FLIBS 2018 TAKEAWAYS

Every November the population of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, swells with the coming of the “world’s largest boat show.” If you’ve been here, sweating through the crowds clamoring to get a look at the latest, greatest on display, you’d probably have difficulty disputing the claim. But when you get past the glitz of superyacht row, you’ll find several areas of interest for the PassageMaker crowd. And despite the 100- and 200-footers for which “FLIBS” is known best, there is plenty of interest for regular cruising folk. Here are some of the highlights we think you’ll want to hear about.

NORDHAVN/VRIPACK ANNOUNCE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP

On the first day of the show, Nordhavn Yachts (also known as Pacific Asian Enterprises) held a joint press conference with world-renowned builder/designer Vripack Yacht Design. The Dutch company was represented by creative directors and company partners, Bart Bouwhuis and Marnix Hoekstra. The pairing of Nordhavn and Vripack is a marriage that will begin with the interior design and fit-out of a new 80-footer (shown above), which, according to Nordhavn’s owner and co-founder Jim Leishman has just recently been released from her molds. Vripack will bring a wealth of knowledge and interior design experience to the partnership, as well as the ability to build yachts of all sizes. In the event that Nordhavn wants to build 100+ footers, the implication is that the build would happen at Vripack and would also likely be the first steel Nordhavn model(s). Hoekstra and Bouwhuis were also eager to allow journalists a view of their virtual reality (VR) interior tours. A

few of us donned Oculus Rift VR goggles and “toured” fully immersive rendered three-dimensional spaces. It definitely felt like the future of yacht design. For more, visit nordhavn.com or vripack.com

GRAND BANKS 52 AND MORE

GB’s new designs are well underway in the marketplace, with CEO and design chief Mark Richards putting his trademark style on all-new products, from the wild metallic-blue GT50 (badged Palm Beach, the sister brand to GB), to the new rev on the Grand Banks 60, which adds a fully enclosed bridge/ pilothouse to this already well-reviewed model. The lounge comes in handy whether your cruising requires air conditioning or heat, or you just prefer the look to wrapping your flybridge in visqueen. It also offers a number of great amenities for the cruising captain, not the least of which is a day head so that time away from the helm is minimized during single-handing or night runs. Definitely worth a close look, the 60SL already made a splash at September’s Baltimore TrawlerFest. Richards also introduced two new projects that we are particularly excited about: the upcoming GB52, as shown here, and a larger boat, a GB85. For more, visit grandbanks.com

ASPEN 10,000-MILE TOUR

Larry Graf ’s Aspen C120, Knot Wafflen’, has finished the 10,000mile tour in style, with a completion party during the Annapolis Powerboat Show. We weren’t able to celebrate with them, but we were invited to join in during the Alaska leg as well as cruising around the islands in the Sea of Cortez. Quite an accomplishment, we say, and also impressive was that, at the finish line, the boat looked like it had barely cruised a single nautical mile. If you love

boats and boating, then sitting down and chatting with Larry Graf should be on your bucket list. For more, visit aspenpowercatamarans.com

GARMIN PARTNERS WITH YACHT CONTROLLER

Yacht Controller by The Yacht Group is a popular remotecontrol system for yachts. “Yacht Controller is on more than 17,000 boats,” Gerald Burton, president of the Yacht Group, told our sister site, Trade Only Today. There are two versions of Yacht Controller, an IPS joystick- style remote and one with arrow buttons for changing direction and control. The partnership with Garmin will allow Yacht Controller to be manipulated by Garmin’s OneHelm protocol via Garmin MFDs. This will allow someone at the helm or chartplotter to make adjustments to positioning as well as allow for a cleaner helm as there won’t be the need for a separate yacht controller panel. See more at yachtcontroller.com/ garmin-integration

NEW KVH ANTENNA

KVH Industries rolled out a new small-form SATCOM antenna at FLIBS, the TracPhone V3-HTS antenna. We are used to seeing huge SATCOM antennas atop large yachts and thinking, “That doesn’t belong on my boat!” But the new antenna, with a 14.5-inch diameter and weighing only 25 pounds, is designed for boats as small as 25 feet. The TracPhone V3-HTS SATCOM antenna is designed to provide data speeds of 5 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload. See more at kvh.com

VOLVO-PENTA’S HYBRID POWER COMMITMENT

Trade Only Today also caught the Volvo-Penta presentation that we missed in which the leading propulsion manufacturer announced plans to bring an electric-hybrid to the marine market by 2021. The company has an existing electric-hybrid system that has already been implemented in trucks and in electric buses. Now the company simply needs to adapt the existing technology for the boating world.

DIESEL OUTBOARDS FROM COX POWERTRAIN

Our coworkers over at Soundings magazine came across these dual 300-horsepower diesel outboards. With outboards becoming a go-to for many new designs, these diesel powerplants are a unique offering. As Soundings explains, “Cox Powertrain says the diesel outboard offers at least a 25 percent better range compared to a gasoline outboard. It weighs in at 827 pounds, and the company says it will last up to three times longer than a gasoline outboard.” Find more at coxmarine.com

BENETEAU SWIFT TRAWLER 47

Beneteau revealed stateside its newest addition to the Swift Trawler line. The 47 looks to fill the gap between the 44 and the 50 in the existing product series. Like all Swift Trawlers, you can cruise her in the 10- to 12-knot range but also run at top speeds of 25 knots when you need to get somewhere in a hurry. With three cabins and a fold-out saloon couch—just like on the Swift Trawler 35—the 47 can sleep up to eight and has a flybridge sized to match that sizeable crowd. Find out more at beneteau.com n