FRANK Magazine Issue 4 | Denison Yachting

EDITOR’S NOTE

The Best Job In The World

I’m an extremely lucky man. Not only do I get invited to experience all manner of the good life that can only be found onboard yachts of all sizes, or to black tie galas in some of the world’s most breathtaking venues, or to dive for real-life sunken treasure in the Bahamas, or to mingle among thousands of penguins before being happily shuttled back to the warmth of an extremely large private yacht crewed with some of the kindest and most knowledgeable people in Antarctica.

I’m also grateful to say that my “job” involves frequent invitations to sail on the fastest boats in the world, land helicopters on some of the largest and most opulent yachts ever built, and oh yeah: Not only have I been able to rub shoulders with some of the world’s most famous people on the start line of the inaugural Miami Grand Prix Formula 1 race just minutes before “lights out,” I’ve also been invited to learn how actually drive a Formula 4 race car at an upcoming Skip Barber Racing School event.

Sickening, right? Well, I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you think so. And you won’t be alone! But not a day goes by where I’m not profoundly grateful for all the able to do. In fact, I’m in awe of the people I meet and what I get to do most of the time!

But the truth is all the excitement, relaxation, adrenaline, luxury, exclusivity, and wonder I’m so grateful to be able to experience is not what makes my job “The Best Job In The World.” It’s part of it for sure. But the real reason is much simpler than all that: I get to share the stories.

Sharing stories that may inspire you to let the good people at Denison Yachting help you explore our big, beautiful world on board a yacht of any size is the best part of the job!

And then...I get to give it all away to anyone who’s ever dreamed of escaping the tyranny of the everyday onboard an impossibly large yacht, or ultra luxe resort, or remote destination so you can then go experience it for yourself.

No matter where I go, and what I do, my responsibility is to simply take you with me so I can provide a glimpse of what true luxury, and true adventure, and true wellness really are.

So, come on. This issue is packed with insider stories about everything from yachts and cars to elephants in India from some of the world’s best writers and photographers. It’s dripping with excitement, mystery, inspiration, and a heaping helping of good ol’ fashioned joie de vivre as well.

So, we hope you enjoy reading this as much as we did producing it. And this is only the beginning.

AUDUN LIE Dahl contributors

RACHEL Ingram MARILYN Mower

RACHEL has been covering the global luxury industry for over a decade. Based in London, she has held senior editorial positions at publications across the luxury space and enjoys writing about the innovations and personalities driving the yachting industry.

AUDUN has been arranging and leading tours all around the world since 2010. In recent years, he cofounded Nansen Polar Expeditions to help bring others to the polar regions such as Svalbard, Arctic Norway, and Antarctica. Audun is also one of the premier wildlife photographers in the world, and has been awarded accolades such as GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, NHM Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

MARILYN is a former editor and editorial director for ShowBoats International, Southern Boating, and Boat International magazines, who is now happily living the life of a vagabond freelance writer, editor, and media consultant. Her favorite topics relate to history, technology, and design, and she is currently cochair of Boat International’s Design and Innovation Awards. She's lived aboard boats for 17 years and has produced or contributed to 15 books.

J. MICHAEL Welton

J. MICHAEL writes about architecture, art, and design for national and international publications. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Dwell, Metropolis, and Architectural Digest . The former architecture critic for the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, he’s also the author of Drawing from Practice: Architecture and the Meaning of Freehand He also edits and publishes an online design magazine at architectsandartisans.com.

ALESSANDRO Sarno

JUSTIN Chisholm

ALESSANDRO was born and raised in Italy. He published several

Eleuthera The Garden of Freedom, Exumas The Kingdom of Blue, and Cat Island Diamonds and Rust, and more recently, Jungleland, a photo essay about life in Miami. Alessandro is a lone traveler and considers photography his travel companion, hence his artistic name, “The Lonesome Photographer,” which also draws inspiration from the classic and lyrical road-lesstraveled book, Lonesome Traveler, by novelist and

JUSTIN is a British yachting journalist based in Mallorca, Spain. He writes principally about high-performance yacht racing with a focus on sailing’s top-tier professional events, such as the America’s Cup, SailGP, The Ocean Race, and the Vendée Globe.

KIM Frank

KIM is a writer and stories with some of the world’s top photographers highlighting conservation, exploration, and adventure across the globe. Recent publications include cowriting and editing Amaze by SeaLegacy founder, Cristina Mittermeier, and Born to Ice by National Geographic photographer, Paul Nicklen, as well as ghostwriting.

Starboard Yacht Group’s expertly trained stabilization department, comprised of naval architects, engineers and technicians, utilize experience to take your needs, wants and dreams to precisely design a customized stabilization system for you with only the most cutting-edge products in the world.

•

•

SYG is headquartered in the yachting hub of the world with two locations in Harbour Towne Marina and Lauderdale Marine Center, with worldwide mobility to address your needs whenever or wherever you may be. Humphree is known the world over for creating the ultimate boating experience with their Trim and Stabilization Systems. With Humphree’s Intercepters & Fins, you have a complete Stabilization System

Contact SYG to make your ride smoother than ever.

Harbour Towne Marina | Lauderdale Marine Center

frankly speaking

HONORING LEGACY

Broward Marine to be commemorated

yachtstyle 26

SUPERYACHT ART

Joseph Klibansky’s sculpture turns a superyacht into a spaceship 32

FORMULA 1 RACING

Miami embraces F1 excitement 40

GLAMOUR & GOOD VIBES IN MONACO

Denison Yachting brings its special brand of success to the spiritual home of the superyacht industry 46

STARS COME OUT

The Riva Gala dazzles in Venice 50

KID - FRIENDLY YACHT

Yacht design nally pays attention to kids 58

ELECTRIC ELEGANCE

Rolls-Royce enters the electric car market in style

60

Issue 04

features

PHOTO ESSAY

Veteran polar expedition leader inspires awe with his photographs of the High Arctic 78

SUPERYACHT SPOTLIGHT

Denison Yachting partners with Tillberg Design of Sweden and Nobiskrug for a new generation of superyacht owners 84

HISTORY HUNTER

Carl Allen recovers priceless artifacts from the bottom of the ocean in The Bahamas 94

ARCHITECT INSIGHTS

Studio Khora designs a modern waterfront masterpiece 102

LIFE ON THE EDGE

Sailboat racing’s foiling revolution 112

DENISON HISTORY Broward Marine goes to war

118

journeys

THE FOREST ROARS

An expedition to lm wild elephants in the Himalaya tests an Explorers Club member’s courage

130 DESERT DELIGHT

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks toward the future while honoring its past

142

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

A photo journey in The Bahamas

152

BEAT THE TRAFFIC

Tropic Ocean Airways seaplanes will y you directly to your yacht charter in style

frankly speaking

PICTURED: The red circle in what is now Safe Harbor Lauderdale Marine Center shows roughly where the original Denison home was.

LEGACY Honoring

The original site of Broward Marine to be commemorated with a State of Florida Heritage Site marker.

I’m proud to report that a State of Florida Heritage Site marker will be placed at 1601 SW 20th Street (Denison Way) at the original location of Broward Marine as well as the “Denison family a handful of these sites have been designated in Broward County and none, until now, have paid homage to the pioneers of the yachting industry in Fort Lauderdale.

The importance of this marker is not so much about the family who lived there but rather the fact that so many lives were impacted and so many careers started there. The former 18-acre site that was Broward Marine is now Safe Harbor Lauderdale Marine Center. Their expansion encompasses two other boat yards and now has

become the largest marine center in South Florida. where our backyard was and where, long ago, we took our family portrait at our home on the westernmost corner of the yard. And while Mom and Dad are gone and Broward Marine is no longer in business, the impact on the lives of those who worked there remains. This marker will hopefully speak to the gratitude we all should consider that we owe this young couple, “who on their honeymoon...decided to buy a boat yard."

Last summer I was invited to a gathering of some of the guys who worked at the Saugatuck, Michigan Broward facility. They’ve been meeting the “glory days” of Broward. I sensed, even now, that they missed their time at the company when

words KEN DENISON photography COURTESY OF SAFE HARBOR LAUDERDALE MARINE CENTER AND DENISON YACHTING

frankly speaking

they were a part of a team

talents to create something unique and beautiful.

They call themselves the “Broward Marines.” I love that.

While there were only a handful at this particular summer gathering, there are hundreds more who worked at that yard over its 25-year existence and thousands who worked at the Fort Lauderdale plant during its 50 year history. I suspect if a similar gathering

Hard Rock stadium. It would be in our industry today, who, at some point, didn’t have some kind of connection to Broward Marine or in some way to "Mr. and Mrs. D.”

This marker suggests that Broward Marine was the epicenter of the yacht building industry here in Fort Lauderdale. It is also speaks to the notion that all of this was brought into being by the sheer willpower and guts of yet another group of men and women of the “greatest generation”, who, along with the Denison’s, took an extreme risk to do something that easily, by its outrageous scale and scope, could have easily failed, which in reality, it almost did.

Consider this.

From the very beginning, the contracts with the U.S. Navy, obligated Broward to launch seven, 144-foot-long, and four, 172-foot-long ships every 45 and 90 days! "Franks Folly” indeed. When these contracts

were signed there were only 25 men working at the plant and none were experienced ship builders. There was no time to purchase and deliver the laminated keels and frames to meet this aggressive schedule so a complete laminating plant had to be built on the southeast corner of the property as well.

There was so much lumber, machinery, wiring and necessary materials required that a railroad spur from the Florida East Coast Railroad was built to be run directly into the yard. When they signed this contract, the New River was too shallow and required congressional approval to dredge it as well as several bridges that had to be widened as well.

PICTURED: Frank, Gertrude and the Denison kids in 1958 (right); The Broward Marines! (far right).

To top it off, when they signed these agreements on August 10, 1951, Gertrude was raising two young boys and was three months pregnant with her third (me) by the time the first minesweeper was launched on November 6th, 1952.

So, it wasn’t a big stretch when John Wells, one of the US preeminent yacht designers and naval architects showed up at the yard shortly

Frank the building of a 96-foot motor yacht, Alisa V. On September 23, 1956, in the middle of the minesweeper program, the front page headlines

for the Miami Herald proclaimed, “Fort Lauderdale Launches Florida's Largest Yacht.” It would also be the largest yacht built in America since World War II.

While the Navy program ended in the late 1950’s the yacht business grew from these beginnings as did the various businesses that were required to support it. The company grew from the people who started at this place, at this boat yard and where this marker will rest. It is also all of us in the yachting industry, in whatever role we may play within it and to acknowledge those who had the courage to follow their dreams.

yachtstyle

SUPERYACHT ART

Joseph Klibansky’s sculpture helps turn a superyacht into a spaceship.

words RACHEL INGRAM photography JACK HARDY STUART PEARCE

yachtstyle

residential properties, on yachts it’s designers. But this is changing. In contemporary yacht design, it’s not uncommon to see artworks taking center stage, transforming best known for his large-scale bronze sculptures, is a favorite of modern owners. His works have long made statements on land from Italy to China, and they’re increasingly making waves at sea, too.

merit that art can bring to superyacht design. “A yacht is the ultimate toy. People work for them for their whole lives, so you want to make the design as good as you can, with as much emotion as you can, and that’s where art comes in,” he says. “Good interior design is important, but when you start layering with art, you get an extra depth. Art is an extension of your soul and an expression of your individualism, so you can see who the owner is through their collection.”

sold one of his works a sculpture of an astronaut titled The Thinker to Dave Hagewood, the owner of 56-meter superyacht Galaxy

“I created the sculpture based on Auguste Rodin’s famous work Le Penseur . Rodin’s sculpture was a symbol of philosophy, and I wanted to create a contemporary

used the astronaut as a metaphor for innovation and technology, which are at the forefront of human existence. If you actually think about an astronaut as a human being in outer space looking for new planets,

insane. It’s totally wild.”

The artwork was selected by the owner’s design team at Njord by Bergman Design House, who carried out an otherworldly refurbishment of the yacht in early is the owners came to Amsterdam and visited my studio during the production of the piece,” he says.

sculptures have found homes on superyachts. “We had a request for one of the biggest yachts in the world, Eclipse,” he says, of those he’s permitted to name, “and we delivered two pieces to a big shipyard in the Netherlands for a yacht that was over 70 meters. One was the Buddha astronaut (White Thinker).”

Such works are relatively small in comparison to the giant

“Dave told me that his father once worked for NASA and he was naming his yacht Galaxy. It was a serendipitous situation where everything fell into place.”

PICTURED: Joseph Klibansky (right); Main deck saloon of Galaxy (far right).

“ ART IS AN EXTENSION OF YOUR SOUL AND EXPRESSION OF YOUR INDIVIDUALISM, SO YOU CAN SEE WHO THE OWNER IS THROUGH THEIR COLLECTION. ” — Joseph Klibansky

PICTURED: Big Bang (top); 56-meter superyacht Galaxy (bottom).

KLIBANSKY IS DEEPLY PASSIONATE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IS ON A MISSION TO CREATE A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL ART WORLDS.

of the most recent, Birthday Suit, a bronze monkey donning a party hat, caused a stir when it was placed

passion for making public art because there I can use the

“I’m currently working on the largest sculpture I’ve ever made it’s double the size of the largest piece

projects include the design of the winners’ podium for the Dutch Grand Prix and an album cover for Latin

also created a “crazy” costume chain which was consequently worn by Maluma during his world tour.

for a multipart documentary that will air on a major streaming service. “I want to show the inner workings of fabrication so that people have an understanding of how much work it is to make a large piece.”

Elsewhere around the world, the globally renowned artist is preparing for a solo exhibit, which is set to launch at a museum in Baku, Azerbaijan in early 2023. He’s also installing a number of new works including a seven-meter sculpture for a “super cool” new restaurant and members’ club in Marbella, Spain.

and is on a mission to create a bridge between the physical and digital art worlds. He’s already created an NFT drop in collaboration with LobsterDAO and is now in the process of creating his own NFT platform. “We like technology, and we like to be on the forefront of you’ll get a super cool box with a screen in it, which you can hang up and have your NFT rotating on the screen.”

physical and digital art will coexist. “How cool would it be to have your astronaut on your yacht and next to

digital art,” he says. “It’s super cool, especially for an owner like Dave, who came from the gaming industry. There’s a bit of nostalgia there.”

yachtstyle

PICTURED: The boats at the Miami Grand Prix were some of the best "seats" at the track.

COMES TO MIAMI

words BILL SPRINGER

photography

charge from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to win in

Prix earlier this year.

But I’m just going to come out and say it. All of the members of the capacity crowd that filled F1’s newest track complex all weekend long, and the millions of new American fans that have fallen in love with F1 after binge-

watching Netflix’s smash hit Drive to Survive , were probably the biggest winners.

Any concerns about track design, construction, and overall event management were put to rest when fans started to stream into the large venue built around the Hard Rock stadium. The top three drivers were full of praise for the track and organization, too: “It’s not easy to put on an event like this, and they did an amazing job,” said race winner Verstappen.

Current F1 World Champion Max Verstappen

“

IT’S NOT EASY TO PUT ON AN EVENT LIKE THIS, AND THEY DID AN AMAZING JOB. ”

— Max Verstappen

yachtstyle

PICTURED: Miami proved to be the perfect venue for F1.

PICTURED: Watching the race from the yachts that were positioned mere feet from the track on turns 6, 7, and 8 was better than any place else.

But since I’ve seen how the gravitational pull of F1 brings celebrities and royalty together with superyacht owners and automotive speed freaks in Monaco and other destinations, I’m not surprised. In fact, Miami proved to be the perfect American city to host this new Formula 1 Grand Prix because of the unique way the city celebrates beach life, nightlife, innovative American entrepreneurship, and its diverse international community.

And while the racers praised the track, the dry-dock marina at the Miami International Autodrome (pictured on the lead spread) that was experience to the race got lots of attention, too.

Located on the inside of turns 6, 7, and 8, the MSC Cruises Yacht Club at the MIA Marina featured 10 yachts that were transported to the track on trailers to provide a killer trackside experience as well as to be a comfortable and spacious area to watch the race for a highly select group of guests.

The yachts, measuring from 67 to 44 feet long, really looked like they were oating in “water” that was made from a special vinyl oor. Since the marina was designed to be able to accommodate only 185 guests per day, a ticket from Denison Yachting to watch the race aboard any of the yachts that were there was one of the hottest tickets of the weekend.

PICTURED: (clockwise from left) Michael Jordan, Duane Wade, Lebron James, Serena Williams, and even Paris Hilton were only a few of the A-list celebs at the inagural Miami Grand Prix.

WHEN IT COMES TO SERIOUS CELEBRITY STAR POWER, NOTHING TOPPED THE PADDOCK AND GRID AREA SHORTLY BEFORE THE RACE STARTED.

And Denison Yachting will have an even bigger presence there next year.

And plenty of superyachts were in Miami for the race, too. One party I attended was organized by My Yacht Group aboard Dr. Jonathan Rothberg’s 185-foot-long Damen Support Vessel Gene Chaser.

When it comes to serious celebrity star power, nothing topped the paddock and grid area shortly before the race started on Sunday afternoon.

Superstars that were milling around the cars and drivers on the grid before the race included Michael Jordan, Venus and Serena Williams, LeBron James, David Beckham, Michael Douglas, Pharrell, Michael Bay, and even Paris Hilton, along with numerous Miami Dolphins players and head coach Mike McDaniel.

inaugural Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix for myself earlier this year. And I know next year is going to be even better. See you there?

yachtstyle

Glamour &

GOOD VIBES IN MONACO

PICTURED: Monaco Yacht Show

Denison Yachting brings its special brand of success to the spiritual home of the superyacht industry

words BILL SPRINGER

photography COURTESY MONACO YACHT SHOW AND DENISON YACHTING

yachtstyle

that he’s incredibly proud of Denison Yachting's American roots and for the special way his team

coworkers. But he’s also quick to say that he’s always dreamed of expanding into the European

the timing was right.

Well, it seems the timing was right during last year’s Monaco Yacht Show. Back then, the world was slowly emerging from COVID-19 lockdowns. Exhibitors and attendees had to wear masks and provide proof of vaccination to get in. And for the just “visit” the show with clients. They “exhibited” a yacht at the show and held meetings in their large and well-located stand, too.

Since then, business has been strong in the US and Denison’s Europe Director Jeremy Roche has done more than just a establish a foothold in is growing and making all sorts of deals. So I sat down with Bob and Jeremy at the Monaco Yacht Show to hear how the European expansion is going and what’s in store for the future.

BS: So, Bob, here we are at the Denison stand in the 2022 Monaco Yacht Show. How’s it feel?

BD: I love it. I love Monaco. My wife, Dani, just got back from a tender ride out to see the big boats at anchor and she came back and said, “That was the most fun I’ve ever had on a boat.”

And the reason for that is way more than just the blue water and the wind in her hair that the South of France is known for. It was also because she was onboard with people she loved going fast and then looking behind her and seeing the principality in the background and everything that the principality represents. It’s just hard to look back at Monaco from the sea and not be inspired by it.

BS: here, right?

BD: The last three years we’ve been the number one broker in terms of number of transactions for yachts 24 meters and above, but the vast majority of those sales occurred in the US. As a US-based company, of course we were proud of that, but to really be in the big boat game you need to be in Monaco.

But the really cool thing is that every time we’ve expanded it was because we had the right people in the right place. And when Jeremy said he was open to relocating to Monaco, it made our decision so unbelievably easy.

To be honest with you, if Jeremy decided he would’ve done it because we believe in and love Jeremy. We would’ve gotten here at some other time, but since Jeremy had the vision for growing our superyacht division, and he was kind and going. It’s a really big deal.

PICT URED: (Right to left) Denison Yachting Superyachts Director Ben Farnborough, Europe Director Jeremy Roche, and company founder Bob Denison.

That’s one of the many things that make being here feel so good. I’ve met his kids, who are fantastic and awesome. But the industry is full of stories of men and women that relocate somewhere at a radical inconvenience for themselves and for that we’re incredibly grateful.

BS: How’s it been for you, Jeremy?

JR: We’re just getting started. We’ve got eight people here now. I’ve got another starting later this month and a new charter person starting in January. That’ll take us up to 10. I’m hoping to be at at least 12 before the end of the year. And bringing the Denison sales process over here has already proven its value.

was with a Sunseeker 115 in May. For me, it was a dream moment. It was basically an in-house deal with a French broker that we just signed up. We knew of a boat that was listed for sale. The guy didn’t want to list it on the open market. So, we posted it on Denison Update and broadcasted it directly to our 120 brokers in the U.S.

Soon enough, one of our brokers on the West Coast of the US says, “I think I’ve got a client.” He came over two weeks later and bought the boat

the existing crew were moving to a new boat for the boat owner. Then we signed him up for charter and yacht management too. Win. Win. Win.

We also see that happening the other way, too. We’d love to see our brokers in Monaco take advantage of our market intelligence, relationships, and our inventory in the US for the European buyers to bring boats back over here.

But that only works, though, if our brokers get together in real life at a place like Monaco Yacht Show from America and Europe, eat together, hang out together, build those relationships so that there’s a real trust there. It’s all happening.

BS: So, Bob, what’s it like being an American company coming over to the spiritual home of the superyacht industry?

BD: Over the last 50 years or so it’s been very common for the Europeans, the British

They cross the Atlantic with their very great accents, their handsome blue blazers with the gold buttons, and take market share away from us.

So, as an American, to be able to march over

it’s a really, really good feeling. As much as I love Monaco and appreciate everything about it, I’m also incredibly proud of being an American and bringing some of our philosophy over here.

And the cool thing is we’ll have a place for European brokers to go at our hometown show, FLIBS. We want them to feel at home and that they are supported in Fort Lauderdale.

It’s great to be able to provide a platform and provide friendships that will make somebody from far away feel like they’re a little bit more at home.

BS: Last question. What’s next?

BD: One word...LONDON. Mic drop.

PICTURED : Denison Yachting makes its home in Monaco.

yachtstyle

IN VENICE The Stars Come Out

PICTURED: Venice was the perfect backdrop to celebrate Riva's 180th anniversary.

words BILL SPRINGER

photograph y COURTESY FERRETTI GROUP

yachtstyle

PICTURED: David Beckham and other stars were present when the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice was transformed into the most elegant gala venue on earth to celebrate the 180th anniversary of the Riva brand.

Few parties combine the style, mystique, and power of movie stars, F1 drivers, and global sports icons quite like the Riva Gala in Venice.

Over the years, countless movie stars and royalty always wearing impeccably cool sunglasses have been photographed having fun aboard these quintessentially-Italian varnishedwood powerboats. In fact, you could say a classic

But the Riva mystique is bigger than just one famous model. So, when the time came to celebrate Riva’s 180th anniversary, I had a feeling the party was going to be bigger too.

It wasn’t just another party. The black-tie gala held at the stunning Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice made sure the brand’s special type of

elegance and excitement were celebrated in style. The excitement actually began before the event even started with the unveiling of the new Riva “Anniversario” at the Riva Lounge at the Gritti Palace. The limited-edition yacht was created to mark this iconic anniversary and also to pay tribute to the Riva Aquarama on its 60th birthday.

The gala also had the buzz of a movie premiere. Gala guests were the first to see Riva The Persuaders! movie star Pierfrancesco Favino, English soccer star David Beckham, and Ferrari Formula 1 star driver Charles Leclerc.

yachtstyle

words MARILYN MOWER art ideas CIRCU DRAGONS OF WALTON STREET DOLFI SAVIO FIRMINO

KIDFRIENDLY YACHT DESIGN Comes of Age

Most yachts are designed for adults. But a new wave of practical, fun, and kid-centric designers and furniture manufacturers are working to change that for the better.

Thanks to Covid and changing demographics, more and more families with kids have realized just how great owning or chartering a large yacht can be. But go to any boat

magazines and you’ll quickly see that most large yachts seem to be for adults only. The clues? Wall-to-

white sofas. Leather wall coverings and tables with sharp corners. Or a toddler could literally fall through with handrails that no preschooler’s hand could hope to grasp.

News ash: Children are not short adults! They move quickly without thought of consequences, tend to be clumsy, and are very tactile. Until they reach a certain age, they have the attention span of gnats; yesterday’s “Mommy told you, please don’t touch that” is gone on the rst breeze.

Humans have been strangely between children and adults in many areas. Until men began wearing bifurcated robes in the 1400s to make it easier to ride horses, everyone wore some sort of gown or robe as outerwear. Yet children continued to be dressed in long smocks for centuries, and boys stays to help develop a straight spine. French writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau gets much credit for children’s clothing during the latter part of the 18th century. He asserted that children’s physical and social adults. Therefore, Rousseau argued, they should be allowed to wear plain, comfortable clothing for freedom of suits” for boys consisted of matching pants and a short, long-sleeved

collar. It wasn’t until the 1860s that knickerbockers, or knickers, and a loose shirt became the fashion for boys. Little girls were still stuck in tiny versions of their mother’s clothes. One-piece rompers for toddlers did not appear until the 1890s

to be an essential part of a baby’s development. It took until the 1920s for ready-to-wear children’s “play clothes” to become commonplace. And, of course, with mass production came things like youth beds as the tables and chairs.

Why, then, was the last child’s room on a yacht I visited and mattress levels more than 30 inches high? I searched in vain for a pull-out step or hardware to attach temporary side rails. Forget trying to reach the Crestron control

PICTURED: Kids speci c designs often feature bright colors and clouds.

yachtstyle

PICTURED: Halloween Castle by Circu (below); Dolly playhouse bed by Circu (right).

panel in the adjoining bath. Yes, a dedicated nursery or child’s room might diminish options for a yacht that will charter. Still, multifunctionality, which seems to be the design buzzword these days, means that all functions genuinely need to be accommodated. A room that functions as a twin for adult guests will need some thoughtful details to make the space functional for a small child and that might also work to charter advantage.

Anthropometrics is the science dealing with the proportions of the human body. And just as there are building code standards for everything from the width of a door to the height of a toilet seat, there

is no need to guess about childfriendly dimensions. Libraries know that tables in the children’s reading room should be 27 inches and the seat height of the chairs, 16 inches. Can a child appreciate that massive mahogany handrail sweeping down a yacht’s grand staircase? No, that’s why elementary school railings are no more than 1¼-inch diameter

her accessory maven mother, furniture, lighting, and carpets at the 2022 show, European furniture manufacturers have missed the wave. “There were three pieces of children’s furniture at the show, and I bought all of them,” she said. “A lot of what we use has to be custom made.”

The largest annual furniture and décor show in Europe is the Salone del Mobile in Milan, but according to Manola Ballerio, an interior designer who manages

One thing that surprises done a lot of nurseries and playrooms in houses and apartments since its launch in November 2020, it has yet to design from scratch a children’s playroom on a yacht. Yet she has strong ideas about what design excites little people.

“Ever since Covid, the interior trend in homes and yachts has been tones of white on white on white, or beige with a contrasting wood. When we ask clients about the color scheme they envision for their child’s room, they say neutral beige or white. I say, ‘Please. Your child has the rest of his life to have a beige bedroom; now is the time for fun.’”

HGTV’s Drew Scott says children feel at home with colorful designs, especially urging parents to double down on bright colors, bold patterns, and a few whimsical pieces that can change as the child grows. Suppose you are dealing with redesigning an existing space. In that case, the starting point should be

floors provide a multisensory experience, Ballerio bring color and introduce texture. “Today, you seem to have to choose between the silk carpets for guest and owner cabins that are 800 to 1000 euros per meter and company Pinton on a line of area rugs made of Tencel for children’s rooms that will be out in 2023. They clean in a washing machine,” she says.

When asked if there are any trends in playrooms or nurseries, she said, “We don’t work on trends but themes. that. We did a basketball theme for a child’s bedroom in London. The headboard was stamped leather with a texture like a basketball. We created a team logo for him

top TIPS

and embroidered it on linens and lampshades. We have done rooms for kids who are crazy about cars, planes, and helicopters. Not surprisingly, the princess theme is a big request,” Ballerio says. “Parents tell us a lot, but to make sure we understand, we do Zoom interviews with the kids,” she said.

Wallpaper is a quick way to establish a theme and one that can change as a child’s interests change. Select a pattern on a wallpaper section for an accessory article, hand-paint it on storage bins or desks, or embroider it on window coverings, bed and bath linens, and lamp shades to tie the look together.

NO SHARP CORNERS. That should go for all furniture on a yacht, but especially in children’s areas.

PROPORTIONS ARE VERY IMPORTANT. Don’t make things too high.

ORGANIZE EVERYTHING. Books on one side, toys on the other.

INFUSE THE ROOM WITH THEIR PERSONALITIES and make it unique by embroidering their names on things.

PAINT SOMETHING IMAGINATIVE on the ceiling, or wallpaper it.

“We like the cloud lamps from Circu. Balloons and shapes to a room,” Ballerio says.

Parents considering a new build might rethink the yacht’s standard layout to connect a nanny’s cabin to the child’s bedroom, perhaps through a connecting bath. A dedicated playroom can become a classroom as children age and easily become a library, a media room, or even an additional guest stateroom for a subsequent owner. Suppose a teacher will be accompanying the family on voyages or for seasons at a time. Will it be appropriate for the teacher to live in the guest or crew space? And, if a crew member serves as a nanny or even an occasional babysitter, does your lifestyle accommodate crew in owner/guest spaces?

Scott also notes that if a child’s play or study area is part of a larger family space, it is key to let them bring some of their personality to the space to make it feel comfortable.

Finally, no matter how sleek the rest of the yacht is, remember that children are not minimalists. Storage is vital, especially on a boat: things need a place to go. “Think of a child’s room in terms of use areas. There needs to be space for sleeping, study, and storage, and the space in the middle should be reserved for play,” Ballerio says. “Don’t overcrowd the space.”

CHILDREN PERCEIVE DARK COLORS as drab and boring. Lighten up!

DESKS OR TABLES FOR SCHOOLWORK should be light colored because the contrast between a dark surface and white paper tires the eyes.

TRY TO PUT SOMETHING EDUCATIONAL in the space.

CHILDREN LIKE TO LOOK OUT; consider making a window seat or perhaps a raised reading nook next to a porthole.

FABRIC PANELS should be above wainscoting or chair-rail height and be in sections so only one area needs replacing if damaged.

USE MATERIALS that can be treated with a stain protectant.

For more information and inspiration check out sabrinamontecarlo.com/en/ news/dreambedrooms-for-kids.

PICTURED: Sky plane bed by Circu (left).

yachtstyle

ELEGANCE Electric

words BILL SPRINGER

photography COURTESY OF ROLLS - ROYCE

Every Rolls-Royce is designed to perform at the highest levels in diverse climates. And

Before its anticipated launch in 2023, Spectre is being subjected to the most demanding testing program ever conceived by the iconic car builder.

Rolls-Royce enters the electric car market in style.

The plan is for Spectre to travel millions of miles all over the globe. So, of course, the car

was tested on the French Riviera, a location that reflects Spectre’s everyday use. But it’s also been subjected to intense high-speed testing at the historic Autodrome de Miramas in France. And it’s traveled to the high Arctic to conduct what may be the coolest (aka the coldest) testing venue Rolls-Royce engineers could find. The car’s Arctic test program may also be the most important since electric car performance and range is much more sensitive to cold temperatures than traditional internal combustion engines can be.

Stay tuned for the big reveal.

PICTURED: Electric Rolls-Royce Spectre was tested in the heat of southern France and the extreme cold in the high Arctic.

ARCTIC AWE

Nansen Polar Expeditions co-founder Audun

Lie Dahl shares the raw power and beauty of the High Arctic with his award-winning photos taken aboard his company’s worldclass expedition ships.

Audun Lie Dahl has been caught in the gravitational pull of high latitude exploration since his eight years old. And his passion for experiencing and sharing the unique adventure, wildlife, beauty, wildness, and stillness of the high latitudes with others has only increased as the Nansen Polar

“When you have passion for something,” he says, “you put more into it. And I love taking

like-minded people to these remote areas, and I love being there and taking pictures myself. I’m lucky in that I get to combine work and passion in a very meaningful way.” His photos speak for themselves. And since I’m pretty sure you’ll want to join Audun and his team on one of Nansen Polar Expeditions trips aboard M/V Villa to the Arctic next summer, here’s the website so these amazing sights for yourself. wefollowheroes.com. [ BS ]

01

Swimming polar bear

polar bear got curious. It ran into the water and started swimming toward us. There was heavy swell, and in between the waves the bear appeared every now and then. Photo taken with a 400mm lens.

feature

Kittiwake on glacier ice

Photo taken with a 100-400mm lens.

Curious polar bear on the sea ice north of Svalbard.

04Meltwater River, Bråsvellbreen

This shot won the Nature’s Best photo competition in 2018.

05Fjord and ice

Svalbard. Taken from the vessel while cruising.

Polar bear, backlit

inhospitable places I have ever visited. This is the land of the polar bears, and they were roaming around on top of a glacier when the sun was setting behind them. Photo taken with a 400mm tele lens.

07Kittiwakes

feeding in front of a glacier. The rich meltwater coming from below the glacier provides food for the whole Arctic food chain.

←

08Villa c of Svalbard in May. Photo taken with a 100-400mm lens.

→

Kittiwake

cleaning its feathers in front of a blue glacier on the west coast of Svalbard.

Zodiac cruise

One of the highlights with our guests is to drop the Zodiacs in the water and take them closer to nature and wildlife. This photo is from one of the

Photo taken with a 40mm lens.

12Mum and cub

frame Villa in the distance. Photo taken with a 100400mm lens. ←

13Mum and cub

We watched them with binoculars for hours from a long distance before we decided to launch Zodiacs and take a night we had been out for hours watching the bears from afar, the mother turned and came walking on the though we weren’t there at all. Photo taken with a 100-400mm lens.

Glacier front and Villa anchored up on the Lilliehookglacier.

Ready to set

words BILL SPRINGER

photography TILLBERG DESIGN OF SWEDEN

PICTURED : Clean lines (inside and out) de ne the design.

One of the perks of writing about superyachts for a living is that I get to speak with many of the world’s most accomplished superyacht designers and builders on a pretty regular

details that most designers and builders revel in. But my recent conversation with Daniel Nerhagen (partner and yacht director of the of Sweden) was utterly inspiring. In just one word he explained the 77-meter-long Project Lycka that his team at Tillberg Design of Sweden have partnered with Denison Yachting and the German superyacht shipyard Nobiskrug to design and build.

“She.”

discussions, Lycka was always going to be a ‘she,’” Daniel says with a pleasantly disarming warmth in his eyes. Of course, he and his team have designed Lycka to be sporty, contemporary, and comfortable. But they were also extremely clear that they wanted the design to be slightly more feminine than most of the more aggressively masculine large yachts, explorers, and the numerous go-fast boats that are being built today.

And as you can see, that design philosophy translates into a compelling ways.

“So that’s how we got to the

exterior expression,” he continues. And being from Sweden they also embraced the concept of “less is more” that’s often attributed to the best of Scandinavian design. “Scandinavian design for us involves clean lines, high-quality attention to detail. We don’t use a lot of materials and textures and colors and patterns. We are extremely intentional about the colors, textures, and materials we use and the ones we do use, are striking.”

“Our design language on Lycka is simple but not necessarily easy.” And that’s what makes this project so special.

“A lot of clients I’ve spoken to recently are much more practical

LYCKA BRINGS MANY UNIQUE ELEMENTS TO THIS DESIGN THAT APPEAL

CUSTOMERS

than I expected,” Daniel continues. “For them, a yacht is more like a summer house. They want to use it. They don’t want a showpiece yacht that they can’t bring their kids on without worrying about the white carpets and priceless art.

“This doesn’t mean that they don’t want high end interior. But they don’t want the bling either,” he adds. And that’s what Lycka is all about. Combining high the relaxation and enjoyment of a new breed of yacht

Tillberg Design of Sweden melds form and function in elegant ways.

Meanwhile, Denison yacht broker Tony Smith, who was mostly responsible for pulling the dream team of Tillerberg Design of Sweden and Nobiskrug together for this project said at a press conference during the Monaco Yacht Show recently, “Lycka brings many unique

elements to this design that appeal to today’s customers who are looking for yachts that are more sustainable all the features a dedicated beach club and spa, gym, sundeck that superyacht owners expect.”

And when it comes to superyacht builders, it’s range of iconic superyachts than Nobiskrug. The yard may have been founded in 1905, but there is nothing “old fashioned” about superyachts including Sailing Yacht A and Artefact that Nobiskrug has built in the recent past. In fact, Artefact that was launched in 2020

Tier III emissions regulations with a hybrid electric propulsion system.

Check out www.denisonyachtsales.com/77mnobiskrug-lycka for more information.

“

TO TODAY’S

WHO ARE LOOKING FOR YACHTS THAT ARE MORE SUSTAINABLE AND OPTIMIZED FOR EFFICIENCY. ”

PICTU RED: Lycka's beach club (top), and Daniel Nerhagen at home in Sweden (bottom).

Carl Allen recovers priceless artifacts from the bottom of the ocean in The Bahamas

words BILL SPRINGER

photography BRENDAN CHAVEZ NATHANIEL HARRINGTON

The 183-foot-long Damen Yacht Support vessel AXIS and his 164-foot-long Westport Gigi are just some of the “tools” American businessman and philanthropist Carl Allen uses to recover and preserve historic artifacts from the waters around the northern Bahamas.

It’s no secret that Carl Allen and his wife, Gigi, AXIS, his hard-working Yacht Support ship; the Gigi, their comfortable Westport 164; the Frigate, his brand-new

he and his family purchased the neglected, but once legendary, fishing destination Walker’s Cay in the northern Bahamas in 2018.

Meanwhile, any of the 40 or so teams that were lucky enough to compete in Allen’s second annual Walker’s Cay Blue Marlin Invitational earlier this year already know just how state-of-the-art the new marina that’s been open on the island since 2021 is. And now that the rebuilt marina can accommodate superyachts up to 200 feet long, it’s common knowledge that Allen

What many people haven’t known until recently, however, is that in addition to all the work, investment, and philanthropy Allen and his family have dedicated to rebuilding Walker’s Cay, and helping surrounding islands in the Abacos, he’s also been searching for artifacts from the Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas, a legendary Spanish ship that sank in a storm in the area in 1656.

featurePICTURED : Carl Allen (with his arms raised) and his sizable eet.

In fact, he’s done more than just “search.” He and his AllenX team have found numerous artifacts from the Maravillas including gold and silver coins, jewelry, loose gemstones, weapons, pottery, etc., that will be displayed in the museum he’s recently opened in Freeport.

underwater my whole life,” he says on the deck of the AXIS

“Lots of ships sank in the area back then because the water gets shallow quickly, navigation was not very precise, and there was no such thing as weather forecasts, so powerful storms could drive ships onto

with gold, silver, and jewels that were being brought

As you might guess of a passionate underwater explorer, Allen is a wonderful combination of realist,

talks about how hard, frustrating, and expensive it can be to recover artifacts (using AXIS and other boats) that have been strewn across countless miles of open ocean. “It’s like searching for a needle...in a desert... underwater,” he says.

But he’s a romantic when he talks about the myth of the Maravillas that’s occupied his imagination since starts talking about what life onboard the ship must

PICTURED: Allen and his team work to rebuild Walker’s Cay (below), dive ops on the site where the ship sank over 350 years ago (right).

have been like in 1656. In fact, he can talk for hours from memory about all the historical documents that the archaeologists he works with have found (and translated from 17th-century Spanish) that paint a detailed picture of how the ship was built, who the crew and passengers were, as well as list the large number of priceless artifacts it was carrying when it sank.

It’s clear that Allen’s fascination goes way recovery work is helping a team of archaeologists

otherwise would eventually disappear forever. In fact, just acquiring the permit AllenX needed to work in Bahamian waters shows how committed he is. It was

Bahamian government and other agencies and calls for

people of the Bahamas and the artifacts to be displayed in the museum he’s just opened in Freeport.

And since myth of the Maravillas also refers to a life-size, solid-gold statue of the Madonna complete with a crown made of jewels that legend says was onboard

“ IT’S LIKE SEARCHING FOR A NEEDLE . . . IN A DESERT . . . UNDERWATER. ” — Carl Allen

when the ship sank Allen and his team might end up recovering and preserving artifacts from one shipwrecks in the world.

dream to be doing what I’m doing now,” he adds. “But Gigi and I started with our love of the the hurricanes hit and during the pandemic, too. Finding and preserving these artifacts is way bigger than just Gigi and me,” he says. “We’ve been building our operation for years. We’ve got the right people that are doing it the right way. And we’re doing some of the best archaeological data recording that’s ever been done.”

other artifacts almost immediately good and we had lots of time on the

site,” he says. “But it really wasn’t until the second year, when the weather was horrible, that I realized we were getting better. We found twice as many artifacts in half the time. That’s exciting.”

truly priceless items that will be displayed in the museum. “Last

including a brooch that features a flawless 20-carat emerald embedded in gold and surrounded by twelve 2-carat emeralds around

“So what’s it feel like to be the like that brooch on the wreck site?” I ask.

“You know, Bill,” he says. “I’ve been a diver my whole life. And I’ve found a half-dozen coins, a couple emeralds, pottery, and things like

Or at least I haven’t yet. Gigi loves to dive and has found some things, too. The beauty is AllenX is always

“But I can tell you what it was like when two members of the team found that emerald brooch and a massive, solid gold chain on the same day,” he says.

“We only had two guys in the water that day. Andy who works on AXIS as one of the mates had just dropped down into the water when he saw something shimmer out of the corner of his eye. It was a little piece of gold sticking out of the sand that ended up being that amazing emerald brooch when he pulled it out. He told me both he and his shock when he found it.

brooch up to the surface, they went back down on the same spot. That’s when they saw a four-pound solidgold chain that was just sparkling in the sun on the bottom. Can you imagine these two guys out there those amazing artifacts so close together?” he says with a smile. “It really pumped everybody up in the whole organization.”

What do you think it would be the mythical “Golden Madonna”?

PICTURED: Gold artifact (left). AllenX divers (top left); AXIS (far bottom left); divers fresh from water show o the gem stones they just found (far bottom right).

Bahamas Maritime Museum opens in Freeport

All of the most stunning artifacts Allen and his team have found are now on display in the museum, including a gold pendant with the cross of Santiago, a second gold pendant that features a cross of St. James, and the massive gold chain.

“I literally couldn’t breathe for 30 seconds when we brought up the oval emerald and gold chain,” says Allen. “I feel a greater connection with the everyday worlds. The pendant mesmerizes me when I hold it and think about its history.”

Since Allen’s team includes experienced marine archaeologists like James Sinclair, they’re learning more about the history every day. And since his team has also plotted over 8,800 magnetometer targets across three search areas measuring around 55 square miles each, they’ve only scratched the surface of what

position of every artifact is tagged and mapped when it’s brought up, so they’re recovering and preserving priceless history as well.

And unlike former recovery projects that were purely commercial, Allen Exploration has a strict permit from the government of The Bahamas and is committed to keeping its entire collection together

for public display. Nothing is being sold. In fact, quite the opposite. Allen has also purchased a collection owned by a former investor and a rare bronze Spanish

be on display as well.

“For a nation built from the ocean, it’s astonishing how little is understood about The Bahamas’ maritime links,” says Dr. Michael Pateman, director of The Bahamas Maritime Museum. “Few know that the indigenous Lucayan peoples, for instance, settled in The Bahamas 1,300 years ago. Or that the whole population, up to 60,000 people, was forced out by Spanish guns, made to

three decades. There was a dazzling Old World in The Bahamas long before European ships thought they found a New World. The Lucayans, slave trade, pirates, and the Maravillas are core stories we’re sharing in the museum.”

Be sure to check out bahamasmaritimemuseum. com, walkerscay.com, and allenexploration.com for more information.

feature

PICTURED: Model of the Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas on display at the Bahamas Maritime Museum (left); High-status personal belongings— gold jewelry, chain, pendants—and coins from the Maravillas

feature

words J. MICHAEL WELTON photography ROBIN HILL

ARCHITECT INSIGHTS:

Studio Khora designs a modern waterfront masterpiece

A contemporary home turns architecture into art on the Intracoastal Waterway in Boca Raton

Named for the Intracoastal shiningnew design direction a studied to creating contemporary artistic experiences.

luxury homes in South Florida for 35 years now. It started out as Rex Nichols Architects, but recently transitioned to the new name. It’s to elevate its core business to an art movement.

“It’s a rebranding of what we want to do,” says Alex Penna, things that pushes us is how to

enhance architecture and make it unique.”

the architecture of the I House is neither modern nor tropical modern: it’s a sculptural interpretation of contemporary design. Like Mies Van der Rohe and others before

matter of form’s following function.

“In modernism, there’s no ornament and no sculpture and a very simple shape and its materials are glass and steel,” he says. “Tropical modernism adds wood but they both use a design recipe.”

Instead, Penna’s definition of contemporary architecture is

a matter of form’s following art. For him, that means exploring the sculptural opportunities that present themselves and punctuating them with the “Wow!” factor. “There’s no recipe, and you’re free to do anything,” he says.

At the I House, the assignment to create a part-time home to live in just a few months out of the year. And it was an ambitious undertaking from the get-go. The architects’ task was to design something exquisite, something that had never been built in Palm Beach County an iconic house that sets new standards for luxury.

PICTURED: Kitchen (top left), primary bedroom (bottom left), and guest bathroom (bottom right) of the I House.

It was created at a time when the Boca coastal lifestyle is in huge demand, with people paying a premium to live on the Intracoastal and take in views of luxury yachts and the people aboard them. The I House delivers all that in spades. “You actually feel like you’re in a boat, like you’re sitting on top of the water,” says Rex

Before construction began, Nichols and Penna developed a 3-D virtual reality program so that the clients could explore the scale and proportion of the residence with unexpected results. “When the wife put on the oculars, she thought she was going to fall into the Intracoastal, it was so real,” Nichols says. “That was the last time we used the oculars.”

They built the home on a tight lot that’s 145 feet deep, with 125 feet fronting the Intracoastal. “Most are 100 feet on the waterway,” he says. “We lucked out on this site.”

He and Penna worked overtime to maximize the panoramic vistas. “We wanted to capture every single view,” Penna says. “There’s a crystal-clear view of what’s outside from the inside, like a camera trying to capture everything.”

The I House is a two-story residence, was built using post-tension concrete, which mean thinner slabs that reduce consumption of materials. During the construction process, the concrete is compressed, employing steel tendons to increase its tensile strength.

As a result, structural beams and columns can be rage today.

A taupe stone accent wall starts on the exterior of the building’s entrance, slides into the living area, an utterly eye-catching device. “We like people to look at the architecture and think about it,” Penna says. “As soon as you walk in this house, you see the future It’s like going to an art gallery and seeing an exhibition.”

Walk in the front door from the street side, and the “Wow!” factor immediately kicks in at the double-height ceiling in the great room with an invitation to move through it to outdoor spaces. Still, the kitchen is cozy with a lower ceiling and a more intimate feel.

The material palette throughout the home strives

European white oak; counters are slabs of marble and granite with porcelain accents. Windows and doors hail from La Finestra, fabricated in Doral, Florida, with Italian extrusions.

Large lighting pendants suspended in the living area were selected by the home’s interior designer. But the real magic occurs behind the scenes, as envisioned by Stephen Gerhart of DayOne Lighting in West Palm Beach. A former interior designer, he now oversees a

“

YOU ACTUALLY FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IN A BOAT, LIKE YOU’RE SITTING ON TOP OF THE WATER. ” — Rex Nichols

featurePICTURED: Living area of the I House (right); the I House at twilight (far right).

and install them. “I start with plans from the interior designer and architect and work with them and the owners and the budget,” Gerhart says, “and I do the procurement process, which most designers don’t do.”

Penna and Nichols gave him their brief and their objective, and told him: “You’re connecting with the future,” Penna says. “He took our lead and delivered.”

Gerhart set out to make the lighting as unobtrusive as possible. Instead of punching holes into ceilings, he used a series of track systems for the kitchen, hallway, and master suite. “The architects’ program was a minimalistic design they wanted the architecture to but keep them as concealed as possible,” he says. “We used a lot of linear and micro products, and everything was trimless.”

His LED lighting design, engineering, and installation may be hidden, but the results glow spectacularly at night especially looking from the outside in. “Because of all the glass, the cantilevers and lines lent themselves to the linear aspects of the work,”

linear product and I don’t know that anyone has ever done anything like this.”

Surrounded by traditional, Spanish Mediterraneanstyle homes, the I House is far from subtle, standing out among the neighbors in a striking, dramatic way. “We love the contrast of old and new, traditional and contemporary, and the futuristic surrounded by the classical,” Penna says.

Nichols is more succinct. “It’s a shock,” he says. But it’s a good kind of shock especially with its 105-foot-long dock, easily capable of mooring a 100-foot yacht out front.

Some might be concerned that a vessel that size would block the views, but Nichols disagrees.

“It probably would enhance the views,” the veteran architect quips. “It would be a big improvement over the dark brown water of the Intracoastal.”

In essence, a yacht tied up to the I House’s dock would be equivalent to a crown jewel gracing a work of art.

words JUSTIN CHISHOLM photography KEVIN RIO STUDIO BORLENGHI LORIS VON SIEBENTHAL

feature

“ ying” over the water at over 50 MPH.

The advent of new high-tech materials and fresh thinking about the fundamentals of how racing sailboats of all sizes are designed and built has morphed the sailing into a brand-new fast and furious, high-adrenaline, high stakes, and highly professional sport.

The boats in this brave new world still harness only the power of the wind, but now instead of riding

tuned hydrofoil wings.

This foiling revolution, as it is known, has been made possible by the advent of new, high-tech, super-light, and ultra-strong materials, along with construction techniques.

The impact has been felt across the sailing world and spawned a new generation of foiling sailors with the innate skill and technique required to get the best out of

From tiny featherlight dinghies to midrange one design monohull sports boats and catamarans and on to gigantic oceangoing craft capable of circumnavigating the planet, no area of high-performance sailboat racing has been left untouched.

The last decade has seen highperformance sailboat racing transformed almost beyond recognition by a global technology and design revolution.

PICTURED: The SailGP worldwide racing league features these crazy-fast hydrofoiling catamarans capable of

PICTURED: The next America’s Cup boats are even faster than before (right). SailGP continues to grow around the world (below).

The America’s Cup

Through the 140+ year history of sailing’s oldest and most prestigious international spectacle, the America’s Cup has always been a design-led competition that encompassed the very latest leadingedge technology, design, and construction techniques.

The tried and trusted adage “the fastest boat always wins the America’s Cup” is yet to be disproved, and so it was inevitable that foiling would at some point play a part.

the 34th edition of the event staged in San Francisco in 2013. Truth be told, the 72-foot (21.95-meter) AC72 catamarans were not supposed to be able to foil.

But when the wily New Zealand syndicate cunningly devised a way to get its boat up on foils, the

revolution and there would be no going back.

Fast forward to 2021 and the 36th America’s Cup in New Zealand, where an ultra-radical new 75-foot (22.86-meter) foiling monohull class the AC75 was introduced.

Although in the buildup to the event there were plenty of spectacular high-speed wipeouts as the four international teams came to grips with this brand-new sailing concept, by the time racing began the crews

could complete 20-minute races at speeds of up to 50 knots (57.54 miles per hour/92.6 kilometers per hour) without the hulls of their boats ever touching the water.

A lighter and more powerful version of the AC75 will be used to contest the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, Spain in the winter of 2024, when “cyclers,” using legs rather than arms, will generate the hydraulic power required to keep the boats in the air.

America’s Cup holders Emirates Team New Zealand have also introduced a smaller AC40 foiling monohull class for the preliminary events for the 2024 regatta. At just 40 feet, the new one design class is based on the team’s Cup-winning AC75 and will be sailed by a crew of four.

As well as being used by the AC teams for development and training purposes, the new AC40s will be used for the separate Youth and Women’s America’s Cup events, which will be held in parallel with the main event.

Hopes are also high that the AC40 could establish itself as a one design class in its own right away from the America’s Cup if the right caliber of private owners could be found.

SailGP

Russell Coutts and backed by American software billionaire Larry Ellison, SailGP is sailing’s first professional global racing circuit featuring 10 national teams.

The racing is in 50-foot (15.24-meter) ultra-highperformance foiling catamarans, which evolved from the AC50s used in the 35th and 36th America’s Cups.

Billed as the Formula 1 of sailing, SailGP is made up of professional teams representing Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, and Switzerland.

Each season the circuit visits eight major cities across Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and Bermuda.

The events feature six races over two days, and the combination of high-speed boats, super competitive teams, and a compact race area consistently makes for fast and furious action. While the on the water, many more people watch the action live online and on national TV.

Each SailGP season builds to a event when the top teams battle it out for the SailGP championship title and a $1M cash prize.

The foiling revolution has inspired the world’s top designers to create a remarkable tranche of monohull and multihull foiling boats that are capable of crossing oceans and even racing nonstop around the world.

Ocean foiling is centered around two main classes of boat: the 60-foot monohull IMOCA 60 and the 105-foot (32-meter) Ultim multihull, both of which originate in France, the universally acknowledged spiritual home of IMOCA 60

to inshore events like the America’s Cup and SailGP.

Foiling IMOCA 60s do not rise completely out of the water. (A classenforced design rule precludes the necessary t-foils on the rudders.) Nevertheless, the performance boost

speeds are in the 30–35 knot range and an IMOCA 60 at full chat is a truly spectacular sight.

Foiling IMOCA 60s were introduced for the eighth edition of the Vendée Globe nonstop singlehanded around-the-world race, which took place over the winter of 2016–17.

The class has also been adopted for The Ocean Race, the

race around the world scheduled to start from Alicante Spain, in January 2022.

ULTIM

Meanwhile, in the larger Ultim multihull class created in 2015, there are no limitations on how the

Ultim boats can be a maximum of 32 meters (105 feet) long and 23 meters (75.46 feet) wide. New boats cost around 10 million Euros (11.2 million US Dollars);

sponsors is actively racing at events like the Route du Rhum and Transat Jacques Vabre.

A singlehanded around-the-world race for Ultim boats is scheduled to take place in 2023, when iconic skippers like Thomas Coville, Francois Gabart, Armel Le Cléac’h, Charles Caudrelier, Yves Le Belvec, and Yann

PICTURED: High winds during the SailGP in St. Tropez in September pushed these hightech boats to the absolute limit.

Guichard will attempt to beat the Gabart’s remarkable 2017 record-setting circumnavigation of just 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes, and 35 seconds.

FLYING NIKKI

A brand-new 60-foot inshore/coastal foiler based on America’s Cup design concepts has been developed for a European private owner. Designed for the founder of the classic 151 Miglia-Trofeo Cetilar regatta in the Mediterranean, the spectacular Flying Nikka turned plenty of heads when it debuted at this year’s Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo, Italy.

One Design Inshore Foiling Classes

The foiling revolution has also sparked an explosion of smaller one design classes both monohull and catamaran that are providing exciting airborne racing for crews made up of professional and amateur sailors.

69F CLASS

The 69F is a new three-person high-performance foiling monohull class aimed at bringing foiling monohull teams racing on the inaugural European circuit, and in 2022 the class expanded into the United States.

GC32 CLASS

The GC32 is a well-established high-performance foiling catamaran class. Measuring 12 meters (39.37 feet) among the fastest racing boats in the world.

The European racing circuit the GC32 Racing Tour the best amateur teams competing with professional crews from SailGP and the America’s Cup.

TF35 CLASS

Developed for the predominantly light wind racing conditions on the inland lakes of Switzerland and Italy, the TF35 catamaran is a newer, and arguably higherperformance, rival to the GC32.

Designed by some of the best-known names in foiling racing, the TF35 class was founded in 2020; the European -

PICTURED: Modern racing sailboats are ying faster all the time.

words MARILYN MOWER photograph y COURTESY OF DENISON YACHTING

DENISON HISTORY:

Broward Marine Goes to War

The sleepy boatyard Frank Denison bought on his honeymoon in the late 1940s was soon to become the largest employer in Broward county, and the largest defense contractor in Florida.

In 1939, Fort Lauderdale was

town with a population of about 20,000 working its way out of the Great Depression. Then one day, a British Navy destroyer providing coastal cover to ships supplying its enemy into Port Everglades. With the destroyer lurking

to leave, its presence making the

locals ever mindful of the escalating war in Europe. Once the United States entered World War II, the US seized the ship and beefed up its military presence in Florida, which was a good thing, since the German tanker had not been the only Nazi vessel navigating Florida waters.

A deep-water harbor, Port Everglades was nearly adjacent to a civilian airport called Merle Fogg Field. Within weeks of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,

PICTURED: Dooleys Boat Basin became Broward Marine in the late 1940s.

of Engineers immediately began transforming it into a Navy base and naval air station with much greater

The gentle weather made it a perfect site to train Navy and Marine pilots, gunners, radio men, and air crews, as well as air-sea rescue teams. The Everglades provided a handy practice bombing range. Two satellite airstrips, now Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and North Perry, became practice zones for landing and crews. Fogg Field soon grew to 200 buildings extending to the port. At its peak, the Fort Lauderdale Naval Air

Among the Avenger torpedo bomber pilots trained there was Ensign George H. W. Bush.

Meanwhile, up the New River off 20th Street, Dooley’s Basin and Dry Dock, established in 1937 by construction to build nearly 100 ships for the armed

forces in WWII: two sub chasers, 48 harbor patrol

as Crash Boats. With 300 employees, Dooley’s was Broward county’s largest civilian war-related business. Dooley had invested in infrastructure and had in place a

The Crash Boats came in two sizes, 85- and 63-feet LOA. They had been designed by Dair Long and were built primarily of Honduras mahogany, spruce plywood, and oak. Interestingly, the hulls were double-planked mahogany, 3/4-inch on the bottom and 9/16s on the hull sides. Eight-ounce cotton duck fabric, saturated with marine/aviation glue was sandwiched between the two layers.

slowed to a trickle and then stopped. For Paul Dooley, the war had been good business. However, hurricanes slammed Fort Lauderdale in September and October in 1947, and Dooley began to think enough was enough. By 1948, he let it be known that his yard was for sale.

Enter Frank Denison

from Michigan, his bride, Gertrude, in tow.

They came to Fort Lauderdale to honeymoon and Frank, who had recently sold his trucking business, was looking for a new venture. Denison knew little about boats but had worked on diesel engine repair and replacement, which along the way included a few boats, one of which, it so happened, was at Dooley’s Basin. When he learned it was for sale, he renewed acquaintances.

The Denisons bought the yard and renamed it Broward Marine. It remained merely a repair yard until the US Navy found itself rather spectacularly the close of WWII, the government its minesweepers and focused its interest and its budget on developing the next generation

been transferred to the Atlantic in support of NATO. When President Truman entered the US Armed

United Nations Blockade and Escort Force, there were four 180-foot steel-hull minesweepers and six wooden auxiliary minesweepers in

As the commanders mapped out their strategy, it became clear that the only way to get troops and supplies into the peninsula would be by sea. Unfortunately,

the Communist-backed North had already mined the harbors and sea lane approach routes with an estimated 3,000 mines. It even mined its own ports with magnetic German mines the Russians had Germany’s surrender.

In 1951, Truman ordered Mine

were totally outmatched in the unknown waters and the magnetic mines spelled disaster for the steel ships. Not only were the Soviets

PICTURED: Dooley’s dock (left); Frank and Gertrude Denison (right).

teaching their mine warfare techniques to the North minesweepers and minelayers non-stop since 1945.

UN Forces planned a huge attack they hoped would be a preemptive strike at an area called Wonsan. follow the minesweepers in for a full-scale invasion. It was a failure. The tally mounted quickly: eight destroyers severely damaged; eight minesweepers and one ocean tug sunk. The invasion force retreated while the commanders began to learn the scope of the North demolition swimmer teams worked non-stop charting mines, followed by the remaining handful of minesweepers clearing them, only to have them reappear overnight deployed by inconspicuous sampans

old as 1904 contact mines, some magnetic and some was slow going. “We have lost control of the seas to a nation without a Navy, using pre-World War I weapons, laid by vessels

that were utilized at the time of the birth of Christ.”

The Administration got the message. In late 1950, the Navy hired naval architect Philip Rhodes to design new wooden minesweepers that could adapt to new sweeping techniques. The result was the 172-foot, 630-ton Aggressive Class Ocean minesweeper. It used a non-magnetic engine, wood hull construction, and an improved mine-hunting sonar.

Because they were needed yesterday, the bids for new minesweepers went to just about any available US yard, 27 in fact. Because Dooley’s had been a contractor for wooden boats in WWII, Broward Marine received a request for a proposal. Denison knew nothing about building Navy ships, but he understood production. Of Dooley’s original military workforce, only about 20 remained, but that was enough to form a core group of trainer/shipwrights. Gertrude herself typed up the bid and they delivered it to Washington. In short order, the Navy handed Broward an order for four Aggressive Class ships as well as three 144-foot Falcon Class and four 144-foot Adjutant Class coastal sweepers from an earlier design. It was a great haul for the yard.

The exact scantlings were lost in the 1996

documentation of a lengthy restoration one Adjutant

Class sweeper built at Tacoma Boat Works indicate that white oak to provide high underwater shock and impact loading for transverse frames and knees, southern pine for butt blocks, Alaska yellow cedar for interior diagonal planking and superstructure sills, southern pine over for structural members and decks. For Broward Marine, there were just two problems. South Fork of the New River was less deep than that in several spots. Plus, they were too long to be launched via the slipway; Dooley’s WWII boats had been half that long. Denison was undaunted. He would launch the hulls sideways hell of a splash but without their superstructures in place, they just bobbed up like the new river, towed them to a rented facility in Port Everglades and there installed the engines, decks, superstructures, equipment, and guns. To stay on

PICTURED: A minesweeper ready to be launched (left); Frank and Gertrude Denison (center); Broward Marine boatbuilders (right).

schedule, one of the 144-footers had to launch every 45 days and one of the 172s every 90 days. It was nearly insane. The local workforce swelled with men who had wartime experience at other shipyards and were happy to relocate to Florida. Gertrude, Frank, and their young sons moved to an apartment above the was delivered October 1952. Before long, they were the largest employer in Broward Country and the largest defense contractor in Florida. All of the Broward went on to serve the Navy in Vietnam as well. By then, Broward was well on its way to becoming a world-class builder of aluminum yachts.

Adjutant Class Minesweepers

(Delivered to the Netherlands as part of NATO force)

Bolsward, Beilen, Brummen, Blaricum (1953-1954)

SPECIFICATIONS: 144’ x 27’ x 9’, 405 tons

POWER: 2x GM 600 hp diesels

SPEED: 14 knots

COMPLEMENT: 40 sailors

ARMAMENT: 2 x 20mm guns

Falcon Class Minesweepers U.S. Navy

Limpkin, Meadowlark, Parrot (1954-1955)

SPECIFICATIONS:

144’ x 27’ x 12’, 362 tons

POWER: 2x or 4x 600 hp Packard diesels SPEED: 13.6 knots

COMPLEMENT: 40 sailors

ARMAMENT: 1 x 20mm gun or 2x .50Cal machine guns

Aggressive Class Minesweepers (Ocean) U.S. Navy

Stalwart, Sturdy, Swerve, Venture (1955-1958)

SPECIFICATIONS: 172’ x 35’ x 10’, 630 tons

POWER: 4x Packard ID 1700 diesels on 2 shafts with controllable pitch propellors

SPEED: 14 knots

COMPLEMENT: 80 sailors

ARMAMENT: 1x 40mm gun, 2x .50Cal machine guns

journeys

THE FOREST ROARS

words KIM FRANK

photography KIM FRANK AVIJAN SAHA TREVOR WALLACE

journeys

PICTURED: Mother and calf attempt to cross highway along a migration route in North Bengal. Photo top and pictured by Avijan Saha.

Midnight on the India-Nepal border. A full moon hides behind the clouds, no longer illuminating the wispy thin trail. The snowy peaks of the eastern Himalaya are shrouded in darkness.

phones, and young men with homemade cannons the sky. Searchlights sweep over the crops, ready for harvest. Lights shine out from the hands of men protecting the clusters of homes behind them, where their mothers, wives, and children sleep. Aggressive shouting and static from walkietalkies echo like a game of call and response. Sirens from a patrol jeep pierce the air; headlights

A farmer casts a broad beam of light over elephant with curved, piercing tusks, the sticky black secretion of musth visibly draining from his right temple as he gnaws the rice paddy. I am shoots a cannon the blast sounds lethal. It is not. more chilling than calm. All sound abates. The large male tusker, known as Lama, continues to eat. From the trees rises a noise I have heard only in movies and dreams: the resounding trumpet of a second to our right, another elephant responds with an earth-shaking, full-bellow roar, followed by a steady and thunderous rumble that rattles me to my core. My watch hands illuminate the

PICTURED: Filmmaker Trevor Wallace and photographer Avijan Saha interviewing a local farmer (far left); A young male elephant bathing. Only male asian elephants have tusks (left). Generations of women living in a high con ict tea garden villages (below). Photos: Kim Frank

hours in these forests, careening on the back of a motorcycle over darkened trails to document this to be a long night.

If this were a vintage Rolex advertisement, the narrative would continue with lines like these: “Inhospitable conditions seem to pose no problem for George Schaller” or “Neither searing heat nor violent sandstorms can stop Tom Sheppard & his Rolex from Crossing the Sahara.” But not here. I could not feel further from these tough and heroic indestructability: a Rolex Explorer. However, I have been granted the use of this iconic symbol of exploration by The Explorers Club as part of its Expedition Watch Program, in collaboration with Rolex. The Explorers Club has also granted me the honor of carrying its historic Explorers project to document the coexistence of humans and elephants at the base of the Himalayas.

What began as a desire to tell a single story about people dying while taking sel es with wild elephants for social media glory has become a multiyear, multimedia quest to deeply understand human-elephant coexistence in this region of India. For four years, I have been working toward this goal.

PICTURED: This Forest Department team of elephant, mahout, and ranger patrols the National Forests to protect endangered wildlife. Photo: Kim Frank

journeys

PICTURED: Kim with tea garden village children during a ranger football match.

Photo: Trevor Wallace (this page); Forest Department Rangers on foot patrol during monsoon (opposite). Photos: Kim Frank

A sudden blast from a nearby and nearly drop my camera. It now dangles from my wrist, capturing video of men’s feet, snatches of dirt and grass, and a blur of movement. I wonder, “Who am I to travel across the globe, the only woman here in the middle of the night, the rare westerner, given this extraordinary access, only to squander it out of fear?”

This ancient habitat stretches along the foothills of the Himalaya from Bhutan to northern India and onward through Nepal. While the area once supported wildlife and people in delicate balance, rapid population increase and widespread deforestation have turned the routes for Asian elephants into a dangerously fragmented landscape. Elephants now travel between patches of natural forest interrupted by barbed fences, tea gardens, chaotic highways, army barracks, speeding trains, and villages with ripe paddy crops. Desperate for food, elephants have discovered that these crops deliver far more nutrients, in a much shorter time, than anything they are able to obtain from stripped forests. This diminishment of resources is creating one of the highest humannationally resulting in fatal clashes

that kill more than 500 people and 100 elephants each year.

As the forest roars, Lama

into the trees. The smell of musth, earthy and ominous, clings to the mist and smoke that swirls around us. Elephants in musth tend to be violent, attacking when disturbed. With two teenage daughters and a loving husband waiting for me at home, I am loathe to move closer.

calculate until you are in the thick of it, leaving little to do but manage. My companions see this situation differently, and soon we are following Lama’s route.

Not wanting to take any chances, I wait alone near a fragile tin house, glowing with purple lights

My companion, photographer Avijan Saha, instructs me to throw myself inside the crack between

the house and outbuilding if an elephant appears. The crowd joins our team, forming a reception line at the bend of the road where the tusker is expected to cross.

I think they are foolhardy, and I am stricken for putting myself at such risk. Distracted by a phone alert from my daughter’s dermatologist, I text an urgent appointment reminder to my family back home. (Did Shackleton

appointments from Antarctica?) When I look up, the mob is running

mob by passing directly behind me, as I was oblivious to the danger of an agitated male elephant in full musth using the glow from my smart phone to guide his escape.

“The great strength of a Rolex is strength; Designed for survival in extreme conditions,” says the

“

”

journeys

PICTURED: Mother and child in their house destroyed by elephants a week before monsoon starts (this page). Photo: Kim Frank; Kim Frank (opposite). Photo: Trevor Wallace.

peering intensely from beneath his ski helmet. I am wearing a helmet, too, a motorcycle half-helmet meant to protect me as I zip through dark forests at night. Sensing my need for additional strength, my teenage daughter has painted a brilliant Ganesh on its top and a protective blue and pink third eye on the front. This meager lid has become a talisman, and I won’t take it with Lama. The phone must go away: It emits dangerous I glance at it as we hurtle through the night, happening on herds and lone bulls at each stop, time is blessedly moving on.

It is 4:30 a.m. when we return to the house in the village that just last week had its kitchen crushed by an with a kaleidoscope of dreams: yelling boys chasing slow sauntering herds, thick black oozing from the eye trumpeting. I wake to a powerful sense of foreboding, certain the elephant from last night is roaming nearby. In stillness, with a full bladder but less courage, I wait.

When the light becomes more pronounced, I peer out. Framed directly through the window, etched in highest mountain in India, third highest in the world. not 40 miles from me, wearing its predecessor. And of course, Edmund Hillary, the original inspiration for of this range, only now does it appear. Proving that just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there . . . or it isn’t true. A 1970s Rolex ad features a woman in a Gernreich dress, with this quote: “A woman is beautiful when she looks like what she is. A woman.” I cannot imagine what I look like now, but if feminine charm comes from a sense of accomplishment to illuminate the truth, in the hope of saving elephants and ourselves, then I must be radiant.

“ A WOMAN IS BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE LOOKS LIKE WHAT SHE IS. A WOMAN. ” — 1970s Rolex ad

journeys

PICTURED: Adventerous travellers are drawn to Saudi Arabia's desert.

DESERT DELIGHT

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks toward the future while honoring its past.

words RACHAEL INGRAM

photog raphy COURTESY PELORUS

journeys

PICTURED: Red Sea aerial view (right); The timeless beauty of the desert (far right).

Pristine wildlife-filled reefs, dramatic desert-banked coastlines, historic culture-rich

ignored by the yachting community despite its easy access to the Indian Ocean. But tides are turning. As the country continues to open up to international tourists, spurred on by the modern government’s innovative Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, the superyacht industry is preparing to sail into fresh waters.

Henry Craven-Smith, senior partner and “I went to the Sinai Peninsula many years ago and spent a bit of time in Duba, where I saw huge national parks along a totally unspoilt coast,” he says.

on the beach and wrecks of ships washed up on the reef that no one has moved and the sea life

pass over reefs which are completely untouched and spotless.”

While the call of nature is strong, CravenSmith is also excited by the real estate developments in progress along the Red Sea. “I think the plans they’ve got for the west coast of Saudi Arabia are extraordinary,” he says, highlighting projects including Amaala, a luxury tourism destination along the northwestern coast.

Saudi Vision 2030 is set to be transformational for the Arab country, particularly in terms of infrastructure. Much has been written about the pioneering “smart city” of Neom, which is

anticipated to set new benchmarks for sustainable urban living. Meanwhile, the yachting industry is growing thanks to new marinas including the Jeddah Yacht Club and Marina which opened

accommodate more than 100 yachts up to 120 meters in length.

Craven-Smith believes that for the local Saudi market, the yachting lifestyle is coming close to fruition. “The client base is present, the coastline is extraordinary, and they’re developing so many if you can get access and permits to cruise, it’s already there.

“It will take a while for the Western traveler to really embrace the cultural di erences of that part of the world, but I think there’s huge potential,” he adds.

Geordie Mackay-Lewis, cofounder and CEO of luxury travel company Pelorus, believes that Saudi Arabia could become a major superyacht hub “perhaps not in the coming months, but in the near future.”

“This is not only because of the existing wealth in the area but also because many yachts and owners are looking at the advantages of cruising in the Red Sea,” he says. “As the infrastructure comes online, it will become a natural extension to the Mediterranean and diving and cultural exploration, alongside an emerging restaurant scene.”

PICTURED: Saudi Arabia is a mystery just waiting to be unlocked.

journeys

PICTURED: Habitas Al Ula pool area (top left); Red Sea sunset yacht sailing (bottom left).

WE DO SEE THE KSA AS BECOMING AN ATTRACTIVE SUPERYACHT DESTINATION LONG TERM. ” Neal Bateman

already received interest from clients, “mainly from yacht owners so far, but we are beginning to get charter clients requesting the region, too, in particular Neom and Jeddah as well as the various reefs in Saudi and Sudan.”

He suggests that the key challenges holding the industry back are regulations and marina services. “Realistically, for this region to become a yachting hub, it will need the permitting rules to be relaxed somewhat and additional marinas to open,” he says. “We are most likely a couple of years away from this. However, this should not stop people from going now as they will have world-class experiences all to themselves.”

Neal Bateman, head of yacht projects at luxury adventure travel company Cookson Adventures, believes that the vision could be a

little further away. “In the short term, there is still a lot of work to be done on both Saudi Arabia’s local infrastructure and on the public perception a superyacht hub overnight,” he says. “However, project and a focus on promoting Saudi’s natural wonders to a wider international audience, we do destination long term.” building from owners, however, including those based outside of the region. “We’ve had enquiries out more about how they can bring their yachts to Saudi Arabia,” he says, adding that he expects cutting-edge infrastructure.”

“

journeys

PICTURED: Maraya Saudi desert mirror building (top left); evidence of Saudi Arabia’s ancient past is everywhere (below); Habitas Al Ula (top right); Saudi Arabia quad bikes (bottom right).

journeys

to visit,” Bateman adds. “The southern area has incredible diving with pristine coral reefs, while dramatic desert landscapes and rock formations as well as ancient historical buildings, monuments, and ruins you can visit to learn more about Saudi’s cultural history.”

As yacht owners and charter guests continue to look beyond the traditional milk run, it’s not far-fetched to imagine the Red Sea tempting yachts away from the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. And, as long as the appropriate regulations and infrastructure are implemented, Saudi Arabia could well become a key stop for yachts sailing to and from prime Indian Ocean destinations including the Seychelles, the Maldives, and the UAE.

PICTURED: Shipwreck scuba diving (right).

rising stars

HENRY CRAVEN - SMITH

The Baja California peninsula has always been open, but not many yachts go there. The sea life is extraordinary— we saw thousands and thousands of mobula rays o the coast and orcas feeding on rays. Not many boats have been to the South Paci c either, and I don’t really understand why. A lot of the Paci c is really accessible at the moment—from that part of the States, it’s quicker to get to Tahiti than the Mediterranean. I also think, as piracy issues continue to get better, more yachts will be going into the Indian Ocean.

GEORDIE MACKAY- LEWIS

Australia’s charter eet is growing, with the region extending to French Polynesia and Fiji. We’re also seeing Central America becoming more popular—Costa Rica and Panama are particularly up-and-coming due to VAT structures’ making it more a ordable to start and nish there. Southeast Asia has been on the cusp for a long time, and with more yachts heading east, we see this being a strong hub in the future.

NEAL BATEMAN

Since Costa Rica changed its yachting laws, it is a much more attractive and accessible destination for yachts. It’s one of our most in-demand tropical destinations for clients. Exploring along the country’s long stretch of coastline o ers so much potential for adventure, with incredible diving and marine life, and the option to dip inland for jungle and volcano experiences.

In addition to new opportunities in Saudi Arabia, our experts predict other emerging superyacht hubs around the world.

journeys

Less Traveled THE ROAD

Dive into the pure natural beauty of The Bahamas.

Alessandro Sarno was born and raised in Italy. But it was a trip to The Bahamas that changed his life. Mesmerized by the incredible blue waters, he

camera. What started out as a short vacation transformed into a deep love for both photography and for The Bahamas.

“I believe capturing a scene in a photograph elevates it into a higher dimension to a limbo between reality and imagination. It becomes visual poetry, where words are replaced by shapes, spaces, colors, lines, light, and shadows.” His images featured here inspire me to escape the stress and crowds of everyday life onboard a boat any boat. And I hope they have the same

journeys

The Sea o New Providence North Coast the sky.

Conception Island

journeys

Airport Beach, or Navy Beach, in Eleuthera

Exuma Cays

entire Bahamas. This little island, which I

05

Cherokee Sound, Abaco

surreal to me. It looked like she was literally walking on the water.

Cat Island

journeys

PICTURED: Seaplane service to your yacht is the ultimate luxury.

SKIP THE MARINA

Tropic Ocean Airways seaplanes can

“I’m a water guy,” says Tropic Ocean Airways

I joined the Navy, not the Air Force. Starting this seaplane airline is the same thing. It combines two of my passions aviation and the ocean. And seaplanes create the ultimate freedom.”

That “ultimate freedom” is just one of the many reasons why Tropic Ocean Airways seaplane service— direct to any yacht, anywhere in The Bahamas and the Caribbean—is such a game changer.

When it comes to chartering a yacht, seaplane service direct from the airport to your yacht in a remote location is the ultimate luxury.

from NYC for a week-long yacht charter. On the best day, you still need to clear customs and drive

waiting in a crowded marina on the other side of the island. And then you’re still a day away from getting into the remote beauty of the out islands. Meanwhile, the smart people who arrive at their yacht via seaplane get whisked through customs at the airport and are landing on the crystal-blue water next to the yacht in some of the world’s most beautiful anchorages in minutes, not days!

f ly you directly to a yacht waiting in your favorite remote anchorage

words BILL SPRINGER

photography COURTESY OF TROPIC OCEAN AIRWAYS

PICTURED: Tropic Ocean Airways founder Rob Ceravolo.

While this may sound like it comes right out song, Ceravolo’s upbringing and Navy background is much more professional, disciplined, and safe than all the stereotypical cowboy-type seaplane services you’ve heard about.

“The Navy does such a great job of developing pilots,” he says. “We’re capable of landing on an so good. And we use the exact same discipline and

beautiful cay in The Bahamas.”

But just because Tropic Ocean Airways is the most professional and safest seaplane airline Ocean Airways isn’t a ton of fun, too.

yacht waiting for you on an outer island in The Bahamas on a Tropic Ocean Airways seaplane to be the highlight of the trip.

The journey, elevated

Experience the joy of private flight to your next Denison Yachting adventure. Because no matter where you’re going, it matters how you get there.

denison@wheelsup.com wheelsup.com

e SceneDenison

DENISON SHIPYARD TOUR THE NETHERLAND

CLOUD YACHTS/PALM BEACH BOAT SHOW

FORT LAUDERDALE CONCOURS

PALM BEACH BOAT SHOW

HOLMAN VIP HOUSE DINNER

GRAFF DIAMONDS UNVEILING

BIMINI RENDEZVOUS

2022 BIMINI RENDEZVOUS

HOLMAN VIP HOUSE DINNER

HISTORY FORT LAUDERDALE DENISON FAMILY AWARD

GRAFF DIAMONDS UNVEILING

DENISON HOSTESSES

“LA MAISON BLANCHE” HOLMAN VIP HOUSE DINNER

DENISON AFTER DARK PARTY/MIXER

DENISON AFTER DARK PARTY/MIXER

“LA MAISON BLANCHE” HOLMAN VIP HOUSE

CATALINA RENDEZVOUS