MasterCraft is known for its recreational boats -- the company leads the market in inboard skiing, wakeboarding, and sport craft. With the 30-foot, 4-inch MasterCraft 300 twin inboard (the platform adds another 3.5 feet) the company moves into the big boat business, and with its first offering wants to reset a boat buyer's expectations about how a day-tripper should make its owner feel.

The cockpit features big-boat electric equipment standard, but you can opt up for items like the Raymarine E80 and get a systems monitor with maps, radar and a 3-D terrain view of the ocean floor. And you'll be able to see it, and to stay cool behind the wheel, under the boat's tinted glass hardtop that is lined with a misting system. However, the folks lounging on the transom's adjustable seating will probably be having more fun than the pilot, with custom wetbars on either side and space for an electric grill or, even better, a waterproof flat screen TV.

The 300 is the first boat in the segment with a twin-tipped monohull, which opens up space in the interior cabin. Head below decks with your head up and your chest out, and you'll find customized hardwood cabinets and hardwood floors, ultra-leather fabrics, a galley with all the mod-cons, and a stand-up shower with a full-sized door. When it's time to get off your sea legs, the room in that twin hull provides you a bed big enough stretch out in, meaning that unless you're a Grizzlies center you don't have to sleep in the shape of a 'V.'

And once you're in bed, if you realize you forgot to turn off that "Songs of the Humpback" CD, don't bother getting up. Just grab the Contour Zone remote (or C-Zone to you, Commodore), which puts you in pushbutton control of all the boat's electrical systems. That way you can let the real humpbacks sing you to sleep.



[Source: MasterCraft]

Ever since that youthful Christmas when we drove our remote-controlled car into the pool, we've been focused on keeping battery-powered objects away from water. Today, though, Sweden's Nimbus Boats gave us hope that one day big, battery-powered craft can live in harmony with "H" and its two "O" friends.

The 27-foot Nimbus E-power is the first commercially available electric boat. A full recharge only takes four hours, a span of time could provide the perfect interlude for a siesta and a frolic in the lagoon at that little atoll just over the horizon. Or at least, it would when they equip the lagoon with a 400V electrical supply. If you're using the standard euro-version 220V outlet, you'll need 28 hours to see the gauge back at "Full."

Lacking that crucial step, you'll need to within the E-power's range of 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers), and probably go easy on the craft's top speed of 27 knots if you want a full day of fun (cruising speed is 22 knots). A tank of juice costs €5, so your wallet will love you, and the boat creates no emissions so the fish will love you -- at least the ones you aren't busy catching now that you spend so much more time on the water...

It's hard not to be intrigued by a craft that is billed as being "perfect for those 007 moments." Certainly the Scubacraft, a small boat that can happily float on the water or with a few alterations, dive beneath it, would be James Bond worthy. The Scubacraft recently went through underwater testing at the Pinewood Studios, a place where many Bond films have been shot. The Scubacraft can zip along above the water at speed of up to 50 miles per hour and can dive to a depth of 30 meters (nearly 100 feet). It's not a submarine so you will need to wear diving apparatus, something that James Bond probably has built into his special diving tuxedo. The engine produces 160 hp propelling the twin-hulled craft forward at a rapid rate. Underwater electric thrusters give the driver the experience of flying underwater.

The developers of Scubacraft are currently taking orders and expect the first customers to take delivery at the end of 2010. Scubacraft is priced from £100,000 with the final price being largely dependent on specification. Check out video after the jump!

Pirates have attacked another luxury yacht. This time is was the Tiara, a 178-foot sailing sloop that first came to my attention in 2005 when the owner, Jonathan Leitersdorf listed his yacht and his Broadway loft with the same agent real estate agent. The yacht is a helicopter-carrying beauty designed by Dubois Naval Architects and launched by Alloy Yachts International. It is full of fine mahogany and 1930s-styled interiors and in 2005 was listed at $36 million. The yacht has since become a popular charter hosting the rich and famous including Giorgio Armani, Sean Combs and Jack Nicholson.

While off of southern Corsica in the Mediterranean, Tiara was attacked by four masked men with guns who pulled up in a speedboat. The pirates robbed the passengers and crew of more than $180,000 in cash from the yacht safe and from the nine guests who had chartered the yacht. The speedy pirates also took jewelry and artwork and within ten minutes quickly got back in their boat and disappeared. No one was hurt. Pirate attacks have occurred in the Philippines and off the coast off Somalia as we saw earlier this year but are rarer in the Mediterranean.

The Tiara charters for €180,000-190,000 per week, pictures from her charter listing are in the gallery below and show the beautiful wood interior that includes a master suite with a fireplace.

The latest limited edition from 20ltd is a perfect summer fantasy. They are selling a black fiberglass sailing canoe from Caillou, a company whose small but extremely well-made boats we recently profiled. The 20ltd Caillou boat can be used as a sailboat or as a kayak. It has a solid fiberglass deck and hull with mahogany trimming, two fiberglass seats with floatation cusions, two kayak paddles, a carbon fiber mast and a Dacron sail rig with carbon fiber batons. The boat weighs around 100 pounds and can be transported on the roof of your car using a Thule or Yakima rack. The boat is 17.5 feet with a 41-inch beam. There are just five of the special edition boats being made and they sell for $10,740 each.

[via Acquire]

This time of year speedboats are a popular hobby, and unfortunately a more and more common accessory with that hobby is a big 'ol side of guilt due to all the gas and energy negatively impacting the environment. But wealthy water-lovers in the Netherlands now have a new option that's not only much more environmentally friendly but also outrageously cool: a solar-powered speed boat.

The Czeers Solarboat is 33 ft long and can get up to 35mph, thanks to the 150 solar cells covering its entire surface and giving it a very futuristic look. All yours for just $1.1 million. Ouch.

A sleek new hybrid yacht was debuted recently in San Francisco -- it's the Chris-Craft Frauscher Hybrid boat and it's a small, sleek yacht that's powered by both a 256hp diesel engine and 4 12-volt car batteries. The boat can reach speeds of up to 40mph and its exceptionally quiet engine can troll at 10mph on electric power alone for over an hour before the diesel engine needs to kick in to recharge the batteries.

The hybrid features a leather, teak, and mahogany interior and a fiberglass exterior. Available in a few different lengths the Frauscher Hybrids sell for $115,000 - $200,000.

When it comes to luxury it seems bigger is always better (with the exception of gadgets and technology, of course) but when it comes to boating Caillou is embracing a new philosophy: that small is good.

Inspired by sailboat designs from the 1800s and combining it with methods of today, Caillou strives to take the best of both old-fashioned boat building and modern technology to come up with a unique set of small boats that all have ease of use and convenience at heart. There are 3 different models available (Okume, Teak, and Glass) plus a small selection of used boats for sale on their website.

Yacht owners often are too busy to use their boats for more than a few weeks each year. Another thing to consider, certainly, is the cost of ownership. Yikes. That's the theory behind Luxury Yacht Partners of N.Y. Purchase fractional ownership, rent a yacht for a day or sell part or all of your yacht.

Fractional ownership yachts are a Sunseeker 61' Predator 2003, 25% share, $335,000; or a Burger 81' 1972, 25% share, $195,000, with an optional Robinson R-44 helicopter, 25% share, $45,000. Depending on whether your yacht will stay in the Northeast or be relocated to Florida during the winter, you get 30 - 70 cruising days each year.

All the operational expenses are shared by the up to 4 shareholders, and of course you pay for your own consumables. Operational expenses include docking fees, maintenance, crew payroll, insurance, repairs and a management fee.

Sounds good, and economical, but hold on -- not thrilled about others using "your" yacht? That's why you pay a management fee: A concierge service will ready the yacht for your time at sea, such as stocking your preferred beverage or having available your special sheets. Summer's coming, so buy that share, and get out the sunblock!

Although luxury boating is pretty closely associated with size, not all sweet yachts are necessarily the biggest. The newest design from Sabdes is a good example of that principle at work. The Sabdes 50M Superyacht may be slightly smaller than it's predecessors but it more than makes up for what it lacks in square footage by having both cutting edge styling and several eco-friendly features. The 50M has increased fuel efficiency and reduced emissions, a specially styled hull that reduces both wave 'slamming' and the wake impact that can disrupt marine life and cause shoreline erosion, and more energy efficient LED lighting. Plus it runs on a hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system that gives it higher cruising speeds than many other similarly sized yachts.

On top of all that it kind of looks like a spaceship. That's always fun.

Via Bornrich

The flying car is still yet to successfully get off the ground but the flying boat is another matter. SeaMax has announced that their new SLSA flying boat has been delivered to the first customer in the U.S. The amphibious aircraft is now in stock certified as a Special Light-Sport Aircraft (SLSA) seaplane with electric retractable landing gear. The two-seater cruises at 115 mph. The introductory price for these airplanes is $127,000. Check out the gallery for pictures of the plane in water mode.

The humble boat tender has gradually becoming more and more luxurious, able to do more than simply get you to the shore. Zodiac, known for creating tough rubber boats showed off the plans for their ProJet 420 TC4 model at the 2008 Collins Stewart London Boat Show. The latest in the ProJet line, it has a 98hp turbocharged engine with jet propulsion and fuel enough for longer day trips. It can carry six people and is available with an aft locker, swimming platform, retractable ladder, water ski towing ring and navigation lights.The ProJet 420 starts at £20495.00 including VAT and will be available in England in a couple months.

Now here's a yacht that will catch an eye or two, plus blow your hair back and give you a thrill. Not to oversimplify things, but it's basically a yacht with a kite instead of a sail. The kite principle takes advantage of the greater and more consistent wind speeds found at higher altitudes, raising the boat to planing speeds and making sailing in the shallows and littorals a realistic option.

And on top of everything else the Kitano Kite Sailing Yacht is environmentally-friendly, so us "greenies" can indulge our love of the water guilt free.


Via Gizmodo

We cover a lot of yachts for sale but Sorcerer II is something extraordinary. No simple cruiser, she recently completed a two-year scientific expedition circumnavigating the globe to collect samples of microbes in seawater for genetic sequencing The yacht is owned by famed genetics expert Craig Venter and is made of kevlar, E-glass, and epoxy laminates to make one light single-masted sailing vessel. The 95-foot yacht was built to handle extremes in temperature and has accommodations for six in the owner's party with separate quarters for four crew. The master stateroom has a king-size berth with a shower/tub en suite. The port and starboard guest cabins can convert from separate twin beds to a double. I hope whoever buys this one has a thirst for adventure.

[Thanks, Chris!]

The latest model from Zodiac, the maker of rough and tough inflatable boats is the cute little Eclipse 570 yacht tender. According to Superyacht Times, the 18.7 foot boat will make its U.S. boat show debut at this year's Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The little boat ferries nine passengers around in shaded comfort with bow and main canopies. The seats are well spaced out for balance with space for two on an aft bench facing forward, a double seat on the aft end of the engine compartment lid for two facing aft, two passengers can sit on the seating area forward of the engine compartment lid and the forward and side bench seats of the bow area will hold the remaining three passengers. Other details include handholds, handles for boarding, recessed boarding steps and a swim platform. The tender has an inboard diesel engine and zips you back and forth from your yacht at a brisk 30 knots.