Month: December 2008

The 41 Super Leggera, the most recent launch from performance builder Outerlimits, reproduces the superior handling and blistering speed of the company’s latest world championship race boat. The finely tuned surface was built for ocean running and to deliver a smooth ride in harsh seas. “The cornering is phenomenal,” says Mike Fiore, Outerlimits CEO, and holder of multiple world championships. “Racers can cut buoys on a dime, and poker runners can hit 100 mph. We haven’t compromised on handling, though. You can feel the difference when it gets nasty out there.” Outerlimits also provides a three-day training course with world-renowned race champion Trace Martin as part of the purchase price. Luxury is also designed into the 41’s DNA. The helm console is hand-stitched leather and suede, and owners have a choice of hardwoods and fabrics for the interior. Outerlimits creates customized exteriors with signature graphics and colors, so owners can truly express themselves through their super boat.  (401.253.7300, www.outerlimitspowerboats.com)

—Michael Verdon

The 37.5-foot Sea Ray 350 Sundancer is available with Mercury MerCruiser’s Axius, a docking system that the company debuted last year for its smaller, sterndrive-powered boats.

The Overmarine Mangusta 165 Open sits at the top of the Mangusta line, whose range begins at 72 feet, and has the same sleek, sexy styling as her smaller siblings. Powered by triple 16V4000 MTU engines, she can reach 43 mph—an astonishing speed for a 165-foot yacht.

The Feadship F45 Vantage semicustom series was launched to offer a more competitively priced option than the Dutch builder’s fully custom designs in the same size range. Space is hull number one, and two more of the 146-footers already have been sold.

Go-anywhere, do-anything, expedition-style motor yachts are available for charter, but few cruise beyond the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas. An exception is the 111-foot Alloy VvS1, which you can charter in South Pacific locales such as Tahiti, Tonga, and New Zealand.

The Austal shipyard in Western Australia builds a number of ferries, combat vessels, and patrol boats. Predictably, its 193-foot, fiberglass-composite Austal Outback is a sturdy craft and fast as well, with a top speed of 23 mph.

The yacht’s interior, styled by the Nuvolari-Lenard design house and Alberto Pinto, evokes the sea with furniture details that resemble pieces of staghorn coral.  The opulent master suite includes an office, a dressing area, a bathroom with a steam shower and hot tub, and a private outdoor patio with a second hot tub.

Among several rare features on this yacht, the one drawing the most attention from buyers is the private balcony off the starboard side of the master cabin on the main deck. Sliding glass doors let in abundant natural light and, when open, allow for a breeze inside the master suite that is far more comforting than anything a porthole might deliver.

Mosler Automotive’s MT900S is a finely engineered, lovingly crafted monster powered by a Corvette Z06’s LS7 V-8. The 7-liter, normally aspirated engine delivers 550 hp—thanks to freer-breathing intake and an unrestrictive titanium exhaust system—through a 6-speed manual transaxle.

This year, Maybach makes the leap from ultra-premium to ne plus ultra–premium with the dramatic Landaulet, the marque’s first modern open-topped model and the spiritual successor to the vaunted Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman Landaulet of the 1960s, whose airy rear seats accommodated various heads of state, monarchs, movie stars, and a pope or two. Derived from the long-wheelbase Maybach 62, the Landaulet features a semiautomatic folding soft top over the rear seats and a fully enclosed chauffeur’s co