Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i Motor Boat & Yachting

SEE MORE mby.com/brig I hesitate to compare boating trends to something as unloved as politics but I can’t help noticing that buyers seem to be deserting the middle ground in favour of the two extremes. Either they seem to be buying bigger boats but cruising around more slowly in them (which explains the shift towards motor cats and long distance trawler yachts) or they’re buying smaller boats and packing them with bigger engines so they can get to the beach first and still be back in time for dinner (witness the explosion of 25-45ft day boats toting multiple outboards and speeds of more than 40 knots). It’s the latter we are focussing on in this issue and what a feast we’ve got for you. As well as two world exclusives…

The Thames Estuary is classic motor boat country and I enjoy cruising here when we get the chance. For us the east coast feels almost as foreign as Holland, with its sandbanks, shoal water and low flat shores. We are used to solid cliffs and plenty of depth, so being out of sight of land with only a few metres under the keel is a strange experience. But the moody atmosphere of the east coast is seductive and I particularly like the River Blackwater, which meets the north side of the Thames Estuary five miles west of Clacton-on-Sea. You approach across a seriously shallow spit and follow the buoys between Mersea Island to starboard and the old Bradwell power station to port. The stark slab-sided power station has been part…

LENGTH 82ft 3in (25.1m) BEAM 19ft 6in (5.97) ENGINES Twin CAT C32 1,600hp/1,900hp TOP SPEED 31 knots PRICE POA CONTACT Hunt Yachts Europe +44 (0)7900 905795; huntyachts.com Hunt Yachts, as a brand, may be unfamiliar in these parts but you can bet your bottom dollar you’ll recognise its lineage. The man responsible for Hunt Yachts’ hull design is C. Raymond Hunt himself, a man credited as a pioneer of the deep-vee hull form and responsible for hulls from iconic brands such as Bertram Yachts and Boston Whaler as well as myriad offshore racers. Hunt’s boats are renowned for their flawless high-speed seakeeping and ability to maintain those speeds in challenging conditions. Owned by the same group as Hinckley (of Picnic Boat fame), Hunt Yachts builds its largest Ocean range in…

Our mission this month is to encourage more boats to cross the English Channel to the magical harbours and anchorages of the Channel Islands area and its adjacent French coasts. While local weekend jaunts are enjoyable, there’s something about an open-sea passage abroad that feels like proper cruising. Yet there’s a crucial difference between coast-hopping and being out of sight of land even for a few hours, especially for inexperienced navigators. The main anxiety is being caught offshore by worsening weather. All skippers worry about this, but first-timers can’t help wondering whether the gods are just waiting for a chance to pounce with a freshening wind or creeping fog. You may also be nervous about crossing the shipping lanes. Passage planning helps put these fears in perspective, not necessarily military…

CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD TBS BOATS PENTON HOOK Although the judging panel decides the winner, it bases its decision on the quality and quantity of the nominations it receives from members of the public. The competition was as stiff as ever but there was one company that shone through. Chris Manners and the team at TBS Boats Penton Hook clearly pride themselves on looking after their customers before, during and after the sale or purchase of their boats. The following are just a small selection of customer commendations we received. “Their commitment to customer service is based upon a long-term relationship built upon mutual trust and understanding of their clients as individuals.” “Their after-sales service and attention to detail has been exemplary. Nothing is too much trouble and they have created…

PART FOUR JOHN BOYLE is a documentary maker. His most recent film is about the sunken Japanese fleet in Chuuk lagoon. Eddie Rourke is a freelance television producer. Elliott Harrison is a final year student at Falmouth University who took a summer job with Shark Bay Films. With a new crew of Eddie Rourke and Elliott Harrison joining us for the next stage of our Baltic adventure we fly back to Helsinki to catch up with my boat. But where is it? When booking the taxi to take us from the marina to the airport at 4am a month ago, the lady in the marina office stressed to the taxi company that it was the marina by the casino. The taxi found us easily enough so I paid little attention…

I ‘ve been looking forward to this day for years now. From the moment I first heard about Cox’s plans to build a 300hp diesel outboard engine, I’ve been begging them to let me be the first journalist to test it and finally it appears that my persistence is about to pay off. Well, almost. What I had hoped would be an extensive sea trial with me at the helm has gradually been wound back to a ride alongside the chief test engineer on a lake but having come this far I’m not going to pass up the opportunity. I can still find out whether Cox’s claims are correct about it being not only the most powerful diesel outboard engine ever built but also one that’s smooth enough, quiet enough…

Backing into a berth is rapidly becoming an essential skill for motor boat owners. In the Mediterranean almost all berths are arranged for stern-to mooring and even in the UK the height of many modern craft makes it impossible to get on or off anywhere other than the bathing platform. It’s not really that different to entering a berth bow first, however, the shift of pivot point and more restricted view astern can make it harder to master. The same principles apply; go as slowly as you can whilst still maintaining control and get the boat balanced on the wind and tide as you approach, so that if it’s not going to plan you can stop and start again. I like to get a view of the whole berth before…

There’s a great video on YouTube for Volvo Penta’s new Easy Connect system. The engine builder’s latest software allows you to display live engine telemetry on your tablet or smart phone via WiFi and the video shows a young family blasting along on a sportscruiser not unlike my Jeanneau 805 Leader (more modern but not as nice, obviously). Dad’s at the wheel and mum is showing their young daughter the Easy Connect display on her phone. Is she really being entertained by remotely monitoring the oil pressure as they blast along at 25 knots? Of course, that’s not all it does. It will track, save and allow you to share your route (a little like those Strava apps that people use to show off their latest run on Facebook), show…

A VW camper van on the water’ was the thinking behind the Haines 26, according to the manufacturer’s managing director Justin Haines, who describes the boat as a ‘perfect weekender’. Built at the family-run Haines yard in Catford, Norfolk, the Haines 26 is the smallest boat in the range but every bit the quality build of its larger siblings. INTERIOR Two layouts were offered, one with a small single cabin to starboard and a double forward and the other the open-plan layout you see here. In reality, every boat built so far has had the open-plan option, which puts a neat dinette at the front of the cabin and a settee/berth opposite the galley, which pulls out to create a double berth creating sleeping inside for four people. The wood…

THE BRAND Bayliner is arguably one of the most famous manufacturers of small, affordable powerboats. For decades, it has been the go-to brand for family boaters with limited experience and/or modest budgets and is the most prolific name in the Brunswick boatbuilding portfolio. As well as providing market-leading warranties as standard, it has the industry’s lowest warranty claim rate and the industry’s highest levels of customer satisfaction. The brand loyalty is clear and Bayliner has won the Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index Award from the National Marine Manufacturers Association an unprecedented seven years in a row. THE RANGE Bayliner’s range remains wonderfully accessible. At its entry point, the affordable Element line starts with the E5 bowrider, which can be on the water for less than £25,000 and continues with the…

THE BRAND If you’re into high-performance cars you’ll almost certainly have heard of BRABUS. The German company has been transforming Mercedes-Benz cars into ultra exclusive high-performance supercars for over 40 years. Now the brand has created a similar synergy in the marine world, aiming to ‘redefine luxury day boating through a range of new and exciting yachts’. In 2018 BRABUS teamed up with Axopar to create BRABUS Marine, producing the BRABUS Shadow range of boats with boosted performance and seriously up-specced finish, detail, technology and appearance. All are hand crafted, enabling an owner to specify a very high level of personalisation. Special limited-edition boats allow even more exclusivity for a select group of buyers. The first BRABUS Shadow 800 ‘One of Twenty’ sold out in two weeks. The Shadow 500…

THE BRAND Cormate boats have their roots in Hydro Design, a Norwegian company originally set up in 1985 by Egil Ranvig to build high-performance waterski boats and offshore powerboats that went on to win countless offshore races including European and world championships. Cormate boats tap straight into that DNA, being designed and developed by Hydro Design AS, with on-water testing of prototypes carried out at its service and test centre at Fredrikstad in Norway. The boats use very deep vee hulls for incredible seakeeping and handling. But beyond that, the defining characteristic of the brand is stunning aesthetics, with profiles that are low, sleek and elegant. THE RANGE The U-23 is the starting point of the Cormate range, and comes with either inboard or outboard power. Although it is the…

THE BRAND Though it was only established in 2005, Grandezza is very much a brand defined by its heritage. With its headquarters in Kokkola, at the spiritual heart of the Finnish boat building industry, its craft are proudly designed and built in Finland to satisfy a domestic market that is arguably more demanding than any in the world. With the company’s expertise focused on producing sports boats with decent overnighting accommodation, these are unashamedly premium products, with originality of design, quality of construction, seafaring excellence and everyday practicality at the core of every model. THE RANGE Grandezza’s fleet is remarkably focused. Distributed in the UK by Gibbs Quay Boat Sales, it comprises just seven sports boats in five hull lengths from 25-40ft. At the top end are a 40ft Flybridge…

THE BRAND Since its emergence in California in 1982, Malibu has grown to become the world’s largest builder of watersports towboats. It has masterminded some conspicuous world firsts, including the Power Wedge hydrofoil, which automatically adjusts the attitude of the boat, and the Surf Gate, which enables users to shape a surf wave. The latest incarnations of these innovations, coupled to a highly customised in-house approach, has put Malibu at the industry’s forefront. With more than 500 employees at a pair of manufacturing facilities in Tennessee and California, and another in New South Wales, Australia, half of all towboats around the world are now built by Malibu. THE RANGE While Malibu also manufactures an affordable five-strong fleet of watersports’ boats from 20-24ft under the Axis brand name, its premium range…

THE BRAND Originally founded in Michigan as Ray Industries in 1959, Sea Ray has forged ahead during the intervening years with innovations such as the early use of fibreglass, the integration of the swim platform and the incorporation of automotive styling motifs. By the 1980s, it had a workforce of 4,000 and was constructing boats at a rate of nearly 30,000 a year – and today, as it marks its 60th anniversary, Sea Ray remains an iconic American sports boat name. With its established headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee, now supplemented by additional production facilities in Poland, it is the industry’s most highly awarded boating brand, distributing its fast, sporting family boats to more than 80 countries around the world. THE RANGE It might be one of the world’s most prolific…

In January 2018 we received spy shots of a mysterious sportsboat snapped outside one of the sheds at the Ben Ainslie Racing facility in Portsmouth. This sparse prototype had a garish, multicolored hull wrap and a pair of sterndrives but little else to distinguish what it was or who was responsible for it. As more details came to light it transpired that the usually conservative Princess Yachts had been working alongside BAR Technologies and Pininfarina to create a carbon fibre sportsboat capable of 50 knots and fitted it with a pair of active foils. Almost exactly a year since we were allowed a brief drive of that futuristic prototype we were invited back to Plymouth to sea trial the finished boat. Does it live up to expectations? Find out in…

I always seem to be cursed whenever it comes to launching or recovering at the start or end of the season. For one reason or another I never make the launch or lift-out dates. Last year my lift out was cancelled due to the lack of an outdrive after The Crab Pot Incident, the year before it was a flat tyre on the travel lift. So it was no surprise that when launch date arrived, it was blowing a gale. No way was I going to attempt to bring the boat back up the coast to Torquay from the River Dart, so we waited a few days but the wind was still howling. However, the boat blocked in by SB2 was due to launch that afternoon and the forecast was…

LENGTH 68ft 5in (20.87m) BEAM 19ft 6in (6.0m) ENGINES Twin CAT C18 1,136hp TOP SPEED 25 knots PRICE FROM €3.07m ex VAT CONTACT Horizon Yachts Europe +34 971 673 508; www.horizonyacht.com t’s been almost two years since we first saw the renderings of the V68 and it’s encouraging to see that in transitioning from prototype to production it has stayed to true to the eye-catching original concept. It is a boat with immediate presence thanks to the plumb bow, upright topsides, prominent wheelhouse and muscular shoulder line. It looks to be solid beneath the surface, too, with substantial mouldings, chunky guardrails around the decks and a robust, traditional interior. Horizon knows a thing or two about building boats; it has in fact just completed the first hull of its flagship…

LOA 55ft 2in (16.8m) BEAM 14ft 8in (4.48m) ENGINES Volvo Penta IPS800 TOP SPEED 40 knots PRICE from $1.6m ex VAT CONTACT Boat Showrooms +44 (0)2380 458990; www.palmbeachmotoryachts.com With the Open it looks as though Palm Beach has achieved the impossible and made the GT50 even more gorgeous. The hardtop Express version is a handsome machine but the Open, with its exposed cockpit and faultlessly clean profile is a thing of rare beauty. You can practically count the number of true open sportscruisers of this size on one hand. Admittedly, it’s a pretty niche market that will want a boat of this size without even a T-top, but clipping along at 40 knots, courtesy of the twin 600hp Volvo Penta diesels, with nothing to cocoon you from the wind and…

The cockpit is a brilliant space, packed with seating and thoughtful details Having not been in the cockpit of a fighter jet during a full lock turn I can’t say for sure what it feels like but it can’t be that dissimilar from doing the same aboard the Greenline NEO. Under instruction from our snapper Richard to “crank it hard over”, the sea looms up close enough for me to lean over and dip my hand in it as I pin the throttles and flick the wheel hard to starboard. We are in a near deserted Solent on a warm spring day and the NEO is in its element. On the cruise over from the Hamble we clocked a comfortable 40 knots and at 25 knots the engines melt into…

The nose of the Brig Eagle 10 encapsulates its ethos very neatly. Rather than the bow reaching a sharp point, it is squared off, almost as if it ran into a wall at some point. What this gives, of course, is useable internal beam right to the tip of the boat rather than rendering the last couple of feet of the front unusably narrow. As a result there is room for a comfy seat over a hatch that hides the standard fit Lewmar electric winch. It’s an ethos that extends through the whole boat. At 3.4m wide, it’s not only far beamier than the ultra high performance but similar length Goldfish 29 Sport, for example, it’s wider even than a Goldfish 36 Supersport. The tubes are fat too, adding more…

What do Sunseeker, the SBS and parrots have in common? The answer is a 76-year-old Italian powerboat racer by the name of Fabio Buzzi. At an age when most competitors have long since hung up their racing boots in favour of comfy slippers, Buzzi is not only setting new speed records (he broke the record for diesel powered boats last year), he’s also supplying patrol boats to 43 different military corps and designing and building the hull of Sunseeker’s new superboat – the Hawk 38. Oh, and he’s obsessed with parrots. Really obsessed. His company logo is a parrot head and one entire office at FB Design’s factory near Lake Como in Italy is a giant aviary in which colourful parrots fly around, preening, squawking (in Italian of course) and…

SCANSTRUT ROKK WIRELESS ACTIVE Last year Scanstrut brought us wireless charging pads that allow a Qi certified wireless-charging compatible phone to be charged just by placing it on a pad. The company has now taken this technology one step further. By installing it in a mount, it has created a perfect device to clip your phone into, keeping it handy and safe while charging it. It operates via spring-loaded rubber-edged jaws. Push the bottom one down with the base of your phone and the top one rises. Once there’s enough space to lie your phone flat, release the pressure and the two jaws close gently to grip it. Due to this inbuilt adjustability it will fit any phone. Hard-wired to either 12V or 24V supply, it’s IPX6 waterproof rated so…

It’s like a Porsche 911. It’s a very high-performance machine, but like the Porsche, it’s underscored by quality, practicality and most of all, the fact that you can use it every day.” Lawrence pauses for a moment and smiles, “but it would be a 911 Convertible.” We’re aboard his Windy 39 Camira in Elizabeth Marina in St Helier, Jersey on a bright spring day. It’s a boat Windy launched in 2014, and with the benefit of a 40ft sportscruiser already in the range (the 40 Maestro) taking care of family-friendly cruising duties, the company was free to create a more performance oriented long weekender. “It’s pure Windy,” Ben Toogood, brand manager at Berthon and responsible for Windy sales, tells me in a conversation that bubbles with so much enthusiasm that…

After years of offshore boating, a friend of mine relocated due to work and took up inland waterway boating instead. He described it as the most relaxing form of boating in the world. Navigation is easy, you just need to decide whether to go upstream or down. Short of a full-blown gale the weather conditions are largely irrelevant (and there’s not much stopping you boating in a gale, it’s just getting on and off the mooring that might be a little lively). But best of all was his description of the lack of peril. “If your engine breaks down, you just drift into the bank, tie up and either fix it or wander off to look for help. Even if it sinks, you’ve only got to climb onto the roof…

If you’re going to cruise inland, why not buy a proper narrow boat? The name gives away the build location of this one – Aintree river boats are constructed a mile away from the famous Grand National steeplechase in Merseyside. Rather than a model range, Aintree will supply a boat in any length up to 70ft and to different levels of completion, from a basic hull and deck requiring fitting out through to a finished vessel. And those lengths can be had in two widths. Standard narrowboats are 6ft 10in wide. The wide beam boats from Aintree are 12ft across, gifting massively more interior volume at the expense of not being able to access some of the narrower inland waterways. INTERIOR That wide beam really makes itself felt with ‘home…

I’m not just a fan of sports boats, I actually own one. So it’s hardly surprising that I am certain you can have as much fun on a simple outboard powered sports boat costing £25,000 as you can on a 70ft motoryacht costing 100 times as much. It may not be quite as luxurious but as a first step onto the boating ladder nothing beats the buzz of an open sports boat. That’s why we’ve dedicated this supplement to these sub-10m (33ft) thrill machines. With so many different craft to choose from, we felt that a sponsored buying guide, which gathers all the essential information on makes, models and prices into one easy-to-read supplement, would be the perfect starting point. And to help narrow things down we’ve picked one model…

THE BRAND Established in 1884 in the Bay of Biscay, Beneteau is a huge presence in the world of compact powerboats. Even if you exclude the company’s premium Monte Carlo line and its 14-model sailing range, it still oversees a fleet comprising 30 boats across six product lines from 17-50ft. As a core part of the Beneteau Group, which also owns Jeanneau, Four Winns, Glastron and Wellcraft, it is able to leverage its industrial muscle to introduce new models in line with the latest market trends. Whether you favour fishing, cruising, day boating, watersports or overnighting, Beneteau has a platform that can satisfy your needs. THE RANGE While Beneteau builds fast weekenders from 20-30ft in both the Antares outboard-powered pilothouse line and the multi-purpose Barracuda range, the most affordable and…

THE BRAND Christopher Columbus Smith built his first boat, a wooden punt, in 1874. As demand grew, Chris joined forces with his brother Hank to begin building boats full time and so Chris-Craft was born. In 1927 Jay Smith, Chris’s son, became president and general manager, a position he held for 31 years and it was under his leadership that Chris-Craft developed into the world’s largest builder of mahogany powerboats. In 1955 Chris-Craft built its first fibreglass boat and in 1971 its last mahogany boat. The marque as we know it today was developed after the company was bought by an investment group in 2001. It really understood the value of the company’s history and developed the current Heritage range of high-quality boats that riffs off the extensive back catalogue,…

THE BRAND Greenline Yachts is famous for its pioneering hybrid concept. It’s based on an electric propulsion system, driven by energy derived from solar power and from a lightweight lithium polymer battery bank. When combined with the company’s Super Displacement Low-Drag Hull, this technology is able to reduce fuel demands by up to 75% compared to conventional planing craft – and it also brings radical upgrades in refinement: not just in terms of noise, but also in terms of exhaust emissions and reduced wake. Founded in 2008 and owned by Vladimir Zinchencko since 2015, the company now builds a complete range of hybrid and/or diesel powered boats from the original Greenline 33 up to the OceanClass 65 fast trawler. But if Greenline is better known for sustainability than for sport,…

THE BRAND Named after ‘the godfather of deep-vee hulls’, legendary powerboat designer Renato ‘Sonny’ Levi, Levi Boats are built at a traditional Italian shipyard on the Venetian lagoon where Gilberto Crosera and his small team of artisan boat builders create exquisite vessels, each one hand-crafted to order. Every boat takes up to ten months to construct – with annual production numbers in single figures, exclusivity is guaranteed, as is quality and attention to detail. Opportunities for customisation are almost limitless, with each craft built to its owner’s specific requirements. THE RANGE Levi Boats takes more than just its name from the great Sonny Levi. Each boat is based on a Levi-designed hull, guaranteeing exceptional seakeeping and race boat handling. The Levi Corsair is a close replica of a successful 1960s…

THE BRAND A Swedish company, Nimbus originated in Gothenburg when it started building 26ft motor cruisers in 1968. Swedish tennis ace Björn Borg helped put Nimbus on the world map in the 1980s when he owned and promoted a Nimbus 800 Turbo – the company still proudly displays one of his signed tennis racquets in its offices. Today, Nimbus still stands for traditional Scandinavian boating values of all-weather versatility, build quality, functionality, safety and reliability. But while the fundamentals remain, the design and styling has moved on significantly with fresh modern looks that encompass holistic Scandinavian design. THE RANGE Nimbus builds a nine-strong range of practical boats topped by a 40ft flybridge cruiser, including several all-weather coupés and the sleek new T11. Its range of 9m (30ft) sportsboats encompasses a…

LENGTH 35ft 1in (10.7m) BEAM 9ft 8in (3m) ENGINES Twin 300hp/350hp outboards TOP SPEED 45 knots PRICE FROM £222,000 inc VAT CONTACT RBS Marine +44 (0)1243 512101; www.rodman.es Rodman’s commercial arm does a roaring trade so it’s no great surprise that the leisure boat side of the business has been on the back burner of late. This 33 Offshore is a smart example of the crossover between the two sides because by borrowing the hull of its 33 Patrol and topping it with a leisure-focused, walk-around deck, the yard has created an all-new model with a proven hull shape but also a significant reduction in development costs. There is absolutely nothing wrong with borrowing a hull from such a well-proven commercial craft – indeed it is the backbone of many…

LOA 26ft 7in (8.1m) BEAM 8ft 2in (2.5m) ENGINE OPTIONS Single 200–350hp outboard TEST ENGINE Suzuki 350hp TOP SPEED ON TEST 44.8 knots FUEL CONSUMPTION at 20 knots 38.6 L/H DISPLACEMENT 2.05 tonnes (light) FUEL CAPACITY 350 litres PRICE FROM £68,947 inc VAT PRICE AS TESTED £101,556.36 inc VAT CONTACT Bates Wharf +44 (0)1932 571141; www.beneteau.com Though the engaging showroom sparkle of Beneteau’s current Flyer line may imply otherwise, the Flyer has been around in one form or another since the 1980s. It’s a name woven deep into the Beneteau narrative, but it wasn’t until 2013, on the 30th anniversary of the product line, that it was treated to the simplified, user-friendly structure we see today. In terms of the current fleet, that structure now involves four hull sizes from…

LOA 36ft 1in (10.99m) Beam 11ft 5in (3.49m) Draught 2ft 8in (0.85m) Displacement 4.85 tonnes (light) Fuel capacity 800 litres Water capacity 400 litres RCD B for 8 people Designer J&J Design & Greenline Yachts COSTS & OPTIONS Price from £189,539, inc VAT Silvertex upholstery £3,817 Artificial teak deck £7,592 Electric (12V) marinet toilet £1,254 Cockpit wetbar £3,491 Zipwake interceptors £3,163 Hydraulic bathing platform £18,436 Green comfort pack £5,072 (4 x extra service batteries/12V battery charger/12V/500W inverter) Navigation pack £8,072 (Twin Raymarine Axiom 12in/DTS800 smart transducer) PERFORMANCE Test engines Twin Mercury V8 250. 250hp @ 6,000rpm. 4.6-litre, 8-cylinder petrol Speed in knots. Calculated figures based on real-time readings, yours may vary considerably. Figures allow for 20% reserve. All prices include VAT @ 20%. 60% fuel, 0% water, 3 crew +…

Having been fascinated by batteries since he was a small boy and a keen sailor for a similar length of time, it was probably always inevitable that one day David Warren would have an electric-powered boat to explore his home waters around Tasmania. In 2008, he built his first electric vehicle: a microlight with a hang glider wing. This was followed by an electric car conversion and an electric quad bike, which he built for a sheep farmer, before he was introduced to Andy Gamlin who, at that time, was running the Wooden Boat Centre – a boatbuilding school which also does commercial work – in Franklin, just south of Hobart. Both of them were interested in electric powered boats and so they came to an agreement whereby Andy would…

Powerboat racing may seem a world away from the type of cruising most of us do but the sportsboats we enjoy today wouldn’t be half as good as they are without the racers, designers and builders whose heroic efforts helped shape them. Auto-boat’ racing, as it was originally known, traces its history back to the late 19th century and for a brief period was even an Olympic sport, with races staged off the Isle of Wight in 1908. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s and 1970s that the sport exploded in popularity as developments in engineering, materials, speed, safety and propulsion really took off. Racing was the anvil on which these promising technologies were forged. So what are the ten most significant events, inventions and people that have contributed to today’s impressive…

My Dad’s love of fishing introduced me to boating. During the quieter summer months before the cod arrived, he would ferry us in his small fishing boat from Eastney ferry pontoon to Sinah Sands to play on the sandbanks at low tide and look for cockles while he retreated to his mooring for a quiet spot of fishing. Once he left it far too late to come back for us by which time the sandbank had disappeared and my Mum was up to her waist in water, cradling me, a toddler, in her arms. It wasn’t until I was around eight years old that I really got the bug for it. By then I was helming my Dad’s Newhaven Sea Warrior 27 from its swinging mooring in Langstone Harbour out…

Built by the Smelne yard in the Netherlands, this steel cruiser is badged a Stevens (rather than Smelne) which means it was built to a high UK-specific standard specification and is British Safety Scheme compliant from the off. Being a Smelne built boat, a huge amount of personal customisation would have been available to the original owner; no two Smelne boats are ever exactly the same. INTERIOR With two permanent vee berths tucked way in the fore cabin (an infill turns these into a double berth) and the rest of the beautifully trimmed interior given over to living space, this is a terrific day cruiser or a great escape boat for a couple. There’s a decent sized, well equipped galley on the lower deck opposite the heads, leaving the main…

Halvorsen has a fascinating history. Founded originally by a Norwegian in 1870, the family ended up building boats in Australia where they’re still based. The boats, however, are now built in China. The 32 shows more than a nod to ‘down east’ styling, with its classic simulated planking to the topsides, sweeping sheer lines and traditional superstructure with peaked overhang to the deck saloon roof. INTERIOR Halvorsen has resisted the temptation to cram in two cabins. The result is a wonderfully indulgent boat for two with a big centreline double berth in the forward cabin and separate toilet and shower compartments. Interestingly, the main deck is a galley aft layout, way before these became fashionable, tucked behind the helm on the starboard side. The port side of the deck saloon…

THE BRAND Axopar burst onto the marine scene in 2014 with a bold new look and a user-friendly ethos. The founders of the company had been heavily involved in Finnish boat marques Aquador, XO and Paragon (hence the name) and they brought all of that considerable experience to bear, developing ‘clean sheet’ concepts unlike anything seen before. The focus is on usability, with a choice of versatile cockpit layouts that stretch the full length of the boat and a plethora of useful practical details. But underpinning each model is a 20-degree narrow entry twin-stepped hull that combines high performance with exceptional seakeeping. The first model launched was the Axopar 28 and the range was bookended in 2016 by a smaller 24 and a flagship 37. To date, Axopar has sold…

THE BRAND Founded in 1958 by Richard Fisher and headquartered in Edgewater, Florida, Boston Whaler is now owned by the Brunswick Corporation (the largest marine manufacturer in the world) and employs about 1,000 people, mostly based at the Florida factory. And whilst the range has flourished beyond imagination in those 61 years, the brand stays true to its roots, still building tough, high quality, unsinkable craft. The secret is Unibond Construction, the method of build for every Boston Whaler to this day, providing not just that legendary unsinkability, but also contributing to the strength of the boat and improving the ride quality. And when Boston Whaler claims unsinkability, it really means it. Adverts and videos of Boston Whalers sliced in half are legendary across the company’s 60-year history. More recently,…

THE BRAND Established in Kansas in 1968 and distributed in the UK solely through Gibbs Quay Boat Sales, Cobalt is a big name in the world of high-end bowriders. Of the 19 craft in its current fleet, no fewer than 17 of them are fast, open, bowrider-style sports boats – and while we tend to associate American bowriders with lightweight, fair-weather recreation, Cobalt’s take on the form is very different. The brand is best known for serious inboard-powered mariner’s platforms of robust build, substantial scale and significant prestige. Small wonder that its commitment to engendering pride in ownership has been validated by repeated successes in JD Power’s customer satisfaction surveys. THE RANGE Alongside its three outboard-powered SC Series bowriders from 23-30ft in length, Cobalt also builds four Surf Series boats…

THE BRAND Founded by Henri Jeanneau as an artisan builder of wooden boats in 1957, Jeanneau’s progress over the last 62 years has been extraordinary. Having experimented with early fibreglass powerboats in the late 1950s and diversified into sailboats in the mid ’60s, the company has grown to become one of the most important leisure boat builders in the world. Today, from its production plants in France, America and Poland, it builds 16 sailboat models and 35 motor boat models (11 inboard and 24 outboard), distributing them in more than 80 countries around the globe. If its numbers are remarkable, its clarity of focus is equally striking. Now, as ever, the Jeanneau fleet is dedicated to making family recreational boating easy by means of versatile designs, first-to-market innovations and ergonomics…

THE BRAND Nerea is a brand new company based in Fano, Italy and founded by Dario Messina to build the kind of small but bespoke sportsboats that Italy was once so famous for. Having worked for a number of the big Italian yards such as Ferretti, Cayman and Dominator, he set up his own business involved in the supply and assembly of highend yachts for Custom Line, Riva and Pershing. However, as both an ambitious entrepreneur and a passionate creator, his dream was always to design and build a boat of his own that reflected his desire for a smaller but equally high-quality sportsboat. He enlisted the help of experienced naval architects Alessio Battistini and Davide Bernardini of the ideaeITALIA design studio and together created Nerea Yacht’s first offering, the…

THE BRAND Based in Poland (but part of AH Parker & Sons GB Ltd), Parker was a well-established builder of open and cabin RIBs of up to 16m (52ft) before broadening its range into sports, leisure and fishing boats. Today Parker’s boat range encapsulates great value, no-nonsense practical designs incorporated into modern, goodlooking boats. The company says that it is committed to introducing new models every year using feedback from its dealers and customers to tailor the boats to current user demand. THE RANGE Parker builds a range of practical, good value outboard-engine powered craft from 20-36ft. Entry level encompasses centre console and bowrider sports boats, while peche promenadestyle fishing boats and wheelhouse cabin cruisers provide weatherproof internal helm positions in boats from just 6.6m (21ft). Further up the range,…

THE BRAND Established in 1985 by Enza and Antonio Pane, Salpa Nautica is an Italian family yard that aims to bring highcalibre boats to market at competitive prices, courtesy of carefully optimised production processes. Every Salpa RIB, day boat and cruiser is built with a level of care designed to ensure long-term reliability and minimal maintenance. Having added the Laver shipyard to its assets in the ’90s and extended its European distribution network, Salpa continues to take pride in the seaworthiness of its hulls and in the painstaking manipulation of internal proportions to maximise habitability. THE RANGE The current Salpa line-up is impressively varied, with 11 models split into three general product lines. There are four luxurious Med-style RIBs from 20-33ft, known very aptly as the Soleil line. There are…

THE BRAND Windy dates back over 50 years to 1966, when it was established by Hugo Vold. The son of a fisherman, he named the brand in honour of his father’s sturdy fishing boats which always carried the name ‘Vindy’. Vold wanted his Windy boats to be known for their seaworthiness and high quality construction and finish, characteristics that have epitomised every model ever since. Built in Västervick, Sweden and Ostróda in Poland, Windy’s seven-strong range stretches from 26ft through to 46ft, all built with renowned Scandinavian build quality and a strong focus on performance, efficiency and safe, secure seakeeping. In addition, the company’s Yacht Projects division build bespoke high-performance superyacht tenders up to 52ft. THE RANGE Windy has its roots in high-quality weekenders and boasts a huge back catalogue…