Yachting August 2015

IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE. Here’s why: A couple of months ago, I crisscrossed Italy for a week visiting yacht builders, and I was awe-struck. Everywhere I went I saw beehivelike activity, and at every turn a new design was coming to life, a new yacht was being prepped for launch or a vessel concept was being developed for the next boating season. Suffice it to say, whether the builder’s target market was 50 feet or 50 meters, the yards were enjoying a desire among yachting enthusiasts for the latest and greatest. I had a similar experience a few weeks earlier while doing a string of yard visits in the Pine Tree State. Bigger builds were in the works, many of which you’ll see at this fall’s boat shows, and plans…

PERFECTLY PERSHING This exclusive look at the newly launched Pershing 108 grabbed the attention of our Facebook fans, garnering more than 3,000 likes. See what some people had to say. I’ll send you my berth address in GordonI’s Bay :) DIETER SIEBER I want one. KEVIN RODGERS What a beautiful work of art! JOSUE CARRO Amazing. SHAUN MIZZI Holy cow! Beautiful! Wow! JUDY-CHARLIE HOFFA CREDIT DUE Our review of the Huckins 45 Wombat (June) should have credited Bill Prince Yacht Design Inc. for its role in designing and engineering the fi rst new Huckins with pod propulsion. We apologize for the omission. Looking for photos and news of new yachts? Get social with Yachting; visit facebook.com/yachtingmagazine. READER FEEDBACK Send comments or questions to: letters@yachtingmagazine.com Send mail to: 460 N. Orlando…

Fun HARGRAVE CUSTOM YACHTS John Sfire sent me this photo last week of the 88' Hargrave Sky Lounge BOBBI TOO being launched for the 2015 summer season at the Burger yard in Manitowoc with their 500 ton lift. As I looked at John's picture it was hard not to be struck by the symbolism in the image. You see, a lifetime ago Jack Hargrave, who founded our company, was working in the design office for Tommy Rybovich at the family boatyard in Palm Beach when Rybovich's number one customer Charlie Johnson decided he wanted to build a motoryacht as a mothership for his Rybovich sportfish. After talking it over, the family decided not to start building motoryachts and suggested Charlie go upstairs and take a look at the yacht designs…

YOU MIGHT THINK owning a 228-foot motoryacht that can take as many as 26 guests would be enough for one man. Not for Jan Verkerk. He owns Sherakhan, a charter yacht that he converted from a training vessel in 2005 and that has taken him everywhere from St. Tropez to Antarctica, and he has now decided that he wants to do much, much more. This summer, he will launch Legend, a 254-foot expedition yacht that will be the only Class A1 icebreaker for charter on the planet. He plans to base her in Antarctica starting each December and in Norway and Greenland starting each May — to chase the polar summers across Earth. “What I learned in the years spent transforming Sherakhan into the megayacht that she is today and…

TIARA Q 44 A LUXURY SUV ON THE WATER THE FIRST Tiara Q 44 is expected to launch this summer, kicking off a whole new line called the Q Series. The Michigan- based builder, long known for powerboats from 31 to 58 feet length overall, designed the Q 44 on the hull of the Tiara 44 Coupe with features meant for bold, venturesome cruising, no matter how owners define fun. “The Q Series will create an entirely new market segment of adventure yachting, a luxury SUV of sorts, ” said Tom Slikkers, president and CEO of Tiara Yachts. “We expect to deliver several models in this class.” The Q 44 is designed to appeal to cruising couples, families doing day cruises and even avid anglers and divers. Full walk-around decks…

THE COAST OF BAJA California from San Diego to La Paz. The coast of British Columbia from Seattle to the Broughton Islands. Around the northern end of Vancouver Island. These are just a few places I’ve had the pleasure to cruise aboard capable Selene trawlers from Jet Tern Marine. Now Jet Tern’s founder and naval architect, Howard Chen, has developed another Selene trawler yacht, the 42 Europa, that bears all the hallmarks of the Selene line — seakindly hulls, safe and workable deck layouts, handcrafted interiors and economical operation. I had an opportunity to run a 42 Europa in the Atlantic just off Fort Lauderdale with Capt. Kiki Bosch from Luke Brown Yachts to see how it performed in open water. We had the good fortune to encounter sloppy conditions…