Our son Christopher has often said that many boats look more like a sneaker than a boat, referring to many runabouts that we have seen over the years.
Recently, a superyacht Captain made a similar remark to me the other day when talking about many of the contemporary yachts that have launched over the last few years. In spite of the massive amount of money it takes to purchase and run one of these massive yachts, 100 will launch this year alone. That’s a lot of billionaires flexing their muscle and looking to make a statement.
Not unsurprisingly, he is skipper of a beautiful, and I’d say timeless, sailing yacht, one of the largest in the world. He’s been in the business for many years now and has captained both motor and sailing yachts all over the world.
His comment, aside from reminding me of Christopher’s comments, got me thinking about which designs will stand the test of time.
Over the last few years, it seems that many of the huge yachts, and they are getting bigger every year, are straying far from what had traditionally been seen as “classic”.
This one, dare I say, does look like a sneaker. Perhaps on the cutting edge of “different” I do wonder if this design will be considered “cutting edge” in a few years or just “out of fashion”. I guess that time will tell.
She is Sea Wolf X a new launch in 2024. Built in Italy, she was designed to be as fuel efficient as possible and her catamaran shape does save a lot of fuel relative to other similarly sized boats.
She is certainly a unique design and I wonder how she will wear in a decade or two.
The owner of Norn surely tossed out the norms when he commissioned his newest yacht a few years ago. In my opinion, she is impressive and in her own right will stand the test of time.
His last boat, Scat, looked similar and turned a lot of heads when she launched more than a dozen years ago. You can see the resemblance. I do think that these designs, in spite of looking so different than the typical white yacht, are unique in a good way.
Of course, what is now considered classic these days might have been considered groundbreaking when they hit the water so long ago.
For me, I tend to favor those that look what I would call “classic” with beautiful sweeping lines and stunning transoms.
One that comes to mind is Nahlin, which I have written about a number of times. This yacht was launched in 1930 and after nearly 100 years still turns heads wherever she goes. She is classic in every way and as long as she has an owner that can support her needs, I expect that 100 years from now she will still be considered beautiful.
She didn’t always look like she does now back before Dyson rescued her from oblivion.
She looks much the same now as she did when she was launched back in 1930. Of course, her steam engines have been replaced by modern diesels.
Nahlin has a lovely figurehead. The name Nahlin has native American roots, hence the figurehead.
Next to her is Sea Wolf, who just came in today. She was built in 1957 as a commercial ship and ultimately underwent a major refit in 2019 to change her into a proper yacht. To me, she has beautiful lines and clearly follows the idea that “form follows function”. This link takes you to a bit of background about the boat and owner. It’s unclear to me if the same owner has her now. Interestingly, he also founded a flight museum in Canada, Vintage wings of Canada, with an impressive collection. I guess he likes classic stuff of all types. Nice boat too.
Her engine compartment.
Under way. A beautiful go-anywhere yacht that has clearly been everywhere.
Another favorite is Talitha, built in 1930 looks a lot like Nahlin, but with two funnels. She has had a number of owners over the years but since the late 80s she has been owned by Getty family of Getty Images fame, now into her second generation with them. Her first owner was the head of the Packard motor car company and for a while she was owned by Woolworth department store family.
Crew tend to be shared between these classic yachts, with members serving on various boats over time. As Talitha pulled into the marina the other day I could see crew on other boats shouting welcomes to the crew of Talitha. I guess it’s like a reunion when they congregate in a harbor.
And speaking of reunions, the skipper of EOS arranged a fun run and dock party last week to raise money for two local charities, one, The National Sailing Academy of Antigua and the other, The International Yacht Restoration School , IYRS, out of Newport RI, that brings Antiguan youth to the US to be trained in Marine Systems so that they can return to Antigua to work on yachts.
I am particularly excited about the IYRS charity as I started a this program a few years ago with a friend, to bring youth from Antigua to Newport for a 6 month program in the Marine Trades to help feed the next generation of marine tradespeople in Antigua. We have our first graduate and another on the way to Newport in the spring. After three years of working on the program, it seems to be really taking off.
Our first IYRS graduate, Ishmael, on the right, with his mom and brother at the party. HIs brother is also going to join the program. As you can imagine, their Mom is very proud.
The evening, following a 4k fun run with perhaps 200 people, mostly crew from other yachts.
It was a very festive evening.
Captain Martin of Eos, asking everyone to donate.
And, giving out raffle prizes.
The biggest “kiddy pool” of beer I’ve ever seen.
Eos on the dock. She will surely stand the test of time as a beautiful yacht.
According to Wikipedia EOS is owned by Barry Diller and Diane Von Furstenberg and was launched in 2008. She was, at the time, the largest sailing yacht in the world, with a LOA of 300′.
EOS towers over the dock. Note the figurehead. Diane, I believe.
And now, to the left Talitha.
This is just a few examples of beautiful yachts that have stood the test of time. There are many yachts whos designs test the limits of what should a yacht look like and I wonder how they will be viewed in a few decades.
Obsidian, is also a new build and quite arresting to look at. As she is so sleek looking, I expect that she will stand the test of time but I guess it’s still too early to tell as she is only two years old. One of the crew members told me that he unusual metallic paintjob is so difficult to patch, that if she is scratched she will have to be fully repainted.
Cutting edge yes. But a sleek look.
Not your “father’s yacht”. Interesting but does look a bit sneaker like.
Interestingly, in order to keep a yacht looking tip-top, it has to be completely painted every 4-5 years. With that in mind, the owner will only have to live with a scratch for a few years.
With a big yacht, and they are getting bigger every year, monthly expenses run upwards of $500,000. And that doesn’t even count new paintjobs to fix those scratches.
Well, I could go on and on about all the yachts in Antigua but one thing for sure is that this whole business of mega yacht ownership is growing every year and it’s hard to imagine how these harbors, already packed, will address the influx of new hardware.
Like the smaller cruising boats that we have, they don’t go away after a decade so the total number is growing every year and the harbors aren’t getting any bigger.
I guess I will have to just remain content with little old Pandora for the foreseeable future.
Not bad for an old girl. And, to my eye, she doesn’t look much like a sneaker.
But I guess you will have to be the judge.