Tiger’s yacht emerges as celebrity during Open
SAG HARBOR, N.Y. – Tiger Woods, always a magnet for the public’s attention, has competition this week. From his yacht.
During the run-up to the U.S. Open that starts Thursday, Woods’ 155-foot yacht named Privacy has gotten little of it since docking last week at Sag Harbor Yacht Club. A stream of onlookers that continued to arrive Tuesday included two older couples from Florida, a father and son from New York and a yacht broker from London.
The boat is docked at a private yacht club but is easy to spot from the public docks at Marine Park.
“I’ve never seen so many pictures taken of a boat,” said Janice D’Angelo, standing in her 61-foot boat Jaywalker, docked about 300 feet from Woods’ vessel. “How ironic, the name is Privacy.”
The yacht club is about a 15-mile drive from Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where Woods will be trying to win his first major championship in a decade. D’Angelo, meanwhile, is awaiting the return of normalcy.
She said she lives with her husband and two daughters on their boat, which offers a good view of Woods’ yacht and has been a popular spot for people taking photos.
Said D’Angelo, “I had a woman ask me if she could stand on the front of my boat to take a picture of Tiger’s yacht.” Her answer: Absolutely not. Even from the best vantage points, some photographers might miss an interesting detail in their own pictures. The flag on the back of Woods’ ship is the Cayman Islands national flag.
Cayman Islands, which offers tax savings for boaters, is a popular spot for registry, according to Boatinternational.com.
Most of the spectacular images require a trip inside the boat, and the Golf Channel recently aired rare footage and images from Privacy. The highlights: five staterooms that accommodate 10 guests; four rooms for the crew of nine required to run the ship; along with an eight-person hot tub, kayaks and scooters.
The reported price tag: $20 million, not counting the $2 million a year in operating costs.
Asked Tuesday during a news conference if there were any advantages to staying on the yacht during the Open, Woods replied, “Yeah, staying on the dinghy helps.”
It won’t be cheap. Unless Woods negotiated a discount, he is paying $1,085 a day to dock his 155-foot yacht at Sag Harbor Yacht Club during the week of the U.S. Open.
Docking fees are determined by the size of the boat, and Sag Harbor Yacht Club charges a daily fee of $7a foot, according to a woman who answered the phone at the yacht club Tuesday, identified herself as Kim and declined to provide further information.
Bjorn Andersen, who said he is a yacht broker from London and flew here to watch the U.S. Open, surveyed the yacht Tuesday.
“My assessment is it’s a pleasant yacht,” he said. “Pleasant and manageable, and far from ostentatious.”
Indeed, Jake Keller, assistant harbormaster at Sag Harbor, said 150-foot yachts are commonplace in the public docks and private yacht clubs and marinas. But only one of the yachts features a golfer who has won 14 majors.
“People have been asking, ‘Is it true? He’s around here?’ ” Keller said. “But I don’t think anyone’s seen him yet.”