Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2021 i Robb Report

Alex Moore Before going freelance and working with outlets such as Wallpaper, Condé Nast Traveler and The Telegraph, Moore was a staff writer at Robb Report UK. For the US edition, he spoke to Richard Garriott about his extraordinary journeys, from outer space to the bottom of the sea (“Just Another Guy in a Suit,” p. 92). “Richard’s story is just the most perfect example of triumphing over the naysayer,” he says. “He really isn’t your archetypal explorer, and that’s exactly what makes his life so incredibly compelling.” Saul Martinez A freelance photographer and videographer, Martinez shot pro golfer Dustin Johnson at the Grove XXIII Golf Club in Florida for the August issue (“The Answers,” p. 44). Throughout the day, the two chatted about their sons. “We bonded over the…

What have you done recently for the first time? I haven’t done it yet, but I’m going to fish in my first marlin-fishing tournament in the Bahamas. What, apart from more time, would make the biggest difference to your life? I’m pretty happy with my life but, obviously, winning more golf tournaments and maybe having another kid. What in your wardrobe do you wear most often? My workout gear. I pretty much wear that all day every day. Right now, I’m at Grove XXIII and I can play here in my T-shirt and workout shorts. What do you most crave at the end of the day? Netflix. Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of time on the couch in the last year. Yellowstone is one of my favorite shows. I also…

ABOVE IT ALL IF YOU’RE ONE to boast, read on. The highest private deck for sale in New York could be yours, suspended at a vertigo-inducing 920 feet above street level and conveniently attached to this spectacular penthouse. Around 10 years ago, Hudson Yards was storage for Long Island Rail Road trains. Now, the west-side locale is the site of the Shed art museum, numerous office buildings and that controversial latticed-metal centerpiece designed by Thomas Heatherwick. The neighborhood’s other big bet is a collection of condo buildings, among them 35 Hudson Yards, which, at over 1,000 feet, is one of the tallest residential towers in New York City. David Childs of architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed the soaring skyscraper—a challenge, as it had to be built on a…

Don’t let a lack of sailing chops—or even a boat—stop you from experiencing the euphoria of racing along under spinnaker, wind whipping massive sails, another beautiful yacht eating your wake. Instead, leave it to pros like Tony Rey, a veteran of the America’s Cup, Olympics, Volvo Ocean Race and multiple Maxi campaigns (see above) and president of Cloud10 Racing in Newport, R.I. “We’ve set up boats and crews in two St. Barts Bucket Regattas,” Rey says. “One year, the client had zero sailing experience—and we won.” Rey, who’s also one of the sport’s most sought-after trainers, is able to source the most advanced race boats for charter, such as the Super Maxi Leopard 3 (left), then assemble a professional crew and handle details like insurance, travel, logistics—even five-star accommodations. The…

POWER PLAYER If you consider MP3 files piped through plastic earbuds as enjoyable as fingernails on a chalkboard, consider Astell&Kern, the Korean company specializing in portable high-resolution audio players. Its new A&futura SE180 is roughly the size of an iPhone XS but, belying its build quality, twice as thick and heavy. At $1,499, the device is a tactile delight; the casework, fabricated from bead-blasted aluminum and high-impact glass, evokes the precision and craftsmanship of a fine watch. Listeners can tailor its sonic signature through interchangeable modules ($349 each) that best match both headphone choice and preferred music genres, based on the digital-to-analog (DAC) converter chips used. We listened with the default SEM1 module, which incorporates the excellent ESS ES9038PRO, an eight-channel DAC used in some of the best digital sources…

Hurricane Irma laid waste to the area four years ago, ripping up most of its trees and destroying or severely damaging 85 percent of its buildings. Together, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) are the Caribbean’s unofficial capital of privacy. The BVI’s roster of five-star resorts is a who’s who of seclusion, with many located on their own islands. Most famous is 74-acre Necker—bought by Richard Branson when he was still under 30, now with room for 40 guests—but extreme-sports-loving visitors should rent out Eustatia instead, which has a water-sports center packed with toys, all under the supervision of instructor and professional kiteboarder Charlie Smith. Plus, from October, yachties can completely commandeer the nine-room Saba Rock next door, founded as a diving base in the 1960s before morphing into a hotel,…

Telluride is a town with a reputation: a winter wonderland swathed in snow, scribbled with ski tracks and lit by fireplaces in cozy lodges. That image isn’t wrong—just incomplete. Telluride is also one of the best off-season destinations the West has to offer, with countless hiking and biking trails, top-notch kayaking and paddleboarding on the Alta Lakes, chef-driven destination restaurants and the most beautiful newly renovated resort in Colorado. Nestled at 10,540 feet, that resort is Madeline Hotel & Residences, Auberge Resorts Collection, where guest experiences include off-roading, horseback riding through wildflower meadows to a saddlebag brunch, foraging expeditions with the chef and guided fly-fishing trips to private mountain streams. Or stay in to experience amenities such as the Alpine Swim Club, where you can sip a drink in the…

HERMÈS SLIM D’HERMÈS SQUELETTE LUNE While Hermès has long been known for its dial work, some of its more complex designs have been outsourced to specialists, including the brand’s skeletonized models, first introduced in 2010 with the Arceau Squelette. Not so with the new 39.5 mm Slim d’Hermès Squelette Lune: The intricate skeleton dial is manufactured at the fashion house’s watchmaking headquarters, Les Ateliers d’Hermès Horloger in Le Noirmont, Switzerland. Its ultra-thin H1950 movement, however, is made by the elite Vaucher manufacture in Fleurier, Switzerland, known for creating calibers even for elite centuries-old watchmakers. By their subtractive nature, such designs are already light on the wrist. But the $20,550 Squelette Lune goes a step further with a dial crafted in ultra-lightweight black titanium in both matte and glossy finishes; the…

THE BAMBOO ROD is symbolic of fly-fishing’s unhurried pace. Once the standard, bamboo was replaced by lighter graphite as it was cheaper to make and easier to cast. So the bamboo rod went the way of the handmade suit and has to be put together by an artisan at great expense. Yet some aficionados are finding their way back to bamboo. That way often leads to Tom Morgan Rodsmiths, in Bozeman, Montana. The late Tom Morgan, a fly-fishing legend, oversaw R. L. Winston Rod Co. as it became one of the leading makers in the world. In 1991, Morgan left to start something decidedly more low-fi, founding the company that would bear his name. The brand is now overseen by Matt Barber (and his partner, Joel Doub), who studied under…

BEFORE THE Great Cancellation of 2020, there were grumblings among certain automotive cognoscenti that Monterey Car Week had become too corporate, too diffuse, the once-stringent standards sunk too low. (Remember Hyundai? At Pebble Beach?) But what a difference a lockdown year makes. With the world’s greatest car show back on the calendar, those complaints now sound like churlish griping during a tour of Mr. Wonka’s chocolate factory. The sheer wonderment on display, no matter where you look, is nothing short of magical: Concorso Italiano, the Tour d’Elegance, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, the Quail, Dawn Patrol, the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach on concours day—the list goes on. But our favorite events amid this sheet-metal bacchanalia remain the auctions, where you can watch genuine automotive icons cross the block—and, should your…

The short list for ultra-long-range, purpose-built business jets has been very short indeed, comprised of the Bombardier Global 7500 and Gulfstream’s G700—full stop. Now there’s a third entry in the premium category, known for offering the longest ranges, fastest speeds and most high-tech, ergonomically advanced interiors: the Dassault Falcon 10X. “We’re building more comfort, range and possibilities,” said Paul Floreck, Dassault’s senior vice president of North American sales, when the 10X was announced in May. “We will offer a passenger experience that is unrivaled on the market.” But then he would say that, and it’s a bold statement considering the 10X’s competition. At this level, owners tend to be tenaciously loyal to their chosen brands, which means even trick new features aren’t necessarily enough for Dassault to persuade Bombardier or…

In the world of luxury watchmaking right now, authenticity is everything. Brands pour vast resources into convincing us, the buying public, that what we’re buying into is something that will, as the adage goes, last a lifetime. More than one, in fact. What, after all, could be more authentic, more valuable, than a mechanical object containing a blend of heritage technology and cutting-edge science that comes with the promise you can pass it on to your kids? Watch companies often drive home the message—We’re the real deal! Vote for/choose/buy us!—by repeating their backstories ad nauseam. Authenticity, to borrow a phrase, is the new oil. In fact, plenty of luxury watch companies now employ armies of people who, like reverse prophets, mine the past to cast light on the present and…

In June, after a pandemic-prompted hiatus, chef Daniel Humm reopened his famed Eleven Madison Park. But the Michelin three-star restaurant was . . . different. Missing were Humm’s career-defining dishes, such as honey-lavender duck and suckling pig confit, that helped land him at number one on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2017. “It was clear that after everything we all experienced this past year, we couldn’t open the same restaurant,” Humm says. “We realized that, not only has the world changed, but we have changed as well.” The way the restaurant sourced and served animal protein was environmentally unsustainable, he says, so he removed meat and dairy from the kitchen. Now his menu is filled with dishes such as tonburi (dried seeds from the Japanese kochia tree) cooked…

Back in 1988, when artist Tony Marsh took a full-time teaching post at California State University, Long Beach, he was determined to broaden the appeal of ceramics, his chosen medium. He spread the word that if an artist was curious about working with clay, he’d be happy to teach them how. Soon, painters and sculptors were accepting his offer of free studio space and use of the school’s coveted kilns. In the summers, Marsh would host up to 50 artists, all sharing tips—or, as one puts it, “stealing from each other”—in the spirit of discovery. Many of them, including Roger Herman, Ruby Neri, Jennifer Rochlin and Sylvie Auvray, to name just a few, have become some of the most exciting ceramists working today and have helped cement SoCal as an…

WILD WOOD BATTISTA “PININ” FARINA founded his Turin-based design firm in 1930. Over the decades Pininfarina would conceive iconic lines for the likes of Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Maserati and, of course, Ferrari—including the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, the most valuable car in the world—and become one of the most revered names in the Italian design world. Today Pininfarina has moved from behind the wheel to envision award-winning architecture such as São Paulo’s Cyrela residential towers. This summer the firm expands even further into the home with Miraggio, a collaboration with Corà, Italy’s largest distributor of wood products. The new floor collection is meant to seamlessly segue from outdoor to indoor and blur the borders between exterior and interior spaces with complex geometric patterns that act like an optical illusion to…

HOT-LAP TIME MACHINE Superformance GT40 Sitting just 40 inches above the ground, the GT40 feels impossibly low upon entry. But slither over the sill-mounted shifter, under the Frisbee-sized steering wheel and into the right-hand seat, stab the start button and you’re rewarded with pure sonic adrenaline. The engine explodes to life, sucking a whale-lung’s worth of air into four Weber carbs and bellowing from an exhaust loud enough to rouse Beethoven. The engine explodes to life, sucking a whale-lung’s worth of air into four Weber carbs and bellowing from an exhaust loud enough to rouse Beethoven. With its sweep of the top three finishes at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, the GT40 became an instant icon. Powered by a fire-breathing Ford 427 cu in V-8 engine, it continued…

They’re back. After a year of mostly canceled events due to Covid-19, the Maxis, the world’s largest thoroughbred racing yachts, are going head-to-head in one of sailing’s most exciting series. The most prestigious contests on the calendar are organized by the International Maxi Association, founded 41 years ago to manage the growing competition between yachting’s high-tech grand dames. Not to be confused with the elegant sailing giants known as Superyachts, which typically compete in gentlemanly regattas (sometimes called “buckets”) where boats are required to maintain at least 131 feet of distance between them, Maxis differ in size—Mini-Maxis at 60 to 79 feet, Maxis at 79 to 100 feet and Super Maxis from 100 feet—but are all built for close-hauled racing. With lightweight, carbon-fiber hulls and sails that can run into…

FOR LONG-DISTANCE commuters, a private jet saves time and simplifies logistics. The only problem: You usually have to get into an urban center afterwards, requiring further transportation once you’ve touched down. “We see this as the first time the helicopter business is coming in at scale.” To streamline the process, aviation firms are now incorporating helicopters to help time-challenged travelers transform that critical “last mile” into a quick flight above the gridlock. Membership-based private-jet service Wheels Up has announced a partnership with Bell Textron, in which the latter’s helicopters will ferry arriving Wheels Up passengers to city centers. “We view this as the first inning of vertical lift,” says Wheels Up CEO Kenny Dichter. “It will be the first time the helicopter business is coming in at scale.” Wheels Up…

Eighteen months or so ago, the idea of a multigenerational summer camp appealed about as much as a cremated campfire marshmallow. A residential regime of collective endeavor and relaxed, firefly-filled evenings under the stars sounded like a sleepy 1950s throwback. But after months spent in genuine confinement with close relations, honing our skills at charades, many of us have emerged with an unexpected appreciation for simple family time. A new type of luxury resort aims to capitalize on this urge for nostalgic togetherness. High Hampton, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, is the latest venture from Sandy Beall and his family, owners of the celebrated Blackberry Farm and Blackberry Mountain retreats, on the other side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee. Beall is…