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5 new sailing scows aimed at the cruising market

There has been a raft of new sailing scows announced this year, with the cruising market following the racing world in design philosophy

Those who followed the early stages of this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race will surely have been intrigued by how well the front runners in the Class 40 fleet appeared to handle the brutal wind against tide conditions that caused problems for a lot of other boats. Conventional wisdom has it that a slim, narrow hull is ideal for sailing upwind in a blow. Yet the recent Class 40s carry their immense beam well forward of the mast, with a bow that’s closer to a square shape than a conventional point.

However, when heeled these boats present a relatively narrow immersed section that doesn’t slam into a head sea with the intensity that the flat saucer-like hull might suggest. At the same time they have enormous righting moment, which gives power to punch over big waves and reduces the total time spent sailing to windward. This stability is also an important factor in the boats’ behaviour in strong gusts: an increase of wind that would have many of the rest of us scrabbling for another reef is often handled simply by depowering the top of the mainsail with a bit more twist.

Although this hull form has only been in existence for little more than a decade, since David Raison won the 2011 Mini Transat in a boat of his own design, it has quickly gained traction across the Mini 6.50, Class 40 and IMOCA 60 fleets. It’s now increasingly appearing in designs for cruising yachts, which also have potential to offer considerably more internal volume than other vessels of a similar length.

The Skaw Paradise is a very beamy 11.3m foiling scow bow cruiser with its roots firmly in the racing scene, but with the concepts reworked to produce an ultimate cruiser. Skaw CEO and founder Benoit Marie is also technical director, coach and co-skipper (when racing double-handed) for Caroline Boule, who’s notched up a string of impressive results in the Mini 6.50 class this season in her full flying Sam Manuard-designed Nicomatic.

Marie co-designed the Skaw Paradise with naval architect Clément Bercault of Berco Design. “We could not find any boat on the market suiting our needs, so we started designing our own perfect boat,” he says.

“It’s one to take our friends and family around the world to unseen places, in the safest, easiest and fastest manner.”

The Skaw Paradise differs to Nicomatic in that it has fully retractable C-foils that are intended to act like motion dampeners, giving a smoother ride, while also increasing both stability and speed. While much is borrowed from the racing world, this boat has been simplified as much as possible, so it’s not complicated to sail.

Much of the drive towards scow bow cruising yachts is driven by top level racing sailors. Armel Tripon, who raced the then radical Sam Manuard-designed IMOCA 60 L’Occitane de Provence in the 2020 Vendée Globe, has lent his name to the SailScow brand that’s working on a range of four designs from 28-42ft.

“The hull I was able to test racing around the globe delighted me,” says Tripon. “I can easily imagine myself cruising on a scow to take full advantage of the sailing performance, the ease of passage through the sea and the incredible comfort at anchor – I can’t wait to try it out.”

The first SailScow model is a 37ft cruiser designed by Gildas Plessis, a strong advocate of this hull shape. It’s primarily of marine ply and epoxy and offers a step change in internal space compared to other yachts of this length. Options include a four cabin layout, with two doubles forward, both with rectangular beds, while aft there’s a further double, plus a twin cabin with bunk beds. Alternatively there’s space for a giant owner’s cabin forward, plus one aft double port and a generous technical and stowage area to starboard.

VPLP Fast Cruising Scow

PLP’s carbon Fast Cruising Scow is a 40ft concept that aims to maximise both performance and comfort. It has a covered and glazed saloon/cockpit area like those found on cruising catamarans. On the same level as the working areas of the cockpit, it provides shelter from sun and water both when used as a dining area and as a watch keeping zone on passage.

Air draught a fraction over 20m (67ft) helps provide a big rig that will produce plenty of power, while retractable foils will reduce heel angles thanks to the righting moment they generate, at the same time as cushioning the passage of the boat through waves.

Breton yard IDB Marine was one of the forerunners in producing a cruising boat based on a scow bow design. The Mojito 650 uses the same extreme scow bow hull as the phenomenally successful David Raison-designed Maxi 650 that won the series division of the last Mini Transat race, taking five of the top nine places.

The Mojito 650 is a detuned boat with a new coachroof that gives a panoramic view, plus a six-berth interior with a full-size rectangular double bed forward. There’s also plenty of stowage and all that’s lacking compared to many significantly larger craft is standing headroom and a separate heads compartment. A smaller and simplified rig compared to that of the Maxi 650 makes this an easy boat to sail and a lot less tweaky than the original, yet it’s still one that will happily plane at speeds well into double digits and hold its own upwind against boats 10ft longer.

La Rochelle-based RM Yachts has been forging a different path to mainstream yards for more than 30 years with its range of distinctive fast plywood/epoxy performance cruisers. The latest model – a sixth generation RM designed by Marc Lombard, is directly influenced by today’s raceboats, with the aim of producing a spacious, fast and dry 36-footer that can cover long distances at fast average speeds.

“It offers greater safety, more interior and exterior space and greater ease of movement,” says lead designer Eric Levet. “The hull is powerful and voluminous but not excessively so at the bow, for a good passage through the waves.”

The first example is scheduled to start construction in January next year and is expected to be afloat in July 2024.

If you enjoyed this….

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In Yachting World October 2022 issue Toby Hodges sets sail in one of the most radical foilers ever built, the 60ft foiling Maxi Nikka and goes from sceptic to convert in the process. Also going extreme, but in a very different way, legendary sailing photographer, Rick Tomlinson recounts his expedition to see the wildlife in Arctic Svalbard.

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Plus in Supersail World we bring the story of the J-Class fleet in Palma at the Superyacht Cup, talk wingsail innovations and take a look at the latest new big boat launches at the Monaco Boat show.

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Allure of the E Scow

• By Michael Hanson
• February 28, 2023

20 seconds after the start, I look over my shoulder and can tell we’re going to have a rough one. We’ve started near the pin in the first race of the 2022 E Scow National Championship on my home Lake Minnetonka. With a half-mile-long starting line set to accommodate 69 boats, the righty I’m now seeing sends a parade of sails marching up inside us, and our only option is to keep going left.

With patience, situations like this can often work in one’s favor. On inland lakes, it’s common for both sides to be advantaged at some point during a beat. “Win your side” is the adage. I glance up toward Brackett’s Point on the lake’s western shoreline, where I’ve seen countless lefties roll through from this direction in the past. But when the next puff hits, we lift higher and higher.

Yup, we’re going to have a rough one.

I’ve sailed on Lake Minnetonka my entire life, but I’ve never seen the wind do this before. A few hours before racing, a cold front rolled through from the bottom of Canada, littering the upper Midwest with storm cells. The result: a ­blustery breeze between 8 and 18 knots with up to 40-degree windshifts—an absolute nightmare for the race committee, who spent most of the day hoisting postponement and general recall flags before finally getting a race off at 3 p.m. Now that we’re underway, I find myself somewhere in the back of the midfleet, praying for a shift that will never come.

The E Scow midfleet is a scary place. First beats in this class are absolute bloodbaths, and since the boats are 28 feet long with 6-foot beams, the lanes, like the hulls, are long and narrow. With sails blanketing your vision every way you look, it’s easy to get disoriented. When packs of boats meet, skippers make split-­second decisions that can either salvage a race or send them drifting into the netherworld. As we make our way up the beat, I’m finding that most of the rules of midfleet sailing do not apply to today’s racing.

Across the lake, I see boats knocking into each other on opposite tacks. Other boats find mystery puffs in the middle of the course that somehow point them up to the mark, while teams on the edges get absolutely thrashed. As a skipper, I try not to let my mind wander, but as we claw our way through this ball-buster of a beat, I can’t help having one of those “How did I get here?” moments.

My journey into this situation started at age 8 when my ­parents signed me up for lessons at the Lake Minnetonka Sailing School, which shares a property with the Minnetonka YC on a small island on the eastern shore of the lake. This island setup is a relic of the 19th century, when most sailing families lived on the lake and could dock their boats at their houses. Needless to say, socioeconomics has changed a lot since 1882 when MYC was founded, but the geography of an island yacht club remains a novelty for out-of-towners and a logistical nightmare for local regatta committees trying to run a big event like the E Scow Nationals.

None of this was obvious to me when I first started sailing. In fact, riding a pontoon boat to the island every day in summer felt adventurous. After a few years of Opti sailing, my coach, Gordy Bowers, gave me my first ride on an E Scow as his fourth crew. Bowers is known nationally for ­coaching the 1988 US Olympic Team. On Lake Minnetonka, he was a feared competitor in his prime and has since become a scow guru in old age. He won back-to-back E Scow Nationals in the ’70s, along with a dozen other national and ILYA championships in A, C and MC scows ­throughout the years.

Bowers grew up at MYC and came from one of the big, almost aristocratic sailing families on the lake, many whose names are inscribed on every scow sailing trophy in the country. But he didn’t care what my last name was. He picked me because I could hike hard, and when we shoved off for that first day of E boating, he taught me what to do as we went along. He was always patient and articulate, which made him the perfect teacher for a first‑time E boater.

The wind was blowing hard out of the east, and since E boats still had symmetric spinnakers, I remember how precise he was with adjustments to the spinnaker pole tip—an inch or two of guy here, a ­micrometer of topping lift there. I even remember fouling someone and having to do a penalty turn in the middle of a club race, which is something our current MYC E fleet seems to have forgotten how to do in recent years.

For Many in the E fleet, it doesn’t matter how many championships you’ve won in other classes. This is the ­proving ground.

The next time I raced an E Scow was with Bill Allen, who won an Olympic gold medal with Buddy Melges and Bill Bentsen in the Soling in 1972. Allen is regarded as one of the finest E Scow helmsmen of all time, having won six national championships, seven ILYA championships, and no fewer than 10 E Blue Chips. He took me and his son, Brian, out for a Wednesday club race, and I remember how excited I was to sail with a gold medalist.

I figured Allen would be a lot like Bowers, taking the time to teach me the finer points of crew work, realizing that I’m a beginner and letting me learn at my own pace. He had me doing bow while Brian did middle. By then I was crewing regularly on an X-boat, which uses a whisker pole downwind. When we rounded the weather mark in first, our lead quickly disappeared when I attempted to jibe the pole the way you would in an X-boat, leaving the end clipped in and trying to push the clew of the kite to the opposite side of the boat. “What the hell are you doing?” Allen screamed at me from the helm. “Get that goddamn spinnaker flying you little son of a bitch!” I must have been 13 at the time.

Over the years, I’ve sailed against a lot of great sailors in a lot of great venues, but there’s nothing like coming back to “Golden Pond,” what locals call Lake Minnetonka, and duking it out in one of the best one-design fleets in the country. When I talk to people on the coasts about scows, they often view them as exotic and strange—missile-shaped boats with fin-shaped rudders, bilge boards in place of keels, planing hulls that skim atop the water instead of ­pushing through it. But what seems exotic to some is a way of life in the northland, where we play hockey in the winter and race scows in the summer, the intensity of one sport never letting up in the other. Up here, a weekly championship race is more of a communal bloodletting ­ritual than a friendly competition among neighbors. When you sail against the same people your entire life, you tend to develop long memories. Although Minnesotans are known to hide their emotions behind modest Midwest demeanors, when it comes to racing E Scows on Lake Minnetonka, it gets personal.

For many in the E fleet, it doesn’t matter how many championships you’ve won in other classes. This is the proving ground. These are the boats where legends are made, and if you haven’t dropped the gloves in this fleet, you simply aren’t worthy of respect. It’s a part of the culture I’m not always fond of. The intensity of competition can be difficult for people trying to break in, which is a shame because there are so many great sailors in the area who don’t race scows. Yet the quality of racing cannot be denied, and the truth is that on Lake Minnetonka, respect isn’t something you ask for. It’s something you earn by winning races.

Because paid hands are banned in E Scows, the teams, like the rivalries, remain homegrown. Locally, Sam Rogers has been the guy to beat for some time. Rogers has two national championships under his belt, and as a former pro sailor, he raises the bar of competition exponentially. Known for his fiery temper on the racecourse, everyone on the lake has a “Sam story,” which makes beating him that much sweeter.

Another top gun is Tom Burton, who has been racing E Scows on Lake Minnetonka since the 1970s. Burton has also won two national championships, and his family has been a fixture at MYC since his great-grandfather, Hazen Burton, served as a charter member.

I grew up watching Burton race A and E scows, and we’ve gotten to know each other better since I became a substitute main trimmer for him on the A boat a few years ago. Unfortunately, he tore his Achilles tendon slipping off his powerboat a few weeks before the E Scow Nationals, effectively ending his sailing season in mid-July. When the Burton family called to ask if I’d like to steer their boat for the regatta, I immediately cleared my schedule and booked a flight home to Minnesota.

On Lake Minnetonka, respect isn’t something you ask for. It’s something you earn by winning races.

So, here I find myself buried in the fleet in race one at the Nationals, where boats drift in and out of my periphery like circling sharks. One thing I know about midfleet racing is that you have to take your medicine when it comes, so instead of sending it into the corner, I stay on the lifted tack and try to find clear air when possible. These are the two things I focus on most—staying on the lifted tack and finding clean breeze—and boat by boat, we begin to work our way through the fleet. Being a new member to this squad, I wonder what my teammates think of my disastrous start.

Over the years, Burton has developed this rock-star crew with his son Charlie on jib trim and his good friend Bruce Martinson in the middle. On weekdays, Martinson runs a dentist practice, but when he’s away from work, he’s either racing Lasers, J/22s or E Scows on Lake Minnetonka. He’s also an international sailing judge, and when he’s not racing, he’s somewhere around the world throwing top-level sailors out of the protest room. In fact, throughout the years, Martinson has chucked me from more ­protests than I would like to admit, and sailing with him now is kind of like racing with a lawyer on board. More importantly, he has a great feel for boatspeed and an even better ability to feed me information without trying to influence my decision-making. He gives me compass headings in a sober, almost lifeless voice, sometimes calling out 20-degree headers as we forgo the lifted tack in a ­scramble for fresh breeze.

The fourth member of our team is Parker Laing, a junior at Minnetonka High School, who we plucked off the Lake Minnetonka Sailing School bench. This is her first day racing E Scows, and I can’t help remembering my first time with Bowers. Now that I have the tiller in my hands, I hope to emulate his patience and professionalism. As a team, we cut our way through the 69-boat fleet to finish 25th.

This will become the theme of our regatta. Over the following four races, we only have one good first beat, spending most of our time clawing through midfleet traffic. At one point, we tack inside the zone at a weather mark and have to do a penalty spin before hoisting. Another time, we accelerate late at a start and watch the boats on both sides of us shoot into the top five at the top. But little by little, we dig ourselves out and avoid the deep finishes that many of the top teams incur. We finish the regatta with a pair of top-10 results, which lifts us to fifth overall.

A top-five at the E Scow Nationals with this team—in front of a home crowd—means the world to me. But most important is the ability to race with friends, mentors and current students on the waters that I love. Lake Minnetonka will always be my favorite place to race sailboats, and the community we have is world-class. Yes, it can be tribal at times, but the racing is second to none, as are the friendships we’ve all made. Growing up here, I’ve had many mentors to look up to. With a fresh crop of young guns coming out of the sailing school and getting into scows, the future looks equally bright. With the E Scow class celebrating its centennial next year at the Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin, next summer can’t come soon enough.

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5 new sailing scows aimed at the cruising market

There has been a raft of new sailing scows announced this year, with the cruising market following the racing world in design philosophy

Those who followed the early stages of this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race will surely have been intrigued by how well the front runners in the Class 40 fleet appeared to handle the brutal wind against tide conditions that caused problems for a lot of other boats. Conventional wisdom has it that a slim, narrow hull is ideal for sailing upwind in a blow. Yet the recent Class 40s carry their immense beam well forward of the mast, with a bow that’s closer to a square shape than a conventional point.

However, when heeled these boats present a relatively narrow immersed section that doesn’t slam into a head sea with the intensity that the flat saucer-like hull might suggest. At the same time they have enormous righting moment, which gives power to punch over big waves and reduces the total time spent sailing to windward. This stability is also an important factor in the boats’ behaviour in strong gusts: an increase of wind that would have many of the rest of us scrabbling for another reef is often handled simply by depowering the top of the mainsail with a bit more twist.

Although this hull form has only been in existence for little more than a decade, since David Raison won the 2011 Mini Transat in a boat of his own design, it has quickly gained traction across the Mini 6.50, Class 40 and IMOCA 60 fleets. It’s now increasingly appearing in designs for cruising yachts, which also have potential to offer considerably more internal volume than other vessels of a similar length.

The Skaw Paradise is a very beamy 11.3m foiling scow bow cruiser with its roots firmly in the racing scene, but with the concepts reworked to produce an ultimate cruiser. Skaw CEO and founder Benoit Marie is also technical director, coach and co-skipper (when racing double-handed) for Caroline Boule, who’s notched up a string of impressive results in the Mini 6.50 class this season in her full flying Sam Manuard-designed Nicomatic.

Marie co-designed the Skaw Paradise with naval architect Clément Bercault of Berco Design. “We could not find any boat on the market suiting our needs, so we started designing our own perfect boat,” he says.

“It’s one to take our friends and family around the world to unseen places, in the safest, easiest and fastest manner.”

The Skaw Paradise differs to Nicomatic in that it has fully retractable C-foils that are intended to act like motion dampeners, giving a smoother ride, while also increasing both stability and speed. While much is borrowed from the racing world, this boat has been simplified as much as possible, so it’s not complicated to sail.

Much of the drive towards scow bow cruising yachts is driven by top level racing sailors. Armel Tripon, who raced the then radical Sam Manuard-designed IMOCA 60 L’Occitane de Provence in the 2020 Vendée Globe, has lent his name to the SailScow brand that’s working on a range of four designs from 28-42ft.

“The hull I was able to test racing around the globe delighted me,” says Tripon. “I can easily imagine myself cruising on a scow to take full advantage of the sailing performance, the ease of passage through the sea and the incredible comfort at anchor – I can’t wait to try it out.”

The first SailScow model is a 37ft cruiser designed by Gildas Plessis, a strong advocate of this hull shape. It’s primarily of marine ply and epoxy and offers a step change in internal space compared to other yachts of this length. Options include a four cabin layout, with two doubles forward, both with rectangular beds, while aft there’s a further double, plus a twin cabin with bunk beds. Alternatively there’s space for a giant owner’s cabin forward, plus one aft double port and a generous technical and stowage area to starboard.

VPLP Fast Cruising Scow

PLP’s carbon Fast Cruising Scow is a 40ft concept that aims to maximise both performance and comfort. It has a covered and glazed saloon/cockpit area like those found on cruising catamarans. On the same level as the working areas of the cockpit, it provides shelter from sun and water both when used as a dining area and as a watch keeping zone on passage.

Air draught a fraction over 20m (67ft) helps provide a big rig that will produce plenty of power, while retractable foils will reduce heel angles thanks to the righting moment they generate, at the same time as cushioning the passage of the boat through waves.

Breton yard IDB Marine was one of the forerunners in producing a cruising boat based on a scow bow design. The Mojito 650 uses the same extreme scow bow hull as the phenomenally successful David Raison-designed Maxi 650 that won the series division of the last Mini Transat race, taking five of the top nine places.

The Mojito 650 is a detuned boat with a new coachroof that gives a panoramic view, plus a six-berth interior with a full-size rectangular double bed forward. There’s also plenty of stowage and all that’s lacking compared to many significantly larger craft is standing headroom and a separate heads compartment. A smaller and simplified rig compared to that of the Maxi 650 makes this an easy boat to sail and a lot less tweaky than the original, yet it’s still one that will happily plane at speeds well into double digits and hold its own upwind against boats 10ft longer.

La Rochelle-based RM Yachts has been forging a different path to mainstream yards for more than 30 years with its range of distinctive fast plywood/epoxy performance cruisers. The latest model – a sixth generation RM designed by Marc Lombard, is directly influenced by today’s raceboats, with the aim of producing a spacious, fast and dry 36-footer that can cover long distances at fast average speeds.

“It offers greater safety, more interior and exterior space and greater ease of movement,” says lead designer Eric Levet. “The hull is powerful and voluminous but not excessively so at the bow, for a good passage through the waves.”

The first example is scheduled to start construction in January next year and is expected to be afloat in July 2024.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams. Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

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Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Pocket scow cruiser

• Elaine Bunting
• June 26, 2012

It's small, it's robust and it looks powerful. But this 22ft round-bow boat's no looker

I had a feeling that David Raison’s Mini Transat winning push-me-pull-you scow design was only the beginning of a trend, as I wrote recently here . And sure enough, scow designs are springing up all over – this is the third I’ve heard about in the last two months.

This new French design is the Rêvolution 22 (note the name’s spelt with circumflex to imply the idea of a dreamboat). It is being built at AFEP Marine boatyard in La Rochelle and is, they point out, a slightly larger evolution of Raison’s Mini Teamwork Evolution.

Unusually, though, this is being built in aluminium. It also has a big cockpit for the length, long coachroof, twin rudders and a large fat-top mainsail.

I have to be honest, though: as per my previous comments on the new breed of max volume, max beam scows, this is not… how shall I put it? …a great beauty. With its bulbous bow and squat appearance it has a cartoonish appearance, like a pocket-sized marine Peppa Pig.

It will certainly turn heads.

More info here

Palm Beach International Boat Show returns to West Palm Beach waterfront

The Palm Beach International Boat Show returns this week with more nearly 1,000 vessels on display, including super yachts from around the world.

Tickets are on sale now for the show that runs March 21-24 along the West Palm Beach waterfront.

The show, which started in 1982, has grown to a major economic engine for the community, with last year's impact estimated at $1.05 billion statewide — nearly as much as the $1.3 billion Miami International Boat Show, said Alyssa Freeman, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County, which owns the boat show.

More: Cool front for South Florida won't be its last even with the first day of spring here

"Palm Beach is really not that far behind Miami, and Miami is the biggest in the world," Freeman said. "That was really exciting."

This year's boat show features an expanded Super Yacht Show at Palm Harbor Marina, showcasing yachts that typically stretch longer than 80 feet and have a variety of luxurious amenities that include hot tubs, crew quarters, dance floors and sun decks.

"We have more super yachts there than we ever have before, and they're even bigger," Freeman said, noting that at 236 feet, the vessel Casino Royale takes the title of largest yacht at this year's show. The title of "most expensive yacht" goes to Come Together, a 196-foot vessel priced at $59.95 million.

"Everybody, when they think about super yachts, they think about Monaco and Miami, but Palm Beach is a real player in these boat shows and the yachting world," Freeman said.

Exhibitors continue to be drawn to the Palm Beach International Boat Show by the opportunity for high sales year after year when compared with other South Florida boat shows, she said.

"I've heard from several of them, this is their favorite show to attend," Freeman said, "And that's why, because their sales are higher at Palm Beach."

The show continues to make headway in improving its sustainability efforts, she said. After reducing single-use plastics, a major change this year is the addition of water bottle refilling stations throughout the show, Freeman said.

"I think that's exciting because everybody's talking about sustainability and how we can be more sustainable," she said. "Every year, we take little steps to be more sustainable."

Freeman said she is excited for this year's AquaZone presented by Nautical Ventures. The attraction showcases some of the "yacht toys" that are new or popular on the market.

"It's so cool, because there are people actually in the water demoing yacht toys, and it's usually the latest and greatest," she said. "There's always something new every year that we've never seen before."

The Palm Beach International Boat Show also features a range of seminars, demonstrations and discussions throughout the weekend, including mental health in yachting, tips to boat to the Bahamas, safe boating to protect sea turtles and how to address active threats and piracy.

Freeman, who has children, said she loves the Kids Fishing Clinics scheduled for noon and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with captain Don Dingman.

"Captain Don has been doing this for years, and he does a fantastic job," Freeman said. "The kids actually get to go home with a free rod and reel once the clinic is over."

The association produces the Palm Beach International Boat Show with Informa Markets' U.S. Boat Shows division.

"As we gear up for the 2024 Palm Beach International Boat Show, we are excited for our return to Downtown West Palm Beach to celebrate the rich history of this esteemed event," Andrew Doole, president of U.S. Boat Shows at Informa Markets, said in a news release. "Each year, we’re grateful for the warm welcome and support from the community, which truly makes this event a highlight on the calendar for both residents and visitors alike."

Informa also produces the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art show happening March 21-24, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. A Windward VIP ticket to the boat show includes admission to the art show as well.

In addition to serving as a cornerstone festival of spring in West Palm Beach, the boat show launched the Palm Beach International Boat Show Gives Back program to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to local nonprofits, Freeman said.

The grant program had a soft launch last year and formalized the boat show's four-decade practice of giving back to the community, Freeman said.

"We're really excited about it," said Freeman, who added that the boat show team is working with the Community Foundation to manage the grant program, which they hope to grow. "That's something that's a super high priority for us."

Money raised through a portion of the boat show's ticket sales, optional add-ons and some related activities goes toward the fund.

The boat show in February announced that the first round of grants totaling $500,000 would go to 25 nonprofits that have marine-related programs or projects, including Florida Fishing Academy, Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Florida Atlantic University, Inlet Grove High School, Palm Beach State College, Sea Turtle Adventures and Friends of Manatee Lagoon.

"We're hoping one day we'll be able to say that it's a million dollars," she said. "So fingers crossed. It relies on the success of the boat show and the support of the community. With that, we will continue to grow."

What: Palm Beach International Boat Show.

When: Noon to 7 p.m. March 21, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 22 and 23, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 24.

Where: West Palm Beach waterfront.

Cost: General admission is free for ages 6 and younger with purchase of an adult ticket, $17 for a one-day ticket for ages 6-15, $33 for a one-day ticket for ages 16 and older, and $60 for a two-day adult ticket. VIP experiences start at $390 for a Windward single-day ticket.

Information: pbboatshow.com

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at  [email protected] .  Subscribe today  to support our journalism.

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The 10 Most-Exciting Yacht Debuts at the Palm Beach International Boat Show

Besides the debut of smaller vessels, more than 60 yachts over 100 feet will be at palm beach this week. it promises to be a banner event., howard walker, howard walker's most recent stories.

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For superyacht shoppers, the Palm Beach International Boat Show, kicking off its four-day run this week, is set to break records with more than 60 yachts over 100 feet long on display. Last year was also a banner year for superyachts at the show. 

Headliners will include the likes of the 295-foot Corsair Nero ,  the 278-foot Victorious by AKYacht, the 230-foot Turquoise-built Talisman C , and 213-foot Benetti Triumph among brokerage yachts, and in new yachts, the 113-foot Ocean Alexander Puro 35 is making its world debut.  

There are so many gleaming white vessels over 100 feet, in fact, that the fleet will be split between the Palm Harbor Marina at the main show site on the downtown West Palm Beach waterfront and the Safe Harbor Rybovich Marina two miles north. 

Now in its 42nd year, PBIBS will also showcase hundreds of models of dayboats, cruisers, and fishing boats, as well as marine accessories. Running from this Thursday through Sunday, the show coincides with the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art show, a fortuitous opportunity for yacht owners wanting to add new art to their collections.

Here are 10 must-see boats at this year’s show.

Corsair Yachts ‘Nero’

The undisputed star of this year’s Palm Beach show? That would be the 295-foot, classically styled superyacht Nero , built in 2007 and inspired by American financier J.P. Morgan’s legendary 1930s steamer Corsair IV . Nero ‘s attendance at PBIBS marks its return to the charter market after an extensive refit in 2021. Now better than new, the boat is being managed by Burgess. With weekly charter rates from $497,000, the vessel offers five-star accommodations for 12 guests in six cabins, with pampering from a crew of 20. Part of the refit included a full interior refresh by Italian interior designer Laura Pomponi, plus a major focus on wellness. That meant the construction of a new, state-of-the-art gym and spa, the assistance of a certified onboard trainer, a masseuse and beautician. After PBIBS, Nero will spend the winter in the Caribbean before returning to the Med for the summer season.

Ocean Alexander Puro 35P

Ocean Alexander is debuting the first of its new Puro superyacht series at PBIBS. The 113-foot Puro 35P comes from the drawing board of Italian designer Giorgio M. Cassetta and is a step back from the polarizing lines of OA’s recent Revolution and Explorer series with their bold, vertical bow designs. Aimed at long-distance cruising, the 35P can carry over 5,000 gallons of fuel and is powered by twin 2,000 hp MAN V12s for a 24-knot top speed. Twin 55kW Kohler generators can also keep the yacht powered at anchor for long periods. Other standout features include extensive glazing in the chiseled fiberglass hull, a forward deck plunge pool, and spacious accommodations for 10 guests. 

Think of it as the “starter” Sirena. Aimed at a younger demographic, the Turkish builder’s brand-new Sirena 48 is making its U.S. debut at PBIBS after a global reveal at last fall’s Cannes boat show. Such is its appeal that 27 hulls have already been sold, with 13 of the orders coming from North America. Looking like a scaled-down version of Sirena’s popular 58, its distinctive, trawler-style lines are from Argentinian designer Germán Frers. With more interior space than a typical 48-footer, the yacht offers three staterooms—plus a crew cabin—a spacious, light-filled salon, a large cockpit, an oversized flybridge, and a vast forward social area. Take your pick from twin 550 hp Cummins QSB, or 670 hp Volvo D11 turbo diesels. Or the builder is also offering hybrid power with twin 285 hp electric motors charged up by variable-speed generators that are good for a 30-mile battery-only range.

Feadship ‘Olympus’

Picture purchasing a classic 180-foot Feadship superyacht, and then getting a $10 million bill for a major refit. That was the case with Olympus , built by the Dutch masters at Feadship in 1996 to a design by Britain’s Andrew Winch and the celebrated naval architect Frits De Voogt. Sold in 2022, the new owner sent it to the Monaco Marine refit center in La Ciotat, France for a major makeover. It included overhauling the 2,600 hp Caterpillar engines and generators, repairs to the structure, substantial upgrades to the guest areas and crew quarters, and new paint throughout. With the work completed just last year, the vessel is said to be in mint condition. Offered jointly by brokers Fraser and Edmiston, Olympus has an asking price of $28.5 million. With accommodations for 16 guests in eight cabins, the boat’s highlights include two primary suites, tropical-spec air conditioning, and Palm Beach-chic decor.

Benetti ‘Triumph’

Italian yachting powerhouse Benetti is showing off its superyacht-building skills with the 213-foot Triumph . Delivered in 2021, this Giorgio M. Cassetta-designed steel-and-aluminum world girder features six decks, a 1,400-square-foot primary suite with outdoor terrace and adjoining lounge, a 750-square-foot beach club, and a touch-and-go helipad. What sets Triumph apart, however, is its lavish interior furnishings put together by the owner along with Benetti Interior Style and Monaco-based Green & Mingarelli Design. It includes pieces by French glassmaker Lalique, marble from Marfil, Statuario and Armani, furs, silk and wool carpets, plus a collection of cool black-and-white wildlife photographs by British fine art photographer David Yarrow. The pièce de résistance? That would be the owner’s Triumph Bonneville motorcycle displayed in the salon.

Fjord 39 XP/XL

Germany’s Fjord Yachts, part of the Hanse Group, has a new 39-foot day boat that it’s unveiling at the Palm Beach show. The 39 XP and XL keep all the bold design cues of the bigger Fjord 41 XP and XL, like a big, open cockpit, walkaround center console, vertical bow, mile-high windshield and stretched hardtop. As for the differences between the XP and XL, it’s all about power. The XL comes with a choice of twin 320hp Volvo D4 diesels, or bigger 440 hp D6 versions, both with Volvo stern drives. Likely more appealing to U.S. buyers will be the XP powered by twin 400 hp Mercury Verado V10 outboards giving a 50-knot top speed. Pricing starts at around $500,000.

Turquoise ‘Talisman C’

Chandeliers don’t come more dramatic than this. Cascading down the central spiral staircase of the Turkish-built, 231-foot superyacht Talisman C , this jaw-dropping piece of art comprises an array of multi-colored glass balls threaded on stainless-steel rods and illuminated by hanging fiber-optic strands. It’s the creation of Prague-based Crystal Caviar and is one of a number of glass installations on this sleek, low-profile superyacht. Built in 2011 by the Proteksan Turquoise shipyard, Talisman C was designed inside and out by London-based studio H2 Yacht Design, with naval architecture by Italy’s Hydro Tec. With cabins for 12 guests, one of its highlights is a huge primary suite, which boasts more crystal chandeliers and a private library. Twin 2,447 hp Caterpillar diesels give a top speed of 18 knots and a transatlantic range of 7,000 nautical miles at 12 knots. It’s listed with Burgess for $59.9 million. 

Sanlorenzo 44 ‘Kamakasa’

Delivered in 2020 and sold to a new buyer just last August, the 146-foot Sanlorenzo 44 Alloy Kamakasa will be for sale at PBIBS. The asking price, through the Italian Yacht Group, is $23.75 million. Lack of use might also be the issue here; the yacht’s twin 2,600 hp MTU V16 diesels have a mere 289 hours on the clock. Built in aluminum to a design by Rome-based Zuccon International Project, Kamakasa was the second hull in the Sanlorenzo 44 Alloy series. One of the top features is a primary suite that spans three levels and almost 1,600 square feet; it also comes with a private Jacuzzi, separate bathrooms, a walk-in closet, and a private study. The yacht’s lightweight construction and MTU power combine to deliver an impressive 20-knot top speed.

Bahama 41 GT2

As ultimate, reel-’em-in, fishing center consoles go, the Bahama 41 from West Palm Beach-based Bahama Boat Works is as hard-core as they come. But when owners kept asking for a little more comfort for the family, the builder responded. The result is the brand-new flagship 41 GT debuting at PBIBS. While the proven, wave-slicing hull stays the same, the cockpit layout is new. In place of the single bench seat, there are now three-across bucket seats with a second row behind. The wider console now has space for a pair of 22-inch Garmin screens, while the new extended hardtop features sun shades and even a rain shower. Outboard choices stay the same with either twin Mercury V12 600s, or four 400 hp Mercury V10s, good for a 65-knot-plus top speed. Pricing is from around $920,000.

Heesen ‘Book Ends’

Launched in 2022, this 164-foot Heesen is part of the Book Ends collection, owned by an American couple who have had more than 18 yachts with the same name. The exterior design of this Heesen was by Omega Architects, while Dutch studio Van Oossanen did the naval architecture. The yacht is part of Heesen’s fast cruising series, which is more efficient than other vessels its size, and can reach 23 knots at full speed with its MTU 16V 4000 M65L engines. The yacht is listed through Ocean Independence for 42 million Euro, or about $45.7 million.

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After sailing around the world, Cole Brauer says she's more grounded than ever

Cole Brauer's adventure put her in the history books and in the heart of the most isolated and dangerous places on Earth. Not to mention Instagram .

The southern oceans of the Atlantic and Pacific that Brauer endured alone in her 30,000-mile sailboat voyage brought her face-to-face with bigger waves and storms than most people will ever see."It's like going to Mars and hoping that you can breathe," says Brauer, who became the first American woman this month to sail solo nonstop around the globe . "It's not made for humans."

She's now a seafaring celebrity who has been deluged with more questions about aquatic travel and surviving the dangers of the deep than Jules Verne and Jacques Cousteau. That's because Brauer's social media followers now total half a million, and many are asking about her journey and how she did it.

"With this newfound fame, I want to keep my feet on the ground," says the 29-year-old from Long Island. She's looking to chart a new course in the sailing industry, which has historically been a bastion of elitism and exclusivity, she said.

Brauer used Starlink − the low-orbit satellite network owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk − to get an internet signal on her voyage so that she could talk to her team, FaceTime with her mother and post videos to Instagram from her 40-foot Class40 sailboat, First Light.

She departed from A Coruña, Spain, on Oct. 29 and was at sea for 130 days. She competed against 15 male sailors, eight of whom had to drop out. Sailors set off at staggered times, depending on the speed of their boat. Brauer finished second in the race, behind France's Phillipe Delamare.

"Cole put in a tremendous effort to achieve a tremendous result," said Marco Nannini, who organized the Global Solo Challenge race.

Treacherous conditions in the Southern Hemisphere

Because the race took Brauer around the world, she had to endure scorching temperatures near the equator and near-freezing cold in the globe's southern oceans − where waters are more choppy and dangerous to sail, she said.

"I always had respect for the ocean, but this was an absolute different level," Brauer said. "It's beautiful. It's uninhabited. It's just untouched by humans."

Stronger winds and underwater currents in the Indian, South Atlantic and Pacific oceans often react to form bigger waves and "crazy storms," Brauer said, making those areas "some of the most dangerous places to be on the planet."

Unlike the part of the Atlantic Ocean stretching between North America and Europe, the southern oceans have a lot less traffic, Brauer said. During the two months she sailed there, she said, she saw only one other boat. The weather was colder and grayer, and the nights were much shorter.

The scariest moment came about two weeks from the end of race, when over just a couple days a fellow competitor had to abandon his ship because it started to sink and another had to do the same after his boat lost its mast.

It caused Brauer to feel paranoid, she said, even imagining noises coming from her own boat, which was also going through normal wear and tear.

"I just felt like, 'Oh my gosh, what's going to break next?'" she said. "Is the boat going to break in half?"

Alone in the middle of the ocean, Brauer felt homesickness, then zen

Brauer made it all the way around the world the same way any sailor goes from one point to another: staying out of direct wind and tacking from one direction to the next until she finally got to the finish line.

"You want to go straight, but you can't," she said. "You can't sail directly into the breeze; you have to tack back and forth at a 45-degree angle. I went around the world tacking, and jibing, and eventually you make it there − but there's a lot of twists and turns."

Brauer also had to constantly check the weather and change sails while also maintaining the boat.

"Everything has the possibility of breaking," Brauer said.

Brauer slept on a pile of bedding on the boat's floor for two to four hours at a time. She boiled water and used a warm wash cloth to bathe, she said. She packed 160 days' worth of freeze-dried food, including a peaches and cream oats mix that became her favorite.

Despite the technical challenges of sailing around the world, homesickness was by far the biggest challenge, she said. In Spain, before she set off on the race, nightly family-style dinners with teammates and group outings in A Coruña created intense personal bonds that she longed for on the ocean.

"All of a sudden I had a family of like 12, and you get very used to being surrounded by all these boisterous and loud people," she said.

But then, something clicked one evening when Brauer was in the boat's bow watching the colors of the sunset bleed through a massive sail.

"My body and my mind finally got used to being out there and and knowing that this was like where I was supposed to be," she said.

Brauer said she saw dolphins, sea turtles, plenty of fish and even a whale as big as her boat.

"It's just so magical," she said.

Pitch-black night skies were another highlight, Brauer said, especially when she was sailing through hot areas and the darkness brought cooler temperatures.

Brauer documented every moment on Instagram

Brauer shared details of her journey with tens of thousands of followers on Instagram. At the start of the race, her Instagram account had 10,000 followers and now boasts nearly 500,000.

Creating and posting more than 150 original videos from the boat allowed Brauer to stay connected with other people even when she was in the middle of the ocean.

Many of Brauer's videos showed her raw emotions up close, like in one post from early in the race when she angrily vents about the moment she realized she'd have to fix several boat parts on her own.

"Right now I've been feeling just broken," she says in the video.

That vulnerability is what's allowing Brauer to chart a new course in the sailing industry, she said.

"I've shown a good piece of me. I've put my heart and soul out there and I think a lot of people are really afraid to do that," she told USA TODAY. "If you want to judge me for changing or molding myself a different way, you don't have to follow me."

Race win was a team effort

Brauer surrounded herself with a team of sailors and experts who helped guide her from ashore. There were medical staff, a weather router, an expert rigger, an electronic systems manager, a sailmaker and many other team members.

Next, Brauer and her behind-the-scenes team are preparing for the Vendée Globe in 2028, another around-the-world race with stricter rules and a bigger cash prize. She won 5,000 euros (about $5,430) for finishing second in the Global Solo Challenge.

That race will be far more difficult, Brauer said, because the sailors have to race on their own and cannot receive any verbal assistance from their teammates on land.

Almost two weeks since reaching dry land, Brauer said, she now craves being out on the ocean more than ever and even feels a sense of pain when she's not able to see the water or look up to see a sky covered in white, fluffy clouds.

"The fear used to be about the boat, when I was on the boat. Now the fear is not being out there," she said. "I'm not afraid of the ocean − I'm afraid of not being on the ocean."

As for her goal of sailing around the world?

"I did everything that it took to get here, and now I can bask in it. I made the biggest dream that I could possibly think of doing and then did it."

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THE 10 BEST Moscow Boat Rides & Cruises

Boat rides & cruises in moscow.

• Boat Rentals
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• River Rafting & Tubing
• Dolphin & Whale Watching
• Speed Boats Tours
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• 5.0 of 5 bubbles
• 4.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• 3.0 of 5 bubbles & up
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• 3rd Transport Ring (TTK)
• District Central (TsAO)
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• Good for Big Groups
• Good for Couples
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• Budget-friendly
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• Things to do ranked using Tripadvisor data including reviews, ratings, photos, and popularity.

1. Flotilla Radisson Royal

2. Moscow River Boat Tours

3. Sup-Club

4. Akvanavt Diving Centre

5. Diving Center Crocus City Oceanarium

6. CheapRussia Tours

7. Kite School Kiteclass

8. SUP Center

9. Erwin. Reka

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The superyacht world is speculating that Mark Zuckerberg just bought this 118-meter boat

• The 118-meter superyacht Launchpad made her maiden voyage last week.
• The yacht world is speculating that her owner is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
• Here's what we know about the luxury vessel.

In the world of superyachts , privacy is the most valuable asset. It can be next to impossible to discern the details of a superyacht transaction — and that's particularly true if the vessel in question is worth nine figures.

Yet some in the boat blogging world are speculating that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the new owner of Launchpad, a megayacht currently moored in Fort Lauderdale, Florida after she made her maiden voyage from Gibraltar to St Maarten last week. Launchpad clocks in at 118 meters long, about nine meters shorter than Jeff Bezos' superyacht Koru .

The transaction could not be confirmed, with yacht world insiders declining to share what they know and representatives for Zuckerberg not responding to a request for comment from Business Insider. In the past, reports about Zuckerberg owning superyacht Ulysses have proven false.

Related stories

"It is Feadship's standard policy to never divulge any information about our yachts with reference to ownership, costs, or delivery, etc," Feadship, the ship's builder, wrote to BI. "Whether it is an 18-meter Feadship from the 1960s or a 118-meter Feadship from the 21st century, we do not share private information."

But Zuckerberg's name has been connected to Launchpad for a few months now, beginning in December when reports swirled that he visited Feadship's shipyard in the Netherlands.

Then, earlier in March, yachting bloggers like eSysman SuperYachts and Autoevolution started speculating that he officially snagged the boat, originally built for a sanctioned Russian businessman, at a $300 million price tag. (While that's a seemingly huge amount, it's still less than 0.2% of Zuckerberg's $177 billion net worth.)

Another clue that might point to US ownership is that the yacht bears the flag of the Marshall Islands, a US territory and commonplace for American buyers to register their ships, according to public marine tracking.

If Zuckerberg were to have bought Launchpad, he would join a cohort of superyacht-owning tech billionaires . Along with Bezos, the likes of Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison and Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have purchased impressive boats with even more impressive amenities.

SuperYacht Times , an industry publication and intelligence platform, has some of the best images of the yacht. Photos show a swimming pool on her main deck and a large helipad.

While less is known of the interior, a vessel of her size can likely sleep dozens of guests and crew and may have amenities like an expansive gym where Zuckerberg could practice his jiu-jitsu or a spa with a massage area. We suspect there's also space for plenty of toys — which could include his viral hydrofoil foil .

Do you have any details about Launchpad or any other superyachts? Email reporter Madeline Berg at [email protected].

Watch: Walmart heiress' superyacht vandalized by activists in Ibiza

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The Comprehensive Guide to Moscow Nightlife

• Posted on April 14, 2018 July 26, 2018
• by Kings of Russia
• 8 minute read

Moscow’s nightlife scene is thriving, and arguably one of the best the world has to offer – top-notch Russian women, coupled with a never-ending list of venues, Moscow has a little bit of something for everyone’s taste. Moscow nightlife is not for the faint of heart – and if you’re coming, you better be ready to go Friday and Saturday night into the early morning.

This comprehensive guide to Moscow nightlife will run you through the nuts and bolts of all you need to know about Moscow’s nightclubs and give you a solid blueprint to operate with during your time in Moscow.

What you need to know before hitting Moscow nightclubs

Prices in moscow nightlife.

Before you head out and start gaming all the sexy Moscow girls , we have to talk money first. Bring plenty because in Moscow you can never bring a big enough bankroll. Remember, you’re the man so making a fuzz of not paying a drink here or there will not go down well.

Luckily most Moscow clubs don’t do cover fees. Some electro clubs will charge 15-20$, depending on their lineup. There’s the odd club with a minimum spend of 20-30$, which you’ll drop on drinks easily. By and large, you can scope out the venues for free, which is a big plus.

Bottle service is a great deal in Moscow. At top-tier clubs, it starts at 1,000$. That’ll go a long way with premium vodka at 250$, especially if you have three or four guys chipping in. Not to mention that it’s a massive status boost for getting girls, especially at high-end clubs.

Without bottle service, you should estimate a budget of 100-150$ per night. That is if you drink a lot and hit the top clubs with the hottest girls. Scale down for less alcohol and more basic places.

Dress code & Face control

Door policy in Moscow is called “face control” and it’s always the guy behind the two gorillas that gives the green light if you’re in or out.

In Moscow nightlife there’s only one rule when it comes to dress codes:

You can never be underdressed.

People dress A LOT sharper than, say, in the US and that goes for both sexes. For high-end clubs, you definitely want to roll with a sharp blazer and a pocket square, not to mention dress shoes in tip-top condition. Those are the minimum requirements to level the playing field vis a vis with other sharply dressed guys that have a lot more money than you do. Unless you plan to hit explicit electro or underground clubs, which have their own dress code, you are always on the money with that style.

Getting in a Moscow club isn’t as hard as it seems: dress sharp, speak English at the door and look like you’re in the mood to spend all that money that you supposedly have (even if you don’t). That will open almost any door in Moscow’s nightlife for you.

Types of Moscow Nightclubs

In Moscow there are four types of clubs with the accompanying female clientele:

High-end clubs:

These are often crossovers between restaurants and clubs with lots of tables and very little space to dance. Heavy accent on bottle service most of the time but you can work the room from the bar as well. The hottest and most expensive girls in Moscow go there. Bring deep pockets and lots of self-confidence and you have a shot at swooping them.

Regular Mid-level clubs:

They probably resemble more what you’re used to in a nightclub: big dancefloors, stages and more space to roam around. Bottle service will make you stand out more but you can also do well without. You can find all types of girls but most will be in the 6-8 range. Your targets should always be the girls drinking and ideally in pairs. It’s impossible not to swoop if your game is at least half-decent.

Basic clubs/dive bars:

Usually spots with very cheap booze and lax face control. If you’re dressed too sharp and speak no Russian, you might attract the wrong type of attention so be vigilant. If you know the local scene you can swoop 6s and 7s almost at will. Usually students and girls from the suburbs.

Electro/underground clubs:

Home of the hipsters and creatives. Parties there don’t mean meeting girls and getting drunk but doing pills and spacing out to the music. Lots of attractive hipster girls if that is your niche. That is its own scene with a different dress code as well.

What time to go out in Moscow

Moscow nightlife starts late. Don’t show up at bars and preparty spots before 11pm because you’ll feel fairly alone. Peak time is between 1am and 3am. That is also the time of Moscow nightlife’s biggest nuisance: concerts by artists you won’t know and who only distract your girls from drinking and being gamed. From 4am to 6am the regular clubs are emptying out but plenty of people, women included, still hit up one of the many afterparty clubs. Those last till well past 10am.

As far as days go: Fridays and Saturdays are peak days. Thursday is an OK day, all other days are fairly weak and you have to know the right venues.

The Ultimate Moscow Nightclub List

Short disclaimer: I didn’t add basic and electro clubs since you’re coming for the girls, not for the music. This list will give you more options than you’ll be able to handle on a weekend.

Preparty – start here at 11PM

Classic restaurant club with lots of tables and a smallish bar and dancefloor. Come here between 11pm and 12am when the concert is over and they start with the actual party. Even early in the night tons of sexy women here, who lean slightly older (25 and up).

The second floor of the Ugolek restaurant is an extra bar with dim lights and house music tunes. Very small and cozy with a slight hipster vibe but generally draws plenty of attractive women too. A bit slower vibe than Valenok.

Very cool, spread-out venue that has a modern library theme. Not always full with people but when it is, it’s brimming with top-tier women. Slow vibe here and better for grabbing contacts and moving on.

High-end: err on the side of being too early rather than too late because of face control.

Secret Room

Probably the top venue at the moment in Moscow . Very small but wildly popular club, which is crammed with tables but always packed. They do parties on Thursdays and Sundays as well. This club has a hip-hop/high-end theme, meaning most girls are gold diggers, IG models, and tattooed hip hop chicks. Very unfavorable logistics because there is almost no room no move inside the club but the party vibe makes it worth it. Strict face control.

Close to Secret Room and with a much more favorable and spacious three-part layout. This place attracts very hot women but also lots of ball busters and fakes that will leave you blue-balled. Come early because after 4am it starts getting empty fast. Electronic music.

A slightly kitsch restaurant club that plays Russian pop and is full of gold diggers, semi-pros, and men from the Caucasus republics. Thursday is the strongest night but that dynamic might be changing since Secret Room opened its doors. You can swoop here but it will be a struggle.

Mid-level: your sweet spot in terms of ease and attractiveness of girls for an average budget.

Started going downwards in 2018 due to lax face control and this might get even worse with the World Cup. In terms of layout one of the best Moscow nightclubs because it’s very big and bottle service gives you a good edge here. Still attracts lots of cute girls with loose morals but plenty of provincial girls (and guys) as well. Swooping is fairly easy here.

I haven’t been at this place in over a year, ever since it started becoming ground zero for drunken teenagers. Similar clientele to Icon but less chic, younger and drunker. Decent mainstream music that attracts plenty of tourists. Girls are easy here as well.

Sort of a Coyote Ugly (the real one in Moscow sucks) with party music and lots of drunken people licking each others’ faces. Very entertaining with the right amount of alcohol and very easy to pull in there. Don’t think about staying sober in here, you’ll hate it.

Artel Bessonitsa/Shakti Terrace

Electronic music club that is sort of a high-end place with an underground clientele and located between the teenager clubs Icon and Gipsy. Very good music but a bit all over the place with their vibe and their branding. You can swoop almost any type of girl here from high-heeled beauty to coked-up hipsters, provided they’re not too sober.

Afterparty: if by 5AM  you haven’t pulled, it’s time to move here.

Best afterparty spot in terms of trying to get girls. Pretty much no one is sober in there and savage gorilla game goes a long way. Lots of very hot and slutty-looking girls but it can be hard to tell apart who is looking for dick and who is just on drugs but not interested. If by 9-10am you haven’t pulled, it is probably better to surrender.

The hipster alternative for afterparties, where even more drugs are in play. Plenty of attractive girls there but you have to know how to work this type of club. A nicer atmosphere and better music but if you’re desperate to pull, you’ll probably go to Miks.

Weekday jokers: if you’re on the hunt for some sexy Russian girls during the week, here are two tips to make your life easier.

Chesterfield

Ladies night on Wednesdays means this place gets pretty packed with smashed teenagers and 6s and 7s. Don’t pull out the three-piece suit in here because it’s a “simpler” crowd. Definitely your best shot on Wednesdays.

If you haven’t pulled at Chesterfield, you can throw a Hail Mary and hit up Garage’s Black Music Wednesdays. Fills up really late but there are some cute Black Music groupies in here. Very small club. Thursday through Saturday they do afterparties and you have an excellent shot and swooping girls that are probably high.

Shishas Sferum

This is pretty much your only shot on Mondays and Tuesdays because they offer free or almost free drinks for women. A fairly low-class club where you should watch your drinks. As always the case in Moscow, there will be cute girls here on any day of the week but it’s nowhere near as good as on the weekend.

In a nutshell, that is all you need to know about where to meet Moscow girls in nightlife. There are tons of options, and it all depends on what best fits your style, based on the type of girls that you’re looking for.

Related Topics

• moscow girls
• moscow nightlife

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Dylan Pierre De Villiers

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Birth date: 7th April Zodiac sign: Aries  Years of experience in the yachting industry: 4 years  Favorite off boat activities: Eating protein powder, benching 225lbs, working on my cars, building stuff, helping kids get better habits, making videos on YouTube, exploring the world. Special skills: I can do some really cool kicks (did kickboxing for 6 years), I know how to connect with people, I can fix anything mechanical, just show me once. I can drive boats and cars quite well. Do you know any other Below Deck franchise yachties? I do not.  What Bravo shows do you watch? Below Deck , Vanderpump Rules. What do you do in your off time on the boat? I go to the gym gym, I go out and enjoy my life in moderation. I am super social so I make friends. I travel. I bought my dream car so I’m working on that constantly. Who is your best friend on St. David? Chef Anthony . Who do you miss most from home when you’re traveling for work? My friends and racing car What was your first impression of St. David? Well the name is basically STD. So I mean, hey you love it in the moment and hate it after. Favorite place you’ve been on charter/ place you traveled? Cannes islands. What’s one thing about working and living on a boat that would surprise people? That you actively spend time with the top 10% and if you realize this and utilize this extreme rarity. It can take you places by making the right connections and learning from the best of the best in their fields.  Sum up this season in three words! Incompetence, ego, and hilarious.  

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