Kennedy Craft Lends Star Power to Show

Sailboat Market May Have Cooled, But It's Not Sunk

It was simple math, really: Gleaming million-dollar yachts for sale -- including one skippered by President John F. Kennedy -- combined with one of the worst weeks in Wall Street history made for a lot more daydreaming than usual yesterday at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis.

Luxury yacht manufacturers kept repeating a rumor that someone somewhere in the sea of shining fiberglass had plopped down a deposit of a couple hundred thousand dollars on a 50-footer, but no one seemed to know the big spender or the lucky company with the six-figure check.

"I'm just looking," said Fred Eckert of Arnold, smiling as he climbed below in the antique Maryland racing sailboat often steered by Kennedy on weekends away from the Oval Office. Price tag for the restored beauty: $1.95 million. "I had to sit behind the wheel and just dream a little," Eckert said. "I remember the pictures of him on the water, wind in his hair."

Kennedy's Manitou -- a 62-foot, mahogany-framed racer built in 1937 -- was a star attraction yesterday, drawing oohs and ahhs, as hundreds shuffled between its cramped beds, antique fireplace and built-in bathtub.

With its wooden mast, the Manitou stuck out amid the hundreds of show boats salesmen were eager to promote.

The Manitou had been built for the Chicago-Mackinac race, which it won in 1938. By the time Kennedy took office, it had been donated to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where it was being used to train cadets.

Kennedy wanted a sailboat to relax on instead of the 92-foot power yacht that had been used by presidents before him, according to Harry Morgan, yacht broker with Sparksman & Stephens, which is helping Laura Kilbourne, the granddaughter of the original owner, sell the boat.

The Manitou has been at the Calvert Marine Museum since May for final restoration work. Doug Alves, director of the museum, said that the aft compartment of the boat was outfitted with Secret Service radios and that Kennedy reportedly was able to phone the Kremlin while aboard. The museum has not been able to track down photos of the radios to confirm the story, Alves said.

"Nobody's bought [Manitou] for the museum yet," said Alves, half-jokingly. "It would be great to have it, but someone would have to endow another million just to take care of it." In fact, yearly maintenance on the wooden sailboat could top $100,000, he said.

The Manitou has not yet drawn any offers, Morgan said. "Come on down. You, too, can have Jack Kennedy's boat," he said. "Seriously, though, it will take a little while to find the right person who will fall in love with it."

Nostalgia aside, many others said business was a little slower than usual but that there were still serious buyers for high-end yachts and even more for entry-level sailboats.

"I'm encouraged," John Chiochetti of Santa Cruz Yachts said as he worked a crowd of prospective buyers aboard the SC37, the company's new $375,000 high-performance racer. "Despite everything this week, there have been serious buyers. We get a number of leads at events like this, and we've gotten some today."

David Mesicek, sales manager for Laser Performance North America, was happier. "I had a program come in and buy 10 boats today," he said. They weren't the $375,000 variety. Mesicek was referring to the "Bug," an entry-level 9-foot trainer selling for $2,295, marked down $535 for the boat show. "A lot of people can still come in and write a check for these. For others, it will not be a major purchase," he said. "I think people will be looking for more inexpensive ways to still get on the water."