Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2015 i Motor Boat & Yachting

Boats.co.uk will sell the Princess range of boats after agreeing a strategic alliance with the Plymouth yard’s largest dealer, Princess Motor Yacht Sales. The new partnership was announced at the end of April just days after Boats.co.uk’s previous agreement with Fairline came to an end. Boats.co.uk, formerly known as Essex Boatyards, will set up two new Princess dealerships, one in Poole and the other on the East Coast, as well as a third joint venture with Princess Motor Yacht Sales in Mallorca. The new Princess Poole office will be based at Salterns Marina, near the entrance to Poole Harbour, while Princess East Coast will be run from Boats.co.uk’s existing base in Essex Marina, Wallasea Island. The Mallorca dealership will be situated at Cala d’Or Marina on the south-east coast of…

A new boat show is hoping to take Liverpool by storm this summer, with Bénéteau, Bavaria and Bayliner models due to go on display at the inaugural event. Running over the weekend of June 5-7, the Northern Boat Show is a brand new event for boating enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Organiser Carnah Events, which also runs the Northern Home Show, aims to capitalise on the popularity of the International Mersey River Festival, which attracted 25,000 visitors to Liverpool last year. The last attempt to host a boat show in Liverpool saw organisers MIE pull the plug in February 2011 due to a lack of industry support. But Richard Milbourn, director of the Northern Boat Show, said: “We’ve had a fantastic response from companies involved in every aspect of the leisure…

Vintage boat lovers and classic cinema fans alike should take a look at the catalogue for this year’s Sotheby’s spring auction on Lake Como. The auction house will be putting a 1959 Riva Super Florida, which used to belong to Brigitte Bardot, under the hammer on May 23. Nounours is a classic wooden Riva that was built on Lake Iseo by Carlo Riva and his team in the late 1950s. This iconic Riva Super Florida has since been restored by a classic yacht specialist Bought by screenwriter Roger Vadim in 1959, this 20ft cruiser was given to his movie-star wife Brigitte, who kept it moored by her St Tropez villa. She used Nounours regularly in the early 1960s before selling her to a local restaurateur, who owned the boat until…

Founded in 2012 through a joint venture by the Chinese Sino Eagle Group and gigantic US dealer group MarineMax, originally to cater for the charter market, Aquila now has a range of three power cats, ranging from 38-48ft, with the 44 being the latest model. For the largest two boats Aquila enlisted the assistance of manufacturing giants J&J Design Group, responsible for the Greenline boats as well as various projects for the likes of Azimut, Jeanneau and Monte Carlo Yachts. That takes care of the pedigree but what about the practicalities? Well, being designed to be a power cat from the keel up, the signs are promising. The styling is likely to please those who are coming from traditional flybridge monohulls and there is plenty of glass used in the…

HIGHLIGHTS ● Main deck master ● 44ft beam ● 25-knot top speed Sunreef is not a yard lacking in confidence, as is evident from the rakish designs of its smaller production models as well as some of the bonkers concepts that the yard has in the pipeline. We’re talking a 210ft trimaran with four 1,635hp MTU diesels and a 75ft, twin-hulled sportsfisher. The 90 comes across as relatively normal compared to these two (hull number one is already in build) but it is still a striking beast, with an angular superstructure complemented by sweeping lines, a hunkered down sky deck and some superyacht trickery such as folding balconies on the main deck. Being 44ft (13.4m) wide it’s no great surprise that the outdoor living spaces are vast, the two-tier foredeck…

The sunny coast of Catalonia lies opposite Mallorca, stretching 270 miles from the Ebro River delta in the south to the French border near Cap Cerbère. It includes two very distinctive holiday costas – Dorada the golden coast and Brava the wild coast. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is 100 miles from Mallorca’s Puerto Pollensa. Fiercely independent, Catalonia has its own language and parliament. The coast was always a cultural melting-pot, a historic crossroads where wandering Mediterranean traders fetched up. Greek and Roman ruins still lie casually about near modern buildings. Catalonia’s largest marina, Empuriabrava, is named after the famous Greek and Roman ruins at Empúries, a low sandy shore six miles from the marina. You can anchor off the beach here and follow a path through scented pines to…

THE AUTHORS Frank and Fiona Walker spend their summers cruising the Med in their Azimut 62, Zaffina. This year, they’re exploring the Ionian Islands The sun is just emerging from behind stark mountains into a cloudless sky and the Boka Kotorska, Montenegro’s inland sea, is as still as a mirror. The only movement is a cruise ship, gliding silently towards the ancient town of Kotor with just a handful of guests up and about early enough to enjoy the spectacular scenery. There’s nothing to suggest that we are embarking on our worst ever journey in more than five years on our Azimut 62. When we reach the open sea, conditions are still good, and we ease the throttles forward, bringing Zaffi na up to a comfortable 20 knots, the speed…

HAMBLE RIVER, UK Thanks to the recent development work, Premier’s Swanwick Marina has some of the UK’s best facilities Premier’s Swanwick Marina has always been a world-class marina but a £5.8 million development programme has recently transformed it into one of the most modern and comprehensive facilities on the South Coast. With space for nearly 400 boats and berthing options ranging from fully serviced pontoons to pile moorings and a brand new dry stack, there is a package to suit every size and style of craft, from a 6m sportsboat to a 30m motor yacht. And being part of the Premier Marinas group, every berth-holder enjoys additional benefits, including free visitor nights at other Premier Marinas and discounted fuel, services and insurance. LOCATION Situated on the picturesque Hamble River with…

What is it? Brilliant Boats’ Thunderbird 2. What makes it special? It’s the feeling of envy it produces. Or at least if you were watching Thunderbirds in the 1960s, you will be so jealous that somebody other than you had the audacity to live out their schoolboy fantasies by commissioning such a magnificent homage to Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s iconic TV series. Is that all? In case you think those fantasies extend no further than a fancy green paint job, just like its namesake, Thunderbird 2 also carries a personal submarine called, naturally, Thunderbird 4! How fast does it go? Thanks to its moderate weight (circa 72 tonnes loaded) it can reach 22 knots with its twin 900hp Yanmar diesels. But its 7,200 litres of fuel also provide a transatlantic…

A man, or to be politically correct a person, overboard (MOB) can be one of the scariest things for both the casualty and the skipper to cope with. Much has been written about how to return to a casualty, using the infamous Williamson turn, but far less about how to actually get them back on board. Until you’ve tried it in a genuine emergency situation you might be surprised at just how hard it can be. It’s one thing to climb up a bathing ladder in swimming trunks with the boat at anchor in a sheltered bay but quite another to try and get back on board fully clothed with the boat rolling around at sea and being blown about by the wind. Here we look at a number of…

£80 It’s easy to forget that Henri Lloyd makes deck shoes but it’s worth remembering because the ones I’ve had have generally been very good. The Arkansas are the latest deckie from the popular British brand and they come in a variety of colours; blue and brown as shown but also navy and plain old brown. The brown and blue with bright white sole actually looks really smart, even if white isn’t a great colour for the underside of a shoe. The uppers are hand crafted and have a twin-eye lace system while the shoe in general is very comfortable to wear and nice and light. It’s unusual for me to put a deck shoe on and not have to go through a ‘wearing in’ period; but not with the…

MBY columnist Nick Burnham took this shot of Jeanneau’s new mid-range sportscruiser leaping over the wake of the photo boat during the French group’s annual sea trial event in the South of France. You will have to wait until next month’s boat report to find out whether its short but surprisingly high flight ended with a soft landing, suffice it to say that MBY’s boat test editor Jack Haines still seems to be walking normally!…

Folkestone has been named as the host venue for the 2015 UIM Powerboat Racing Championships. The Kent port town will welcome competitors in the 3A, 3B and V24 classes over the weekend of August 14-16. Racing at speeds in excess of 60 knots, the UIM fleet is expected to attract a large crowd of powerboat fans to Folkestone for this free event. The action starts on Friday August 14, when the European championship teams will begin their practice laps, including British V24 class champion Dan Priestly (pictured below). But the powerboat racing begins in earnest at midday on Saturday, followed by the final race at midday on Sunday. The RYA recommends that spectators head for the viewing points at the Harbour Arm, Sunny Sands and overlooking Wear Bay. The 2015…

Limassol Marina has started to welcome its first berth-holders, after a €350m development plan. The new facility in Cyprus features 650 berths measuring up to 115m (377ft). The Cypriot development hopes to attract some of Europe’s largest superyachts. And although the president of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, cut the ribbon at a glitzy ceremony in July 2014, the marina only recently welcomed its first tenants. The new development has been backed by Sunseeker London, which will be opening a new brokerage office in Limassol shortly. And it looks like Limassol will not be the only Cypriot port to benefit from increased investment. Plans are currently afoot for a €220m marina in Ayia Napa.…

THE DESIGN Rumours were rife of the C-Fury motor cat’s exceptional seakeeping abilities but nothing prepared me for what I experienced on a breezy sea trial out of Poole Harbour. The last time I tried to max a similar-sized RIB tender in conditions like this, the hammering I endured ruptured a disc in my spine, so I wasn’t about to make the same mistake again. Understandably, my first few runs were tentative as I came to grips with the handling characteristics of such a small craft powered by such a punchy 70hp outboard motor. Tucked up in the lee of Old Harry Rocks where the water was still relatively calm, the C-Fury behaved impeccably, skating around the photo boat in ever decreasing circles like a miniature F1 racing catamaran. Compared…

HIGHLIGHTS ● It looks great ● High specification ● 30-knot-plus top speed If you can see past the slightly daft name then there is a lot to admire on the GTX50, and the yard has been building large, high-quality monohulls for some time so this is not some start-up chancing its arm at power cats. We think the GTX50 looks great with that low-slung superstructure, wraparound windscreen and spacious outdoor lounging areas. And don’t worry about the lack of guardrails in the rendering, the finished boat has them. The flybridge looks particularly well designed (something that can’t be said for all power cats) with a twin helm, generous swathes of sunpad and lounging areas, a full-size American-style BBQ and an optional hardtop. The lower deck layout grants the owner the…

HIGHLIGHTS ● Three or four cabins ● Bags of deck space ● Value for money If you want a power cat in your range without the hassle of starting from scratch then why not buy an existing cat producer and stick your badge on it? That’s exactly what Bavaria has done with the Rochefort-based catamaran specialists Nautitech – Bavaria has bought the rights to the entire brand and will now be labelling this Nautitech as a Bavaria Powercat 40. The Powercat 40 is, pretty obviously, a sailing catamaran without a mast – that much you can tell by the token sunpad atop the wheelhouse and the telltale sailing cat hangover of twin helm stations in the cockpit. Further clues lie in the drivetrain, which comprises a pair of 40hp Volvo…

There are two types of power catamaran: the type that is essentially a sailing catamaran with its mast lopped off, and the type that is built from the keel up to be a power cat. The new Fountaine Pajot MY37 falls into the latter camp, which is generally a good thing. There is nothing wrong with the former breed but for us motorboaters, the thoroughbred power cats generally offer performance that is more akin to their monohull counterparts. The boat we tested had a pair of Volvo Penta D3 220hp diesels (the largest option available) and was good for a top speed just shy of 20 knots. That’s more than enough for a power cat and significantly better than the de-masted sailing cats, which largely cruise at around the 8-knot…

The two helm stations look great, both are clean and concise in their design Having waxed lyrical about the benefits of a power catamaran being designed from the keel upwards in the previous test of the Fountaine Pajot 37, this Lagoon 630 is essentially a tweaked sailing catamaran, sans mast. Yes, this vast, 63ft 6in by 32ft 10in monster is based on Lagoon’s 620 sailing cat but has been modified with 1ft extensions on the stern and fuller aft sections to account for the heavier engines. It is difficult to appreciate the sheer size of this boat until you see it up close, especially in the marina environment where its broad shape gobbles up a serious chunk of quayside. It is so wide that an Elan Power 30 could almost…

These days motor boat owners tend to get pigeonholed as wealthy individuals swanning about in their big boys’ toys, but we haven’t always been pilloried by the mainstream press. For a brief period in 1940 the motor boat owning fraternity was the toast of the nation after helping to save thousands of terrifi ed soldiers from the bullet-ridden beaches of Dunkirk. Many of Motor Boat & Yachting’s readers played a vital role in the mobilisation of this civilian armada and 75 years on their story deserves retelling. On May 10, 1940, after eight months of relative inactivity between the warring armies in Europe, German troops began their invasion of Holland, Belgium and France. They advanced with such speed that the British Expeditionary Force and the French army were forced back…

What do you want in a superyacht? It’s the ultimate status symbol, so it obviously needs to look the part. It should have room for your extended family, or a big gang of friends, which means at least four guest cabins, plus a fabulous owner’s suite just to remind everyone else on board who’s boss. You’ll need a reasonable number of crew, not just to cook and clean but also to maintain the yacht, run it efficiently and look after everyone’s safety, and if you want to keep them, they must have comfortable living quarters. Does a superyacht also need to be big? And if so, how big? The new Custom Line Navetta 28 can quite confi dently tick all of these boxes. It looks great, offers roomy living spaces…

Email: mby@timeinc.com MERCURY Verado 300hp petrol outboard VOLVO D6-370hp diesel sterndrive YANMAR 8LV 370hp ZT diesel sterndrive Earlier this year, unbelievably good fortune allowed us to get our hands on three identical XO 270s, identical except for their assorted engines. The trio comprised Volvo’s D6-370hp diesel sterndrive, Mercury’s Verado 300hp petrol outboard, and Yanmar’s 8LV 370hp ZT diesel sterndrive, and everything was set for a diesel versus petrol showdown. The battle was fought on four fronts: refinement, performance, running costs, and practical considerations. Let’s just say that the winners of each category were a surprise. REFINEMENT This produced the first surprise. So refined and smooth and quiet was Mercury’s outboard that even with the sunroofs open, with the door closed I could barely hear the engine above the noise of…

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? LIVERPOOL: You’d be forgiven for thinking a graffiti artist has gone to town on the Mersey Ferry, but in fact it’s Sir Peter Blake with his Dazzle Ship. Brighton Marina will be getting more than £1m of investment this year, under new plans revealed by Premier Marinas. The marina chain announced that it has bought a new £800,000 dredger for the 1,550-berth facility, which will be delivered in November. The new dredger will set to work in the 2015/16 winter season and will be able to access restricted areas below and between bridgeheads, pontoons and fingers. What’s more, the pontoons at Brighton Marina will also be refurbished this year, in a programme which will cost Premier Marinas around £250,000. Finally, a review of the security facilities…

HIGHLIGHTS ● Clever forward cockpit ● Sleeps up to 10 ● Modern interior design Robertson and Caine’s range of South African-built Leopard catamarans form the backbone of the Moorings charter fleet, but the latest 51PC – and soon to launch 43PC – are equally well suited to private leisure use. The big innovation on both these craft is a small forward cockpit in front of the wheelhouse. With easy access from the main deck saloon, this neat solution provides a superbly sheltered outside seating area with a great view forward even when under way or moored stern-to in a marina. There has also been a significant step up in style and quality on both these craft. The interior is a vision of modernity with bleached wood cabinets, pale upholstery and…

HIGHLIGHTS ● Cummins pod drives ● Sunken forward cockpit ● Larger models to follow Being built alongside Outer Reef’s new Trident project at the Abel Yachts’ facility in Croatia, the 44 Nautilus will bring Outer Reef’s expertise in highquality, long-range displacement yachts to the power cat table. As well as the natural increase in deck space that comes with a cat, Outer Reef has been clever with the design, too. For example, there is the option to have a hydraulic platform between the two hulls at the stern, making for an ideal tender/MOB recovery system. And a really neat idea is the door in the saloon that opens on to the foredeck, granting access to a sunken dinette, perfect for some private dining if moored stern-to, and a much better…

GOT A QUESTION? EMAIL US! mby@timeinc.com NIMBUS VS WINDY Over the years I’ve gleaned a lot of information on Scandinavian manufacturers from MBY, and have my eye on the Nimbus Nova 31 S, have you tested it? I know the Windy Coho would likely have a better handling hull but the cockpit area is a little tight for our family’s needs. On paper, the Nova 31 S ticks a lot of boxes with its social seating arrangement and two cabins, but what would she be like in the rough stuff? I can’t imagine she would be as good as a Windy but maybe I’ll have to compromise on the handling. Matthew Duce As you know I’m a keen fan of small Scandinavian boats, and indeed have put my money where…

Two more Galileo satellites are now in orbit, following a successful launch on March 27 from the European Space Agency’s space centre in French Guiana on the north coast of South America. The satellites were lifted into space by a Russian-built Soyuz rocket, similar to the one that lifted the two previous Galileo satellites into the wrong orbits last August. That problem was eventually traced to a badly routed fuel feed. The fuel supply to two of the rocket’s thrusters froze, making it veer off course. Both of the two satellites launched in August are now in safe ‘salvage orbits’ that are closer to those that were originally intended, but the European Commission has yet to decide whether to declare them operational for navigation and search and rescue purposes. Finding…

£144 We’ve all seen those booster packs that help jump start a car or boat when the main battery is flat but they’re big, heavy things that you don’t really want to carry around with you unless you know you’ve got a problem. This neat little gadget claims to do the same thing using a tiny power pack that barely looks big enough to power an electric razor let alone a hefty outboard engine. In fact, the Launch Battery Power Mini Jump Start Pack boasts a 12,000mAh capacity, which you charge from the mains then use to recharge all manner of 5V devices such as tablets and smartphones via its two USB sockets and bag of adaptors. Or, with the help of its special socket, boost a standard 12V vehicle…

KEY CRITERIA • Heritage and style • Enduring build quality • Everyday usability Looking for solid-gold heritage? Bertram has it in spades. Florida yacht repairer and boatbuilder Dick Bertram was attending the 1958 America’s Cup race when he spotted a speedboat by a young designer called Ray Hunt, with a radical deep-vee hull. He contacted Hunt and, in collaboration with Jim Wayne (the engineer who came up with the sterndrive concept), the Bertram 25 was born. After much testing, the boat was put into production and a couple of years later in the 1961 Cowes-Torquay race a standard 25 came second. The Bertram 25 then is pretty much the genesis of all small deep-vee planing cruisers. INTERIOR The inside of this almost completed restoration is what yacht brokers like to…

Named after Fairey Aviation’s 1930s fighter biplane, the Fantome is the quintessential practical classic. With all the heritage and style of the famous Fairey Swordsman and Huntsman, the key difference with the Fantome is that it was built out of GRP rather than wood, making it a rather more practical ownership proposition. Launched in 1973 and a development of the aft cockpit Spearfish (also a GRP boat), the first boat scooped the ‘Boat of the show’ award at the London Boat Show. Overall, 36 were built although 25 of them went to Libya to fulfil an order from the General Maritime and Transport Organisation. INTERIOR The centre cockpit Fairey layout sees a U-shaped dinette ahead of the heads and galley in the forward cabin, and a separate aft cabin with…

A flybridge Princess as a ‘classic’? Absolutely, and it ticks all the boxes too. The heritage is there as a very important part of the history of one of the UK’s largest boatbuilders – this was the very first flybridge Princess launched and the first to have shaftdrive. And the age is there, at over 40 years old from 1973. But importantly for a classic, the style is there too. Sharp edged and well proportioned, this is still a very goodlooking boat. INTERIOR A slightly different layout to more modern craft of this type, the Princess 37 puts the guest cabin forward with staggered overlapping vee-berths and the master cabin to port with a double. There are two heads, a decent galley and a large saloon. In fact, there’s a…