As we creep toward winter and the weather gets cold and nasty, it feels like a good time to think of boats in warmer waters. One such boat is likely to be Jimmy Buffett’s new Drifter, a Surfari design by Ted Fontaine and built by Pacific Seacraft in North Carolina.
The boat is definitely distinctive with a broad stern, (or a fat ass depending on one’s sense of aesthetics,) a wide-open cockpit, and salon which, as they are on the same level, are effectively one open space. Twin rudders, twin engines, a hydraulic lifting keel, a modernist pilothouse, and carbon fiber just about everything makes the boat a love it or hate it proposition. Or, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, if this is the sort of boat that you like, you will like this boat.
One odd thing about the boat is that it has been variously reported in the media and on the web to be 42, 44, 48 and 50 feet long. The most current reports tend to say that Buffett’s boat, Hull #1 of the series, is 50′ long, so, no doubt the boat grew in the production process.
For more images of the boat click here. And if you do want a boat like Jimmy’s, the Surfari 50 is expected to cost around $2.8 million US.
Surfari 48 from Onne van der Wal on Vimeo.
I would rather have a Cat for stability and less need to alter sails for changing conditions. In particular a Privilege 585 Catamaran as the kitchen is in the hull. Giving it a spacious salon