Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2016 i Motor Boat & Yachting

Floating wind farm is go Scottish government gives backing to £153m offshore pilot scheme Wind turbines could be heading even further offshore under a new £153 million pilot scheme by Statoil to build the world’s first floating wind farm. The Norwegian firm, which has more than 40 years’ experience in the offshore sector, has proposed Hywind Scotland, a wind farm development to be situated 15 miles off Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. The turbines would be ballasted and anchored to the sea bed by a three-point mooring spread which allows them to float in depths of up to 100 metres. Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president for new energy solutions at Statoil, said: “Our objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of future commercial, utility-scale floating wind farms.” Construction is not due to begin…

The boat business isn’t exactly booming in Italy at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped one southern shipyard from establishing an eye-catching brand and introducing an array of new products in pretty short order. The Invictus 280GT, a sporty cabin weekender, was introduced in October 2014 at the Genoa show, closely followed by the 280TT, a fun family dayboat designed with one eye on the superyacht tender market. Moored together in the sunshine of the Cannes Boat Show, they had something of a jewel-like quality about them, with their intricate detailing and high-quality finish. The boats are built in Borgia, right down in the toe of Italy, at a yard whose owner was a sometime stakeholder in, and contract builder for, Sessa Marine. Which explains the choice of Christian Grande…

Charter or boat hire holidays are often associated with the Mediterranean or other sunny destinations, yet the advantages of chartering can apply almost anywhere, including our own Magni ficently varied coastline. Cruising motor boats are expensive depreciating assets and we all know that the costs of owning, maintaining and berthing one for a few weeks use each year can look ludicrous if you take a cold, clear accountant’s view. As a boat owner myself I avoid these calculations and sensible financial arguments rarely apply. But logistically, your boat can’t be everywhere at once. Unless you are retired or otherwise leisured, cruising to more out of the way corners of Britain can be quite an undertaking. Chartering lets you explore waters your own boat cannot easily reach, often at quite modest…

Price £1,799 Top speed 17 knots 0-top speed 15.7 seconds Noise (idle/cruise/top) 60/79/92dB(A) Weight 37.6kg Warranty 5 years Contact www.marineroutboard.com Underneath the Mariner or Mercury cowling, you’ll find exactly the same 208cc block as the Tohatsu, but that’s as far as the similarities go. Key changes include the gearbox and a unique tiller-end gear change. Coincidentally it has the same capacity as the Suzuki and generates 7.28kW (9.76hp) between 5,000 and 6,000rpm. It is a twin cylinder engine with the usual shaft lengths and electric start options. BUILD QUALITY The engine block is a tried and tested unit and the rest of the outboard feels very solid, helped by a chunky forward facing carry handle that also protects it when stowed. A five-year warranty is offered on all Mariner and…

Price £2,029 Top speed 16.7 knots 0-top speed 16.06 seconds Noise (idle/cruise/top) 59/77/91dB(A) Weight 39kg Warranty 3 years Contact www.yamahamotor.eu Yamaha has a fine reputation for building reliable outboard engines used by many police and rescue services the world over but this reliability tends to come at a premium price. At 212cc it has joint second largest capacity along with the Lehr engine, producing 7.3kW (9.79hp) of power. BUILD QUALITY We know Yamahas are robustly built using high-quality materials and this one is no different. The engine block is also well designed, being the only one you can lay on three sides without the oil draining into the cylinders. Given how well built it is, it’s a shame that Yamaha only offers a three-year warranty rather than the five years…

ParmaFender system From €31.80 per metre Ever since I had my Karnic vinylwrapped with a metallic silver finish, I have become even more precious about protecting it from knocks and scrapes. Unfortunately, asking my boat-sharing brothers to use a fender whenever they come alongside our rickety old pier is like asking a caveman to eat with chopsticks – it ain’t gonna happen. Using the principal that if Mohammed won’t go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed, I decided to cover the entire pier in fenders instead. My research led me to a Norwegian company that had recently launched a brand new fendering system. The ParmaFender is a continuous chain of air-filled fender pockets which can be cut to any length and even bent round corners, giving you…

+ Masses of space, masses of pace - A little short of storage in the galley and the burr maple is looking dated now. DATA FILE Length 45ft 1in (13.7m) Beam 13ft 10in (4.2m) Draught 3ft 4in (1.0m) Displacement 12.5 tonnes Fuel capacity 310 imp gal (1,410 litres) Engines Twin Caterpillar 3208TA 435hp diesel FOR SALE Boats.co.uk. Web: www.boats.co.uk Launched in 1993, the Princess 440 is significant in two ways. It marks the 90s-era move towards really clever interior packaging, and it was one of the first to introduce a couple of other features that became popular at this time, such as transom doors, flybridge stairs rather than ladders, and curvier exterior styling. The Princess 460 that replaced it in 1997 is largely the same boat but with an extended…

Santa swaps his sleigh Christmas comes to Florida We know it’s a bit late for Christmas photos but we couldn’t resist sharing this shot of Boat Parade day in Boynton Beach, Florida – after all, who needs reindeers when you’ve got a pair of 300hp Verados to power you from house to house. Now all we need is a new entry to the official RYA book of lights, shapes and sounds for vessels for boats ‘lit up like a Christmas tree’, meaning of course ‘vessel under command by a large chap in a red suit bearing copious presents.’…

Global sales on the rise The latest YachtWorld Market Index report shows a 2.6% rise in global used boat sales The used boat market is growing, according to the latest YachtWorld Market Index report, which shows a 2.6% year-on-year rise in the total value of used boat sales over the past nine months. What’s more, the report also shows an increase in the total number of used boats sold, which is up by 7.8% for Q1-Q3 2015 to 30,450 models changing hands. Breaking down the figures, the US used boat market saw a 4.7% rise by value, whereas in Europe the increase was just under 2.3%. Looking at the specific motor boat brands, Jeanneau was the most popular, with 93 models changing hands on YachtWorld in the past nine months,…

HIGHLIGHTS ● Six staterooms ● Main deck master suite ● Transom beach club Sunseeker 131 Yacht Stand M100 The biggest launch (literally) at the 2016 London Boat Show will be the Sunseeker 131 Yacht. Not only is it the biggest boat at this year’s show, it is the largest boat ever launched at London, taking up residence in one of the berths outside the main hall. Only topped by the 155 in Sunseeker’s range, the yard has learned a lot from the development and manufacture of its flagship and no doubt this will have been filtered into the 131. Crucially, at this level, customers have the opportunity to customise everything, from the layout of the interior down to the very smallest details within the décor and choice of materials and…

Wet-bar is half galley, half entertainment system thanks to the 42in pop-up TV All of this adds to the V58’s fun in the sun ethos; you can just picture it in a cyan bay Princess and Bernard Olesinski seem to be on a winning run at the moment. The S65, tested on these pages last month, is probably the sweetest looking sportsbridge on the market, and the new 75 – launching this very month at the London Boat Show – is going to be a beauty. Which brings me on to this, the V58 Open. For me, the V58 Open stands out from an already handsome crowd. It’s long and low and elegant but it’s also arresting with proportions that are close to perfection. Princess usually errs on the side…

Staring up at the vast green wall of water looming over us, I can’t help wondering how dep ed Jack is enjoying the Florida sunshine. This was meant to be his gig but we’ve been waiting so long for a big enough storm to blow in that by the time we get the call-up, Jack’s busy sunning himself at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show. Luckily, or should that be unluckily, I had no such excuse, which is why I now find myself strapped into the navigator’s seat of Safehaven Marine’s remarkable new Barracuda SV11 staring up the face of the biggest wave I have ever had the misfortune to meet. For boat enthusiasts and YouTube fanatics alike, Safehaven Marine is something of a legend. Based outside Cork in the south-west…

Price £2,255 Top speed 14.8 knots 0-top speed 16 seconds Noise (idle/cruise/top) 59/75/90dB(A) Weight 42kg Warranty 6 years Contact www.honda.co.uk The BF10 mimics the appearance of Honda’s more powerful outboards and those striking looks don’t deceive. The Honda has the largest capacity block here – 222cc, – 14cc more than its next largest rival. It also has the highest rated power output of 7.4kW (9.92hp), which it achieves between 5,000rpm and 6,000rpm. Like all the engines tested, it is a twin cylinder 4-stroke design with a pull start and a remote fuel tank but it is also available with an electric start and remote steering. BUILD QUALITY ★★★★★ Honda has a good reputation for building solid, reliable, well designed engines, and the BF10 certainly fits the brief. The styling is…

Price £2,029 Top speed 15.5 knots 0-top speed 16.5 seconds Noise (idle/cruise/top) 60/78/91dB(A) Weight 39.5kg Warranty 5 years Contact www.suzukimarine.co.uk Along with the Mariner, the Suzuki has the smallest capacity engine on test at 208cc. It manages to rev slightly higher, with the optimum range being between 5,200rpm to 6,200rpm, where it makes 7.3kW (9.79hp) of power. It is also a twin cylinder engine, and has a connector to a generic fuel tank. BUILD QUALITY Suzuki is very focussed on keeping the weight down to the extent that some of its smaller engines feel a little too flimsy. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with this one, which not only feels well put together but looks very nicely finished too. It comes with a fiveyear warranty, only being…

Among the many attractions in the master cabin of this Custom Line 108, one in particular caught my eye. It was a bookshelf, a couple of feet long and set into the dark, satin-varnished oak of a bulkhead cabinet. The 108 was moored to the quay amid the clamour of the Cannes Boat Show, and as a part of the process of ensuring that the yacht looked its best, someone had arranged on this shelf a row of fabricbound hardback volumes, their spines as blank as their pages. I looked at it again. The cabin was a scene of sybaritic indulgence with a huge double bed, vast sculpted windows, beautifully detailed furnishings and soft woollen carpet underfoot. Just for a moment I felt that the books seemed vaguely symbolic: a…

What is it? The POSH 54, from Bill Prince Yacht Design. Bill who? Bill Prince has been designing boats for 20 years. He worked with Michael Peters Yacht Design (who designs Chris-Craft among others) and Island Packet Yachts before setting up his own consultancy in Port Washington, Wisconsin, to design bespoke custom vessels, including beautiful retro craft like this one. It looks stunning, what’s the inspiration behind this one? The original POSH was a 1937 52-foot ‘commuter’ boat penned by John Ludwig Hacker (who began his career designing floats for the Wright Brother’s airplane in 1911) and built for cinema magnate Joseph Cooper. It’s now owned by F. Todd Warner. Who has commissioned it? The very same F. Todd Warner that owns the original, he’s the CEO of Retromoderne Design…

Why is it in the news? On December 2, FRP Advisory announced that Fairline Boats had gone into administration, putting hundreds of jobs at risk and throwing the future of this iconic British boating brand into doubt. The news came just eight weeks after the sale of Fairline by private equity group Better Capital to specialist investment group Wessex Bristol. Who pulled the plug? Despite selling Fairline to Wessex Bristol, it was Better Capital who called in the administrators. Under the terms of the sale Better Capital loaned Wessex Bristol a seven-figure sum in the form of assets and working capital to keep the company running. At the time, this was referred to as a “modest deferred consideration” with repayment due to be made over a three-year period. However, the…

Price £2,250 Top speed 13.5 knots 0-top speed 17 seconds Noise (idle/cruise/top) 66/80/92dB(A) Weight 39.8kg Warranty 3 years Contact www.lehruk.com Lehr’s propane powered outboards are gaining traction in the market with their promise of low emissions and cleaner refuelling. Its twin cylinders have a total capacity of 212cc, delivering 7.2kW (9.9hp) at 5,500rpm. A pressurised gas line connects it to an external 6kg cylinder, and long and short shafts are available along with an optional electric start. BUILD QUALITY Some of the new engine brands we’ve seen on the market have questionable quality but this one seems well put together, with slick styling and good quality components. It has a useful three-year warranty but still falls short of the five years offered by some manufacturers. PERFORMANCE There seems to be…

Price £1,776 Top speed 16.5 knots 0-top speed 18 seconds Noise (idle/cruise/top) 60/79/92dB(A) Weight 37kg Warranty 5 years Contact www.tohatsu-uk.net Tohatsu produces more 10hp outboard engines than anyone else, even though some of them have a rival’s branding on the cowling. That’s why this engine shares the same block as the Mariner, although oddly it’s capacity is quoted as 209cc rather than 208CC. It’s also rated at 7.2kW (9.39hp) instead of the Mariner’s 7.28kW (9.76hp). BUILD QUALITY The likes of Mariner and Mercury wouldn’t put their name on an engine they didn’t rate highly, so you can be pretty certain the internals are sound. The cowling looks fairly boring but it’s well fitted and all the ancillaries look robust and soundly engineered. It comes with a five-year warranty. PERFORMANCE Given…

TRAWLERS AND IPS Although I’m not a big fan of the Absolute Navetta 52’s looks when compared with a traditional trawler like the Fleming 55, it obviously has a huge amount going for it. For instance, you won’t find the Navetta’s fabulous foredeck on a Fleming. But I struggle with the idea of Volvo’s sporty IPS pods as the power for a Trawler – do they really measure up to a trawler’s reputation for great seakeeping and an unshakeable grip on the water in bad weather? Lee Porter GOT A QUESTION? EMAIL US! mby@timeinc.com Well, let’s not forget that the trawlers from Fleming and Absolute are designed with a different attitude and purpose in mind; they are unlikely to see each other as rivals. Putting that aside though, I have…

“We live on a boat,” is an answer that I have given many times when the subject comes up. At first it felt a little surreal but now, a year on, it’s a natural response. As the evenings draw in and the weather blows away any hope of using Breaking Bad in anger for another season, our first liveaboard summer feels like a bit of a dream. So how has our decision to rent out our house and live on a boat worked out? Living on board has not lessened our passion for boating and familiarity has certainly not bred any contempt. If anything, it has made us realise that a life less ordinary is now a priority for us. Never having been a hoarder or indeed one to settle…

KEY CRITERIA ● Innovative and modern 1990s design ● A lot of boat for your money ● Holds its value well + Brilliant innovative layout gives genuine best of both worlds - The concept seems to no longer exist DATA FILE Length 43ft 6in (13.2m) Beam 13ft 8in (4.2m) Draught 3ft 8in (1.1m) Displacement 8.9 tonnes Fuel capacity 250 imp gal (1,136 litres) Engines Twin Volvo Penta TAMD 63p 370hp diesel FOR SALE Bates Wharf. Web: www.bateswharf.co.uk Masters of clever thinking, the 90s was a time when Sealine was really setting the pace of innovation. Flybridge stairs, integral canopy stowage and this, the world’s first 40ft aft cabin boat that was simultaneously an aft cockpit cruiser. The 410 started life as a 390 in 1991 and morphed into the 410…

+ Great looking boat with a proper offshore hull - No forward cabin DATA FILE Length 40ft 9in (12.4m) Beam 11ft 6in (3.5m) Draught 2ft 10in (0.9m) Displacement 6.6 tonnes Fuel capacity 172 imp gal (780 litres) Engines Twin Volvo Penta KAD 44 EDC 260hp diesel engines FOR SALE Southampton Waters Yacht Sales. Web: www.southamptonwaters.co.uk The fact that the 41 (a face-lifted version of the 39) only ceased production a couple of years ago tells you all you need to know about the enduring (ahem) nature of Cranchi’s Endurance 39. While other manufacturers of the era were majoring on space for their 40-foot sportscruisers, Cranchi kept things low, lean and sexy – trust the Italians. Terrific value today, at only about £10,000 more than a similar era Fairline Targa 29…