STAYING TRUE TO THE
M
IS
S I
O
N
Story By JOHN WOOLDRIDGE
ALTIMA’S NEW 61 PILOTHOUSE
The last time I had seen Frank Sciortino he was
waving from the flybridge helm, pulling away
from the docks of the Albany Yacht Club
aboard his Altima 60, headed for a summer
berth on Lake Champlain that was within easy
striking distance from his Montreal home. I had
just spent several days aboard with Frank, his
wife, Adele, and their friends Pierre and Elaine
Morin, cruising up the Hudson River and
getting to know this wonderful design inch by
inch. There was much to admire about the
yacht: the contemporary good looks with hints
of Euro-styling, the large windows that allowed
excellent views from the pilothouse and sedan,
the substantial overhangs that protected the
side decks and large aft cockpit.
So it came as no surprise that when I walked
out on the docks of the New River Marina in
Ft. Lauderdale with Frank, president and
owner of Altima Yachts, and Tom Hindson,
director of sales, I recognized many of these
features in the new Altima 61 Pilothouse. At
the same time, I saw that there were subtle
differences, some apparent and some not so
easily discerned, that could make the 61 an
even better cruiser than the 60. I asked Frank if
he had considered going in another direction
with this latest evolution, steering away from
the pilothouse motoryacht. The answer was
a firm “no.”
