If Money Was No Object!

[MikeP]

A quote out of the Hargrave Yacht site:

Jack Hargrave set the standard for American yachtsmen and represented the best in design, engineering and planning. Jack’s designs were the basis for such yachts as Hatteras, Burger and Rybovich. Hargrave went on to design more than 75 powerboats for Hatteras, producing more than 6,000 yachts. All totaled, he designed over 250 yachts, which recently resulted to Jack Hargrave being inducted into the NMMA Hall of Fame. His influence on yacht design was legendary and carries forward into the yachts we see today.

It's a shame his influence wasn't sufficient to preclude this:

 

[GaryNW]

Hargrave also appears to have done some Feadships. I looked at a 53' Hatteras MY in Poulsbo Wa last year. As I was leaving the marina, I spotted another Hatteras about 400' away. Looked like the 53' only larger. A later check of YW revealed that it was a 65' Feadship (steel, of course). Must be one of the smallest Feadships. She was in beautifull shape from the pictures and writeup. Asking price under 500K.
Gary

 

[jim rosenthal]

Yes, he did. At the risk of being repetitive, I highly recommend the Jack Hargrave biography, which is called "American Classic", by Marilyn Mower. At one time in my life I wanted to write a history of Hatteras Yachts, as a retirement project. Well, Ms. Mower has set the bar on books of this kind, and it will be extraordinarily difficult to jump over. Her book is a masterpiece. I'm not so sure I want to attempt anything like that any more.

 

[MikeP]

Jim,

After reading your post here and then your favorable review on Amazon, I one-clicked the book!

 

[nor'easter]

I have been watching this thread with a smile and really wanted to think about it. I think I would do what I want to do anyway, buy an older (mature ) 53-60 Hatt C and give her all the TLC she needed. I suppose it goes without saying that I would work less and and run her all over the place.
For a bit later in life, I like the Cape Horn suggestion, but I think I would go with a 62 Nordhavn, and would be less likely to need a crew....who knows though, maybe I would want one anyway.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

After reading the Hargrave biography, it now has a permanent place on the coffee table. I still pick it up from time to time mostly to look at the pictures. There are some beautiful yachts in there.

 

[SeaEric]

The Hargrave biography is a beautiful book and well worth the space on anyone's coffee table. Particularly if you own a Hargrave designed yacht, which I do. My copy of this wonderful volume was a gift from and is autographed by Dr. Jim Rosenthal. It is one of the most thoughtful gifts that I have received in recent times. Thanks again, Jim!

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

but I think I would go with a 62 Nordhavn, and would be less likely to need a crew....who knows though, maybe I would want one anyway.[/QUOTE]

Someone said my second favorite boat Nordhaven only because by the time your on your third big boat you've screamed at everyone so much you got no crew left, and the fuel/rainge is the best, can't wait till the kids are done with school..

ps: I'm back from the keys

 

[jim rosenthal]

You are quite welcome! I still read the Hargrave book from time to time. I have been thinking about this "money is no object question" for a few days now, and what I would do as far as a boat goes if money were not an object. And I think I have figured out the answer...

I like my current boat a lot, I don't really need anything any bigger. And it would hurt to part with it, because she's been a good friend to me for a long time. So.....if money were NO object, what I would want is a different kind of yacht, for different uses. And keep Blue Note. After all, money is no object...I can have two boats...

I would find a unique Jack Hargrave design, and have it restored. A 65-75 foot MY, maybe a little larger but not much, from Burger or Feadship or whomever. Or a Series I 70 Hatteras, but I think I would try to find one of the custom boats. This would serve several needs: I'd have a really magnificent MY for me to cruise around in, I'd be preserving a singular piece of work by a great designer, and also helping keep alive skills that benefit all of us. And pumping a lot of kilodollars into some local economy someplace...

Not to mention getting rid of some of those excess Ben Franklins that I would be awash in, if money were no object......

 

[SeaEric]

There has been no greater invention for the transfer of wealth from the property class to the working class than the Yacht.

 

[Freebird]

There has been no greater invention for the transfer of wealth from the property class to the working class than the Yacht.

Hey Eric,

That's very profound! I for one have never had any problem with second hand toys where someone else paid the price to have a "new" toy for one year. I'm happy they paid for the depreciation. Saved money spends just as well as made money!

 

[Gunsmoke]

Free: But money is no object!!!!!!! You have had at least 15 boats if I read your posts correctly. Sooo, I'm really curious what you would buy, (or how many?) if you were woth 100 million.

 

[Freebird]

Free: But money is no object!!!!!!! You have had at least 15 boats if I read your posts correctly. Sooo, I'm really curious what you would buy, (or how many?) if you were woth 100 million.

Hey Steve,

I know I'm only supposed to dream in Hatteras on this site, but if money were truly no object I would have to opt for a Christensen (sp?). Word is they are going to start building these things in Tennessee very close to where I live.

I saw one of these things (155 footer, "Liquidity") pass my house on the way to a UT football game a couple of years ago. I'm a pretty good judge as to length (I could cover a classic 53MY running the channel with my thumb from the sun room, this one took 3 thumbs!), and when I saw this puppy headed upstream, I yelled at the wife "come look at this @#$%*ing boat". We loaded up in our deck boat and chased it. It sure was pretty. It even made the local news. It was so damn big they used a 45 Sea Ray as a tender to ferry folks to the dock to watch the game! This was the ultimate in-your-face one-upmanship display of a UT alumni to date!

So there you have it. Trouble is if I bought one of these things (in my dreams), nobody would play with me because they would think I was stuck up or something. I'd still just be an old country boy who was in the right place at the right time, and I'd still be blasting some Skynyrd off the bridge. Hell, if I had that kind of money, I'd have Skynyrd playing live on the deck! Free beer for everybody!!!

 

[Liquid Asset]

Randy,

When you get your Christianseen, I want to drive it

 

[Freebird]

Randy,

When you get your Christianseen, I want to drive it

You drive it, you fuel it, you wash it, you wax it, you get it? Hey, this is my dream, get your own! You brokers try to horn in on everything!

 

[Paul45c]

I was on a 155' Christensen about 4 years ago. Pretty darned impressive. It was my first time on a real megayacht. Wow, I'll tell you what -- you'll never find a fantasy house anywhere in the world as finely finished on the inside as you will one of those. The aft part of the main salon going fwd to the dining area had about a radiused 90 degree bend to starboard on the stb side...it probably took about 4 or 5 linear feet to make that curve, to give you some idea. It was thick mahogany paneling, with what must have been about a full 1/4 inch of gloss finish on it. And you have some idea the size of a salon on a vessel that size. I've never seen anything like it since.

The heads had some kind of mirror-polished stainless steel inlay set into the marble on the sole...just wild. And the lighting alone looked like it was many tens of BigBoatBucks.

What definitely ranked high on the coolness factor was the full metalworking shop aft of the engine room. That compartment was first in from the transom, complete with lathes & milling machines. And hospital white cabinets you could eat off. Next up fwd was the engine room, with what I thought were very modestly powered MTU's. If I remember correctly they were somewhere in the 1300 or 1500 hp neighborhood. So, needless to say, that engine room had enough room around those things to hold a party in. What a mechanic's dream, since you've got acres of space AND floor panels that all pull up to give you all the access in the world. Little different from crawling around 6v92s in a 45c's nether parts!

Still, enough of this heresy talking other brands. Stick to Hatties!!!!

 

[Paul45c]

Sounds like we've got ourselves a Hatteras rendevous in the making. Should this be a new thread to see who's in?

Right on, Ang. If there isn't one there by now, I'll post it.

 

[Freebird]

I was on a 155' Christensen about 4 years ago.

Hey Paul,

I wonder if it was the same boat (Liquidity)? I would have asked for a tour when I saw that one coming (and going), but with the crew wearing those fancy uniforms, I figured they'd have guns too!

Liquidity was used in Christensen's advertising and was later listed for sale (aren't they ALL for sale?). I did look at pictures, and while I'm sure they all share some common characteristics, sounds like you may have been on that one!

Hey Doc,

How bout sending me one of those Hargrave books like you sent SeaEric? I haven't talked bad about anybody or used bad words or nothing for days now. That book would make a dandy prize and give me even more incentive to behave!

 

[Paul45c]

Hey Paul,

I wonder if it was the same boat (Liquidity)? I would have asked for a tour when I saw that one coming (and going), but with the crew wearing those fancy uniforms, I figured they'd have guns too!

Liquidity was used in Christensen's advertising and was later listed for sale (aren't they ALL for sale?). I did look at pictures, and while I'm sure they all share some common characteristics, sounds like you may have been on that one!

Sorry, pal, don't recall the name. I was struck speechless, though, when they told me the boat at that time was only 18 mos. old, and already the owner had his next one on order. He was moving up to a 157'! Yeah, I guess that $24MM 155 was just slumming it too much, and that extra 2' was really going to make the difference for him. I get it. Geez, in 18 mos. I still hadn't gone all the way through my 45c's systems enough to say I really knew my boat. And not for lack of trying! I'll bet even the crew on that 155' hadn't been certain places on the boat before they traded up.

 

[Freebird]

Paul,

This wasn't the boat. Liquidity as I recall cost over $30 million with all that imported marble and stuff. The PO is buying a bigger Christensen too according to a newspaper article in Knoxville News Sentinel!

Maybe he was afraid he wouldn't be the biggest boat at the next UT homecoming game. Couldn't have that now, could we?