August 2, 2013
Rinker 310
Bittersweet – that was our thought after testing Rinker’s new 310. The “sweet” is the boat…really sweet. The “bitter” are the conditions in the marine business in the US (and to a lesser extent in Canada). At first, we felt sorry for the Rinker people because of the timing. There couldn’t be a worse business climate into which a new model should be launched. This is a really appealing boat; Rinker’s 310 would probably do well in any market and in reality, because of the global economic slowdown, the Rinker will have little or no competition.
August 2, 2013
Brenda and Wendell Wilkinson’s 1969 Chris-Craft Commander 47
A Labour of Love and a Love of labour Makes for the Project of a Lifetime. Perhaps the biggest challenge in writing this article is that few of our readers will be able to remember what a 1969 Chris-Craft Commander 47 actually looked like, especially inside. First, it was a rare boat. Back in 1969, a 47 was a real yacht and you had to be a captain of industry, or heir to something impressive to buy one of these. Next, the engines and running gear in 1969 were dramatically different from the latest and greatest models available today and that dictated a hull design that had to be significantly different as well.
July 16, 2013
Regal 46 Sport Coupe with Volvo IPS 500
Regal is a front runner in the new style of sport coupe cruisers. Instead of the old-style of express cruisers that were essentially open cockpit boats with cabin space below and only canvas above, the Regal 46 Sport Coupe has a fully glassed in bridge deck under a particularly big electrically retracting sunroof. Press the button and the Regal 46 sunroof literally opens up as much of the bridge deck as is structurally possible leaving just the outside 10 inches to support the side glass.
July 16, 2013
Beneteau Oceanis 55
The Beneteau Oceanis 55 was unveiled at the Paris Boat Show in December 2012. We had the pleasure of sailing the Oceanis 55 immediately following the North American debut at Strictly Sail – the Miami Boat Show in February. Conceived by Berret Racoupeau Yacht Design with its interior by Nauta Design, this is an elegant vessel, with modern clean lines. It is bright, spacious and comfortable. At 55 feet LOA , 1431 square feet of main and jib and 36800 lbs of displacement this is a lot of boat; a lot of boat that was designed to be sailed comfortably by cruisers.
June 5, 2013
Beneteau Barracuda 9
The new Beneteau Barracuda 9 is set to devour old-fashioned competitors as it redefines the design and performance realities for power boats under 30 feet. Parts of the Beneteau Barracuda 9 may seem familiar, but we can’t recall seeing all these features rolled into one boat. It’s just a wild combination and it’s sure to send other designers scrambling back to their drawing boards. The Beneteau Barracuda 9 is a 29’3” pilot house outboard boat with a 9’9” beam and both an amazing list of clever design features as well as an option list to enable buyers to further customize or personalize their
May 30, 2013
Jeanneau – Sun Odyssey 469
Quality, beauty and performance are the criteria Jeanneau focuses on in the innovation and design of new boats. The 2013 Sun Odyssey 469 is the latest example of Philippe Briand / Jeanneau achievement of those criteria. The 469 comes from the pedigree of the 509, and shares many of the elements of that successful design. The 469 has moderate freeboard, a vertical bow, beam carried aft, a soft chine aft of the beam, and a drop transom. Long lines and a low rise in the coach roof give the 469 an elegant and sleek appearance. Flush hatches and recessed handrails maintain these clean lines.
April 5, 2013
Pursuit OS 315 Offshore – twin Yamaha 300 hp outboards
Depending on what you’re looking for in a boat, Pursuit’s OS 315 Offshore model could either be a quick cruiser or serious fish raiser – better yet, both! The OS 315 Offshore was designed and built to be a serious blue water sport fishing boat, but we reviewed it on Lake Couchiching near the Narrows at Crates Lake Country Boats and we were in relatively protected waters, close to the Trent Severn system and not far from Georgian Bay.
April 5, 2013
Hanse 415
The Hanse 415 is like lots of new production cruising boats in the 40-foot range. It has generous beam carried well aft, a big, comfortable cockpit, dual helms, a walk-through stern, and plumb bows. And like many new cruising boats available today, it’s designed to be both fast and easy to sail—a “performance cruiser”. But as I found out during my test drive off Newport, Rhode Island, last Fall, not all 40-foot “performance cruisers” are created equal. One of the reasons I came to feel the 415 stands out in the crowded field of 40-foot performance cruisers is purely in the eye of the beholder.
March 11, 2013
Beneteau Swift 34
Darned clever those Beneteau people! Rather than just showing their Swift 34 at boat shows or in ads, the company rigged out a boat, named it “The Greatest Loop” and sent it on a 5,137 nautical mile journey of nearly four months traveling the circumnavigation of the Eastern U.S. and Canada commonly referred to as the “Great Loop”. This was no vacation though. According to Laurent Fabre, president of Beneteau in North America, “The success of The Greatest Loop’s adventure is quite remarkable especially given her achievement of such an ambitious schedule which began on May 15, 2012 and successfully concluded on September 6, 2012.
March 11, 2013
Grady-White Freedom 335
You can still go to a car dealership and buy a sedan, but all the excitement is around “sport utility vehicles” that promise to deliver a lot more than just transportation. A decade ago, a new 33 foot power boat was almost certain to be an express cruiser that could take a small family cruising, with overnight sleeping accommodations, a head, a little galley to make some food and honestly, we thought that was good at the time.
March 11, 2013
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 41DS
Jeanneau’s newest deck saloon design takes “bright and airy” accommodations to a whole new level. The new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 41DS is billed as a quick performer with bright, airy, uber-comfortable accommodations. I took a brand-new example for a test sail off Annapolis, Maryland last fall to see how it lived up to its advanced billing. As I’ve seen over the years, the term “deck saloon” can mean different things to different manufacturers.
February 6, 2013
Cruisers Yachts 45 Cantius
There’s nothing like practice to make things perfect. After first introducing the 48 Cantius model in 2010 and really breaking the mold on North American express and sedan cruisers, Cruisers Yachts and parent company KCS International followed up with their 41 Cantius, still a terrific boat but significantly smaller. Both of the first Cantius models embodied a lot of new design philosophy about living spaces and how to really add convenience and enjoyment to the designs. It looks to us like they’ve applied everything they’ve learned to their new 45 Cantius.
February 1, 2013
Coastal Craft 560 IPS
With its new flagship, Coastal Craft stays true to its successful approach, delivering top-quality construction in a high-performance yacht. Reviewing new boats is one of the most enjoyable parts of any marine writer’s life. Not only do we see the latest designs and goodies from a variety of manufacturers, but we get to play Walter Mitty and dream about owning examples of the boats we test.
January 7, 2013
Hunter 40
Hunter’s Evolution Continues. The Hunter 40 is the first product of newly-formed Marlow-Hunter Marine. The evolution of Hunter Marine as a business and on the design front continued with the launch of the new Hunter 40 at last fall’s US Sailboat Show in Annapolis. Clearly, the rallying cry “Life Begins at 40” to celebrate Hunter’s 40th anniversary in 2013 has traction throughout the Hunter organization under new owner David Marlow.
November 21, 2012
Sea Ray 370 Venture
A bold venture yields brilliant results. It’s September 15th and I’m in Knoxville, TN at Sea Ray World Headquarters on what the local guys call the “Island.” Sea Ray owners from across North America have been invited to join the big event and I’ve met several people from Canada — including a couple who came all the way from Vernon, BC and who, by coincidence, happened to be Sea Ray 370 Sundancer owners. I look to them for their reaction to the new 2013 Sea Ray 370 Venture which is being introduced at this event. It is a bold venture, but our impression is that it will yield brilliant results.
November 21, 2012
Cobalt 323
In recent years, we know some of our readers have started to worry about facing that sad day when they finally sit down and admit that they don’t use their big boat very much anymore. But, no one wants to give up boating. As children grow up and move on, the big boat that was your floating summer home, your weekend escape and probably the source of your most memorable family adventures, may just be too big for today’s realities.
September 14, 2012
Prestige 500S
This new entry to the North American motoryacht market packs an impressive amount of living space into a versatile layout. Although the Prestige 500S is new for 2012, I first had a first look in Florida in 2011, and I stepped off with a sense of amazement, anxious to stand back and see the whole boat from a distance to figure out where all the space came from. This is a sedan (or coupe) design that is actually under 50’ (49’ 1” overall). Yet the designers found room for a full-beam master stateroom with standing headroom that has a private ensuite head including a separate shower stall; a guest stateroom forward; a midships double cabin; a second full head; a very spacious salon; a galley on the main level; a generous cockpit and even a tender garage!
September 13, 2012
Sea Ray 370 Sundancer – Axius
How can a $450,000 boat be a bargain? It’s a bargain in pleasure… While the bigger boats seem to get all the press these days, the more manageable but still big 37’ 6” Sea Ray 370 Sundancer will surprise you with great performance and practical accommodations. For the young professional couple, the 370 Sundancer is a romantic getaway boat, with space to host another couple and speed to get from marina to paradise in record time. Have a great weekend, stay till the last minute, then fly back to home port. Of course, your lives will change over time and the 370 Sundancer will easily accommodate a child or two, or three if you fold out the salon sofa.
September 13, 2012
Delphia 47
This Polish-built performance cruiser is an honest boat that’s comfortable, easy to sail and an impressive performer. The sky was overcast, the breeze was steady at 10 knots, and the gunmetal-grey seas were flat during my test sail of the Delphia 47. But after countless boat tests I’ve conducted in similar conditions off Toronto, or Annapolis, Maryland, or Newport, Rhode Island, this one was different: we were sailing on the Baltic Sea, off the Polish city of Gdansk. Poland may not be the first country that comes to mind when you think of sailboat-building traditions, and Delphia Yachts may not be a household name in North America, but as I learned during a fact-finding/boat-testing trip in Poland,
September 6, 2012
Canadian Yachting Tours the New Chris-Craft Launch 36
After more than 130 years of pleasure craft boat building, Chris-Craft is certainly the best known name in boating, at least in North America and the brand is alive and well today, building high-end boats for discriminating customers. We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Chris-Craft president Stephen Heese and he has a clear mission; to build modern fiberglass boats using the best available materials and techniques while maintaining a look that acknowledges the Chris-Craft heritage. He also makes no apologies for the cost of doing things this way. He knows the Chris-Craft customers he is serving are not looking for compromises.
August 29, 2012
Grady White 285 Freedom
Introduced at the New York Boat Show in January 2012, the new Freedom 285 from Grady-White is a brawney big bow rider that features a surprisingly spacious enclosed head under the starboard side console, has 65 square feet (6.04m2) of wide-open cockpit space, an optional electric grill and plenty more features to delight the whole family. Grady’ prefers to call the design a dual console and Grady-White customers are showing great enthusiasm for dual console boats, in large part because this style is so well suited to families who participate in a variety of water sports and leisure activities.
May 22, 2012
Contest 45CS
I always have takeaways when I do a review, a word picture if you like that can, in my mind, summarize a boat and a builder; in this case, it would be rugged, strong and light. Multipurpose might also be a word as the 45CS we sailed on that windy and cold day performed so well that one could easily imagine this boat racing or cruising. Contest sought out Georg Nissen, the experienced German yacht designer, to design the 45CS. Together they have created a wonderful boat – huge down below and performance on the water. The hull shape is true to its designer’s concept; it is easy to steer and easy to manoeuvre.
May 9, 2012
Bavaria 34
Right from the dock, bucking the current, I felt at home in this boat. Great visibility and solid, wonderfully light steering beat the expectations I had. Setting sail with the 135 overlapping genoa, the boats solid upwind tracking (it was easy to find the grove) was evidenced by speeds approaching 7 knots on relative flat sea conditions. In the puffs, the boat was stiff and responded well to the odd sail tweak ajustment. The Elvstrom sails that come standard on this boat are perfect; they fit the spar well and are some of the best sails I have seen in production boats anywhere.
May 9, 2012
Cruisers Yachts 330 Express
For comfortable accommodations, high-flying performance and a dash of flair, the latest express cruisers in the mid-thirty foot range are a sweet-spot in the marketplace. The Cruisers Yachts 330 Express is a great example. Brand new, heavily optioned and 35 feet 6 inches on a beam of 11 feet 8 inches, this boat is still well under $300,000. You can get that down to less than $200,000 if you hold back on the wild stuff. So, what wild stuff is that? How about twin Volvo 8.1 Gi Duoprop stern drive engines with a 50 mph top speed and Joystick control for docking! Our test boat also had underwater lighting, a generator, extra TVs and several other expensive options.
April 23, 2012
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 379
I had a feeling that the Marc Lombard-designed Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 379 would be fun to sail even before I took one out in 20-25 knots of breeze. That’s because I’d sailed the first of the similarly re-designed Sun Odysseys—the 409—last year, and it wasn’t hard to imagine the folks at Jeannueau serving up all the performance and comfort of the 409 in a slightly smaller, 37-foot package. But nothing I’d experienced on the 409 could have prepared me for the sheer joy of sailing the 379 in a stiff wind. And my positive sailing experience was even more remarkable because the model we tested was equipped with the shoal draft wing keel that only draws 4' 11".
April 20, 2012
Zodiac Bayrunner 500
Yacht-Finished Tender or Versatile Cottage Boat. Perhaps the best-known name in inflatable boats is Zodiac. The company has been a pioneer in developing these super-safe little boats for pleasure uses, commercial applications and for the demanding needs of search and rescue (SAR). Hopefully you will never have an “extreme” need for yours, but the virtues and capabilities still pay dividends in everyday use.
April 13, 2012
Hanse 495
Hanse Yachts sure have come a long way since they first appeared in North America in the late '90s. Back then, I thought the boats were small and unremarkable except for the fact that they were built in the former East Germany. But I soon learned that Hanse’s founder and chief visionary Michael Schmidt had big plans. Since then, Hanse Yachts has indeed evolved into one of the highest volume builders in the world. And as I found out during a test sail of the Judel/Vrolijk-designed Hanse 495 on a spectacular late fall day in New England, there are plenty of reasons why Hanse Yachts continue to propagate.
April 3, 2012
Hanse 445
Hanse's move to the main dock in Annapolis really demonstrated its scope of product. It's funny but boats show better when you see their full length and profile. Hanse continues to impress and the 445 is a boat I like a lot. The You expect the twin wheels from a Hanse design, but the self-tacker and huge folding platform deliver extra value. The fact one can has interior options just make this boat a perfect choice for a solid performance cruising boat.
April 2, 2012
Boston Whaler 285 Conquest
We were keen to profile the new Boston Whaler 285 Conquest because it is such an amazingly versatile machine. With twin 225 HP Mercury Verado four-stroke outboard engines, it is very fast, smooth and quiet, and impressively economical too. That turn of speed can get you from a marina to the fishing grounds, or from a downtown marina to the islands in record time. The cockpit is designed for serious fishing, but port and starboard foldout seats in the cockpit sides, plus another across the transom give you plenty of seating for social times too.
March 29, 2012
Dufour 445
With a solid tradition combined with a new outlook, this builder is producing some wonderful new hulls and product. Careful attention to detail below decks with storage options that will surprise man, this boat won my vote quickly. There is no question that this performance cruiser has a renewed commitment to the Canadian market. I am quite sure it will find its way to many marinas and yacht clubs next year. Its workmanship and solid pedigree will ensure it's a contender in the 44' cruising yacht niche.
March 28, 2012
Sea Ray 410
There’s a lot of boat action in the 40-foot class in today’s new boat market and the all new for 2012 Sea Ray 410 Sundancer was designed to be a market leader. We chose the 410 Sundancer partly because it was a brand new model from the industry’s largest builder but also because this has the unique feature of allowing owners to choose from three different exterior designs: a standard sport spoiler model with canvas; optional open hardtop; or, an optional enclosed hardtop with electric front vents and available sunroof. While many new boats feature a fully enclosed hardtop with a sunroof, not everybody wants this. Sea Ray has made sure you can have it your way by offering these three variations.
March 23, 2012
Jeanneau 439
The market niche Philippe Briand wanted to reach with this performance yacht will be excited. This boat allows for lots of customization with its rig and keel options. The wonderful lines and deck plan turned my head. I loved the self-tacking jib and the option for a 140% performance genoa. The interior, surprisingly spacious, is bright and wonderfully comfortable.
March 21, 2012
Jeanneau NC11
Distinctive Styling – Sparkling Performance. First impressions are important – and at first glance the new Jeanneau NC 11 cruiser is impressive and distinctive. Its styling, including a raked railing and house and an attractive two-tone taupe-and-white hull, says “European” and “performance,” maybe even “serious,” as in “This is a serious boat.” “NC” means New Concept and it’s completely appropriate. Properly called a sedan, the NC 11 is closer to a performance sports sedan. It was judged European Powerboat of the Year in 2011.
March 15, 2012
Beneteau Sense 43
The sense line from Beneteau quickly became a benchmark for the industry, so it wasn't a surprise when we saw the 43 for the first time. Capitalizing on the successful 50, the wonderful style and sense (pardon the pun), its wide beam at 14 feet that's carried all the way aft is complemented well with the hard chine concept. We loved the interaction with the cockpit and salon; the cockpit size and scope is amazing.
March 13, 2012
Chaparral 420 Premiere
With a centreline length of 42 feet, Volvo Penta IPS drives as the standard power and joystick docking, Chaparral’s 420 Premier model is both its flagship and a great example of some fresh thinking. For example, taking a page from recent wake sport boat design ideas, Chaparral has given the 420 a bit of “pickle fork” styling to the bow. It’s subtle, but what it does is increase the beam in the forward master stateroom quite significantly. In combination with an innovative queen-sized island berth that electrically folds partly out of the way during the day, this is a surprisingly spacious master stateroom.
March 7, 2012
Tartan 4400
Tartan's robust designs and wonderful attention to detail make their traditional yachts a 'must see' option in our minds. One thing Tartan has always done is to ensure their boats can perform and perform well. Below decks, the ambiance and style is only outdone by the practical convenience and wonderful balance of satin- varnished cherry joiner work.
March 5, 2012
Beneteau Swift 52
Your Personal Ship. The Beneteau Swift 52 feels more like your own personal ship than a boat. It’s very high, wide and looks solid from every angle. Approaching from the stern, you step onto a big swim platform, through a real transom door designed to hold out the sea; you walk over real teak trim everywhere. The aft deck is protected by the bridge overhang with a nice port side seat. A glass cabin bulkhead gives a view astern.
February 24, 2012
Cruisers Yachts 41 Cantius
The introduction of a new yacht is always a time for excitement, but this one was particularly special for me. I had seen the original engineering mock-up of the 41 in the development stages when I visited KCS International Incorporated over a year ago. They are, of course, the manufacturers of Cruisers Yachts and Rampage Sport Fishing Yachts located in Oconto, Wisconsin. I had gone there to test the 48 Cantius – a breakthrough new design and a yacht that has already had impressive sales success.
February 17, 2012
J70
I loved this boat from the first take – a breath of fresh air from J Boats. It's trailerable, easily sailed and its large cockpit, small sail inventory and sailing just for sailing's sake. From trailer to water in 30 minutes, this boat was made to fill a niche long forgotten. It has a vertically lifting bulb keel and carbon fiber single spreader rig. Perfectly sailed by 3-4 and it's got that great J Boat moniker too!