In seafaring tradition, the ringing of eight bells pays respect to a deceased sailor. It signifies that his or her “watch” is over. Several watches in the yachting industry ended this year—far too soon, at that. Indeed, while many a person’s passing leaves colleagues and admirers at a loss for words, 2018 seemed to hit…
When Sean McMillan established Spirit Yachts a quarter century ago, his philosophy was, “Design and build the most beautiful yacht people have ever seen.” Since that time, its fleet of wooden yachts has expanded into superyacht territory, encompassing power and sail, too. In fact, the Spirit 111 (below), launching next year, is among the largest…
UPDATE, FEBRUARY 5, 2019: Sanlorenzo has hired Carla Demaria as CEO of Bluegame, which builds powerboats popular as chase boats, fishing boats, and daycruisers. Sanlorenzo acquired Bluegame last year. Read on for our original story. Beneteau S.A., the parent company of Monte Carlo Yachts, has removed Carla Demaria as the head of the Italian…
Few people launch new businesses nearly halfway through their lives. Dave Christensen did that at age 50, establishing Christensen Shipyards. The founder of one of America’s best-known megayacht builders died last week at age 87 in Washington State, after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Unlike many in yachting, Christensen wasn’t born into a maritime family….
A combination of longtime shipyard executives as well as customers now runs Southern Wind Shipyard. This follows the sudden death of the shipyard’s founder just last month. Willy Persico, who established the shipyard in South Africa in 1991, died on May 12. According to a statement from Southern Wind today, Persico had already mapped out…
PHOTOS: Mike Jones Several weeks after new ownership took over, Oyster Yachts has added Eddie Jordan, a high-profile auto-racing and yacht-owning figure, to its board. Furthermore, it’s added Rob Humphreys, a well-known yacht designer. Oyster Yachts re-emerged with entrepreneur Richard Hadida at the helm in March. This followed the company suddenly going into administration the…
With broad international experience, Jan Timmerman is taking the helm at Royal Huisman, effective on August 1. Timmerman recently served as managing director and president of a company in the aluminum business. He also held similar roles at a lighting-solutions supplier to both luxury architectural projects as well as original equipment manufacturers. In addition, Timmerman has…
Just in time for this week’s Miami Yacht Show, sister shipyards Baglietto and CCN have a new sales manager for the Americas. He’s Grant Colin Henderson. Henderson, based in the Fort Lauderdale office, is no stranger to yachting. He’s also no stranger to Italian shipyards. For example, just prior to joining Baglietto and CCN, he…
Antony Brian Hambrook, known throughout the yachting industry as Tony Hambrook, who helped take Alloy Yachts to prominence, died this week. He was 71 years old. Born in August 1946 in New Zealand, Hambrook grew up in Motueka, a small rural town at the top of the country’s South Island. In his father’s engineering workshop, he…
After 20 years of overseeing the shipyard, Moonen Shipyards’ managing director Emile Bilterijst has stepped down. Johan Dubbelman (below), who has been with the shipyard for 16 years, is the interim CEO. Bilterijst has a long career in the marine industry. After studying naval architecture at Delft University in The Netherlands, he went on to…
