First Impression: Pride

Date toured: June 2007

The 58-foot sailing yacht Pride immediately caught my attention at the industry-only charter yacht show in Newport, Rhode Island, for the simple reason that she’s a catamaran. You don’t get many of those available for charter up New England way.
     Sailing catamarans are all the rage these days down in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, as well as over in Australia, where charterers love the easy water access and all the onboard space they offer when compared with traditional yachts of the same length. Cats are also a lot more stable on the water than monohull sailing yachts, so they’re a great boat for first-timers who are worried about the boat heeling over in strong winds, but who still want to enjoy the fun of sailing.
    Why more catamarans haven’t come up New England way is a bit of a mystery, but my guess is that it’s because the Newport-to-Bar Harbor corridor is full of old-money love for classic sailing yacht designs. A “sexy” boat in Maine is one made of real wood, maybe painted blue with a red bootstripe,  and varnished within an inch of its life. No matter how roomy or stable a catamaran like Pride is, I think a lot of New Englanders would still see her as a funny-shaped, glaring white monstrosity that has a dickens of a time fitting into a regular-width slip at the dock.
     Long live blasphemy, I say: Sailing catamarans are fantastic to cruise onboard anywhere in the world, and I hope more of them join Pride in the New England area during the summer charter seasons to come. 
     I also hope they have crews as interesting as Jack and Susan Boye, the couple who own and run Pride as they live out their second-career dreams of a life on the water. (Jack’s also a well-known sailboat racer; see our exclusive interview for more on that.) What I like about the Boyes is that they’re not trying to compete with the fresh-out-of-college kids who run a lot of charter boats like nonstop fun factories. Instead, the Boyes are welcoming all kinds of charter clients, including those who are older and want to simply cruise comfortably while enjoying the scenery. That the Boyes live in Maine also helps, as they’re just thrilled to introduce guests to their home waters.
     Pride is part of the Flagship fleet. She takes six guests at a weekly base rate of $15,900, or about $3,300 per person with typical 25-percent expenses factored in. Contact any reputable charter broker for booking details.—Kim Kavin