The lightning strikes were coming in so fast that I couldn't count them. The maelstrom had enveloped the entire tournament fleet, almost 400 boats, about 60 miles off Ocean City, Maryland. In between cacophonous cracks of thunder and purple light illuminating an otherwise black sky, there was a crackling voice over the VHF radio. A boat was disabled after one of those eye-popping lightning strikes, The sport-fish's captain said his vessel had sustained a direct hit. All souls on board were OK, but the boat was out of commission. The electronics appeared to be fried, and her engines were useless. She was drifting with the wind and the current, Luckily, the crew had a piece of modern-day technology on board: a handheld VHF radio. That radio had just enough power so that nearby boats could hear the crew's call. A few of the competing teams heard the same crackling words that I did, and in short order, the closest one came to the stricken vessel's aid and towed it back to port, In that case, industrial science came to the rescue. A good a bit of yachting technology, thank goodness, is built around safety. At the same time, some of it is built around enhancing the yachting experience and, well, just plain having fun. I was reminded of this recently while touring a 141-foot aluminum trideck that had a stunning infinity pool complete with a waterfall. As the water exited the pool and waterfall, it was recirculated, heated and sent back. And if the owner was cruising in open water and wanted to swim in the salt, the pool could be switched over to pump in seawater. (Also heated, of course.) I was impressed with the forethought of this owner and builder; it made this life-on-the-water-better technology a reality. The same builder also moved the yacht's tender garage near the bow, freeing up the transom to be a beach club, bar, gym or whatever the owner desired without impinging on desirable seaside real estate, And then there was one piece of tech that recently left me saying, "Wow." I was in the galley of a 72-footer whose countertops and island table were built with Fenix NTM nanotech material. The tops, a stylish matte black, were self-repairing. If the countertops got scratched, all the owner had to do was place a wet towel and a warm iron over the damaged area. It healed itself, I wondered, What will they think of next?
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