Bahamas Bound?

I just got back from a few days in the Bahamas where the wahoo bite was still going strong. Several boats saw some double-digit action. A few yellowfin tuna were also being picked up. I even met up with a crew that managed to raise a blue marlin. With temperatures in the area on the rise, the billfish bite should pick up over the next several weeks. If you're in the South Florida area, West End, Bahamas, is only a 56-mile hop across the Stream from West Palm Beach. It's time to rig up and go.

Azimut's S Range Flagship To Premiere at Dubai

This weekend at the XV International Dubai Boat Show, Italian builder Azimut Yachts will launch the newest and largest model in its Open S Range: the 103S. Like the 43-,62-,68-,and 86-foot models in the S Range, the 103S is a Stefano Righini design with an interior by Carlo Galeazzi. She is the first model in the S Range to be equipped with a flying bridge. Preliminary reports are incomplete, but power is said to be provided by twin 2,434-hp MAN V16 2000 M93 diesels coupled to Rolls Royce KaMeWa waterjets.


PMY European editor Alan Harper will be covering the 103S for an upcoming issue, so keep reading. Look for a review of the 43S in PMY's May 2007 issue by yours truly.

Express Cruiser

Adventure seekers, listen up: England-based XSMG Marine has released a 48-footer that reportedly gets speeds in excess of 90 mph, thanks to a pair of 800-bhp Isotta Fraschini engines. The prototype, dubbed No Boundaries, features a Fabio Buzzi hull design and will undergo a series of world-record attempts this year. How 'bout that for a tender?! Stay tuned for more info.

West Bay's Back

Despite rumors to the contrary when the yard emerged from bankruptcy protection last July, West Bay SonShip is still in business.

Last August, for example, the British Columbia yard opened a division for refit and repair work. Called West Bay Marine Services, it includes a 4,500-square-foot covered floating service bay and 250-ton marine ways, all for boats 40 to 100 feet. And in new-construction news, West Bay is beginning work on a 54-foot raised-pilothouse motoryacht with twin 715-hp Volvo Pentas and two staterooms; completion is expected this summer. West Bay also has a five-stateroom 110 cockpit motoryacht under construction, for completion next year. Both yachts are for sale; further details are available on West Bay's Web site.

Marine Techies Jam for a Cause

Navionics rocked the opening of the 2007 Miami Boat Show with its NAVAID charity concert. After the success of the 2006 concert, where proceeds went to the Red Cross and Hurricane Wilma victims, the electronic charting company decided to again gather together with other marine electronics companies to co-sponsor NAVAID 2. Musical performances were given by employees from Raymarine, Furuno, FW Murphy, and, of course, Navionics. The president of Navionics, Giuseppe Carnevali, even got up to sing. Other sponsors included Northstar, Fugawi, Lowrance, and Humminbird.

All in all the concert raised $8,200 for the American Cancer Society and the Ian McWilliam Saints Fund, an organization created to help the family of the Raymarine sales manager who passed away last year. Kudos to the marine electronics industry for working together to benefit a good cause.