Passagemaker Magazine

07/11/2025

This long-abandoned project boat—a steel, 44-foot pilothouse trawler—caught the eye of a professional mariner who transformed her into the ideal family cruiser.

Luuc Klop stumbled across the listing for a half-finished, 44-foot pilothouse trawler, something about its rugged, unfinished appeal called to him. “The build quality really impressed me, Klop says. “It had that authentic workboat feel.”

Beneath the refined surface lies a vessel built for serious passagemaking. At the heart of Barabbas is its original power plant, a 220-hp DAF DKA 1160 engine. Recently overhauled, the engine has just 75 hours on it. Its efficiency and reliability make it ideal for long journeys, with the 11,6-liter engine burning just over 2 gallons per hour at a 7-knot cruise speed, With more than 1,000 gallons on tap, the boat’s range exceeds 2,000 nautical miles. Her top speed is 10 knots.

The interior, which Klop says began as “bare bones,” is now a cozy liveaboard space. The salon has large windows and an L-shaped settee with panoramic views. The open-plan design flows into the pilothouse, fostering a sense of connection between the operational and social spaces.

Belowdecks, her two staterooms can accommodate his family with additional room in the salon for guests. The galley has an induction stove and convection oven. Heated soles and a Webasto HVAC system provide comfort during four-season cruising.

📸 Luuc Klop

07/10/2025

Italy-based Apreamare is known from its line of elegant gozzo dayboats, but the builder's Maestro line dates back two decades. These "navettas" or little ships are meant for long voyages, and the latest, the Maestro 88, is the largest-ever vessel from the Sorrento yard.

In a first for Apreamare, the Maestro 88 is graced with a semi-displacement hull. When matched to her standard power package—a pair of 1,600-hp MAN engines—the 88 is capable of 18-knot cruise and a top speed of 23 knots. Back off the throttles to 10 knots, and her range is estimated at 1,000 nautical miles.

Below decks, Hull No. 1 has a four-stateroom layout—a full-beam, amidships master, forward VIP and a pair of staterooms with bunks; all are en suite. Owners will have the option of having up to five staterooms and crew quarters for four.

📸 Apreamare

07/09/2025

Last year, Altena Shipyard in the Netherlands has started construction on what will be the biggest-ever owner-operated Doggersbank—it’s a 77-foot Offshore commissioned by an experienced yachtsman from the Pacific Northwest who plans to cruise with kids and grandkids on board.

The propulsion system’s PTO/PTI moniker stands for power take-in and power take-out. With power take-in, energy can be drawn from the main engine’s shaft. “You create electricity that you can store in your battery bank,” says Doggersbank. “If you don’t use the main engine, say at the lower speeds going in and out of port, you can use the power take-out and run the shaft.”

All three guest staterooms are belowdecks, including the master that’s amidships to minimize motion. The owner also eliminated the crew cabin that exists near the engine room in the plans and instead will use the space for a battery room, as part of the hybrid propulsion system. The main-deck’s day head also is gone, in favor of extra stowage for long-distance cruising, and there will be five doors on the main deck instead of the standard three, for more access to the side decks.

The 77 is expected to have a 4,016-nautical-mile range at 7.5 knots. At 8.5 knots, the range is 3,135 nm (both with a 10% reserve).

📸 Vripack

07/08/2025

With the 60 Open, Kadey-Krogen has created a bright, spacious, well-found long-haul cruiser that will lay down the miles or serve as an able dockside liveaboard platform. The 60 is a three-stateroom boat with optional crew quarters. One stateroom can be configured as an office, as the owners of Hull No. 1 chose to do.

The main-deck salon has space for small-group entertaining. The adjacent galley is fitted with a 30-inch Wolf stove and oven, a deep single-basin sink, a GE microwave, a full-height side-by-side Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezer, and a wine chiller. A clever “appliance garage” (or as I saw it, a “blender dock”) emerges on demand from the sprawling Silestone countertop. An electrically actuated TV rises athwartships from the galley backsplash.

Accommodations are equally spacious. The amidships, full-beam master has an island king berth, hanging lockers, a bureau, and a head with a shower and twin sinks. Oversize rectangular opening ports feel more like picture windows. The VIP stateroom in the bow has an island queen, a head with a shower, drawers and a hanging locker. Stowage is a particularly strong point throughout the boat.

Construction is hardy. The topsides and superstructure are hand-laid Knytex fiberglass with a Corecell PVC sandwich core. Below the waterline, the hull is solid fiberglass with blister-resistant vinylester resin utilized on the first two laminates, with aramid fiber/FRP reinforcements.

According to Kadey-Krogen, with the standard John Deere diesels, the 60 tops out at about 11 knots and has an efficient cruise of 8 to 9 knots. Range at 8 knots is listed as 2,254 miles.

📸 Jonathan Cooper, Robert Holland

07/07/2025

The Omikron OT-60 is an elegant, Mediterranean island-hopper, and surprisingly more.

The brief on the OT-60 was for the most efficient shape possible for a cruising motoryacht with a 20-ton-plus displacement. Draft is less than 3 feet to the tips of the props, and the hull has a fine entry with a sailboat-type stern that leaves the water in a smooth, slippery curve with minimal turbulence or drag.

Omikron Chairman Nikolas Dendrinos says 8 knots is “the sweet spot for cruising.” On the OT-60 at that speed, fuel consumption was around 4 gph, and range was more than 550 nautical miles. Owners can spec bigger fuel tanks for longer range. Omikron says range improved on a subsequent hull that’s 2 tons lighter than Hull No. 1; with standard power, the builder claims an 1,000nm range at 8 knots. At 12 knots, we saw a range of less than 200 nm. Maximum speed was 13.5 knots.

In the six-berth Owner layout that we saw aboard Hull No. 1, the bow is given over entirely to a master stateroom, and there are three staterooms total, all en suite. Headroom is 6 feet, 6 inches in the two guest staterooms, and it’s more than 7 feet in the master, where the upper windows in the raised coachroof are an excellent touch.

The galley and dinette are on the lower deck but open to the windshield overhead, with unlimited headroom and plenty of light.

📸 Omikron Yachts

07/06/2025

Based in New Zealand, Circa Marine has been building all-aluminum commercial vessels, production boats and other custom craft for more than 40 years. it's latest launch is Hull No. 2 of its 24-meter (85 feet) Series.

Self-sufficiency, a low carbon footprint and all-weather capability are the tenets behind Circa Marine’s builds. Her overbuilt hull design well exceeds ISO offshore standards: The double-bottom hull plates are nearly a half-inch thick, with 5/16-inch-thick topside plates; frames and bulkheads include a mixture of quarter-inch and 5/16-inch aluminum; and, all the glass is at least ¾-inch thick. There are also five watertight bulkheads, and her bottom and all running gear are skeg-protected.

Hull No.2, Deo Juvante, is fitted with systems and features for comfort and self-sufficiency from the tropics to the high latitudes. These include reverse-cycle air conditioning, a diesel boiler, radiant heated soles throughout the vessel, as well as efficient solar collection.

A 19-kW genset and upgraded alternators augment the photovoltaics, but the Victron LiFePO4 battery system will do a good deal of the heavy lifting. The batteries are supported by a pair of 8-kW Victron inverters and two 24-volt Mastervolt alternators. Everything is managed via a Victron touchscreen system.

“By going to lithium, the batteries or the power systems are a lot more forgiving. It’ll essentially take care of itself,” says the builder. “You’ve got that much greater depth of charge. It’s lighter [and] doesn’t degrade in the tropics with the higher temperatures. If you want to spend an hour topping up your batteries, leave them at 80 percent, they’re quite happy [and] there’s no detriment to the batteries.”

The builder estimates a top speed of about 16 knots, a 13-knot fast cruise, and a 4,000-nautical-mile range at 9 knots.

📷 Chris Cameron

07/05/2025

Longtime Passagemaker contributor, Trawlerfest instructor and all-around good guy Bob Arrington and his wife, Dori are out cruising all summer (per usual) and shared an incredible run-in with a real OG. Bob describes the meeting as follows:

"Dori and I had the pleasure of stopping at Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island yesterday where we were greeted by John Calascibetta.

Recognizing my name when we made the reservation, John took the opportunity to show off his original edition of Passagemaker’s premiere issue, along with the current issue. Thank you John, it’s meeting long time readers like you that make my association with Passagemaker such a rewarding experience."

Thanks Bob and John!

07/05/2025

‘Jeanie Lynn’ is a Roughwater 35, a sleek design by Ed Monk Sr. This boat was built in 1975.

Jeanie Lynn has a mahogany interior, teak deck in the cockpit, a V-berth forward, and two single berths aft of the pilothouse. She’s powered by an 86-hp Perkins Sabre diesel, which provides a 7-knot cruise and 9-knot max speed.

Repost from

07/03/2025

With the Marlow Avalon 65, the builder marks a new direction and new yacht series.

The 73-footer has a number of features that set her apart. This yacht also holds fast to the brand’s core mission: building capable cruisers that go fast and far in comfort and safety.

The starting point is Marlow’s fast-displacement hull form, a true, tried and tested platform. Her cored hull is finished in a process called Full Stack Infusion, which uses composites that include carbon fiber and Kevlar to achieve the yacht’s strength-to-weight ratio. The builder’s Velocijet Strut Keels eliminate drag and protect the running gear.

Delightfully unexpected on the Avalon is her abovedeck spaces, most notably the atrium lounge. Occupying the forward section of the cockpit, this lounge is a four-season gathering space with a sunroof, opening glass windows in the after section, and a pair of L-shape settees to either side. A wet bar with a grill and refrigerator occupies the forward port section. The atrium is climate-controlled and can be enclosed or open to the cockpit, depending on the climate.

Power on Hull No. 1 of the Avalon 65 is 1,200-hp MANs, which will likely push the boat to speeds over 30 knots and cruise speeds in the mid-20-knot range.

📸 Marlow Yachts

07/02/2025

The North-Line 42 Wheelhouse is a two-stateroom, CE-A classified, ocean-going cruiser, designed by Arthur Mursell of TT Boat Design.

This low-slung, oceangoing cruiser combines classic aesthetics with the practical needs of a modern mariner.

Powered by twin 480-hp Cummins diesels, the 42 will reach a top speed of 28 knots. At a 17-knot cruise, the efficient hull was shown to consume just under 16 gph; at 8 knots, that number drops to 2.6 gph, good for a range at that speed of over 840 nautical miles.

📸 North-Line Yachts

07/02/2025

AI Has Bad Taste in Music: I can say with confidence that the ghost in the machine has a tin ear.

Discover the perfect boating playlists for every on-the-water moment, from planning to dockside drinks—curated with help from AI (and a little trial and error).

07/01/2025

“I grew up in awe of the capabilities of North Sea trawlers, and the bravery of the individuals who called these vessels their homes during weeks away at sea in the harsh conditions of the northern hemisphere,” says the owner of Sea Ranger.

The boat has a CE Category A Ocean rating and was built by her owner for coastal cruising around Scotland, Ireland and Iceland several days at a time. A range of 1,500 nautical miles at 8 knots is her “sweet spot."

Her commodious engine room, which can also be accessed abaft the galley, has wide companionways on both sides of the twin 180-hp John Deere power plants (owners can opt for 250-hp John Deere engines as well).

The main-deck pilothouse on Sea Ranger is a real treat. The captain’s chair is front and center, and the three forward-raked windows ensure excellent visibility around the forward arc of the boat. Two multifunction displays provide radar and navigation data. Abaft the helm station to port is a raised seating area; to starboard, a stairway leads up to the flybridge.

Leaving the marina, the bow and stern thrusters made light work of moving her from the dock and into the sea. Underway, she felt solid and sturdy. The 5- to 6-foot swells we encountered had hardly any effect on her, and the Deeres pushed her through the water at a maximum speed of 12 knots. Her automatic fin stabilizers kept her on an even keel; they are installed above the keel, a placement that’s important in extreme tidal areas.

📸 MMS Shipyard, John Johnson (Yacht Buoy)