Yachts Names from ‘A’ to ‘X’

What with Monterey’s David Addleman having named his new-to-him Santa Cruz 50 X, and the two anonymous owners — who aren’t Russian — of the new Transformer 390 currently in St. Barth having named their boat A, there are only 24 possible single letter names left in the alphabet for the taking. We’ve never understood why but, by international agreement, no more than one sailboat over 10 meters is allowed to be named with any of the 26 letters of the English alphabet.

Looking at the photo of A, some of you are probably saying to yourself, "If A is a sailboat, where are her mast(s)?" Well, A is one of the new Transformer series of maxi sailboat designs that are able to switch from maximized powerboat to maximized sailboat and back. The reverse bow — a style that has become oh-so-popular these days — triple flips aft and under to become the keel when sailing. And three 195-ft masts — just short enough to make it beneath the Bridge of Americas in Panama — telescope out of the deck to create a Dyna Rig system as pioneered on Tom Perkins’ 289-ft Maltese Falcon. The twist is that the massive yards flop into position transformer-like. It’s a miraculous bit of engineering that owes a huge debt to the design of toys. As you might imagine, there have been teething issues, but isn’t that true with all boats?