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There is a strong synergy among owners of private aircraft, yachts and luxury automobiles.
by Jill Bobrow
photography by Amy Glanzman
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03/01/2007
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There is a strong synergy among owners of private aircraft,
yachts and luxury automobiles. The last issue of ShowBoats International
included coverage of our annual Wings, Wheels and Water party in Fort
Lauderdale, bearing witness to the symbiosis between air, land and sea. This
issue of ShowBoats continues to connect the dots between those upmarket
modes of transportation. Since many of you sport a helicopter atop your sun
deck, own a plane or enjoy fractional jet ownership, you will no doubt enjoy our
story titled "Soaring High Above the Waves," in which Executive Editor Kenny
Wooton interviewed a number of top yacht designers about their forays into
aircraft interior design.
The diverse community of flying, yachting and motoring
enthusiasts who appear in the pages of this magazine has something else in
common. An inordinate percentage of its members are incredibly generous when it
comes to donating to charity. I am astounded at how much I have witnessed yacht
owners "giving back." Take automotive magnate Jim Moran. He has just taken
delivery of his latest Gallant Lady, a 168-foot Feadship. News of her
launch is in our "Waterfront" section. According to Forbes magazine,
Moran’s company, JM Family Enterprises, is the 18th largest privately held
company in the United States. While Moran’s wealth is enormous, so is his heart.
Moran and his wife Jan’s charitable works and generosity are legendary in South
Florida. Watch these pages for a full report on Moran and his new Gallant
Lady.
Doug and Linda Von Allmen are another extremely charitable
yachting couple. We featured their two new yachts, Lady Linda and
Linda Lou, on the cover of our February issue. In this issue, they appear
once again in our "RSVP" story on the Boys and Girls Club Yacht Rendezvous at
Fisher Island. This growing event, sponsored in part by ShowBoats
International, is a showcase for the land, sea and air crowd and a boon for
the charity. The Von Allmens, along with numerous other munificent yacht owners
including John and Selene Devaney (Positive Carry), Mary Anne and Richard
Kull (Cavu), and Trinity Yachts’ Billy and Betsy Smith and John and
Leslie Dane, to name a few, are all grand supporters of the Boys and Girls Clubs
of Broward County. They also all enjoy the status of being "Admirals" of the
club.
Other driving forces behind the club are the members of the
Dream Makers Society. Among their ranks are Rick and Rita Case, Florence and
Larry DeGeorge, Felix and Carolyn Sabates and, recently, Marti and Wayne
Huizenga, all of whom have demonstrated long-term commitment to the club, played
a vital role in it and contributed funds in excess of a million dollars. Thanks
to all of their enthusiastic contributions, a new Admirals Marine Academy was
built in Davie, Florida, as a vocational school to encourage young men and women
to enter the recreational marine business. We all recognize the need for good
professional yacht crew, and the academy’s programs and resources are geared to
impart information to budding captains, engineers, first mates, chefs and
stewards.
In case you have your pen poised to write a check, a donation
of $50,000 will ensure that you are an Admiral and that your funds will further
benefit the Admirals Marine Academy. I am proud and honored that Bill Curtis,
CEO of CurtCo Media, ShowBoats’ parent company, contributed the necessary
funds to confer the title of Admiral upon publisher Gary DeSanctis and myself.
Still, the quest for donations is ongoing.
Our cover story is about Christensen’s latest launch, the
157-foot Marathon. Christensen Yachts is another supporter of the Boys
and Girls Club. Dave and Mary Christensen along with Joe and Judy Foggia were
also on hand at Fisher Island. At the time, Marathon had left the yard,
but she had not yet made it to the East Coast, or undoubtedly she would have
attended the event.
April 10 to 15 marks the first annual Island Hop Rendezvous
benefiting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward County. It will be first come,
first served for several special days at both the Grand Bahama Yacht Club and
Chub Cay in the Bahamas. Save the date. You are invited. Take your wings or go
by water because this is one rendezvous where you can’t arrive on your wheels.
For more info and to make contributions to the Boys and Girls
Clubs of Broward County and the Admirals Boys and Girls Club Marine Academy call
954-563-2822, e-mail kbecker@bgcbc.org or visit www.bgcbc.org.
 Waterfront: At the Hop
Waterfront: Optimism Afloat
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