Motor Boat & Yachting February 2022

The world of boats has an infinite capacity to surprise. Every time I think I’ve seen it all, someone comes up with entirely fresh take on an idea. This issue is brim full of them. Just look at the photograph above. It’s taken in the saloon of a boat commissioned by David Healey, the grandson of the man behind the legendary Austin Healey sportscars. He liked the idea of being able to helm with the wind in his hair but didn’t want the hassle or looks of a flybridge deck. So he came up with another solution – a pair of giant telescopic helm chairs complete with throttles and joystick on the armrests and an oversized sunroof protected by a discreet aeroscreen. It sounds utterly daft until you actually use…

In the pantheon of classic British sportscars, the Austin Healey 3000 rightly deserves a spot alongside other automotive giants such as the Jaguar E-Type and Aston Martin DB5. With its rorty 3-litre straight-six engine and iconic twotone paintwork, it perfectly captured the spirit of the 1960s. Now the Healey name is back, but this time on a boat instead of a car. The Mulder Healey is the brainchild of Donald Healey’s grandson, David Healey, and the result is every bit as pretty as one of his grandfather’s cars. With styling by Guido de Groot, naval architecture by Vripack, and constructed in aluminium by the Mulder yard in Holland, it has the pedigree and the style to do justice to its illustrious forebear. We join its owner on a sea trial…

1 RETURN OF THE PHANTOM Fairline is bringing back the Phantom name for a new range of stylish sportsfly models. First to arrive will be this Phantom 65 ready for a global debut in September at the 2022 Cannes Yachting Festival. Based on the technical platform of the Targa 65, but with a revised windowline and a new deck and superstructure, it will compete in the same market as the Princess S66 and Sunseeker 65 Sports Yacht. The renderings show a wonderfully clean design with a single fluid styling line sweeping up past the windscreen into a compact sportsbridge before evolving into a low-level radar arch. The outside spaces appear to deliver a finely judged balance between sleek lines and practicality. The sportsbridge looks a particularly smart piece of design, barely detracting from…

The wind was whipping hard against the side of the car as I thumbed the heated seat and the engine start buttons (in that order) and pointed its long bonnet toward Darthaven Marina. It was still dark, the lift out being booked for 08:15, and I was relieved than my friend Steve (friends since primary school – almost half a century ago!) and I had run Smuggler’s Blues 2 around to the River Dart a fortnight before on a calm crisp autumnal day. ‘Sea state moderate to rough’ said the forecast. Definitely not the state of affairs on the river, fortunately. There’s something grimly satisfying about an out of season trip on one’s own. A personal battle against the elements perhaps, although it’s hardly Edmund Hilary taking on Everest. First job…

RISTORANTE MICHELANGELO RYDE Looking back, my earliest recollection of an Italian restaurant dates back to the early 1970s and a trip to Sicily. Located in faded premises L at the less-than-salubrious end of Palermo’s docks, our host felt the need to go ahead to ask if women were allowed in. The restaurateur must have agreed as we were soon being treated to a veritable feast served on a plastic tablecloth. With empty Chianti bottles swinging from the ceiling, fanned by the Mediterranean breeze, our steaks were presented to the table before cooking to ensure we approved of the maître d’s choice of cut. Nobody dared disagree with him. The experience has since coloured my mental image of Italian restaurants. I’m hopelessly trapped in the romance of it all – somewhere between culinary…

LOA 82ft 3in (25.1m) BEAM 19ft 11in (6.1m) ENGINES Twin MAN 1,650hp/1,900hp TOP SPEED 31 knots PRICE from TBA CONTACT www.princessyachts.com The X95 has been a roaring success for Princess and the Plymouth-based yard will be Thoping to emulate that with the launch of the second model in its Superfly range, the X80. Weighing in at around 72 tonnes with a half load and measuring just over 80ft LOA, the X80 was designed by Princess, Olesinski Design and Pininfarina, with the same principles in mind that made the X95 flagship such a runaway success. Key to the X80’s appeal is the semi-enclosed top deck which incorporates the helm station at its forward end and a sky lounge that leads out to an aft deck complete with a large dinette, wetbar and two low-slung…