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 […]
BEQUIA Wins Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta
We’re thrilled to share that BEQUIA has added to her list of regatta victories with three 1st-place finishes out of three races at the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta in the Spirit of Tradition division. Conditions were windy and bumpy, with what looks like 6-8-foot seas in the photos. This favored larger boats and BEQUIA was the largest in the division. Nonetheless, a win is a win. “Many people came up to us and commented on how fast BEQUIA was sailing,” said the yachts owners. “Design was a lot of it.” “BEQUIA set sail with the latest technology in sails, running […]
Maine racing provides a fantastic test bed for varied hull shapes
Racing in Maine’s varied mid-summer weather and tides rewards a variety of boat types and hull shapes. Why do certain designs work better than others in specific conditions? Read on. The classic racing season in Maine is short and sweet. Until a few years ago, classic and Spirit of Tradition boats had to pack it all into three days, Thursday through Saturday of the first weekend in August—the Castine Classic, a race from Castine to Camden, the Camden-Brooklin “feeder” race, and the venerable Eggemoggin Reach Regatta. A few years ago, the Camden Classics Cup joined the party with two more […]
Pressure Testing Zingara on the Race Course?
What the Maine sailing season lacks in length it makes up for in fantastic experiences. Whether cruising or racing, the icy waters, semi-reliable sea breezes, exotic thunderstorms, and sure, even the fog, create an otherworldly environment for those lucky enough to spend time amid the unlimited islands, rivers, and thoroughfares stretching along the Maine coast. Arguably the best time for sailing in Maine is the end of July through mid-September and if you’re up for a bit of sport, two key events are the Camden Classics Cup (July 29-31, www.camdenclassicscup.com) and the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta (Aug. 7, www.erregatta.com). There […]
Zemphira – (re)fit for a king
As designers of fine custom yachts we pour our knowledge, experience, creativity, and our love for the work into each project with which we are involved. Sometimes it’s a brand-new sailing yacht built to a style of sailing from a bygone era. Sometimes, it’s revisiting that design a decade or more after launch to review what is working well and even improve upon the original. Such is the case with Zemphira. Built as Goshawk in 2005, Zemphira will launch in the Spring of 2021 after a substantial re-fit, ready to take on all-comers in Classic Yacht Spirit of Tradition racing […]
Inside Marjorie with Scot Tempesta
If you’re a fan of yachts and yachting, there’s a good chance that like us, you’re a fan of Scot Tempesta’s great work with the Sailing Anarchy website. So when we heard that Scot was featuring a walk-through of Marjorie on his YouTube page (subscribe here) we were thrilled. Like many of our designs, Marjorie was custom-tailored to meet specialized wishes of her owner. Our client demanded particular arrangements for both interior layout and the sailing platform; for a custom project these kinds of choices are very personal. Her owner loves solid, seaworthy boats from the 1930’s—loves their looks, loves […]
Introducing Varvara
Varvara is an Eastern European variant of Barbara—its meaning is “stranger, foreigner—not of the Latin people”. We thought it fitting for this sleek and sexy machine– her style is influenced by the clean and crisp design work exemplified by trends today, only with our distinctive slant. Varvara came to be through the concept work we did with a client who had closely examined the entire European market of production sailing yachts and not found exactly the right boat. He found current boats with cramped interior arrangements; cockpits too minimal and largely exposed; sailing systems that seemed racy and complex […]
A Conversation With James Betts Enterprises
Our firm is currently collaborating with the innovative James Betts Enterprises, Inc. on the beautiful Spirit-of-Tradition yacht, Cirrus. We introduced you to JBE last month and since then, we’ve talked with them further about the process they go through when taking a boat from dream to reality. Tell us what happens when a designer brings a client to you? We approach every new potential project with a critical eye and an open mind. This allows us to understand the client’s dream, see the designer’s vision, and determine the logistics and feasibility of turning an idea into a tangible product. […]