U.S. senator to pay sales tax on yacht
U.S. Senator John Kerry will pay the state of Massachusetts $500,000 in sales tax for a yacht he purchased in Rhode Island earlier this year, according to a story by the Associated Press.
"We’ve reached out to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and made clear that, whether owed or not, we intend to pay the equivalent taxes as if the boat’s home-port were currently in Massachusetts," Kerry said in a statement released this afternoon. "That payment is being made promptly."
Sen. Kerry’s yacht, the 76-foot S/Y Isabel, is home ported at Newport Shipyard, though news reports say he uses it in the waters off Massachusetts, where he lives, in summer. Rhode Island has no state sales tax on boat purchases.
News reports have been critical not only of Sen. Kerry’s home port location, but also that he spent $7 million on a New Zealand-built boat when boat manufacturers in his home state need business.
To read more about the political situation surrounding Sen. Kerry’s boat and its taxes, click here.
Multihulls will stifle America’s Cup, says Origin boss
- Wed, 28 Jul 2010
- David Glenn
Sir Keith Mills is worried that if BMW Oracle choose multihulls, challengers will consider the America’s Cup competition unfair.
Sir Keith Mills, head of Team Origin Britain's America's Cup challenge believes that if holders BMW Oracle Racing choose a multihull for the next cup, few if any teams will want to challenge because "the playing field would no longer be level."
Because of the trimaran they used to win the Cup last February, BMW Oracle Racing (BMOR) would have two to three years' advantage in research and development and this, said Sir Keith, would be unfair. "No one is going to spend ten of millions if they don't have a chance of winning."
"We would prefer to have a monohull and six or seven of the other teams would also prefer a monohull," he said. He also claimed the majority of challengers wanted a monohull without the complexity and expense of a canting keel which is an option already published in the draught protocol for the next Cup.
He applauded BMW Oracle for examining way of making America's Cup competition more exciting, easier to understand and better suited to TV (read YachtingWorld.com's BMW Oracle's Vision for the America's Cup here) and during Cowes Week (31 July to 7 August) and the inaugural 1851 Cup sailed for against BMW Oracle, more experiments with cameras and onboard cameramen will conducted in an effort to find a way forward.
The Cowes Week event, which sees new sponsors Jaguar in their first regatta as Team Origin's most visible backer, will witness a considerable ramping up of America's Cup activity which Keith Mills hopes will re-engage the British public with the America's Cup.
At the Jaguar announcement today, reference was made to Origin's Ben Ainslie and BMOR's Jimmy Spithill as being the "Federer and Nadal" of Cup sailing which underlined the intention to bring more celebrity status to the sport.
"In the old days it was Conner then Russell (Coutts) but he is ready to step aside and we must bring on others," said Team Origin's Australian CEO Grant Simmer who was appointed in May.
Simmer, whose relaxed, considered style and immense knowledge from three America's Cups including being a key part of the Alinghi team, has brought stability to Team Origin who are clearly stepping things up prior to the key decisions about protocol, type of boat and locations being taken by BMOR this autumn.
Mills and Simmer told Yachting World that they were also delighted to hear that BMOR were prepared to delay final decisions if they felt that they had not quite got things right by the current deadlines. "That is good to hear," said Mills who is fearful that the wrong decisions will be taken if sufficient consultation is not forthcoming.
A concern is the lack of communication with the Challenger of Record Mascalzone Latino who, said Grant Simmer : "Don't respond to our emails."
The Challenger of Record is meant to represent the challengers in putting forward their ideas about how the next event is run but Mascalzone Lattino have been largely incommunicado which in turn has led to suspicions that BMOR will have less opportunity to hear from potential challengers.
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(Diane M. Byrne) on frontpage
Public uproar over the proposed Rybovich marina in Riviera Beach, Florida may lead to a formal ballot question in November. That is, if residents who are upset over city officials possibly granting commercial usage of submerged lands get their way.
According to an article in the Palm Beach Post, a group called the Riviera Beach Citizens Task Force aims to collect more than 2,000 signatures of registered city voters. A minimum of 2,053 signatures is required before officials can consider adding a question to November ballots. If the group is successful in obtaining the signatures by August 7, election officials will receive and review them for verification.
For the past several months, Rybovich has been in negotiations with Riviera Beach officials to establish a megayacht-refit yard there. When Rybovich and Riviera Beach officials publicly revealed the plans in May, a primary issue was whether the city could legally enter into the proposed 25-year lease of the southern part of the property. That’s because the state of Florida set aside submerged lands at the marina strictly for municipal park and recreational usage, and current laws do not include exceptions for leases.
The petition being circulated by the Riviera Beach Citizens Task Force and others states that the marina and its public municipal properties are to be owned, managed, and operated strictly by the city for public use, not industrial commercial use. According to the Palm Beach Post article, Emma Bates, the chairwoman of the Riviera Beach Citizens Task Force, likens the Rybovich lease proposal to “environmental racism.” “The people are waking up and realizing they have a voice,” she was also quoted as saying. “This way, everyone will get a chance to voice how they feel through their vote.”
High-profile officials are siding with the residents. Thomas Masters, the mayor of Riviera Beach, was quoted as saying, “People want to have the last word on how the marina’s developed. It’s not the mayor or the council who owns the property. It’s the people.” In addition, Priscilla Taylor, the Palm Beach County commissioner, wrote a letter to Governor Charlie Crist in June, reminding him that there aren’t many marinas with public access and prevent the city from converting the submerged lands. “I respectfully request that as you review the city’s request that you are mindful of the residents’ concern and not deviate from the original dedication,” she wrote.
27-Jul-10
The yacht brokerage industry made it into the mainstream press yesterday, July 26th, with the news from London that Edmiston Company had won its High Court legal case against Boris Berezovsky, the Russian businessman. Edmiston had been forced to challenge Mr Berezovsky over a commission they were owed following their sale of his 110m motor yacht Darius in 2008. Edmiston was joined in the High Court by broker Merle Wood of Merle Wood & Associates who’d worked alongside Edmiston in the sale.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Field found that Edmiston had been responsible for the sale of Darius, and that Mr Berezovsky should pay Edmiston their rightful commission. Commenting on the judgement, Edmiston said, “We were obviously extremely disappointed that we had to go to court over this matter; however, we are pleased with the ruling which has confirmed the key role we played in the sale of Darius.”
Built by Lürssen to a Tim Heywood design, Darius was sold for over € 240 million, making it the most expensive brokerage sale ever. She has since been renamed Radiant.
Edmiston & Company
T: +44 20 7495 5151
E:
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W: www.edmistoncompany.com
Merle Wood & Associates
Merle A. Wood III
T: +1 954 525 5111
E:
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W: www.merlewood.com
Radiant (Photo: Raphael Montigneaux)
Yacht captain at the helm during capture of Barefoot Bandit
From left, Capt. Ronald Billiot of M/Y Picasso, the yacht owner's son Jordan Sackett, and Capt. Pat Young of M/Y Sea Hawk after assisting Bahamian police in the capture of Colton Harris-Moore in the Bahamas.
Trailing a fleeing fugitive, Capt. Ronald Billiot navigated a boat loaded with gun-wielding Bahamian police through the dark near Harbour Island on July 11 in pursuit of the elusive Barefoot Bandit.
“Five minutes later and he would have been gone,” Billiot said of the tracking and capture of Colton Harris-Moore, the 19-year-old man police have been searching for since 2008.
Harris-Moore is wanted in connection with some 70 robberies and thefts in at least seven states between Western Washington and Indiana that started after he escaped from a halfway house. He is accused of stealing at least two single-engine airplanes, one that he crash landed on Great Abaco Island on July 4, according to news reports.
Media reports dubbed him the barefoot bandit after videos surfaced of crimes committed by a barefoot male. In February, according to one news report, he allegedly drew chalk-outline feet all over the floor of a grocery store during a burglary in Washington's San Juan Islands.
Although Harris-Moore’s adventure began more than two years ago, Billiot’s began about a day before his capture.
“There were wanted posters of the Barefoot Bandit put up all over the island, and the dockhand at Romora Bay said he heard he [Harris-Moore] had landed, so we all went down to the docks to check on our boats,” said Billiot, skipper of M/Y Picasso, a 92-foot Broward docked this summer at Romora Bay in Harbour Island, Eleuthera.
“Everybody knew he was near,” he said. “We knew he had been spotted on the island and he’d stolen a boat, a 44-foot Sea Ray, and put it on the Backbone.”
The Devil’s Backbone is a reef that has damaged many vessels near the north end of Eleuthera.
With captains, crew and onlookers hanging around the docks, securing their boats, Billiot checked the surveillance equipment footage on M/Y Picasso.
“We had our camera pointing toward the dock office and you could see him in the video,” he said. “‘That’s the bandit,’ I yelled. He was barefoot with a backpack. You could see the gun in his hand.”
Police were everywhere on island because they figured the teen was casing boats for a get-away vehicle, Billiot said. Ben Johnson of M/Y LuCea, an 80-foot Lazarra, told the group assembled that he just saw an Intrepid go south with no lights. Johnson told the guards about the vessel and the local police switched into gear.
Because Harris-Moore couldn’t walk around undetected, he passed the people on the docks by swimming out about 150-200 yards to the end of the dock where he stole a boat and motored slowly to escape, Billiot said.
The police asked, “Who owns this?” pointing at Picasso’s tender, and asked Billiot if he could take them to follow the boat. Jordan Sackett, the son of Picasso’s owner, asked his parents if the cops could use the boat and he and Capt. Pat Young of M/Y Sea Hawk joined Billiot.
“We load up six officers with shotguns and Uzis into our 27-foot Boston Whaler,” Billiot said. “You’ll see that on the video that’s all over the news.”
Billiot’s was the only boat out in the pitch black and he ran her with no lights. He headed for the quickest way to the sea, the south cut between Eleuthera and Harbor Island.
And then they saw the boat, like a ghost boat through the haze, he said. Harris-Moore had gotten stuck on a sandbar, and Billiot began idling closer.
“We could see him standing up,” he said. “He wasn’t stuck, but he was moving slowly, like maybe he couldn’t figure how to lift the motor or something.”
Everyone was yelling and Billiot saw a flash, possibly a shot from Harris-Moore’s gun.
“At that point, there’s so much commotion, he puts the gun to his head and says, ‘I’m going to kill myself, don’t come any closer. I’m not going back to jail, don’t come any closer,’” Billiot said.
Harris-Moore started to move his boat in an attempt to elude the police and Billiot told the police, “If you don’t do something now you’ll lose him.”
“We would definitely lose a 32-foot Intrepid with the weight we had on board,” he said.
So, police shot the left engine with the shotgun and the right engine with the Uzi, Billiot said.
“There had to be 25 to 30 shots fired, I can’t figure how he wasn’t hit.”
As Billiot navigated closer, Harris-Moore dropped to the deck and started throwing things overboard, including a backpack, computer, papers and a gun. Billiot
maneuvered the boat along side for five officers to board the Intrepid
and handcuff him. Billiot used a bridle to tow the boat back.
“Scary? Yes, it was scary, but it was an adrenaline rush,” Billiot said by phone from Harbour Island.
The next morning, Billiot took the police back to retrieve the items Harris-Moore threw overboard.
“We found the Apple computer,” he said. “It was floating like a sea fan. Guess it was the neoprene cover. We found his iTouch or iPhone or whatever, then we found the gun. It was cocked, there was a spent shell, one in the chamber and two live ones.
“He had two or three hundred gallons of fuel and could have made it to Turks or Florida,” Billiot said. “He could have gone 200 miles and they wouldn’t have caught him. The Bahamian police don’t have boats, so if it hadn’t been for us and the sandbar, he would have been gone.”
Nav-Tracker helps recover stolen boat in the Bahamas
A 33-foot HydraSport equipped with a tracking device was recovered in Bimini eight hours after it was stolen from Treasure Cay in the Bahamas early on July 14.
The tracking device was the Nav-Tracker 1.0 wireless boat location and GPS tracking system from Paradox Marine.
“There is no question that without Nav-Tracker, my boat would have never been found,” said Jose Mas, the owner. “I had just installed the system two weeks before and I was amazed at being able to track the boat and follow the thieves."
Last year, Paradox Marine received a service medal from the U.S. Coast Guard in recognition of the role Nav-Tracker 2.0 played in the recovery of a Contender stolen in the Bahamas in September 2008. As many as 27,000 boats are stolen annually and the odds of recovery are about 1 in 10, according to the International Association of Marine Investigators.
When a Nav-Tracker 2.0 transmitter is mounted on a boat and armed, a wireless "fence" with a 500-meter range can be created. If a boat is moved outside of this fence, Nav-Tracker 2.0 uses Inmarsat-based GPS satellite technology to monitor a boat’s location and notify up to four people by e-mail and/or text message every 15 minutes with the latitude/longitude, speed, heading and distance to the closest city.
Savannah yard sold to oil company
A megayacht shipyard on the Savannah River that has changed hands twice this decade has been sold to its neighbor, oil company Colonial Oil for $10 million, according to a story in the Savannah Morning News.
The yard, once owned by Palmer Johnson and recently run as Global Ship Systems, was operational again this year as Savannah Megayacht. It closed three months ago when Colonial Oil contracted to buy the property, the newspaper reported.
According to the newspaper, Colonial Oil plans to repair and upgrade the facility, using much of it for its own operations. The 535-foot dry dock and some surrounding facilities, however, may again be leased to a yachting business, possibly Savannah MegaYacht, according to the story.
To read the story in the Savannah Morning News, click here.
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(Diane M. Byrne)
July 13, 2010
Just weeks after Force Blue was detained by Italian authorities, another charter yacht has been boarded, with guests required to disembark and be accompanied to police headquarters.
On Friday, Axioma, a 47-meter (154-foot) ISA, was forced to pull into Lipari, just north of Sicily. According to Italian news reports, the police had received a tip that two Russian fugitives were onboard, so they boarded the megayacht and then ordered the crew and guests to come ashore. While the guests reportedly were in possession of Russian passports—with two guests being diplomats—the police later discovered that the tip was incorrect. They released the guests and crew, after clarifying that documents were in order and after the intercession of Luise & Co., which represents the charter party.
A video apparently filmed by a private individual shows that the yacht was escorted by a helicopter and a few vessels, one clearly identified as being operated by the Guardia di Finanza, which is the Italian police force under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. The Guardia is charged with investigating and preventing financial evasions and violations, surveillance at sea for financial police purposes, and generally helping to defend the Italian borders.
I contacted Luise & Co. for commentary, but I did not receive it by this posting. However, the Italian news reports printed a statement from the firm. In part, it reads: “What is most disconcerting...[is] that all persons subject to the establishment remained in the barracks for about five hours without being able to eat.” It further explains that even after the guests were released, “no one has bothered to apologize, even with regard to the fact that among the guests there were two senior Russian diplomats.”
Axioma, with her crew and guests back onboard, were permitted to depart Lipari on Friday afternoon.
Burger may lay off a third of its workforce this year
Wisconsin-based Burger Boat Co. notified state officials on July 8 that it may lay off about 70 employees -- about a third of its workforce -- by the end of the year, according to a story in the Herald Times Reporter.
Cut employees include carpenters, finishers, metal workers, mechanics, fluid power technicians, pipefitters, electricians and office administration, according to a letter the megayacht builder sent the state.
"These layoffs will be in addition to a series of small layoffs that have occurred over the last several months," according to the letter, signed by Burger President Jim Ruffolo and Pete Bilski, vice president of human resources. The company has "been working hard to avoid any further layoffs but business conditions are unsettled at this time."
In an interview with the newspaper on Friday, Ruffolo said the letter was sent only "should a worst-case scenario play out."
"The company is positive and continues to seek new projects, which could minimize layoffs and make the notice a moot point," he told the Herald Times Reporter.
State law requires any company of 50 employees or more to notify the state 60 days before any layoffs. Burger is completing two tri-deck motor yachts of 142 and 140 feet, the newspaper reported. On Monday, M/Y Sea Owl will be launched. Hull 508 is scheduled to leave the yard in October.
To read the whole story, click here.
34th America's Cup: San Francisco or Europe?
- Thu, 8 Jul 2010
- Press Report
San Francisco to be only US contender to host next AC, but Europe remains an option
San Francisco has put forward a strong, venue proposal and is now the only city in the USA under consideration to host the 34th America's Cup match.
The city is home to the Golden Gate Yacht Club, whose team BMW ORACLE Racing, won the 33rd America's Cup in Valencia, Spain on 14 February. The next edition is scheduled for 2013 or 2014, the year to be determined by infrastructure development lead-times.
"Our team has said from the outset that San Francisco and the Bay Area have the potential to provide a superb stage on which to host a memorable America's Cup," commented Russell Coutts, CEO of BMW ORACLE Racing. "Our team owner, Larry Ellison, has called the Bay ‘a fantastic natural amphitheatre'."
In being granted status as the sole venue candidate in the USA, San Francisco can forge ahead with plans to provide the necessary facilities for the America's Cup along the City's waterfront, south of the Bay Bridge. It also now allows San Francisco to "nationalize" their efforts and to seek support from the State of California and the federal government in Washington, D.C. Under the Cup's governing rules, the Deed of Gift written in 1852, the winner and hence Defender for the next Match chooses the venue.
San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom said, "We are very honored to lead a national effort to host the 34th America's Cup. Larry Ellison has a transformative vision for hosting the Cup on San Francisco Bay, and we are prepared to leverage the nation's support to make this a coast-to-coast campaign and to realize that vision." Other US cities have been excited by the prospect of hosting the America's Cup match, notably Newport, Rhode Island where Cup racing was held from 1930 through 1983, San Diego, California which hosted Cup defenses in 1988, 1992 and 1995, and Long Beach, California, site of the 1984 Olympic yachting regatta and the annual Congressional Cup.
Coutts said, "We are extremely grateful to the other American candidates. Their disappointment is understandable as each would have been a great host city in its own right. And we appreciate their offers of support to San Francisco going forward. Strong expressions of interest from four European countries are also being studied by the American Defender. GGYC/BOR will announce a final decision on the venue, along with the date and other details of the next America's Cup by the end of this year.
The America's Cup has been defended only twice outside of the holder's home waters in its 159 year history - at Valencia, Spain in 2007 and 2010. The City of San Francisco will be making its own announcement today.
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(Diane M. Byrne) on frontpage
As mentioned in the monthly Megayacht News e-newsletter recently, the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC 2006) could have an unintentional detrimental impact on the yachting business and yacht buying when it goes into effect in 2012. In brief, MLC 2006 sets out a “seafarers bill of rights,” to ensure crewmembers of all types of vessels have adequate working and living conditions, and that insurance and other benefits are made available. Several industry organizations are working with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN agency overseeing its implementation, to ensure that the voices of superyacht owners, crew, builders, designers, and others in the industry are heard.
To be clear, all of the industry groups support the spirit and goal of MLC 2006. Their concern lies with how some of the requirements would greatly reduce or even eliminate some guest staterooms and general gathering areas. As Rod Hatch, a Professional Yachtsmen’s Association (PYA) council member, explained to fellow members in April, “The outcome may even show in some cases that in order to accommodate the number of crew required to run a particular yacht, if they were all housed in MLC standard accommodation, the owner would have to move ashore.”
Because of its lobbying efforts, PYA was asked by the ILO Secretariat to conduct two studies to assess the potential impact of MLC 2006. The first study, already completed, solicited input from builders and designers, who submitted accommodations plans demonstrating pre- and post-MLC 2006 implementation. Now, PYA is conducting the second study. Written by the Seafarers International Research Centre, a global authority on issues affecting crewmembers, it intends to gather facts about crew employment and working conditions.
If you are the owner of a yacht, please make sure your captain and crew complete the survey. If you’re a broker, shipyard representative, or other industry representative with ties to crew, forward this on to them. There’s no need to be a PYA member. Those of you who are captains or crewmembers presently employed aboard a megayacht, the survey should take just 15 minutes. And even if you aren’t currently employed in either of those capacities but have been within the past year, please also fill it out. The PYA wants and needs as many voices as possible to present accurate findings.
PYA will release the results of both studies after presenting them to the ILO later this year.
34th America's Cup: new high-performance yachts
- Mon, 5 Jul 2010
- Press Report
Rating rule authorities in US and UK have been commissioned to draft the rules for the next generation of America's Cup yacht
BMW Oracle Racing and Golden Gate Yacht Club, winner of the 33rd America's Cup last February, have asked US SAILING and the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Seahorse Rating affiliate to write the rules.
"We've always said that the new design will be for the America's Cup community. The result with be a 'non-partisan yacht' rather than a 'defender's yacht'," said Ian Burns, Design Coordinator for BMW Oracle Racing. "A great deal of input was sought from the America's Cup community and the concept briefs given to the rule writers reflect that feedback." In a twin-track process, US SAILING will author a multihull rule and the RORC's Seahorse Rating a canting-keel monohull rule.
"It would be premature to rule either a monohull or multihull in and the other out at this stage," commented Russell Coutts, CEO of BMW Oracle Racing. "Which type of boat is best for racing and media impact is one of many evaluations we will be testing over the coming months."
The choice between monohull and multihull will be made after the conclusion of these trials, the first round of which is scheduled for Valencia in late July. "Either option will provide high performance, exciting viewing and challenges to design, build and sailing teams," commented Burns.
For more, visit www.americascup.com
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