Black Knight undergoing rebuild

There is an article in the April issue of Points East describing a major restoration project being undertaken by Buzzards Bay Yacht Services on the 83 foot motor yacht Black Knight, which served as the 1983 America's Cup committee boat. I photographed Black Knight last summer at the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport. Black Knight is an 83 foot Eldridge McGinnis design, built in 1968 by Goudy and Stevens of East Boothbay, Maine, who also built the replica of the original schooner yacht America.

I was overwhelmed by Black Knight's beauty, craftsmanship, elegant details, and finish during my up-close encounter last summer. What a gorgeous yacht. At first, I had a hard time believing that such a restoration was necessary, but my own experience with maintaining older boats should have made me realize my impression was unrealistic. The photos of the restoration available from Buzzards Bay Yacht Services show the effects of 40 years of ocean exposure despite obvious considerable maintenance effort.