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Abeking & Rasmussen

Excellence III Capt. Ray Shore refers to Excellence III as "big for her size". It's an apt phrase, as the new 188-foot motoryacht from Abeking & Rasmussen carries more interior volume than expected. Her hull lines run aft from amidships with little taper, and her superstructure has minimal tumblehome. Such a combination might have left her looking a bit boxy, but designer Donald Starkey included enough curves and recesses to avoid that problem. Starkey's talent also shows in the la...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:09:34 - Viewed 138 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Abeking & Rasmussen 188

The first thing I noticed as I approached Excellence III, docked stern-to along the ancient stone wall surrounding the harbor in Antibes, France, was Old Glory flying at the center of her wide stern. The 188-foot motoryacht was designed in England by Donald Starkey and built in Germany by Abeking & Rasmussen, but owner Herb Chambers is a proud American and wanted her registered in the States, a rare thing for a yacht of this size. Inside the main deck foyer, I was greeted by a bald eagl...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:09:52 - Viewed 80 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Abeking & Rasmussen 130

Alithia is her owner's first-ever boat, commissioned by the young German businessman for an extended world cruise with his wife and children. His goal was to create a hands-on learning adventure for the entire family. Every detail aboard the 130-foot yacht reflects this purpose, and the owner's take on life. "Everything superfluous has to go, the owner wrote for the yacht's Web site. Translated from its Greek origins, the name Alithia means truth, or truthful one. "And it is true,...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:10:10 - Viewed 98 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Activa 52/55

I'm sorry can you spell that again?" A-C-T-I-V-A. Hmm, I had never heard of the brand, and it's my job to know about as many boats and builders as possible. Sigh. Maybe I was washed up-already a has-been in the world of boat testing. I was pretty sure there are no convalescent homes for the likes of me. I needed to bounce back and get on track. I decided to do a little investigative reporting to find out some of the background of this new builder. A few calls turned up the fact that there is not...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:10:51 - Viewed 64 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Affinity 90

There is a misconception of the effectiveness of any large sportfisherman that's been rumbling around the underbelly of the world's docks ever since convertibles began creeping over the 70-foot mark. One such badly sourced concept is that a boat this size lacks the Jack-Be-Nimble quickness to properly fight a fish. Well, I'm here to tell you that our sea trial of the Affinity 90 proved these worries baseless. This battlewagon is a gorgeous and luxurious long-range sportfisherman created by the A...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:11:51 - Viewed 71 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Cruising the Caribbean on an Aicon 64 Flybridge

It's not every guy that would take his kids out of school and set out with them on a new boat without any previous experience at the helm. Add to that the fact that Steve Berman's boat is not a trawler or a sailboat but an Aicon 64, and it may seem downright crazy. Berman bought Tokase in August of 2008, with the idea of using her for short, two- to three-day trips from Los Cabos, Mexico, where he lives, eventually chartering her out for similar adventures. "I like sexy boats, fast boa...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:12:47 - Viewed 63 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Aicon Yachts 52

Owners Heather and Clarke Hill greeted me as I boarded the Aicon 52 via her passarelle. Standing with them in the cockpit was Marc-Udo Broich, president of Aicon Yachts USA. All beamed with excitement as they fawned over the first of this model to be off-loaded on American shores. The builder refers to the 52 as a fast, European-style motoryacht, and after spending the better part of a day aboard, it is clear that owners who select an Aicon yacht will benefit from the builder's expertise in inte...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:13:05 - Viewed 88 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Aicon 56

With the success mainstream Italian yacht builders have found on our shores, I suppose it was only a matter of time before a young Italian upstart would shake things up a bit. For the past 15 years, Aicon has been building interiors for other Italian yacht builders and, in the process, become familiar with the demands of the American market. The company began building boats just 21/2 years ago, and recently established a beachhead in the United States with Aicon USA. Its first offering, a 56-foo...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:13:16 - Viewed 62 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Albury 27

On Man-O-War Cay folks work from "can-till-can't" but change comes slowly in the Bahamas. That is why news of a new Albury boat design is something of a milestone. Willard Albury and his sons have built hundreds of boats over the years for local watermen and the rental trade. For many years, patient American yachtsmen waited in queue to claim ownership of an Albury-built boat. Now the wait is almost over because the Albury 20, Albury 23, and a new 27 are being built in the U.S. I remember eyebal...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:14:48 - Viewed 70 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Home Grown in the Abacos

Willard Albury is the sort of boatbuilder that you don't come across much anymore. He does not think of boats in terms of units or direct his company from a mahogany desk; passionate about his work, he puts in his hours on the shop floor. But don't think of him as cooped up, for Albury Brothers Boatbuilding's "plant" is on the water-in the Abacos, of all places. Its large work bays open onto a speck of earth in the sea that may very well be the most pleasant and beautiful place on the planet. Al...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:15:11 - Viewed 72 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Alloy Yachts 130

Are you trimmed in? helmsman Hank Halstead called from the after cockpit aboard Victoria of Strathearn. She sailed naked of her dodger and bimini tops as we diced for position at the start of race three of the Classic Yacht Regatta off Antigua. Even absent these accoutrements of cruising, Victoria hid her head sails behind the massive main, out of sight from the centerline helm. Hand signals and verbal communication were very important. On many thoroughbred racing boats, the helms...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:15:53 - Viewed 67 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Alloy Yachts 173 Salperton and 134 Harlequin

When Alloy delivered Salperton this spring, she was the largest pleasure craft ever built in New Zealand and represented the fruitful collaboration between her designer, Ed Dubois, and her builder. Some trivia of note: Her carbon ketch rig spreads 26,000 square feet of sail downwind, 100 kilometers (about 65 miles) of wiring runs through her innards, and she has 100,000 electrical terminations. Completing her took about 400,000 hours. More important, though, is the subtle beauty of her...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:16:17 - Viewed 69 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Altima 60 Pilothouse

As we idled out of Liberty Landing Marina in New Jersey, the whole crew was on the flying bridge of the Altima 60 Pilothouse, eager to take in the sights of the Manhattan waterfront as we started our two-day cruise up the Hudson. We didn't have to wait long to see it-the towers and canyons of the city loomed large, some with tops obscured by low-scudding clouds, directly across from the harbor entrance. Waves of rain blowing in from the southeast and patchy fog also greeted us, but nothing could...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:17:17 - Viewed 68 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Altima 45 Euro Sedan

Every boat we test leaves an impression in our minds, sort of mental reference points like the labels on a file folder. “Oh, yeah, that was the boat with the extra-large shower,” or “I know, that’s the one with the unique galley.” In the case of the Altima 45 Euro Sedan, I have three reference tabs as reminders: a huge upper deck, gracefully curving stairs from the cockpit to the bridge, and the engineroom. Let’s take a look at the engineroom first, because th...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:17:29 - Viewed 60 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Altima 61

Frank Sciortino, the importer of Altima yachts, Tom Hindson, the Altima sales manager, and I were sitting around chatting about the various features of the new Altima 61 Motoryacht. The fact that we happened to be sitting in the engineroom gives away part of the story. The space is simply huge for a yacht of this size. What intrigued me, once I got past the full standing headroom and the superb access, was the absence of the usual stabilizer mechanisms. There was room for them, but I couldn't fi...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:18:03 - Viewed 90 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More

Altima 55 Pilothouse

It's been said that a sea trial should be like a woman's skirt: short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover everything. If that's the case, I knew within minutes of clearing the breakwaters off Ft. Lauderdale that the Altima 55 was going to be a very likable yacht. It was one of those flawless Florida days: A cold front had passed, leaving warm sun and a clear sky. But the breeze lingering from the front had muscle in it, so when we reached the sea buoy, we were punching into a mish...
Posted on 12.01.2012 15:22:33 - Viewed 70 times - Category: Boat Brand Read More