Yachting USA – August 2019

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INSIGHTS> TELLTALES

122 YACHTINGAUGUST2 0 1 9

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s i studied the

images from the

other side of the

planet, I thought

of my last chat with my pal Bill.

“It’s a milestone. There are im-

portant decisions to be made.

I must go,” he insisted prior to

embarking on a 24-hour fl ight

to the shipyard responsible for

his new build. ¶ “It’s like at-

tending a school play,” I joked.

(I knew better.) ¶ Milestone

moments in yachting, like the

one Bill was attending, do not

mark feats of technical inno-

vation or give honorable men-

tions for the fastest, longest

or most expensive hulls. They

are, instead, a series of celebra-

tory moments during a yacht’s

construction when the owner

agrees to write a check. They’re

typically spelled out in a con-

tract and are anticipated much

like the birth of a child. At least

by the builder. ¶ “I wanna see

what I’m paying for, in person,”

Bill said, arguing the other side.

¶ I’ve attended such milestones

as a designer, and I admit that

I often went to collect a check.

However, on occasion, I served

an owner as a witness. Fiber-

glass hulls burped from tooling.

Aluminum hulls rolled from

their bellies to their bottoms.

The delivery of engines. The

mating of hulls and superstruc-

tures. I’ve seen it all—mostly

all good; however, when things

sour, standing between a

claimed. A dynamometer

would off er proof, and a check

would follow. The engine was

bolted to t he “dy no” ( ba sic a l ly

a large, hydraulic brake) and

prepped for blastoff with fuel,

water, air and exhaust plumb-

ing. ¶ Hiding in a control room

behind a bulletproof-glass

payment and a yacht builder

can be unpleasant. ¶ In the

1980s, I was asked to observe

the testing of a custom-built,

16-cylinder diesel in a seedy

industrial area the owner did

not wish to visit. My mission

was to confi rm that the engine

produced the horsepower

barrier, the builder pushed

a green start button, and then

nervously applied throttle

and load. A clock-size gauge

on the wall shot upward: 200

hp shor t. He gave it a not her go,

but this time the engine went

to pieces. There was no need

to push the red stop button.

The builder and I looked at

the remains, and then at each

other. It was an uncomfort-

able moment. I recall feeling

sorry for him, but then again,

I was suff ering the onset of

Stockholm syndrome. ¶ I

thought of the experience as

I reviewed a shot of Bill’s hull

swaddled in a cradle on the

shop fl oor. The superstruc-

ture sat nearby. ¶ “What do

ya thin k , Coyle? Look s g reat,

doesn’t she?” Bill gushed.

¶ “Her sheer sweep is perfect

and not a freckle. Wonderful,”

I off ered. ¶ In truth, new con-

struction shots are like baby

pictures. I have yet to see one

quite as perfect as the ones

penned on Gerber baby-chow

jars. ¶ But, at Bill’s insistence,

I considered the last image:

the head compartment still

on the shop fl oor. Bill was sit-

ting on a box where the water

closet would be plumbed, to

off er scale. ¶ “A hhh...plenty

of ventilation?” I quipped.

¶ “Don’t BS me, Coyle. What

do you really think?” he asked.

¶ “OK,” I said. “In my opinion,

the builder wants a check.”

MONEY MATTERS

Building a dream yacht and

writing the checks that go with it. by jay coyle

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He gave it another go, but this time the

engine went to pieces. There

was no need to push the red stop button.