Yes, it's the 2nd day of summer, but we don't need to look at the calendar to see what season has just begun. It's Super Yacht season, and the harbinger of its arrival is Vango, a 164-foot Westport owned by carl dealership magnate Cecil van Tuyl.
Van Tuyl is an American who bought his first car dealership in 1955 in Kansas City. He built a large network by offering ownership interest to local managers and pioneering car sakes on the Internet. Vango was built in 2006 and cost a reputed $30 million.
Vango has a cruising speed of 20 knots (23 MPH) and if invited to race forits pink slip can do 24 knots (28 mph). The yacht can go almost 6,000 miles on a single fill-up of 20,000 gallons of gas, which I presume means the EPA projected mileage would be something like 0.3 MPG.
The yacht can sleep 12 guests in 6 private suites, with 12 crew members to maintain that personal 1:1 level of service.
I get nervous watching the video below of a helicopter landing on the top deck, where the clearance between the blades and superstructure can't be that great. If you compare this video to Sausalito photographer Vari Buendia's photo above, you can see they have to fold up a roof area to make more room for the landing.
Of course, someone else filmed the helicopter's arrival on the Vango while it was in Newport, and they were standing directly below the helicopter pad, another place you would not find me at such a moment:
Photo Copyright (c) 2011, Vari Buendia, All Rights Reserved. Use by permission.
