ShowBoats International

First And Best
Marilyn M. Mower
08/01/2005

In today’s inflated world, 100 of anything may seem a trifle, thus perspective becomes all-important. One hundred is a very large number if attached to the word "percent." Attached to the word "fathom," it is the depth at which your yacht will go "off soundings." Attached to "issues of ShowBoats International," it equates to 16 years of chronicling the mercurial world of custom yachts.

Perspective allows us to gauge development, achievement and even value. Rereading 99 issues of ShowBoats International is like putting a diamond under a microscope where both gleaming facets and unseen flaws are revealed. Some new things that sounded good at the time truly were; others did not stand the test of time.

As ShowBoats begins and the decade ends, jet boats are the rage. Cover #1 features the world’s then fastest megayacht, 53.7-knot Octopussy. (Click image to enlarge)

Unlike many other important products, the creativity behind the evolution of yachting’s advances comes not from the engineers and industrial designers, but from the dreams of the end users, the owners passionate enough to push and prod and ask "what if," all the while spending great sums to build their vision of perfection afloat.

At the end of the day, that is what ShowBoats International has been about, bringing perspective to the relentless pursuit of perfection afloat.

"The average yacht we are designing today is twice the size of the average yacht we were designing 16 years ago, the yards are more professional and the clients are more educated. I’m very happy ShowBoats has stayed true to its vision of focusing on the best of the large boats. As a designer, it meets my need to keep abreast of what’s going on in the industry." Glade Johnson, Interior Designer. (Click image to enlarge)

The following anecdote proves the point about perspective: In 1968, Bieb de Vries and Frits de Voogt of Feadship were having a meeting with a captain named Don Kenniston about building a yacht for his boss. The three men discussed the future of luxury yachts from the points of view of a naval architect, a yacht builder and a yacht captain. These three gurus concluded that while yachts had gotten large and elaborate, there would never be a yacht costing more than a million dollars. Twenty years later, as founder Jim Gilbert and I formulated the content for this magazine, you could get a pretty good Feadship for $12 to $15 million.

ShowBoats originated in 1982 as a quarterly brokerage catalog, subtitled The Finest Yachts for Sale and Charter. The reformatted ShowBoats International debuted as a bi-monthly publication in February 1989. We were, as Gilbert wrote in his first Viewpoint column, "proud to be the first magazine to document the international breadth of yachting, covering the best that yachting has to offer." First and Best: 100 issues later, that remains our perspective.

1989- Top: The only ShowBoats cover to feature a classic yacht and a model, issue #3 also marks the magazine’s design change to full-bleed cover photos. Bottom: Westport’s Jack Sarin-designed 98' Golden Delicious revolutionizes ideas about luxurious GRP motor yachts and creates buzz about West Coast composite skills. Soon-to-be-former Hatteras dealer Herb Postma opens Westship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to market Westports. (Click images to enlarge)

1989
• Ron Holland’s breakthrough atrium-style upper/lower salon design and Fabio Perini’s purchase of Picchiotti’s yard give rise to megasailers. Perini’s vision for captive winches and triple-level superstructures brings motor yacht-size spaces and easy operation to sailing yachts.

1989- Gentry Eagle breaks Richard Branson’s 1986 record for fastest Atlantic crossing – 62 hours, 7 minutes. (Click image to enlarge)

• Detroit Diesel installs its first DDEC engine system. MWM Deutz raises the bar in 1991 with an engine control system that automatically phones home via SatCom for diagnostics.

• J-Class resurgence begins with Elizabeth Meyers’ refit of Endeavour at Royal Huisman. The other remaining Js, Shamrock V (2001) and Velsheda (1997) are also rescued. In 2003, John Williams launches a near-replica of Ranger.
1990
• The Donald, believing he can sell 282' Trump Princess to Japanese buyers for a 200 percent profit on his $27 million deal for the ex-Nabila, announces a design competition for a 420-footer. Amels wins the contract, but in 1991 almost loses the war when Trump abandons the project. The Donald loses The Princess to The Creditors a year later, who sell her to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia. The boat is renamed Kingdom 5KR.

1990- Top: Just two years after cousins Freidrich and Peter Lürssen open a dedicated yacht division in their mostly military shipyard, their first project, 131' Be Mine, wins two ShowBoats Awards. By 2005 Lürssen holds claim to building the world’s first, second and third largest private motor yachts. Bottom: Dock Express revolutionizes private cruising and the charter industry for yachts without transoceanic range. The inaugural sailing from Fort Lauderdale to Porto Cervo carries seven yachts. (Click images to enlarge)

• SBI hosts its first Rendezvous in Monaco and announces formation of the Bal de la Mer charity to raise funds for coral reef research at Musée Oceanographique.

1990- Top: ShowBoats only cover without a yacht, this issue featured the Hales Trophy and the quest for the transatlantic crossing record. (Click images to enlarge)

• A year after John McMillian, the first nonfamily member to own Burger Boat, opens a yard in Florida, the second nonfamily Burger owner, Tacoma/United Shipbuilding, declares bankruptcy.

1991
• Martin Francis’ 35-knot 239' Eco, built by Blohm & Voss for Emilio Azcarraga, wins two ShowBoats Awards. Azcarraga creates his own dockage by partnering with George Nicholson to build North Cove Yachting Center – the country’s first megayacht marina – on choice Lower Manhattan real estate.

1991- Top: Alloy Yachts rolls the dice on a new style of luxury performance cruising sailboat with a stairstep transom design by Ed Dubois. Esprit debuts at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Bottom: Hatteras launches its first yacht over 100'. Much of its custom series, which tops with a 130' tri-deck, is ordered and marketed by former Hateras dealer Felix Sabates, now a partner in Trinity Yachts. (Click images to enlarge)

• Pendennis, the only 1990s-era British yacht builder that will remain standing a decade later, begins building 123' Taramber for Peter de Savary.

1992
• John Staluppi’s 116' Norship Moonraker hits 66.7 knots. Norship, Norway’s only yacht builder, goes over the horizon just as fast.

1992- Denison Marine – which holds the dubious honor of building Lady Anna, the only ShowBoats cover yacht to sink – closes its doors, thus ending competition with crosstown family rivals at Broward Marine. (Click image to enlarge)

• Naiad introduces the first tunnel and retractable bow thrusters. Westmar counters by introducing the first thruster with counter-rotating dual props.

• Destriero, a 215-footer built at Fincantieri for Sardinia’s Aga Khan, sets new Atlantic crossing record – 58 hours, 39 minutes.

1993- Top: The devastating 10 percent luxury tax on yachts costs an estimated 20,000 U.S. marine industry jobs, but fuel is still cheap and jet boats still rule. Bottom: Admiral Marine delivers 161' Evviva, the largest yacht design by Bill Garden to appear in ShowBoats. Evviva belongs to former Bayliner exec Orin Edson, now a partner in Westport Yachts. (Click images to enlarge)

1993
• Alaska Diesel’s Northern Lights division invents the STARS self-cleaning catalytic genset filter.

• Italy allows the lira to float; yacht building in Italy suddenly costs 20-30 percent less than in Holland or Germany.
1994
• Reconstituted Burger Boat delivers 91' Windrush – its first launch since David Ross and Jim Ruffolo purchased the company out of bankruptcy in 1993.

1994- Art imitates life. Among the guests at ShowBoats’ 1994 Rendezvous in Monaco is artist LeRoy Neiman, who paints the cover of the November issue. (Click image to enlarge)

• Luca Bassani launches Wally Gator, a 105' carbon fiber ketch with joystick controls and a bomb bay-style anchor pocket.

• Shep McKenney introduces the Hinckley Picnic Boat and predicts the company might sell a dozen. By 2005 sales have reached 340 and 80 percent of Hinckley’s sales are now powerboats.

1995
• Brothers Dick and Brad debut the Lazzara 80 motor yacht 40 years after their father, Vince Lazzara, made history building the first fiberglass production sailboats.

1995- The last wooden Riva Aquarama rolls off the line, ending a series that began in 1962. Now owned by Ferretti Group, Riva relaunches the look with the 33' fiberglass Aquariva in 2001. (Click image to enlarge)

• Caterpillar 3500 B series engines allow tuning for minimum emissions.

1996
• Jongert debuts its folding keel on 3200M Movesita. It delivers harbor draft without sacrificing interior volume.

• Much of Broward Marine’s New River Yard is destroyed by fire.

1997- Top: Flexing its capital muscle, Benetti expands in Viareggio and builds 50-meter Golden Bay on spec. The following year Benetti acquires 70 percent ownership of Siar-Moschini shipyard. Bottom: Satellite communication forever changes yachting. Completing the INMARSAT communications revolution begun with the first satellite leased for public use in 1982, the Mini-M SatCom introduces the first small-platform receiver. (Click images to enlarge)

1997
• Four years in the making, a "Code of Practice" for the safety of U.K.-registered commercial sailing and motor vessels over 24 meters slips into effect under direction of the British Maritime Safety Agency (now MCA). Provisions cause angst, especially for composite and performance boat builders; add several percentage points to the cost of a yacht and change interiors forever. The first yacht to comply is Amels’ 164' Tigre d’ Or.

1997- Top: When Asian interest in yacht ownership booms, ShowBoats begins a special edition for that market, a good idea until Asian economies begin falling like dominoes. Bottom: She only looks like an antique. This cover, featuring Hodgdon’s cold-molded Liberty, is the best-selling issue to date. (Click images to enlarge)

• French builder Guy Couach celebrates 100 years in yachting.

1998- Top: The nonprofit SeaKeepers Society forms during the Rendezvous in Monaco to produce an autonomous water quality and weather monitoring device for yachts, ships, buoys and piers. Earliest members include Paul Allen, Jim and Jan Moran, Alex Dreyfoos and Jim Clark. Bottom: Palmer Johnson delivers 195' La Baronessa, the largest U.S.-built yacht since the 1930s, and at the time of her launching, the largest all-aluminum yacht ever. (Click images to enlarge)

1998
• Sunseeker debuts 80' Predator and Manhattan models. Response stuns the company, which has to revamp its facilities to meet the 25 boats promised by the end of ’99.

• Ferretti acquires Custom Line, Pershing and Bertram brands and the following year adds CRN to its stable.

• Rodriguez Group becomes publicly traded on the French stock exchange. Within the next four years the group acquires Camper & Nicholsons, BSA and the ISA shipyard.

• Iridium communications buzzes into being. Utilizing low earth-orbiting
satellites, it delivers voice, paging and fax without large Sat Com domes.
1999
• Alphabet Soup: The euro phases in; SOS and all of Morse code is phased out; IMO rule requires automatic GMDSS equipment instead.

1999- Originally created to boost Dutch exports after WWII, Feadship celebrates 50 years. By mid-2005, the consortium has launched 305 yachts. (Click image to enlarge)

• Quantum develops ZeroSpeed stabilization for comfort at anchor.

• Benetti debuts its first composite motor yacht series, the 115' Classic,
helping to secure Azimut-Benetti’s top listing in this year’s Global Order Book with 20 projects.

2000- Top: Spanish builder Izar delivers world’s fastest megayacht for the King of Spain, 67-knot Fortuna. Bottom: Ferretti Group acquires Riva and becomes listed on the Italian stock exchange. The following year it adds Aprea Mare and Mocchi Craft. The company reverts to private ownership in 2002 after a unwelcome takeover bid. (Click images to enlarge)

2000
• Italy moves to the top of builder nations in the Order Book.

Remember KingCat? The 70' bubble-ish power catamaran? Neither do we. (Click image to enlarge)

• Delta departs from all-composite construction with 160' Gallant Lady, its first yacht with an aluminum hull.

2001
• Furuno introduces bridge integration with its Network Sounder.

• Ferragamo buys Nautor’s Swan.

• Burger Boat is 100 years old.

• Onassis’ yacht Christina is refit for charter.

2002
• North American Yacht & Ship delivers 153' Genesis sparking development of improved handicapped access on yachts.

• Cantieri di Pisa releases its first tri-deck, 140' Akhir.

• Lazzara steps over the 100-foot barrier.

2003- Top: Dot.com fallout: Orders for large yachts drop for the first time in a decade, down 4.7 percent to 482 projects. Not to worry, the following year orders rebound to 507 projects. Bottom: Wally Power 118' is the 50-knot prototype for Wally’s innovative new carbon fiber motor yacht line. (Click images to enlarge)

2003
• Paul Allen’s 412' Octopus becomes the title holder, briefly, of world’s largest private yacht.

2004
• Despite being honored for its contribution to Canadian exports in 2002, the Charles family pulls the plug on Crescent Custom Yachts, leaving West Bay SonShip as the only large composite semi-production yacht builder in British Columbia.

2004- A year of record breakers: Larry Ellison’s 454' Rising Sun is now the world’s largest private yacht. Jim Clark’s 295' schooner Athena is the world’s largest private sailing yacht. Mirabella V (247') launches as world’s largest sloop. Feadship’s largest-ever title goes to turbine powered 282' Ecstasea. Tiara (178') is New Zealand’s largest yacht and first/only sailing yacht with a helipad. (Click image to enlarge)

• Christensen Shipyards, which built numerous custom yachts, finds its stride in semi-custom production, pulling a hull out of its 155 series mold every four months.

• Italian yacht registry and RINA begin working toward an alternative to MCA certification.
2005
• De Vries buys the former Amels yard in Makkum.

• Real estate developer Tom Lewis buys floundering Broward Marine, restarting new builds and refits.

2005- Trinity Yachts makes a calculated move for the European market by building the all-steel, full-displacement 180' Mia Elise. (Click image to enlarge)

Faces We Miss

• Malcolm Forbes, yachtsman – 1990
• Gerhard Gilgenast, designer – 1991
• Nigel Burgess, yacht broker – 1992
• John Rybovich, builder – 1993
• Rod Stephens, designer – 1995
• Jack Hargrave, designer – 1996
• Gertrude Denison, designer – 1997
• Norm Nordlund, builder – 1997
• Frank Denison, builder – 2000
• Bob Derecktor, builder – 2001
• Johan de Vries, builder – 2002
• Jon Bannenberg, designer – 2002
• Mike Kelsey, builder/broker – 2002
• Stanley Rosenfeld, photographer – 2002
• Beib de Vries, builder – 2004
• Wolter Huisman, builder – 2004
• Claus Kusch, builder - 2004

By the Numbers

8 Number of Feadships ordered by Jim and Jan Moran

25 Length in feet of the smallest yacht to appear in ShowBoats (True Love, Herbert Dahm’s sloop built to be carried aboard his Benetti Classic)

44 Number of yards listed in the 1991 Order Book no longer producing yachts

78 Price in cents for a gallon of diesel in the United States in 1989

148 Number of million euros of Azimut-Benetti sales in 2004

206 Number of yachts over 95 feet under construction in 1991

454 Length in feet of the largest private yacht ever to appear in ShowBoats International (Rising Sun)

651 Number of yachts over 80 feet under construction as 2005 began

"ShowBoats International has over the years featured many superb yachts. Studying these features has allowed Alloy and our customers to keep abreast of styling and the décor of the world’s finest yachts. ShowBoats’ honoring of design at its annual Rendezvous provides a forum with which to benchmark the development of the entire industry."
Tony Hambrook, Managing Director
Alloy Yachts International LTD

"As a large yacht owner, and an early subscriber, I’ve found no magazine better understands and more accurately depicts the passion involved in designing, building and owning a big boat than ShowBoats International. This is a passion reflected not only in the beauty and intelligence of its pages, but in its leadership within the industry through its events, awards and charitable activities."
Charles Gallagher, Owner, Cakewalk

"There are only two relevant developments over the last 16 years: There are many more yachts and they are much larger. As with almost anything, bigger is not necessarily prettier; it is sometimes just more of the same. What Showboats does well is point out the fine ones. Highlighting these qualities, while not shying away from the ‘oh my gosh’ when another monster hits the water (because these big things are true achievements of mankind) is what makes ShowBoats so enjoyable.
Henk de Vries III, Managing Director
De Vries Scheepsbouw

"More than any other magazine, ShowBoats has celebrated the joy and beauty of owning a big boat. Through its events and charities, it has also created and defined the common ground for the luxury yacht community."
Merle Wood, yacht broker
Merle Wood & Associates