Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2017 i Yachting

IMAGINE tall windows surrounding a penthouse loft. Now put that loft into a 42-foot hull, and you have the Regal 42 Grande Coupe. ¶ The salon’s oversize windows allow panoramic views and natural light. The windshield, a single pane more than 8 feet wide, provides an unfettered view forward for the skipper and guests. ¶ Adding to this openness are the four sliding salon doors that retract to create a one-level living space from the transom seats to that forward windshield. The builder eliminated the need for a step up by putting a stylish, stainless-steel plate over a deep drain that meets regulations for keeping any cockpit water out of the cabin. ¶ For dining, an L-shaped settee is tucked into one corner of the cockpit, while a smokeless grill,…

Producing more than 17,000 vessels over 50-plus years is no easy task, but Princess Yachts has turned the science of boatbuilding into an artfully choreographed dance. Whether it’s the company’s craftspeople looming 1,780 miles of wire (about the distance from Miami to Maine) per year or the lamination team infusing the builder’s 131-foot 40M hull (a seven-hour process), this yard makes efficiency and stringent attention to detail part of the construction plan. The result is a fleet of yachts that consumers can count on to be predictable, something the Princess 68 illustrated for me during a late-afternoon sojourn on England’s Plymouth Sound. The hum of her 1,200 hp MAN diesels was barely noticeable in the salon as our captain pushed the throttles to the pins, taking her up to 32…

IN 2006, APPLE wowed even jaded New Yorkers with the entrance to its flagship store on Fifth Avenue. A glass square, aka “the cube,” measuring 32 feet long on each side framed the entryway. Ninety frameless, monolithic glass panes sat atop one another. It became one of the most photographed and talked about structural designs in modern history, so much so that Apple patented it. ¶ In 2011, the cube was redesigned with far larger — and fewer — panes. Just 15 nearly seamless pieces were used. The second redesign, going on right now, is scheduled for unveiling in 2018. The current advances in structural glass are likely to make even those 6-year-old panes obsolete. ¶ Superyacht owners, designers and boatbuilders are imagining their own possibilities with structural glass, which…

Back Cove 29 Two-hundred-five hulls. That’s how many Back Cove 29s were built from 2003 to 2009. And she was a global hit, with the last vessel shipped to an owner in Perth, Australia. Notable features: Traditional Downeast-inspired lines keep the 29’s look as relevant today as when Hull No. 1 launched. She was powered with a 260 hp or 315 hp Yanmar straight-shaft diesel, and a bow thruster made for easy docking. A fully optioned 29 ran about $190,000. Belowdecks: There’s a V-berth for overnighting, a head with electric MSD, and a single-burner alcohol stove. Availability: At press time, we found nine Back Cove 29s for sale, ranging from $93,000 for a 2005 to $159,000 for a fully loaded 2008 FROM THE ARCHIVES LOA 29'6" MAX BEAM 10'5"…

Bentley Continental GT Convertible, inspired by Princess Yachts MULLINER, THE CUSTOM DIVISION AT BENTLEY, worked with fellow British brand Princess Yachts to create the Continental GT Convertible Galene Edition, which premiered at the Cannes Yachting Festival. ¶ The name Galene comes from the goddess of calm seas, and it is all too fitting for the convertible’s glacier-white exterior paint with a lower strip of sequin blue, mimicking a Princess Yachts hull with the sea’s reflection at the waterline. The vehicle comes with a dark-blue hood, reminiscent of a Bimini top. ¶ Inside, Mulliner created a pinstripe walnut veneer inspired by yacht-style teak decking. Owners who want the ultimate in customization can order the Galene with a bespoke illustration of a Princess yacht by Spanish illustrator Jaume Vilardell, who will also…

THE 8-FOOT WALL of water that tore across Islamorada during Category 4 Hurricane Irma smashed right into Bud N’ Mary’s, an iconic marina that has been welcoming boaters since the 1940s. By the time the sea receded, the long, outer dock was gone — along with lots of other docks like it throughout the Florida Keys. ¶ “Everything on the ocean side, for the most part, didn’t do so good,” says Victoria Siesto, office manager at Mangrove Marina in Tavernier, toward Islamorada’s north end. “The bay side is pretty OK, especially from Key Largo to Tavernier. From Marathon on down, it’s worse.” ¶ Even still, in the weeks immediately following Irma’s wrath, signs of hope were appearing. Mangrove Marina was fully operational as of late September, along with Islamorada Marina…

HELPING HAND After a monster storm like Irma, shipyards can be backed up for months to a year (or longer). Having a good relationship with your local yard may help move you to the front of the line for repairs. WORKING QUICKLY Scott Croft, vice president of public affairs for BoatU.S., says the goal for the insurance company is get to get the money into the hands of boat owners as soon as possible, in weeks, not months. KEEP YOUR BOAT SAFE FOR NEXT YEAR, NOW By Kim Kavin LAUDERDALE MARINE Center has a lift nicknamed “The Beast” that can raise 485- ton yachts up to 180 feet length overall. That, plus the center’s “hurricane-safe” location a few miles inland from ocean storm surge, means a lot of boaters want…

WHILE MODERN BOATERS ENJOY rarefied technology, our access to top products doesn’t insulate us from occasional hightech hiccups. Take my experience at the 2016 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, where I spied the USS Zumwalt, the U.S. Navy’s newest and stealthiest guided missile destroyer, conducting tests just off shore. I pulled out my iPhone and rifled off some images using its 5x digital zoom. In my photos, however, Zumwalt resembled nothing more than an odd-looking horizon ornament; zoomed in tightly, she became a pixelated gray blob, not a mighty warship or even a social-media-worthy share. Rather than using true optical zooms, smartphone cameras use digital zooms that enlarge each pixel to blow up an area of interest. Most thermal-imaging cameras also use digital zooms to manage cost and size, which…

SEVENTY-FIVE-FOOT MONOHULLS. That’s the word from Emirates Team New Zealand, defender of the 2021 America’s Cup, and Italy’s Luna Rossa, the challenger of record, about the type of boats that will race in the next edition of the greatest yachting show on Earth. Gone are the 50-foot foiling catamarans that Oracle Team USA’s owner, Larry Ellison, saw as the sport’s future, replaced by a return to tradition that the Kiwis think might attract a bevy of top-notch sailors, as they’re more comfortable with monohulls. ¶ In fact, Oracle Team USA may not participate at all. As of this writing, the challenger from America is the New York Yacht Club, which held the Cup from 1851 until 1983. The NYYC is returning to the event, in partnership with Bella Mente Quantum…

CUSTOM DESIGN IS THE CORE CONCEPT behind BMW Individual, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the German luxury automaker worked with Nautor’s Swan in Finland to produce the M760Li, a yacht-inspired evolution of the BMW M750Li xDrive V12 Excellence. ¶ Craftsmen at the Swan shipyard contributed numerous elements to the vehicle, including teak panels with rubber-lined joints on the floor that mimic the decking on a sailing yacht. Swan’s team also produced interior trim, entry sills and floor mats from teak. The Swan insignia graces the car in several spots, such as being stitched into the headrests and cushions. As you can see in the rendering above, looking through the vehicle’s wide windshield at the marina feels an awful lot like being at the helm of…

The newest generation of Azimut Grande yachts melds edge and elegance, muscle and mellow. Longtime Azimut stylist Stefano Righini’s exteriors are getting sharper and more aggressive with each new season. At the same time, interiors are getting softer and gentler, thanks to Achille Salvagni’s delicate touch. The builder’s 27 Metri is a perfect example. She’s an 87-foot-10-inch raised pilothouse model with a full-beam, main-deck owner’s stateroom — replacing the Azimut 88, a conventional flybridge design. The 27 Metri’s look and layout are proving popular: The first 10 hulls sold prior to her debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September. OUTSIDE SPACES UP FRONT It seems that every conceivable square inch of outside space is utilized on the 27 Metri. Take the flares of her snub-nose bow and squared-off stems,…

CHICVOYAG ERAB SOLUTEN AVETTA 73 I wasn’t expecting the speed. At first glance, Absolute Yachts’ Navetta 73 looks, well, shippy. Her stout profile and broad shoulders (with an 18-foot-4- inch beam) are indicative of a vessel built for long-distance cruising. And while the 73 is certainly capable of that kind of voyage, with an 800-nautical-mile range at about 9 knots, my eyes grew to saucer size when she hit 26 knots. ¶ Skirting across the Gulf of Napoule off the coast of Cannes, France, my test 73’s 1,000 hp Volvo Penta IPS1350s quickly spooled up to 2,439 rpm. The 57-ton displacement vessel hit that wide-openthrottle speed atop a 3-foot heave. The ride was comfortable, with little roll moment felt on her open flybridge. An optional Seakeeper 16 gyrostabilizer and Volvo…

THE SIRENA 56 is amoung a growing number of yachts designed to maximize liveaboard space. The 56 may look like a flybridge motoryacht, but she could be more accurately described as a long-distance cruiser, or even a mini explorer. The exterior, by German Frers, famous for sailing yachts, mates a boxy topside with a fast-displacement hull that reaches 26 knots with optional twin 850 hp Cat C12.9 diesels that also deliver a range of 850 nautical miles at 10 knots. ¶ Tommaso Spadolini used “light” and “comfort” as keywords when eating the interior. The Italian designer used picture windows in the salon and lower- staterooms, along with 6-foot- deck 4-inch headroom, to maximize the sense of spaciousness. ¶ The yacht’s vertical bow gave Spadolini even more usable space forward on…