PHOTOS: STEPHEN CRIDLAND
If you’ve been around yachts a while, surely you recognize the name John Rosatti (pictured below, with his family). The native New Yorker, a businessman who met with success in auto sales, has owned a handful of megayachts over the years. They’re a long ways from the Cigarette boats he enjoyed racing in the late 1970s, but they let him enjoy time on the water with friends and family all the same.
His latest megayacht, Remember When, keeps the tradition going. The 162-footer was delivered a few months ago by Christensen Shipyards and is largely based on his previous experience with the yard’s builds. Specifically, Rosatti has owned the 157-foot Nice N Easy (commissioned as Liquidity in 2005) for about five years. Rosatti says that the frequent cruises aboard that yacht in the Med, the Caribbean, and the East Coast of the USA convinced him the layout was ideal. He also liked Christensen’s approach to composite construction and the lower maintenance costs involved versus metal yachts.
Remember When showcases many of the same elements that Rosatti liked about Nice N Easy. There’s bookmatched black walnut paneling throughout the yacht’s interior, for example, including the six staterooms. The sundeck is the place to be for alfresco drinks and snacks, thanks to a bar, barstools, and a settee with a table. Of course, there’s also a Jacuzzi up here, too. The main differences come in the form of the extra LOA, some stonework designs (done in house by Christensen), styling features, and technical systems.
Styling-wise, if you look at Remember When and Nice N Easy side by side, the wheelhouse windows reveal a change. Nice N Easy has raked glass, much like all the yachts Christensen built prior to the mid-2000s. By contrast, the wheelhouse windows aboard Remember When are vertical. She’s the second Christensen to include this design (Casino Royale was the first). It’s worth noting that the yard plans to continue equipping its semi-custom yachts with this look, which betters visibility for the captain and crew.
On the technical side, Remember When employs a significant first for Christensen, a station-keeping system. The yard’s in-house project-management team worked with Ocean Yacht Systems, a UK-based firm that customizes everything from rigging to hydraulics and thrusters for both power and sailing yachts. Together, they devised a system using bow and stern thrusters of 100 hp apiece that are linked to Remember When’s GPS. This permits the captain to keep the yacht close on to a specific setting. It’s also capable of pushing the yacht along at upwards of 3 knots. Since the stern thruster extends about four feet below the yacht’s bottom when the system is engaged, Christensen and OYS took steps to prevent damage. The thruster therefore retracts once the yacht hits 5 knots of vessel speed, when under the main engines’ power.
Speaking of power, Remember When features twin 1,770-hp MTU M90 engines, which reportedly permit a 16-knot top end. Rosatti put the speed range to good use upon delivery, cruising down the West Coast to Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Galapagos. Remember When also traversed the Panama Canal to reach the East Coast prior to her debut at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October.
In Rosati’s estimation, Christensen builds “one of the best boats in the world.” Here’s more of Remember When.
UPDATE: John Rosatti emailed to say he christened the yacht at the just-completed Showboats International Boys & Girls Clubs Rendezvous in Palm Beach, Florida. He did so with the help of his children Angela, Crystal, and Adam. The festivities concluded with fireworks.
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