Innehållsförteckning för July 2018 från Yachting

THE ARGOS NAUTIC 396 stands out among similar-size RIBs for two reasons. One is her interior volume. The 13-foot-6-inch-long RIB has a beam of 6 feet 8 inches, creating legroom for as many as five people, more than can fit comfortably aboard some other boats of this length. The second reason is her myriad options. Owners can choose colors, textures and finishes, including those that match the little boat to the 70- to 100-foot yachts this tender is designed to service. Power is a 40 to 70 hp outboard. • Whom It’s For: The 396 is a logical choice for the owner who wants some bespoke options aboard a davit-ready RIB that can fit the whole family. • Picture This: You’re anchored just off Stocking Island in the Exumas region…

WHAT A DIFFERENCE 10 feet can make. Ocean Alexander already offers a 90-footer with a four-stateroom layout whose guest spaces would qualify as VIP suites on most yachts. With its OA 100 Skylounge, the builder has added an on-deck master, much like the kind aboard superyachts. That’s one reason why Ocean Alexander calls the 100 Skylounge the entry-level yacht in its six-model mega-yacht series, which stretches up to 155 feet length overall. ¶ The 100 Skylounge can be ordered with numerous layouts. Other arrangements include a dual-master, five-stateroom setup, with a full-beam suite in addition to the on-deck master, and an optional twin VIP with two mirrored staterooms amidships. My test yacht had the on-deck master, which is an easy choice in my mind. Wake up surrounded by windows on…

WHEN YOU’RE SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY ON SOMETHING, LIKE, for example, a multimillion-dollar yacht, you’re going to want to see where it’s built — even if the yard happens to be halfway around the world, as is the case for Americans who want a Horizon. Taking a trip to see the factory is the best way to ensure the quality of a future prize possession. Plus, the journey is a cool opportunity to forge a connection with a company that an owner will be intertwined with for some time. Business is all about relationships, after all. ¶ Horizon builds its yachts in Kaohsiung, an industrial city in southern Taiwan that serves as the country’s boatbuilding hub. Horizon’s headquarters is where soft debuts of the FD87 Skyline and V68 models…

A STEADY 15-PLUS-KNOT BREEZE turned the Pacific Ocean off Newport Beach, California, into swell city. White-topped 3- to 5-footers greeted the bow of our 60-foot Bertram convertible, and with malice. In the trough, the vessel swayed from chine to chine like a pendulum. Standing up was a challenge. For those prone to mal de mar, it was a good day to be watching from the beach. ¶ That is, unless your yacht had stabilization with serious roll-stopping power. ¶ My Bertram was retrofitted with Side-Power Vector Fin stabilizers that worked equally well when the boat was at rest or underway, at all speeds. With the press of a button, the curved fins engaged, with their fishlike tails flanging out at the bottom. Articulating across a 70-degree arc (which is adjustable…

THE BACK COVE 34O IS A HYBRID, OF SORTS. Its builder, in Rockland, Maine, started with the deck mold and interior layout from its single-diesel 32-footer. Back Cove then penned a new hull form to work with outboard power: twin 300 or 350 hp four-stroke motors from Yamaha or 350s from Suzuki, to be precise. ¶ With the twin 350s, the builder says the 17,000-pound 34O should make about 37 knots on the pins, compared to 27.4 knots at wide-open throttle for the original 32 with a 435 hp Volvo Penta D6 diesel. Additionally, the 34O will carry 250 gallons of fuel, versus the 185 gallons found on the 32. ¶ While the differences are notable, several similarities should appeal to Back Cove fans looking for outboard power. Like the…

From aboard the FLEMING 75 NIKITA, I spy what looks LIKE a miniature CABLE CAR. IT STARTS at the dock and travels up — and up, and up, at least 500 feet — to a home high above Norway’s Geirangerfjorden fjord. ¶ Geirangerfjorden. It’s OK that I can’t say it, because I’m pretty much speechless looking at the fjord’s beauty. That home is along a shoreline that is a collage of forested slopes, towering cliffs, waterfalls, pastures and isolated farmsteads, some of which are built atop impossibly high, verdant plateaus. ¶ How the residents access them, or how building supplies were lofted up to these precipices before the days of cable cars, remains a mystery to me. One of the now-dormant hydroelectric stations here, Flørli, holds two world records: the…

IT STARTS SILENTLY AND SMALL. Given time and proper steeping conditions, though, marine growth can snowball into a performance-draining mess. Here in Seattle, Puget Sound’s nutrient-rich waters ricochet between 46 and 56 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, and even those temperatures don’t stymie growth. Stroll the docks at Shileshole Bay Marina and plenty of otherwise fine-looking yachts sport shaggy underwater beards that require regular diver visits or trips to freshwater Lake Washington to remedy. Extrapolate out to Florida’s sun-baked, bathtub-warm waters and it’s easy to see how marine growth can create significant problems. ¶ Mariners have battled befouled undercarriages since the dawn of exploration and trade. They at one point attached copper cladding to wooden hulls to solve the problem, a lesson that reverberates with today’s ablative and hard-bottom anti-fouling paints that…

READERS OF THIS MAGAZINE may not know the name Kristian Arens but will certainly have heard of Redman Whiteley Dixon, the U.K.-based yacht design firm where Arens works as an exterior designer. ¶ Similarly, the name Clive Johnson may sound new, but his work includes delivering advanced composite products such as the free-standing masts aboard the 468-foot Nobiskrug sailing yacht A. ¶ Together, Arens and Johnson have created Essence of Strength, a company dedicated to creating carbon-composite furniture that seems to defy gravity. The team starts with simple structural forms and contrasts them with luxury materials, creating pieces that can be bespoke, limited edition or semicustom. ¶ And while most furniture-makers offer their creations for commercial or residential use, Essence of Strength does those things while also specifically designing for…

THE PARDO 43 IS AS SUBTLE as a chartreuse Lamborghini Aventador cruising Miami’s South Beach. From its reversed axe bow to its black carbon-fiber hardtop, this sport boat bursts with Italian machismo. ¶ But the Pardo 43 has a softer side too, starting with three cushy helm seats that are reminiscent of the Lambo’s, and continuing through the interior, which is finished with fine details that include stitched-leather drawer pulls. ¶ A walkaround encircles the cabin house — which is so low, it’s barely visible from abeam — and leads from the bow sun pad to the transom platform, passing a dinette that can be reconfigured into forward facing seats. An optional foldout “terrace” adds more deck space, and engraved popup cleats keep the deck clear when not in use.…

WHEN PEOPLE talk about superyachts for charter, the conversation inevitably turns to the western Mediterranean — to ports such as Antibes, in the South of France, where so many large yachts dock that there’s a marina quay known as Billionaire’s Row. ¶ Greece, by contrast, has had a different reputation. Even a decade ago, it was known for smaller and older yachts plying its islands, from Santorini to Rhodes. ¶ In recent years, that has changed, and some new entries into the Greek charter market are poised to attract attention this summer. ¶ One of the biggest is O’ptasia (shown at top right), a 278-foot Golden Yachts build that was scheduled to be delivered in May. She’ll take 12 guests in a layout built to accommodate 24 on private owner’s…

SOME YACHTS BLEND INTO THE HARBOR like everyday scenery. Others make an impression that’s memorable no matter how many harbors they visit. ¶ The Sanlorenzo SX88 is the latter. Her exterior has a commanding profile. Her forward half resembles an oceangoing explorer vessel with a near-vertical axe bow, a metal-capped knockdown rail that wraps around the bow, and a hard chine that begins halfway up the bow stem and rakes aft. Configured to control the pitching of the yacht as well as spray, the design is geared to bust through waves with an easy motion. ¶ The superstructure’s styling is also dramatic. Corners and edges are softened to blend with the overall curves and flowing fore-aft lines. A single-pane, reverse-raked forward window — atypical on recreational yachts — juxtaposes the…

INTRODUCED IN 2006, the Formula 45 Yacht has had 190 hulls built to date. • Notable features: An early coupe-style design, the yacht’s bridge deck offered protection from the weather while providing panoramic views. The 45 Yacht was designed for Volvo Penta’s IPS pod drives. • Belowdecks: There’s a two-stateroom layout with the master forward. A pocket door provides privacy. The guest stateroom aft has twin berths that slide together to form a queen for couples. There’s an L-shaped galley. A cherry interior and Corian countertops were standard, with four décor options. • Availability: At press time, there were 27 Formula 45 Yachts on the market, ranging from $244,900 for a 2007 to $1.06 million for a 2017. FROM THE ARCHIVES “The galley opposite has a stand-up fridge/freezer, two-burner electric…