One Dead as Riva Yacht Collides with Fishing Boat in Mallorca

One person is reported to have been killed after a twenty meter Riva sport yacht, titled m/y La Luna under German flag collided with a small outboard powered fishing boat near Cala Bona, to the East of the Balearic Island of Mallorca, on 22:00 of Friday 23 August. The small fishing boat is reported to have had three persons onboard, with the deceased twenty year old Guiem Comamala falling over board with the collision, and then hit by the propellers of the larger yacht causing his death. The Riva was reported helmed by Dennis Viehof, 34 year old German, and son of the owner of the yacht La Luna. According to the testimonies of the skipper and guests, they did not even notice about the collision, and entered harbour in Porto Cristo, planning to leave the following morning, that is until the yacht was arrested and detained.  According to a separate witness, the yacht also nearly hit another boat that night, and described the guest onboard as drunk and partying, something which those onboard have denied. Dennis the skipper of La Luna that night is being investigated by the Guardia Civil for alleged reckless homicide and failing to stop to help the victim.

The Riva in this collision is a 66 Ribelle model as designed by Mauro Micheli and produced since 2018.  The Riva 66 Ribelle came out as a replacement to the 63 Vertigo.

New Model: Princess S80

Princess have in beginning August launched the S80, replacement of the S78 and new largest sport yacht and flagship of the S series.  Designed by Pininfarina and Bernard Olesinski the sleek looking S80 sees Princess return after twelve years with a sport yacht over 24 meters in length since 2012, which was the last year the V85-S was produced.  With the S80 today Princess has an incredible varied triumvirate of eighty foot offers, from the more comfort focused X80, to the classic euro flybridge styled Y80, to this new sleek looking S80.  The Princess S80 is an S range which means sport bridge up top, offering three separate and different lounging dining areas; traditional aft deck for a more covered experience which also includes the main dining area, sport bridge, and fore deck.  The living of the S80 is all located on the main deck, with an astern galley layout, a bit unusual for sport yacht of this size, although the outgoing S78 also offered this.  The Princess S80 offers eight guests accommodation in four suites; with a master stateroom at midships, forward VIP suite, and two guests cabins.  A crew cabin is located aft to port side, with a tender garage located to starboard.  The Princess S80 is powered by twin Man 2000hp for estimated top speeds up to 35 knots.  At some point Princess was offering the S80 with standard smaller Man 1900hp, but this option seems to have been removed from the official web-site, though it is still offered on some of its dealers web site.  According to Boat International Princess has 28 super yachts in construction above 24 and up to 29 meters in size, with this involving the three X, Y and S lines.

Technical Data:

LOA - 25.44 m (83.6ft) incl. pulpit

LOA ex. pulpit - 25.1 m

Beam - 6.07 m

Draft - 1.82 m

Displacement - 63,949 kg medium load

Fuel Capacity - 7000 l

Water Capacity - 1480 l

Accommodation - eight guests in four cabins, one-two crew in one cabin

Engines - 2 x Man V12 2000hp

Propulsion - line shaft

Speed - 35 knots max with Man 2000hp

Project - Pininfarina exterior, Bernard Olesinski exterior and naval architecture

Certification - CE B

www.princessyachts.com

Princess Collides with Mangusta Yacht in Ponza

A British flagged 23 meter Princess sport yacht collided with the fifty meter Overmarine Mangusta m/y Eternity near Ponza Island at 14:30 of Friday 23 August.  The Port Captaincy and Guardia Costiera of Ponza intervened after the accident.  The dynamics of the accident are not reported, though the two British boaters onboard the smaller yacht did not notice straight away that they collided, stopping the yacht some seconds after the impact. Witnesses also said that the larger Eternity made a couple of horn blasts, to try and advise the smaller yacht of its collision route.   No one was injured in the collision with the small Princess yacht sustaining the worst, with an important damage to its bow, railing and structure, while the larger Eternity is reported to have taken mostly cosmetic scratch damage to its port side.

The Princess yacht in this collision is an S78, as produced to a design of Bernard Olesinski from 2017 to 2022 in 21 units.  The Princess S78 was also offered in the V78 no sport bridge version and came out as a replacement to the S72, with the model replaced by the S80 this year.  

M/y Eternity is an Overmarine Mangusta Oceano 50 launched in 2023, build in a steel hull and aluminium superstructure to a design of Alberto Mancini and naval architecture by Pierluigi Ausonio.  The Mangusta Oceano 50 debuted in 2021, with Eternity being the third hull of a semi-custom series which has so far sold six units, of which two are still under construction.

Sunseeker Yacht Fire at Rochester Yacht Club Irondequoit, New York

An unattended sixteen meter Sunseeker sport yacht went ablaze at Rochester Yacht Club, Irondequoit, New York on the early afternoon of Thursday 22 August.  The Sunseeker yacht was not attended when it went ablaze with the fire reported to have started in the engine room.  Irondequoit, Rochester, and New Greece Fire Departments crews attended to the blaze, with these having to cut into certain areas of the yacht to get to the body of the fire in the engine compartment, where the fire likely started.  The fire fighting was successful in being limited to this one yacht, with the Department of Environmental Conservation also advised about the accident to control any pollution from the blaze.  No one was injured as the yacht was not attended during the fire, as this is now being under investigation.

The Sunseeker in this fire is a Predator 52 as produced from 2008 to 2010 to a design of Don Shead and Jon Braithwaite.  The Sunseeker Predator 52 is a fully enclosed hard-top sporty version of the Manhattan 52, with the model evolving and replaced by the Predator 53, which is a soft evolution recognizable from the larger windows for the topsides and hull sides.

Carver Boat Goes Ablaze in Schooner Island Marina New Jersey

An un-attended twelve meter Carver flybridge cruiser titled m/y Luv-It went ablaze in Schooner Island Marina, Wildwood, New Jersey on 12:39 of Thursday 22 August.  Luv-It was docked by the fuel dock when it went ablaze, un-attended, with Wildwood Fire Department responding to the fire and then receiving help from North Wildwood and Stone Harbor from the sea with Fire-Boats.  The fire also damaged the fuel dock and its small shed, and was controlled at 13:15, and fully extinguished after 16:00 hours.  Four employees from Schooner Island Marina had to be treated for smoke inhalation but they declined to be taken to a hospital.  Luv-It eventually sank in the fire and was a wreck.  Some unconfirmed reports said she was being refuelled when the fire started.

Luv-It is a 2002 Carver 420 Mariner as produced from 2002 to 2006.   The 420 Mariner was one of Carver's designs with creative thinking into adding space featuring a semi-wide body main deck.  The Carver Mariner range debuted in 1976 with the 2876, and ended with the 36 in 2010 and seven different models from 28 to 42 feet.

Project: Van Der Valk 35m Jangada

The 35-metre project Jangada is the third custom build at Van der Valk for the same client, who debuted with the Dutch family yard in 2013.  A custom operation Van der Valk has the flexibility, capacity and willingness to fully meet evolving requirements and lifestyle changes. Designed by Nick Top and Guido de Groot, this new Van der Valk hull number WV0147 is architected around offering more space and comfort than her predecessors, with an accommodation for five guest cabins including of which is an owners stateroom forward of the main deck.  Crew accommodation is for six, including of which is  captains cabin which is nearly the same as one of the gests room.  A crew lobby with dinette and galley is also located at the entrance of the crew quarters on the forward part of the lower deck.  High customization levels include facilitating the owner’s wish to take his morning swim in a jet-stream pool on the flybridge deck, which required installing a warm-water tank below the tender garage, a testimony to engineering excellence as well as design and layout vision.  Jangada is to be powered by by twin Man 900hp, for a top speed of fourteen knots and a cruise of thirteen.

www.vandervalkshipyard.com

Ferry Ship Collides with Moored Boats in Sorrento

The ferry ship m/v Isola di Capri of the company Caremar, collided with a couple of sport cruisers at Marina Piccola in Sorrento, on the late afternoon of 22 August.  The ferry ship is reported to have had problems with its throttle response while doing a manoeuvring operation in Sorrento, and ended colliding with an eight meter Colombo sport cruiser first, which took the worst of the collision, and a twelve meter sport cruiser later.  In a video posted on Facebook the Colombo sport cruiser looked like it was ran over and sank, but somehow it remained afloat. In the video is also seen a Riva sport yacht which just manages to escape the accident as it was risking being hit on its starboard side by the ferry ship which looked out of control.  No one seems to be injured in this accident, with the Guardia Costiera of Sorrento opening an enquiry on the collision.

The Colombo in this collision is an eighties produced 29 Racing, with the sport cruiser next to it looking to be a Mochi 33 Open also from the same period, with the escaping Riva being a 52 Rivale.

Hurricane Ernesto 2024

Hurricane Ernesto was a moderately strong Atlantic hurricane that caused significant flooding in Puerto Rico before striking Bermuda as a hurricane. The fifth named storm and third hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Ernesto developed from a tropical wave east of the Leeward Islands. The storm moved towards the Antilles, impacting several nations. Ernesto then turned north, where it reached Category 2 strength, before making landfall in Bermuda as a Category 1 hurricane on August 17. Ernesto then weakened back to a tropical storm before intensifying back into a hurricane and brushing Atlantic Canada, becoming extratropical by August 20 and dissipating by August 22.  Hurricane Ernesto caused 24 million US dollars in damage and caused three indirect fatalities.

As boating goes Hurricane Ernesto has caused damage to Great Harbour Bay in the British Virgin Islands to some boats as pictured.  The three boats damage in this bay were a Bertram 33 Sport Fisherman which was TowBoatUS boat, Bertram 38 Mk.III, and an eighties first generation Ocean Yachts 50 Super Sport.

New Launch: Winter Custom Yachts 46 Walk Around W-37

Tim Winters has launched hull number W-37, a 46 Walk Around express sportfish, his ninth walk-around unit, with this series debuting with the 33 foot W-15 hull in 2018.  W-37 is a near sister-boat to W-25 and W-27 including of which size, which make W-37 share second size spot in Winter's Walk Around range.  Powered by twin Man 850hp with line shaft propulsion Winter Custom Yachts is able to reach a top speed of 39 knots and cruise up to 35 knots, with a range up 350 nautical miles.  Winter Yachts W-37 also surprises for its accommodation offering a cabin with galley and saloon opposite, double berth forward, and a guest cabin with twin bunk berths.

Technical Data:

LOA - 14 m (46.1ft)

Beam - 4.31 m

Draft - 0.96 m

Displacement - 14,968 kg

Fuel Capacity - 2271 l

Water Capacity - 283 l

Accommodation - four berths

Engines - 2 x Man I6 850hp

Propulsion - line shaft with CJR propellers

Speed - 39 knots max 35 cruise

Range - 350 nautical miles at cruise

Construction - jig method cold molding, plywood covered with fiberglass and epoxy resin

www.wintercustomyachts.com

Project: Maritimo M50

At the 2024 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, Maritimo announced the project for a new M50 Flybridge. This latest Maritimo M50 comes as replacement to the M51, a new entry level model to a range of eleven models, three range which today spans up to 23 meters.  The M50 continues the down under yacht builder refined, elegant, practical, and luxurious use of space, combined with high-efficiency propulsion and reduced drag hull forms, along with the build quality and blue-water credentials the down-under yacht is known for.  The Maritimo M50 Flybridge is also class defining, offering the largest completely enclosed flybridge in its size that will span the entire beam of the yacht. Standard accommodation will offer two large cabins including of which is a full beam midships master stateroom with ensuite shower head, and a VIP suite forward.  In the M50 everything is planned to be easy from single level floors inside the cabins, with total walkaround access for both cabins.  Capacity to sleep up to eight on the M50 is possible if required and optioned accordingly. As any Maritimo safety is paramount with the famous walkaround decks, high sides, and encased, rear facing internal stairs for flybridge access, delivering safe walking both in the marina and at sea. The M50 features Maritimo famous walk-through zone living, with the rear galley a center piece for seamless entertaining from the main Saloon to the upper cockpit, and then all the way to the edge of the expansive swim platform that is virtually at sea level. The M50 larger windows come redesigned with smaller frames and bigger openings, to deliver full engagement to the surroundings, while patented Maritimo hull liners deliver inherent strength in form, and also allow access to the entire beam below decks. In the engine room this means you can access both sides of the twin, straight-six Diesels. The Maritimo M50 is to be standard powered by twin Volvo 800hp engines on line shaft propulsion. The development of the new Maritimo M50 began in late 2023, with the designs and specifications shared with loyal owners for their input to then further refine the final product offering.

www.maritimo.com.au