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How Did Alex Jimenez Become “The Yacht Guy”

We met him, you’ve heard of him, and now it’s everyone’s chance to get to know him… Alex Jimenez, Aka The Yacht Guy , has created quite the following in the superyacht industry. From living the normal life to networking with UHNW individuals and travelling the world, Alex has created a lifestyle for himself that many dream of, and it’s time to find out how:

You’re very respected in the world of yachting, have you always worked as an influencer?

AJ: No, I wasn’t always an influencer though I wish I had been. Life’s a lot more fun as one (laughs). I became an influencer full-time back in 2014. Prior to TheYachtGuy, I held a regular job as a brain surgeon…I wish!!! Nope, just a regular guy, not that I’m not now, but you know what I mean. Becoming an influencer has allowed me some great experiences I would have probably never had.

How did you end up becoming a public figure in such a niche industry? And, have you made any friends in particular that have inspired you throughout your journey?

AJ: I have achieved this through Instagram and many years of making connections, networking and meeting some fantastic people. I’ve been fortunate with what I have been able to do .

What would you say is the hardest part of your day-to-day life?

AJ: Staying focused on goals can be tough with everything else that’s going on around you. Family, friends, bills, etc. In the end, I’m just a regular guy trying to make my way.

You’ve successfully achieved recognition as the No.1 yacht influencer globally. Do you have any further aspirations within yachting that you’d like to achieve? If so, what do they entail?

AJ: Thank you! Well, it has become more challenging over the years with so many people now turning their yacht profession into yacht influencers, from brokers to yachties; it’s great to see everyone’s perspective. As for aspirations, the biggest one is to own a yacht big enough to allow me to travel the world but small enough that I don’t need a crew. Then head out and enjoy cruising.

If this was to happen, what would you name it?

I’d name it “POEME” after my daughter ❤️

What’s the most memorable experience that you’ve had, courtesy of being an influencer?

AJ: It’s funny because at some moments not only was I not allowed to take pictures, but I was kindly asked to not even mention yachts for both safety and privacy to the owner, which I was totally okay with. But let’s say having a private jet pick you up in your small hometown and being flown out onto one of the world’s largest yachts to hang with what turned out to be some of the coolest laid-back people I’ve ever met was one for my record books.

Could you share your top tips for anyone aspiring to become a social media influencer?

AJ: I’d say do something you absolutely love because it shows in you. When people meet you, and you’re doing something for money or to be Insta-famous, it’ll show through…

For more lifestyle articles follow the link – SYC Lifestyle 

Lucy Johnson

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Bill Duker discusses creating his custom superyacht Sybaris

To celebrate _ Sybaris  _being named Sailing Yacht of the Year at the World Superyacht Awards 2017 , we bring you this interview from our archive, in which Duker gave us the inside story on the build of the Perini Navi yacht.

Superyacht owner Bill Duker was always the man with a plan – until, as he tells Stewart Campbell and Sacha Bonsor, a health scare forced his life philosophy to change. The upside? A new 70 metre ketch, Sybaris , from which he will live every day to the full.

Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans, goes the famous John Lennon lyric. It’s a line that rings true for lawyer-turned-software mogul and multiple yacht owner Bill Duker, after being told he might die before seeing one of his life’s dreams – owning a 70 metre sailing yacht – realised. “When I heard it (cancer) was in my lymph nodes, the worst bit was thinking that I couldn’t make plans,” he recalls, as we cluster around a saloon table on the big Perini Navi Perseus3 at the Monaco Yacht Show. “I’m somebody who has always lived with a plan.”

A week after his diagnosis in 2009, he made two resolutions: to ensure every single day is lived according to the plan; and to have a lot of fun. “From that moment forward, from after that first week, every day I get out of bed and ask myself what I’m going to do to have fun today,” he says. He beat the cancer, and judging from the smile on his face as he talks about his new superyacht project, he’s having the time of his life. The boat is Sybaris , a 70 metre ketch currently in build at Perini Navi ’s Viareggio yard. When it’s launched in 2015 it will become one of the biggest sailing yachts on the planet, and immediately one of the most iconic boats afloat. In the meantime, he’s got the 52 metre Feadship Rasselas to play on. “The Feadship was not a passion,” he says. “It was just for fun. The Feadship was, ‘I can’t wait any more for my boat to be built!’”

His new-found philosophy is perfectly embodied in the sailing yacht’s name. For those who skipped classics at school, Sybaris was the name of a Greek settlement in ancient Italy known for its hedonism, feasts and excesses, represented in modern parlance by the word sybarite. “For Sybarites, living was important. And this boat is more than self-indulgent, it is everything we’ve always wanted. We’re giving ourselves something far beyond anything I could have imagined as a kid,” Duker says.

Boats of his childhood imagination were the working type. The son of a longshoreman from upstate New York, he grew up modestly, with some of his earliest boating memories born on the docks of Albany, where he was apprenticed in his father’s job. “We used to joke when I was a kid that working at the docks was the longshoreman scholarship. You know, I was brought down to the docks to work when I was 13 years old,” he says. “I grew up there. I wasn’t supposed to be there at 13, but my father was a union guy and the union guys took care of their kids and that was the only way the kids could make enough money to go to school.”

"Sybaris is more than self-indulgent, it is everything we've always wanted. We're giving ourselves something far beyond anything I could have imagined as a kid."

It was only later, as a successful lawyer, that Duker’s thoughts turned to spending time on yachts for pleasure. In 1992 he found himself working with a colleague from California and made any excuse to head to San Francisco on the weekend, where the two of them would go sailing. “One day he said to me, ‘We oughta buy a boat together. A big boat’,” Duker remembers. He loved the idea, so they bought Coconut , a 24.4 metre Dynamique sailing yacht.

The partnership lasted for about a year before Duker struck out on his own, buying the 32.5 metre Ron Holland-designed Shanakee . But even then, in 1995, when 32 metres was a seriously big boat, his ambitions weren’t satisfied. “The idea for Sybaris has been in my mind since then. My son West and I would sit on the back of Shanakee in the evenings and draw the boat of our dreams. I can’t tell you how many boat drawings there are. We talked about how big the boat would be, who was going to be on the boat, where we would go with it…” he says, fondly. Throughout our conversation West’s name keeps appearing and it’s obvious Duker is devoted to his only son.

It’s a professional and filial relationship – West works as the director of marketing at Duker’s software company, and partnered with his dad on the designs for superyacht  Sybaris . The dream to build big is a shared one, a joint father and son longing, which started to become a reality during various regattas in the 1990s and particularly on one trip sailing in the Caribbean. “We were competing and started seeing bigger boats. And then we got a chance to get on board the (48.5 metre) Vitters Thalia in the Caribbean. Suddenly we had a sense that there were much larger boats out there and that you could do so much more with a bigger boat. They’re so monumental. This gave West and me a feeling of creativity and that really drove us.”

It took the better part of a decade, however, before Duker was ready to sign terms with a shipyard – and then came the cancer hammer-blow. Once in the clear, however, the plans could really gather momentum. “The boat kept growing in order to bring the lines down and make it look as sleek as it does. We thought it’d be a 56 metre, but then I started thinking that it had to be special, it had to be different. And there are already 10 or 11 or so 56 metres; I didn’t want hull number 12. I wanted something people could see from half a mile away and say, ‘Hey, there’s Sybaris ’,” Duker says.

The exterior design was done in collaboration: Philippe Briand for the naval architecture and PH Design with input from West and Bill for the exterior. If you’ve never heard of PH Design, that’s because it doesn’t do yachts – it does residences. The studio has worked with Duker on his homes and such is his faith in it, he had no qualms tasking it with creating the look for his 70 metre yacht. Was it a risk? “It’s not risky to hire somebody I trust with everything,” Duker says. “We’ve known each other for so long that I only have to have a short conversation about what I want and they know exactly what I’m thinking. Every time I have an idea, PH Design makes it better. And I can’t say no to them. When they bring something to me, I say, ‘Wow, we have to do that!’”

PH Design also drew the superyacht's interior, and if the exterior of  Sybaris was designed to be iconic, what’s inside was designed to inspire. It’s the same with all of Duker’s projects, whether it’s the glass box on top of a building in New York City, his 1920s property on the water in Miami (“the prettiest house on Miami Beach”) or his big estate in upstate New York on 300 hectares – each of them have interiors that, he says, “give people something to talk about”. A big part of that is the art – and Duker has an enviable collection. He started amassing it in the 1980s, and it features pieces from Frank Stella, Rodin and Jean Dubuffet. He’s still collecting for the new yacht, which has been designed to act as a sort of gallery.

“The interior is minimal, but not minimalist,” Duker says. “And every piece of furniture on board is art – every turn of the corner is art! I don’t think it’s possible to give a higher level of detail.” The renderings of Sybaris  give you an impression of how big a part art and design play in the interior. More modern New York loft than boat, Sybaris ’s owner won’t have any worries about conversation stalling over dinner. But with a Briand hull, a lightweight carbon fibre rig, and an estimated top speed of 17 knots – giving it regatta-winning potential – the yacht has plenty of sailing chops, too.

From conception to realisation, the superyacht will have taken 44 months to build – almost four years of intense, gratifying planning. I am concerned about what will happen when Duker’s boat is delivered – will he run out of plans? I needn’t have worried: “We’re going around the world,” Duker says. “I’m taking five years and doing my first circumnavigation. Part of the plan is to take on a local expert wherever we are in the world, so we can spend the evenings talking about where we’re going, what the history, geography, culture and politics are like in a particular area. We’re going to learn as we go around the world.”

But it would be naive to think he doesn't have something else up his sleeve. “You asked me if I was excited about delivery,” Duker says. “To some extent I am, but I have already started thinking about the next boat, and how it will be different. Like I said, it’s the planning that is important, making that dream happen. There’s a poem I wrote recently about it. I write crazy Dr Seuss-like poems. It takes five minutes and I do it every day,” he says, reciting one.

It opens: “I’ve lived my life by having dreams,” and ends: “Dreams are not just for the night, they give hope to live and fight.” There’s Lennon again: you may say he’s a dreamer, but he’s not the only one…

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The idea of yacht rock conjures up a particular lifestyle, but beneath the surface lies a treasure trove of sophisticated hits that continue to resonate.

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Even some of those who signed up to the subgenre subtleties of what became known as yacht rock may consider it to be a time-locked phenomenon. Certainly, its chief protagonists first cast their subtle soft-rock sophistication in the 70s and 80s, but its melodic echoes can still be heard all these decades later.

Perhaps unusually, the phrase itself was coined as a kind of lighthearted castigation of the adult-oriented rock that seemed to exude privileged opulence: of days in expensive recording studios followed by hedonistic trips on private yachts, typically around southern California. The web TV series of the mid-00s that parodied the lifestyle was even named Yacht Rock ; one of the biggest hits of a chief exponent of the sound, Christopher Cross, was, of course, “Sailing.”

The recent resurgence in the long career of another staple, Michael McDonald, is testament to the durability of a style that was, after all, grounded in musicianship and melodicism of the highest order. Nearly 40 years after he and fellow yacht rock principle Kenny Loggins co-wrote and performed the Grammy-winning “This Is It,” the pair were afforded the high praise of a collaboration with acclaimed modern-day jazz-funk bassist Thundercat, on his track “Show You The Way.” Ahead of that, McDonald’s guest appearance with Thundercat at the 2017 Coachella Festival was a viral sensation.

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Setting sail

Like other subgenres that grew from an existing style, just as Americana did from country, the starting point of yacht rock is a matter of endless debate. Some hear it in the early 70s soft rock of Bread and hits such as “Guitar Man,” or in Seals & Crofts, the duo of the same period whose 1973 US Top 10 hit “Diamond Girl” and its follow-up, “We May Never Pass This Way (Again)” are pure, classy, elegantly played and harmonised yacht rock.

As the 70s progressed and album rock radio became an ever more powerful medium in the US music business, studio production grew along with the budgets to fund it. High-fidelity citadels such as Sunset Sound and Ocean Way were the industry epitome of the Los Angeles hedonism of the day, and played host to many of the artists we celebrate here. Perhaps it was the combination of financial independence and the sun-kissed surroundings that gave rise to the phenomenon, but this was music that not only sounded opulent – it made you feel somehow more urbane just by listening to it.

California singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop was another of the artists who would retrospectively become part of what we might call the yachting club. Indeed, it’s important to point out that “yacht rock” was not a term that existed at the time the music was being made. Bishop’s acclaimed 1976 debut album, Careless , was a masterclass in well-crafted pop music for those no longer hanging on the words of every chart pin-up. Its tender opening ballad, “On And On,” which peaked just outside the mainstream US Top 10 and reached No.2 on the Easy Listening chart, is a prime example.

Making waves

McDonald, for his part, might be afforded the questionable honor of the Yacht Rock theme tune with his solo hit “Sweet Freedom,” but had earlier been a key part of the unconscious movement as a member of the Doobie Brothers. The double Grammy-winning landmark “What A Fool Believes,” again written by McDonald with Loggins, stands tall in this hall of fame. Similarly, Toto, another band of master studio craftsmen whose critical and commercial stock has risen again in recent times, stood for all the principles of yacht rock with tracks such as “99” and the undying “Africa.”

That 1982 soft-rock calling card came from the Toto IV album, which was, indeed, recorded in part at Sunset Sound and Ocean Way. But Steely Dan , one of the bands to prove that yacht rock could come from other parts of the US where the attendant lifestyle was less practical, made perhaps their biggest contribution to the subgenre after Walter Becker and Donald Fagen moved back to their native East Coast.

After their initial incarnation as a live band, Steely Dan were well established in their peerless cocoon of pristine studio production when they moved back east. That was after recording 1977’s superb Aja , the album that announced their ever-greater exploration of jazz influences. Fans and critics of the band both used the same word about them, perfectionism: some as a compliment, others as an accusation. But 1980’s equally impressive Gaucho was their yacht rock masterpiece.

Ripple effect

In such a subjective phrase, other artists seen by some as yacht rock representatives, such as Daryl Hall & John Oates, Journey, the Eagles, or even Canada’s Gordon Lightfoot, are thought by others to be creatively or geographically inappropriate, or just too mainstream to break out of the overreaching AOR terminology.

But a significant number of other artists, whose names are less quoted today, had their finest hours during the pop landscape of the late 70s and early 80s that we’ve been visiting here. Amy Holland won a Best New Artist Grammy nomination in 1981 helped by “How Do I Survive,” written by McDonald, whose wife she became soon afterwards. Robbie Dupree, a Brooklyn boy by birth, also epitomized the style with his 1980 US hit “Steal Away.” Then, in 1982, America, the band known for their definitive harmonic rock of a decade earlier, mounted a chart return with the suitably melodic “You Can Do Magic.”

The final word goes to Michael McDonald, the unwitting co-founder of the yacht rock sound. When the aforementioned mockumentary series was at the height of its popularity, he was asked if he had ever owned a yacht, and replied (perhaps disappointingly) in the negative. But, he added, “I thought Yacht Rock was hilarious. And uncannily, you know, those things always have a little bit of truth to them.

“It’s kind of like when you get a letter from a stalker who’s never met you. They somehow hit on something, and you have to admit they’re pretty intuitive.”

Listen to the Soft Rock Forever playlist for more yacht rock classics .

October 28, 2019 at 8:42 pm

if you dig this sound, you gotta check out Yachty by Nature the best yacht rock band on the West Coast. They play it all live without the backing tracks (yuck) that some bands do. They just got voted #1 Best Live Cover Band in Orange County and spreading yacht rock all over the country. Dive in!!! #yachtrock https://yachtybynature.com

October 28, 2019 at 8:44 pm

BTW, great article!!!!! Well written and thoughtfully addressed the idea of Nyacht Rock artists to the purists following the genre!

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Meaning of yachtsman in English

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• crew member
• longshoreman
• run away to sea idiom

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Definition of yachtsman

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1862, in the meaning defined above

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“Yachtsman.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yachtsman. Accessed 5 Mar. 2024.

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• 1.1 Alternative forms
• 1.2 Etymology
• 1.3 Pronunciation
• 1.4.1 Hypernyms
• 1.4.2 Derived terms
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• 1.4.4 Translations
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• 2.2 Etymology
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English [ edit ]

Alternative forms [ edit ].

• yachtman ( dated )

Etymology [ edit ]

From yacht +‎ -s- +‎ -man .

Pronunciation [ edit ]

Noun [ edit ].

yachtsman ( plural yachtsmen )

• 1840 , William Makepeace Thackeray , The Irish Sketch Book published together with The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh and Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo , New York: Caxton, Chapter 10, p. 379, [1] [ … ] and so ended, not without a sigh on my part, one of the merriest six-hour rides that five yachtsmen , one cockney, five women and a child, the carman, and a countryman with an alpeen, ever took in their lives.
• 1913 , Joseph Conrad , Chance ‎ [2] , London: Methuen, published 1914 , Part 1, Chapter One, p. 3: We knew him already by sight as the owner of a little five-ton cutter, which he sailed alone apparently, a fellow yachtsman in the unpretending band of fanatics who cruise at the mouth of the Thames. But the first time he addressed the waiter sharply as ‘steward’ we knew him at once for a sailor as well as a yachtsman .
• 1963 , Aldous Huxley , chapter 1, in Island ‎ [3] , New York: Bantam, page 6: [ … ] needless to say, the thing that all the cautious and experienced yachtsmen had warned him against happened. The black squall out of nowhere, the sudden, senseless frenzy of wind and rain and waves…

Hypernyms [ edit ]

• yachtsperson

Derived terms [ edit ]

• yachtsmanlike
• yachtsmanship

Related terms [ edit ]

• yachtswoman

Translations [ edit ]

French [ edit ].

Borrowed from English yachtsman .

• IPA ( key ) : /jɔts.man/

yachtsman   m ( plural yachtsmans or yachtsmen , feminine yachtswoman )

Further reading [ edit ]

• “ yachtsman ”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [ Digitized Treasury of the French Language ] , 2012.

Anagrams [ edit ]

• English terms interfixed with -s-
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Our History

Proudly a part of the fabric of Palm Beach County, Florida since 1910, we began building boats for the same reason we continue today – to improve on what is on the water. What began as a commercial fishing operation and a small boat repair business has since evolved into the builder of the world's premier sportfishing yachts, unrivaled in design and finish, and synonymous with innovation and the pursuit of perfection. While our family business has operated at different locations and with different names over the years, we have always subscribed to the same philosophy: Listen, think, and create. That philosophy is grounded in hard work, a dedication to our craft, and the partnership that we forge with every customer that puts their trust in us.

The Birth of John Rybovich & Sons

In 1919, John "Pop" Rybovich started his small commercial boat repair yard when he moved from commercial fishing to servicing the boats of the early commercial fishing fleet of the Palm Beach area. The West Palm Beach yard quickly gained a reputation for its skill and attentiveness, and as the sportfishing concept of the 1930's grew in popularity, Pop and his three sons, Johnny, Tommy and Emil, were at the center of a new industry converting the power cruisers of the nearby Palm Beach elite to chase Sailfish just outside Lake Worth Inlet.

Miss Chevy II

Following the return of Johnny, Tommy and Emil from World War II, each with the skills they had developed overseas, the idea was born to build a boat dedicated to sportfishing. In 1947, that idea became a reality, and the first custom sportfishing boat, Miss Chevy II , was launched. In the years that followed, the sport that was their passion as well as their livelihood grew in popularity, and the boys grew with it, honing their skills and working with owners to build a better-riding, more innovative and more beautiful boat.

The Broken Sheer and Miss Chevy IV

Tommy's passing.

From 1947 to 1972, the brothers launched 75 hulls, each better than the last and each with their own unique character and innovations. Johnny, the fisherman, brought new ideas and oversaw management, Tommy, the designer and builder, oversaw the carpentry and painting trades, and Emil, the engineer, directed all mechanical and electrical work in new construction as well as in service. Of the three dedicated brothers, it was Tommy's obsession with his work that became legendary and provided the energy and inspiration in the yard's incessant quest for perfection. However, two years after the passing of the family patriarch, Pop Rybovich, Tommy Rybovich passed from cancer in 1972. The soul of the yard, and the head of design and hull building, had passed far too young at the age of 52.

New Owners of the Family Business

Michael becomes head boat builder.

By the time of the sale in 1975, Michael Rybovich, Emil’s son and the next generation of Rybovich boat builders, was working at the family boatyard developing his skills as a carpenter, while fishing when the time allowed. The new owner, Bob Fisher, insisted that Johnny and Emil (and Michael) continue working at their family’s business. But, by 1980, both Johnny and Emil found the changes were too much for their liking and decided to part ways with the business – around this time, Michael became the head boat builder.

A New Family Business

In 1984, Michael, too, decided to leave and with his father, Emil, his brother, Marty Evans, and family friend, Ed Bussey, started a boat building company called Rybovich International with the goal continuing to innovate the world of sportfishing and build a better boat. The first of those new hulls was Ruthie , a 32' Walkaround built for Charlie Bouchard, based on a concept that legendary angler, Nick Smith, had applied to a 30' Daytona .  The boat proved a great fishing platform and, with her new bottom, could fish in rough water alongside boats twice her size.

Ryco Marine

Following the second sale of the original family business in 1986, a lawsuit forced Rybovich International to abandon their name, as well as the " Rybovich signature" broken sheer and double handrail designs. Vowing to continue on and not wanting to get involved in a lengthy legal battle, Ryco Marine was born. The trend of building larger sportfishing boats continued, and by the mid-1990's, Ryco Marine was building boats into the 60' class.

Back to the Family Business

By the early 2000s, the original family business was in the hands of H. Wayne Huizenga Jr., the fourth owner since the family sold the business in 1975. In 2005, following Hurricane Wilma and extensive damage to the Ryco Marine facility, a partnership was formed and Michael joined with Huizenga – a Rybovich was once again building Rybovich boats under the Rybovich name. For the next four years the new company flourished, and during this time, Rybovich & Sons delivered five boats from 54 to 78 feet, the last two being the largest ever built under the family name. As the world recession deepened in 2008, the once full order book became an empty testament to the bad economy. In early 2010, management was forced to make several difficult decisions, including shelving new construction altogether to focus on the development of a full-service super yacht marina at the Riviera Beach site.

Michael Rybovich & Sons

Following the Great Recession of 2008 and a desire to focus on a super yacht marina and service yard, the partnership with H. Wayne Huizenga Jr. was amicably dissolved, and the search for a new home began. Soon after, the most recent rebirth of the Rybovich boat building name came to fruition when Michael and his wife Julia (with the help of family friend, Larry Wilson) purchased the old E&H Boat Works in Palm Beach Gardens, FL and opened Michael Rybovich & Sons Custom Boat Works . Today, we operate as a family business dedicated to the same ideals of innovation and the pursuit of perfection that helped build the Rybovich name. Michael, along with his two sons, Dusty Rybovich and Alex Gill , and the most talented crew in the industry, strive to carry on a tradition that started more than 100 years ago in a small boatyard in West Palm Beach.

The Unabridged History

In 1934, Gifford, the Cass brothers, Bill Fagen , and Lloyd Knowles collaborated in the design and building of a reel that would stand up to the stress of hooking and landing large Marlin and Tuna. This reel became known as the Knowles Tuna Reel . In 1935, Ernest Hemingway landed the first un-mutillated Giant Bluefin Tuna in the Bahamas. In 1936, Fred Grieten applied for a patent for the first Fin-Nor fishing reel , which was built to Tommy Gifford's specifications. In the 1930s, Frank O'Brien designed and built the Tycoon Bimini King rod which would provide the mount and the leverage for the new reel technology. The new equipment provided sportsmen with the means and the advent of the 1939 Cat Cay Tuna Tournament provided the arena. In 1937 Johnny was invited to fish Bimini and Cat Cay with a local captain and landed his first Blue Marlin. Two years later he landed his first Giant Bluefin. Johnny was beginning to realize the desperate need for a boat designed and built specifically for big game sport fishing but the realization of that concept would have to wait. His country would soon need his and his brothers' services for bigger fish.

It is clear that all three young men developed an even greater interest in the family business and acquired an education in their respective special talents while in their country's service. Johnny's service taught him business skills and introduced him to the emerging material technology in Military hardware. Emil, a self taught mechanical engineer, was exposed to the engineering and performance standards within the fleet of Army boats for which he was responsible. Tommy was absorbed with aerodynamics, aircraft construction, and the beauty and efficiency of a clean line which is so important in aircraft design. The combination of these skills post war would prove to be a study in excellence.

Of the three dedicated brothers, it was Tommy 's obsession with his work that became legendary and provided the energy and inspiration in the yard's incessant quest for perfection. He worked from eight in the morning to eight at night, went home for dinner and returned to the yard, typically working until eleven p.m. and beyond. Sundays were half-days to allow time for the family. With no formal training in naval architecture, Tommy's early designs were based on known lengths, beams, and displacements of similar vessels that were accessible in the service yard. Suffice it to say that from the waterline up, the design was all his.

The first project in which he was involved was the Chevy Clipper , a 47' long-range fisherman for none other than Charles Johnson . His third Rybovich build, Chevy Clipper again satisfied Johnson's thirst for having something no one else had. With a galley and salon under a forward trunk, crew forward, and a private master suite under an aft trunk, she combined the modern broken sheer with the additional volume provided by a traditional trunk arrangement fore and aft with a six-foot fishing cockpit. To eliminate the inefficiency of gasoline engines with enough power to push a boat of that size at a respectable cruise speed, she was the first Rybovich to be built with diesel power . To keep Tommy's sleek profile low, Emil installed a pair of "incline" G.M. 6-71 's which had the blocks rotated along the shaft centerline to lower the height by 5" compared with the original upright Grey Marine version. Jack's introduction to Charles Johnson on that project was the beginning of a long relationship between the two pioneers.

In 1957 Roger Firestone , who owned the 43' " Tireless " insisted that his boat be converted to diesel power and he didn't give a damn how it was accomplished. After a lot of thought, Johnny and Emil decided to go the other way. Instead of raising the boat, they would drop the engines --- literally. They cut out the bottom of the boat beneath the oil pan and gear and dropped the Caterpillar engines that Firestone had specified, straight down between the main stringers. When John Sr. walked by the boat the following day and saw one of the engines protruding for the bottom of the hull he gave Johnny hell for ruining the man's boat. Johnny tried to explain but the old man would have none of it. Johnny and Emil did have a plan. They fashioned airfoil-shaped blisters out of fiberglass and projected the shaft log along the new shaft line out the aft end of the blister and glued and bolted the assembly to the hull. When the project was completed the boat had a flatter, more efficient shaft angle and performed beautifully with greater range and no loss in performance. Several other boats were converted in this manor before low profile diesels were made available in the years that followed.

Prior to 1958, the yard used resorcinol glue for most all its adhesive applications. Its use was common in many boatyards and did an adequate job of holding things together, although its adhesive properties were known to diminish over time. That year, a customer named George Molle ordered a boat from Rybovich under one condition, that his boat would be built using a catalyzed epoxy resin instead the conventional glue. Epoxy had been developed for the aircraft industry in WW II as a means of bonding aluminum but as far as anyone knew, it had never been used to glue a wooden boat together. Tommy experimented with the new material and agreed to Molle's request. The new glue turned out to be far stronger and have many more applications than resorcinol and became the standard not only in new construction but in the repair side of the business as well.

The boat was completed as a yard project and had the first pair of jet-drives installed locally. She was extremely fast but the jet drives produced unpredictable handling characteristics and were soon abandoned for conventional drive. The experiment had been a success. The boat was sold to yard customer Eddie Crawford , and was fished hard for many years from the Palm Beaches to Hawaii. She is still an eye-catcher and in beautiful condition today.

In 1966 Johnny introduced the " Tournament of Champions ", which was a tournament designed to raise money for conservation. At the end of the competition each year, the winner would decide on what conservation project his winnings should be spent. Early sonic tagging experiments on billfish were paid for through funds realized through that tournament. Throughout the 60s, the continued decline in local fishing stocks was a cause for great concern with Johnny. It was clear to him that the mortality rate of sailfish hooked and released on live bait was much higher than those released on dead bait. In 1972 Johnny founded the Gold Cup Tournament , which awarded significantly more points for fish caught on dead bait. These tournaments and a great deal of research projects were born out of Johnny's love and respect for the sport on which he had built his family's business, and for the cause of marine conservation to which he dedicated the last 30 years of his life.

1975 to Present

"We continue to subscribe to the same philosophy—listen, think, and create. We are here to build a better boat. It's as simple as that."

Anna Pollack, wife of John Rybovich, Sr.

An early print ad for the boatyard

Aftermath of the September 16, 1928 hurricane

Converting existing cruisers to sportfishing boats by adding outriggers, fishing chairs, gunwale mounted rod holders and topside-mounted controls.

The old Rybovich Boatyard in West Palm Beach

Michael Lerner

Kip Farrington

Tommy Gifford with a Blue Marlin

The Cass Brothers with a shark-eaten Tuna

Lloyd Knowles and the Knowles Tuna Reel

Ernest Hemingway fishing for Bluefin Tuna

Fred Grieten, developer of the Fin-Nor reel

The Fin-Nor big game fishing reel

Frank O'Brien, designer of the Tycoon Bimini King rod

Tommy Rybovich (circled) with crew and battered B-17

Emil's World War II patrol boat

John Rybovich with Charlie Johnson (seated)

Clari-Jo (hull #2), renamed Legend, built in 1949

Charles Johnson

Miss Chevy IV (hull #8) built in 1952

Georgia May (hull #19) launched in 1955

Horace Dale Critz

John Rybovich and Ernest Hemingway (2nd & 3rd from left) in Havana, 1956

Gasoline engine

Tireless (hull #28) launched in 1957

Emil Rybovich with the fiberglass "blister"

Fiberglassing the hull

The cold molding process

Rhino (hull #34) launched in 1959

Mahogany planking sliced to 3/8"

Stiff one-piece wooden hull

Peter A B Widener, horse breeder and sportsman

Jet Stream (hull #47) launched in 1961

James H. Kimberly, sportsman, socialite and Kleenex heir

Fighting chair

Kay Rybovich with Sailfish and husband John

Kay Rybovich, Ginni Sherwood and Dennie Crowninshield, founders of the IWFA

Trophy for the Master's Angling Tournament , sponsored by The Sailfish Club

The Sailfish Club in Palm Beach

The Republic SeaBee seaplane

The second Republic SeaBee

The West Palm Beach Fishing Club

Asinine , forerunner to the modern center-console fishing boat

John and Emil Rybovich

Tommy Rybovich towing a scale model with Giovanni Cardelli

Herbert Clofine

Amigo V (hull #61) launched in 1965

Annabet (hull #69) launched in 1968

Little Pete (hull #65) launched in 1967

Margaret (hull #73) launched in 1972

Emil Rybovich

Swamp Fox (hull #79) launched in 1976

Marty Evans

Gary Hilliard

Ruthie (hull #108) launched in 1985

Legendary angler Nick Smith

Ryco Marine in Riviera Beach FL

Damage from Hurricane Wilma in October 2005

A pair of 78' sportfishermen from 2009-2010

Miss Chevy II (hull #1) launched in 1947

The Webb Institute for Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

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During the days of DECEMBER 2014, Capt James Fachtmann who had faithfully served as a loyal yacht salesperson for a small yacht brokerage firm based in Florida, was confronted with the stark reality of the situation. Even though James had been the Top Sales Person for 4 out of the 5 years with the 1st year being “Rookie Broker of the Year” (DEC 2010), the last of a great many injustice had occurred by the hand of that firms leadership that awoke the entrepreneur with-in him. A line had been drawn in the sand and it had been crossed for the final time. It was time to take the road less traveled and venture out, onward, and ultimately upward.

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Mummified body of German man found in yacht adrift off Philippines

Mystery surrounds death of Manfred Fritz Bajorat, whose corpse was found slumped at desk ‘like he was sleeping’ in cabin of vessel floating in the Pacific

WARNING: this article contains a graphic image

The mummified body of a German sailor has been found by fishermen on a yacht floating off the Philippines .

Police were investigating after two men made the discovery on Thursday. Officers determined from identity documents found on the boat that the dead man was Manfred Fritz Bajorat, aged 59.

Inspector Mark Navales, deputy police chief of nearby Barabo town, said that while the cause of Bajorat’s death was unclear there were no signs of foul play.

“It is still a mystery to us,” said Navales.

Bajorat’s body was found seated at a desk in the radio room, slumped over on his right arm “like he was sleeping”, said Navales.

His exact time of death had not yet been determined. The yacht was found in the Philippine Sea about 100km (60 miles) from Barabo.

Bajorat had reportedly been sailing the world on his yacht, Sayo, for the past 20 years.

Reports said he had not been sighted since 2009 . But a friend told the media that he had heard from the mariner in 2015 via Facebook.

Authorities were attempting to contact his friends and family in Germany in the hope they would be able to shed light on his movements.

The police investigation found no obvious signs of violence but could not determine the cause of death.

Navales said items inside the yacht were scattered and Bajorat’s wallet was not found but the yacht’s radio, GPS and other valuable items were still there.

Dr Mark Benecke, a forensic criminologist in the German city of Cologne, told the Bild newspaper: “The way he is sitting seems to indicate that death was unexpected, perhaps from a heart attack.”

Reports suggested that dry ocean winds, hot temperatures and the salty air helped preserve his body.

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