September 19, 2024

Sport Cruiser Goes Ablaze in Sant Raphael South of France

An unattended sport cruiser of ten meters in length went ablaze as it was berthed on pontoon 6 at Santa Lucia marina, in Frejus a Sant Raphael in the South of France on the morning of Thursday nineteen September.  Marina stuff were quickly in the spot to attend to the fire and tow the sport cruiser outside the marina, to avoid damage to nearby boats, and the marina.  No one was injured in the fire, with the cause of the fire reported to be of electrical nature. Ultimately the sport cruiser was reported destroyed and wrecked by the fire.
The boat in this fire is a second series Airon Marine 345 designed by Paolo Molinari, and produced since 2007.  The second generation Airon 345 differentiates from the original for the extra twin parallel windows in the hull, and a cockpit layout added with a mini-galley wet-bar.  The Airon Marine 345 arrived in 1999 as a replacement to the 334 and is still in production today.

Yacht Goes Ablaze as Onboard Fireworks Catch Fire in Marina del Rey

A classic thirty meter super yacht titled m/y The Admiral with two people onboard went ablaze at Basin A, Marina del Rey, California with the fire reported at 20:33 of Wednesday eighteen September.  After the yacht went ablaze, rounds of fireworks where seen and filmed exploding from the yacht, as Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to a fire which was difficult and complicated to contain.  Two hours into the fire fighting at 23:00 hours, the classic yacht started sinking, with The Admiral discharging red-dye diesel into the sea as it fully sank.  Following the fuel discharge, the US Coast Guard, and Patriot Environmental Services and Clean Harbors boomed the yacht wreck for pollution, with  a plan being organized to clean the yachts from its fuel, which have been reported being filled some days before this fire accident.  No one was injured in the fire, as the two persons who were onboard managed to escape.  The cause of how the blaze started is not reported with the one thousand rounds of ammunition of fire-works making this fire much harder to control.
M/y The Admiral is a 1986 Broward 30.5 meters, hull number 199 and originally launched as I. Lorraine. This classic Broward is aluminium build to an inhouse design for both exterior and naval architecture, with interiors by Robin Rose.  Broward was founded in 1948 by Michigan boat technician Frank Denison who purchased Fort Lauderdale Dooley’s Dry Dock while visiting the area on honeymoon. In 1953 Broward launched its first yacht, a sixteen meters custom alloy build John Wells design titled m/y Stormy III with hull number 122.

23 People Saved as Carver Boat Runs Aground in Boston Harbour

 
Twelve adults and eleven children were rescued as a thirteen meter Carver cruiser titled m/y La Bella Vita ran aground at Rainsford Island, Boston Harbor on 18:00 of Wednesday eighteen September.  The flybridge cruiser was carrying the Sommerville youth hockey team for a good time cruise when it collided with the reefs near Rainford Island, ripping a hull breach with the collision, and started to sink.  Boston Police intervened to the La Bella Vita distress call, as all persons onboard were rescued with only one adult injured.  Sea Tow was later called to the scene to recover the boat, with no success, and then decided to stabilize her in the spot.  Massachusetts Environment Police is investigating the cause of the collision and sinking.
M/y La Bella Vita is a 1999 Carver 456 Aft Cabin Motor Yacht as produced from 1999 to 2000.  The Carver 456 first debuted as the 455 Aft Cabin Motor Yacht in 1996, as a replacement to the 440 Aft Cabin, and was replaced by the 466 Motor Yacht.

Project: Wajer 44 HT

Wajer present the project for a 44 HT model. Based on the Wajer 44 which launched in 2023, the 44 HT is just as fast, comfortable and clever as its open sibling, with the added benefit of a sliding roof that covers the cockpit. The hard top is made of a light weight composite construction. An extra large sliding rooftop (made of canvas) provides fresh air. When the rooftop is closed, ventilation is still possible through a valve. Extra comfort during rain or too strong sun, still enough space for sun lovers at the fore- and aft deck. The 44 HT offers accommodation in the U-shaped lounge area, in the shade and covered from wind, with two front or aft deck sunbeds. Inside the Wajer 44 HT is furnished with a double bed, a fully equipped bathroom and a pantry. The Wajer 44 HT is to be powered by standard twin Volvo 380hp up 480hp with IPS pod drives. Top speed is up to 38 knots with the large engine option.

September 18, 2024

New Model: Botnia Targa 41

Botnia has launched its new Targa 41, filling a gap in between its successful 37 and 46 models. The new Targa 41 comes with the familiar pilot-boat influenced identity, quality and seaworthiness associated with the Finnish Botnia.  The Targa 41 also comes with more customization options, an improved engine room layout, and is the first Botnia to offer hull glazing in this case for the midships cabin.  The new Botnia Targa 41 offers accommodation for five persons in two separate en-suited cabins.  The owners cabin is located forward, with the second cabin offering a double and single berth located at midships. The living is located on the main deck, with a saloon dinette to port side, with galley opposite.  The helm station is located to starboard with a double companionway settee the other side to port.  The Botnia Targa 41 is standard powered by twin Volvo 440hp with stern drive propulsion, and or optional 480hp with IPS pods.  Top speeds are 36 knots with the smaller engine and can go up to forty knots with the larger engine pod optional.  Nice numbers as are its 3.6 litres per nautical miles at 27 knots.
Technical Data:
LOA - 13.82 m (45.3ft)
Hull Length - 12.6 m
Beam - 4 m
Draft - 1.1 m
Displacement - 10000 kg approx. medium load
Fuel Capacity - 1500 l
Water Capacity - 350 l
Accommodation - five berths in two cabins
Max Persons - twelve
Engines - 2 x Volvo D6 440hp, D6 480hp*
Propulsion - Volvo DPI duo prop stern drive, or IPS650 forward looking dual propeller pod drives
Speed - 40 knots max 32 cruise with 480hp IPS pod option, 36 max with 440hp
Range - 374 nautical miles at 27 knots
Certification - CE B

September 17, 2024

Two Persons Saved as Jeanneau Runs Aground at Isola Piana

Two Japanese persons and a dog were saved as a ten meter Jeanneau flybridge cruiser ended aground and was taking on water at La Pelosa beach, Isola Piana, to the South West of Sardinia on the afternoon of Tuesday seventeen September.  The Port Captaincy of Porto Torres received the call of assistance who sent the CP 894 boat to the scene, who because of a low water draft and the rough seas of the day deployed a small rib to recover the boaters and the dog.  The boaters were then taken to Stintino who found an ambulance ready to assist them.  The boat was reported to have departed from Cala Finanza and going to Capo Ceraso when for an unknown reason ended beached in La Pelosa.  After the beaching the flybridge cruiser was also taking on water, with the Port Captaincy giving a notice to the ownership to remove the damaged boat and that it is responsible for any environmental damage this has made or might make.
The boat in this accident is a Jeanneau Prestige 36 as designed by Garroni and as produced from 2002 to 2010.  The Jeanneau Prestige 36 was replaced by the Prestige 350.

Project: Mimi Libeccio 9.5 Cabin

Cantiere Mimi heads to the Genoa boat show with the new second generation Libeccio 9.5 Cabin.  An update of the previous Libeccio 9.5 Cabin, this new second version is developed to offer a more sheltered stern cockpit. The renewal of the Libeccio 9.5 Cabin makes it the first of Mimi's Cabin line tto offer a hard top that extends from the windscreen to the radar arch, completely covering the helm station.  The new Mimi Libeccio 9.5 Cabin will also feature more generous interior volumes than the Walkaround.  Mimi has so far released no plans for the new Libeccio 9.5 Cabin and also advised no power engine options, though expect the later to be similar to the outgoing first generation model which is powered by twin 200hp or a single 250hp engine.

September 16, 2024

New Model: Prestige F5.7

Prestige yacht present the all new F5.7, a flybridge motor yacht with a lot of thought going into volume and space in its design brief, and an unusual for these times and size forward master stateroom layout.  Designed as all Prestige by Garroni, with Valentina Militerno de Romadis for the interior, and Prestige Engineering doing the naval architecture and joining the dots together.  Versus most if not all of the competition in this size the Prestige F5.7 dares to be different offering a large owners stateroom forward layout, with a second VIP suite to midships port side, and a third cabin with twin berths to starboard.  It is not the first time that a forward owners stateroom plan has been tried in above fifteen meters since midships room became mandatory by the end of the noughties, with some of these projects having a moderate success.  Although this has happened more in the fifteen meter size, rather then the seventeen of the Prestige F5.7.  Dare to be different is the name of the game, some might say, and the spaciousness of the forward master stateroom offers the volume to back this up, with the F5.7 being one of the few yachts in its size to offer a three shower head layout.  Forward owners stateroom apart the Prestige F5.7 is also about its aft galley main living deck, which looks to be much more spacious to its beam, and also feeling liveable thanks to some interesting solutions which are not new, but seem to connect very well together.     
Technical Data:
LOA - 17.29 m (56.9ft)
Hull Length - 15.2 m
Beam - 4.69 m
Draft - 1.32 m
Displacement - 20417 kg light, 26486 kg loaded
Fuel Capacity - 2200 l
Water Capacity - 580 l
Accommodation - six berths in three cabins, optional double berth crew cabin
Engines - 2 x D8 600hp
Propulsion - Volvo forward looking IPS800 dual propeller pod drives
Speed - 27 knots max 23 cruise
Project - Garroni exterior, Valentina Militerno de Romadis interior
Certification - CE B

September 15, 2024

Four Winns New Web Site

Four Winns presents its new web site.  Four Winns was founded in 1975 by John Winn with brothers Bill Junior and Charlie, and father Bill Senior who financed the business to buy the Saf-T-Mate boat building company.  Before setting up Four Winns, John Winn worked for Starcraft as a factory rep, and after this he set up a company with his brother Bill representing several boat builders.  One of the builders Winns represented was Saf-T-Mate, founded in 1962 from Cadillac, Michigan owned by eighty year old George Spicer, who ultimately sold the business to them. In the first year the company continued with the Saf-T-Mate name, changing to Four Winns in 1976 and debuting with six speed boat models; from the fourteen foot Bimini, to the nineteen feet Nassau.  In May 1978 tragedy hit Four Winns as a fire totalled all the factory in Cadillac.  All was destroyed in this fire minus the tooling, and the willingness to continue.  Technically Four Winns went bankrupt, but due to the excellent results of the Winn brothers, a local bank and suppliers extended the line of credit, with them re-opening a new production facility in Frisbie, Cadillac.  Following the dark period of the oil crisis in the early eighties, Four Winns started a plan for its business to go beyond the state of Michigan, with this resulting in the opening for a new satellite facility in Athens, Texas in 1985, in order to become a national known brand. This paid off and in 1986 Four Winns was rated as the third largest boat builder in the USA, which led to it being sold to Outboard Marine Corporation Boats Group in 1987.  With the selling to OMC, three of the Winns will retire, while John Winn will remain as president up until 1995.  Following financial difficulties in 2000 OMC will be broken apart, with its boating arm and Four Winns sold to Genmar in 2001.  Eight years down the line Genmar will follow a similar path, filing for bankruptcy in 2009, with Four Winns and ten other boating brands sold to Platinum Equity Rec Boat Holdings in 2010.  In 2014 Four Winns along with three other boat brands was bought by the Beneteau Group.  Four Winns today offers fifteen model in four ranges; Bow Rider, Hybrid Deck, Surf Series, and Multihull which start from the twenty foot H1, and go to the 36 feet TH36.  Four Winns new web site takes you around with the following buttons; Our Boats, Shopping Tools, Owners, Build and Price, Dealer Location, and Become a Dealer.  Four Winns is also present on social media with bottom left buttons taking you to its; Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin, and Instagram pages. 
Production History; *inboard cabin boats only
Marquise 180 Cuddy 1981-83
Santara 204-205 1981-84
Santara 204 Sport/206 Sport 1982/84-84
Santara 204 Sport Fisherman-207 Fisherman 1983-84
Liberator 204/211 1983/86-89
Sundowner 225 1984-86
Sundowner 226 Sport 1984-86
Sundowner 227 Fisherman 1984-86
Seajaunt 217 1984-85
Horizon 195/196 Cabin 1984-86
267 Quest 1985-90
Santara 215 1985-86
Santara 216 Sport 1985-86
Santara 217 Fisherman 1985-86
261 Liberator 1986-90
245 Sundowner/Vista 1986/87-88
235 Sundowner 1986-88
241 Liberator 1986-89
215/225 Sundowner 1987/88-
195 Sundowner 1987
205 Sundowner 1988-93
285 Vista/285 1988/91-93
315 Vista/315 1988/91-93
201 Liberator 1988-94
255 Sundowner 1989-
255 Vista 1989-93
251 Liberator 1989-92
195 Freedom/195 Sundowner 1990/92-
265 Vista 1990-93
221 Liberator 1990-94
365 1991-93
325 1991-93
235/245 Vista 1991/93-1994
215 Sundowner 1993-
235 Sundowner 1993-
238 Vista 1994-
258 Vista 1994-
278 Vista 1994-98
298 Vista 1999-2005
328 Vista 1999-2006
338/348 Vista 2000/02-04
280 Horizon 2000-05
285 Sundowner 2000-05
378 Vista 2002-09
288 Vista 2004-09
348 Vista (ii)/V358 2005/07-09
278 Vista/V285 2006/10-12
318 Vista/V335 2006/10-13
338 Vista/V355 2007/10-12
310 Horizon 2007-14
V458 2008-09
V475 2010-12
Marquise 180 Cuddy 1981-83, Four Winns first cabin boat

September 14, 2024

New Model: Benetti B.Now 67M

On July 19 at its Livorno shipyard, Benetti marked a new milestone with the launch of M/Y Iryna 66m, the first model in the B.Now 67M semi-custom family. The owner renewed his confidence in the Shipyard by commissioning the construction of this vessel, eager to continue his evolution in the Benetti range, with the guarantee of superior construction and design quality. The exterior styling is by Redman Whiteley Dixon, the renowned UK firm with which Benetti has worked successfully on the entire B.Now line. The first B.Now 67M features the innovative Oasis Deck® concept, a solution that revolutionizes the aft cockpit concept, transforming the vertical barriers into an extension of the deck and offering more conviviality in contact with the sea, a built-in pool, and a 270-degree field of view in 190 square metres of surface area. The aft salon is a mix of sunlight and shade so that guests can enjoy the deck at any time of day, while the Social Design turns the entire deck into a spacious oasis of conviviality. The colouring of the hull and superstructure is personalized to point up the exterior styling with three different shades of grey. The boat is also characterized by extensive, mainly curved glazing that covers up to 70% of the overall vertical surface area. The almost entirely bespoke interiors were designed by Benetti’s Interior Design Department under the direction of Mariarosa Remedi. A crucial role in defining the spaces was played by the owner, who asked the Shipyard to create a setting to showcase the loose furniture produced by one of his favourite brands, Visionnaire. The spacious interiors are exquisitely clad in leather that hasn’t been treated with chemicals and, in the case of the Lower Deck, is custom designed for this boat. Prestige woods, such as curly maple wood and macassar ebony, cover the floors together with marble-effect ceramic tiling, chosen by the customer as a more ecological alternative to marble. With a steel hull, the Benetti B.Now 67M has six decks. From the top observation deck down to the under Lower deck, this super yacht is extremely spacious both outdoors, with around 500 square metres of usable space, and indoors with a 65-square-metre Main Salon and a full-beam owner’s suite on the Upper Deck, made possible by moving the wheelhouse and captain’s cabin up to the next deck. With two VIP cabins on the Main Deck and four cabins on the Lower Deck, the B.Now 67M accommodates up to 15 guests. There are numerous wellness areas, including a sauna in the beach club and a gym on the Main Deck, both built at the owner’s request. This new boat will be delivered to her owner at the end of the summer in a new record for Benetti, which with the B.Now platform concept successfully completed the project in under three years from the first sketches on a blank sheet of paper.
Technical Data:
LOA - 67 m (219.9ft)
Beam - 11.2 m
Draft - 3.10 m
Displacement - 1296 gt* volume
Fuel Capacity - 115,000 l
Water Capacity - 33,000 l
Accommodation - fourteen guests in seven cabins, seventeen crew in ten cabins
Engines - 2 x Cats 3512E 
Propulsion - line shaft with ZF5356 gearbox
Speed - sixteen knots max, fifteen fast cruise, twelve knots long range cruise
Range - 5000 nautical miles at cruise
Construction - steel hull and aluminium super structure
Project - Redman Whiteley Dixon exterior, Azimut-Benetti Group and Sinot for interior
Certification - Lloyds cross of Malta A1