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The close of a year is always a time for taking stock. And this 2025 was particularly important for Boats by Motor, which celebrated its 35th birthday. Let’s go through it together, remembering the boats that, for one reason or another, seemed the most interesting to me. And you will forgive me if I forget some of them.
When I write a review, the most difficult moment is always the choice: which thread, which models? For this occasion, the criterion was only one: among so many seen mediums, interesting projects, promised developments, I drew only from those I actually got on board this year, being able to test not only the idea, but also the implementation. Because, as they say, there is a sea between saying and doing. Literally, in this case.
I saw it in Düsseldorf and was bewitched by it. Not so much for the look, which anyway – call me demodé – I don’t mind. But for the idea on which this project is based: sail anytime, anywhere. A massive, self-righting, aramid fiber behemoth in which everything is oversized, capable of sailing at 1 liter per mile despite its gargantuan bulk. Those who buy such a craft are not simply buying a boat, but a philosophy of life: to love more what lies beyond the horizon than the ground on which they rest their feet.
Read the full article and watch the video here!
We often talk about consumption, layout, design. But the boat is, first and foremost, an emotion. And this Stradivari 52, for me, was. I tried it out at sunset on an exhausting day at the Genoa Boat Show, and what I remember more than anything else are the incredible colors in the sky. A testimony that the sea can amaze even those who have grown accustomed to it by now. But you, of all of this – rightly so – can care up to a point. And so I tell you that this dinghy has the most fun hull: it runs fast but is smooth and predictable. A true Grand Tourer of the sea.
Read the full article and watch the video here!
Those who have seen some of my videos know that I am an inveterate gozzista (…but I also have flaws). And so I could not fail to mention the latest flagship of the flagship shipyard of Sorrentine gozzos in the world: Apreamare Gozzo 48 Cabin. It is not the largest gozzo that Apreamare has built in its history, having come, in the past, well over 60 feet, but now it does so with the streamlined lines of the new design, so modern and at the same time familiar. Enough to convince even a traditionalist like me.
Read the full article and watch the video here!
I’ll let you in on a secret: the only hull I appreciate more than the goiter…is the square-rigged goiter: that is, the lance. I know that with this wacky definition I will draw the ire of purists, and that the history of the lance deserves a more noble and thorough disquisition, but there will be other times and places. So, after that masterpiece of proportion and color that was Lancia Aprea 52 for me, I approached its younger sister with the dutiful skepticism of someone watching a sequel to his favorite movie. And while, aesthetically, I believe it is impossible to improve on those lines, what won me over was her poise in sailing: a liveliness and handling you wouldn’t expect from a “classic.”
Read the full article and watch the video here!
Is boating for all still possible? I cannot give you an answer, but if it exists, this is one of the leading candidates to represent it. Among so many dream vehicles, that Teorema 20 might look like a small, anonymous open. But the clothes don’t make the man: a vehicle of substance, economical in both purchase and operation, with fuel consumption on the order of half a liter per mile. Getting aboard one appreciates that, in spite of the simplicity, there is everything one needs to take to the sea and have fun. I started with boats like this.
Read the full article and watch the video here!
What is the limit? That yards are chasing ever-larger sizes is no mystery, as are owners who increasingly appreciate outboards. De Antonio has summed up these trends in its latest model, a 60-foot outboard, powered by four 12-cylinders. An exercise in style? Judging by the commercial success, one would say just the opposite. And not having an engine room frees up plenty of volume, which is handled flawlessly in this D60, with an upper-class open space effect below deck.
Read the full article and watch the video here!
A pleasant discovery. That great quality was coming from Scandinavia is no surprise. But quality generally comes at a high price, especially in this industry. So I was pleasantly surprised when I tried out the entire Aquador range, a Finnish shipyard part of the Nimbus group, which brings the savoir faire of the Great North to far more reasonable figures. 400HT is the flagship, comfortable and well-equipped, a philosophy that is declined right down to the smallest, 250HT, a gem that packs a small yacht into 8 meters.
Read the full article and watch the video here!
I have always been a motorist, having set foot on a sailboat twice in my life. But of those two episodes I remember very well the incomparable feeling of peace of sailing in silence, something anyone should experience. Here, Omikron OT-60 gave me that feeling: what a sailboat would be like if it were powered. An oxymoron that on this hull strikes a balance between the silence and economy of cruising, and the incredible volumes of a motor yacht.
When I came aboard it was still a Beneteau concept called Cruising Island: nomen omen. From next year it will become a production model, staying in the family by going under Jeanneau. Once again, more than the realization I appreciate the idea: slow and steady wins the race. It is a craft made for quiet, low-speed sailing, spending a lot of time in the roadstead, where it takes advantage of its incredible spaces, with a cockpit that is a blank sheet of paper. With its floating design, it looks like a studio apartment, since, if necessary, it can be entirely enclosed with windows, going to create a volume that has few rivals in the category.
The boat that from me (and I say this to myself) you wouldn’t expect on this list. The aesthetic is most peculiar, the kind you can only hate or love. It is as if a parallelepiped is drawn only with curved lines, a floating paradox. And I haven’t decided yet, but this is the review of the most interesting boats, not the most beautiful. So it fits right in. Forty-three feet is one of the most popular sizes, but I challenge you to find one that has the same volumes. This is not the simple boat-camper, it is a whole house. In 12 feet.
Finally, to you, who always read us, I ask: what were the boats that impressed you the most? And while I’m waiting for comments, I wish you all a Happy New Year!
Stefano Monfroni
Motorist by vocation, writer and video maker by passion, engineer by hobby. I was told I had to find a job I liked so I would never have to work a day in my life, and I am very lazy. Which is also why I have a goiter: it’s not a boat, it’s a way of life.
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