On September 7, 2018, the 170-foot steel-hull Ice Angel was cruising the waters of Prince Christian Sound off Greenland’s southern coast. Its speed was 14.5 knots when it struck an uncharted underwater rock. The yacht’s four guests and 15 crew were safe, but the yacht sustained significant damage, leaking oil into the pristine waters.

If the available hydrographic information—Greenland Chart 1103—had detailed this feature, the accident likely never would have happened. But believe it or not, Chart 1103 was made in 1927. It is considered to be of “reconnaissance nature,” meaning that its white areas—those without detailed soundings—cannot be trusted for safe passage.

Unfortunately, Chart 1103 isn’t unique. Humanity has piloted unmanned vehicles on Mars, but we’ve only mapped about a quarter of the world’s seafloor. The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, with help from international partners, aims to change this via community-generated bathymetric data. The partners range from government agencies (including official hydrographic offices) to nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations, and universities. They also include private companies such as FarSounder, the Rhode Island-based manufacturer of 3D forward-looking sonar.

Seabed 2030 was founded in 2017 as a collaboration between The Nippon Foundation, a Tokyo-based international nonprofit organization, and GEBCO (that’s General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans), a joint program of the International Hydrographic Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

Back then, just 6 percent of the world’s oceans had been mapped to what Seabed 2030 terms “adequate” resolution. Seven years on, this metric approaches 25 percent.

“The primary mission is to deliver the first global map of the entire seafloor,” says Jamie McMichael-Phillips, Seabed 2030’s project director. He says that in some cases, this new data is replacing soundings that were collected using lead lines and sextants. “Without accurate maps of the global seabed, a full understanding of the ocean’s physical, biogeochemical and geological parameters is impossible to achieve.”

Seabed 2030’s 3D gridded bathymetric maps will help to further scientific understanding of complex natural processes, including ocean circulation and sediment transportation. The maps and data will also enable better weather forecasts, and more accurate climate models and tsunami warnings.

“Tsunami height is strongly determined by the shape of the seafloor in the run-up to landfall,” McMichael-Phillips says.

Seabed 2030’s map also promises to help businesses in areas such as natural-resources management (say, fisheries) and transoceanic communications and pipelines.

“Seabed 2030 receives generous donations of data from a growing global community of seafarers, nation-states, industry, academic researchers, philanthropic explorers and volunteers,” McMichael-Phillips says. He adds that while most bathymetric data is derived from sonar logs, Seabed 2030 accepts data collected via aircraft, unmanned vessels and satellites.

Anyone can contribute data, but Seabed 2030 maintains a group of partners—including FarSounder—that share a higher level of trust. Matthew Zimmerman, FarSounder’s CEO, says the company has been contributing bathymetric data to the International Hydrographic Organization since 2018 and became a Seabed 2030 partner last fall.

“I’m not a scientist. I’m an engineer,” he says. “I really like being able to enable science with the tools that my team and I develop.”

While any echo sounder can measure distance, not all information is created equally, he adds: “The sensor isn’t the problem, but the metadata is. It’s really hard to make charting decisions based on poor metadata.”

FarSounder documents the exact locations to within a few centimeters of a forward-looking sonar transducer, a third-party echo-sounder transducer, and GPS antenna(s) of every vessel where FarSounder equipment is installed.

“The metadata quality of our contributions is far superior to most crowdsourced contributions,” Zimmerman says.

In addition to becoming a Seabed 2030 partner, FarSounder recently won a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. FarSounder is using these funds to create a cloud-sharing service for sharing anonymous bathymetric data (read: depth at a location in time) from participating FarSounder customers with Seabed 2030. If the data meets the project’s technical requirements and needs, Seabed 2030 can stitch it into the GEBCO world map.

Notably, Seabed 2030’s definition of “adequate” bathymetric resolution hinges on water depth. For depths down to 4,921 feet, Seabed 2030 aims for “100-meter resolution,” meaning at least one sounding in an area that measures 328-by-328 feet. For depths from 4,921 feet to 9,843 feet, this will be 200-meter resolution; for the nearly 73 percent of the seafloor that measures between 9,843 and 18,865 feet down, resolution requirements dip to 400-meter resolution. And for the deepest soundings—say, the 2.7 percent of the seafloor between 18,865 and 36,090 feet—the metric drops to 800-meter resolution.

It’s also important to understand that Seabed 2030 is creating a macro-level seafloor map, not cartography.

“One-hundred-meter resolution isn’t that helpful from a navigational point of view,” Zimmerman says. “It’s certainly helpful for understanding our world from a global science point of view, but it’s not navigation-quality information.”

FarSounder’s systems provide real-time sonar imagery forward of a vessel’s bow. They also build and store a high-resolution bathymetry map of everywhere the vessel has sailed. This local history map resides on the vessel’s FarSounder bridge computer, but it can be shared anonymously with the FarSounder community via the company’s optional fleet-sharing program whenever connectivity exists.

This is where things get interesting for participating FarSounder customers who opt in. “We needed to find a way to motivate our users to contribute, as well as being able to pass this on to the [Seabed 2030] community,” Zimmerman says. The solution was to create two classes of data for customers who opt into the company’s fleet-sharing program.

“Our customers get the full-resolution data as part of the service, but we’re contributing a slightly lower-resolution data [to Seabed 2030],” Zimmerman says. “The high-res maps from the FarSounder sonar, the highest resolution, that’s staying just with the FarSounder customers who are part of this fleet-sharing service.”

Given that FarSounder customers often buy this equipment to ply seldom-seen waters, participation confers membership into a kind of sonic explorers club. “We have pretty good coverage in areas that don’t have good chart data,” Zimmerman says. “We really want to encourage our customers to contribute so that they can also reap the benefit.”

FarSounder might someday monetize this data, but this isn’t the current model. “FarSounder is in the business of selling sonars,” Zimmerman says. “We’re in a unique position where we can participate, we can make contributions, and we don’t need to worry about supporting our company financially through the data transactions because we do that through our hardware sales.”

The net result is a win-win-win: Seabed 2030 receives high-quality data from a trusted partner, the general public and scientific community benefit from the free and downloadable GEBCO world map, and participating FarSounder customers get higher-resolution data.

Still, scale and time emerge as question marks.

“Even with everybody doing all of the mapping they possibly could, we’re not going to meet the Seabed 2030 goals of mapping the world’s oceans, certainly not by 2030, likely not even in the next 70 years,” Zimmerman says.

Seabed 2030’s team acknowledges this, but with a caveat: “A combination of a large fleet of conventionally crewed vessels and robot boats in larger numbers would be a game-changer,” McMichael-Phillips says.

In the meantime, Seabed 2030 is already providing the world with higher-resolution, large-scale seafloor bathymetric data than has ever existed. As for Chart 1103, Seabed 2030 will eventually help fill in the white areas. Cruisers everywhere are encouraged to consider joining FarSounder’s participating community.

Seafloor Scans

FarSounder’s Expedition Sourced Ocean Data Collection Program provides external USB drives that collect raw sonar data. This project requires significant back-end processing work for FarSounder. It’s run on an invitation-only basis, based on sailing itineraries. This high-quality data contributes to FarSounder’s fleet-sharing program.

The post Mapping The World’s Oceans appeared first on Yachting.

Viking Yachts’ battle-ready 62 Convertible comes standard with twin 1,925 hp Caterpillar C32A diesels that give the sport-fisher a 42-plus-knot top hop, ensuring a quick trip to the fishing grounds. The angling-focused cockpit has mezzanine seating with stowage for all the ballyhoo, mullet and Spanish mackerel. It also has a perch to keep an eye on the spread.

Belowdecks, there are three- and four-stateroom layouts for the owner and guests.

As of mid-2024, seven Viking Yachts 62Cs were available, ranging from about $2.9 million to $4.7 million.  

From the Archive

“The single-lever controls hit the pins, and my eyes widened as I watched our Viking yacht’s speed climb in quantum-leap fashion: 20 knots, 30 knots and an average top hop of 42.2 knots. She impressed me with that last speed while her motors ran at 2,300 rpm, which is the precise top-end rating for these diesels, indicating a near-perfect combination of power, running gear and design.” 

— Yachting, June 2015

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Skeleton Optics, in premiering a line of sunglasses for women, says demand is continuing to increase from female anglers. “Fishing historically has been perceived as a male-dominated sport,” says Eric Storey, the company’s CEO, who adds that “the millions of women who spend their lives outdoors need sunglasses made just for them.”

His company is far from alone in offering an increasingly broad array of styles not only for men and women alike, but also for specific types of on-the-water activities and face shapes. Costa launched King Tide less than a year ago, promising not only its most technical frame to date, but also a version for elite anglers. The new Rigolets line from Bajio is designed for boaters who have smaller, narrower faces, and who previously couldn’t find a comfortable fit. Hobie offers the Everglades Float, which is being marketed not just for general fishing, but in particular flats-fishing and sight-casting.

The one thing they all have in common: This eyewear is being designed by boating and fishing enthusiasts, for boating and fishing enthusiasts. “As avid anglers, we understand the frustration of losing sunglasses while on the water,” says Dylan Coates, marketing manager for Hobie Eyewear.

Bajio Rigolets

Skeleton Decoy

Costa King Tide

Hobie Everglades

Costa Catherine

Skeleton Outlaw

These manufacturers also understand key safety features, which include things like Costa’s venting, which is inspired by sharks, to help prevent lenses from fogging up when skippers are trying to run the boat. Scratch-resistant lenses, ultraviolet protection and more are usually part of the package too.

And as you can see in the examples above, the variety of frames, lenses and styles is pretty darn stunning—as beautiful as the colors of coral on the most vibrant reefs.

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Cruisers can’t help but take it slow on Michigan’s Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw), a national historic landmark. Horsepower, pedal power and foot power are the sole means for exploring this compact, turtle-shaped island and its engaging historic, cultural and natural attractions.

Carriage Rides

Ever since the prohibition of automobile traffic in 1898, horse-drawn carriages have been the primary—and iconic—mode of transportation to get around Mackinac Island. Visiting boaters can call on true horsepower for a tour of the island, as a taxi service, or even for moving golf clubs between the Grand Nine and the Woods Nine of the Grand Hotel’s Jewel Golf Course.

History and Culture

From its panoramic vantage point atop a 150-foot bluff, Fort Mackinac served as a strategic stronghold for American and British forces alike during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. The United States secured it for keeps in 1815. Now a history museum, the fort’s 14 buildings have been restored to highlight different periods from its century of military might. Start your island tour with the film The Heritage of Mackinac, shown on a loop in the soldiers barracks. Check the fort’s website for the current schedule of live events, which include drills, dress parades and rifle demonstrations. For $75 and a reservation, visitors can have the honor of firing the traditional morning round from the fort’s cannon.

Also check out the diverse collection of the Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum. It ranges from hand-beaded Native American garments to 17th- and 18th-century maps of the Great Lakes to artifacts reflecting the island’s Victorian era.

Natural Wonders

Considered the most scenic spot on the island, Arch Rock rewards those visitors who climb the 207 steps for breathtaking views from beneath a 4,000-year-old limestone archway. Visitors can also view it from the road above by taking a (you guessed it) horse-drawn carriage, or explore it by bicycle as a stop along the 8.2-mile trail around the island. The $7.5 million Milliken Nature Center, slated to open this month near Arch Rock, will educate guests about the formation of Arch Rock and the geology of the island as a whole.

Food and Drink

Stop at Doud’s Market, reportedly America’s oldest family-owned grocery store, to restock the galley’s provisions. The lively patio at the Pink Pony is a fun and popular destination at any time of day, and is best known for its creative cocktails and whitefish dip. The 1852 Grill Room earns raves for its seafood dishes, especially its Lake Huron walleye and planked whitefish. The restaurant also has lovely lake and harbor views. Cap off the night by drinking in the Victorian elegance of the landmark Grand Hotel while enjoying a cocktail and 360-degree views from the Cupola Bar.  

The post Mackinac Island Escape appeared first on Yachting.

The Galeon Yachts 450 HTS is a yacht designed to enjoy the outdoors. This is even true inside the salon, where panoramic windows exceed 4 feet in height—and are joined by a single-pane windshield, double-folding aft doors, a sunroof, an opening portside window and a starboard helm door. Adding to the sense of openness is 7-foot-8-inch headroom.

Out on deck, the 450 HTC has space to bask in the sunshine forward with a sun pad that has adjustable backrests. There’s also a flip-up backrest, creating a bench seat for cocktail hour. A recessed locker handles the anchor windlass and tackle, keeping the deck clear of clutter. Walk-around side decks are 14 inches wide, allowing for more interior volume. High rails from midship to the bow add safety and include a rail that can open for side boarding.

There’s also sunning space on the aft deck’s L-shaped settee, near a dining table and with a reversible backrest on the side seat. This side seat converts to another sun pad. A sunshade is cleverly housed in the hardtop, with side extensions that make the shade look like part of the hardtop structure.

There’s easy access from here to the water by way of the hydraulic swim platform, which has an extending staircase. An electric Kenyon grill is in the transom station, along with a sink for cooking up the day’s fresh catch.

Or dine in the salon, out of the sun. There’s a U-shaped dinette to starboard with an adjustable wood table. A flat-screen TV rises from abaft the portside bench seat for movie nights with the family.

Just forward on the main deck is the galley, which has a two-burner Kenyon cooktop, Corian counters, an undercounter Isotherm fridge with a freezer, a Samsung microwave oven, and a divided sink with a cover. With this galley-up design, cruising couples can stay within proximity of each other while one preps a meal and the other steers. Multiple drawers, overhead cabinets and a pantry are all here to stow provisions.

The helm is to starboard. Twin 12-inch Raymarine Axiom multifunction displays are in the console, along with a 7-inch Volvo Penta electronic vessel control display. There is space for more electronics, such as the autopilot, Side-Power bow and stern thrusters, and an Optimus electronic power-steering controller. Backlit push-button switches are mounted in the dash.

This is a boat that should be easy for a couple or a solo skipper to run. A starboard door next to the helm allows the operator to get on deck and handle lines. For a spouse or crew, a doublewide upholstered seat is close by.

Belowdecks and amidships is the full-beam (13-foot-8-inch) master stateroom with a queen-size berth and a ceiling stepped in places, allowing for the main-deck configuration above. With port and starboard dressers and cabinets, along with closets, there’s plenty of stowage for extended cruises. Galeon also included panache by adding a backlit sculpted headboard, satin-finish wood, soft carpeting, a 32-inch TV and hullside windows. The en suite head has a basin sink, Corian countertop, electric toilet and separate shower stall.

The forepeak VIP is also stylish with a centerline berth and inlaid ceiling. In fact, it could be considered a second master stateroom. There’s an option for a third stateroom with twin bunks, which might be handy for cruising with children.

The 450 HTC’s engine room is accessed via a hatch in the cockpit sole. Cleanly finished and painted, it has room to get at the ancillary systems, such as the 12 kW Fischer Panda generator, 11-gallon water heater, battery banks, stainless-steel fuel and water tanks, and filters. It’s nice to see the engine dipsticks centrally located as well. Thanks to the straight-shaft, V-drive transmissions, the engines can be mounted a bit farther aft, creating more interior space.

Galeon allows the 450 HTC to be customized, but the standard features already include 316 stainless railings, opening portholes belowdecks, wood cabinetry, window treatments, direct and indirect lighting, and more. Basically, it’s a turnkey vessel. A chilled-water air-conditioning system produces 67,000 Btu of frigid air while operating at a low noise level. Owners can opt for upgraded interior furnishings, electronics, a Seakeeper 5 or other niceties.

A boat can’t be everything to everyone, but the Galeon 450 HTC has a solid pedigree that comes pretty darn close.  

Power Up

Twin 480 hp Volvo Penta D6 straight-shaft diesel engines get this 41,240-pound fiberglass hull up and going. I saw a wide-open-throttle speed of 27.7 knots. Slow cruising at 2,800 rpm brought a 17.8-knot speed with a range of 290 nautical miles. At 9.1 knots, range is 397 nm. 

Easy Rider

Running this express cruiser in a 2- to 3-foot chop was exhilarating yet comfortable. Responses to wheel input were immediate, bow rise during acceleration was minimal, and the low noise level made driving the 450 HTC a pleasure. With slight leans into hard-over turns, there was no feeling of loss of control. The Zipwake trim-control system keeps the ride level at all times. 

Side-Deck Magic

The cockpit’s usable space expands with port and starboard foldout “beach mode” terraces. These 84-by-24-inch platforms are sturdy and have safety railings. With a center cutout window, there’s visibility when the platforms are closed. 

Take the next step: galeonyachts.us

The post Galeon Yachts 450 HTC Reviewed appeared first on Yachting.

It was the opening day of racing last February in the sixth annual Caribbean Multihull Challenge and Rally on the island of St. Maarten, and I was in the thick of the action aboard a 50-foot French catamaran charging upwind. At least I thought I was. A fleet of diminutive but extremely quick trimarans started to pass us, their three-person crews adorned in helmets with the spray flying. It sort of reminded me of the classic Western film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where the protagonists are chased by a relentless posse and Butch asks Sundance, again and again, “Who are those guys?”

At the CMC, it turned out those dudes were sailing the fastest-growing one-design fleet in the islands, a nimble, blazingly quick 24-foot tri called a Diam 24. And man, they were having a blast. In an era when participation in sailboat racing is on the wane in many venues, the Diam 24 class on St. Maarten is an unqualified success story.

Built in France with infused fiberglass and a carbon-fiber core to a design by the VPLP naval architecture group—a consortium known for massive offshore trimarans such as the MOD 70—the Diam 24 is a small wonder that can be dismantled and shipped easily in a specially designed container. But the class owes its resounding popularity in St. Maarten to a singular, speed-obsessed French sailor named Pierre Altier, who skippers his own Diam 24 called Cry Baby.

After his first sail aboard the boat three years ago, Altier says: “I fell in love with this boat. Everyone says multihulls don’t go upwind that well, but the Diam points at a 45-degree angle at a speed of 14 knots, which is crazy for a boat this size.” In late 2021, Altier purchased Cry Baby and persuaded a couple of friends to join the fun, and all three boats were shipped to St. Maarten in a single container. The roots of success were planted.

But Altier, who runs a charter business in the islands, wanted more competition. He began lending the boat to friends and other local businesses to show them what it could do. “That was the key to get more people to join us,” he says. Before long, there were five Diams on the starting line for local events.

But Altier still wasn’t satisfied. He realized the numbers would grow if he owned several boats himself and chartered them out for regattas at reasonable rates, which is how the fleet grew to the 10 Diams racing in the CMC. At $700 a day for racing events, each of Altier’s three Diams is a bargain. Running rigging and a dolly for beach launching is $69,000 for a brand-new Diam with North Sails, which includes shipping to St. Maarten. In small-boat racing, it’s hard to imagine more bounce for the buck.

For Altier, there’s been only one drawback: For the first couple of years, nobody could touch Cry Baby on the racetrack. That’s no longer the case, as his fourth-place finish in the most recent CMC attests. “The competition has definitely ramped up,” he says. “I have a harder time than before to try and win. Better and better sailors were welcomed to come try and beat me, which is what happened.

“The word is getting out about how good the class is,” he adds. “And now we have multihull sailors from other classes coming to try out the Diam. It raises the level for everyone. For example, if you tune the boat better, we’re finding you can be 3 or 4 knots faster. It’s incredible. It’s been a real game-changer. And I’m very happy that the game is changing.”

So, Cry Baby is no longer the undisputed Diam 24 champion. Altier is spilling no tears.  

The post Diam 24: The Fastest-Growing One-Design Fleet in St. Maarten appeared first on Yachting.

Not terribly long ago, the team at Edmiston excitedly announced that “for the first time ever—possibly the only time—two of the world’s finest classic yachts, Haida and Malahne, are available for charter in the Caribbean.”

It was an announcement nearly a century in the making. The 233-foot Haida was built in 1929 and had gone through a 16-month restoration that included modernizations to systems such as air conditioning. The 164-foot Malahne was a 1937 build whose 30-month refit brought the yacht back to its original looks, albeit with enhancements including modern fire-suppression and electrical systems.

Both yachts are examples of how today’s shipyards are finding ways to balance craftsmanship and heritage with the latest technologies and materials, ensuring that classic builds can remain on the water and be enjoyed for many more years to come. Within the worldwide fleet, there are countless opportunities for refits, restorations and repairs, but successful projects present numerous concerns when it comes to ensuring the legacy of design and construction.

“The immediate challenge is to ensure we provide the level of comfort that our clients expect from a yacht,” says Stefan Coronel, refit manager at Huisfit in the Netherlands. “Expectations have risen dramatically: increased comfort, reduced noise level, increased headroom and other ergonomic elements you wouldn’t easily find in a classic boat, and the difficult part is once we work to improve these expectations, there is the possibility of damaging the heritage of the boat.”

Coronel knows what he’s talking about, more than most. In recent years, Huisfit’s team has worked on refits and restorations ranging from the 121-foot motoryacht Fair Lady, which originally launched in 1928, to the 203-foot schooner Athos, which launched in 2010 and is now marketed as “the most technologically advanced classic sailing yacht built to date.”

Coronel says certain aspects of a refit still require handcrafted techniques to achieve specific finishes. Woodworking, in particular, has a tradition of craftsmanship that the industry is not keen to let slip away.

“I don’t see any way that woodworking can ever be taken over by modern technology,” he says. “There is no way you can get the same finishes from automated processes.”

The refit of the 122-foot Atlantide, a 1930 build, serves as a testament to this, he adds: “Specialists treated the wood on board with stones, deliberately creating scratches to treat the surfaces to achieve the unique antique look desired by the owner.”

Marcelo Penna, business development director at the MB92 shipyard in Barcelona, Spain, says custom carpentry details can be made with advanced technology, but an experienced carpenter with the same tools used 50 years ago is still needed to retouch joints, match wood grains and solve other problems.

“The reality is that custom projects require craftsmanship, requiring a handmade, unique approach, such as brass ventilation intakes, detailed bowsprits, or wooden masts and rigging,” Penna says.

Yacht-building materials, of course, have also come a long way since the days when wood was the only option. GRP, honeycomb cores and carbon-fiber bulkheads are now the rule, not the exception.

However, Penna says: “There are materials you cannot simply replace or improve, such as brass or copper finishes. The same goes for interior maintenance through touch-ups or artwork care. Modern procedures might help, but the old polishing and restoration of fabric finishes generally demand traditional techniques by experts.”

Recent refit projects at multiple yards have included advanced technologies, such as 3D printing and scanning. In fact, with older boats that have limited or no original general-arrangement plans available, 3D-scanning capability can be a huge help.

“One advantage of using 3D scanning is the ability to reconstruct drawings of heritage boats,” says Gianni Paladino, commercial director of the Lubsen shipyard in Livorno, Italy. “It is also possible to map the interior volume of the boat to study restyling possibilities and from the point of view of the furnishings.”

Penna says 3D scanning was among the tools used for the refit of the 270-foot Talitha: “We used a complete scan of Talitha’s hull using a 3D scanner, providing accurate readings and measurements of the complete yacht to ensure their drawings and specifications were updated accordingly and not drawings from the 1920s.”

Charlie Ross, operations director at Pendennis in the United Kingdom—which handled the Malahne refit—says some projects currently in the yard are also “embracing a more conscientious approach to innovation, specifically hybrid-power technology.” This kind of advancement is important, he adds, especially when it’s combined with attention to honoring a yacht’s heritage.

“We have to preserve the skills to enable efficient delivery of traditional skills to clients’ yachts, as well as embrace new technologies so that we remain at the forefront of being able to challenge traditional time and cost norms,” Ross says.

Penna says that while craftsmen such as carpenters are vital for maintaining an authentic appearance, “so is the incorporation of modern machinery. Striking a balance is crucial, as both are vitally important and can coexist.”

Ultimately, all these types of efforts lead to classic yachts being back out on the water, appearing as if they sailed straight out of their glory days, but with technology and systems on board that make boating safer and better for everyone.

As Pendennis put it after Malahne relaunched, that yacht is “one of a small number of prewar motoryachts to have survived until the 21st century.” Such yachts are an important part of maritime history and are well worth saving by any and all means possible.

Mariette

Pendennis has refitted the 138-foot Mariette several times. The twin-masted schooner was built in 1915, and the yard has utilized traditional techniques for replacing the deck and rigging hardware, and for installing davits. Navigation and communication systems are modernized.

Maltese Falcon

Lubsen handled the refit of this iconic 288-foot Perini Navi, which was delivered in 2006. Performance and emissions were improved by upgrading the generators and changing the main engine mufflers. Many of the same artisans involved in the build also worked on the refit.

Atlantide

This 122-foot motorsailer from the 1930s underwent a rebuild at Huisfit, preserving its original Gardner engines while using new technology for the onboard systems. The owner opted to maintain the traditional aesthetic, so traditional craftsmanship was carried out.

The post Refitting Classic Yachts appeared first on Yachting.

Safe Harbor Marinas is continuing its efforts to expand superyacht marinas and services outside the usual locations. The company has reportedly inked a deal with the government of Puerto Rico to transform two docks into a marina able to service about six of these larger yachts.

Plans are for the first phase of construction to be up and running by the end of this year, with the second phase completed in late 2025. Overall, Safe Harbor is expected to invest $12 million to $15 million in the project.

The announcement follows other additions to the Safe Harbor network with an eye toward servicing superyachts. About a year ago, Safe Harbor acquired Savannah Yacht Center in Georgia. At the time of that deal, Baxter Underwood, CEO of Safe Harbor Marinas, said: “The world’s largest vessels have historically been forced to cross the Atlantic for certain services. This facility allows us to serve them with excellence here in the United States and inside the Safe Harbor network.”

The new Puerto Rico facility will not be Safe Harbor’s first foray onto the island. In 2021, the company acquired Puerto Del Rey, which is in Fajardo. It’s marketed as the largest marina in the Caribbean, with wet slips for about 1,000 vessels along with dry stacks for another 750.

Superyachts bring a higher level of investment into the communities where they tie up. The new facility in Puerto Rico is expected to generate more than $10 million in economic activity for the island, with Puerto Rico’s Port Authority receiving $200,000 a year in rental fees. Safe Harbor will also share a portion of the gross income and fuel-sale profits.   

Strategic Gem

The San Juan Historical Site is part of the National Park Service as well as being a World Heritage Site. Defense of this strategically important site was paramount for the government of Spain, which fortified it for more than 250 years.   acreage is substantial, with the site encompassing 75 square acres. The historic walls alone span a distance of 2.7 miles. Visitors to the site typically number more than a million a year, with kids and adults alike eager to explore the tunnels and dungeons. Kite flying is also a favorite family activity in the expanses of green grass. Photo buffs like this site not only for its architecture, but also because it includes the highest points of Old San Juan. The spots where lookouts used to roam are now great for capturing keepsake images.

The post Puerto Rico’s Superyacht Marina Plans appeared first on Yachting.

The Florida-based couple explained to me that they were winding down from their full-time work lives. They had plans to spend more time cruising, but not down South. They have a part-time home in the Pine Tree State, but would soon leave their Sunshine State residence behind for a full-time life in New England. The move would come with liveaboard and serious voyaging plans, and the Sabre Yachts 43 Salon Express we were aboard was on their shortlist because their current outboard-powered vessel lacks the layout and amenities for a true cruising campaign.

I was sitting at the salon’s L-shaped dinette to starboard, with a standard high-gloss cherry-wood high-low table and pillow-soft seating. The couple kicked back on the straight settee to port as they told me their story. Looking around this space, the why of their choice came into focus.

First, there’s the cozy like home factor we were experiencing. The 43’s salon has a warm, welcoming, standard teak-and-holly sole, enhanced by equally warm, welcoming, grain-matched, satin-finish cherry wood—also standard. This wood combination is found throughout the yacht’s interior. It’s easy to envision an early morning sitting at the dinette, feet up with hot coffee made at the open galley just a couple of steps down from the salon. Maybe watch the 32-inch flip-down TV as the vessel’s optional 480 hp Volvo Penta IPS10-650 diesels warm up for the day’s adventure. (The 380 hp IPS-500s are standard.)

The galley is to port and down, barely, and it is bright and airy. Three front windows are gently raked, creating an atrium effect over the L-shaped galley, which also benefits from the side windows amping up the natural-light quotient. The salon has curved glass wrapping around its after section, providing views of the cockpit corners, as opposed to a squared-off bulkhead that forces the skipper to move their head to catch the view aft. This curved glass is a clever bit of engineering and manufacturing, and not something I’ve seen on a yacht of this size.

The galley is also well-equipped for meal prep with a solid-surface countertop, stainless-steel undermount sink, Cuisinart convection/microwave oven, two-burner Kenyon induction cooktop, and Vitrifrigo two-drawer fridge and freezer. Induction cooktops use around 5 percent to 10 percent less energy than their electric counterparts, and they are generally safer because the surface only gets hot once pots or pans are placed on the burners. (Induction cooktops generate heat via an electromagnetic field.)

In addition to taking meals in the salon, owners can sit at a U-shaped dinette across from the galley that Sabre calls the hybrid lounge. The seating and table convert to a double berth with a 6-inch foam mattress for the kids or occasional guests.

Owners take their slumber in the master stateroom forward. This stateroom has an island berth with a 9-inch latex mattress, which generally means durability and supports the body better than memory foam, a positive attribute when the plan is extended voyages and being a seasonal—or longer—liveaboard. The owner’s stateroom also has a Samsung flat-screen TV, four drawers to port, and a cedar-lined locker to starboard to stow clothes and gear.

There is a single head on board the 43, and the master stateroom has direct access to it. There is additional guest access off the companionway. The head has a Tecma toilet and a separate stall shower with an acrylic door. There is a sink here, along with solid-surface countertops and a deck hatch above for fresh air ventilation.

The Sabre 43 Salon Express surely felt the part of ready-to-run cruiser as I looked around, but the question remained: Does this well-proportioned and nicely outfitted downeast design, with its timeless lines and modern powerplants, have the performance to match?

Running in calm water with seven people aboard and about two-thirds of the 432-gallon fuel tank full, the boat came on plane in rapid fashion. It soon hit an effortless 30-knot cruise speed at 3,300 rpm while the engines burned right around 37 gallons of fuel per hour. Considering a 10 percent reserve, there is about a 315-nautical-mile range at this speed. Push those single-lever throttles on the pins at 3,700 rpm, and this 43-footer makes about 35 knots while burning 49 gph, resulting in a range of about 278 nautical miles. That’s solid performance for a yacht with a 30,800-pound half-load displacement.

The efficiency is partly thanks to the IPS propulsion package, but it’s also because that package works in lockstep with the 43’s modified-V hull form, which has 15 degrees of transom deadrise and 21 degrees amidships. It creates an easy-to-plane and stable running surface.

Supporting this hull form is robust construction, with the yacht’s hull bottom and topsides built via resin-infused biaxial E-glass with Corecell foam for strength without added weight. The stringer system is also built with E-glass and a foam core for a strong backbone.

In addition to build strength, the 43 has a yacht-quality level of fit-and-finish at all points, from the joinerwork to the see-your-face-in-it hull paint. The designers also optimized onboard real estate in every way I could see.

As I write this, I don’t know if the couple I met ultimately ordered the Sabre 43 Salon Express. But as I was leaving the boat, I saw them sitting comfortably in the salon, taking in the layout and seeming to be in no hurry to disembark. That’s always a good sign.

Helm It Your Way

The Sabre 43 Salon Express has a proper helm setup in that there are standard—and quite comfortable—Stidd seats with fold-down footrests. Sightlines are unobstructed, even when the boat is coming onto plane. The single-lever throttles and joystick are positioned within arm’s reach, multifunction displays are in the line of sight, and there is side-deck access for line handling when cruising shorthanded.

Assisted Docking

This 43 Salon Express is equipped with Volvo Penta’s Assisted Docking system. It let our captain create a perimeter or lane for the yacht. Push the joystick forward, and the boat moves forward in the preset lane. Create a perimeter, and the boat moves within the circle. Not sure what to do? Let the joystick go, and the yacht holds position. The system worked smoothly and came in handy while waiting for bridges.

The Great Outdoors

Cruising is the primary mission of the Sabre 43 Salon Express, and part of the cruising experience is entertaining friends and family. The cockpit is well-suited for the task. Entrance is gained via a transom door off the swim platform to starboard. There is an L-shaped settee to port, set around a high-gloss wood table for alfresco meals. Flanking the sliding glass doors on centerline are two aft-facing seats for taking in the view underway.

Take the next step: sabreyachts.com

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For years, I eagerly anticipated Apple’s fall event and news of the latest iPhone release. Back then, my purchasing latency was limited to locating the website’s “buy” button, as my incumbent phone was often struggling to keep pace with new apps and software updates. Then, starting around 2015 (the iPhone 6S), I was able to start squeezing extra years out of my phones. This trend accelerated, and as of today, I still rely on my iPhone 11 Pro from 2019. To be fair, I always buy the top-end model with maximum storage, but four and a half years on, I haven’t crashed (at least not hard) into this phone’s silicone ceiling.

Multifunction displays perform different tasks than smartphones, but most marine-electronics manufacturers build MFDs with off-the-shelf componentry and, sometimes, software from the mobile-device market. This sourcing gives manufacturers options for high-resolution touchscreen displays, processors, connectivity and operating-system architecture, and it means that today’s MFDs can have longer working lives.

How we got here, however, requires a small rewind. After all, MFDs circa 2010 were different animals than today’s big, powerful displays.

“Back then, most displays were 4 to 7 inches,” says Dave Dunn, Garmin’s senior director of marine and RV sales. “A big display was 9 to 10 inches, and a 12-inch display was enormous.”

These MFDs were controlled via tactile buttons and knobs, or early touchscreen or hybrid-touch interfaces. They only tackled marine-facing applications such as chart-plotting.

Today’s MFDs excel at traditional marine tasks, but they also boast bigger glass, full video integration, touchscreen interfaces, high-speed data networks, and four- or six-core processors, opening the door to expanded job descriptions.

“Processing power has indeed increased over time, bringing with it the ability to drive higher-resolution screens,” says Steve Thomas, Simrad’s product director for digital systems. “[This] also lends itself to better integration by providing the responsiveness consumers expect.”

It also enables MFDs to perform nontraditional tasks, including streaming video from daylight and thermal-imaging cameras, tackling onboard security, controlling digital switching and, sometimes, providing entertainment. Today’s flagship MFDs also sport larger high-resolution displays, multisignal connectivity (with ANT, Bluetooth, Ethernet and Wi-Fi), embedded sonar modules, GPS or GNSS receivers, data backbones, and NMEA 2000 and HTML5 compatibility.

“NMEA 2000 protocol provides the basis of communication and is the linchpin connecting everything together for the MFD to display and control,” says Eric Kunz, Furuno’s senior product manager. Kunz adds that HTML5 compatibility allows MFDs to display and control third-party equipment via web-browser windows, sans any heavy lifting from the MFD.

Technology moves in step changes, and MFDs, brand depending, have experienced two major evolutions since 2010.

“The first was the transition from a completely closed-software architecture to something open source,” says Jim McGowan, Raymarine’s Americas marketing manager, referring to the company’s shift from a walled-garden operating system to Linux and then Android.

Others, including Simrad and Furuno, took similar steps. Garmin remains a holdout.

“We use Android, but not for marine,” Dunn says. “Will we eventually go to Android? Maybe.”

The second evolution involved hardware, with all MFD manufacturers now using mobile-device componentry.

“Suddenly, the requirements for shock resistance, heat resistance, water resistance, bright visibility and fast processing became available on a wide scale,” McGowan says. “Instead of us having to source expensive industrial or semicustom hardware that was proven but old, suddenly our system architects had multiple options to choose from that were all state of the art.”

Sourcing components became easier, yielding better MFDs, but it placed a higher premium on software. Case in point: Raymarine has released more than 30 updates, including new features, for its 2017-era Axiom MFDs.

Likewise, there’s the importance of supporting hardware as it ages. “We don’t like to leave customers behind,” Dunn says, noting that Garmin supports products for five years after they’re discontinued.

This opens the door to the fine art of good enough. Given that modern MFDs are robust, the same display—like my iPhone—can last for years, provided that its sensor network remains static. While this works for buy-and-hold customers, new sensors can dangle carrots.

For example, Furuno and Garmin unveiled Doppler-enabled radars in 2016. While older MFDs could often display radar imagery from these sensors, some customers had to refit their displays to access the best features. One can imagine automation and AI presenting similar incentives.

“AI will combine multiple facets of different sensors to create a more sophisticated and enhanced navigation experience,” Kunz says. “Look for MFDs to take a larger and larger part in overall vessel control and automation.”

Avikus, for instance, is developing its NeuBoat autonomous navigation system with Raymarine. As for Garmin, Dunn says: “There’s nothing coming in the near future, but there’s some cool stuff coming with lidar and cameras.” He’s referring to the light-detection and ranging sensors that help enable automotive driver-assist features and autonomous driving.

Future hardware and capabilities aside, all experts agree on the importance of regularly updating a vessel’s MFD to keep the operating system current and to access the latest software features. While updates are free, all four companies have adopted subscription models for cartography.

“In some ways, the marine-electronics business model is changing in the same way it is happening in the consumer-electronics industry,” Kunz says. “This will most likely lead to more of a subscription-based model for certain aspects of the market.”

While subscription models make sense for a dynamic media like cartography, it’s harder to envision this business practice extending throughout the sensor ecosystem.

“We don’t want to get to the point where people have to pay for software updates,” Dunn says, pointing to BMW’s belly-flopped attempt to charge customers fees to use their existing heated steering wheels.

New hardware, however, is a different story. “More than anything, we’re a sensor company,” McGowan says of Raymarine. “We keep offering new and improved sensors.”

Given the adoption rates of Doppler-enabled radar, there’s little question that the recreational marine market stands ready to embrace step-change sensors, so long as they come bundled with newfound capabilities—say, auto-docking or autonomous navigation.

As for my ancient iPhone, I’m again counting the days until Apple’s fall event. I just hope my next iPhone will last as long as today’s flagship MFDs.  

UI Options

Recent years have seen most manufacturers adopt touchscreen-only user interfaces for their flagship multifunction displays. This technology creates user-friendly interfaces in most conditions, but some users prefer tactile buttons when the weather sours. All manufacturers build optional external keypads or hard-button remote controls.

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