We don’t normally feature buildings in MBY, but this boathouse on the banks of the river Yealm in Newton Ferrers is well worth sharing. Designed by Wimshurst Pelleriti architects and situated in an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the 65m² Berberis Boathouse was specially designed to blend in. It is…
Gear
Wave Jam: Electric jet board offers plenty of on-water fun
Being dragged around the bay by an electric scooter is way more fun than it sounds – just ask anyone with a Seabob. The only problem can be the cost. New British start-up Asap Water Crafts may have the answer with its Wave Jam. Made from hard-wearing but soft-to-touch expanded…
Half liferaft, half lifeboat: Introducing the Viking LifeCraft
Is this the next step in ocean rescue technology? Liferaft manufacturer Viking is attempting to improve maritime safety and bridge the divide between a liferaft and a lifeboat with its new LifeCraft. Designed for commercial ship use, the LifeCraft vessels are inflatable, just like liferafts, but are powered so can…
450hp outboard: Mercury Racing releases most powerful model yet
Outboard specialist EP Barrus has pushed the envelope with its latest launch, the 450hp Mercury Racing 450R. Built around a supercharged 4.6-litre four-stroke V8, this model is the most powerful outboard engine you can buy today (Seven Marine’s 650hp unit remains a rarity). But it’s not just power that it…
Cox CXO 300hp diesel outboard production plans and release date revealed
Berthon Power have announced they are the official UK and Ireland distributor for Cox Powertrain. The 300hp diesel outboard engine CXO300 will go into production later this year
V6 outboards: Six of the best from Mercury Marine
The Mercury Verado range of supercharged 175-225hp outboard motors has been replaced by an all-new family of naturally aspirated 3.4-litre V6 outboards. The move marks a major change in direction for one of the world’s leading outboard engine manufacturers. Until now, the company has relied on belt-driven superchargers to boost…
Volvo launches new generation D4/D6 engines
Volvo Penta has revamped its entire range of D4 and D6 diesel engines to deliver more power, increased reliability, improved efficiency and lower running costs. The most powerful D6 now delivers 480hp while the D4 range now tops out at 320hp. It has also taken the opportunity to launch a…
Ocean Safety Kru Sport Pro lifejacket: New design covers all bases
It’s easy to think a lifejacket is just a lifejacket; that they’re all the same. But in fact, a huge amount of research and development goes into ensuring that you’ll wear them and that they will work effectively if they are needed, so it’s worth exploring exactly what is new…
Fusion Apollo: WiFi HiFi takes marine audio to the next level
‘From the kick drum to your ear drum, Fusion DSP reproduces your music the way the musicians intended,’ is the tag line for Fusion’s brand new marine hi-fi systems. One of the first companies to introduce dedicated marine hi-fi, Fusion has been a little quiet of late, but with the…
Diesel outboard head-to-head test: Cox CXO 300hp vs Oxe 200hp
I‘ve been looking forward to this day for years now. From the moment I first heard about Cox’s plans to build a 300hp diesel outboard engine, I’ve been begging them to let me be the first journalist to test it and finally it appears that my persistence is about to…
Sealander: The boat that’s also a caravan
Referring to any vessel as a ‘floating caravan’ is usually regarded as an insult, but in this case it’s entirely accurate. Inventors of the German-built Sealander looked at the humble two-berth caravan and wondered whether it couldn’t do a little more than simply get dragged around by a car slowing…
Yamaha 425hp outboard: Most powerful V8 set-up tested
While Yamaha is not a company to shout about power, most of us already know how extraordinary the specs for the new XTO are. Taking the mantle as Yamaha’s flagship motor from the established F350, this naturally aspirated direct injection 5.6-litre V8 generates an output of 425hp, making it the…
Aston Martin submarine: Is Triton’s Project Neptune the ultimate underwater explorer?
Built by Triton Submarines rather than the Aston Martin factory at Gaydon, Project Neptune is a personal submarine that was developed in conjunction with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, who also developed the Aston Martin Valkyrie ‘hypercar’. Improved hydrodynamic efficiency, reduced frontal area, and increased power give an anticipated ‘sprint’ speed…
Raymarine Element: Next gen chartplotters promise life-like clarity
Raymarine Element is a new series of sonar/GPS chartplotters from Raymarine that slot between its budget Dragonfly and top-spec Axiom models. Unlike the Axiom range, these are keypad controlled, rather than touch screen. Raymarine describes them as ‘optimised for a simplified user experience’. However they still use a Lighthouse operating…
Solo SF150: The personal waterskiing machine
That looks like a high tech training shoe, what is it? It’s the new SOLO SF 150 Personal Ski Machine. Intriguing, what does it do? Pop it on the water and you can water ski behind it. But what’s wrong with a boat? Nothing, provided you have two other people…
AIS B+ explained: How to see and be seen on the water
Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) may have originally been conceived as a collision avoidance system for commercial shipping but in recent years they have become a popular safety aid for leisure boats as well. Not only does AIS allow you to see and be seen, even when out of sight due…
Hempel Silic One: Is this the future of antifouling?
As with many more experienced boat owners Harry and Vikki Metcalfe decided to make the switch from sail to power when the appeal of beating into the wind at an angle for hours on end began to lose its appeal. After years of cruising and racing a variety of sailing…
Raymarine ClearCruise brings augmented reality to boating tech
Never before have leisure boat owners had access to such a sophisticated array of navigational electronics. The leading manufacturers are on a never-ending mission to make navigating on the water safer, more intuitive and more inventive. Thermal imaging and the use of tablets, smartphones and even smart watches to control…
Raymarine DockSense takes the nerves out of berthing
With its Virtual Bumper technology has Raymarine eradicated the stress and strain from berthing?
IconCraft 24: the 8m boat that can store toys
8-metre semi-custom IconCraft 24 may be small but it's capable to carry toys, including Sea-Doo Spark Trixx jetski