Sea Ray Sundancer 370 | Hunt Ocean 63 | Palm Beach 55 - 08/08/21
BoatTEST Newsletter August 8, 2021
Most Popular News Items of the Week
Every week, BoatTEST publishes news items on about 25 boats and products. Readers have asked which ones are the most popular each day, so below you can find the answer.
Monday #1
Yamaha WaveRunner Accessories
Enhance the Riding Experience
Yamaha has introduced new accessories for its WaveRunner series of personal watercraft. Aft-facing rod holders secure tackle during the run to a fishing spot and a compression-molded 13.2-gallon (50-liter) storage bag secures in place on the stern. To keep the tunes pumping, add a Bluetooth subwoofer that stores beneath the aft section of the saddle. To see the rest, read on...
Tuesday #1
Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard
Ushering in a New Generation
With the 370 Sundancer Outboard, Sea Ray ushered in the future of the ’Dancer with a bold yacht that has coupe-like styling and outboard power. As can be seen here, she is an exciting watersports platform but her large, open cockpit makes entertaining fun. Below she sleeps 4 on overnight adventures. Hullside windows and a skylight infuse the salon with natural light. Three can sit forward in the bow cockpit when underway. She’s pre-rigged for a SeaKeeper stabilizer and features C-Zone digital switching to control on board systems. More...
Wednesday #1
Hunt Yachts Ocean 63
The Importance of Designer/Builder Collaboration
One benefit of working with a custom builder that is also a naval architect and designer, such as Hunt Yachts, is when an owner makes a request for something as mundane as stairs to the flying bridge, the result is a work of art, as seen above on the Hunt Yachts Ocean 63. If you’ve ever seen yachts when here and there things were not quite right, chances are it was because the builder was trying to match drawings a designer made that looked good on paper but not so much in reality. Custom and semi-custom boats need a perfect collaboration between designer and builder, such as the one that Hunt Yachts inherently has. More...
Thursday #1
Palm Beach 55
Details Make All the Difference
The Palm Beach 55 is a study in nuance. Examine the image above and you’ll see the classic, boxy, squared-off look that so many people associate with Downeast yachts. Those lines made the boats easier to build, but on the Palm Beach 55, they have been ever so carefully rounded off and smoothed into shapes that signal elegance. Her mid-engine location contributes to performance and handling without requiring counterweights. She’s so well balanced, she doesn’t need a stabilizer. Her deadrise is 8 degrees at the transom compared to 16 or more for most boats in class. This translates into improved efficiency, fuel economy, and stability. Finally, when compared to other boats in class, the Palm Beach 55 is lighter because of her vacuum-infused laminates reinforced with carbon-fiber. More...
Friday #1
The Formula Ownership Experience
is on Another Level
Recently, BoatTEST’s Capt. Steve sat down with two new owners of Formula Boats to get a feel for their “after-delivery experience.” We interviewed two couples – one has owned 15 boats – so they know the difference between a good experience and an excellent one. The other owner is also a veteran cruiser and he had high expectations. We asked them both why they bought a Formula and then what happened after they took ownership. The answers might surprise you.
Fastnet Race Starts Today
With a New Course
The Fastnet Ocean Race is the most prestigious of the “triple crown” of offshore sailboat racing events that include the Sydney-Hobart and the Bermuda races. This year, for the first time in its 96-year history, the race's finish line will not be at its traditional Plymouth, England sea buoy. Instead, it will be in Cherbourg, France, making the race 695 nautical miles. The race made headlines around the world and shook the sailboat racing community to its core in 1979 when 19 people died in the race in the confused conditions of the Irish Sea on the homeward leg from Fastnet Rock (above). Ted Turner won that race in Tenacious. In 2007, 207 boats out of a fleet of 271 withdrew due to gale-force winds and extreme sea conditions. This year, more than 450 boats will compete in the biggest Fastnet Race fleet ever.
Photo Of The Day
"Boating at Sayers Dam in Howard, PA."
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