One hundred issues ago – cover date February 1989 – when
ShowBoats
International launched in its present incarnation as the
journal of record for the luxury yacht industry, the world of big-boat building
was a much smaller place. Everyone knew each other – owners, builders and
suppliers alike; and they knew all the yachts as well as they did their own
children. When they strolled the docks of Pier 66 in Fort Lauderdale or Port
Hercules in Monaco, they could quote the specifications of every significant
vessel in port, including when and where she was built, and the names of
everyone who’d owned her.
What a difference 16 years makes. Today, the luxury yacht
industry has grown into a multibillion-dollar juggernaut that nothing, not even
the present weakness of the dollar against the euro, seems to be able to slow
down. Now there are so many megayachts on the water that when you glimpse one
under way, it often takes a second look to place her.
The average size of the yachts themselves also has increased.
Back in ShowBoats’ early days, a motor yacht build over
200 feet was a rare occurrence. Now, the extreme projects are in the 400-foot
range, such as the 454-foot Lürssen Rising Sun. Yachts the size of our cover boat,
the 164-foot Codecasa Andale, are considered comfortable midrange
vessels – the perfect size for family cruising.
But, as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they
stay the same. Marilyn Mower’s nostalgic 100th issue retrospective, page 117,
clearly illustrates that. Many of the people and the yachts mentioned there are
still with us today. While some familiar names, like Technomarine, have gone,
most of those in operation when ShowBoats began are still thriving. Many have
formed partnerships and mergers, like the vast Ferretti Group. Some, like Palmer
Johnson, have fallen on hard times and then come roaring back – witness PJ’s
successful new 123-foot Raised Pilothouse Series Alter Ego, in this
issue.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a couple of déjà vu
experiences that brought me full circle with the February 1989 issue of
ShowBoats. I had lunch with Tom Lewis, the new owner of the once-acclaimed Fort
Lauderdale shipyard featured in that issue in Jim Gilbert’s story "Browards at
Play."
Lewis fell prey last fall to the old marine cliché, "I wanted
to buy a yacht and ended up with the shipyard," when he tried to purchase the
last 106-foot motor yacht building at Broward. But his business background as a
major real estate developer and contractor should stand him in good stead as he
revives the Broward brand. "We have a golden opportunity not to put the company
back on the feet it once was on, but to take it far beyond," he said.
I also joined John and Jeanette Staluppi for a run off Freeport
in their 140-foot Millennium The World Is Not Enough. Although the
twin-turbine-powered tri-deck motor yacht is capable of speeds well in excess of
60 knots, we were taking it easy due to rough seas. It was an extremely quiet
ride – so quiet, that I was surprised to look at the GPS and see it register 30
knots. A 50-foot Ocean sportfisherman struggled to keep pace alongside. "He’s to
the max," Staluppi chortled as we pulled ahead.
Staluppi’s competitive nature landed him on ShowBoats’ first
cover, above, with the 132-foot, 53-knot Octopussy. In 1992 he
launched the even faster 116-foot Moonraker. It’s owners like this whose love for
yachts and for the art and science of building them keeps our industry alive.
The luxury yacht industry may be a multibillion-dollar
business, but it’s still just a big family – one of which ShowBoats is very
proud to be a member.
 Underway: Class of 2004
December-January 2005
Waterfront: Sunshine State Series
Underway: Endless Summer
April 2007
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