Table of contents for May 2021 in Robb Report

Books and bedtime have long been one of life’s most relaxing rituals. So when Portugal’s family-owned O Valor do Tempo luxury group had the chance to build its first hotel near the famous Joanina Library, part of the UNESCO World Heritage–listed University of Coimbra, it looked to that combination for inspiration. But how to create a bedtime experience that does justice to a world-renowned library? By partnering with Hästens, makers of exceptional handcrafted mattresses and other sleep accessories and one of the world’s leading experts in a good night’s rest. “We wanted to create the ultimate place for well-being, with books addressing wellbeing of the mind and sleep, well-being of the body,” says Tiago Quaresma, managing director of O Valor do Tempo. Accordingly, while the 16-and-older “micro-hotel” has shared spaces,…

NEUTRALS MIGHT be the ideal canvas for a room, but no one wants to sit in a neutral room all day. I can’t think of anything better than investing in a piece for your home that makes you grin. Maybe it can’t be only fun (who wants to live in a carnival?), but we all need something playful, colorful, to enliven the brown and beige of everyday. Life at home should be enjoyed, especially now, when we’ve never spent so much time in our houses. We want comfort from our surroundings, and functionality, but also joy. The most “successful” rooms blend styles and disciplines: modern, ancient, tribal, sculptural and soft, but also a touch of playfulness that’s sophisticated but never juvenile. For me, that means investing in pieces with a…

TRACK ATHLETE McLaren 620R As I pull up to the hotel entrance, the 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 shudders the ground beneath my McLaren 620R. Also trembling, with palpable excitement, is the parking concierge, who appears barely old enough to drive. “Are those the Senna racing seats?” he blurts, transfixed, ignoring the other vehicles. For a model comprising just 225 examples, of which only 70 will hit North America, the 620R has a reputation that precedes it. The grand finale for McLaren’s Sports Series, the 620R is a street version of the brand’s FIA-homologated 570S GT4 racer, with the same engine and carbon-fiber chassis but unconstrained by motorsport regulations. On an open stretch of freeway, the 611 hp coupe, with 457 ft lbs of grunt available at 3,500 rpm, feels every bit…

It was clear as the game reached its climax that Kyle Giersdorf was in the zone. The athlete had positioned himself in a prime spot on the field. He even cracked a rare smile as he made another solid play. Giersdorf was leading by a commanding 15 points going into this final round; his closest competitor was already out of the picture. When the match was over, the crowded arena erupted in cheers, and confetti filled the air. The 16-year-old looked a bit shell-shocked. As fog machines spouted mist, he carefully made his way down a glowing runway to claim his trophy and $3 million prize. He was, after all, the Fortnite World Champion. Yes, Fortnite: the wildly popular video game in which players assume the roles of cartoonish, gun-wielding…

Lisa Thompson, a 48-year-old mountainclimbing enthusiast, is recalling her harrowing trek on the Bottleneck, one of the most perilous passes of her 28,251-foot ascent to the summit of K2 in 2018: “This giant tower of ice is hanging above you, with chunks that periodically fall,” she says, “and you have to climb underneath it for hours.” But the biggest threat lay beneath. “You walk very delicately, right up against it, on a boot path that’s less than the width of your foot. And if you fall there, it’s something like a two-and-a-half-mile drop.” The Bottleneck comes about 27,000 feet into one of the world’s most treacherous climbs. The inherent difficulty of breathing at that altitude and the unsettling narrowness of the path aside, Thompson says the physical challenge is relatively…

When Emirates Team New Zealand’s high-speed foiling yacht, Te Rehutai, successfully defended the America’s Cup on home waters against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in March, the victory was a sweet repeat for helmsman Peter Burling. “When we won, Auckland went crazy,” he says. An Olympic gold medalist and World Sailor of the Year, the 30-year-old Kiwi had also skippered Team New Zealand’s boat in 2017. Then 26, Burling was the youngest helmsman in the 170-year history of the America’s Cup. A prodigy, with an uncanny ability to read the sea, Burling sailed his first world championship at 11 and by 16 had won five world titles. At 17, he became the youngest New Zealander to sail in the Olympics. Burling’s Live Ocean, a charitable foundation he established with sailing partner…

GAME ROOMS are supposed to be fun (obviously). Designing them, though, can be surprisingly challenging. Balancing entertainment mainstays such as flat screens, Ping-Pong tables and dartboards with tasteful decor—all while making space for comfy lounge chairs and sofas—is a lot harder to nail than the left side pocket. Here, four takes we’ve seen recently with some constructive criticism: May this help change up the playbook for your game room. 1 Snooze You Lose SCORE: There is a bar. FOUL: There’s barely any booze on it. Oppressively low ceilings, uninviting seating and a bland palette say “play elsewhere.” 2 No Cigar SCORE: Piano? Check. Acrylic chess set? Yep. Space Invaders machine? Bit of a niche ask, but you got it. Points for offering more fun-with-friends fare than just one dusty old…

WE CAN SEE the appeal of swapping camels for motorcycles, which is exactly what the real Lawrence of Arabia did after World War I. T. E. Lawrence—the fabled Welsh-born military officer, archaeologist and author—served in the deserts of the Middle East during the war, becoming known for his role in uniting bedouin tribes against the Ottoman Empire and making a grueling 70-hour dromedary trek. Afterward, his fondness for motorbikes was also renowned, especially those from Britain’s Brough Superior, founded by racer George Brough in 1919 but shuttered in 1940. Who could blame him? Lawrence owned seven and, in his autobiographical work The Mint, waxes poetic about riding one: “He ambles at forty-five and when roaring his utmost, surpasses the hundred. A skittish motor-bike with a touch of blood in it is…

If there’s an exception to the adage that the slowest motorcycle is always more exhilarating than the fastest car, it’s the Ariel Atom. Not just because the two-seat roadster qualifies as a car only by the barest definition—few body panels, no power steering, conveniences such as a plastic windscreen come extra and adjusting the seat requires both tools and patience—but because so much face-warping speed is available in such an elemental design. From the molded composite driver’s seat one can sense the sort of raucous, rear-mid-engine, open-air fun Jacky Ickx used to have tossing his Porsche 936 around Le Mans. That engine is the same 320 hp, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder found in the bonkers Honda Civic Type R, used here to motivate a machine, at 1,312 pounds dry, that weighs…

Illinois show jumper Taylor Flury accepted an invitation to fly to Lanaken, Belgium, to ride in one of the world’s most prestigious competitions: the Fédération Équestre Internationale WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championships for Young Horses. The trip was a success. While there, Flury’s five-year-old Carrasca Z became the first US stallion to be approved by the Belgian studbook Zangersheide, with high commendation. Two years later, however, when she returned to Belgium with Carrasca to compete in the seven-year-old division, the jumps towered well above four and a half feet. The course was technical, and the margin for error was slim. Despite what would be a strong performance in the final, Flury rode away with a different impression. “The harsh truth was, showing and bringing these [horses] up in the States…

Esports are a whole new virtual ball game. You know how the World Series works (best of seven) or that the World Cup comes to soccer every four years, but what are the ins and outs of this electronic competitive circuit? Here, we break down the basics of both the games and their high-profile tournaments. League of Legends World Championship • League of Legends is a MOBA (multi-player online battle arena). The object: Destroy the other team’s home base, or Nexus, on the opposite side of the field. Like capture the flag, but with more winged mages and humanoid alligators. A team consists of five players, each of whom specializes in a role. The world championship takes place in a different city every fall and is mounted by developer Riot…

In the wise words of Journey: Some will win, some will lose. What the rock band forgot to mention is that some will lose a lot. When it comes to sports, two notoriously bad teams stand out from the rest: For baseball, it’s the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, and for football, it’s the 2008 Detroit Lions. What’s behind these epic, pro-level fails? Cleveland Spiders VS. Detroit Lions WHAT HAPPENED? Owner Frank Robison also owned the St. Louis Perfectos and transferred all the Spiders’ best players there. The team had one of the worst defenses of all time, allowing 517 points across the season. HOW MANY GAMES DID THEY LOSE? (out of 154) 134 16 (out of 16) YOU’RE FIRED! The team was disbanded after the season, so technically everybody got the…

After a year spent in close quarters, it’s time to re-emerge into the world in pursuit of a grand dream. For the angler, what’s grander and dreamier than fly-fishing on storied water? The venerable pastime, one of the original outdoor sports, has many benefits: It’s pursued in solitude and, more often than not, in extraordinary settings. Here, terrific angling destinations both near and far that will connect you to the natural world—and, hopefully, to a memorable fish. MONTANA There are many ways to fish the Treasure State, from floating the Beaverhead River to wading the Spring Creeks in Paradise Valley. If you’re not in the mood to rough it, check into the five-star Ranch at Rock Creek and stay in one of its stylish canvas cabins. The ranch also has…

The cherry blossom famously represents the fleeting nature of human life, a beauty meant to be admired, enjoyed and let go. But in Japan, the brief, bittersweet cycle of death and rebirth also applies—surprisingly—to houses. This unusual national ideology ends up nurturing bold new designs and a growing slate of award-winning architects, as evidenced by the annual Pritzker Architecture Prize. Japan ties the US with more winners than any other country: eight in total, from Kenzo Tange in 1987 to Arata Isozaki in 2019. The Western concept of a residence as a stable and secure long-term investment—more tree than flower—that will gradually increase in value over time directly opposes the Japanese view, which sees a house as a temporary structure that expires with its owner. A Japanese building is a…

Jerry Jones may have revolutionized the business of professional football with lucrative television contracts and state-of-the-art stadiums, but even he didn’t anticipate the impact his Airbus Corporate Helicopter, DC-1, would have on the Dallas Cowboys’ brand. “We originally got the ACH145 for transportation,” Jones says. “We wanted to commute between the Star, our headquarters in Frisco, and the stadium in Arlington, but it also had to get us to other businesses along the Gulf Coast and North Texas.” The logistic advantages were immediately obvious: The commute from the Star’s practice field to AT&T Stadium dropped from a one-hour drive to a 13-minute flight. The helicopter’s 400-mile range reaches remote areas of Texas (where Jones has other business interests) and since DC-1 can land anywhere, the 145-mph cruise speed is more…

The four-stateroom multihull features a fittingly design-minded interior, with a Gaggenau cooktop, oven, wine chiller and espresso machine. Large power catamarans have traditionally been boxy and slow, often just knockoffs of sailing multihulls minus the masts. But the segment is quickly evolving toward elegance, speed and high design. For proof, look no further than contemporary launches such as Lagoon’s Sixty 7, Horizon’s PC74, the Aquila 70 and the 80 Sunreef Power Great White, owned by Rafael Nadal. Great White made a social-media splash last summer, in time for Nadal’s 34th birthday, with the striking azure-blue-hulled yacht demonstrating a big cat’s potential: a palatial yet refined salon, rear steps leading directly into the water and sheer volume that can’t be matched by a traditional, narrower monohull. Sunreef is now working on…

When financiers Marc Lasry and Wes Edens bought the Milwaukee Bucks in 2014, the team had the worst record in the NBA, it played in one of the smallest markets and the price—$550 million—was the highest ever for a professional basketball team. Lasry and Edens know about distressed assets. They’d purchased billions’ worth of beat-up bonds, bank loans and companies. But $550 million for the Bucks? The team hadn’t won a league championship since 1971, and it was 15-67 for the 2014 season. “So, why do it?” Lasry asks Robb Report rhetorically. “Because that was the price.” Then-owner Herb Kohl, a former US senator, wanted $550 million, and he wanted the team to stay in Milwaukee. No amount of negotiating would change his mind, Lasry says, and Kohl could stick…

The NBA season was on the line. Inside the league’s Covid-19 bubble last summer, the players gathered in a hotel ballroom at Disney World to debate whether to continue with it in abbreviated form or abandon the title chase entirely. As tension built before the heated deliberations, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers—known as much for his off-the-court silence as for his on-the-court excellence—approached Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum and pulled him aside. “Hey, that wine you gave me was good,” McCollum recalls Leonard telling him. “A lot of people don’t know I drink wine, and I don’t know a lot about it, but I know that shit was good.” This wasn’t some random bottle they were discussing. Leonard, like other select VIPs…