It blew hard&WIFT
SURE
S
all night out of the northwest, and the mournful
sound of the wind in the masts of sailboats tied up at South Seas Beneteau’s new Swift Trawler
Plantation Harbor made our plans to run north along the
][
52 blends performance and
Florida coast seem tentative at best. Nevertheless, early the next
morning, Capts. Chris and Alyse Caldwell guided us and the livability in a contemporary
Beneteau Swift Trawler 52 out into the Gulf of Mexico, carefully
threading the way between waves that broke across shoals on version of a classic design
both sides of the entrance.
Making a turn to the north at the Charlotte Harbor entrance
buoy, Capt. Chris handed the wheel to Wayne Burdick,
STORY BY JOHN WOOLDRIDGE
president of Beneteau USA, who couldn’t keep a broad smile off
his face even as he concentrated on the oncoming 5- and 6-foot
waves for the smoothest path to St. Petersburg. Spray was flying
fast, but the big stainless steel windshield wipers kept the view
ahead quite clear. There were five of us lounging in the
pilothouse, and we all had somewhere to sit or stand
comfortably, with handholds aplenty.
After running awhile at high cruise, Caldwell suggested we
move in closer to shore to take advantage of the lee, as the
winds had swung into the northeast. Running about a mile off
the beach, the seas dropped down to 3-footers, and we all
settled in to watch-keeping, napping, or talking about this new
design from Beneteau.
I reminded Burdick of the night that he, Laurent Fabre (the
powerboat project manager at Beneteau’s French headquarters),
and I were dining during the Annapolis boat show a few years
Courtesy Beneteau USA
Photography By Neil Rabinowitz
