Lumishore underwater lighting lets this Sunseeker yacht light up the night. (Courtesy Lumishore/) None of us needs any more reason to be frustrated about the COVID-19 pandemic. But if you are just now seeing some seriously cool lighting systems on the water and trying to figure out how the boat owners got them, you can absolutely blame the coronavirus for keeping you in the dark. Imtra, the US representative for UK-based Lumishore, had been offering the Lumishore Lux lighting system exclusively to boatbuilders until early 2020, when the system made its debut for the general public at the Miam ..read more

"It seems that, so far, the swarm of new buyers has left many rides from the 1980s and ’90s tangled in tumbleweed." (Steve Haefele/) A sales pal called recently to share a customer-satisfaction test that he says has become the new normal. “Dealer orders outboard boat from builder. Builder sends boat without motors screwed to the transom. The supply chain’s in a knot, for God’s sake.” His solution? Recycle. Among the countless lessons learned during the pandemic, we all discovered the frailties of our “just-in-time” supply chain when our toilet paper failed to arrive just in time. Now, it’s bo ..read more

Starting in May, the 164-foot <i>Aqua Mare</i> will offer yacht charters in the Galapagos at a weekly base rate of $196,000. (Courtesy Aqua Expeditions/) Aqua Expeditions, which specializes in offering charters in exotic locales such as the Amazon River, is expanding into the Galapagos Islands with the seven-stateroom Aqua Mare. Aqua Mare will be the company’s fifth vessel, and will begin offering itineraries in May 2022. The 16 guests will be able to choose from seven- or 14-night itineraries with twice-daily expeditions ashore, in keeping with the islands’ strict protocols for l ..read more

British chef Marc Fosh visited Mallorca 27 years ago, and he instantly knew the island would be his culinary muse. (Nando Esteva/) There’s no doubt that Mallorca, Spain, put its best face forward when celebrated chef Marc Fosh first visited the island in 1994 to decide if he wanted to move there. “The sun was shining. There was a beautiful blue sky,” he recalls. “I was driving through olive groves, orange groves, almond fields. As a chef, I knew there was going to be fantastic ingredients at my disposal.” Those fantastic local ingredients have defined Fosh’s two-plus decades of inventive Medi ..read more

The Sōlace Boats 415CS comes with Volvo Penta interceptors with active ride control, automatic trim and list system and coordinated turn control. (Courtesy Volvo Penta/Sōlace Boats/) Sōlace Boats used the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show to unveil its 415CS center console, which has a fully integrated Volvo Penta propulsion system with twin D6-440 diesel Aquamatic DPI inboards. According to the builder, the power plants and hull design allow for a range of 490 miles with a standard 444-gallon fuel tank. “The new 415CS is the result of a close collaboration between Solace and Volvo Pent ..read more

When powered with optional 2,600 bhp 16V 2000 M96L MTU diesels, the Ferretti 1000 reportedly hits 28 knots. (Courtesy Ferretti Yachts/) When Ferretti Yachts introduced its flagship 1000 at the Venice Boat Show in Italy a few months ago, there were a few audible aahs from the docks. First of all, the 1000 was the largest Ferretti Group yacht in Venice. It also is the biggest vessel ever from Ferretti Yachts. Most noteworthy is the interior: 1,800 square feet, which almost makes the 98-foot-10-inch length overall seem secondary. The exterior offers another 1,400 square feet. This boat is big an ..read more

The Silent 55 is available for charter in Europe, giving guests a chance to experience solar-powered cruising. (Courtesy Silent-Yachts/) Franz Bose says the reaction of guests is always the same, every single time. They start their charter aboard the Silent 55 near Palma de Mallorca, in Spain’s Balearic Islands, and feel the same way they felt the first time they experienced the emission-free ride of an electric car. “They can’t believe how quiet it was,” says Bose, who is the chief marketing officer of Silent-Yachts. “They couldn’t believe how much you are able to do with the boat without tu ..read more

Note the cutdown bulwarks and full-height glass windows for open ocean views from the salon. (Courtesy Prestige Yachts/) The Prestige Yachts C70 is a departure from the builder’s Fly and Sport models. It’s a crossover-style yacht (hence the X in X70) that repurposes space with design elements and features typically found on larger yachts. Designers of the X70 created striking lines and style. From the angled bow looking aft, the sheerline appears to separate upward, yielding a full-length salon window frame. The pilothouse sports a reverse-raked windshield, and the flybridge is sizable. From ..read more

The Wally Why200 is scheduled to premiere at the Cannes Yachting Festival in France this month. (Courtesy Wally/) Wally Why200 The Why200 is the first fully widebody motoryacht and the first hull in a new Why range of yachts from Wally in Italy. The idea is to combine the comfort and space of a larger displacement yacht with the speed and performance of a semi-displacement yacht. Stefano de Vivo, Wally’s managing director, says the design “essentially provides all the advantages of a catamaran but has none of the limitations, namely the lack of volume linked to the main central hull and moori ..read more

SiriusXM forecasts and Fish Mapping information are transmitted from SiriusXM’s geostationary satellites to dedicated onboard antennas and receivers. (Unsplash/Ryan Arnst/) It’s a quest as old as time: heading to sea to forage dinner. Early mariners were limited by the wind’s direction and their simple sail plans, a limitation that internal-combustion engines fixed, but the basic problem remained. Namely, where to go to catch dinner or land prized pelagic species. High-powered radar came next, allowing mariners to see where birds were congregating, but radar range is limited by physics and th ..read more