There’s plenty of good content on social media, and yet some would argue that watching invasive surgery on a dated fiberglass boat isn’t the best investment of time. But that didn’t stop Matt Steverson, 38, and Janneke (Janni) Petersen, 36, whose YouTube channel “The Duracell Project” has attracted more than 60,000 subscribers since the first episode aired in September 2021. Viewers tune in every week to watch the couple discuss cockpit ergonomics, deckhouse dimensions and interior design ideas, or to witness how Steverson–wearing Tyvek suit and face mask–cuts out ballast tanks or infuses fiberglass sandwich bulkheads with epoxy resin. When you’re converting a spartan racing yacht into a livable and fleet-footed ocean cruiser, there’s no shortage of loud and dusty projects.
The channel’s growth still surprises its creators, whose career choices as boatbuilder and middle school science teacher did not prepare them for showbiz. The success of their channel could be attributed to their low-key personalities. What you see on camera is what you get when you meet them in person.
As for their boat, it’s not so low-key. An old Open 60 racing yacht it was, after the battery maker that sponsored the vessel in its heyday. The boat competed in the inaugural Vendee Globe singlehanded nonstop round-the-world race in 1989/90 and in the BOC Challenge of 1990/91—a similar contest but with stopovers. was built and campaigned by Mike Plant, the premiere U.S. ocean racer of his time and daredevil with a darker side, having done jail time for drug trafficking. Plant, an inductee in the Museum of Yachting’s Singlehanded Sailing Hall of Fame, remains the only American to have won a singlehanded round-the-world race, as the improbable champ of the 50-foot class in the BOC Challenge 1986/87 on .
