AIM MARINE GROUP HOSTS VIP PAVILION

The AIM Marine Group was full throttle at the Palm Beach International Boat Show, hosting its VIP Pavilion—an exclusive lounge for yacht owners, marine industry executives and guests to connect in a private setting. This year’s sponsors included Ferrari and Maserati of Palm Beach, AIG, Bruce Gendelman Insurance Services, WOW Yachts, Gosling’s Rum and LH-Finance. Nearly 500 guests attended the fourth annual Pig Roast, AIM Marine Group’s signature event, on Friday night of the show. Guests were treated to live entertainment, creative cocktails, dancing and an authentic Southern pig pickin’.

The 279-foot (85-meter) sailing yacht aquijo, currently the world’s largest high-performance ketch, has been delivered. Built as a first-time venture between Oceanco and Vitters in the Netherlands, aquijo’s construction was kept under wraps with three different code names: P85/3069/ Y711. Project-managed by Master Yachts and designed by Tripp Design Naval Architecture to be a highperformance sailing yacht, aquijo’s two 295-foot (90-meter) masts are among the tallest in the world.

“When we raised the spinnaker, we had 50,000 square feet of sail up, and the boat went like she was on rails,” said Bill Tripp, describing her sea trials.

Vitters developed a unique steering system for aquijo (below), whereby the hydrodynamic forces of the underwater rudder blades translate directly to the flybridge steering wheels, providing significant feedback to the helmsman. Her modern interior designed by Dölker + Voges is contemporary, light and bright. For more information: