Motor Boat & Yachting July 2022

I like to think of myself as a glass-half-full person (unless somebody else is buying the drinks) but even taking this into account I am convinced there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the future of boating. Three of those reasons are covered in this issue. The first two are electric boats that demonstrate how well this power source works in certain kinds of craft. One of them is a fast, agile, practical sportsboat that competes toerail to toerail with its petrol-powered rivals, the other is an exceptionally refined 35ft inland waterways cruiser that makes its diesel counterparts seem unnecessarily noisy, smelly and crude by comparison. Even if neither of these appeal to you, there is a third reason to be excited, thanks to the research being done into greener…

Not every Swift Trawler 48 will have the opportunity to float in emerald Bahamian waters next to a shipwreck, but this is Beneteau hammering the point home with a blunt instrument. The message? A Swift Trawler can take you places. The French yard has built 1,500 units across all model sizes but one thing they all have in common is a practical edge and focus on usability that tends to attract owners who take their cruising seriously. Beneteau has even begun to design the boats around feedback from owners. After all, who knows better what does and doesn’t work than the people who are living with them day in and day out? The 48 is the current flagship and it’s imbued with the same rugged likeability that has made the range such…

1 NEW BRITISH-BUILT OCEAN-GOING ALI CAT British newcomer Archipelago Yachts is hoping to take the adventure yacht market by storm with a stylish new all-aluminium 47ft (14.3m) powercat. Already in build on the Isle of Wight, it should launch just in time for a world premiere at this year’s Southampton Boat Show. Company founder, owner and CEO Dr Steven Weatherley is a cyber security specialist with a PhD in astrophysics and an experienced motor boat owner. After searching in vain for a fast, go-anywhere powercat to replace the family’s Mitchell 31, he decided to commission and build one of his own. He was so pleased with the concept drawings that he decided to turn it into a business. The design of the Archipelago 47 is the work of Chartwell Marine, a firm of…

Smuggler’s Blues 2022 is GO! It’s been a very long winter. The boat was lifted ashore at Dartside Quay mid-October, but with September full of boat shows and the YouTube filming, editing and uploading that goes with them, the truth is that boating for us peters out in late August. With relaunch at the end of March, that’s more than half the year with no boat. For once the launch was at a civilised time of 4pm. I arrived a couple of hours before with a car full of lifejackets, electronics and other items I prefer not to leave on the boat over winter. I spent about 30 minutes stowing it all, arranging warps and fenders and removing the canopy, and an hour and a half wandering around the yard wondering…

SUPHAWADI GOSPORT According to the Royal Navy, Portsmouth is one of the UK’s busiest ports with around 130,000 significant vessel movements a year. While many visiting boats stay on the western side of the harbour, tying up at one of Gosport’s three marinas – Haslar, Gosport and Royal Clarence – when it comes to dining, their crews often head in exactly the opposite direction, lured by the glitzy restaurants of the bustling Gunwharf Quays shopping complex. For anyone seeking a more relaxed experience, Gosport offers an excellent alternative – and you don’t have to pay for a ferry crossing to get there. Centred around the town’s Stoke Road area, a short hop from each of the above mentioned marinas, is a selection of eating options ranging from takeaways to pubs to a range…

SLIDING DOORS We have had our Jeanneau NC 14 for six years from new and absolutely love it. We use it all year round in the Solent from our base in Ocean Village, Southampton. We have been as far as Plymouth, Jersey, Guernsey and a lot of France! Whenever we are in rough water (even when coming out of Portsmouth), the doors on the wheelhouse come open of their own accord, sliding backwards and forwards in a rather alarming manner. Even if we succeed in closing them they bounce out of the lock and open again. We would like to have a system where we could bolt them closed or even have them taken out and replaced with hinged doors. We have searched the internet and spoken to our Jeanneau dealer but haven’t had…