First Impression: Drumbeat

Date toured: November 2006

I was first introduced to the 72-foot Irwin sailboat Drumbeat while standing onboard the 72-foot Irwin Sublime in the slip next door. “See that boat?” Sublime’s brand-new owner/captain Brian Johnson asked me, pointing to Drumbeat. “I’m going to make my boat as great as that yacht.”
     A few hours later, I was standing onboard Drumbeat with Vince and Linda Stracener, who bought the yacht about seven years ago after running it as crew for two years. Before that, they worked as charter crew onboard other yachts. They had longtime mate Kirk Persidskis with them on the day I met them, all three looking tanned and relaxed. For them, boat shows like this one in Tortola aren’t about proving or even introducing themselves. Instead, the shows are about letting charter brokers know they’re still out there in the Virgin Islands, offering the same high level of service on a well-maintained yacht that has kept them in business for several decades.
     “We’ve probably done more charters than any boat down here,” Vince told me without a hint of braggadocio. “We’ve been here since the early ’80s.”
     About 70 percent of their business is from repeat clients—a high number that tells me they’re doing something right. They only take about 20 weeks a year of charter bookings, another number that makes me feel confident they’re doing a good job. (Less than that, and they might be struggling for business; more than that, and they’re probably running the yacht into the scrap heap.)
     Linda acts as the chef, and she says her favorite thing to cook is seafood. Some of her best recipes are for salmon, sea bass, mussels, shrimp and lobster. “I also like to do Italian food,” she told me, “but I do go by the preference sheet. It’s whatever the guests want.” She’ll even do homemade sushi if you request it.
    Drumbeat is part of the Flagship fleet. Her weekly all-inclusive rate is $12,000 for two to four guests; $13,000 for five guests; $14,000 for six guests; $15,000 for seven guests; and $16,000 for eight guests ($2,000 per person with a full yacht).—Kim Kavin