The 31st annual Bob Perry Rendezvous is coming up, August 19-21, 2016, and there is plenty to be excited about. The party is hosted by Bob Perry himself in Port Ludlow and boats are encouraged to arrive on Thursday, August 18. A fabulous potluck with dancing to live music and the dreaded blind crew’s dinghy race are just a few of the highlights. If you’ve got a Bob Perry-designed boat, you best make your reservations now.
But did you know that Bob Perry, while he is most well-known for his sailboat designs (including such legends as the Valiant 40), has also dabbled in the world of power yachts and even designed Paul Allen’s submarine?
“Powerboats feel like half a boat to me,” Perry confesses. “There’s no mast and there’s no rigging.” Spoken like a true sailor. But Perry’s list of custom power projects is impressive and range from Pacific Northwest trawlers, lobster boats, commuter launches for resorts, and even a double-ender that purposefully invokes the style of a Bugatti car with “dog bone” windows. His clients have been Pacific Northwest locals, Mainers, and a resort in the Florida Keys.
“I did a couple of electric boats too with Duffy (Boat Rental Company of Seattle),” recalls Perry. “It’s funny, I think just about all of my powerboat commissions came through sailing people I knew.”
When it came to designing Paul Allen’s submarine, Bob Perry’s team was tasked with how the overall vessel was styled.
“It wasn’t all throw pillows and doilies. We were responsible for what you saw and [it] had to include floats. There was quite a bit of sophisticated engineering involved,” Perry says. He never met Paul Allen, but pictures of the submarine (painted yellow, of course) in the famous Octopussy superyacht abound on the internet.
You can meet Bob Perry yourself at the rendezvous. It’s not everyday a designer of legendary sailboats, a Bugatti-inspired powerboat (Lionheart’s Concerto, pictured above), and Paul Allen’s submarine throws a party. More information on Bob Perry and the rendezvous can be found at perryboat.com.
