Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i Motor Boat & Yachting

Would you or wouldn’t you? Buy a catamaran, that is. Most people fall into one camp or the other – there rarely seems to be any middle ground. I’ve never really understood why. Granted, catamarans do have a fairly distinctive look about them but that aside they offer a simple set of pros and cons that any potential boat buyer would do well to consider. On the plus side they nearly always use less fuel than a monohull, they are more stable, they rarely slam, they cruise comfortably at any speed from 5-20 knots and they offer bigger deck space, more cabins and better privacy. On the downside, finding a marina berth can be awkward, the cabins are often rather narrow (on smaller models) and they are more expensive to…

And suddenly, it’s that time again! Time to lift Smuggler’s Blues 2 ashore for the winter works, and a few upgrades. Every year the engine is serviced and every other year the outdrive gets a full service (rather than just an oil change) too. What’s interesting is that it always seems to be the other year – the expensive one. I’m sure it’s not, it’s like it always seems to be raining on your birthday. Statistically it can’t be true, but it always feels that way. And this year, of course, it’s that time, the expensive one. Two grand please! Except it’s not two grand, because when they drained the outdrive oil, they discovered that it was emulsified, which suggests that a seal has been damaged. Fishing line around the…

FIRST-TIME BUYER Having just watched your excellent review of the De Antonio 36, I am seriously considering buying one – but I was wondering if you had any other recommendations for a boat of similar size and price point? I’m looking to use the boat on the Intracoastal Waterway in South Florida with my young family. The 36 was appealing for its deck space and ability to entertain, because as a first-time buyer, I have limited knowledge of day boats and south Florida seems to be filled with centre-console fishing boats. Any help you can provide would be immensely appreciated. Jordan Bitove This is a nice simple one. The De Antonio 36 is a fantastic boat for a family on relatively sheltered waters like you describe. It delivers loads of…

DAY 8: 17 JUNE OBAN TO UIST, OUTER HEBRIDES – 70NM Morning came quickly and by the time I came downstairs, Dobbo was already in the lobby of our B&B eager to start his adventure. We headed back to the boat and put on our oilskins, wary of what lay ahead even though it was a beautiful morning. I turned the isolator switch on, expecting to hear the usual bleep as the electronics came to life. Not this morning: nowt, nothing, nada. Must be getting tired, I thought. A couple more flicks on and off, along with a good spray of WD40, and things started bleeping as they should. We were underway just before 6am, taking the north channel out of Oban Bay into the Firth of Lorn. I know this…

There are boats for the inland waterways and there are sea-going craft. But we needed to find one that could do both. As both my husband, Simon, and I are retired, we like to spend five months of the year living and cruising on our boat. Prior to 2020, we’d spend most of that time pottering slowly through the waterways of Holland on our comfortable Dutch steel cruiser. However, since Brexit restrictions came in, limiting us to 90 days in the EU in any 180-day period, we had to find something that would also be capable of crossing the North Sea in reasonable time and comfort. It took us several attempts to find our perfect boat. First we bought a Beneteau Swift Trawler 44 – a lovely boat, originally built…

iAqua is billing its new AquaDart Nano model range as ‘the most powerful sea scooter in the world’, claiming that ‘the range is 50% lighter and 30% smaller than the nearest competitor’. The fastest is the AquaDart Nano 720 Xtreme with a top speed of 24kph, followed by AquaDart Nano 520 Explorer (18kph) and the AquaDart Nano 450 Sport (16kph). And at 22-24kg, they have a pretty impressive power to weight ratio too. iAqua claims 20kph in under three seconds from the 720 Xtreme, that’ll give your arms a stretch! That (relatively) light weight makes launching and recovery that much easier also. Powered by a 4.7kW motor that delivers 720 Newtons of thrust, the 720 Xtreme has an operating time of 65-160 minutes, six power levels and programmable safety depths…

Aston Martin has to be one of the most evocative and coolest brands in the world – a brand to rival Rolex or Gulfstream. And with such a potent brand comes powerful marketing opportunities. Bluntly, people will pay good money for the cachet of the right name. Just how much was first tested when an Aston Martin city car was launched in 2011. Basically a Toyota IQ dressed up with some fancy leather and trinkets, it didn’t look much like an Aston Martin or go much like an Aston Martin – its standard IQ underpinnings barely got above 100mph and wafted gently to 60 in about 12 seconds. Priced at around three times the cost of a normal IQ, Aston claimed it was a ‘thoroughbred city car’ and initially said…

Only Riva could get away with naming its latest flybridge the 82 Diva. Originally a word used to describe celebrated female opera singers, it has long since been hijacked as a catch-all term for what the Oxford Languages dictionary defines as “a self-important person who is temperamental and difficult to please.” We’re not sure that’s quite the tone Riva was hoping to strike but it does reinforce the message that its boats are somehow superior to everyone else’s, even if that comes at the expense of being a little more high maintenance – all that glass, chrome and high lacquered mahogany requires a lot of polishing! However, as with any great diva, the real test is how it performs on the night and in next month’s Custom Yachting section we’ll…

SPICE ISLAND INN PORTSMOUTH This doesn’t happen all that often, but once in a while venue triumphs over menu. In my view that’s the case with the Spice Island Inn, a veritable history lesson of a pub located on Portsmouth Point at the eastern side of the harbour. Operated by Greene King, the Spice Island Inn rubs shoulders with another of Portsmouth’s historic waterfront watering holes, the Still & West, which is run by rival chain Fullers. That, we felt, boded well, for there’s nothing like a bit of competition to raise the bar. Deciding which to take lunch in was a coin-toss moment, but it was the sandwich board outside the Spice Island Inn that sealed the deal. It outlined the pub’s heritage, and fascinating stuff it was too,…

You could easily argue that Axopar has been instrumental in forcing boat builders across a whole range of sectors to try that bit harder with their deck layouts. So spoiled have we become since the advent of this stellar brand back in 2006 that it’s no longer enough for a seat to be a seat, a bulkhead to be a bulkhead or a bulwark to be a bulwark. We want a great deal more than that and increasingly, we tend to get it. So how does Axopar stay ahead of the game? How does it create fresh advantages that enable it to retain its position as the chief mover in the ultra-competitive adventure segment? Well the fact of the matter is that, with a boat like the flagship 45, it…

When South African yard, Robertson and Caine, moved into the world of powercats, it went exactly the right way about it. It already had a fleet of Leopard sailing cats that had proven their worth in the charter market, garnering effusive applause from both punters and press. But rather than adapting its existing platforms for power, it resisted the temptation to cheat and set about designing new hulls from the ground up – and so it was that its Leopard range of power cats went on to receive a fresh slew of awards… In 2020, its Leopard Powercat 53 won the Multihull of the Year award. It followed that up two years later with a smaller 46ft version, which also scooped the top gong at the Best of Boats Awards.…

Knowing how much water is below your boat is vital to safe boating. No-one ever wants K to unintentionally ground their boat but if you are going to do some experiential ‘learning’ then it’s far better to do that on soft mud rather than rocks or even sand, which can be surprisingly hard. Knowing exactly how your depth sound is set to read is key to this – is it showing you depth under the transducer, under the lowest point of the boat or from the waterline? If you’re not sure, best practice is to double check before you set off. I do this using a weighted line with knots at 1m intervals. Once I have confirmed my depth set up, I like to be prudent and place my boat…

A word that comes up time and again when reviewing mid-sized used A boats is ‘compromise’. A smaller cabin here to accommodate a larger galley there; a single heads so you can squeeze in an extra berth. It seems that something always has to give. A boat builder who could crack this maritime conundrum by providing a layout that could satisfy everyone would be onto something truly special, wouldn’t they? Well maybe, but then again… The case in point here is the Broom 415 OS, a twin-cabin cruiser with a wealth of spacious accommodation below decks. Not only is there a whopping split-level saloon with a substantial galley and dinette, there’s also a sizeable full-beam aft master cabin, a more-than-adequate guest cabin, two spacious washrooms and a shower room to…

1 NEW SWIFT TRAWLER 54 These are the first renderings of Beneteau’s all-new Swift Trawler 54. Measuring 56ft 2in with a 16ft 3in beam, it will replace the old ST52 and plug the gap between the current ST48 and Grand Trawler 62. Designed by Andreani Design with naval architecture by Dixon Yacht Design, it features a new ‘Fusion Hull’ that is said to strike an even better balance between fuel efficiency and sea-keeping as well as offering more space. Stylistically, the most obvious feature of the ST54 is the extensive glazing. Like the Grand Trawler 62 it features a tall, reverse angled windscreen that wraps around the front corners and is supported by unusually slender mullions. The glazing extends right down both sides and for the first time on a…

NAVAN S30 & C30 LOA: 33ft 7in (10.23m) BEAM: 9ft 10in (2.99m) TOP SPEED: Up to 55 knots ENGINES: Single 300-400hp or twin 225-300hp Mercury outboard PRICE FROM: S30 €145,000 inc VAT; C30 €158,000 inc VAT CONTACT: www.navan-boats.com When Navan announced its new range of adventure boats last year, our expectations were modest. Surely there couldn’t be room for yet another pair of Axopar wannabes? Being an offshoot of the Brunswick Group’s budget-conscious Quicksilver brand, we also suspected they would be cheap and cheerful. Far from it. In the flesh, they look and feel like premium quality boats and are packed with enough fresh ideas to catch the eye of any budding Axopar owner. The starting point for both the open S30 and pilothouse C30 models is a very substantial…

Towable tubes are a great way for all the family to have fun on the water. Unlike wakeboards or skis, they require very little skill from the rider and, provided the boat driver knows what they’re doing, they can be as safe or as exhilarating as you wish. But choosing the right one isn’t as easy as it sounds. Quite apart from the obvious limitations of size and price, you need to have a good idea of how the shape and style affects its towing characteristics and whether it’s suitable for the size, age and experience of the intended riders. The only way to find out was to put them to the test, so we brought together nine of the most popular makes and models and submitted them to a…

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Solar-powered motor boats needn’t be a pipe dream or the preserve of small, short-range, lake-based runabouts. In fact, Sunreef’s latest creation is a large, luxurious, solar-powered supercat with a limitless cruising range and an ocean-capable Category A RCD rating. And just to be clear, this isn’t a mere prototype concept craft, the 80 Sunreef Power Eco is a bona-fide production model, at least two of which have already been delivered to customers. Now, for the first time, we’ve been able to experience it at sea to see what this extraordinary new craft is capable of. ELECTRICAL SURGE The 80 Eco’s sole means of propulsion are two relatively low-powered 180kW (241hp) electric motors. These are no bigger than a commercial washing machine drum and are buried deep inside each hull at…

Personally I blame Andy, my neighbouring berth holder. Meet Andy and you’d think he’s P a nice guy, which is absolutely true except that he has a habit of leading me, and in particular my wallet, astray. The problem with Andy is that he knows far too much about boating than is good for me. He’s owned more boats than you can shake a stick at, and even renovates them for a living. So when he speaks, I listen… DINGHY ENVY A couple of years ago, I invested in my first dinghy, a 2.3m O2 Lite. We’d watched too many people struggling with heavyweight dinghies over the years and concluded a tender simply wasn’t for us, but then along came the O2 Lite which promised us the ‘boat to beach’…

Spring has sprung. It’s that time of year again – summer is on the horizon and it’s time to tempt a few would-be boaters afloat. Scouring the brokerage sites has thrown up an interesting selection of prime first boat fodder. If you’re happy to take on an older boat then a surprisingly prestige brand swings into focus, a genuine twin-engined sporty Fairline for less than the price of a new Ford Focus. A slightly newer Scandinavian beauty can be yours for not a lot more, smaller of cabin but with the very wallet friendly advantage of a parsimonious small single diesel under the engine hatch. A little more money puts you in charge of a much newer 27ft cruiser with all the expected modern amenities in the shape of an…