Yachting April 2019

ABOUT 100 MILES OFFSHORE, ACRES OF RAYS that seemed to be the size of small cars appeared from the depths, a couple hundred yards away from our boat. The intriguing, spaceship-looking fish took turns exploding from beneath the flat-calm cobalt sea, defying gravity. Following their brief flights, the rays landed back in the ocean with a smack that sounded like a kid doing a cannonball into a pool. I read afterward that this behavior could signify anything, from feeding to communication to mating. Whatever the reasoning behind the flying rays, the late-summer scene was Discovery Channel-worthy. It’s one of my favorite bluewater memories. ¶ Another memorable event occurred about 30 miles southeast of Long Island, New York. Following a successful sunrise tuna troll, I stopped my boat and took a…

FOUNDING PARTNERS AT FURRION, an innovations company based in Indiana, met while working as mega-yacht crew — giving them a hands-on chance to see what technology worked, and what might be improved, out on the water. They took their ideas to the Turkish boatbuilder Numarine, outfitting a 78-foot yacht with everything from artificial intelligence to drone security. Earlier this year, that 78-footer — the Adonis concept yacht — became the first-ever yacht displayed at the CES trade show in Las Vegas, where companies from Apple to Microsoft present products that they see as technology’s future. ¶ At the heart of the yacht’s systems is a virtual assistant called Angel, which is networked to everything from the audio system to the galley. Angel’s technology is rooted in artificial intelligence, meaning the…

THE PROBLEM of keeping cocktail glasses upright aboard yachts has led to magnet systems, Space Age cupholders and more. Now, in answer to a challenge from Princess Yachts, a student at the U.K.’s Plymouth College of Art has come up with a solution that wobbles in all the right ways: the untippable martini glass. Princess presented it at boot Düsseldorf, announcing that customers would be able to have the glass in the future. ¶ The college couldn’t be prouder of student Andres Boraita, with program leader Kevin Jenkins saying, “Andres developed new skills across almost every area of the college, learning wood turning to create one of his molds and learning metal casting to create the pewter base. From sketching concepts digitally and designing prototypes for 3D printing in Fab…

YACHT DESIGNER WardSetzer, who worked at Hatteras Yachts in the mid-1980s before launching his own firm in 1991, returned to the North Carolina builder as chief product officer in January. Setzer plans to revamp existing Hatteras models and create new ones. ¶ Following are edited excerpts of Setzer’s conversation with Yachting. Returning to Hatteras is a real homecoming for you. I started with Jack Hargrave right out of school and did big boats with him, and I was there less than two years when I went to Hatteras around 1985 or 1986. Jack was designing the 92 to 130 series for Hatteras, so I ran that program on the production line. What made you want to give up your own business at age 58 and go back? I was semiretiring…

50'3" LENGTH OVERALL 15'4" MAXIMUM BEAM IT’S COMMON FOR boatbuilders to create a new model in a size and style that resides squarely between two popular yachts, cutting and pasting, as it were, with design features of each sistership. Tiara Yachts’ C49 Coupe is different. It falls between the C44 and C53 sizewise and pricewise, but it has a host of unique features. ¶ From the C49’s swim platform, there is single-point cockpit access. The solo entry leaves space in the cockpit for an L-shaped settee — a pebbled, leatherlike luxury the boat’s fleet mates lack. With a varnished table set atop a chromed-stainless-steel removable pedestal, the settee is as well-suited for morning coffee on the hook as it is for crew to socialize while the yacht’s wake stretches back…

THE S 288 FROM Pursuit is the fourth model in the builder’s Sport line, a series of center-consoles designed for fishing, diving, and general fun and adventure on the water. The boat has a fiberglass hardtop over the console for shade, a full head down below, a through-stem anchor system and seating from bow to transom. Whom It’s For: This center-console serves equally well as a primary vessel or tender for any boater with an intrepid soul — and a seafaring family. Picture This: You’re shooting across from Grand Bahama to the Abacos for a long weekend with the wife and kids. But you have a sweet surprise for everyone along the way, a little-known wreck that’s perfect for fishing and snorkeling. Once you find the spot, you drop anchor…