Yachting January 2019

THE LIGHTNING strikes were coming in so fast that I couldn’t count them. The maelstrom had enveloped the entire tournament fleet, almost 400 boats, about 60 miles off Ocean City, Maryland. In between cacophonous cracks of thunder and purple light illuminating an otherwise black sky, there was a crackling voice over the VHF radio. A boat was disabled after one of those eye-popping lightning strikes. ¶ The sport-fish’s captain said his vessel had sustained a direct hit. All souls on board were OK, but the boat was out of commission. The electronics appeared to be fried, and her engines were useless. She was drifting with the wind and the current. ¶ Luckily, the crew had a piece of modern-day technology on board: a handheld VHF radio. That radio had just…

JUST LIKE FAMILY You almost seem like a relative of mine. The editorials you write each month are so very spot-on. In your September article, I couldn’t help but laugh at your having a great boat, crew, the latest gear and yet no fish. Sounds suspiciously like a trip we had while down at our home on Sint Maarten. We were out in an old but well-kept Rybovich 53 that’s responsible for finding more fish than any other boat from around the islands. Except we forgot to perform a “Murphy check” before leaving Bobby’s Marina. Seems you always end up having to spend lots of time and money to get the really nice fish. WIL ENGLE, VIA EMAIL CORRECTION In the November issue, we listed incorrect Seven Marine outboard options…

WHEN DESIGNERS AT HUCKINS YACHT penned a 36-footer back in 1936, they probably couldn’t even dream of it becoming the basis for what the builder is doing today. And yet here are those same lines reimagined more than 80 years later — with classic styling nods from the stanchions to the vents in the side windows — being offered in composite construction with the owner’s choice of hybrid or outboard power. ¶ The first hull of the Huckins Sportsman 38 is scheduled to be under construction as you read this, with the yacht’s debut planned for the Newport International Boat Show in September. The Sportsman 38 will be the first model from the builder available with a hybrid propulsion package: twin 380 hp Cummins QSB 6.7s for a top-end above…

I grew up with my father sailing the waters of New England from NJ to Nantucket every summer in the 70’s and 80’s. When I went to college in Florida in the 90’s, dad sold the sailboat and bought a Krogen 42’ and I bought another sailboat and started plying the waters of Florida and the Bahamas. This is when the regular Saturday morning calls started to compare boat projects. And I seem to think it was my father’s first trip up the Hudson River in the late 90’s on the 42’ that started him talking about the Great Loop. Eventually, he built a house in Florida with his dream dock in the backyard. He retired a few years after that project, and by the end of 2015, MARIAH our…

01. THE BASE PLATE It’s made of gold-leaf carbon fiber and sized to display. The dimensions are 15 inches by 16½ inches. The machine’s height is just over 13 inches. 02. LIQUOR DISPENSER Need an extra boost with that shot of caffeine? The silver-colored “grappa tank” is topped with an amethyst that’s surrounded by diamonds. 03. BEJEWELED CUPS As if a morning cup of espresso weren’t precious enough, note the gold handles on the cups. The detailing is amethyst and diamonds.…

HERE’S THE BIG QUESTION: How on earth is it possible to choose only 240 pages’ worth of material when discussing one of the most successful yacht-design firms in modern history, one that has produced more than 7,400 designs from its offices in the Netherlands? ¶ That’s what the team behind the book Yacht Design by Vripack has done, offering a rare look not only at interior and exterior designs that have come off Vripack drafting tables since Dick Boon penned the firm’s first wooden sailboat in 1961, but also giving an insider’s explanation of engineering and naval architecture that have gone into many of the designs since then. Readers can forge a new understanding of the company’s creative process, as well as note plenty of ideas for yachts they might…