2009 Benetti Platinum

Boat Type: Megayacht (> 80')
Standard Power: 2/2,250-hp MTU V-12 396 inboards
Length Overall (LOA): 164'0"
Beam: 29'7"
Draft: 7'11"
Weight: (half load) 437 tons
Fuel Capacity: 21,133 gallons
Water Capacity: 3,170 gallons
Cabins: 1 master, 2 VIP, 3 guest
Construction: Steel hull and aluminum superstructure
Classifications: ABS MCA LY2
Genset: 1/155-kW and 1/115-kW Northern Lights
Watermakers: 2/3,170-gpd HEMs
Air conditioning: Condaria 720,000 BTUs
Windlass: Muir
Stabilizers: Quantum QC-1500P
Exterior paint: Awlgrip
Interior design: Benetti
Similar, but different; familiar, yet unique. Platinum may be the latest in Benetti’s Golden Bay series (Hull No. 8) but she is, of course, a totally custom build. It is only from the basic elements of her plan and profile that you can tell she is a member of the family. In every other respect she is absolutely her own mistress.

Launched last fall, she made her first public appearance at September’s Cannes Boat Show and enjoyed the ultimate gratification of being the debutante who’s the center of attention. She was the largest yacht there—by a considerable margin—and dominated the show’s superyacht quay at the seaward side of the harbor with regal poise.

Built for an experienced owner and long-standing Benetti customer, Platinum was designed from the outset with the comfort of guests in mind. “A yacht should be luxurious, something which inspires you. Ordinary life is boring brown,” he said. A superyacht holiday is arguably the ultimate holiday, and a guest on one has to feel ultra-special. Accordingly, the owner worked closely with Benetti’s design team to create an interior that has more than a touch of the Palais de Versailles about it, with French-influenced detailing in the fine woodwork—mostly burr oak, tinted to different shades—the bolster-end sofas, and ruched curtains. Even the neo-classical table lamps have a touch of Sevres about them, and each of the guest bathrooms features a different Italian marble, including some rare, black Portoro and beautifully veined white Carrara.

A Slice of Sicilian Fly

Length overall: 76'2"
Beam: 19'3"
Accommodations: 2 queens berths and 4 twin berths; 1 double and 2 twins for crew
Standard engines: 2/1,572-hp Caterpillar C32 diesel inboards
Built in Aicon's Giammoro factory in Messina on the Island of Sicily, the 75 Fly has styling that is distinctly Italian, from her lines to her leather. But her most prominent feature is an extended radar arch overhang that shades her flying bridge. With the push of a button, the canvas in the middle of the overhang retracts, letting light spill onto both the center helm and onto the sunpads that form a semicircle around the console. The captain does not have a chair but rather a divan that's formed into the front of the wet bar (which has a barbecue). Aft of this there's a wide, forward-facing, C-shape settee, and aft of that is a davit and enough room for a tender.

The Italian styling continues inside. Symmetrically arranged along the centerline are dual leather settees that form a lounge area. A full-beam step is low enough that it doesn't impede movement into the dining room, which has a glass table that easily seats eight. A pass-through window allows food to be served from the amidships galley without disturbing guests. Of course, if you don't want to eat inside, take your dinner to the bow, where you can set it on a wooden table between the sunpads.

Aicon 85

Boat Type: Megayacht (> 80')
Length Overall (LOA): 85'3"
Beam: 21'"
Accomodations: 1 king, 1 queen, 4 single berths, 1 double captain's berth
Standard engines: 2/1,825-hp Caterpillar C32 ACERT diesel inboards
Just five years ago Aicon made a big splash with its debut model, a 56-foot, flying-bridge cruiser. Well-received at the 2001 Genoa boat show, the 56 was named “International Boat of the Year” at the 2002 Cannes boat show in France and helped establish the Italian yard as a promising new builder in a competitive field.

Aicon hopes the accolades will continue with its new flagship, the 85. Built in Sicily at the company’s Villafranca Tirrena facility, she retains design cues seen on the 72-footer, such as the pair of large, raked side windows. Also note the three large Nemo hatches in her hull sides that open to bring in ocean breezes as well as light.

The 85’s expansive, teak-sole flying bridge is an alfresco tour de force. An electrically activated canvas top covers the area just aft of the helm, where there is seating for several guests on an L-shape settee and a wet bar with standard barbecue, ice maker, and refrigerator/ freezer. With the top closed, it’s an ideal shady spot. Guests who choose to bask in the sun can catch some rays at a settee to starboard of the helm or stretch out on the sunpad abaft of the seating area. Adjacent to the sunpad is a standard Jacuzzi tub for four, and farther aft, there’s space for a dinghy up to 16 feet, complete with standard davit.

2005 Aicon 64

BOAT SPECIFICATIONS
Boat Type: Cruiser
Base Price: $2,398,500
Standard Power: 2/1,350-hp MAN D2842 LE404 diesel inboards
Optional Power: none
Length Overall (LOA): 69'3"
Beam: 17'4"
Draft: 4'11"
Weight: 79,500 lbs.
Fuel Capacity: 965 gal.
Water Capacity: 260 gal.
Standard Equipment: high-gloss cherry or art deco interior; leather helm seat; Alcantara lounge in saloon; central vacuum; teak swim platform; 30" flat-panel TV w/Bose Lifestyle 28 Surround Sound system; 15" flat-panel TV w/Bose 321 system and DVD in master stateroom; Reverso oil-change system; raised radar mount; 13.5-hp Sidepower bow thruster
Test Engines: 2/1,350-hp MAN D2842 LE404 diesel inboards
Transmissions / Ratio: ZF/1.219:1
Props: 37x51 4-blade Radice nibral
Steering: BCS hydraulic
Controls: MAN single-lever electronic
Optional Equipment On Test Boat: 75,000-Btu Condaria chilled-water A/C; barbecue grill, U-line ice maker, and Vitrofrigo fridge on flying bridge; bimini top; crew quarters including outfitting, head, and A/C; VIP and guest staterooms; Bosch washer/dryer; Raymarine electronics package with 631 chartplotter, ST8001 autopilot, RL70C radar, RL80CRC, 530 plotter, 2/240 VHFs, ST290 Tridata, 120 WAAS GPS
Price As Tested: $2,469,800
Conditions: temperature: 80º; humidity: 64%; wind: 10-15 mph; seas: 2' to 4' swell; load: 165 gal. fuel, 200 gal. water, 12 persons, 1,000 lbs. gear. Speeds are two-way averages measured w/Stalker radar gun. GPH taken from MAN electronic fuel-monitoring system. Range: 90% of advertised fuel capacity. Decibels measured on A scale. 65 dB-A is the level of normal conversation. All measurements taken with trim tabs fully retracted.

How does a builder come to design and construct boats that can not only plane in reverse but also account for hundreds of world-record saltwater catches, particularly in the light-tackle-angling field? Well, start with a mid-life crisis, naturally. At least that’s how Buddy Gentry, half of the team that is Freeport, Florida’s G&S Boats, did it. (Steve Sauer, Gentry’s partner and an engineer by trade, is the other half.)

Gentry started off as a charter boat captain out of Destin, Florida, but sometime in the early 1970’s he had an epiphany of sorts. He thought it would be great to earn a living by building boats. So he took a job with a local company constructing fiberglass 38-footers during the winter. “I worked for minimum wage to learn,” Gentry says.

By 1973, the fisherman-turned-part-time boatbuilder decided to give this new business a full-time effort. He and Sauer started by building molds for a 30-footer. Gentry admits that while the experience helped the duo hone their skills, they didn’t get a lot of satisfaction out of building production boats.

Cosmic Muffin

While many boats over the years have pridefully claimed to be distinctive and unique, the Cosmic Muffin can truly be considered an historic one-of-a-kind amalgam of a rare aircraft and novel vessel. This most unusual plane-boat has created its share of interest and amazement over the years and even some car accidents.

No other watercraft, before or since, has ever been constructed from a land-based airplane, especially one with such a rich legacy as an historic aircraft owned by a true legend, Howard Hughes, only to be rediscovered years later as a boat by timeless troubadour Jimmy Buffett, musician, author and avid pilot.

The craft has been extensively restored by current owner Dave Drimmer, left in photo, and Jeff Gibbs, at the right.