Best 4x4 By Far

Need a new exploration toy to match your yacht? The car manufacturer Land Rover and Edmiston yacht brokerage have joined forces to make a special edition 4x4 SUV.

Seven top yacht designers competed in the contest: Martin Francis, Redman Whiteley Dixon, Terrence Disdale, Andrew Winch, Tim Heywood, Ken Freivokh, and Bannenberg. The winning car will be announced and displayed at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show. If a buyer wants one of the other designs, he or she can purchase them as well. Prices are predicted range from $300,000 to $1.2 million depending on the design and options. For more on the story, click here.

Pirates! (Of a Different Kind)

If you're a movie buff in addition to being a boat buff, mark your 2009 calendar for The Boat That Rocked, a film about pirate radio in the 1960's.

Not familiar with pirate radio? Picture a boat or ship of any kind, anchored off the coast and broadcasting illegally to thousands, even millions, of people back on land. It's the ultimate thumbing of the nose to the establishment of corporate- or even government-run radio, and 40-odd years ago in England, plenty of pirate radio stations broadcast to a reported 25 million people. The Boat That Rocked follows Quentin, who operated Radio Rock in the middle of the North Sea and had quite the crazy mix of DJs.

The impressive cast includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, and others. Filming wrapped up in June; no specific release date set, so keep checking the link above for updates.

Desert Sand on the Sea

That's 157 feet of yacht sliding down the ways at International Shipyards Ancona (ISA). Alexandar V was launched under a hot morning sun, to great fanfare: After a shower of white confetti came down, hundreds of white and silver balloons were released into the sky.

And why not? Even the yacht's exterior color scheme celebrates being different: Her hull is painted desert sand, and her superstructure is a creamy oyster white. And inside ebony, maple, teak, and multiple marbles set a modern scene.

Powered by twin MTU 12V4000 M70s, the steel-hulled Alexandar V should achieve a 15.5-knot cruise speed and 16.7-knot top speed. After sea trials, she'll be delivered to her owner so that he and his family can enjoy the waning weeks of summer. Then she'll make her formal debut at the Monaco Yacht Show.

Expat...Fish?

With summer in full swing, the waters in and around the Northeast are awash with recreational anglers in search of their next big catch. Well, according to an interesting article in The New York Times, said fishermen—particularly those who fish off the coast of Long Island—might come upon more unusual species than they'd anticipated. According to the article, small tropical fish are being carried by the Gulf Stream from the Florida Keys and the Bahamas and deposited in coves and eelgrass beds off the Northeast coast. Many of these so-called "expatriate" species—which are not well-suited to the area's cold winter temperatures—are being collected by local aquariums and used in exhibits. The reason for this recent surge in tropical fish is not known but, the article explains, scientists suspect it has something to do with the general increase in water temperatures.

Certainly Limitless

Check out the above video for a glimpse of Lurssen's famous Limitless. Leslie Wexner's elegant yacht spans 315'8" and ranked #14 on PMY’s annual "World's 100 Largest Yachts" this year.

Wexner, CEO of Limited Brands, is no stranger to lists or rankings—he ranked 273rd in Forbes’ 2007 list of the "world’s richest people."

Limitless will once again be featured in PMY’s upcoming November issue, showcasing America’s 100 Largest Yachts. She continues to rank inside the Top Ten, but you’ll have to wait until November to find out exactly where she fits. Until then, you can enjoy watching her effortlessly glide along the ocean.