Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2021 i Soundings

Sailing outbound from my mooring field on a sailboat without an engine requires passage through a short bottleneck channel with a sandbar to port. Recently, as I sized up the narrow part of the channel, I observed a motorboat inbound, farther out. It appeared that he had slowed, waiting for me to come through. A light breeze was blowing straight in the cut, dictating I steer as close to the wind as possible to clear the bar. This limited maneuverability is exactly the reason a vessel under sail alone has the right of way over a power-driven vessel, according to the Rules of the Road. Suddenly, the inbound motorboat throttled up, rushed across my bow from right to left and then steered hard to port toward us, asserting his position…

So many boaters—new and experienced alike—are signing up for instructional charters right now that Offshore Sailing School, the official sailing school of The Moorings, is running out of instructors to teach them all. “We have more boats than we have instructors,” says Beth Oliver, Offshore’s director of marketing. “We would hire five more tomorrow if we could find them.” It seems that Americans decided to learn far more than sourdough bread-baking during the pandemic. Whether it’s new boaters trying to learn the basics, or experienced boaters getting wheel time on larger or different types of vessels, or longtime boaters seeking education about everything from celestial navigation to bluewater passage-making, companies that provide instructional charters in Florida, the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands are reporting unusually high and steady demand for…

Out in the middle of the Gulf Stream, with no land in sight for more than 300 miles, the 38-foot yawl Tamerlane battles tumultuous seas as she prepares for the impending storm. At her helm is Thomas Fleming Day, the editor of Rudder Magazine, who had made it his mission to prove that offshore racing was possible for smaller boats and crews by running from Brooklyn, New York, to Bermuda alongside two other boats in 1906. One boat dropped out of the race early, but Tamerlane and the 28-foot Gauntlet both made it, arriving to much acclaim. Now, the 625-mile Newport Bermuda Race has run every other year since 1906, and though the starting point is no longer in Brooklyn, it was Day’s determination that enabled this longstanding tradition. Artist…

Long before Sir Richard Branson blasted himself 53 miles upward to spend about 15 minutes in space aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, he broke another barrier, whipping across the Atlantic Ocean in a record-breaking time of three days, eight hours and 31 minutes. That was in 1986, just 14 years after he created Virgin Records, two years after he launched Virgin Atlantic Airlines, and well before anyone imagined he’d become a knighted billionaire. He was, back then, a daredevil businessman racing across the Atlantic aboard Virgin Atlantic Challenger II. It was an aluminum monohull that had been built with lessons learned from the 65-foot catamaran Virgin Atlantic Challenger, which sank after hitting a submerged object just 138 miles from finishing its own attempt to break the transatlantic speed record. Virgin Atlantic…

As the Covid-19 pandemic drags on, leaving boaters looking for more ways to get out onto the water safely with family and friends, charter companies are reporting a surge in bookings for multiboat charters in warm, sunny destinations. The Moorings is now receiving 25 percent more requests for charters with at least five boats than during the same time period in 2019, before the pandemic even began, according to Ian Pedersen, senior marketing manager for the company. “This interest has come from many different sources—from families, corporations and event planners looking to put together sailing trips where everyone can be together, but in a private, somewhat secluded setting,” Pedersen says. Raul Bermudez, vice president at Marine-Max Vacations, says he’s now receiving charter bookings for groups wanting as many as eight…

SURF’S UP Few people outside the surfing world have heard of Nazaré, a Portuguese village on the North Atlantic. The town is not particularly unique, though it has a certain bucolic charm. What is remarkable about Nazaré are the monster waves that pile up there each winter at Praia do Norte (North Beach). Powered by a steep off shore drop-off and prevailing off shore winter winds, the surf here can reach heights of more than 80 feet. And yet there are surfers who come here each year to ride the massive waves and get a chance at grabbing the holy grail of surfing: the 100-footer. This year, HBO released a gripping, six-part documentary about the daredevil surfers of Nazaré and the big-wave surfing community as a whole. Shot in ultra-high…

LOA: 49’8” Beam: 15’2” Draft: 4’3” Displ.: 48,000 lbs. Fuel: 565 gals. Water: 135 gals. Power: (2) 600-hp Volvo Penta diesels with IPS800 pod drives If you spend enough time poking around new boats, it’s easy enough to find at least a few areas where the builder fell short in one way or another, be it fit and finish, layout or performance. Finding the proverbial “perfect” boat can feel like discovering a unicorn in the forest. I came across one such unicorn—the Burger 50 Cruiser—at the Newport International Boat Show in Newport, Rhode Island, in September. It’s an aluminum power cruiser built with exacting attention to detail, thoughtfulness to comfort and the latest diesel-powered pod propulsion. Burger Boat Company has been around in one iteration or another since 1863, when…

Downeast boats carry a flavor that lasts long after the salt has been washed off. The Eastern 27 Lobster Fisherman is a prime example of that idea. The original hull, developed around 1968, was conceived by Downeast boatbuilder Royal Lowell of Maine. The cedar-planked carvel hull with oak frames was made for lobstermen who wanted a sturdy, fuel-efficient, inboard-powered hull. The sea-kindly design appealed to hard-working seamen and pleasure boaters alike. In 1992, Eastern Boats of Milton, New Hampshire, bought the molds for the 27. In the 27, the company recognized a way to keep its customers in the Eastern stable. The first Eastern 27 Lobster Fisherman was launched in 1993 with a choice of a single gasoline or diesel sterndrive engine powered from 250 to 300 hp. Cruise speeds…

X SHORE EELEX 8000 LOA: 26’2” WOT: 30-plus knots Power: (1) 225-kW Brusa inboard electric motor Range: 100 nm at 5 to 7 knots CANDELA C-7 LOA: 25’3” Power: (1) 55-kW Torqeedo Deep Blue electric motor WOT: 30 knots Range: 50 nm at 22 knots In 2020, almost 75 percent of new light-vehicle sales in Norway were electric cars, making that country the world’s leader in plug-in car sales. Sweden was third with 32 percent, Finland was fifth with 18 percent and Denmark was sixth with almost 16 percent according to EV-Volumes, which tracks worldwide EV sales. There’s a reason why the Scandinavians embrace electric cars. Their governments heavily incentivize plug-in car purchases by waving or reducing sales taxes, value-added taxes, tolls and parking fees. But Scandinavia’s burgeoning electric car…

Kadey-Krogen Yachts and sister company Summit Motoryachts in September announced plans to expand their model ranges by one and two models, respectively. The new designs include the Kadey-Krogen 60 Open and the Summit Motoryachts 54 Coupe and 62 Motoryacht. The announcement was made at the Newport International Boat Show. “Everyone at the Kadey-Krogen organization is excited to kick off the fall show season with so many exciting projects and new models,” said Kadey-Krogen President and CEO Tucker West. “It’s very rewarding to finally share what’s been happening behind the scenes for these last eight months with our customers, friends, and partners. And I promise we’re just getting warmed up.” KADEY-KROGEN YACHTS 60 OPEN As the name suggests, this boat will have an open floorplan between the main salon, galley and…

LOA: 24’0” Beam: 8’0” Draft: 2’6” Displ.: 4,400 lbs. Fuel: 42 gals. Power: (1) 150-hp Yanmar turbo diesel Price: $295,000 When Carter Richardson founded East Passage Boatwrights in Bristol, Rhode Island, in 2006, his vision was to create a place where owners could bring their traditional wooden watercraft for a dose of tender-loving care. Since then, the company has built a reputation as an outfit that can maintain, refit or rebuild virtually any kind of wooden boat on the water. But almost four years ago, Richardson had a new vision for the company. “I was out on the water with Woody Metzger from First Light Boatworks sailing in the Nantucket Opera House Cup Regatta when we got to talking about center-console-style wooden launches,” Richardson says. “I’d had the idea of…

The MJM origin story is well documented and oft told. As he grew older, famed sailboat builder Bob Johnstone was looking to trade in his sails and winches for a powerboat that he and his wife, Mary, could cruise aboard comfortably. Not seeing exactly what he wanted on the market, he set out to do what any good boatbuilder would do: create it himself, with the help of naval architect Doug Zurn. A couple years later, Mary Johnstone’s Motorboat was splashed, and MJM Yachts was born. Since then, MJM has carved a niche for itself in the crowded Downeast market. Hundreds of MJMs were built under Johnstone’s watchful eye at Boston Boatworks. I’ve had the opportunity to test multiple models with Johnstone over the years and always walked away impressed…

LOA: 37’4” Beam: 11’4” Draft (engines up): 2’5” Displ. (w/engines): 16,600 lbs. Fuel Capacity: 343 gals. Power: (2) Yamaha 425 XTOs Price (w/power): $528,760 FORT PIERCE, FLORIDA, is center console country. It is home to an easily navigable inlet that gives anglers access to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf Stream, rich with sailfish, dolphin, snapper, grouper, tuna and many other good-eating species. The inlet itself is lined with sandbars that draw scores of boats on the weekends, and the historic downtown fronts on the ICW, which acts as a waterborne highway for local boaters taking day trips north to Vero Beach or south to Stuart and Jupiter. So, it’s only natural that Fort Pierce should be the home of Pursuit Boats, one of America’s best-known brands of center console and…

LOA: 70’10” Beam: 18’8” Draft: 5’0” Displ.: 102,698 lbs. Power: (2) 800-hp MAN diesels Fuel: 1,700 gals. Water: 400 gals. Ian and Kim Treibick both grew up enjoying Long Island Sound in power and sailboats of all sizes. And they’ve raised their children—ages 11, 8 and 5—to have the same opportunities for fun afloat on the water. Like most boating parents, they shared a dream to take their children distance cruising. That desire led them to Calypso, their Fleming 65—a very large boat compared to the Sunfish, Lasers, and Boston Whaler runabouts that the kids grew up running. “I’ve pretty much always owned a boat,” Ian says. “Before buying the Fleming 65, we had a 34-foot Hinckley Picnic Boat, which we loved. But with a single cabin, it would never…