Yachting November 2016

THERE’S AN ALMOST GIDDY FEELING I get when I’m around all things nautical. During a recent family summer sojourn to a seafood festival held on Long Island, New York, on the grounds of the Long Island Maritime Museum, I had the chance to take a break from the clams casino, lobster rolls and cotton candy to explore and connect with the on-the-water heritage of this skinny spit of sandbar I call home. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. Inside a hangar that housed U.S. Navy seaplanes during World War I were 30 vessels of all shapes, sizes and makes: catboats, cruisers, workboats and speedboats in every direction. Passing through the door, and briefly blinded by the bright midday summer sun, I adjusted my eyes to see a classic…

BRUCE KIRBY WAS drawing San Juan sailboats for the Clark Boat Company when he got a call in the 1970s asking for a car-top sailboat. His sketch during that call became known as “the million-dollar doodle,” evolving into the Laser, one of the most popular single-handed dinghies in history. “That was my most money ever made in the shortest time,” Kirby says. “It tripled my income.” With his newfound cash, he bought a waterfront home in Rowayton, Connecticut, with views of Long Island Sound from every window. He scored it at a steal from an IBM comptroller. “He had a purple motorboat in front of the house,” Kirby recalls. “He really didn’t know the value of the property for somebody like me, for a real boat lover.” Kirby didn’t need…

PERSHING YACHT HAS long been known for pushing the boundaries of style and speed, and its new line of X Generation open-style yachts, starting with the 5X, appears to continue that trend. The Italian builder says Hulls No. 1 through 6 were sold months before the 5X debuted at this autumn’s boat shows in Europe and the United States — and Pershing is already promising more X Generation models to come. Pershing is part of the Ferretti Group, whose product-strategy committee and engineering department worked with designer Fulvio De Simoni to create the Pershing 5X. She has a length overall of 54 feet 2 inches, and a beam of 14 feet 4 inches. Her design includes the cockpit setup that previously had been limited to larger Pershing models, with…

DEPTH OF DESIGN Duffy London is offering this Abyss Table, which is built to look like a 3-D map of the ocean floor. The design team spent a year figuring out the right combination of sculpted glass, Perspex (acrylic) and wood that is Forest Stewardship Council certified. The coffee table is available on its own or with a second, coordinating table (the Kraken edition) at $34,000. SPACE-AGE SEXY The BR-X1 Hyperstellar by Bell & Ross ($19,900) features titanium and aluminum. BEAUTIFUL BLADE William Henry’s Spearpoint Black Beard ($50,000) is engraved with 24-karat gold. Black diamonds are inset within the button lock and thumb stud. AMP IT UP Sennheiser’s HE 1 ($55,000) headphone system has a base made from Carrara marble.…

BILLY JOEL’S commuter yacht, Vendetta, has been making yachtsmen swoon since Doug Zurn designed her a decade ago. She was started at North End Composites, then moved to Coecles Harbor Marine and finished at the Derecktor yard, with a build cost of more than $2 million. Now, Joel has donated the yacht to the International Sea-Keepers Society, which protects the oceans through research, conservation and education. “We are forever grateful for this donation and would like to thank yacht broker Bruce Leffers of Northrop & Johnson for assisting to make this happen,” SeaKeepers president and CEO Richard Snow stated in a press release.…

TO ITALIANS, FEW THINGS are more important than style and food. Borgia-based Invictus Yacht understands this. The company has developed a modular boat that not only can whisk you from seaside village to seaside village with movie-star elegance, but that also will help you arrive with a fresh haul of branzino for mama’s cucina. • WHOM IT’S FOR: The 240FX can be configured for cruising with forward seating or left open for fishing, so its appeal should be broad. The boat is ideal for someone who enjoys the center console concept but desires something a bit different to help him stand out at the marina. • PICTURE THIS: The Mediterranean sun sinks behind you as you zip back to your slip in Portofino at 40 knots. You’ve called ahead…