Boats, Engines & Equipment Reviews

In a civil case filed with the Court of the 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida in Palm Beach County, Government Employees Insurance Company—Geico—is suing Super Boat International Productions and its principals John Carbonell and Deana Carbonell. Attorneys for Geico filed the case over the payment of $150,000 by Geico for CBS television coverage of SBI races. Geico’s complaint against SBI alleges: “On August 20, John Carbonell, as president of SBI and Deana Carbonell, as vice president of SBI made false representations regarding the Miss Geico Racing Team boat participating in races organized by SBI. At that time, it was represented to the Plaintiff that the SBI races would be shown on CBS television on Saturday afternoons from October, 2009 through December 2009. Additionally, Geico was provided with a press release regarding the fact that SBI racing would be broadcast on the CBS Television Network. Based upon the representations of SBI and Carbonell, Geico entered into a contract and paid to SBI the sum of $150,000. “In fact, at the time the representations set forth above were being made by SBI and Carbonell to the Plaintiff, both SBI and Carbonell knew these representations that were being made to Geico by the Defendants were false since SBI had never paid any of the sums required to be paid to CBS, and at the time that the agreement was executed by Geico and SBI, SBI was in arrears in its payments to CBS and was unable to perform as required under its agreement with Geico.” Geico is suing for $150,000 plus interest and legal fees. …Read More

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Editor’s Note — Victoria Allman is the chef aboard a 143-foot megayacht and the author of the recently released “Sea Fare:  A Chef’s Journey Across the Ocean.”  This is the second in a series of periodic columns here on OceanLines featuring her irresistible recipes. Best of all for OceanLines readers, who are travelers of the [...] …Read More

Here’s a photo e-mailed to me by a friend – let’s see if you can tell what’s wrong with this picture: Yes, those are icicles hanging from the engine. This boat was left in the water well past the start of winter, which itself is not a problem. In fact, many of us hard-core anglers fish [...] …Read More

BRP Sea-Doo was up for a trio of Innovation Awards at the recent Miami Boat Show, and one of the products that took home top honors was the company's innovative iCATCH trailer. Something like the iCATCH, however, is not always that easy to explain with words. Sometimes you just have to see it in action to truly understand the concept. So, with Flip video camera in hand, I had WaterTop's Tim McKercher run me through the process... …Read More

As its name implies, the Quick-Shade Top by Taylor Made Products is a fast and easy solution to getting some shade over your dinghy.  Designed to fit inflatable boats up to 10’ 8” long and 5’ 7” wide, the Quick-Shade Top kit is an easy, owner-installed alternative to custom aluminum and canvas structures to make your tender more comfortable.  The top comes complete with the shade material, frame, marine-grade hardware, storage bag and instructions.  All you’ll need is a Phillips head screwdriver and a place to fully inflate your dink.  It takes about 2 days to completely install it but that’s only due to the drying time of the PVC adhesive (included).  Once the permanent hardware and patches are mounted to the bow and stern of the boat, the top sets up and breaks down easily. Two, 7’, fiberglass and shock cord poles are set fore and aft on either side of the inflatable boat.  They are quick and easy to set up and take down for convenient storage and look like heavy duty tent poles.  A 3’ supporting pole provides a little shape overhead and the rear support poles placed on the transom board add a little strength and stability.  The hardest part of this whole installation is getting the patches placed and glued on correctly.  A little assistance from a helper will make it go more smoothly.  Two people will be very comfortable under this top with adequate headroom.  Additional folks might find themselves dodging the poles a bit.  Although I wouldn’t take the dink out for a spin on a plane with the top up, it’ll certainly serve well for those lazy anchorage explorations, cocktail in hand and sun at bay. The Quick-Shade Top retails for around $110 …Read More

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With the best-selling VX models below, and the powerful, high-tech FX SHO models above, Yamaha's FX HO and FX Cruiser HO were in danger of being overlooked. No longer. Last year Yamaha gave the craft the SHO's big-displacement 1.8-liter engine, along with those model's electronic throttle enhancements. Add in the lighter weight NanoXcel hull, and you've got one potent middle child in the Yamaha lineup. …Read More

Celebrity Yachting will be introducing the Prout 50 in Miami and I can’t wait to get aboard.  At first look, the P50 looks like a comfortable blue water cruiser with accommodations for up to 8.  Built in China the P50 can be ordered in owner, charter or teaching versions with 3 or 4 cabins.  She features a large saloon with marble counters and like seemingly most Euro boats, the master head has a bidet.  The cockpit seats 20 and the raised steering station offers good visibility out and an oversized teak wheel. The P50 has a once-piece deck as well as a one-piece hull with bulkheads tabbed in to create a monocoque shell system. The hull has integrated longitudinal and transverse mini-nacelles designed specifically to increase stiffness. The bulkheads are strategically located to absorb torsion and compression loads.  The mainmast support bulkhead is mounted on a stringer to help transmit the mast loads away from the bridge deck. The hulls are hand laid with E-Glass and isophathalic resin. The first layers use powder bound mat and vinylester resin to minimize the risk of osmosis. The hull is cored above the waterline and vacuum bagged. Watertight bulkheads fore and aft add buoyancy and security in the event of collision.  Sounds strong and capable of long distances and the renderings I’ve seen make it look pretty sleek. Length Overall   50.00 Ft. Length Waterline   43.80 Ft Beam   27.30 Ft Draft   4.11Ft Displacement (Light)   32,000Lbs. Displacement (Heavy)   40,000Lbs. Fuel Capacity   133 US Gallons Water Capacity   300 US Gallons Mainsail Area   954 Sq. Ft. Genoa Area   656.40 Sq. Ft. Sail Area   1,610.40 Sq. Ft. Height of Mast (above the water)   71.05 Ft. …Read More