Since we took ownership of our sweet little Spirit of Tradition yacht, Zingara has brought much joy to us on the water – the boat is great fit to our seasonal agenda. Hosting clients aboard is a great way to build relations and Zingara is a solid and beautiful platform. We enjoy a few regatta events each year and this gives the SWD design team something to chew on; the company team-building is good fun and something to look forward to. And, owning a boat as business partners is a helpful way to manage time aboard during busy seasonal schedules, […]
A Deep Dive into the Super Daysailer
Super Daysailer combines gracious comfort, style, and utility to day sailing adventures. The sleek design is host to a spacious protected cockpit and comfortable overnighting make it an ideal choice for anyone looking to venture further than most daysailers. This beautiful vessel is a light displacement hull built upon substantial waterline and beam, making a beautifully stylish hull that promises great performance. The centerpiece of this design is the partially enclosed cockpit created by a hard-top dodger with all-glass surround– the space is flexible, further blending outdoors with a hassle-free creature-comfort experience on the water. Below deck, a simple day-sailing […]
The Rise of OMG! Vacation Rentals
Have you ever wanted to spend your vacay above the canopy in a historic fire tower in Idaho ($200/night)? How about working from a flying saucer in the English countryside ($235/night)? Better yet, beating the summer heat in a renovated luxury missile silo in Roswell, NM ($875/night)? Well according to Airbnb there are now more than 170,000 unique accommodation options, which short of any better categorical term fall under the label of OMG (oh my god!) vacation rentals. The popularity of original and whimsical vacation rentals has become so immense that the category has become a leading marketing pillar of […]
Paradigm 40 Sport Utility Vessel
Paradigm 40 Sport Utility Vessel – the boat designed for modern living on the water. With a balance of performance, efficiency, and practicality, Paradigm is perfect for families or couples who want to embrace boating with comfort and style. The boat’s raised foredeck and nearly plumb bow bring to mind the classic design, yet with a business-like design in pilothouse superstructure, the concerto of elements make for a clean modern aesthetic. The SUV platform with wide-open cockpit and stern deck invite us aboard in a way our fathers’ boats never did. Inside, an open format brings the family together, while […]
The Need for Speed
Last week, on the hot dry sands of Australia’s remote Lake Gairdner, something incredible happened. On a 46.2-foot-long, 4-wheeled, carbon-fiber land-yacht called Horonuku, Glenn Ashby and Team New Zealand set a breathtaking speed record of 222.4 kmh (or 138.2 mph) in a wind-powered vehicle. And just a few weeks earlier in Luderitz, Namibia, a windsurfer named Heidi Ulrich completed a 500-meter run at 47.16 knots setting a new women’s windsurfing speed world record. That’s pretty fast especially when considering she was navigating a channel only 500 meters long and just 14 meters wide. These feats of speed are part of […]
Pushing the Edge of Accommodations Design
Two years ago, renowned climber and adventure guide company owner, Harry Kent, reached out from his Via Ferrata Works office in Estes Park, Colorado with an interesting request. Could the Stephens Waring studio help his company reimagine the experience of sleeping on a rock climber’s portaledge by designing a structure that was accessible and comfortable for ordinary people to spend the night (or a weekend) hundreds of feet in the air? He wanted a design solution that would build upon the heritage of rock climbing while also integrating the latest in sustainable technologies, green materials, and geotechnical engineering that would […]
The Rising Tide for Floating Communities
By Reed Rowley The concept of the floating metropolis has lived as a science fiction concept ever since French author Jules Verne described them in his novel The Floating City in 1871. Since then, the idea of the large modern floating municipality has been parked on the scientific and engineering backburner. Today there are more people living in Antarctica than in modern floating communities around the world. However, with the twin pressures of population density and climate change causing sea levels to rise, serious attention is being refocused on reimagining and reinventing floating communities as a solution to the challenges […]
Light at the End of the Tunnel For Zemphira
We’re thrilled to share an update on the progress of Zemphira as work continues at full tilt for her to hit the water again this spring. Here’s the latest on her work at the Lyman Morse Boatyard. The Latest: The internal carbon reinforcement frame has been installed around the new molded bottom replacement and keel socket, taped in place, and smoothed and painted. The systems are starting to go in: lithium-ion batteries nested into bays in the carbon grid, each side of and aft of the socket, and collapsible fuel-cell-style diesel tanks in specially-designed compartments within the structure. The new […]