See our performance test of the Cruisers Yachts 41 Cantius here ➤
Summer Dispatches
One of the biggest challenges in properly evaluating a boat is the lack of time onboard. Cruisers Yachts understood this and shipped out a new 41 Cantius to New England, gave us the keys, and told us to put their baby to the test for a few months. Our Staff discovered tremendous interior volume, easy handling, and just how much conversation two bar stools bolted to a swim platform can generate. Here are a few excerpts from their logs.
Stress Reliever
I think it’s a testament to a builder that we’re able to hop onboard a boat hours after it arrives on a truck from Wisconsin and drive her away: 70-plus miles. The dealer, Staten Island Yacht Sales, encouraged us to allow them to conduct their normal, thorough commissioning process. But that’s just not our style. AIM Marine Group VP Gary De Sanctis and I were itching to get on the water after an unusually busy and stressful few months at work. We couldn’t be stopped! The electronics were a no-show, so we turned on our iPhones, launched the Navionics app, and pointed her for Essex, Connecticut. Like I said, we were a little stressed out and ready to hit the water. Besides some great weekend trips, my girlfriend Lindsay and I became hooked on leaving the marina after work, going up the Connecticut River to Hamburg Cove and picking up a mooring for the night. There’s something about a swim after work in the summer and some burgers on the grill that help push the reset button. Then, just after sunrise, we would head back to Essex. It felt like we had a mini vacation. — George Sass Jr.
Self Service: Cool and in Control
The helm of the 41 Cantius has plenty of panel space to mount electronics, but it’s what goes on behind that dashboard that needs careful attention. Too many big screens and units for navigation, autopilot, engine controls, entertainment systems, and more can introduce a lot of heat inside that console. Put careful thought into your helm needs when mounting new gear, and keep an eye on things back there from time to time—you’ll be glad you did.
Now We’re Cooking
Even when I’m relaxing, I like to have my hands busy. Whether I’m tying flies or cleaning my Gerber multitool with WD-40, I try to make myself useful. And when I’m on a boat with a crowd, that means cooking.
One day after work our editorial team took a sunset cruise up the Connecticut River to Hamburg Cove for a little impromptu party. You’d be hard-pressed to find a cockpit more suited to our needs. An L-shaped dinette offered a flexible two-part table, while that pair of barstools mounted on the swim platform meant we could take advantage of the calm anchorage. But for me, the best part was the optional electric grill in the forward starboard corner of the cockpit.
This is a great entertaining setup. The electric grill heats up fast—a good thing when the burgers still have a touch of frost. And the wet bar with under-counter fridge just inside the saloon door gave us plenty of room for prep without having to go forward to the full galley. Which means I don’t have to miss the party, or any of the compliments on my cooking. — Jason Y. Wood
Close Quarters
There’s a special brand of angst that comes with finding out you’re going to be spending the night on a relatively smallish boat with your relatively newish boss. So much could conceivably go wrong. The Cruisers 41 Cantius does have two amply sized staterooms, so it ain’t exactly like George Sass Jr. and I were in the Navy or something, but still—42 feet of LOA isn’t a ton of space to be sharing overnight with a dude you don’t know all that well who happens to have a very big say in your livelihood.
But as Tom Petty said, “most things I worry about/never happen anyway.” The overall space below was so manageable we barely even saw each other until morning. The en suite heads in each cabin were much appreciated by both of us I suspect. He even took the VIP while giving me the master—a true gentleman and a scholar, that Sass. I’d share a vessel with him any day (or night). — Kevin Koenig
A Million Miles Away
Do you have a phone that never stops ringing? Triple digit numbers of e-mails every day? Feel like you barely have time to breathe? Let’s just say that I can relate. I jumped at the chance to get off the dock and on a boat even for just a few days. My wife Green (that’s what I call her) and I, along with Power & Motoryacht Editor-In-Chief George Sass Jr. and his girlfriend Lindsay, got onboard for a much-needed getaway to Block Island, Rhode Island. Leaving Essex and heading down the Connecticut River we instantly felt relief. We might still be in cell-phone range, but just hearing the water slide beneath the hull and the sweet humming of the Volvo IPS500s changed my whole attitude immediately. I have to admit that George and I were on a conference call with our boss even as we cranked her up and sped across Long Island Sound in search of more open water. A half-hour later when the call finally dropped we just looked at each other and knew we were not dialing back in. A gentle swell rolled in as we cleared Montauk and rumbled across the gap from the tip of Long Island to Block. Soon we were cutting up the channel into Great Salt Pond. Settling onto a mooring, the office pressures were gone. We had stopped trying to put together a magazine for boaters and were joining the community and enjoying boating ourselves! We kicked back on the boat with some cheese and crackers and Sauvignon Blanc. Trading street clothes for bathing suits we took a quick splash in the drink before the sun sank too low. We were only 10 miles or so from the mainland but that other life was a million miles away in our minds, and my cell phone was hidden away in a drawer … at least until Monday! — Arnie Hammerman
Making Memories
The boat was so responsive and easy to dock, I felt like I was cheating using the IPS. The family time onboard was the highlight of my summer. Only on the water can you spend a long weekend in close quarters with two teenagers and have a time that you’ll never forget. — Gary De Sanctis
Exploring Newport
As a Sunday afternoon approached, a group of Power & Motoryacht staff decided to take a little Newport [Rhode Island] harbor cruise. We headed to her berth at the Newport Shipyard, threw off the lines, and snaked our way off the chock-a-block docks, past some shining megayachts, and out into the harbor.The Cruisers’s IPS pod propulsion provided great control as we nudged her nose into various coves and sneaked up close to particularly beautiful boats in the mooring field. Even in this harbor filled with traditional boats, the 41’s contemporary profile drew more than a few admiring glances. With such a large group we decided to have a caterer onboard. The setup of the lower galley and upper entertainment areas worked perfectly. — Christopher White
Things we love:
- The amidships VIP could easily serve as another master. Very comfortable and the arrangement of placing the sink in the stateroom area works well. We cruised New England with five people for five days and were more than comfortable.
- Fit and finish were well executed. Zero issues.
- The natural light in the galley area feels like a loft apartment.
- There was plenty of galley stowage for two couples for a week of cruising and the layout worked well for Marine Group VP Gary De Sanctis to cook a large Italian Sunday dinner.
- The forward sunpad with retractable backrest became the place to relax with a good book while at anchor.
- The windlass was easily raised and lowered from the helm.
- The interior styling received a lot of compliments from our dockside friends.
- Lots of fridge space.
- The engine room below the cockpit allowed for easy servicing.
- The cockpit was extremely well thought out and was the entertaining nucleus.
- A versatile cockpit table design created a comfortable dining area.
- The swim platform has everything you need for enjoying the water. Bar stools, shower, drink holders, and a beefy ladder for some beefy editors.
- Easy to cruise shorthanded thanks to the IPS Joystick, Glendinning Cablemaster, and properly placed cleats.
- The entertainment area in the saloon made feeding large groups easy.
- A cruising speed of 23 knots became the sweet spot.
- Easy-to-clean interior and exterior. Hose down and go.
- Okay, we admit it, we kind of laughed off the bar stools on the swim platform, but by the end of the summer, we were huge fans. They came out seconds after our mooring or anchor was secured.
Things we don’t:
- The back of the settee in the saloon could use a few more degrees of incline.
- No cubby around the helm for binoculars, cruising guides, and yes, those paper charts.
- Needed a few softer and adjustable reading lights in the saloon. Just too bright. Dimmers?
- The blinds covering the aft sliding door broke within the first few hours and moved constantly while underway.
- No holder for the heavy sink cover when it’s not in place, covering the sink.
- The side windows would grab your ankles on the side deck when opened if you weren’t looking.
Specifications
- Builder: Cruisers Yachts
- Model: 41 Cantius
- Year: 2012
