It’s hard to believe the 12-Meter class is 100 years old, but proof is floating on her lines in the Mediterranean this summer. Her name is Cintra, and she has a century of sailing history packed into a 61-foot hull.

The beautifully restored 12-Meter, Cintra, turns 100 on the Mediterranean regatta circuit this season.

William Fife III, a third-generation yacht builder in Scotland who has been inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, designed and built her at the same yard where he penned the plans for Sir Thomas Lipton’s America’s Cup racers Shamrock I and Shamrock III. It was Scottish yachtsman Andrew Coats, a member of the Paisley thread-making family, who commissioned Cintra in the early 1900s, saw her launch in 1909, and raced her extensively for the next decade, amassing 13 wins during her first year alone.
She had several owners after Coats gave her up in 1919, and she floated in various states of fine maintenance and troubling disrepair until 1990, when naval architect Franco Giorgetti began an extensive restoration at La Bussola shipyard in Italy. Using historical photographs and books, he had brought her back to life enough by 1999 to entice a new owner—a collector of Fife-designed hulls, who did further research and another restoration effort in 2002.

A magnificent spread of sail

The work is downright incredible. When Cintra sailed for last month’s Portofino Rolex Trophy off the Italian Riviera, she was an absolute vision alongside her fellow classic 12-Meter, Varuna (whom she bested on handicap time to take second place in her class). Cintra also is scheduled to participate in this month’s Trofeo Accademia di La Spezia regatta as well as in September’s Classic Week in Monaco, Royal Regatta Cannes, and Les Voiles de Saint Tropez.
Cintra’s owner hopes the world is noting the yacht’s continued performance and style as he attempts to sell her into the next phase of her storied life. His asking price through Ocean Independence is €1.5 million.
Is that a value that will attract buyers in today’s market? We’ll see.
Keep in mind that in the year Cintra was built, the Sears-Roebuck catalog in the United States listed the kinds of silk neckties favored by yachtsmen for a price of just 29 cents.

Kim Kavin is an award-winning writer, editor and photographer who specializes in marine travel. She is the author of five books including Dream Cruises: The Insider’s Guide to Private Yacht Vacations, and is editor of the online yacht vacation magazine www.CharterWave.com. Kim also edits www.BoatNameGame.com, which invites readers to submit and comment on funny, interesting, and bizarre boat names.

Some American-style football, that is?

No, the 2009-10 season hasn’t officially started just yet, but I received a note yesterday from Capt. Andrew Grego aboard the 102-foot Palmer Johnson motoryacht Banyan reminding me that February’s Super Bowl XLIV will be played in Miami, Florida–making yacht charter an option for enjoying the big game.

That’s the stadium in the photograph above. If you’re of my vintage, you might remember it as Joe Robbie Stadium, named for the original owner of the Miami Dolphins team. The arena was subsequently known as Pro Player Stadium and Dolphin Stadium until less than two months ago, when it was rechristened Land Shark Stadium–in honor of noted yachtsman Jimmy Buffett, who rewrote the lyrics to his song “Fins” in honor of the Dolphins team. Here’s the world premiere performance, if you want to take a listen:

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In the mood for some football yet? Banyan is available for a Super Bowl booking in Miami and can help enhance the experience with the kind of Super Bowl party the crew threw at last month’s Newport charter show. The yacht itself just underwent a multimillion-dollar refit that extended it from 88 to 102 feet long, by way of a massive new fishing cockpit. I spent a good deal of time discussing the refit details with Grego in Newport, and I’ll have a full First Impression review for you soon. You might also take a look at Banyan’s own website, which includes a good number of post-refit photos.

Banyan is part of the fleet at Neptune Group Yachting. She takes six guests and is currently offering introductory charter base rates that range from $29,500 to $36,000 for bookings in New England and the Florida/Bahamas area.

Any reputable charter broker can help you book a Super Bowl (or any other kind) of charter vacation aboard.

As you read this, I may still be meandering in Marmaris, on Turkey’s southwest coast. Rug merchants offer me apple tea, artists tempt me with handmade pottery, and bazaar dealers try to convince me that I cannot live without a hand-carved, mother-of-pearl inlay backgammon set.

Sailing into Marmaris, where the annual boat show fills the harbor with gulets available for charter

I press on, eyes focused on the gulets along the dock. These traditional, wooden boats are fatter and squatter than true sailing yachts, with top speeds around 6 knots as long as you engage the motor in addition to raising the sails. Gulets have become, in recent years, the world’s best value in crewed charter, offering access to the ruins of empires past at prices that make neighboring Greek charter yacht owners blanch. And as the Turkish charter scene itself has become more internationally minded, the gulets have improved in construction quality. I’ll be cruising later this week aboard one of the newest, multimillion-dollar incarnations: the 141-foot Mare Nostrum, a teak and mahogany masterpiece.

Most of the harbors on the Turkish coastline are within easy walking distance of the local shops, restaurants, and bazaars, where you can find leather goods, exotic spices, and handcrafted rugs.

The cruise will take me west from Marmaris to Bodrum, which is actually where many Turkey charters start. Yachts cruise the coast from Bodrum east to Marmaris and onward through Ekinçik Bay to Göçek—a lovely, weeklong passage—and perhaps beyond during longer charters to Kemer or Antalya. I did the Marmaris to Ekinçik Bay leg a few years ago aboard the stunning 98-foot gulet-style motorsailer Clarissa, including a ride up the reed-filled Dalyan River to the ruins of a Roman amphitheater that once held thousands. Our group of five was nearly the only one there, an experience far different from what I have encountered at archaeological sites from Greece’s Saronic Gulf to Dodecanese isles. While modern-day marketers draw a distinction between Greece and Turkey, the conquerors of centuries past did not. A charter in Turkey is just as much a peek into history, only without the crowds and super-inflated prices.

Cruises along the Dalyan River can include visits to Kaunos archaeological park and its amphitheater remains, as well as to the tombs of the Lycian empire, carved right into the mountainsides.

Finding the right gulet for your charter is the key, and your best chance of that comes from a good charter broker. Two American brokers I know well are here with me in Marmaris this week, touring the gulets and doing their due diligence. Try Missy Johnston at Northrop and Johnson Worldwide Yacht Charters (who expertly arranged my Clarissa and Mare Nostrum adventures), or Beverly Parsons of Interpac Yachts (who has visited the charter yachts in Turkey for nearly 30 years in a row).

Businessmen who run the waterfront shops each summer spend their winters in Turkey’s interior, buying inventory from the craftspeople in the local villages as far east as the Syrian border.

Editor’s Note: Kim Kavin is an award-winning writer, editor and photographer who specializes in marine travel. She is the author of five books including Dream Cruises: The Insider’s Guide to Private Yacht Vacations, and is editor of the online yacht vacation magazine www.CharterWave.com. Kim also edits www.BoatNameGame.com, which invites readers to submit and comment on funny, interesting, and bizarre boat names.