If you’re a marine enthusiast bored by the traditional aesthetic of older boats and uninspired by the sleek lines of new yachts, good news: Barton & Gray Mariners Club is commissioning popular designers to outfit its fleet, giving its Hinckley yachts unique makeovers. This year, the company is offering a trio of yachts furnished by various design teams in distinctive, decidedly summery styles. Audrey Sterk Design, Lilly Pulitzer, and the in-house team at Nantucket’s beloved White Elephant resort have each devised a boat for the yacht membership club.
Sterk’s boat, the most recent addition to Barton & Gray’s fleet, acknowledges maritime tradition but brims with modern updates. Bright yellow cushions are paired with blankets and pillows in graphic patterns, creating a funky vibe that’s anchored by throw pillows with old whaling scenes, a nod to the history of Nantucket, where Sterk is based. A cohesive palette of red and white punctuated by the occasional pop of yellow gives the boat a bold but preppy look.
Lilly Pulitzer’s boat is swathed in the company’s trademark colorful prints. Cushions and throw pillows in various motifs of lime, cerulean, and fuschia make for a cheerful, summery vibe that hearkens to the brand’s resort town birthplace: Palm Beach.
The White Elephant’s yacht is a lesson in the power of classic colors and subdued design. Handsome navy and gray upholstery is punctuated by accents of pattern featuring the resort’s namesake animal. We’d happily take a sunset cruise in any of these vessels.
