, I earned my first trophy at the annual laying-up ceremony. Unfortunately, this was for putting Milton sterilising tablets into our fuel tank instead of our water tank! We only discovered this error midway across the Raysand channel when the engine died.

Fortunately, some other new friends, John and Tracy, managed to tow us back with their 50ft Azimut.

Glen now has 240V AC mains power without the need for a shorepower connection. Photo: Glen Stanford

Buying a boat for £55,000: Size Isn’t Everything

Our small boat did seem very little at times but we were never made to feel that way. The more time we spent at the marina, the more friends we made, which in turn led to more adventures. It seemed like every time we went on a new trip, we would learn something new.

One couple we met, Zoe and Graham, were mad on watersports. They had a Prestige 500 but also a speedboat. They taught us how to waterski, wakeboard and paddleboard on the River Crouch. Zoe also taught me the correct way to drink a Jack Daniels shot, but that’s another story!

Glen and Monica Stanford have found a whole new group of friends through boating. Photo: Glen Stanford

Fortunately, and some would say surprisingly, my one-man business started doing quite well. This led to the question that all boaters eventually ask themselves – bigger boat? Again, by a stroke of luck there was a boat opposite ours that was for sale. Il Tridente was a Fairline Phantom 37 and was our dream boat.

It had masses of space for entertaining, a big flybridge and two diesel engines – for some reason my wife wasn’t overly keen on being stuck out at sea again when your only engine dies! Unfortunately our dreams were crushed as the asking price was £75,000 and our maximum budget was £50,000.

A few coats of non-slip paint and some new Flexiteek side decks fixed that problem. Photo: Glen Stanford

We spent the next few months looking at lots of other boats for sale all over the south of England but none of them impressed us. We would always come back to our marina and sit on the back of Lazy Daze looking at the boat we really wanted to own. About three months later, I had almost given up hope when the owner of Il Tridente stopped me, held out his hand and said, “Glen, £55,000 and it’s yours.” Needless to say, I immediately shook his hand and the next thing I knew we were stepping onto our dream boat.

It is hard to put down in words how overwhelmed and happy we were. It was only after we had bought the boat that we discovered the owner had received a devastating medical diagnosis and was liquidating all his assets to make things easier for his family. We had barely registered this sad news, when we then heard that the test results had been a mistake and he was completely fine all along so it was a win-win all round, I think?

Modern waterproof fabric in a more contemporary colour scheme lifted the look and feel of the outside seating. Photo: Glen Stanford

Slippery Slope

Il Tridente had lots of good points and one bad point: it had spent a lot of time in the Med. This meant that the gelcoat was covered in crazing – fine cracks resembling a spider’s web caused by long-term exposure to harsh sunlight. Luckily, I’d made another friend, Rob, who ran Brooklands Marine and was known as the gelcoat doctor.

He prescribed a couple of coats of non-slip paint on the foredeck and the addition of Flexiteek artificial teak decking. Our boat instantly looked and felt much smarter and more modern. He also applied Coppercoat to the hull to save me having to add another layer of antifoul on it every year.

Fresh carpets and upholstery in the saloon worked the same magic on Il Tridente’s interior. Photo: Glen Stanford

These upgrades made me love our new boat even more. The trouble was that they made other aspects of the boat look tired and dated by comparison. So I asked Andrew Watson & Sons of Burnham to change the carpets throughout. That left the furniture crying out for a refresh and this time I asked Martin at MJM Boats Ltd to reupholster both the internal and external seating. I honestly can’t recommend these people enough; they were both so helpful.

All of this took time but by now I had really got the boating bug and kept upgrading as money became available. Much like a gardener’s potting shed, I was always on the boat fixing or improving something. This was quite a learning process as I’d never done anything like this before. Now with the help of my friends I was learning everything from engine maintenance to boat-handling techniques.

Article continues below…

Engines Out

It was then we hit our first real problem. One of the fuel tanks was leaking and in order to fix it we would have to take both engines out. The mere thought of it sent a shudder down my spine. Thankfully, a trio of friends who work at the marina rode to the rescue.

Lifting the engines out one by one through the saloon doors was a true test of man and machine. Photo: Glen Stanford

Adam, Beth and Boysie helped me through the process, preparing both engines and putting me in touch with a man called Ronnie Downs, who could remove Il Tridente’s diesel engines with his mobile crane. I couldn’t believe it when he turned up on his own to remove those two huge lumps but the skill and precision he used to lift the engines out with minimal fuss and endless good humour was truly remarkable. It turned what could have been a really stressful day into a genuinely good laugh.

Removing the engines was a big worry but thanks to his new friend and contacts it all went remarkably smoothly. Photo: Glen Stanford

Once they were out, it made sense to sort various other jobs such as painting the bilges and reconditioning the engines courtesy of two mechanical engineering friends Ian and Phil. I also changed the stern glands and all the bolts holding them in. After everything was done, Ronnie and his truck returned and a couple of hours and a few bacon butties later, the engines were back in.

Adam and Beth reconnected the engines and made sure the shafts were aligned properly. What had seemed like a terrifyingly big and expensive task had all gone remarkably smoothly thanks to the support of my local boating community.

All in a day’s work for Ronnie Downs and his mobile crane. Photo: Glen Stanford

Cover Up

Having come this far, it seemed a pity not to complete the job by changing the old canopy, which was looking tired and compromised the view out from the saloon. I called KLS Marine, another recommendation from fellow bertholders, who came to the boat and used some super fandango laser machine to measure it all up.

Much to my surprise, the new covers fitted perfectly and the extra window panels we had asked for really improved the look of the boat and the views from the saloon. By now the boat was in tip-top condition, having also added cameras in the bilge, exhaust alarms and new VHF radios with AIS, but I wasn’t done yet.

A leaking fuel tank meant the engines had to come out before the tank could be removed. Photo: Glen Stanford

It took me a while to think of what else could be improved but eventually I found a new project. We really enjoy anchoring overnight and the one thing that drives us mad is not having 240V power. Our boat already had an inverter installed but using it drained the batteries so quickly that I ended up having to change them twice in one year – an expensive mistake. I started looking into generators but came to the conclusion that as well as being relatively big, noisy and expensive, they were almost more hassle than they were worth.

I looked into solar power instead but all of the installations I had seen were over-complicated, needing inverters, controllers and a PhD in theoretical physics just to run the damn things. But then I came across those portable lithium-ion power banks that combine everything into one box. I bought a 6kWh Bluetti powerbank and linked it directly into the boat’s electrical system.

Work begins on the sun blemished decks of their bargain-priced Fairline Phantom 37. Photo: Glen Stanford

The boat now has 240V all the time so no-one has to ask if they can boil a kettle or run a hairdryer. It’s so much more convenient and a lot quieter than a diesel generator.

‘I have seen so many new places and met so many new friends’. Photo: Glen Stanford

Solar Power

This then led me to phase two – how to supply this beast with power. After doing the calculations, I settled on three 440W domestic solar panels. Although I’m not sure how they will hold up to a marine environment, they cost just £65 each as opposed to flexible marine panels that cost £500 to £700 each. To mount them, I called in Joe from Salty Dog Speed Shop.

nce the engines were out, it made sense to clean and repaint the bilges as well as fit new sternglands. Photo: Glen Stanford

The idea was to use the flybridge bimini bars by straightening the tops of them enough to support the mounting rails. I made all the measurements, worked out what should go where and how. Joe then threw that all away and did it properly! Slowly but surely the panels went up and everything started taking shape.

This was the stressful part of the build because I was under strict instructions from Monica that if it looked ugly, it would all have to come down. Now I know this is subjective, but I think it looks OK and my wife is more than happy with it, although that may be because she no longer has to ask me which button to press every time she turns on an appliance. The performance also exceeds my expectations.

Welding the fuel tank, after ensuring every last drop of diesel was drained from it! Photo: Glen Stanford

On a sunny day the solar panels generate up to 1.2kW of energy, keeping the powerbank topped up and meaning the boat can happily operate completely off grid. I don’t even bother plugging in to shorepower even though I have two fridges and the battery charger on all the time.

In fact, it’s working so well that when I travel in company, the other boats often plug in to mine to charge their batteries. Our friends Ian and Sarah, always plug their sailing boat into my boat when we’re at anchor together, syphoning off the excess electricity it generates during the day. I’ll have to keep a close eye that he doesn’t start on my diesel next!

The cockpit canopy was another victim of Glen’s refit obsession, replaced by a new one with bigger windows. Photo: Glen Stanford

Just Do It

Thanks to boating I have seen so many new places and met so many new friends. I would recommend anyone give it a go, irrespective of size, budget or style of boat. The ability to take friends and family out on the water, to sit in the river and watch the sun go down, these are the kind of priceless memories that no other hobby can give you. Go on, give it a try!

Adapting the original bimini frame to mount the solar panels required some skill but the end result is neat and remarkably effective. Photo: Glen Stanford

Refit costs

Foredeck repaint: £160
Flexiteek side decks: £1,500
Coppercoat: £5,000
Propspeed propeller antifouling: £510
Engine removal and DIY refurb: £1,660
New carpets: £1,920
Interior upholstery: £1,900
Bluetti powerbank: £1,798
New canopy: £2,178
Raymarine RAY91 VHF/AIS: £1,713
Solar panels: £260
Solar fit and bimini reshape: £1,368

The exterior upholstery in the cockpit and flybridge was next on the refit list. Photo: Glen Stanford

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

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This article Buying a boat for £55,000: 'What had seemed like a terrifyingly big and expensive task had all gone remarkably smoothly' appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Back in 2019, the traditional ‘Big Three’ UK boat builders all launched what they referred to as ‘superboats’, having never felt the urge in the past (with the notable exception of Sunseeker). Designed as high-performance halo models, they were intended to cast a sporty and desirable glow on the range in general, as well as being exciting and stylish boats in their own right.

Sunseeker’s Hawk 38

Sunseeker’s Hawk 38 was the fastest by dint of having a hull designed by race boat driver and builder Fabio Buzzi, zero accommodation bar a loo under the helm console, oh, and twin Mercury 400R racing outboard engines nailed to the transom. It topped out at a scorching 70mph (over 60 knots) but beyond an admittedly exhilarating ride, it didn’t seem to have a lot else to offer for its predictably premium price.

The Princess R35 and hydrofoiling technology

Princess went a rather different route, collaborating with BAR Technologies to create some very unusual hydrofoiling technology for its sleek V8-powered carbon-fibre R35 superboat. It was unusual in that the foils didn’t actually lift the hull clear of the water.

Instead they were designed to improve its handling and efficiency. Vague claims were made about reduced fuel consumption and improved seakeeping but neither seemed wildly better than many other deep-vee sports boats of a similar size and power. The only obvious benefit was its dramatic cornering ability, which might have been quite useful were there any corners at sea…

Article continues below…

Fairline Phantom 42 used boat review: classically luxurious motor yacht

Fairline F//Line 33: The lasting legacy

Then, at the Monaco Yacht Show, Fairline launched the F//line 33. Tellingly, the only one still in production, this is a deeply cool-looking boat. Better yet, underpinning it, is a genuinely brilliant hull.

Powered by twin 430hp V8 petrol engines, top speed approached an appropriately super 50 knots on our test, and Editor Hugo waxed lyrical about the exceptional seakeeping and handling, calling it “the boat every enthusiast has been crying out for, for the past 20 years”. There was even a nicely finished cabin below decks. An improved cockpit layout followed, as did an outboard-engined variant.

The Fairline F//Line 33 has genuine star quality.

The F//Line 33 even has star quality. At the end of Matthew Vaughn’s fabulous spy epic Argylle, our heroes escape aboard a sleek sexy powerboat, and just visible on the back of the helm seat is the legend ‘F//Line 33’. Weirdly, it has a cockpit layout that doesn’t actually exist, but as it disappears into the sunset it’s very clearly a super-cool Fairline F//Line 33.

Fairline F//Line 33 Specifications:

Year: 2019 – present day
LOA: 32ft 9in (2.99m)
Beam: 11ft 6in (3.5m)
Power: Twin Volvo Penta 430hp V8 petrol engines
Speed: 47 knots
Price: From £460,000

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article World’s Coolest Boats: Fairline F//Line 33 – Its Hull Is up There With the Best We’ve Tested appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Anchoring in a pretty bay is one of boating’s greatest joys but it can also be a cause of considerable angst: How much chain should I put out? What’s the seabed like? Will I get stuck? What if I drag?
Many of these concerns can be solved by laying the correct amount of cable (called scope) for the depth and conditions.

There are many possible configurations of anchor rode: all-chain (recommended for boats over 40ft); a mix of chain and rope (usually the boat’s length of chain plus 10 times the amount of rope); or 5m of chain and 20 times the boat length of rope. It doesn’t matter too much what you have as long as you let out enough of it to hold you stationary.

With an all-chain set up I find that four times the depth gives good holding without excessive snatch if the wind picks up. With a combination of chain and warp, I find six times the depth has the same effect.

In both cases, you need to know the depth, calculate how much rode you need to put out and have a means of counting it. There are several ways to gauge this; the simplest is to use time – if it takes 1 second for your windlass to let out 1m of chain then it will take 20 seconds to let out 20m of chain etc. This works well if your anchor windlass runs at a consistent speed and you have an accurate means of timing it.

Article continues below…

How to check your chartplotter’s accuracy

How to navigate overfalls in a motorboat: 6 top tips

Some boats have an automatic anchor chain counter fitted, sadly I have yet to encounter one which works reliably without constantly needing to be recalibrated. So, my preferred option is to mark the anchor chain.

There are various ways to do this but your first task is always to empty the chain out of the locker and lay it out on the ground or pontoon, taking the opportunity to clean out the locker and check the bitter end is lashed to the U-bolt with strong but cuttable cord rather than a rusty shackle that could prove difficult to undo or cut in an emergency.

Now measure from the anchor fitting to the water, as you shouldn’t include this in your calculations. For instance if your anchor is 2m above the waterline when stowed, you need to add that 2m to your first measure. Then you just mark it at 5m intervals, so in this case make your first mark at 7m, then measure another 5m and mark it 10m, 15m, 20m etc.

The simplest way to mark the chain is by painting the links with a different colour for each depth, but if you anchor often, this soon wears off. Coloured cable ties are another cost-effective and easily replaced method.

Better still are the coloured plastic anchor chain markers you can buy online and in some chandleries, although you do need to know your chain link size for them to fit correctly. If in doubt let out more rode than you think, as it’s no use left in the locker.

1 Tools for the task

The simplest and cheapest method is to use a handful of different-coloured cable ties but you can buy proper plastic chain markers if you know how what size your chain links are.

2 Remove the chain

Carefully take the chain out of the locker and lay it out on the pontoon so it’s easy to measure. Now is a good time to clean out the locker and check the state of your chain and fixings.

3 Find the starting point

Measure the distance from the anchor stowage point to the water so your starting point is where the chain touches the water rather than end of the roller – in this case, 1.4m.

4 Make your mark

Mark the starting point clearly so that when you are retrieving the anchor you know when it is clearing the water and can slow down the winch accordingly. I used red cable ties for maximum visibility.

5 Colour coding

Now mark it every 5m with either a different colour each time (if you can find and remember them) or alternating colours for every 5m. I chose orange for 5m, 15m, 25m and 35m, and blue at 10m, 20m and 30m.

6 End marker

I finished with more red ties at 40m to show me that the chain is almost all out. Lastly, I produced a little table to stick next to the helm and help me remember.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article How to mark your anchor chain: 6 top tips from our expert appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

They say there are no certainties in life except death and taxes. If you own an old motor boat for long enough then I’d like to add a third: diesel bug. At some point it’s going to get you, either because you take on bad fuel or you develop your own homegrown infestation in the tank.

I’m pretty sure ours was the latter.

When you own a classic wooden boat like ours, it’s better for the hull to stay in the water all year round, rather than risk the planks drying out over winter and leaking like a sieve when you relaunch it in the spring.

The downside of this is that Isabel spends a long, cold winter safely tucked up in Salterns marina but sitting largely unused for five months of the year – the perfect conditions for the bug to take hold.

The only answer was to clean the whole system

Until recently, we’ve always taken the view that it’s better to brim the tank at the end of the season and dose it with anti-bacterial treatment to prevent condensation forming on the inside of a half empty tank (the bug grows on the interface between water and diesel).

Article continues below…

Finsulate: Could this prickly antifouling revolutionise boat maintenance?

The big antifouling test 2022: All about our seven-month showdown

However, as most diesel now contains 7% biofuel, that attracts water, there’s a school of thought that says we might be better off leaving it empty.

Who knows whether that would have made any difference but the bug got us towards the end of last summer.

One minute, Isabel was pootling around Poole Harbour with a deckful of assorted relatives, as she has done for the past 70 years since my grandfather bought her. The next, she was spluttering and coughing like a 60-a-day smoker.

An emergency call to the mechanics at the neighbouring Royal Motor Yacht club soon revealed the problem: a fuel filter oozing with the gloopy remains of billions of microbes. A change of filter, fresh fuel and a shock dose of treatment managed to get us through to the end of the season but with winter looming, any remaining pockets would have had another five months to bloom again.

Isabel’s fuel filters were clogged with diesel bug

The only answer was to strip out the fuel tank, clean the whole system and start afresh in the New Year. Thankfully, it’s a fairly small and easily accessible stainless steel tank, which Golden Arrow Marine was able to remove, clean and replace with fresh filters and a new tap for a reasonable £579 inc VAT.

It seems to have done the trick and given that it’s the first time Isabel has been struck by the bug since I’ve been looking after her, I reckon we’ve got away pretty lightly.

Guess that just leaves death and taxes to worry about now!

This article Death, taxes and diesel bug, three of life's certainties appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Decades after Riva stopped making wooden boats, no-one has ever done a better job of making timeless works of art out of mahogany. But there always was much more to the legendary boatyard than its woodworking skills.

Power, performance and gorgeous looks have always been as crucial to the Riva boat offering as impeccably grain-matched dowels and 12 coats of varnish. And the yard has built some absolute classic motor boats in fibreglass too.

With a history that stretches back into another century, choosing just ten of the best Riva boats to write about is a tricky task but here are my personal favourites from oldest to newest.

Are Riva boats still being built?

For those with only a passing interest in motor boats the name Riva probably conjures up images of the classic Italian styled all-wood muscle boat, cruising on the waters of Lake Como.

But the desirable marque has continued to make motor yachts for many years, often at the forefront of innovation, with new sportsfly and flybridge models being built today – and a number of new more traditionally-styled open boat options too.

Best Riva boats: Top 10 picks

Ronzino. Photo: Motor Boat & Yachting

Ronzino – built 1935

If Carlo Riva gave the boatyard the iconic status that we still acknowledge today, it was his father Serafino’s passion for racing hydroplanes that set the ball rolling, back in the 1920s.

Motor boats like the victorious Ronzino, built for Count Metello Rossi, shone the limelight on the Riva brand for the very first time, and set the stage for the famous high-performance runabouts that followed.

Fifteen feet long and powered by an inboard four-cylinder, 145hp, 1.5-litre BPM petrol engine, this Riva boat was built of double-skinned aviation plywood on oak formers.

Riva Tritone. Photo: Motor Boat & Yachting

Riva Tritone – built 1950

Twin-engined and more than 26ft long, the Tritone was a muscleboat before the word had been invented.

The earliest examples sported 177hp engines and had a top speed of 45 knots but the 16-year course of its 258-unit production saw the Tritone grow slightly longer and a lot more powerful, culminating in the Cadillac model with its pair of 320hp V8s.

With a less voluptuous appearance than the fabled Aquarama, which shared its hull, this motor boat is still regarded by many aficionados as the quintessential wooden Riva – powerful, authoritative and effortlessly elegant.

Riva Bertram25 Sport Fisherman. Photo: Motor Boat & Yachting

Riva Bertram 25 Sport Fisherman – built 1970

In 1970 both Riva and Bertram found themselves owned by the Whittaker Corporation.

The synergies weren’t immediately obvious but Carlo Riva knew he had to get into fibreglass boatbuilding and Dick Bertram’s boats had an unequalled reputation for high-speed seakeeping thanks to their race-proven deep-V hulls.

Carlo’s decision to bring a 25 over to Sarnico to fit out as a Mediterranean luxury weekender, with an elevated finish, plenty of interior wood, and a more versatile cockpit design, was a great move and became an instant classic.

Article continues below…

Best Azimut yachts: 7 of the finest models from the famed Italian yard

Riva 76 Perseo Super: Full VIP tour of this stunning Italian icon

Riva 2000. Photo: Motor Boat & Yachting

Riva 2000 – built 1973

Design legend Sonny Levi was not just a superb naval architect and brilliant engineer, he also drew some of the best-looking boats of his era.

When Riva asked him to design a triple-engined sportscruiser powered by his innovative surface drive system, the result was destined to be something special.

The 37ft, two-berth Riva 2000 packed 1,050 horsepower in a 20-degree deep-V hull, and could reach 53 knots fully loaded.

It inspired boatyards on both sides of the Atlantic to up their game, and still turns heads today, 40 years later.

River Rudy. Photo: Motor Boat & Yachting

Riva Rudy – built 1972

Small, fast, fun and gorgeous to look at, the 19ft Rudy speedboat was Riva’s first in-house GRP project, its hull mould taken off a wooden Riva Junior.

With a single 190hp four-cylinder petrol engine and shaft drive, it made an ideal yacht tender, ski-boat or fun runabout, while its stylish looks, 36-knot top speed and big aft sunbed offered all the advantages of the wooden boats without the maintenance headaches.

Riva 50 Superamerica. Photo: Riva 50 SuperAmerica

Riva 50 Superamerica – built 1981

In the days when the London Boat Show was squashed into the original 1930s Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, the biggest boat on display was often the 50ft Riva Superamerica shown by Lewis Marine, behind a red rope and guarded by a uniformed commissionaire.

British boatbuilders at the time had nothing to match it, but as well as picking up some valuable marketing tips, they also saw just how cool and desirable a big flybridge yacht could be.

It took a while, but when Fairline’s 50 came out in 1986 it represented a huge step for UK boatbuilding – its two-tone gelcoat a conscious homage to its Italian inspiration.

Riva Ferrari 32 – built 1988

Early Riva boats sported engines from Chris-Craft and there was at least one Lamborghini-powered Aquarama.

The shipyard was never shy of collaborations with big brands and in the world of high-octane luxury, the Riva Ferrari is top of the list.

So although it’s a shame it didn’t have Ferrari engines, the Riva Ferrari’s twin 390hp BPM V8s with surface drives still pushed it to 53 knots, and it was designed using Ferrari’s CAD software, an idea as advanced for the time as the carbon fibre used for the radar arch.

Only 40 Riva Ferrari 32s were built.

Riva Aquariva. Photo: Motor Boat & Yachting

Riva Aquariva – built 2000

In 1998 Riva was owned by Vickers and wooden boat manufacture had been halted two years before. The yard was floundering, but Stephen Julius, a canny entrepreneur, understood the problem, and the brand.

The result was the Aquariva, 33ft of perfectly proportioned dayboat with all the quality of its predecessors, but in fibreglass.

It paved the way for Riva’s motor boat future, and when Julius sold up in 2000, Ferretti simply had to keep going on the same path.

Riva 76 Perseo. Photo: Motor Boat & Yachting

Riva 76 Perseo – built 2015

Given Riva’s indelible association with fast, open sports machines, it’s easy to forget how pioneering the yard has also been when it comes to the more sensible world of flybridge cruising boats.

And dazzled by the pure allure of the 76 Perseo you might be forgiven for not noticing that it too has an upper helm station, and seating up there for ten – not forgetting the spacious deck saloon and four sleeping cabins down below.

Sensible, however, it isn’t – the Perseo packs up to 3,600hp and can blast along at close to 40 knots.

Riva Rivamarie. Photo: Motor Boat & Yachting

Riva Rivamare – built 2016

The old Riva boat spirit is alive and well in the 39ft Rivamare, a fibreglass reimagining of the legendary Aquarama, complete with a powerful flared bow, wraparound windscreen, sculpted stern and a central walkway up through the sunbed.

Times have changed, though, so it also offers a modern medium-V hull, twin 400hp Volvos on Duoprop drives, a practical galley, air-conditioning and a gyro stabiliser.

But it remains an old-school open boat, without even a radar mast, and it goes as good as it looks.

This article Best Riva boats: 10 stunning boats from the famous Italian builder appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Back in 1968, the year in which Nimbus began building boats, Jumpin’ Jack Flash was top of the pops and the Rolling Stones were about to embark on a US tour. Fast forward 50-odd years and nothing seems to have changed; the Stones are still rocking, with another Stateside tour in the offing, and Nimbus still builds boats.

But dig a little deeper and much (aside from Jagger’s wiggling hips) has altered. Call it evolution or progress but surviving the long game calls for embracing change in its myriad forms – something at which both the Stones and Nimbus excel.

The first Nimbus to roll off its Gothenburg production line back in 1968 was the 26 cabin cruiser. Popular among boaters for its robust fibreglass construction, snug cockpit and family-friendly accommodation, it was as practical as it was capable.

This concept of functional Scandinavian Design has been Nimbus’s guiding light ever since, along with its other core values of comfort, safety and quality. It’s a philosophy which has resulted in a long line of dependable and much-admired vessels even if that meant eschewing some of the latest trends in favour of more enduring characteristics. If Nimbus made shoes, they would be sensible.

Deep bulwarks, walkaround decks and heavily flared bow make it easy to move around

However, as time and tastes rolled on so has Nimbus. While it still produces a range of smart, practical, inboard- powered coupé and flybridge models from 30-45ft, it also now competes in the hotly contested market for fast, stylish, walkaround dayboats first pioneered by Axopar in 2014.

Nimbus saw the way the market was going and responded to the challenge, launching the 30ft 8in W9 (Weekender) in 2018, swiftly followed by the C9 (Commuter) and finally the T9 (Tender) variant. Since then Nimbus has been steadily filling in the gaps with smaller 8m and larger 11m versions of the same three W/T/C model lines.

Built in Poland on fast twin-stepped hulls with fashionable vertical bows, the W/T/C range was a brave move for a brand rooted in more traditional inboard craft.

As Commercial Director Jonas Göthberg puts it, “Like every brand we needed to evolve with the times.”

Nimbus are the masters of ergonomic helm design and the C9 is no exception

A popular model

Six years on from that big step forward, the first W/T/C models are now finding their way onto the used market. The model we feature here is a late 2021 (2022 model year) C9, which is being offered for £155,000 VAT-paid by Offshore Powerboats Limited, Lymington, the UK distributor for Nimbus.

The company’s Managing Director, Steve Lane, tells us the C9 has been a good seller with more than 100 produced to date, so secondhand examples should not be too hard to find.

The seller of this particular C9 is New Forest resident Peter Saxton who, together with his wife Sue, is a keen sailor as well as a motor boater. “We bought our C9 new in December 2021,” says Peter. “Our cruising yacht, an XC38, takes up a lot of the summer as we tend to take it down to the South West or over to France, so without the C9 we’d be boatless at home. We use it to go across from Lymington to Cowes, that kind of thing, but two years on with just 63 hours on the clock, it’s hard to justify – hence the sale.”

Article continues below…

Used boat: Princess V42

Technical writer Greg Copp gives you a tour of another used boat bargain

Used boat: Sealine T60

Technical writer Greg Copp gives you a tour of another used boat bargain

In short, the journeys Peter and Sue have been making in their C9 sit in perfect accord with the boat’s intended purpose; commuting, albeit in their case only on an occasional basis. This is where the C9 really scores; it’s a fast, comfortable boat ideal for short hops along the coast or across the Solent at any time of year thanks to that fully enclosed wheelhouse. And when the weather is kind, all you have to do is open the doors and pull back the large glass roof for an exhilarating, open air ride.

The layout of the vessel further confirms its commuting credentials. The wheelhouse, while compact, offers great all-round visibility and protection against the elements, while its full-height side doors are a big help when it comes to single-handing. Keeping the wheelhouse relatively slim and central has enabled Nimbus to retain the full walk-around decks of its open siblings, making it very easy to move around.

Slender mullions and wraparound windows give exceptional all-round visibility

High gunwales and sturdy stainless steel rails (which increase in diameter to a mighty 38mm around the pulpit) give a feeling of safety and security – another bonus for the lone boater.

A midships boarding gate would have made things even better, although if time is of the essence, it is possible to clamber over the gunwales instead of making your way aft to the bathing platform.

As current owner Peter explained, in this case it’s best to climb aboard ahead of the wheelhouse door where the flow of the side decks takes a step up, thereby reducing the drop down into the boat.

For outdoor living, the C9 comes with a full set of seat cushions to cover the large aft locker and the cabin-access hatch on the foredeck.

Supportive helm seats swivel to face the aft bench across a small drop down table

Speed and comfort

In terms of performance, the C9 is certainly no slouch. While various outboard options have been offered since launch, the single 300hp Mercury Verado V8 fitted to our review boat is currently the most popular choice. This tops out at just over 44 knots, although at that speed it is drinking fuel at around 101 litres/per hour. Cutting back to 35 knots almost halves the fuel burn for more efficient cruising.

Peter certainly appreciates the C9’s speed and seakeeping, being happy to go out in all but the most extreme conditions: “Certainly in 20 knots (F5) or less of wind speed I’m very happy all the time and, should you need it, you’ve got the power to get yourself out of trouble,” he says. “I’ll obviously go to whichever is the sheltered side of the Solent if I’m going into the wind but downwind isn’t an issue.

“Only if it’s approaching 30 knots (high F6), especially wind against tide, do you have to drop down to six or seven knots. I don’t like the slamming, so I just slow down and put the heating on inside.”

Open-plan berth is fine for a couple sleeping on board over a long weekend

It’s creature comforts like this that make the Commuter 9 such an easy boat to live with. It’s not the most spacious of boats for a 30-footer, but with indoor seating for six – two at the helm and four on the settee which curves around the rear bulkhead – Nimbus has done an excellent job of making the most of the wheelhouse’s
limited dimensions. Dining is possible too; the two helm seats rotate 180° to face the settee, and a folding table hinges up between them to create a passable dinette.

Preparing the meal is a little more tricky as this involves stepping below decks, where headroom is restricted, to access the small galley, comprising a single burner hob and a sink. There is a fridge by the companionway too, but that aside, storage space for provisions is limited. It’s a similar story further forward where the wedge-shaped double bed is a good size but storage space for clothes is scarce. Completing the picture is a heads compartment with a washbasin and toilet but no shower in a space Peter describes as “sitting room only.”

Despite these limitations, Peter has lived aboard for extended periods. “I’ve stayed on board for five or six nights at a time when I’ve been involved in running sailing events in Cowes,” he confirms. “It’s compact but it’s perfectly civilised. A little bit restricted on headroom, which I was expecting, sure, but you kind of have to work around the boat, don’t you?”

Compact indoor galley is handy to have on a sporty overnighter such as this

It’s a salient point. As the name suggests, the Commuter 9 was never intended to be a liveaboard cruising boat – the Nimbus 305 Coupé fulfils that role – instead, it’s a smart, practical, all-weather sportsboat that also has surprisingly decent overnight accommodation.

Much like its closest rival, the Axopar 28 Cabin, the Nimbus C9 is first and foremost a fast and relatively affordable dayboat that is fun to drive, easy to look after and can be used all year round. It’s a few feet bigger and heavier than its Finnish rival, with a more substantial open plan cabin in the bow and internal access to
the heads compartment, which arguably makes it a more versatile weekender too.

It may be a very different style of boat to the Nimbuses of old but those core values of comfort, safety and quality still shine through.

Nimbus Commuter 9 specification

Model: Nimbus Commuter 9
Designer: Joachim Gustavsson
Hull: Stepped vee
RCD: C (8 persons)
LOA: 30ft 8in (9.35m)
Beam: 9ft 8in (2.95m)
Draft: 3ft 3in (1.0m)
Displacement: 3,170kg
Fuel capacity: 320l
Water capacity: 80l
Top speed: 44.2 knots
Fuel consumption: 1.7l/nm @ 27.7 knots
Range: 147.7nm at 27.7 knots with 20% reserve

Nimbus Commuter 9 running costs

Annual fuel burn: 1,252 litres (based on 25 hours at 32.5 knots and 25 hours at 6 knots)
Annual berthing: £6,638.50 (based on £710 per metre for a Hamble River marina downstream of Bursledon bridge)

This article Buying a used Nimbus Commuter 9 motor boat appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Another new Windy. That’s the third in four years! Even though nobody else could quite understand my logic, I convinced myself it made perfect sense. After all, when we downsized from a 59ft boat to a 29ft Windy Coho GT, we probably went one size too small for our needs.

Then Covid supply shortages enabled me to get my money back on the Coho and trade up to a Windy 32 Grand Zonda, which would give me what I had missed most – twin engines.

But after we sold the Coho, supply challenges again took the lead. Windy said they could only supply the new boat with a single D6. I really wanted a twin rig but the Zonda was great and ticked every other box on the list.

Then along came the Windy 34 Alizé, with a twin engine option. Don’t you just hate it when they bring out a new model that ticks ALL the boxes?! A deal was struck with the new Windy dealer for France and Monaco, Merveille Nautic, who have been amazing.

At 34ft it feels like a major step up from the Zonda

The deal was contingent on my boat being the display model at the Cannes Boat Show, and also dependent on selling the Zonda at a sensible price.

The used boat market, certainly for this size and price range, is much more similar to how it used to be. Depreciation is back but happily,
a Windy does seem to hold its value better than pretty much any other marque. Merveille Nautic worked really hard to broker the Zonda and my new Alize arrived just a few days before the Cannes Boat Show. In fact, the first time I saw it was at the show itself!

Personalising my Alizé

So how did I spec the 34 Alizé? Well to start with, it had to be twin engines. The D6s were more than I needed but the twin D4 320s seemed just right. The boat was signed off by the local Volvo engineer at 44 knots, which is plenty for me. The turbo lag can sometimes feel significant, but they are certainly very quiet and smooth.

Difficulties sourcing sustainable teak mean that Flexiteek is now the only option, but I actually prefer it, as it’s easier to maintain. I also specified a fixed VHF radio, AIS and autopilot, as this is a boat I would definitely want to take to Corsica.

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Bavaria Sport 400 Coupé used boat review

Owner's Upgrade: Azimut 46

Owner John Gladman takes us on a guided tour of his refurbed Azimut 46

I also ticked the box for the Humphree comfort upgrade with auto-list function, which most of the time does a better job than I could do. Windy is also very good at allowing you to customise the cockpit fabrics, so I really was able to make it feel like my own personal boat.

Next-level performance

The Alizé is wonderfully proportioned. It really feels like a boat from the next level up. At 6ft tall, I can stand up in the cabin, the toilet and the separate shower. And the second ‘cabin’ has two berths, which I could easily sleep in.

The cockpit with the high-low table and adjustable sun pad backrest is very flexible and spacious. And that Windy quality and engineering is there in everything you touch. However, I’m still doing battle with the bimini, which doesn’t seem very user-friendly. Pins have to be inserted and it’s not as rigid as I would expect.

Tim’s Alizé starred in a photo shoot alongside the new 40 Camira RS

Maybe I have to tighten the support ties even more? Also, the bimini extension, which covers the whole boat in shade, requires you to bend two carbon fibre support poles. I haven’t yet achieved that for fear of snapping them but I know that’s why they’ve been built from carbon fibre and I’m sure it will all become second nature with more practice.

The only minor glitch is that Windy didn’t fit an anchor switch in the cockpit. Maybe it got mixed up with a Swedish spec, where they tend not to have a bow anchor. However, they have agreed to fix this at their own cost so overall, I find the Alizé very impressive. In fact, I would agree with the recent MBY test, especially in terms of the build quality and seakeeping. Its ability to carve through swells and chop really is as good as you might expect of a much bigger boat.

Superstar for a day!

The icing on the cake was that after the Cannes Boat Show, Windy arranged a full photographic team of helicopter, drones, professional crew and models. It was mainly for the new 40 Camira RS but they were also happy to get my Alizé involved. There was a moment when I thought I might have to hide in the cabin while a younger, better-looking model drove my new boat, but fortunately, he didn’t show up, so I was at the helm for the entire helicopter shoot!

You have to concentrate with a chopper on the bow bow

I didn’t find it that easy. Holding the boat side-by-side with the 40 RS at 30 knots on a lumpy sea with the helicopter perched just off your bow, requires a lot of concentration. That said, I have immense admiration for the helicopter pilot, who hovered off the nose and then flew in reverse down the side of the boat to get that perfect shot.

I then acted as the support boat, enabling the team to take brochure shots of the new 40 RS. It gave me the chance to really understand the close manoeuvrability of the Alizé. I was asked to come alongside, go left, go right and I was able to do so with great precision in quite an aggravated sea. With those twin engines making close-quarters manoeuvring so much easier, my decision to go for the Alizé already felt like exactly the right choice.

This article Why my motorboat will be the perfect boat for cruises to Corsica appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

verfalls are areas of broken or rougher water caused by tidal currents flowing past or over geographic features. This may be an obvious visible feature, such as a protruding headland or an invisible one such as sudden change of depth in the seabed, especially if that area coincides with a headland. Overfalls can vary dramatically depending on the strength and direction of the wind and tide.

Most overfalls are well marked and easy to see on printed charts but can be hard to spot on electronic charts, particularly on smaller screens or when zoomed out to a smaller scale. The good news is that overfalls tend to be localised to one specific area and some can be avoided altogether by detouring around them.

If you do need to navigate through them, the general principle is to look further ahead and reduce your speed to one at which you can steer around the worst parts.

Article continues below…

VIDEO: How to - Helm downwind

In this episode, we guide you through how best to trim your boat if you are having to helm downwind

Video: How To – Berth single-handed

Leaving or arriving at at a berth is one of the biggest boating challenges. In this video we show you

If your direction of travel is against the direction of the waves, consider tacking through them at an angle of 30/40 degrees either side of dead ahead. This elongates the wavelength and makes them less steep to climb over. If you have trim tabs or outdrive legs, you should also consider using them to push the bow down and allow its sharper v-shape to cut through the waves. This may make for a wetter ride but it should also be a more comfortable one.

If you are running with the waves on your stern or stern quarter then the technique is to keep the bow raised so it climbs over the rear of the wave. Retracting your boat’s trim tabs will help but you can also use the throttle to your advantage.

A bit of extra speed will lift the bow and allow you to sit on the rear of the wave before pushing through it as it breaks. Going too slowly, by contrast, may allow the waves to push your stern around and even risk broaching it (when the bow digs in and the stern pivots around it) so be prepared to counteract this by using the helm to keep your boat running true.

1 – Study paper charts: The paper chart clearly shows the overfalls with a warning of where to expect them and when.

2 – Be wary of digital charts: On this digital version it’s not as easy to spot the overfalls or find out when to expect them

3 – Against the waves: When travelling against the direction of the waves, it helps to trim the bow down so the finer section can cut through them and reduce slamming.

4 – With the waves: When travelling with the waves it pays to raise the bow by removing all trim and using the throttle, so the boat can travel comfortably at speed over any waves it catches up.

5 – Adjust your speed: Here the boat has slowed down, allowing the bow to ‘stuff’ into the back of the wave it is trying to overtake. The solution is either to speed up and raise the bow or travel even slower.

6 – Tacking across the waves: Sometimes it pays to take the waves at an angle rather than running directly into them. By tacking one way then the other, it may allow for a faster, drier ride.

This article How to navigate overfalls in a motorboat: 6 top tips appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

You learn how to drive a boat before you can ride a bike when growing up on Lake Erie. I started driving boats with my father at six years old and now I am in my fourth decade of boating. It’s a big part of my existence.

I live in a lakeside house with my boat on a lift directly under my sitting room. With immediate access to over 9,000 square miles of Lake Erie, boating is a way of life here.

When I was 15 years old, I raised enough money cutting grass and gardening in my evenings and weekends to buy my first boat. It was a 1954 wooden Niles Craft 16, powered by a 12hp Johnson outboard.

It took me most of the summer to rebuild it. I upgraded it from tiller steering to cable steering, replaced the transom and rebuilt the seating. This started my obsession with modifying boats, a passion that I still have.

Solid choice

Fast forward ten years and a degree from Akron university in construction engineering provided me with the resources to start racing jetskis on the amateur circuit.

In 2003, I won the world championship title in the novice 1200cc superstock class. This turned my attention towards high performance boats. In 2004 I purchased my first go-fast boat – a Baja 25 powered by a 502 big block Mercury MAG pushing out 415hp. The boat could top 70mph. I was hooked. The visceral nature of the whole experience with its straight-through exhausts and edgy handling was utterly intoxicating.

Rob Judge bought the former Coast Guard patrol boat sight unseen for $50,000 with a view to turning it into an all-weather performance boat

A couple of years later I upgraded to a 30-foot Baja with twin 496 HO motors that could reach the high 70s even in choppier waters. On Lake Erie, which is known for its challenging short chop and rapidly changing conditions, the rough weather handling of a boat considerably enhances its usability.

Fast forward another six years to 2010 and I moved up to the big league with a Cigarette Top Gun 38 GT running twin Mercury Racing 525s. The side-by-side configuration provides easy handling around the dock compared to staggered engine boats and the twin-stepped hull is a proven thoroughbred.

It will run at 85mph, 74 knots in old money, which is exceptional for a boat with a relatively modest 1,050hp. With twin 700hp motors, it will do over 100mph!

So far, I haven’t felt the desire to change the Cigarette for anything else. The only limitation is the short summer boating season from June to the end of September, at which point the weather gets too cold and unpredictable for a high performance open boat. I needed to find something more robust with an enclosed wheelhouse that I could use all year round.

It took me five years of research to find the right solution: a 25ft Safe Boat Defender. It’s intended for use as a Coast Guard boat or military platform for patrol and search and rescue purposes.

Safe Judgment now does 53 knots courtesy of twin Mercury Racing 300hp V8s

In early 2022 I was offered the opportunity to buy a secondhand one, sight unseen for $50,000. The hull came with a trailer, and had been stripped of its engines, electronics, and ancillaries. The only history I was given said that it had been a U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat, known as an RBS (Response Boat Small) and was based in Miami FL.

It was originally powered by a pair of Honda 225hp outboards. Safe Boat advised that in this form it was a 50mph boat. Needless to say, this was the solution I had been looking for. A $5,000 delivery cost was the only extra at this point.

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Power play

My family business is building municipal snow plough trucks and when business went quiet in the aftermath of Covid, I had the space and technicians to get this project done.

In March 2022, the hull arrived at my facility. My initial reaction was one of sheer panic – with only the wiring loom left in the boat and a Swiss cheese of holes around the helm, where the navigation and communications equipment had once been.

The huge deck-mounting plate designed to support a 50-calibre machine gun was still present on the bow, a hangover from its military spec build. The boat had no seats, no helm, no controls and even arrived with its armoured door locks missing.

When it arrived in March 2022, the boat was a mess

However, even through the salt rash, I could see that I had bought a tank. The immensely solid hull and superstructure was a good starting point. Given that the base price for a new build from Safe Marine is over $400,000, I could definitely end up with the boat I wanted at a significant saving.

My first step was to establish a brief and a build schedule to recommission the boat. I decided to fit it with a pair of Mercury Racing 300R outboards. The latest generation of V8 Verados offer an astonishing power-to-weight ratio and an almost flat torque curve across the rev range.

The only difference with the Racing variants is that they have a higher rev limit and more top end than the standard Verado 300s.

It came with a trailer but no engines, interior or seats

Coming in at nearly 36kg lighter than the boat’s former 225hp V6 Hondas and with significantly more power and torque, they should deliver significant performance gains.

Although the boat was originally rated for a maximum of 500hp, this was more to do with weight loading rather than horsepower. A hull designed to operate in conditions that would destroy most leisure boats needs to be able to drop off a 20-foot wave without the transom getting ripped off.

Having discussed the matter with a friend, the owner of local performance RIB builder Airship, he agreed these would be the ideal engines and saw no issue with the extra 150hp. Airship was also happy to supply and rig the motors.

My first and most expensive commitment, totalling $95,000 was agreed. The price included rigging, steering, DTS controls and a SeaTalk NMEA 2000 network.

The helm was so full of holes it looked like Swiss cheese

Installing the new 16in Garmin 8616 MFD and VesselView system would take another month. The only other considerations for electronics were a DSC VHF, again from Garmin, and a night-vision camera.

Next on the list were colour-changing LEDs for the wheelhouse, a massive JL Audio sound system with Fusion head unit, underwater lighting at the stern and high powered LED floodlights front and back mounted on the roof, LED navigation lights and a set of four extremely loud truck-sourced air horns.

To ensure I could still take it out in almost any weather, I sourced some electric air-ride seats used in high-end trucks. Even at trade costs, these accounted for over $6,000 but their ability to absorb impacts in rough water as well as the support they give when cornering at speed means they are worth every penny.

he aluminium hull and superstructure had to be sanded back and fitted with new foam tubes

My only concession to luxury was applying some marine-grade carpet to the walls of the wheelhouse and a designer Isotta steering wheel.

Over the next 11 months and 3,000 man hours, we re-sanded the entire structure using 80-grit sandpaper, replaced the foam tubes, painted them grey and brought the entire structure back to the standard of a new boat. Some specialist items such as three new armoured locks came in at a hefty $1,000 each. Incredibly, even after 12 years of hard service, the boat was as solid and sound as the day it left the factory.

A diesel heater with ducting to the windshields to act as a demister and vents to the helm and saloon was installed and SeaDek flooring applied to the saloon and aft cockpit.

Finally, the brand new shiny red and black Mercury V8s arrived. Running a pair of lab prepared 4-bladed 21-degree Mercury Racing props, they looked the business. I did consider using 5-bladed cleaver propellers but the extra top speed they give would have significantly compromised the acceleration, and that decision has definitely paid off in practice.

The Mercury 300Rs are lighter and more powerful than the previous Honda 225s

Judgment day

A month later the boat was rigged and, almost a year to the day from its arrival, it was time to relaunch it with her new name of Safe Judgment – a play on my other boat’s name, Bad Judgment. Sliding it off its refurbished trailer was one of the most exciting moments of my boating career. I had no idea how it would drive, perform or manoeuvre.

Powering the engines up, I was immediately surprised by its agile low-speed handling. It turns on a dime, making berthing an absolute doddle, even with its lofty superstructure adding to the windage.

As the engines were brand new (Mercury Racing engines require a 20-hour running-in process) full-speed runs would have to wait. Failing to adhere to this would be recorded by the VesselView system and invalidate the warranty, so the first few rides had to be slightly restrained.

Despite not being able to use full revs, I was shocked at how brutal the boat’s acceleration was. It is simply ferocious and unlike anything else I have experienced in a high-performance boat.

Fully rebuilt and ready for launch day on its refurbished trailer

The cornering is also staggering, and it will easily handle full-lock turns at over 40 knots without a hint of slip. The handling overall is flawless – aggressively sharp and responsive, yet with levels of grip that defy belief.

With this much fun to be had, it didn’t take long to complete the running-in and once the first service was complete, I was able to fully access the boat’s performance.

Safe Judgment tops out at just over 61mph (53 knots), which for a boat that looks and is built like a tank is seriously impressive. The bigger picture is how easily it runs at 40 knots through a 5ft chop while out-accelerating almost every other craft from zero to 50 knots.

It also has a profound effect on other boaters, who immediately assume it’s a Coast Guard or law enforcement vessel. Its rugged looks get more attention and positive comments than anything I have ever owned, even my custom built Cigarette.

When the open muscle boats on Lake Erie get tucked away for the winter, Safe Judgment comes into its own

Guilty pleasure

After nearly six months of use, I am delighted with my new boat. It is totally unique and has exceeded every expectation I had for it. It’s a serious performance machine and capable of far more than anything I would ever choose to do with it.

It is not pretty, nor suited to the type of boating most people enjoy and at a total cost of around $210,000 excluding my and my team’s labour, it’s not exactly cheap either. But I couldn’t be happier with it. Other than a couple of months a year when Lake Erie literally freezes over, I now have year-round boating.

Would I go through the process again? Probably not, mainly due to the man hours spent on the whole project, as if I had included the going rate for those, the cost would have been similar to a brand new Safe Boat 25.

But I am pleased I took on the challenge and the quality and dynamics of the finished boat showcases my team’s skill and dedication.

This article How one man turned a former Coast Guard boat into a unique cruiser appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Before relocating to the South of France and then moving on to Southampton, my main boat, a 2006 Princess V48, had started life in the Algarve. By the time I met her in the UK, she had amassed about 800 hours on her Volvo D9s. I was in the process of emigrating to Florida at the time, so I had already scoured the US market for a suitable boat but I couldn’t find a Med-style cruiser I liked as much as this.

That was mainly down to the Princess’s electric soft top, which offered the flexibility of a virtually open boat, as well as an enclosed cockpit. And then there was the exceptional hull by Bernard Olesinski, the top-notch engines, the genset, the AwlGrip-painted black hull and the new grey Silvertech upholstery.

The Princess filled all my requirements so I decided to make her mine and take her across the Atlantic for a new start in America. It is not difficult to import a yacht into the US but there are some very strict procedures that need to be followed.

If the boat is to be registered in America, it needs to be de-registered in Europe – in my case with the Lloyds registry. That removes its VAT-paid status within the EU. The boat then needs to be in process of title into the US prior to import in order for the import duties and taxes to be assigned to that vessel and the vessel made insurable.

Offshore cruises to the Bahamas are now a regular part of life

Both are paid upon the boat’s arrival in port, and cruising permits are required to remove the vessel from the cargo ship and to make the transit to its new home port. An emissions certificate from the engine and generator manufacturer also needs to be presented on import.

Having a swell time!

If you want to run a boat in south-east Florida, it needs to be seaworthy. If it isn’t, simply getting out of some of the inlets is likely to prove a major challenge. Privilege spent its first five years in north Miami with the notorious Baker’s Haulover as its access point to the north Atlantic.

A lot of power and exceptional seakeeping certainly increase a boat’s usability around here and that’s something the Princess V48 has in droves.

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Fairline Targa 48 Open and Princess V48 go head to head

Two massively important boats, two consecutive issues of Motor Boat & Yachting

Great Loop: Meet the Princess V48 owner preparing for the adventure of a lifetime

Seas of 5 to 6ft are of little concern and offshore cruises to the Bahamas are also regularly achievable. Most importantly though, the boat can easily cope with the 8-10ft breakers regularly met during running tides through Haulover. In fact, I’ve found that it operates very effectively in three basic cruising bands.

In anything up to 5ft seas, 22-28 knots is ideal. In 5-7ft seas, 14 knots feels good. And in larger waves of 7ft or more, displacement speeds from 7-9 knots seem to work very well.

You need to follow some very strict procedures

Key American issues

During my ownership, I have updated my V48’s original equipment to include a huge Fusion sound system, the latest Raymarine Axiom 12 MFD with engine diagnostics, a Quantum 2 radar, a gyroscopic autopilot and i70 multi-function instruments. But the mains voltage remained a bugbear.

After all, a 50Hz boat plugged into a 60Hz supply can wreak havoc with certain appliances. In fact, it can even become a fire risk as the internal wiring on an item like a hair dryer doesn’t contain the fourth (hot leg) to prevent the wiring from overheating.

The 7.5kVA generator copes well enough with the boat’s mains voltage equipment, like the air conditioning and microwave. But it needs to be run full-time when we’re on board to help power the mains voltage appliances and to charge the battery banks. Even so, a proper solution still had to be found for when the boat was left docked.

The 14-year-old aircon system needed some serious attention

The boat contains 13 batteries that easily power the 24V systems (most of the boat), but power drain can be an issue if it’s left for extended periods. Two solutions are available – a power converter costing around $15,000, which converts a 110V 60Hz supply to the boat’s required 220V 60Hz and powers up the 220V panel from shore, as if plugged into a 220V 50Hz supply.

The issue with this is the substantial weight (70kg) and size, plus the fact that these units create significant heat in an already warm aft lazarette. The other solution is to work around the boat and upgrade anything not 50/60Hz. Fortunately, the fridge, combi-microwave and cooktop are all dual-voltage and frequency.

That just left the air conditioning. The original 14-year old aircon was a Freon-based system and due to a lack of modern servicing facilities for these units, its days were numbered. We would eventually replace this with three self-contained Webasto units but in the interim, we found a solution from the RV industry – a simple automated switch that could discern between power from the generator and power from the 30A shore supply.

A new 30A shore supply that could run the battery charger was installed, and new separate 110V outlets complete with USBs were introduced throughout the boat. The switch cuts the generator feed to the battery charger when plugged in to avoid overloading the unit.

Awlgrip Storm Grey: a new look for a new life abroad

It also allows the boat to be plugged in, running fans and dehumidifiers in the cabin as well as the Mastervolt Battery charger, so you can keep the interior fresh and dry while it’s sitting in the dock among Florida’s tropical humidity.

The other element you can’t ignore when you keep a boat in the water in Florida is the hull. You should employ a diver to clean the bottom every month and to check the anodes because both can deteriorate very rapidly.

My American-spec cruiser

Despite these issues, the Princess has been phenomenal. I’ve explored Florida and the Bahamas, and in 2021, I covered the entire eastern seaboard, heading into New York and through the Erie canal system into Lake Erie. Now resplendent in AwlGrip storm grey, my V48 is not just the only V48 Mk 1 in the US but also a rare and often admired addition to the Great Lakes.

I have a vast range of places to visit on nearly 100,000 square miles of water, most of which is easily achievable with this fantastic boat.

This article Relocating a 50ft motor boat from the UK to the USA appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Miami is known for its incredible coastline, dynamic nightlife and sensational architecture, but did you know that it also hosts one of the largest boat shows in the whole of the US? The Miami Boat Show is an international event that displays over 1,000 boats and is spread across six locations. To enjoy this event as best as possible, we’ve put together a list of hotels near the Miami Boat Show at a range of price points to help you make the most of your visit.

When is the Miami Boat Show?

This year, the Miami Boat Show starts on Valentine’s Day and runs from 14 to 18 February 2024. Because of the overlap in events, we’re anticipating it to be harder to book a hotel room for the Miami Boat Show over this date than in previous years.

In our guide to the best accommodation for the Miami Boat Show, we have listed the distance from Miami Marine Stadium (3501 Rickenbacker Causeway, FL 33149), but as mentioned previously, there are several venues for the Miami Boat Show, so make sure your chosen hotel is close to the area you’ll be visiting most frequently.

At the time of writing, all the options below had availability for the show period (14-18 February), but they can book up quickly, so don’t wait around…

Hotels near Miami Boat Show: Premium

Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club, 9011 Collins Ave
The coveted beachside location, award-winning design, oceanfront dining and luxurious and beautiful rooms are just some of the reasons why you should book the Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club. Despite its high price and slow room service, this is a great property to stay in.
Distance to Miami Marine Stadium: 16.2 miles
TripAdvisor rating: 4.5/5
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Acqualina Resort and Residences, 17875 Collins AvenueMiami glitz meets the Med is the best way to describe this resort. This luxe seaside haven boasts spacious, well-appointed rooms, three swimming pools and a plethora of high-class dining choices. This is a good location if you’re looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of town.
Distance to Miami Marine Stadium: 23.2 miles
TripAdvisor rating: 5/5
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Mandarin Oriental Miami, 500 Brickell Key Drive
A Miami marvel offering wonderful views of the city skyline and Biscayne Bay. This hotel offers first-class accommodation. A dip in the infinity pool is a must, as is dining at Peruvian restaurant La Mar by Gaston Acurio. The only downside is the balconies are a little small.
Distance to Miami Marine Stadium: 4.3 miles
TripAdvisor rating: 4.5/5
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Hotels near Miami Boat Show: Mid-range

Mr. C Miami – Coconut Grove, 2988 McFarlane RoadIf you’re searching for a contemporary, boutique hotel, then you’ve found it. As well as featuring a practical outdoor pool area, you’ll stay in a spacious and well-appointed room. There’s great dining too! If that hasn’t sold it, the  convenient location for getting around Miami will.
Distance to Miami Marine Stadium: 5.3 miles
TripAdvisor rating: 4.5/5
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InterContinental Miami, 100 Chopin PlazaGreat location in the vibrant business district and just a few minutes from the port is the InterContinental Miami. With luxury rooms, a choice of 5 restaurants, a business centre, great spa and excellent large outdoor pool and terrace with super Biscayne Bay views, this is a fantastic place to stay.
Distance to Miami Marine Stadium: 4.8 miles
TripAdvisor rating: 4.5/5
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Hotels near Miami Boat Show: Budget

citizenM Miami Brickell, 11 SE 10 StIf great value is what you’re looking for in a Miami hotel, the conveniently located citizenM Miami Brickell is the one for you. As well as being based in the heart of Miami and just a couple of miles from the port, it boasts a fun décor, offers great service and comfortable clean rooms – some of which are a little on the small side.
Distance to Miami Marine Stadium: 3.6 miles
TripAdvisor rating: 4.5/5
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The Altair Bay Harbor Hotel, 9540 West Bay Harbor DriveFor a stylish, great value hotel with lovely rooftop outdoor pool area, spacious rooms, and a shuttle service to the beach, look no further. Yes, the location is a bit further out of the city, but it’s ideal for beach lovers.
Distance to Miami Marine Stadium: 15.8 miles
TripAdvisor rating: 4/5
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Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article Looking for hotels near Miami Boat Show? Look no further... appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

The first commandment of the high energy Celtic band The Vatersay Boys is “Get ready to project yourselves into insanity.” They could have written those words for the subjects of this article, Shaun and Dan Bentley, who, together with family and friends, are busy recreating the halcyon days of one of Britain’s most successful historic race boats.

After all, you’d have to be crazy to spend every spare penny restoring a derelict 50-year-old Class 1 powerboat you spotted languishing in a Southampton boatyard, wouldn’t you?

The vessel in question is the rather wackily named Double 2 Shirts, the moniker being that of a previous sponsor, whose name Shaun and Dan have emblazoned along both sides of their 1973 40-feet Planatec deep-vee hull in reverence to its heritage.

Although it sported a variety of other quirky names during its early years – Radio Rentals, Macho and Ballerina among them – before being dressed up as Double 2 Shirts. The latter was the name under which she competed in numerous events, including the legendary 1984 Round Britain Race.

Shared passion

Shaun and Dan share a long-held passion for powerboat racing. “Ever since we’ve had boats we used to watch powerboat racing – Dan was probably 12 years old then,” says Shaun.

“We always wanted to do it but never had the opportunities. When Dan set up his own business, Bentley Marine, things changed and we ended up buying Double 2 Shirts.” The pair found the boat abandoned in Drivers Dry Berthing in the Northam area of Southampton around three years ago.

Article continues below…

From wreck to racer: The inside story of Thunderstreak’s remarkable restoration

Classic boat restoration: How we revived a 1970s Levi Triana Tropica

“She was in a very bad way,” recalls Shaun. “One of her twin Mercury Racing 600 SCI V8s had blown up. The other engine was complete but when we stripped it you could see that it didn’t have long to go before it would have blown up too – it was all very worn and there was marking on the bearing shells; it needed a total rebuild.

The hull wasn’t a pretty sight either; it was filthy dirty and full of oil and water. We had no option but to completely clean it out and fully restore everything. “The boat came with a box of bits from the blown up engine but quite a few of the bigger parts were missing, including the supercharger.

When we asked around, we discovered that an ex-racer called Bill Bonner had it in his repair shop in Hove. He’d serviced it about eight years ago and still had it sitting on his shelf awaiting payment. We paid the bill and retrieved the supercharger from him – that saved us a lot of money.

As she looked when Shaun and Dan Bentley found her languishing in Drivers Dry Berthing

The other bits we imported from Teague Custom Marine of California.” Shaun’s mention of money prompted us to ask the thorny question of cost, as rebuilding a 50-year-old powerboat is something which obviously doesn’t come cheap.

While not wishing to be drawn on budgets, we were assured that the project has not been prohibitive due to the boat being bought for a song and the fact that Dan is a fully trained marine engineer with his own business and premises.

By erecting a large cover-tent adjacent to his workshop, he now not only has a place to store Double 2 Shirts with no ongoing costs but also somewhere to work on her with all his tools close to hand. He also has his mate Paul Knights, another skilled engineer who just happens to love big V8s.

The new dashboard starts to come together in Bentley Marine’s workshop

Between them, and with help from Shaun and the team’s two other members, Dan’s cousin Tom Yaldren and close family friend Lee Ornsby, untold hours have been put in to bring Double 2 Shirts back to life – with all labour provided free of charge. “That’s what makes it possible,” says Dan.

“We also get much appreciated help from boatfolk, who sponsor us with launches, lift-outs and storage space at their Deacons Marina when needed. So, we’re really only paying for the parts and the fuel.”

Ah yes, the fuel… how much does that cost? “Well,” says Dan. “She runs on regular E10 petrol, which she burns at a rate of one gallon per minute per engine.”

The new helm is a picture of clarity so driver and throttle man can focus on the race itself

“But that’s US gallons, which are smaller than ours,” interjects Tom, spotting the look of consternation on my face and leaping in with a man-maths-worthy defence before any more awkward questions could be asked.

To put the boat’s fuel consumption into some kind of perspective, we caught up with Double 2 Shirts as the team were preparing her for the 2023 Cowes-Torquay-Cowes race, a daunting 182-mile marathon.

“We’ve had to increase the fuel capacity by 280 litres to give us the range and she now holds 1,600 litres”, explained Dan. That involved installing an additional two fuel tanks, taking the total number of tanks on board to eight, all of which live in the bow just ahead of the crew.

A tight-knit race and pit crew are vital to the team’s chances of success

Transfer pumps move the fuel from tank to tank to keep her trimming level as the load diminishes while ensuring the thirsty 8.2-litre lumps are fed. In order to pilot a powerboat, a race licence is required from the UK’s sanctioning body, UKOPRA, which all four members of the Double 2 Shirts team hold.

Shaun is the driver while Dan operates the throttles alongside him and manages the trim and the fuel transfer. This means father and son get to occupy the front two seats, except they’re not actually seats at all; they are simply bolstered backrests to lean against as the boat thumps its way through the waves – Double 2 Shirts has standing room only for its crew.

In the back are Tom and Lee, jointly responsible for navigation and comms, which according to Shaun, usually amounts to something like: “You’re going the wrong way, you pillock – left a bit and mind that yacht over there”, although we suspect there’s a bit more to it than that!

The pre-race shakedown run revealed an issue with the cooling water pressure

Operating the boat takes the combined effort of all four crew members. The process begins by firing up the mighty V8s and allowing them to settle into their rhythm. “Once you’ve got her on tick-over and everyone’s happy, you slot her into gear,” explains Shaun.

“Then you give her throttle. Tabs down. And then, as you increase speed, bring the tabs up when she starts to come up onto the plane. This is why it’s a two-man job; you’ve got to have a throttle man and a driver because there’s so much going on. At that speed you can’t do it all, just driving is enough.

As well as navigating, the lads in the back are spotting all the time, so if there’s a boat coming up behind us, for example, they let me and Dan know.”

Drive to survive

As the speed rises towards the boat’s current maximum of 71 knots – a figure the team hopes to improve next year by uprating each engine to 750hp – so does the challenge faced by the crew. Without seats their knees take a merciless pounding and the faster the boat goes the more the ride becomes a relentless wave-thumping, teeth-chattering experience.

“It’s like racing on an ever-changing race course,” says Shaun. “So every corner, every straight that you come to, nothing’s ever the same. Every wave’s different. We’re always thinking ahead; the driver and throttle man have to be driving 20ft in front of the boat, whereas the navigators focus on the long distance scenario.”

Safety is high on the powerboater’s agenda: “All boats have to carry a life raft, flares, an EPIRB and a first aid kit,” says Shaun. “And the life jackets are solid with plates in them and a lift point on the back so you can be dragged out of the water.

At full bore Double 2 Shirts can now reach speeds of up to 71 knots

They’re also self-righting, so if you hit the water unconscious they’ll automatically turn you over and sit you upright so you can breathe. We also have full-face safety helmets with intercoms, and we have to wear flameproof overalls and race boots too.”

“And floral underpants,” adds Dan, with a wry grin towards his dad.

The day before this year’s Cowes-Torquay-Cowes race, the team were out on the Solent making last-minute pre-race tweaks. In the run up to the event, Double 2 Shirts had experienced its share of problems, which as Shaun and Dan noted is only to be expected following such a major renovation.

The born again race boat back in the water where she belongs

In particular there had been a recurring issue with the water pressure going through the coolers, which resulted in one of the exhausts overheating. “The exhaust kept turning blue,” explains Dan. “We’ve had to reduce the size of the water outlet in order to hold pressure back within the system. We think we’ve sorted it, but today we’ll find out.”

A number of high-speed passes later, the team was happy – the exhausts were behaving themselves. But then, a warning light popped up on the dash. “Engine map,” said Dan. “I’ve got another sensor back at the workshop, we can fit it overnight.”

Cowes Torquay 2023

At 10am on the morning of Sunday 26 August, Double 2 Shirts was ready, with her team preparing to propel themselves into insanity as they took their place alongside ten other Class 1 boats for the start of the 2023 Cowes-Torquay-Cowes, the 60th year the event has been staged.

Crew names emblazoned on the hull

The race features a rolling start with boats taken to a point between Cowes and Ryde from where they turn around and pick up speed before taking the starter’s flag at Egypt Point.

“We had a great start,” says Dan. “We held back a bit and powered up just before the start line to get the drop on some of our competitors. We were never going to win the race – there are some far more modern and more powerful boats than ours out there – but we wanted to put on a good show.”

And a good show it was, raising cheers from the many locals who had taken their boats out to East Lepe to watch the race rush past at close quarters. Shaun, Dan, Tom and Lee sped by in sixth place with Double 2 Shirts looking and sounding strong as she powered her way through the Solent.

Dan’s business helps keep the running costs manageable

However, things were soon to change as the boat’s starboard drive let go somewhere off Swanage. At the time of writing the exact cause isn’t known, but blue streaks on the drive’s skeg suggest a submerged fishing pot may have been involved.

“Several other competitors also suffered drive problems – but we’ll never know exactly what happened,” says Dan stoically. Far from being downhearted, the team put any disappointment behind them and started preparations for the 2024 season.

With engine upgrades on the cards and an entire winter to develop her performance, the future looks bright for Double 2 Shirts – expect to see her in her best bib and tucker when she once again takes up the challenge, beginning with next year’s UKOPRA Round the Island powerboat race.

First published in the December 2023 issue of MBY.

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This article Double 2 Shirts restoration: How we transformed this 1970s relic from derelict to race-ready appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

A rarefied segment of the boating industry is dedicated to creating some of the fastest boats in the world. They’re the Bugatti Chirons and Koenigseggs of the seas. Builders of these boats work to extreme tolerances, using exotic materials and construction methods usually found in the aviation industry.

Of course, at this level, low volume production and the aforementioned construction methods combine to create an exclusive product with an even more exclusive price tag. These super high-performance boats will be hugely impractical for most purposes, when compared to a typical leisure vessel, and the skipper will need significant ability to get the most out of it.

In reality any boat capable of speeds more than 60 knots (69mph) is very fast indeed. Given the hugely changeable nature of water compared to tarmac, this is akin to driving a car at around 120mph.

Most of the fastest boats use race-derived hulls with roots dating back to the 1980s when the ‘Go-Fast boat’ became synonymous with the glamor and excesses of the time. TV shows like Miami Vice, with Don Johnson catching drug dealers in his iconic Wellcraft 39 Scarab, helped make these boats extremely popular.

In reality, high performance offshore boats of this type were extensively used by cartels to run drugs into Miami, with the DEA commissioning a fleet of Blue Thunder powercats to help combat the problem.

Fast forward to today, some of the fastest boats are capable of exceeding 180mph with specialist engines and are in fact faster than the boats in Class 1 Offshore racing, where horsepower is limited to twin 1,100hp.

This list is by no means exhaustive – there are also a number of phenomenal offerings out there from legendary builders like Nortech, Sunsation, Donzi and Fountain.

6 of the fastest boats you can buy

Goldfish 46 Bullet

World’s fastest RIB

Top speed: 85 knots (99 mph)
Price: $1.2million

Starting with one of the most revered names in the world of performance RIBs, Norwegian yard Goldfish Boats build exceptionally capable open water powerboats. They are also the fastest Ridged Inflatable Boats on the market today.

The 46 Bullet is the fastest of them all – with triple 500hp V10 Mercury outboards 85 knots is achievable. Around $1.2 million will put you in the driving seat of this exquisitely built boat with a carbon superstructure, state of the art electronics and custom racing seating for six.

Perfectly capable of cruising for hours in excess of 60 knots in challenging conditions, the Goldfish is capable of holding its own in rough water against almost any offshore powerboat challenger.

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Outerlimits SV50

World’s fastest production monohull

Top speed: 156 knots (180 mph)
Price: $900,000

At 50ft 1in LOA and only 9ft in the beam, this rocket ship is a pure raceboat in design, with five steps in the hull and staggered engines to keep the driver as close to the centerline as possible.

At the 2023 Lake of the Ozarks shootout an SV50 with enclosed cockpit and twin 2,000hp engines ran 180.47 mph on a 1km run making it the fastest production monohull on the water.

More impressive is that a standard boat with twin Mercury Racing 1,350/1,550hp can easily top 140mph. However, this is a boat requiring an exceptional skill to drive, with handling characteristics as aggressive as its outright speed suggests. Starting at around $900,000 the SV50 is the ultimate in its class.

MTI Pleasure 52

Top speed: 156 knots (180mph)
Price: $2 million

Another brand known for its offshore race winning boats, MTI produces nothing but high-performance boats. From its V series center consoles to its outboard-powered cats, this semi-custom builder doesn’t make a boat that does less than 80mph.

The 52 Pleasure is the fastest of the breed, with a full race version available using the same hull. With twin 1,750hp Mercury racing engines, this boat can achieve over 180mph.

With full custom options, MTI have even built a Lamborghini-inspired 48 footer to match the owner’s Lamborghini Aventador. Fitted with Aventador style tail lights and dashboard, the boat even had a matching covered starter button.

Needless to say, all this glamour doesn’t come cheap. You can expect a starting price of around $2 million for this level of exotica.

Cigarette 515

The most legendary go-fast boat

Top speed: 113 knots (130mph)
Price: $2.2 million

No go-fast boat comes with as much pedigree as the Cigarette. Founded by the legendary Don Aronow, Cigarette Boats dominated offshore racing worldwide for over a decade, so much so that the brand name has become synonymous with offshore racers.

Still built in Florida, the brand has development ties with Mercedes AMG and Mercury Racing alike. As the largest high-performance boat in the range, the 515 offers peerless attention to detail and quality alike.

It is not the fastest production monohull, with a top speed of just over 130mph achievable with twin staggered 1,350/1,550hp Mercury Racing engines. It is, however, the best riding and one of the most capable offshore powerboats for handling rough water.

Its carbon fiber, vacuum bagged construction helps to justify its $2.2 million starting price and above all, it is the ultimate Cigarette boat.

Photo: Tom Leigh

Mystic C4000

Top speed: 108 knots (125mph)
Price: $699,000

Mystics founder John Cosker is responsible for some of the fastest offshore raceboats in the world. Throttling his American Ethanol 50ft Catamaran, he hit 204mph this year setting the record on the Lake of the Ozarks sprint course.

Mystic will custom build a race winning boat for you on request, however Mystic now has a range of three high performance center consoles, with the C4000 outboard cat being the fastest production boat in the range, equipped with twin 500hp Mercury Racing outboards.

The C4000 will top 125mph and cruise in the upper 80s. With a bias on cruising comfort, the C4000 is a tuned down version of the Mystic race boat, with the tunnel compression reduced to hold the boat down rather than create the less controllable lift of the 180mph capable race hull.

The engines are also mounted on hydraulic jack plates to further trim the hull and keep the boat glued down in rough water. At just under 44ft the luxuriously appointed Mystic C4000 can offer performance akin to a light aircraft over distance – think Miami to Bimini in under an hour in the right conditions.

The Mystic is designed to run at speed confidently by most owners without the extreme characteristics of boats at this performance level. Options like a full cockpit sunshade, premium stereo and open transom make the C4000 as comfortable for lounging at a sandbar as it is running at blistering speed in open ocean.

Midnight Express 43 Open

The fastest center console boat

Top speed: 78 knots (90mph)
Price: $1million

The center console market has exploded over the past few years, with a ceneter console now available for almost any boating application. The high-performance end of the spectrum has a handful of sublime builders.

However, the fastest arguably goes to Midnight Express 43, when running 5x 500hp V10 outboards. Capable of over 90mph, the 43 can also accommodate up to 20 people in comfort and 9 people at speed in luxurious quilted ultra leather bolster seats.

So good is the hull on the Midnight Express that Miami-Dade County DEA used the 39ft version as its high speed response boats. With its all-carbon superstructure and air-conditioned helm, the 43 is an extremely desirable boat, and over 100 units of this $1 million dollar boat have been sold to date.

This article 6 of the fastest boats you can buy right now appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

“When the doors slide open on the main deck, every time I come in there it just blows me away!” says Jimmy John Liautaud. Words spoken by a proud owner show just how 60.34-metre ROCK.IT has more than lived up to expectations after her first year on the water.

“ROCK.IT is very sleek and bold without being pretentious,” says exterior and interior designer Sander Sinot of Sinot Exclusive Yacht Design. “A natural flow of lines and surfaces makes the yacht breathe speed and exude elegance.”

A marriage of cool Dutch design and hot American passion has given the yacht a unique soul, and, after her first year of cruising, ROCK.IT has taken on a personality of her own.

“The owner wanted to have a yacht that was fast from the outside and cosy from the inside,” says Sipke Halbertsma, sales manager at Feadship. “ROCK.IT has a classic Feadship hull from the front, but if you look at her profile you’ll see the exterior lines work to make her look fast.”

This was an important factor for an inspired and excited owner who wanted to do a lot of cruising, and the whole package is tied up neatly in the name, ‘rocking it’ being a longtime motto for Liautaud in his business life.

However, the aggressive, forward movement of the exterior is softened by the interior, also by Sinot: a marriage of old Americana mahogany and modern Dutch minimalism. A surprising pairing, perhaps, but one that works hard to earn its keep as both a cosy family retreat and a raring-to-go party space.

Nothing is out of place, and the rooms don’t feel busy, but there is a warmth that pervades above all. It manages to be both contemporary and comfortable.

Perhaps one reason the two themes blend so effortlessly is to be found in the quality of the work. It is cosy, yes, but not rustic. Glossy and veneered wood extends throughout the yacht, and is the dominant theme, with mahogany being the most prevalent.

However, this is not just any mahogany. The highest quality crotched mahogany was sourced and then ‘folded’ out, so that the panels all match symmetrically, a difficult and lengthy process. Lavish use of glass throughout means the interior benefits from lots of natural light, stopping the wood from feeling too heavy.

In the bridge deck salon, wood also plays a major theme. Light sycamore panelling clads the walls in a unique diagonal veneer, and a custom weaved teak ceiling is an impressive touch. Mahogany accents throughout draw the room together and link it to the rest of the spaces on board.

A well-stocked bar with backlit white onyx proves the focal part of the room, from which the spaces divide out into individual lounging areas, each made distinct by their own soft cream carpet.

ROCK.IT feels voluminous, and while the high ceilings certainly aid this, so does the interior design, which allows for spaces to flow from one designated area to the next, creating capsule environments. Rather than having the feeling of a bridge deck salon, the room is separated into useful and efficient spaces, which makes it feel much larger.

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Bars are a recurring theme on board, with each deck hosting a unique and ample-sized offering. On the main deck, the bar, complete with full-height wine chiller, is the first thing you see when you walk through the sliding doors.

Resplendent in backlit onyx and glossy mahogany and based in a circular ante-chamber, it separates the formal dining space, with a stunning table by Pollaro, and the outside entertaining space, immediately imparting the good-time vibe felt throughout ROCK.IT.

On the sundeck, the more informal outdoor bar faces both fore and aft, allowing the whole deck to be used efficiently for entertaining. Furthest forward is a Jacuzzi surrounded by sunpads and sofas.

In the centre is a table and chairs, made in-house by Feadship, and drawing the whole area together as a relaxed lounging space that accommodates all twelve guests. Aft of the central bar is a row of deckchairs and a large tender and two Yamaha Waverunners.

“We have some owners that want two or three tenders and lots of toys, but the owner of ROCK.IT is really about yachting and diving, so the guest tender we store up top and the rescue tender is in a big hatch forward of the bridge,” says Halbertsma.

Not having the tenders stored in the beach club gives a feeling of more space elsewhere on the yacht, especially in the guest and crew accommodation.

As a yard, Feadship is known for focusing its efforts on offering bespoke superyachts, where there is no ordinary and exceptional is the new normal. And exceptional is no hyperbole. Liautaud took the ability to create a custom superyacht and ran with it.

“During his many visits to the yard, we had terrific fun with this unconventional and no-compromise client,” says CEO Henk de Vries. “His between-your-eyes honesty and tremendous respect for and appreciation of Feadship craftsmanship pushed us to new heights.”

ROCK.IT is one of the quietest yachts Feadship has ever made, and also was the first to utilise an intuitive control and manoeuvring system, commonly used on navy ships. The system allows ROCK.IT to keep her heading at anchor by hovering on the main engine and thrusters.

“I was willing to accept this new system because it comes from a proven military background,” says ROCK.IT’s build captain. “The manoeuvring system represents a real step towards the future. To make it happen took real vision and considerable skill.”

The interior layout is also a far cry from the conventional. The four guest cabins on the lower deck are all similar in size and aesthetic, doing away with the usual large VIP cabin.

This allows all the guest cabins, consisting of two large doubles, a smaller double and a twin, to be large and well-appointed, keeping a democratic harmony and reinforcing the feel of the yacht as a family home away from home.

Unsurprisingly, however, the owner’s cabin is pretty spectacular. Full beam and located on the main deck, the suite is accessed via an opulent marble lobby, past the dramatic mahogany-panelled staircase which links the guest areas.

A private study opens out into the full-beam cabin, which is characterised by the same deep mahogany as seen throughout the rest of the yacht, and soft furnishings in creams and whites. Huge windows ensure the room is always full of light.

Forward are large his’n’hers bathrooms, gleaming with marble and backlit stone. The sink in Liautaud’s bathroom is crafted from a single block of black Portoro marble, weighing almost 500 kilograms.

His wife Leslie’s side boasts a large French-style free standing bath, a rarity on a superyacht, as well as a wealth of Staturio marble and an elegant vanity unit.

With so much effort put into creating such a homely space, it would be easy to expect the owners to never leave their suite, however this is far from the case. There is no favourite space on board: “You know what, I love them all,” says Liautaud.

“We spend least time on the main deck, we spend most of our time on the swim platform and the sundeck, and we live in the bridge deck.”

The bridge deck is a compromise between the formal main deck and the relaxed sundeck. An al fresco dining table aft can be sheltered from a breeze by sliding glass panels, and the large doors into the salon create an easy inside/outside entertaining space.

Further aft, two smaller tables surrounded by sofas move up and down to serve either as coffee tables or dining tables, and match the larger table to create a symbiosis between the areas.

This deck is also home to some of the yacht’s unique and interesting art work, some of which was given to the owners as gifts and the rest which was commissioned specially for the yacht. The art work ranges from pop art sculptures to modern illustrations and more traditional landscapes, and imparts a lived-in feel to the spaces it occupies.

“Sander Sinot and Leslie did all of the art on board,” says the owner. “A couple of friends and musicians gave us a couple of pieces. I did the hardscape and Leslie did all the soft and the colour. That’s our deal.” The art makes the rooms feel personal, and adds a vitality to the otherwise flawless walls.

“Each Feadship is totally unique and no two Feadship owners are the same,” says De Vries. “It is our privilege to create the most amazing yachts on the oceans for the most fascinating people on the planet, and it has been a great experience to partner with the owner of ROCK.IT.”

The experience is, of course, of an owner involving himself in every aspect of the creation of his yacht, which, although perhaps not always easy, is what allows it to come alive in such a palpable way.

ROCK.IT was a labour of love for her owner, and she hasn’t disappointed: “When I’m on board and I just look around at everything, it’s so stimulating and it’s just so awesome. I love it!” he says.

This is perhaps what gives her such a tangible soul, the passion that went into creating something that would still excite so much after so many days spent aboard. ROCK.IT is an apt name for a yacht that makes an owner’s heart soar, like a rocket into outer space.

First published on SuperYachtWorld.com on April 20, 2016

This article Owner of 60m Feadship superyacht ROCK.IT owner explains his design choices appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

The 2014 Southampton Boat Show glowed with a dazzling array of polished fibre-glass hulls glinting in the sunlight. From the latest sleek sportscruisers to towering gin palaces and even a superyacht or two, it was enough to make even a budding oligarch drool.

But incredible as these modern wonders were, none of them grabbed my attention as much as a 113-year-old gentleman’s motor launch called Wise Folly. It was being exhibited by Dennett Boat Builders after a full restoration by the company’s craftsmen. I had no inkling that meeting them would be the start of a life-changing adventure.

The reason Wise Folly had caught my eye was because I’d come to the show to look for inspiration and advice on how to restore my own classic boat at the time, Little Ann II.

She had been built in 1946 by William Osborne and was a 26ft Swift Junior class design. Unfortunately Little Ann had developed dry rot in the hull above the waterline and leaks in the roof and superstructure.

At the time, I knew very little about wooden boats. Little Ann had been, if not an impulse buy, certainly a rash and rushed purchase. I had decided that I wanted to propose to my husband-to-be on a boat. But not just any old boat; my own boat.

Despite having had little experience at sea, I have been attracted to boats since I was a child. One of my earliest memories is of taking the helm of a little wooden speedboat on holiday in Italy.

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I still remember the feeling of pride and excitement of being at the helm, a feeling I was desperate to rekindle. I approached the Dennett stand and got chatting to David Cherrett. I explained that I wasn’t looking to buy Wise Folly but was looking for inspiration to restore my own boat.

He offered me a cup of tea, and despite not really liking tea (I am Belgian by birth), I accepted because it was an opportunity to pick his brains while trying to decide if they were the right people to carry out Little Ann II’s restoration.

Spurred on by my determination to propose on the boat – under Tower Bridge was my plan – I soon decided they were the team I needed. The project would be supervised by Stephen Dennett himself.

Being curious by nature, I couldn’t resist popping down to the Dennett boatyard in Chertsey to check on the progress on weekends. It wasn’t long before Steve noticed my enthusiasm and, thrusting a tool into my hands, set me to work on Little Ann myself.

As an amateur, it took me a lot of hard work to achieve anything like the results the professionals around me managed with apparent ease, but I was grateful for the opportunity to observe and learn from them.

Father figures

Learning a new craft is always a thrill and I wasted no time in telling my family. But while I am naturally gregarious, my father had always been a man of few words.

Praise of any kind was sparse so when I excitedly explained that Little Ann II was a 1946 rebuild of the original Little Ann, which had been lost in the war, his response was less than enthusiastic. “So, it’s not a historic boat then. And it’s made of wood. You may as well throw £50 notes into the river!” he cautioned.

Up to a point, he was right – these boats are costly to maintain – but what he didn’t appreciate is that the peace and contentment I feel when I’m on the water is priceless.

But his words still nagged at me. No matter how old one gets, a son still craves the approval of his father. And I desperately wanted it. I decided that the answer was not to give up boating – that would be unimaginable – but to find a boat with real history and a story that would impress even my father.

Boats like this are notorious for requiring a great deal of work but the restoration undertaken of Little Ann had proved such a positive experience that I relished the challenge, especially if Dennett agreed to undertake another project with me. All that was needed was a boat worthy of the work and expense…

How Breda looked when Alain first set eyes on her

Dunkirk survivor

Then, in the summer of 2017, we found her. Breda, a bona fide Dunkirk Little Ship, was in a terrible state. She was rotting away at her mooring on the Thames, unloved and taking on rain water. In her time she’d rescued so many but now she was in need of rescuing.

Originally named Dab II, she was designed and built in 1931 by J W Brooke & Co of Oulton Broad, Norfolk for George Smart of Westcliff-on-Sea. By the outbreak of war in 1939 she was owned by a Colonel Hardy.

When the Colonel discovered that the Royal Navy had commandeered his motor yacht for use in Operation Dynamo – the heroic effort to rescue troops stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk – he was outraged. Not because they had taken his yacht but because he had not been given the chance to go along with her!

Although Breda made it to Dennetts on her own bottom she was not in a good state

Instead, she was captained by Lieut R.W. Thompson and crossed the Channel an impressive three times in six days. On the final return journey, she rescued a group of Dutch soldiers from Breda in the Netherlands. They had fought a gallant rearguard action on the retreat to Dunkirk, driven by the weight of the German advance.

When Colonel Hardy was finally reunited with his yacht at the end of the war, he renamed her Breda in honour of the soldiers she saved on that final voyage. This was a boat with a pedigree and a history not even my father could fault, even if it meant a lot more £50 notes leaving my wallet!

I bought her in October 2017 but didn’t tell my dad at the time as I wanted to surprise him once the restoration was complete. Thankfully, Stephen Dennett was as excited as I was and agreed to take it on. It was the start of a three-year adventure.

35 planks and 53 ribs had to be replaced to make her hull and topsides secure again

Work begins

By December, Breda was on their slipway ready for inspection. It was soon apparent that a major overhaul would be necessary, including urgent repairs to her hull, before she was seaworthy again.

It wasn’t just the few planks and a hull paint I was hoping for, so the boatyard worked with me to establish a scope and timeline to suit my budget, and once again gave me the opportunity to work on the boat myself under their guidance as my time permitted.

It had to be carefully planned and timetabled. As hoped, I proposed to my boyfriend Michael aboard Little Ann II and was delighted when he accepted. We intended to get married in the summer of 2018 so we had to work everything around that.

Dennett’s craftsmen used all their skills to bring Breda back

A summary of the work required included replacing 19 ribs, 18 planks and 15 deck beams on the starboard side; 34 ribs, 17 planks and 15 deck beams port side; gunwale and beam shelves on both sides; a full aft cabin rebuild and transom replacement.

This was a much bigger project than I had initially imagined and I needed to find further funding, not only to ensure the boatyard was always paid on time, phase by phase, but also because if I was to do Breda justice – and make her comfortable, practical, safe and future proof for navigating at sea – it would require considerable investment.

As well as the hull restoration, I also needed to budget for appliances like an ice cube maker and wine fridge, and bespoke top-of-the-range mattresses. And of course the latest navigation electronics. All of this would have to be powered by a state-of-the-art power system. This was the only way Breda would be able to be enjoyed for generations to come.

30 deck beams also needed replacing before the deck could be relaid and the new wheelhouse added

So at the start of 2018 I decided to go all in! I sold my small London property to fund the project in its entirety. Obviously, I didn’t dare tell my father, rather I hoped the end result would speak for itself.

By April 2018, with vital hull repairs complete, Breda was put back in the water to make way for the usual summer rush of boats needing immediate attention at the yard. Meanwhile, work continued on her engines and fuel systems so she could be lifted back onto the slipway over winter where her interior rebuild would begin.

During the summer, Parker Marine Services came and emptied the four diesel tanks totalling 900 litres so the fuel could be polished, the tanks cleaned and the hoses, seals and senders replaced.

New oil and fuel filters had to be sourced as the original parts for the two Ford Sabre 135hp six-cylinder engines were no longer available. Once these were installed and the injectors cleaned, the two blue monsters were soon purring contentedly again.

Other summer work included removing all the bronze items so they could be polished and chromed by Andrew Burt at Antique Metal Restorations in Chobham. The metal stanchions were also removed, sandblasted and repainted.

Finally, keen to not lose any of my recently acquired varnishing skills, I kept my hand in by personally restoring and varnishing a little desk seat that we discovered inside Breda.

The new wheelhouse had to be rebuilt from scratch to suit her original 1930s styling

It was looking very sad and abandoned in a corner, with old maritime charts still inside it. However, with a bit of elbow grease, I soon had it looking much happier and ready to go back on board.

Design for life

Winter saw the start of the second phase of the restoration. The major part of this would be the redesign of the forward spaces. I wanted the interior of the boat to reflect its Art Deco origins, with plenty of period-appropriate fixtures and fittings.

But first there were more structural tasks to take care of. All 151 of the original teak planks on the foredeck were removed, numbered, documented and restored ready for refitting. By October the new beam shelves had also been installed and the entire hull stripped back to bare wood, ready to be undercoated, primed and repainted.

The rotten transom also had to be stripped and rebuilt while Breda was out of the water

In November we secured the deck beams and made them ready to receive the tongue-and-groove ceiling. Lastly, we added two layers of marine ply and an epoxy sheathing over the entire structure, making it weatherproof for decades to come.

The new year heralded the start of another phase in the project, the Art Deco-inspired interior. Heather Dennett had taken my complex specifications and translated them into a sumptuous design, which her team of skilled carpenters and finishers could begin to create.

Heather’s design made subtle changes to my initial ideas to allow for more practical movement around the boat. She explained how a central corridor would be important to move quickly around the ship when under way and advised a more symmetrical layout with a centre aisle. I agreed.

Having subsequently taken Breda across the English Channel in some challenging weather conditions, I’m glad I did. Luckily none of these practical changes meant I had to give up on the espresso bar or the ice-cube maker!

Breda may have been pressed into wartime service in her early days – a role she played with distinction – but in her old age she would be returning to her original role as a gentleman’s pleasure yacht.

This meant comfortable living quarters for us and our guests. Forward, just behind the anchor chain locker would be a wet room with a rain shower and period fittings. This would lead into the guest cabin with two berths and ample storage space.

The new mahogany wheelhouse structure before the roof and glazing were added

Next would be the owner’s cabin, with a double berth panelled in varnished walnut and a vanity desk in mahogany and burr walnut. Throughout, antiqued mirrors would create the illusion of a bigger space.

Each berth was fitted with headboards composed of mahogany, burr maple, and burr walnut inserts arranged in an Art Deco fan shape, edged with polished metal borders. A round chest of drawers would offer plenty of storage and the bedside table would contain discrete technology, allowing us to charge a mobile phone wirelessly.

The clever design balanced the appearance of 1930s style and luxury with the convenience of modern equipment in a seamless integration.

Once weatherproof, the focus switched to fitting out the interior of the wheelhouse

Wheelhouse reinvention

In June 2019, the final phase began: rebuilding the wheelhouse. This was remade from scratch out of mahogany, conforming to the original dimensions. The only modification we made was to enlarge the sunroof to allow for easy removal of the engines if we ever needed to replace them in the future.

June was chiefly devoted to varnishing the forward areas and the main structure. So was July. And August. To this day, the first question most visitors ask is: “How many coats of varnish did this take?” To be honest, I lost count.

Varnishing complete, Dennett’s carpenters could begin to fit out the galley and saloon with two bars, which they built chiefly of mahogany and burr walnut. The floors were English oak with deco-style mahogany inlays.

The original helm was a pretty basic affair so Dennetts recreated a new one using traditional analogue dials but modern electronics. Alain did much of the wiring himself

In September we began installing her complex electrical and navigational equipment as well as her new batteries and power management systems.

I personally spent five months laying over a mile of Oceanflex 12V cable, and then connecting every device and light fitting that required power. By the end of 2019 the dual Raymarine Axiom MFDs, VHF, AIS and Autopilot were commissioned.

I also hired Alasdair Flint from Arthur Beale (the oldest surviving chandlery in London) to reproduce all the rigging on Breda. From the stanchions’ wires to the big 30ft mast and all the flag ropes, he did an exceptional job of it.

Every fixture and fitting was either restored or replaced with a period alternative

Best in show

By early 2020 the bulk of the restoration was complete and we were ready to participate in the 80th anniversary commemorations of Operation Dynamo.

While we had deliberately not set a deadline on the project, this had always been our ‘emotional’ deadline so I was thrilled that she would now be able take her place in the procession of other surviving Dunkirk Little Ships for this special anniversary.

Unfortunately, this was also when we started hearing rumours of a new virus emerging from China. As with so many other events, the commemoration was cancelled and work on Breda stalled too as the world went into lockdown.

The long foredeck makes the perfect place to sit and admire the view with a glass of bubbly

But after two lost years, the adventure has continued and Breda’s epic restoration is complete. In 2021, Breda won Best in Show at the Thames Traditional Boat Festival in Henley and was chosen as one of the three National Historic Ship UK flagships.

She has since become a regular fixture at the Thames Traditional Boat Show and has participated in several Veterans’ Day events.

My husband Michael and I have become enthusiastic members of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS) where we have met a whole community of people who, like us, are dedicated custodians of rescued and restored Little Ships.

The finished wheelhouse is a feast of varnished mahogany and polished chrome

Although the official Operation Dynamo commemoration will have to wait until the 85th anniversary in 2025, in 2022, a small flotilla of Dunkirk Little Ships, accompanied by a documentary film crew, visited Dunkirk and were warmly welcomed by the mayor who had arranged for a full pipe band on the dockside to play us in.

It is a reminder of how much it still means to the people of that city. It is one of the many reasons I am so proud to be the custodian of this brave and beautiful little ship.

Mother’s pride

My only regret is that my father, whose original criticism drove me to take on this project, did not live to see it completed. Illness took him away much sooner than we hoped but my mother, who is 80, was able to come on board Breda for the first time last summer when we cruised to Oostende Voor Anker.

The bar with its backlit Art Deco panels and hidden ice maker is as stylish as it is practical

After inspecting every part of the boat, opening drawers and cupboards, and scrutinising the varnished floorboard and period fittings, she concluded after a long moment of silence (very unlike her!) that she was now unsure whether I was even more obsessed with details than my late father.

I took this as the confirmation that my dad would have been equally proud of what we have achieved with Breda’s restoration. I am just privileged to be part of her continuing story and look forward to celebrating her 100th birthday in seven years’ time.

In the meantime, I will take great pleasure in enjoying this incredible boat out on the water, cutting through the waves, where I am happiest and I know Breda is too.

The finished saloon with its folding dining table and central walkway is a triumph

If you’d like to experience her unique charms too, we are making Breda available for bespoke charters on the Upper Thames around the Windsor area to try and offset some of the costs and ensure that her rich history can continue long into the future.

First published in the November 2023 issue of MBY. For information about taking your own cruise aboard Breda, visit www.bredacruises.co.uk

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When I was five years old the world was magic. I was certain my father could remove half his thumb and return it into place at will. Colour TV was unimaginably fabulous and my world was full of wonder; bird song, lightning, cars, the cinema – they were all magical experiences to me. As I entered education the magic began to whittle away.

I was told not to be childish, to stop daydreaming and be responsible. By the time I was halfway through school the magic had gone, never to return. Sure, there were snippets of it, but the sense of wonder had been educated right out of me.

Most people would think this a good thing. Reality is what we live in. To exist any other way would be asking for trouble. But can’t we balance this a little better? Can’t we hold onto magic for as long as we can and only return to reality when absolutely necessary?

The answer to this conundrum is yes! And it stares at you from the pages of MBY every month.

Magic circle

It’s not what’s in the magazine that is the magic (although it’s pretty damned fine); it’s the promise of the lifestyle it evokes. I was contemplating these thoughts when my wife and I took our first journey of 2023 on board Freedom, the Azimut 58 we own a 1/8th share of.

It wasn’t even a particularly nice day. The sky was a gunmetal grey, the wind was blowing and there was a chill in the air. We were motoring towards Pollensa for lunch when it hit me. I no longer needed to search for magic because it was here, on this boat, moving about on the water.

And it wasn’t a five-minute movie sequence or a three-minute song; it was days and days of it. Therein lies the essence of boating. Despite the irritations, it draws us back because there’s nothing like it.

There’s something about being on the water that penetrates the soul. Perhaps it’s our watery beginnings – perhaps we really do need the sea. Someone once said, “I don’t know what magic looks like but I know it when I see it”. I don’t just get to see it on our boat, I get to live it. For several weeks of the year, I’m five again.

Article continues below…

Confessions of a boat syndicate owner: The good, the bad and the ugly

How our boat share brought us a lifestyle we never thought we could afford

New beginnings

This all helps explain the sense of excitement I felt as we traipsed along the pontoon, although this time it was tinged with a hint of trepidation.

If any boat has had as much attention as Freedom over the winter, I want to see it. Our new, and very business-minded boat manager, set about making Freedom the boat we all wanted it to be. Over €100,000 later (€40,000 on the engines alone) we were now waiting to see what difference it had made.

Even divided by eight shares, we had each splashed out a significant sum, but what would we find? I could see two sparkling Fairlines right in front of me, and beyond them another very white, very shiny-looking craft I didn’t quite recognise. It couldn’t be ours because ever since I’ve known her, Freedom has been a creamy shade of off-white.

Freedom was gleaming white and barely recognisable after her winter glow-up

But as we walked closer and saw our boat’s name proudly displayed on the stern, it soon became apparent where the money had gone. She looked resplendent! Inside was quite different too, with new carpets, new monogrammed sheets, towels, cushions and clean leather.

Even the engines had a fresh coat of white paint to match their refurbished mechanicals. All the troubles of the past year had been sorted. When I bought my share at the beginning of 2022, part of the attraction was the low monthly running cost of £400.

No other shares in boats this size had running costs this low. At the time, and in my naivety, I thought this a positive thing but we ended up having to pay extra to get the things fixed that needed doing. Those one-off payments really hurt.

Using the tender to head ashore for a lazy lunch was part of the lifestyle the couple had dreamt of

Far better to pay more per month and keep a positive cash-flow, so our new £650 per month costs were actually very welcome. It’s important to stay ahead of the game because you will have issues.

For example, on our second day out, the generator wouldn’t start. We left our captain to sort it out while we swanned off for another four-hour lunch but he couldn’t
get to the bottom of it.

A marine engineer sorted it out the following day but it was still two days lost without air-con and coffee, and when you only have a week on board, this really eats into your holiday. This is why I think some people get fed up with boats.

Photos: Angelika Flach-Vandyke and Gavin Pryde

I get fed up with it too. But if you learn to expect these difficulties, then you also learn to live with them and focus on the many pleasures of boating instead.

Curve ball

All that said, sometimes life throws a googly at you. When I first mentioned boat share ownership to my wife she wasn’t particularly keen on the idea. To be frank, I also had my two brothers in mind when it came to getting the best use of our six weeks on board.

With three robust boaters, we could have some real adventures together. And this year was going to be the start of those adventures. But, to cut a long story short, that is no longer possible.

One brother is suddenly too ill – terminally so – and the other was never that robust either thanks to a chronically bad back. That has left my wife and I choosing to use Freedom as a day boat.

I’m not sure who else uses a 58-foot Azimut as a day boat but there’s a strong chance the term oligarch might come into it! So my boating life hasn’t quite worked out how I envisaged it.

Of course, in the circumstances this doesn’t matter a jot, as my brother is now my only concern. But I am going to have to abandon the dream of a liveaboard boat. My wife wants to continue boating but each night will be spent in a hotel, so a smaller day boat is now my only alternative.

The experience of co-owning Freedom has been both magical and challenging

What this will allow is a bigger share in a cheaper boat so we can spend a few weeks at a time enjoying it. The dream of the gin palace may be gone but it has vanished for the right reasons. So I will move on and hope that my next experience is even better.

Now that I have lived for a few weeks as a child again, it is not something I wish to give up! Quite where, when or what shape it takes isn’t yet clear, but I’m already looking forward to it.

Go for it

To reiterate. Boat syndication is a fantastic way to own a larger, more expensive boat than you could afford solo.

My only advice would be to get a good boat manager; pay more than you would like on a monthly basis; get the biggest share you can afford (two weeks at a time is so much more relaxing than individual weeks here and there), and be realistic about the chances of things going wrong. But above all, don’t wait.

If you think syndication might be for you, go for it. As my brother said to me recently: “The future is a gamble. I lost”. Don’t make the same mistake.

First published in the November 2023 issue of MBY.

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This article Confessions of a boat syndicate owner: It's a kind of magic appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Called Rems, the world’s first motorized boat was commissioned by inventor and engine manufacturer Gottlieb Daimler. He wanted something that could really test his engines, and approached Friedrich Lürssen, founder of Lürssen Yachts.

When Friedrich Lürssen completed his training as a boat builder, his father feared that the boatyard where he worked wouldn’t be able to support the two Lürssen families. He encouraged Friedrich to open his own workshop and so, in 1875, Lürssen Yachts was born.

The firm began manufacturing and selling sport rowing boats to a market that was blossoming. The first boats built displayed such originality and quality that it wasn’t long until the boatbuilder was selling boats across the whole of Germany.

It’s said that the motorboat built by Lürssen Yachts in 1886 was the world’s first. She was commissioned by inventor and engine manufacturer Gottlieb Daimler, who wanted to put his engine through its paces.

The engine powering the world’s first motorized boat had a cylinder capacity volume of 0.462 litres, weighed 60kg and had an output of 1.5hp at 700rpm. When Daimler made his first attempt at a trial run, a group of irate locals stopped him from taking the motorboat on the water.

Rumours of someone testing a boat whose power was generated by explosions had spread through the community. The local people worried the tests would be a life threatening pursuit.

In 1896 the 12m motorboat Daimler was delivered. She helped to establish Lürssen Yachts as one of the most prominent motorboat builders in the then Imperial Germany.

The first motorboat race took place off the coast of Monaco. Lürssen Yachts attracted a lot of attention as a new competitor, gaining the company a significant amount of attention from the motorboating community across the world.

It was the founder’s son who had the passion for fast racing boats. In 1905 Otto Lürssen developed racing speedboat Donnerwetter. She reached nearly 35 knots with a 40hp engine, which was remarkable for the time. Otto became a partner at Lürssen yachts two years later.

In 1911 Otto competed in a motorboat race at Monaco in one of his boats, the Lürssen-Daimler. Owned by Daimler, built by Lürssen Yachts and fitted with a Daimler petrol engine with 102hp that could run at around 50km/h, she won four awards at the show.

When Friedrich Lürssen, the founder of Lürssen Yachts, died unexpectedly aged 65, the business was passed on to his son Otto. It remains in the Lürssen family, passing through the generations, and is now the builder of some of the world’s largest superyachts.

First published on YBW.com in 2011

This article First motorized boat: The amazing story of the world's oldest motorboat appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

A family fishing boat, in my estimation, is a hybrid, jack-of-all-trades vessel that provides a safe, secure platform for catching fish but also doubles as a family-friendly cruising boat. To qualify as one of the best family fishing boats, I think it needs to tick all of the following boxes:

• A large, uncluttered cockpit with plenty of  storage for rods, tackle, bait and fish
• Seating capacity and creature comforts to support at least 4 passengers
• An enclosed head for privacy
• Either a small cabin or a place to mount a bow dodger for little ones to get out of the sun and take a nap
• Modest, economical to operate, and relatively affordable for families on a budget

Modular is preferrable and pressurized fresh water is also pretty much essential. For fishing, it ought to have at least one live well, fish box and cooler, with plenty of rod holders.

The boat should also be trailerable and versatile for many uses, including cruising, some watersports, lounging and swimming, as well as being a solid fishing boat.

With all these criteria in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best family fishing boats.

6 of the best family fishing boats

Beneteau Antares 8 Fishing

Price: $110,000

Pros

+ Affordable and versatile; has both family cruising and fishing features
+ Amazing value for the price
+ A side access dive door is a true luxury in this class
+ Extremely liveable double-cabin design
+ Massive aft cockpit is incredibly useful

Cons

 – Spartan fit and finish
– Questionable pan-liner construction methods
– Might be a little underpowered for some

Our first recommendation for the best family fishing boat is the Antares 8, built by French giant Beneteau, which is Europe’s biggest boat builder — albeit a relative newcomer to the North American powerboat scene.

The Antares 8 Fishing is compact and sporty looking, and while it is not truly a dedicated fishing boat this may make it more appealing to families as versatile option.

The boat is a contemporary take on the conventional pilothouse design, with a fully modular cockpit seating arrangement, live well, side-exit dive door, cockpit table, two swim steps, integrated fish boxes and even a cutting board.

The pilothouse features sliding plexiglass windows that open for enhanced ventilation and the settee can convert into an additional berth. In the galley, there is a two-burner stove, refrigerator, sink, and fully-protected helm station.

The bow of the boat features a small wet head and additional fixed berth. At 26ft 6in and weighing nearly 6,000lbs this is no speed boat – with a maximum of 250hp on tap, you’re unlikely to go much faster than 40mph flat out.

However as a no-frills family cruiser, the Beneteau Antares 8 Fishing is hard to beat.

Watch our full yacht tour video of the Beneteau Antares 8

Article continues below…

Best fishing boats: 6 top options for anglers who want to take to the water

Best family boats: 6 quality options for saltwater cruising

Edgewater 262 CX

Price: $200,000

Pros

+ Sleek, beautiful aesthetics
+ Versatile and modular cockpit seating arrangement
+ More plush than many other dual console boats with fishing features
+ Head with a shower is a real plus in a boat this size
+ Well protected cockpit and helm for an open boat

Cons

– Needs twin 200hp outboards to deliver 48mph performance
– Relatively expensive

These days, the salt-water dual console has replaced the family bowrider of old and the Edgewater 262 CX is a perfect example as to why. At 26ft 6in with a displacement of 7,200lbs and plenty of freeboard and bow flare, the 262 CX will surely handle moderate seas with ease.

Seating is plush and plentiful and the vessel also features a molded fiberglass hardtop, large windshield, and spacious port storage compartment that also doubles as a head with integrated shower.

The passenger seat doubles as a convertible chaise lounge, adding to the boat’s versatility and modularity. The aft portion of the cockpit is wide open with a transom walkthrough, integrated dive door, in-floor insulated fish boxes, and a bait well set into the port transom.

Not having a bracket, which I personally prefer for aesthetic reasons, the 262 CX does not have much of a swim deck but this is the price to be paid for choosing outboard power.

One other noteworthy feature: behind the driver’s bench there is a wet bar featuring a sink basin with pressurized water and integrated cooler, which could be used for icing fish. Underneath the wet bar is a space for a cooler as well. All in all, the 262 CX is an ideal family fishing boat for long days out on the water.

Grady White Freedom 285

Price: $350,000

Pros

+ Head features an integrated shower
+ Dive door
+ A premium and feature-rich package

Cons

– Expensive
– Probably not enough additional features to justify the extra price

As far as dual console boats go, Grady White’s Freedom 285 is a beautiful example of a premium product. 28ft with a 9ft 6in beam and 19 degrees of progressive deadrise, the 285 Freedom is made with raucous coastal seas in mind.

Like many of the best family fishing boats, the Freedom 285 is feature-rich: it has a head compartment that doubles as a shower, a fiberglass hardtop with integrated lights and marine speakers, a bow ladder, a dive door, as well as integrated fish boxes and a 32-gallon live well.

One other feature of note: the Freedom 285 features a bow thruster which is sure to make docking a breeze. With twin 300hp Yamaha outboards, the Freedom 285’s best cruise speed is around 30mph at which speed you should achieve around 2mpg fuel consumption. Top speed is reportedly just a touch under 55mph at 6,000 rpm.

Scout 260 LXF

Price: $200,000

Pros

+ Seakeeper Ride stabiliser system
+ Center console layout
+ Dive door

Cons

– Cramped head compartment compared to dual console models
– Expensive for a 26ft boat

The only center console boat on our list, the Scout 260 LXF, is a quality family luxury boat with lots of creature comforts and amenities. While not as ideal for family cruising, this center console design has ample deck space (as well as standard fishing features like a live well and integrated fish boxes) while also meeting one of our key criteria: an enclosed marine head, which on the 260 LXF is situated under the console.

Featuring a dive door, 21.5 transom deadrise, and 146 gallons of fuel capacity, the 260 LXF is arguably — pound for pound — the best offshore boat on this list.

Its most noteworthy feature is Seakeeper’s new dynamic active trim system, dubbed Seakeeper Ride, which uses AI and advanced computational power to instantaneously deploy small trim tabs to adjust for boat pitch and roll over each and every wave. It does all this dynamically and without user input, beyond setting basic parameters on its included display.

Our estimated price for the 260 LXF includes the biggest engine options and the Seakeeper Ride system.

Cobia 240 DC

Price: $165,000

Pros

+ Relatively affordable
+ Smaller single-engine package means lower running costs
+ Plush and luxurious

Cons

– Single-engine may scare off those wanting the reassurance of twins
– At only 24ft, will ride slightly worse than the larger boats on this list
– No dive door

The Cobia 240 DC is a fine example of a manageable and modest family fishing boat. With a single 300hp Yamaha Outboard, 21.5 degree deadrise, and 123 gallons of fuel capacity, speed and handling will be adequate, if not exceptional.

Maintenance and repair costs will also be substantially less than other family fishing boats. At a smaller size, it is hard to discern any really compromises in usability and versatility beyond the lack of a side-exit dive door.

The 240 DC has ample and plush seating, plenty of rod holders, an enclosed head, an anchor windlass with hideaway front ladder, fresh water system, 22 gallon live well, 2 in-deck fish boxes, and a fiberglass hardtop.

The 240 DC is by no means cheap, however for a well-equipped midsize boat, it does offer great value in the current market.

Boston Whaler 285 Conquest

Price: $330,000

Pros

+ Large, spacious, and luxurious: a proper all-day boat
+ Features two sleeping berths: perfect for families with kids
+ Protected helm and cockpit
+ Despite being more akin to a traditional I/O cabin cruiser in terms of comfort and amenities, retains every desirable fishing feature

Cons

– Very expensive
– In warm climates protected cockpit can get very hot

Boston Whaler’s 285 Conquest is a quality family day boat that is also capable of overnighting — or even weekending for two. However, it is substantially more expensive than most family fishing boats.

For the money, prospective buyers get a proper cabin complete with a TV, convertible berth, small galley with a fridge, sink, microwave oven, and stove, as well as an enclosed marine head featuring a shower.

One feature of note: the 285 Conquest, unlike most traditional fishing-oriented walkaround boats features an additional berth tucked behind the cabin steps as seen on traditional sterndrive cabin cruisers, which is both remarkable and also a sign of the outboard-centric times.

Also noteworthy is the completely enclosed helm station that more closely resembles a pilothouse, despite having the look of a walkaround boat and opening side doors.

As has become the norm on boats that once felt a bit Spartan, the 285 Conquest features plush modular seating as well as an aft cockpit that is spacious for activities like fishing and diving.

Behind the helm station, there is another wet bar complete with sink and fridge. On the 285 Conquest, storage for tackle is ample and there is also a live well, as well as in-deck insulated fish boxes.

A windlass and high bow rails are also included, which makes the foredeck and its lounge cushions extremely useable. The 285 Conquest comes with twin 250hp Mercury Verado outboards, 200 gallons of fuel capacity, is 27ft 10in long with 20 degrees of transom dead rise, and weighs about 10,000lbs fully loaded.

Read our full test drive review of the Boston Whaler 285 Conquest

This article 6 of the best family fishing boats under 30ft appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Like everyone, we lost two seasons of boating through Covid and as we are on the wrong side of 70, every season counts, so we were determined to make this a memorable one. And so it turned out, but for the wrong reasons.

This season’s objective was the Netherlands. Having relinquished my annual berth in Plymouth, the plan was for me and my friend Colin to cruise my boat to the Netherlands in early May where our wives and families would join us for a leisurely summer, cruising some of our favourite rivers, meers and canals, and hopefully a trip to the Frisian Islands. At the end of September we would return to take up our new berth in Ipswich Haven.

Our Broom 41, Half Moon, is a great boat for this sort of trip. Described by Motor Boats Monthly as “Broom’s muscle boat”, she is built like the proverbial brick outhouse, will cruise happily at 18-20 knots and has plenty of comfortable accommodation. In summary she is ideal for both sea and inland cruising.

Half Moon was relaunched at the end of April, after her annual maintenance lift. She was looking immaculate having just been compounded, polished and antifouled. The weather, however, didn’t look so good.

It was changing on an almost hourly basis so the challenge was finding a long enough weather window for the leg from Plymouth to the Solent. To make matters worse, the weather gods were also dishing up lots of easterlies, making for uncomfortable head seas.

Day of reckoning

Thankfully, a gap appeared in the forecast and we set off under blue skies and bright sunshine on reasonably flat seas thanks to some north in the wind, which made it unseasonably cold.

Nevertheless, we were snug under the canopy on the raised aft bridge as we cruised from Dartmouth to the Solent at a relaxed 20 knots. All was well with our world… or so we thought!

Article continues below…

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We had crossed Lyme Bay, stayed well clear of the race at Portland Bill and were now almost level with Anvil Point when suddenly the port engine revs died. Our first thought was mucky fuel but why hadn’t it manifested itself before, during the lumpy ride to Dartmouth?

I looked aft and saw a worrying plume of black smoke trailing behind us, which didn’t seem to tally with a loss of power from fuel starvation. Prudence suggested we should divert into Poole so I alerted the Coastguard that we would be heading into the Swash Channel with an engine problem and may need assistance if we lost power completely.

Little did we realise how soon or how urgent that would become.

Half Moon is a Broom 41 in excellent condition

Colin and I have cruised under sail and motor for over 40 years, putting in a lot of sea miles, so we instinctively work a boat together without the need for much chat about who does what. While I was busy on the VHF radio, Colin was scanning the engine gauges for any clues to what was causing all this smoke when the second engine began to die.

Things were now getting very serious as acrid smoke was starting to pour from the saloon and into the cockpit, enveloping the boat in a thick pall of black smoke. A motor boat out of Poole turned and ran alongside us pointing out that smoke was billowing out from the hull side air intakes as well. We both came to the same conclusion – we were on fire!

Fire on board

I don’t know about you but having a fire on board is my worst nightmare and one which now appeared to be a reality. We have all seen images of raging conflagrations with the boat quickly burning to the waterline before sinking below the waves.

Our survival instinct kicked in as Colin and I tried to recall everything we had learned about dealing with emergencies afloat. Over the years we have attended multiple training courses, including Sea Survival and VHF/GDMSS, so we thought we would be prepared for a Mayday event.

But this wasn’t a dress rehearsal, it was the real thing. The speed at which events were developing seemed exponential, so any proposed course of action was quickly superseded by another.

For some inexplicable reason my mind found a few nano-seconds to recall the words of the late great yachtsman and cockleshell hero, Lt Col ‘Blondie’ Hasler, who when asked about the improved search and rescue provision in ocean racing replied, “If you get into trouble at sea you should at least have the good grace to die like a gentleman and not involve anyone else in your misery.”

Sod that! I decided to put out a voice Mayday call, given that Solent Coastguard were already aware of our situation. If that failed to elicit an immediate response, I could then lift the cover and hit the red button.

Fortunately, Solent Coastguard responded immediately as did a number of other craft in the area, including the outgoing Condor ferry which had just cleared Poole harbour entrance.

Dealing with the VHF traffic between the Coastguard and other boats offering help seemed to take over and the well-practised VHF disciplines faltered as the need to get out of the choking smoke became paramount.

Fortunately, my fixed Garmin VHF has a remote handset so I was able to field communications from the windward side deck and with lifejackets on we at least had options – better wet than burned.

I had also taken the precaution of grabbing the handheld VHF from its charging cradle just inside the companionway door. Colin, meanwhile, had turned off the engines, taken a big breath and dived below to trigger the fuel shut-off valves before joining me on the windward side deck.

A lifeboat tows Half Moon to safety

By now, the Poole inshore lifeboat, which had been on an exercise nearby, was in attendance. The smoke also began to show signs of dissipating, so we assumed the fire suppression system in the engineroom had kicked in. At this point we felt it was also safe to go down and turn off the battery master switches in the aft cabin.

By now, the Swanage lifeboat had come out to meet us as well. They managed to put two crew on board who checked that we were okay before assessing whether the boat was safe to take under tow. Suitably reassured, we were towed to Ballast Quay, Poole, and met by two fire engines and members of the MCA.

After questioning us, the fire service felt confident enough to lift the hatches and use a handheld thermal camera to check the fire was out. Having declared the boat safe, we were towed to a holding berth in Poole Quay Boat Haven.

Dumbstruck by everything that had happened and with our throats still sore from the smoke, we adjourned to the pub to steady our nerves. It had been a very traumatic event that could have had a far worse outcome but for now we were celebrating being alive.

In retrospect, it would have been sensible to get checked out for the effects of smoke inhalation and shock.

Post mortem

In the days that followed, the insurance surveyor found that the clamp holding the exhaust onto the manifold of one engine had failed, causing black smoke to pour out into the engineroom.

From here it rapidly spread throughout the boat via the bilges and vents, leaving a thin film of oily soot on everything it touched. The engines had to be removed for remedial work to the turbos and injectors (thankfully our boat has a removable section in the roof and floor to facilitate this) and to allow for the engineroom and ancillary equipment to be checked and deep cleaned.

There was diesel smoke damage throughout the boat

Given that we do a lot of offshore cruising, often out of sight of land, I have always been meticulous when it comes to the engines. These are serviced and checked annually by a Volvo qualified engineer with all recommendations being implemented.

Naturally oil and belts are checked before departure. However, exhausts are not a service item, there was no evidence of any leaks and the clamps on my engines are hidden under OEM insulation jackets which are wired into place.

So how often should these be removed so the clamps and joints can be checked? Having seen the extensive damage this incident caused, the insurance surveyor’s advice is that owners should aim to remove any exhaust insulation jackets and check the exhaust system every 2-3 years.

A deep clean was carried out with the engine removed

It is hard to believe that this produced so much dense smoke so quickly but with uncooled exhaust gases escaping at circa 700°C perhaps it’s not so surprising. It was certainly enough to make us, and passing boats, believe that we were actually on fire, and we weren’t about to lift engine hatches in order to prove or disprove it. We made our decisions at the time based on what we believed was evidence of a fire in the engine space.

Were we scared? No, at the time we were too busy working out what to do. It was only afterwards that the reality of what could have happened sank in and that was very scary indeed! Had we been in the middle of the North Sea rather than close to land, we may have felt differently, especially if we’d had to abandon ship.

Has this put us off boating? The answer is an emphatic no. Every form of transport carries an element of risk and boats are no exception. Provided you and the boat are properly prepared, the joys of boating and its ability to make wonderful, lasting memories makes it all worthwhile.

As ever, our thanks go to the emergency services, especially the RNLI, who not only took great care of us but the boat too.

Lessons learned from fire on board a boat

Here are a few thoughts on things to do and check to help minimise the risk of fire on board your boat.

1. Check engineroom fire suppression systems have been serviced and all elements are in date. If possible, choose an automatic system that also has a manual override.
2. Install a smoke alarm and camera in the engineroom with the display near the helm.
3. Do not lift engine hatches to see what is going on!
4. Make sure you know where the diesel fuel shut-off valve is and that you can reach it without having to lift the engine hatch.
5. Likewise the battery master switches.
6. Remind yourselves and your crew where your handheld fire extinguishers are and check each unit is still pressured and in date and everyone knows how to use them.
7. Ensure you have a back-up handheld VHF, fully charged and in easy reach of the helm.
8. Check you can get yourself and crew members through the cabin hatches to ensure you are not trapped below if the fire is between you and the normal exit. As you get older your ability to lift your own bodyweight up and through a hatch diminishes significantly!
9. If you carry a liferaft, make sure it is serviced and easily deployable. We don’t carry a liferaft as our plan is to use the mini-RIB we carry on davits. However, if our situation had worsened, we would not have been able to lower it in time so we have now added bolt cutters to our inventory so we can cut the cables and drop the RIB quickly.
10. Wear a good lifejacket and make sure it is serviced regularly. Carry a grab bag and make sure it is easily accessible. Ours contains water, energy and chocolate bars among other things. However, it should have been up at the helm with us, not down below.
11. Take a Sea Survival course.

First published in the October 2023 issue of MBY.

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This article Smoke on the water: What I learned after an offshore fire on board my 40ft boat appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Despite lying on the foredeck of our Azimut 58 ploughing into the teeth of a Force 6 my wife and I were whooping with delight. For a brief moment my thoughts turned back to my dreams of boating; calm seas, hot weather and definitely no ploughing.

So why did we both have huge smiles on our faces; why did we love every minute of it and why were we slightly disappointed to arrive in the lee of Alcudia marina?

I’ll tell you later. But first let me remind you that in our last article I waxed lyrical about the highs and occasional lows of life as a 1/8th shareholder of a boat share syndicate.

The lows nearly all centred around trying to get things fixed on the hoof rather than getting everything sorted before the season started. Pandemic restrictions had meant Freedom went largely unused for two years and as we all know, boats do not like being left stationary.

Our major issues – unreliable air-con, smoky engines, poor soundproofing – could not be looked at while the season was under way. The people required to fix them were too busy and none of the shareholders wanted their precious time aboard interrupted. So our first season went by with mixed results.

Just about everyone had a problem at some point – us with air-con, others with anchor issues, toilet troubles and tender unreliability. But the lack of a bimini was an issue for all of us as temperatures often hit 40°C during the Mallorcan summer.

Article continues below…

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Confessions of a boat syndicate owner: The good, the bad and the ugly

Seasoned boaters

My wife and I spent four weeks on the boat over the season and began to love our new life. Other than ongoing issues with the noisy air-con, it was superb. However, our final week in September did not start quite so well. We arrived on board on 22 September and all seemed fine.

Our cleaner had done a superb job but my wife and I were still unsure about sleeping on board and had booked a nearby hotel for the week, as we still didn’t trust the boat not to bowl us another googly. How right we were!

On our second day I opened up my local weather app to be greeted by yellow storm warnings, rising to red later in the day. It seemed that the entire week would be windy and wet so I cancelled our hired Captain, Gavin, who gave me a credit for his time, and reminded me that I was making the right choice.

We divided our time between the boat and the hotel for the next few days but on day five we had a break in the weather. I was like an excited schoolboy as we made our way down to the boat with plans for a trip out to a nice restaurant for lunch followed by a lazy afternoon and a few drinks at anchor in the bay.

We walked on board at 9am and went to the master cabin to plonk our kit on the bed. The first thing that hit me was the smell. The second was the damp thud as I tossed my briefcase on to the mattress. I placed my hand onto the bed and pressed down. A squelch of water formed around my fingers. The whole bed was sopping wet.

My gaze turned towards the hatch, directly above it. It wasn’t in the best shape but had been repaired earlier in the season and had been rained on many times, with no leaks. But when it came to our turn to be on board…

Roll with it

I chose to ignore this latest problem until after our outing. So, there we were, leaving our restaurant in Colonia De Sant Pere. The F4 wind hadn’t caused us any trouble on the way there, as it was on our stern and the wave height was minimal. But it was now an F6 and directly on our nose.

Captain Gavin was happy to proceed but only if we left straight away and went directly back to our home berth – those drinks in the bay would have to wait.

Our boat took the conditions in its stride and felt so secure that my wife and I went to sit on the foredeck sunbeds to make the most of it. The bow parted the waves like a giant plough, sending spray cascading out on either side but leaving the boat itself perfectly dry.

Angelika admires Mallorca’s coastline from the comfort of the foredeck sunpad

The breeze forced us to peer through narrowed eyes but the wind was still warm and I trusted the boat completely. Gavin pushed the speed up to 15 knots and a broad smile spread across both of our faces – we were loving every minute of it.

This was what it was all about, all those years of dreaming about owning not just any old boat but a thoroughbred motoryacht with the style, comfort and quality to keep us safe, warm and dry in any weather.

We were, of course, merely the latest recipients of Azimut’s enduring design brilliance and build quality but at last, I was part of it because the boat share syndicate allowed me to afford the type and size of boat I wanted.

No regrets

It hasn’t all been perfect, we’ve had our fair share of issues over the last few months, but I am now confident it will all come good. And if we look after it as well as we can, our time on board will get better and better and we will have the confidence to go out on the water on our own and start exploring this fabulous island.

However, at the moment I am back in the UK, writing this. I’ve just returned from my first boat share syndicate AGM and what a pleasure it was. It was a joy to spend time with like-minded people wanting the best for themselves and each other. Everything to do with the boat is now planned out and costed to our mutual satisfaction.

There is always a degree of risk for a part-owner when entering a syndicate like this but the vast majority of the time everyone is looking for the same thing – to own and enjoy a safe, secure and comfortable boat that each member could never afford to buy and run on their own.

The dream of exploring the Mallorcan coast aboard their own luxury motoryacht had become
a reality

It’s not always easy, as I’ve documented here, but I hope I’ve shown the honesty this subject requires because going into something like this must be done with realistic expectations.

It is in the nature of boats to need attention. It is in their character to want to drain money from your bank account. But if you accept this and also take time to look after your boat as a group, it will reward you and your co-owners with an endless supply of exceptional experiences on the water.

As yet we have only had a handful of days on Freedom when we’ve been out on the water but every one of those has earned a place in my top 100 best days out.

Freedom has already rewarded the pair with some incredible memories

There will be many more experiences to look forward to and even thinking about them sends a shiver of excitement through me. I’m therefore happy to commit the time and money on looking after this craft with the help of my other like-minded owners.

Because when I’m old and staring at my impending demise, I won’t be thinking about what I could or should have done, I’ll be thinking about the great times I’ve had on my boat in the Med. I may even whoop with delight at the memories.

First published in the October 2023 issue of MBY.

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This article How our boat share brought us a lifestyle we never thought we could afford appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

There are boat shows and then there are boat shows and the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is definitely in the latter camp. With over 1,300 boats on display, it’s widely recognised as the biggest show on the water.

However, with such grandiose scale comes a dilemma – how on earth are you supposed to choose which boats to spend your valuable time seeking out?

Well, that’s where our expert team at MBY.com comes in. We’ve scoured the exhibitor list to pick out the most exceptional boats that are particularly worthy of your attention this year.

Read on for our pick of the best boats at the 2023 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show…

Aquila 47 Molokai

The Aquila 47 Molokai power catamaran, making its debut at the 2023 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, is the new big brother to the popular, cuddy-cabined Molokai 28.

Featuring a new, aggressive double-stepped hull design with a raised tunnel between the twin hulls to create less pounding in big seas, the 49-foot long Molokai should make light work of heavy weather. To add strength, bulkheads are made of carbon fiber, with the hardtop also made of carbon to reduce weight and lower the center of gravity.

The cat’s 14ft 7in beam should also provide plenty of deck space and solid footing for reeling in the big one, with hull doors on both sides for hauling your catch into the roomy cockpit.

Read more about the Aquila 47 Molokai

Azimut Magellano 60

The style of the Azimut Magellano 60 is a world away from the radical cutaways and faceted hull angles of the Italian yard’s Fly, S and Verve lines. In place of unflinching modernity, what we have here feels far more classical and self-effacing and as the new entry point to the four-strong Magellano line, that’s exactly as it should be.

There’s a clean, pared back linearity to the external form and a modest confidence to the trim that makes this boat feel quite timeless.

The block-coloured hull and the weightlessness of the upper deck also lend this boat a much lower profile than you might expect of a 60ft flybridge cruiser – and at the aft end of the superstructure, like impeccably debonair go-faster stripes, those elegant teak louvres have become something of a Magellano trademark.

Read more about the Azimut Magellano 60

The Benetti Osis 34m comes to FLIBS hot on the heels of its global debut at Cannes 2023

Benetti Oasis 34m

With exterior styling by British studio, RWD, and interior design by New York-based architects, Bonetti/Kozerski, the Benetti Oasis 34m follows closely in the footsteps of the Oasis 40m.

Like its big sister, it adopts a clear commitment to informal conviviality, big views and a close connection with the sea – and at the heart of that concept sits Benetti’s ‘Oasis Deck’.

It all revolves around a dramatic infinity pool, set low in the centre of the transom with a glass aft bulkhead. Sunbeds orbit the pool’s forward edge leading to a large open cockpit with drop down bulwarks – and the way that space interacts with the saloon is equally satisfying.

Read more about the Benetti Oasis 34m

Chris-Craft Catalina 28

Think of it as evolution, not so much revolution. Florida-based Chris-Craft has taken the oh-so-successful formula for its much-loved Catalina center console line-up of 24, 30 and 34-foot models, and used it to pop-out a new Chris-Craft Catalina 28.

Debuting at the 2023 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, this new 28fter is arguably the most-appealing size for day-boaters looking for a fun day out on the water with friends and family. We’re counting comfy seating for at least 12, and as many cupholders.

While it’s a new hull design, those Chris-Craft design cues, like the signature Carolina Flare bow, gorgeous reverse transom, and smooth-riding bottom, are all there. And with the beam now stretched to a generous 9ft 1in, there’s extra room to walk around.

Read more about the Chris-Craft Catalina 28

Cigarette Racing 52 Thunder

The sound of thunder isn’t exactly uncommon in Florida in October. But if you’re hearing a deeper rumble around the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show docks this year, it’ll likely be coming from the latest speed machine from Miami’s Cigarette Racing.

The brand new Cigarette Racing 52 Thunder Center Console packs a 3,000 supercharged horsepower gut-punch, courtesy of six brand new Mercury Racing 500R V10 outboards hanging off the back. Flat out Cigarette says it’s good for over 80 knots, or 92mph.

This new 52-footer neatly slots into the Cigarette line-up between the 42-foot Auroris and flagship 52 Tirranna. But in addition to simply going fast, the focus here is on entertaining friends and family out on the water.

Read more about the Cigarette Racing 52 Thunder

Fairline Phantom 65

The new Fairline Phantom 65 nestles somewhere between the Fairline Squadron 68 and the Fairline Targa 65 GTO.

It’s 4ft shorter and five tonnes lighter than the Squadron 68 yet somehow manages to pack in exactly the same three- or four-cabin layout below decks as well as a crew cabin and tender garage.

On the face of it, the Phantom seems to offer a bit more of everything than the Targa while still looking considerably sportier and more manageable than the Squadron.

Read more about the Fairline Phantom 65

Numarine 37XP

This is the 37m version of the Numarine explorer range, built from a steel hull and GRP superstructure, and it is designed for long-range cruising with an enormous amount of volume and in a great deal of comfort.

Its full displacement hull is powered by a pair of 800hp engines for a top speed of 12 knots, but dial that back to 8 knots and you’re looking at a maximum cruising range of around 6,000nm, thanks to a 52-tonne fuel capacity.

The first thing you notice when you step on board the Numarine 37XP is the beach club, which is accessed via the folding transom that folds down to reveal a sea level terrace shaded by a canopy and boasting a bar, water toys and much more besides.

Read more about the Numarine 37XP

The Princess Y95 will be making its US show debut at the 2023 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show

Princess Y95

When Princess Yachts launched the tri-deck Princess X95 back in 2020, it always planned to offer a more conventional open flybridge version too. The fact that it has taken Princess two years to get round to it is actually good news.

Concerns that the X95’s bold new looks might prove too much for some to swallow have shown to be largely unfounded. As a result, the yard has been so busy churning out X95s (18 built with a further eight on order) that the Princess Y95 got temporarily shifted onto the back burner.

Now it has finally arrived, we can’t see the workers on the Y95 production line getting much downtime either! Featuring a full-length open flybridge with an enclosed bridge deck a few steps forward and down from it, the new Y-model has a sleeker, more conventional profile than the X95.

It loses out on that boat’s spectacular skylounge and the “country kitchen” option of an open-plan main deck with a big galley/dining area under the windscreen but the rest of the interior matches it blow for blow and the upshot is even more outside entertaining space to revel in.

Read more about the Princess Y95

Riva 76 Perseo Super

How time flies. It’s eight years since we tested the original Riva 76 Perseo at the Cannes Yachting Festival, a sleek and stupendously competent piece of luxury engineering that gave us a terrific high-speed run in one-metre seas, like a thoroughbred racehorse out for a gallop.

It didn’t break a sweat. And the fit and finish were everything you would hope for in a Riva – tasteful, opulent, and beautifully executed. In fact there was something so marvellous about it that we gave it a Motor Boat Award. Unimprovable is the word that springs to mind.

Nevertheless, improvements are claimed for this new Riva 76 Perseo Super version. Various interior décor schemes are offered, which change the look quite markedly: light or dark lacquered oak panelling, for example, or lustrous rosewood if you prefer.

Read more about the Riva 76 Perseo Super

Riviera 585 SUV

America’s passionate love affair with big, honking SUVs should bode well for the new Riviera 585 SUV, the latest addition to Aussie-based Riviera Yachts‘ five-model “Sport Utility Vessel” line-up.

The badge is a bit confusing in that bow-to-stern, this sleek-looking hardtop coupe measures in at 65 feet. Add to that the SUV’s 18ft 7in beam and it means a whole lot of space inside and out.

Take the dual-level cockpit at the back. At swim platform level, there’s a huge, teak-floored deck with barbecue grille, sink and ice-maker. Three steps up takes you into what’s arguably the 585’s best feature; it’s cosy, well-protected upper cockpit.

Read more about the Riviera 585 SUV

Sirena 78

Prior to 2017, very few people outside the industry had even heard of Sirena Yachts, which until that point had largely stayed in the shadows, building boats for other brands. But then it launched its own range of motor boats and in the five short years since then, it has grown to become a serious player in its own right.

Its latest model, the all-new Sirena 78, takes things to another level – literally. Thanks to a top deck that can be left open, semi-enclosed or fully enclosed, it is effectively available as a tri-deck yacht, a conventional two-deck flybridge boat with a hard top or something in between.

Once you’ve settled on which of these variants you want, you then get to decide between multiple interior layout options and three different design themes.

Read more about the Sirena 78

The Sunreef 80 Power Eco comes bristling with solar panels

Sunreef 80 Power Eco

If you like the idea of free, renewable energy but don’t like sails, Sunreef would love to have a word. The Polish shipyard’s newest power cat is this Sunreef 80 Power Eco, available in both hybrid and pure electric versions, that positively bristles with solar panels.

These produce a claimed maximum of 36kWp in bright sunshine, although with many of the solar panels mounted along the sides, that figure will only be achievable if the sun can be persuaded to shine on both sides at the same time.

So it might occasionally be necessary to top up the batteries using the generators. The batteries themselves are ‘ultralight’, with an energy density of around 200Wh per kilogramme, and you can choose between 360kW and 720kW of motive power.

Read more about the Sunreef 80 Power Eco

Sunseeker Ocean 182

Originally built as an open flybridge boat with a hardtop to provide shade, the new Sunseeker Ocean 182 will have a fully covered area at the forward end of the upper deck.

This brings two major benefits: first, the bridge station moves upstairs, freeing up more socialising space on the main deck, and second, the enclosed part of the top deck can be climate controlled for use in hot and cold countries.

Prospective owners can choose if the newly covered area is left open at the back with just a security hatch over the internal stairs or closed off with sliding glass doors where the roof line ends.

Read more about the Sunseeker Ocean 182

Tiara 48 LE

Tiara calls it a “power-actuated rotating lounge module”. You might think of it as a new spin on cockpit design. Literally. At the tap of a button, the big-and-comfy cockpit sofa can rotate a full 180 degrees.

Spin the sofa 90 degrees either side, or the full 180, and you get a terrific, unobstructed view of the kids splashing in the water. Or the sunset. Or that ooh-and-ahhh firework show. And it can lock it in place at any angle you want.

Rotate it 90 degrees to port, power down the large terrace-cum-swim platform and water views don’t get much better. And the spinning sofa comes with a lovely varnished table attached, so your sunset cocktail goes with you.

Read more about the Tiara 48 LE

Vanquish VQ55 Sports Line

Be still our beating hearts. The 2023 Fort Lauderale Boat Show will see the official unwrapping of the newest addition to the Dutch Vanquish line-up, the brand new Vanquish VQ55 Sports Line. Two stats you’ll like: 3,000 horsepower from its five Mercury Verado 600hp V12 outboards, and a literally eye-watering 70-knot top speed.

This is the big brother to the GRP-hulled VQ40 Sports Line featuring a center console design by the former Citroen car designer Guido de Groot. With seats for 18 of your closest friends, it’s aimed squarely at the Miami-slash-St.Trop-slash-Ibiza sun-worshipping crowd.

And like the VQ40, its hull is molded in GRP rather than the more typical aluminum used in pretty much all other Vanquish models.

Read more about the Vanquish VQ55 Sports Line

Viking 90 Open Bridge

You could hardly call it a downsizing. But New Jersey-based Viking Yachts – acknowledged builder of the Rolls-Royce of offshore fishing boats – is replacing its flagship Viking 92 with a Viking 90. Not that it was by choice. Since the 92’s introduction in 2015, Viking has built 21 of them, at around $12 million apiece, and wanted to continue.

But tough new emission regs mandated by the International Maritime Organization, would have meant that any new Viking 92 had to be fitted with complex exhaust treatment technology, called Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR).

That, according to Viking, would have added weight, reduced performance, made engine room maintenance a nightmare, and sent the yacht’s price tag soaring. So it dropped the 92 and developed a brand new Viking 90.

Read more about the Viking 90 Open Bridge

Wally WHY150

Created in collaboration with Studio Vallicelli, the new Wally WHY150 uses a raised pilothouse design to create what it calls “unparalleled exterior spaces” – but that approach also has a very striking impact on the inside.

In the main deck saloon, floor-to-ceiling glass is paired with flush decking and more than 8ft of headroom to create a profound sense of openness and light.

The absence of a lower helm also frees up the space for a main deck owner’s cabin, which takes full advantage of the Wally WHY150’s elevated bow and wraparound glazing for 270-degree views from the bed.

Read more about the Wally WHY150

This article 17 of the best new boats at the 2023 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

A new superyacht project presents its designers with the most desirable of blank canvases.

When you get up to the 90-metre-plus mark, it’s more than a mere canvas, it’s a landscape – as empty landscapes go, this is Kentucky in the late 1600s.

But it’s not just a matter of filling the acres of virgin territory with novelties: there’s sometimes a backstory, too, which brings its own constraints.

Kismet has been cruising almost non-stop since launch. All photos: Guillaume Plisson

“The stakes were high,” as exterior designer Espen Øino puts it bluntly about the initial design phase of the Lürssen Kismet.

He was also the designer of the owner’s previous Kismet (a 68-metre built at Lürssen in 2007, sold by Moran Yacht & Ship in 2013, and now named Global).

A year after launch the owner realised he wanted something bigger. “The brief was clear: the new yacht had to be superior in all respects,” says Espen.

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Screens can shelter this part of the sundeck. The spiral staircase leads to the observation deck

One’s initial impression is that there are some similarities in the look of the two Kismets – the groupings of vertical windows on the lower deck, and the rising kink from main deck level.

But the size and scale of the latest Kismet draws attention to the differences. There’s the sharper-nose and the distinctive bowsprit, as well as prominent overhangs over the wheelhouse and owner’s deck.

The dark windows stand out, too, and at a distance it is hard to define where the deck supports are, making it appear as if the decks are floating. She is a bigger beast, of course, but she actually looks more of an athlete than her sister.

A sea terrace opens up the lobby and gym spaces

“The client was very much involved in the external design of the yacht.

“The external design appearance as she appears today was penned in Chicago, in his half-finished penthouse near the top of a skyscraper,” says Espen.

“Some elements of the exterior were inspired by the Chicago skyline, such as the stainless steel air inlets aft of the funnels.”

An excellent evening retreat – the main deck cinema room

A particular emphasis from the owner’s side was on Kismet’s potential not just as a family cruising yacht but as a charter yacht and as somewhere that could be used for corporate entertaining.

These aren’t necessarily incompatible drives, but it does sharpen the design focus, and it means that the outside spaces and the inside guest areas have to brook no compromise, with relaxed and sociable areas alongside more intimate and curated spaces – what’s required is nothing less than the best of all possible worlds.

“The floorplan was very carefully laid out,” says Espen. There was, he says, “very valuable input” not only from the owner himself but also his captain Kyle Fultz and purser Geraldine Fultz, and project manager Rob Moran of Moran Yacht & Ship, who have been working for the owner for a long time. The interior design team at Reymond Langton also worked on the previous Kismet.

The first step was something of a back-to-basics approach: we know that guests on charter will favour external areas, but in what ways do they really use them?

“During the design phase of Kismet, considerable time was spent analysing the way guests would want to spend time on deck during a typical week’s cruise,” says Espen. What this research produced was an emphasis on “a number of entertainment and hang-out areas”, he adds.

This part of the sundeck, which can be screened, leads to the pool, with a run-off area if there is resonance

Since launch, the yacht has had a busy couple of years, cruising with her owner and his family, chartering for ten weeks last year, and hosting a number of large-scale parties in Florida and London.

She’s made four crossings of the Atlantic, a run to the Pacific and back, and cruised 40,000 cruising miles. There are 27 crew in all, and Kismet feels like a very happy ship.

The entertainment and hangout areas reach their exemplification in the top decks of the yacht. Espen calls the sundeck Kismet’s pièce-de-résistance, as it demonstrates the overriding theme of guest choice.

There’s an informalish dining table, close to the barbecue, with comfortable bar chairs that make it possible to linger for a meal rather than just pick at finger food. Protective screens make it possible to protect this high-up area vulnerable to sea breezes as the heat of the sun wears off.

A superbly detailed spa area

Forward of this is the huge elliptical pool with a cosier hot-tub forward further still. What you might miss at first glance is that at the after end of the pool is a cascading ‘rock garden’ feature that serves as an overflow from the pool, and integrates with the skylight of the elevator.

It’s an inspired touch that keys the whole of the sundeck’s exterior design together nicely.

AV equipment in the dining area means it can be used for business meetings

The helideck on the bridge deck below transforms into another great guest area, with occasional furniture and sunshades that allow a large group of people to gather, and it can be set up as an outdoor cinema.

There’s a shaded bar area, which transforms in the evening to a disco. The wheelhouse is forward, and in front of this there is a seating area. The whole deck exemplifies the many faces of Kismet – you can gather with a group of friends on the aft deck, or inside around the bar, while if you want to escape with a book, the hanging seats provide some shade and seclusion.

Up top, the observation deck has the best views in the house

Back on the sundeck, the spiral staircase provides an elegant intro to what Espen calls “possibly my favourite spot on the yacht” – a private observation deck and sunbathing area. You can lock yourself away in silent contemplation as you relax on the sunpad.

It’s a remarkable spot that also provides a DJ station during parties. The corporate entertaining face of the yacht is shown with the comprehensive RGB lighting system that can generate sponsor’s colours. Taken together, these three upper decks are a good example of how that “balance between awesome and welcoming” has been achieved.

A deck below on the owner’s deck, full use has been made of Kismet’s vastness, with the outside spaces offering something that continues the option-heavy choices of the decks above. There’s a formal dining table shaded by the overhang from the deck above and more glass screens, and served by a bar and buffet to port and starboard.

On sunny days the screens keep the wind off, but they extend right round the space. Once enclosed, guests can be suitably air-conditioned in what had been dubbed the yacht’s ‘winter garden’, and there’s certainly a relaxed, end-of-day and out-of-office feel to the place. There’s more seating aft.

The bridge deck helipad transforms into a magical hangout space

Forward, the owner has access to a private deck area that offers a hot-tub and sunpads. The owner gets a great view from this private space over the clean expanse of foredeck. With the mooring gear fully enclosed on the main deck below, there was an opportunity to utilise this space in as many ways possible.

It can serve as a demi-basketball court once a hoop is erected (there are court markings on deck) and nets go up to keep the ball inboard. And it also serves as a second touch-and-go helipad. Finally, it can be shaded and tented to create an informal evening dining area.

Right forward at the stainless steel bowsprit there’s a base for the imposing 6ft tall and 15ft long removable sculpture of a jaguar – a reference to one of the owner’s sporting interests, the Jacksonville Jaguars (there are jaguar motifs everywhere on board).

This beast was created on the world’s largest 3D printer in Belgium, and is mostly deployed on match days. The eyes of the jaguar can be lit, which is presumably a feature employed on winning match days. The cat lives alongside the rescue tender when not in use.

The main deck seating aft – a ‘firepit’ feature

The main deck has its own space aft, which serves as a spacious welcoming area with bars either side of a dining table. But the real attraction is aft, often a main deck area that becomes lined with seating inside the guardrails. On Kismet, there are semi-circles of seating either side of a firepit that converts to a coffee table. Once again, Kismet has myriad options for guests.

For the yacht’s interior, Reymond Langton Design’s brief was to answer two needs – to create something that gave a sense of perspective on the new 95-metre vessel, and (as with the exterior spaces) to let the yacht function as a family retreat and an entertainment hub for larger groups.

Once again, the demands aren’t necessarily conflicting, but they need to be managed if they are to be fulfilled successfully. It’s the set-piece spaces of Kismet’s interior that really impress – particularly the architectural drama of the double-height spaces on the main and owner’s deck entertainment spaces.

The bar on the main deck leads to a piano bar

Pascale Reymond calls the overall design philosophy “a rich contemporary interpretation of Art Deco themes”. The bold geometric shapes and vivid contrasts of Art Deco have been successfully used for a generation of modern superyacht interiors.

It’s a flexible form, capable of reinterpretation in a contemporary style, with a modern art vibe that never tends towards abstraction. It works for the small stuff, and the big stuff, too – and it doesn’t get much bigger than the sweeping staircase between the salons on the main and owner’s decks.

If it weren’t for the monster video walls either side, you might have been whisked back for a moment to the first-class lounge of a 1930s liner. The ornately decorated glass walkway with a view down to the main deck is an inspired touch.

Decoish styling and video walls around the main deck piano lounge

There is another staircase too (opposite which is a lift to take you from the main deck to the sundeck), which frames the elegant lobby areas on the main and owner’s decks, but it’s the main staircase that serves as not only a visual feast but as a division point of the different areas.

The staircase rises over a piano bar, with a more formal lounge and bar, and a welcoming lobby, aft of that. Between the main deck foyer and the piano lounge there is a cinema room with overhead projector and semi-circle of seating. The space also doubles as a cigar room and sports bar – a further example of Kismet’s Protean charms.

An owner’s suite inspired by Chanel

Immediately above this space on the owner’s deck is the formal dining area. It makes grand use of the full beam of the yacht, and there is a further lounge aft. The owner benefits from a superbly appointed office to starboard off a centreline corridor.

There is plenty of space to play with and it has been put to good use, with a separate boudoir. Styling in the bedroom is inspired by Coco Chanel, which fits the Decoish vibe nicely, while the centreline gas fireplace adds a reassuringly homely vibe. Pascale Reymond calls the suite a “self-contained retreat at the heart of the yacht”.

Guest cabins on the main deck continue the styling theme

The main-deck guest suites are divided into three twins (that convert to doubles) and two VIPs forward, with the VIPs having more of an Art Nouveau styling theme. On the lower deck, there is an occasional guest cabin, as well as a gym and superb wellness areas for guests, including an ice fountain.

Mosaics and styling details add a touch of Zen and of the mystical east to the yacht, while a sea terrace to starboard opens up the guest space. The spa is one of Kismet’s standout areas, and is proving particularly popular with charter guests.

There are so many places for guests to lose themselves here. Among Kismet’s crew is a masseuse and beautician, a hair stylist (there’s a hair and beauty parlour), and a yoga teacher.

Guests have so many great places to choose from aboard Kismet

“Walt Disney once famously said, ‘If you can dream it, you can do it’. When you experience Kismet, you know this to be true. And for that, Lürssen should be extremely proud,” owner Shahid Khan says.

The latest instalment of Kismet’s story with an Atlantic crossing after a summer in Europe that has included a cruise of Norway. Another season of dreaming and doing awaits.

• A version of this story appeared in SuperYacht World Issue 50, July/August 2016

This article On board the 95m Lürssen superyacht Kismet appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Most boat builders recognise that an all-electric future isn’t yet viable for planing boats over a certain size – the weight and cost of the batteries required to give a sensible cruising range simply don’t add up.

However, hybrid drivetrains with a limited electric-only range for low-speed cruising in sensitive areas such as rivers, harbours and marine parks, and petrol or diesel engines for faster, longer range work make perfect sense.

The trouble is they are notoriously tricky to install unless the boat was designed with a hybrid drivetrain in mind – trying to integrate an electric motor, battery pack and control unit into the space of an existing engine room is no easy task on a shaft-driven boat. As for trying to adapt a sterndrive or outboard powered craft, it was a non-starter… until now.

Spin doctors

French company BlueNav has bypassed the difficulty of trying to integrate an electric drive with existing outboard engines by creating a completely separate package that works independently of the current drivetrain.

BlueSpin Outboard, as it is called, simply bolts onto the transom either side of the outboard engine(s) with its own electric motors, power supply and throttles. The only shared helm control is the steering wheel, but as this simply requires an electronic sensor to read how far and fast it is being turned, rather than an extra cable or ram, that is easily done.

All the skipper has to do is select whether they are using petrol or electric power, engage the relevant throttles, disengage the redundant ones and carry on as usual. Drive comes from a pair of 15kW (25hp) hubless rim-drive electric motors with propeller blades extending inwards from the circular housing.

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These spin round on a rotating ring driven by electro magnets for minimum resistance and drag. Electric drivetrain manufacturer RAD Propulsion tried a similar set-up for its own electric outboard and found it very efficient at lower speeds but not so good at faster speeds.

Because the BlueSpin Outboard system is only designed for low-speed cruising between 6 and 10 knots this makes perfect sense, maximising its electric-only range.

Retractable drives

Ultimately, the range will depend on the size and number of batteries fitted but BlueNav recommends 6 LFP batteries of 7.2kWh each for a total of 43kWh. These can be installed anywhere inside the hull and should give 2-3 hours running time at 7-8 knots – around 20nm.

Like an outboard motor, steering is achieved by vectoring the thrust from side to side but, unlike an outboard, these drives can rotate through 360 degrees, enabling them to operate in astern by spinning 180 degrees or act as unusually powerful stern thrusters by pushing sideways in tandem at 90 degrees.

Bespoke throttles and software give independent control of the electric drives to minimise interference with the main engines

In fact, with the help of a suitably powerful bow thruster, it should be possible to move the whole boat sideways onto or off a pontoon without any assistance from the main engines.

The usual disadvantage of having an extra set of drives hanging off the transom, namely the drag created by the propellers when they aren’t being used, has also been neatly side-stepped by making the unit retractable.

When not in use the rim-drives simply lift up into the housing on the transom, keeping them out of the way of the waterflow passing under the hull. The only thing this might affect is the positioning of the trim tabs, which are usually mounted in roughly the same place on the transom.

This aside, BlueSpin Outboard looks like a very convenient solution for boat builders or owners wishing to retrofit a hybrid drive solution to a new or used boat without having to change the existing engine set up.

According to BlueNav, in most cases “installation requires no alteration to the existing propulsion system or the boat’s structure, providing hassle-free transition to electric power.”

Alternative options

At the moment the BlueSpin Outboard model is limited to 15kW per side and needs to be installed in pairs due to the offset mounting positions, but a 30kW (40hp) version is under development as well as a smaller 8kW (11hp) drive.

BlueNav also offers a retractable Inhull design and a Stationary fixed version. The Inhull one is designed to be fitted further forward on the centreline of a boat and retracts to leave a flush-fitting plate in its place.

A typical installation on a 30-45ft twin outboard day boat

This looks best suited to flat-bottomed craft like sailing yachts or perhaps a round-bilged motor boat. The Stationary version is a fixed solution that is designed to sit under the hull of slow moving displacement boats where drag is not as much of an issue.

BlueNav is being a little coy about revealing retail prices to the press, saying only that prices are available on request. We’ve not yet had a chance to see or experience it in action but as a quick fix solution to creating a hybrid drive option on an existing boat, it certainly seems like a very neat idea.

First published in the October 2023 issue of MBY.

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This article BlueSpin Outboard retrofit system makes switching to hybrid power easy appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

The only rules were that they couldn’t pick one of their own and they had to be luxury superyachts over 30 metres. With the votes counted, we can now reveal our definitive rundown of the most beautiful yachts in the world.

We’ve even enlisted some of those same designers to explain what makes the final ten yachts so special. Scroll down to see the full top 10 and read more about each model.

10 of the most beautiful superyachts of all time

10. Limitless

James Roy, managing director of BMT Nigel Gee believes her to be one of the most beautiful superyachts in the world and writes:

“One of the earlier breed of superyachts Limitless is in my opinion from a period when the volume of superstructures were not over imposing producing a well balanced yacht. These proportions coupled with the sheer line and well matched angles of bow profile and rake of superstructure ends all work together.”

Certainly with her dark blue hull and glistening white superstructure she cuts quite a dash and at night her comprehensive array of on deck illumination and underwater lighting make her look nothing short of spectacular proving that yachts can have beauty 24 hours a day.

Year: 1997 – LOA: 96.25m – Builder: Lürssen – Exterior: Jon Bannenburg – Interior: Catroux

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9. Skat

“It’s a great pleasure to pay tribute to an iconic thoroughbred such as Skat, still standing tall on the horizon,” says Tim Saunders of Rainsford Saunders Design. “Despite her military looks, this is a true superyacht, engineered as a ship at heart and built from the keel up, with every square metre fulfilling the owner’s brief. Skat is a unique design but has not broken traditional yachting rules for the sake of it.

She is a superyacht that has been devised to offer the owner a well-considered relationship between external and internal living spaces, and unlike many of her sisters, she doesn’t opt for maximum density. Skat’s combination of poise, elegance and balance comes from a clever use of straight, angular lines, facetted surfaces and enhanced ship details.

Each component comes together in a harmonious relationship to offer a daring and bold statement that from a distance has the grace and elegance of something far more organic. She is a yacht that catches your eye from all angles.”

Year: 2002 – LOA: 70.7m – Builder: Lürssen – Exterior: Espin Oeino – Interior: Marco Zanini

8. Alfa Nero

“When we first saw Alfa Nero we were impressed by her smooth exterior lines,” say Mareid Moosbrugger and Georg Decker of Egg and Dart Design. “The superstructure is sleek and elegant without any angular or hard corners. We consider her to be one of the most beautiful yachts afloat today, and we can easily understand why our colleagues agree.

“Walking around her at the 2007 Monaco Yacht Show, we felt the three-dimensional use of space was harmonious with the elements, and there was a true balance between the inside and outside areas of the yacht, with the exterior spaces maintaining a close connection with the natural environment of the sea and sky.

“The decks are open and airy, yet there is a feeling of being safely cocooned, and the superb aft deck in particular maintains a feeling of being at one with the ocean, which is emphasised by the huge pool. The yacht impressed us as a gentle giant: on the one hand huge, voluminous and technically advanced; on the other, stylish, glossy and surprisingly cosy.

“The beautiful interior features a timeless but modern design with elements of Art Deco, and everywhere you can see that the smallest details have been attended to. This yacht is a perfect combination of design, functionality and vision, and offers a unique ambience.”

Year: 2007 – LOA: 81.27m – Builder: Oceanco – Exterior: Nuvolari-Lenard – Interior: Alberto Pinto

7. Aviva

Designer Reymond Langton says: “At the time of her creation, she was the largest yacht that we had signed and would be the largest the yard had built. The client is a very experienced yacht owner and for him to have put his trust in us when we had nothing of our own in the water at the time was a massive vote of confidence.

“He allowed us to be a little experimental with the design – this was the first large yacht with a plumb bow. It was fantastic to have landed another contract where we were able to design the exterior and interior as it gave us much more control over the whole project, and gave us the scope to really harmonise the spaces.

“It also allowed us to work hand in hand together, which we thoroughly enjoy and believe delivers the best results for the client. We think she stands out because she has a very striking profile that is easily recognisable from a distance.

“She has a lot of presence on the water due to her powerful lines. Anyone who has been on board will tell you that the high-volume interior feels incredibly luxurious.”

Year: 2007 – LOA: 68.0m – Builder: Abeking & Rasmussen – Exterior: Reymond Langton Design – Interior: Reymond Langton Design

6. Carinthia VII

The Austrian supermarket heiress Heidi Horten replaced Carinthia VI (see below) with this very secret yacht rumoured to run at 26 knots. Voting her as his most beautiful yacht, Rupert Mann of Rainsford Mann Design said, “97m is a good length for a designer to work with, as it gives an opportunity to design longitudinally not vertically and therefore create an elegant yacht which appears low and sleek.

“What makes the design of Carinthia VII so successful is the enhancement of this due to the pure and elegant sheer line that draws your eye from the bow to stern so effortlessly. The clever trick of dropping the sheer line one deck down aft, gives it a dynamic and purposeful bow shape forward, as if carving its path with consummate ease.

The horizontal lines of the super structure are equally uncomplicated, in this instance resisting the addition of unnecessary detail such as fashion plates that often complicate a design. Ultimately I think the strength of the design manifests through its simplicity. It is the most successful of designs, which can be called a ‘timeless classic’.

“A design that will be successful in every genre modern or classic and in every decade, that even 7 years later still is relevant and pleasing to the eye. I would suspect it is this timeless styling and the sheer simplicity, coupled with the poise and balance of the whole composition, that is so appealing to so many of us.”

Year: 2002 – LOA: 97m – Builder: Lürssen – Exterior: Tim Heywood – Interior: Tim Heywood

5. Maltese Falcon

The designer Ken Freivoch, responsible for the way this beautiful yacht looks says, “We are delighted that our fellow designers should have included Maltese Falcon within their shortlist. She was designed without any attempt to be ostentatious or to conform to a set style – it was very much a case of “form follows function”, albeit with very careful attention to essential design principles, balanced proportions and uncluttered and purposeful shapes totally derived from the function they are designed to perform.

The yacht is significant in her innovative sailing system, and our studio took this as a clue to develop the design around such technology, with every effort to develop beautiful and unique solutions aimed at highlighting her unique rig. I can only surmise that a reason why she may have been selected by designers is that she is not a “trendy” design, but the result of going back to first principles, coming out with original and unique solutions, and achieve continuity of concept through from the external styling to the interior design.

A case in point would be the design of the “spider” feature at the aft deck – originally the result of a last minute request from the naval architects to achieve optimum separation between the bearings at the mizzen mast, the announcement from Gerry Dijkstra came something like: “Hey Ken, if we had to place the top bearing for the aft mast 1m above the deck, in the middle of the aft deck – would that be a problem?

“Can you come up with a way to do this, which Tom will not object to? We took this as a clue to design an elegant and purposeful set of arches or buttresses to shore up the bearing in question, and at the same time underline what a unique “machine” the Falcon is – express such function very much along the lines of a watchmaker showing the inner workings of a beautifully crafted watch. Maltese Falcon was a great challenge, exactly the type of challenge that our design team relishes.

For us, the thrill, the excitement and the ultimate satisfaction is to come up with totally unique, “out-of-the-box” solutions, and achieve a design which the owner can feel was truly conceived and executed in response to his brief, to his preferences and to the very specific requirements set out for the project.”

Year: 2006 – LOA: 88m – Builder: Perini Navi – Exterior: Gerard Dijstra – Interior: Ken Freivoch

4. Enigma

Espen Oenio was at the time of the design working with Martin Francis and describes the commissioning owner – Mexican media magnate Emilio Azcarraga – as a wonderfully charismatic man. He remembers one meeting in particular early on in the project.

They were at the time sitting on board the owner’s then yacht Lady Azteca (now Achilles), when he laid out what was to become the mission statement for the whole design process. He told the design team: “I am a very private man. I never spend time in port, I am always cruising. But when I do go into port, I want my presence to be felt through my boat.”

James Roy of BMT Nigel Gee is one designer who voted for Enigma. “It was not until I set eyes on her in the flesh at Cowes Week in 1999 that I really came to appreciate her beauty,” he says.

“The reverse sheer, the sweeping aft deck and those iconic windows – they all meld together to produce a yacht that visually works to perfection and is thoroughly striking even today, 18 years after her launch. It’s very different from anything else that is around.”

Theo Werner of Werner Yacht Design is equally enthusiastic. “When the design of this yacht was first published, I was stunned,” he says. “And when the first photographs appeared in the magazines, I was even more stunned.

“She introduced a new way of thinking that even surpassed the designs of Bannenberg, who I admire very much. Eco included many aspects that are foreign to other ships and yachts, yet Martin Francis managed to combine these with everything that make a ship pretty, such as sleekness, the suggestion of a low freeboard a small superstructure.”

She was subsequently sold to Larry Ellison and is now owned by the British businessman Aidan Barclay and his brother.

Year: 1991 – LOA: 74.5m – Builder: Blomhm & Voss – Exterior: Martin Francis – Interior: Francois Zuretti

3. Endeavour

“Endeavour is one of my favourite yachts for a number of reasons,” Ed Dubois told SuperYacht World. “Firstly, she is a J Class yacht – one of only a few ever built. This class epitomised the very peak of yacht design before World War II and remains still, in technical terms, a class apart. These yachts were extreme in every way and demanded technology that was then in its infancy.

“They were superb yachts to sail upwind, but they were also fast reaching and downwind. They demanded a very high level of sailing skill, and indeed a high level of boatbuilding skill.

“Endeavour, I believe, is the most beautiful of all the Js built. Her purity of line is exquisite and I think the shape of the sheer is slightly better than any of the others including Velsheda (by the same designer).

“Charles Nicholson designed Endeavour in 1933 and she was used to challenge for the America’s Cup in 1934. It was universally acknowledged that she was faster than the defender Rainbow, and she won the first two races, but better sailing by the Americans allowed them to win overall.

“She has captured the imagination of so many people including, happily, Elizabeth Meyer, who acquired the yacht in the seventies and rebuilt her almost from scratch.

“I believe there is some original plate still present but the hull was rebuilt in the UK and then taken to Royal Huisman Shipyard to be fitted out. The interior, by John Munford, is beautiful – obviously not what was fitted originally when she was a pure racing yacht, but Munford created something that is entirely fitting.

“Endeavour is not a practical yacht to own. She can only be sailed in reasonable conditions, she requires a large crew to race her, most of whom by necessity must sleep ashore, and maintaining a yacht of this type, particularly with regard to sails, rigging, etc is not inexpensive. However, for sheer sailing performance, romantic appeal and beauty I believe she is second to none.”

Year: 1934 – LOA: 39.6m – Builder: Camper & Nicholson – Exterior: C & N – Interior: C & N

2. Pelorus

Designer Tim Heywood says: “When a client gives you carte blanche to create a design, it is a blessing and a curse, if you do not rise to the challenge, you will not gain the approval of your client or, eventually, the respect of your peers.

“Pelorus was a great project for us and we are extremely pleased with the end result, as was the client. I was able to develop the internal general arrangement plan, the external global styling themes and the practical engineering details to a level I had not achieved before.

The organic curves & forms of the superstructure are echoed in the lines of the hull, tying the two forms together, to produce a harmony that is easy on the eye, was quite unique at the time and, hopefully, will not date.

“The belt line that runs forward from the stern and sweeps down towards the anchor pocket, is inspired by the armour plating of the light cruiser HMS Belfast, which still lives just up stream from our old London studio.

“If I succeeded in creating a yacht that is thought of as attractive, by my brothers in arms of the design world, I am very pleased. Informed comments from professional, talented designers and client, means more than from any other source, especially if they are not negative!

“My partner, Vanessa, came up with our project name, we always give a name to our yachts, rather than a sterile number, and the client liked the name so much that he confirmed Pelorus as the yacht’s eventual name. The yacht has changed hands, but we are very pleased to see that she has retained her original name.”

“If I succeeded in creating a yacht that is thought of as attractive by my brothers-in-arms of the design world, I am very pleased. Informed comment from professional, talented designers and clients means more than from any other source – especially when they are positive!”

Year: 2003 – LOA: 115m – Builder: Lürssen – Exterior: Tim Heywood – Interior: Terrence Disdale

1. Carinthia VI

Dickie Bannenburg of Bannenburg Designs say: “Famously, and perhaps notoriously, Carinthia VI owes her existence to the fact that her elder sibling Carinthia V survived for only a few months before ending her days several fathoms down in Greek waters.

:The unfortunate captain struggled ashore to find a phone to have an awkward phone conversation with Helmut Horten, his Owner. Mr Horten rang my father up almost the following day and told him to start work on her replacement which has now become, in an often over used phrase, a yachting icon.

“She certainly wasn’t an icon when she appeared out of the Lürssen shed for the first time. With dramatic superstructure on a slim frigate-based hull, grilles and that distinctive blue windshield forward of the wheelhouse, my father’s design scared the pants off people and the perception of him hardened amongst conventional designers and naval architects as a dangerous radical. But now her pared down lines and slender masculinity scream good taste, restraint and a sense of suave style that is rarely seen these days.

“Certainly her interior was purposeful, code for slightly austere, and by today’s standards there was not much interior volume for lavish living, not least due to the presence of three mighty MTU diesels. There are no swoops, no complicated fashion plates and absolutely no ability to walk down steps at the transom to a nice bathing platform.

“But all the better for it. Life on board was, I understand, conducted with a certain Austrian precision and Carinthia’s elegant and taut exterior, with deep blue paintwork and her gold coachwork stripe cut an unmistakeable dash in the harbours of the Cote d’Azur as she still does today.

“My father was very proud of her. Of course I’m even more proud that his design of almost forty years ago has such an enduring impact.”

Year: 2003 – LOA: 115m – Builder: Lürssen – Exterior: Bannenberg – Interior: Bannenberg

First published in the January 2015 issue of Superyacht World.

This article Most beautiful superyachts: 10 of the best as chosen by top designers appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Rich and fierce, and with an athletic poise, the astonishing red-hulled 50m yacht Ipanema, launched by Mondomarine last year, occupies the water with the confidence of an enormous floating Ferrari. And what a red that hull colour is! Not a cloudy burgundy of some understated elegance if a little dullness; it’s a brash, screaming, high-gloss scarlet.

Once you’ve recovered from the endearing shock of the exterior, a whole new world of enigma awaits inside. You’d expect something that matched the contemporary flair of the exterior with a calculated coolness, something masculine and mechanical perhaps.

What you get is an eclectic mix of the traditional and modern that brazenly nods to so many art and design styles. It’s a bold approach – as bold as the yacht’s exterior styling – and it gives a hint of the all-inclusive philosophy with which Ipanema has been put together.

Ipanema began life as a concept on paper, a standard member of Mondomarine’s M50 all-aluminium, semi-displacement range. Designed by Hot Lab, the M50 – created in 2013 – echoes the youthful boldness of the design house, and there was clearly a meeting of minds when the owner came on board with the project.

“We started talking to the owner [in 2013],” says Antonio Romano, one of Hot Lab’s founding partners. “He liked the exterior styling of the concept and didn’t make any major changes.

“But he did want to change the beach club. Privacy was important to him and his family, and he didn’t like the idea of a large open area at the back of the yacht.”

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A beach club is generally something you wouldn’t want to get rid of in a modern superyacht, and would represent a substantial loss to guests, but aboard Ipanema there is a distinctive gain: a huge tender in the extended garage.

The 7.4m Monterey unit is substantial beast for a 50-metre yacht to digest, but it has been achieved by the judicious movement of a bulkhead. A further complication comes because the owner wanted a petrol-driven tender, which created a world of engineering, fuel supply and fire-risk-assessment pain for the yard to overcome.

A second change the owner insisted on was in the owner’s suite windows on the main deck. “He had seen another 50-metre Hot Lab project and wanted the same windows. We were happy to copy ourselves!” says Antonio.

The early design had a very straight window line heading towards the bow; what has been developed for Ipanema is a scooped cut-out forward, which is more in keeping with the energetic superstructure styling elsewhere.

That forward window also suggests an owner who is not afraid of visual drama, which brings us back to the hull colour. After the initial renderings were produced, Hot Lab’s colour scheme hadn’t changed from “standard grey, white and black”, says Antonio.

“But the owner wanted to shock and so we came up with the idea of a striking red. It is also a colour associated with good luck. It’s a very intense experience to see this colour, but we were careful that the red never touches the white of the superstructure.

“One of our design partners, Michele Dragoni, has a background in car design and really understands how surfaces and colours interact. By keeping the red and white apart, the human eye better sees the whole vessel.”

Antonio describes Ipanema as “the world’s biggest yacht ever in red”, and it’s clearly something he is proud to have in the portfolio.

“Ipanema is a yacht with her make-up on. She’s a yacht that’s wearing her lipstick!” he says.

So how did that very eclectic interior come about, and that unusual juxtaposition between the exterior and interior styling? “We had some initial interior renderings for the M50 that were minimalistic, but it was clear that Ipanema’s owner wanted something different. The first point was that he liked traditional, classical architectural features.”

Hot Lab’s immediate response was, says Antonio, “to consult some books!”. “All of our interiors so far have been minimalist, modern in style. Now we started to study 17th-Century architecture.

“We had to understand Renaissance styles. In fact, the flower patterns you can see at the top of many of the columns are directly inspired by a Renaissance palace in Florence.”

The owner was communicating with the design team several times a week, emailing clippings for the mood board and his own design ideas. Out of this grew the designers’ sense of an interior that would suit. “It was a challenge for us because it was something unknown, but the client was very clear, very precise about what he liked.

“A key thing was that he wanted everything bespoke. We couldn’t simply pick a pattern of carpet. He wanted something unique, designed just for Ipanema. Everything you see is custom made, right down to the hand-made porcelain switches. It was a massive amount of work.”

Even the main-deck galley has the feel of a country kitchen, with a personal vibe rather than the austere exhibition of metal and Miele that characterises most superyacht galleys.

It’s not only the sense of contrast between the exterior and the interior that is striking; it’s also the richness and vividness inside – the colours, the mirrors, the brew of elements. Marble is a key material – there are 14 different types used on board.

“There are also over 20 different fabric patterns,” says Antonio. And there’s that recurring flaming-red flower motif, too, which you see attached to columns at eye-height throughout the yacht, in suites, bathrooms and corridors. “We produced these on a 3D printer – over 100 of them,” says Antonio.

There’s a further surprise in this yacht of surprises: Ipanema has seven guest cabins, with two single suites on the bridge deck (which share a bathroom), an enormous main-deck master with lots of natural light, and four colour-themed guest cabins on the lower deck.

Though certified for charter, this is a yacht designed for private cruising with a large family, and in that respect she is precisely fit for purpose.

“We are very proud of the yacht,” says Antonio. “We are particularly proud of the teamwork, and of delivering just what the client wanted. It was exactly the yacht he desired.”

So does he have a favourite area of the yacht? “I am most proud of the master cabin and bathroom. There is so much marble in the bathroom! And I really like the skylight from above bringing in natural light. Mondomarine did an amazing job with the marble.”

After the 2016 Monaco Yacht Show, the owner has based the yacht in Turkey, from where Ipanema has been doing just what she has been designed for: providing the perfect base for extended family cruising. And, of course, an engaging talking point for anyone on shore who happens to see the red beast on the water.

First published in 2017 for Super Yacht World.

This article Ipanema: Inside the world's biggest red yacht appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.