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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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HomeYachtNEWS: Hinckley Adds Pod Drive Option

NEWS: Hinckley Adds Pod Drive Option

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Hinckley Adds Pod Drive Option
“If it isn’t broke, fix it anyway” could be the rationale behind Hinckley’s decision to make Volvo’s popular IPS pod-drive system available on its 2014 Talaria 48 and Picnic Boat. For more than 20 years, the builder has offered only water-jet propulsion on its powerboats, and the benefits of shallow draft, an unfoulable bottom and the reliability offered by the jets has proven highly successful.

“We felt strongly that it was time to offer boaters the option of choosing which system works best for their style of boating,” said Hinckley President and CEO Jim McManus. “The jets will remain our standard, but optionally, IPS is now offered on the Talaria 48 and Picnic Boat, and will be offered on future models.”
Hinckley has selected the IPS 450 as the optional drive for the Picnic Boat, which is expected to deliver a 33-knot cruise and 37-knot top end. The standard, jet-propelled Picnic Boat will now be powered with Yanmar 8LV-370Z twins. Cruising speed with that power is expected to be 32 knots, with a top end speed of 34. Also for 2014, two trim packages will be available on the Picnic Boat; a sportier version akin to the company’s Hinckley T34 is new.

The Talaria 48 jet boat will pair the Hamilton HJ 364s to twin 725-hp Volvo engines to give the boat even more power in a lighter package. The IPS 800 has been selected as the pod option. Its cruise is expected to be 33, with a top of 35 knots. The boat achieves the same speed with IPS as with jets but does so with less horsepower.

“Our core values include building the best boats and providing the best ownership experience. For some, the best ownership experience will include IPS,” said McManus. “The forward-facing props bite into clean, undisturbed water to provide different ride characteristics. They track well, handle well around the dock and save the boater a bit of money at purchase.”

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According to the company, the sailboat offers a level of customization not seen before in this size.
According to the company, the sailboat offers a level of customization not seen before in this size.

Have It Your Way With Beneteau
Beneteau has announced it will debut its new Oceanis 38 at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Md., from October 10 to 14. According to the company, the sailboat offers a level of customization not seen before in this size.

“What makes the Oceanis 38 so innovative is that it can evolve with your changing needs over time. The boat should fit its owner, not the other way around,” said Beneteau America President Laurent Fabre.

To wit: The new 38-footer can be configured as a day sailer, weekender or cruiser based on the owner’s desires.

The day sailer offers a loft-like interior with clean lines and an uncluttered feel. A two-person berth is located far forward, and the aft of the yacht is dedicated to storage.

The weekender features two- and three-berths, which can remain open or enclosed based on privacy preferences. It can also include a separate shower, galley and extra table in the salon and/or cockpit. The weekender layout offers the most flexibility, allowing interior components to be added to the yacht as the owner’s needs evolve over time.

The cruiser can have two or three private cabins, a large galley, mainsail arch, helmsman seats and swim platform. While more conventional, its owners can choose the configuration and some components based on personal inclination.

The city of Washington, N.C., has two projects in the works that will benefit local and visiting boaters.
The city of Washington, N.C., has two projects in the works that will benefit local and visiting boaters.

Washington Waterfront Upgrades
The city of Washington, N.C., has two projects in the works that will benefit local and visiting boaters.

A committee of boaters and members of the business community has worked with representatives of the city government for several years to develop what is being called the Lighthouse Bathrooms and Boaters’ Facility. The two-story structure was designed to evoke the architecture of the Pamlico Point Light, a structure that once marked the shoals at the mouth of the Pamlico River.

The ground floor will house restrooms, showers and laundry facilities, while the second floor will serve as an office for the dock attendants, who will have a commanding view from their office windows and from a 360-degree observation deck.

The city is also restoring and relocating a weather warning tower that displayed large flags during the day and lights at night to indicate small craft warnings, as well as impending tropical storm or hurricane conditions. Its use was discontinued in the 1980s, and the owners of the property where the tower stood recently donated it to the city.

The tower is being refurbished and repainted, and will soon stand on the Washington waterfront near the N.C. Estuarium, where it will be visible from the waterfront docks and for several miles downriver. The weather warning flags will be tended by city’s dock attendants.
—Jules Norwood

IMG_1713
Proving it’s not just boaters who can suffer from “three-foot-itis,” Deep Impact Boats unveiled a new flagship in July that is three feet longer than its previous top-of-the-line model.

Deep Impact Launches New Flagship
Proving it’s not just boaters who can suffer from “three-foot-itis,” Deep Impact Boats unveiled a new flagship in July that is three feet longer than its previous top-of-the-line model. The new 399 C is a high performance center console that features a hard top with skylights, live wells and fender lockers, and an integrated pullout transom swim ladder. Thanks to a request from an international customer, the electrical systems on the 39-footer are universal, fit for use anywhere in the world.

Since it opened its doors in 1998, Deep Impact has a custom design production strategy. No two boats leaving the manufacturing facility in Miami are exactly alike. Owner requests are integrated based on safety, balance of the vessel, ease of use and size limitations — from the electronics to the sound system, the color and texture of the upholstery to the seating configuration, and the choice of dual, triple or quad outboard engines.

Hulls one and two of the 399 C are already sold to international customers, and hulls three and four to domestic customers.
—Terry Boram

World-Class Rowing in Sarasota
A new Sarasota, Fla., rowing facility is one of two under consideration as the site of the 2017 World Rowing Championships.

The $40 million rowing and aquatic sports center is being built in the Sarasota County-owned Nathan Benderson Park, located on a 500-acre lake straddled by Interstate 45 west of the city. The park began hosting organized rowing regattas in 2009.

New facilities will include a 2,000-meter sprint course protected by the world’s longest floating breakwater. The system is being built by Marintek; the Finland-based dock manufacturer recently opened a factory in St. Petersburg, Fla.

A Fiat 500 camera car will run along the top of the 5,070-foot floating concrete wave attenuator to capture racing action. When not in use for racing events, three sections will open to provide boaters access to all parts of the lake. Plans also call for construction of Regatta Island with a boathouse and grandstands for spectators.

A team of Florida rowing enthusiasts traveled to Switzerland in mid-July to make their pitch for hosting the 2017 World Rowing Championships at the new facility. Their sole competition was a team from Plovdiv, Bulgaria. An official decision on the event location is expected by the International Federation of Rowing Associations this month.
—Rob Lucey

2014-MasterCraft-X46.Lifestyle-10-CMYK-150-DPI-1500x998
Mastercraft Launches New X46
MasterCraft Boat Company announced it will add an all-new 24-footer to its 2014 line-up. The X46, which replaces the perennial MasterCraft X45, measures 8’6” wide and 24’6” long (without the platform), and while it is only one inch longer than its predecessor, the new design means more real estate for family and friends thanks to a big, twin-tip bow and wraparound seating. According to the company, the bow is the same size as that of the X55, which is another foot longer.

Highlights of the new watersports boat include flip-up transom seating, reversible seating in the cockpit — so owners can watch the action in front of or behind the boat — and an available doublewide bench at the helm that can also convert to face aft when the boat is at rest. The helm offers a standard 4.3” Murphy screen or optional 7” Murphy touch screen.

The company assures prospective buyers that the X46 was designed with the wake in mind, with “large, meaty yet lippy wakes” reminiscent of the brand’s fan-favorite XStar model.

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Doug Simmons
Doug Simmons
As a travel and marine journalist, Doug Simmons has cruised all around the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic States and Florida, and has island hopped in the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
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