rob_just_rob
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Considering there is no audio component to most of LPSG, I doubt it.
Kerry docks yacht in RI to avoid taxes??
- Thread starter Horaven
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Considering there is no audio component to most of LPSG, I doubt it.
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rob_just_rob
Sexy Member
Disclaimer: I am not a big supporter of Senator Kerry, but I will come to his defense as a person who sails often on Massachusetts coast
- Kerry's family has a summer home/estate on the Elizabeth islands, which is on the Southeast corner of MA (West of Martha's Vineyard). Presumably, the yacht is moored there during the active sailing season. Those islands are very close to the Rhode Island/Massachusetts border.
- In that area, there are only so many towns with decent ports that can accommodate yachts of a certain size (his yacht is probably ~ 50ft(+), which is considered large). The larger the boat, the more difficult and costly it is to maintain and store for the winter.
- Newport is the "crown jewel" of New England yachting culture and has all the accommodations and manufacturing centers to maintain a boat such as his. There is an "aristocratic" sailing culture that surrounds Newport and people pay $$ to keep their boats there. It's not as if Senator Kerry is trying to save money by being in Newport.
- There are many people in MA, NH, and even Maine move their boats to Newport in the Winter. (Either that, or they sail their boats down to Florida or the Carribean for the Winter months). If a boat stays in winter storage for 7 months a year in Newport, and only 5 months in water elsewhere, would it not make sense to declare Newport as the "home" port?
- It must be a slow news day when the news obsesses about Senator Kerry's yacht. AND... for those who scorn signs of affluence, owning a yacht is an expensive proposition. The yachts, priced new, are as costly as houses e.g. $250K to $1M, and they are expensive to maintain. You really have to enjoy the boating/yachting lifestyle to voluntarily keep putting as much $$ into as a boat requires...
I just read the article in further detail. Kerry has a 76 foot Hinckley. Hinckley yachts are the Rolls Royces of yachts. Newport, the Hamptons, and certain ports on the Chesapeake Bay are the only places on the East Coast where a Hinckley yacht can be serviced by an authorized shop, so he has to keep the boat in RI.
Let's look at it this way: MA may be losing out on tax revenue, but RI is certainly gaining with Kerry's support of the RI enconomy through the Hinckley maintenance center, goods, and services.
Let's look at it this way: MA may be losing out on tax revenue, but RI is certainly gaining with Kerry's support of the RI enconomy through the Hinckley maintenance center, goods, and services.
I don't know how you gleaned that information from the article. According to the msnbc piece, the yacht was built by Friendship Yachts in Whangarei, New Zealand. It is being repaired at the Hinckley shipyard in RI
Hinckleys are nice boats and are among the best in the US, but they are not the RR of yachts. Not even close.