F0R WHOM THE BOAT CALLS
Classic Boat|January 2021
A replica of Hemingway’s fishing boat Pilar has put to sea and will soon enter line production, bringing a legend back to life
BRUNO CIANCI
F0R WHOM THE BOAT CALLS

‘Family means a lot to me and this boat brings back to life what my ancestors did.’ Wes Wheeler, New York born in 1956 and now a leading manager in the pharmaceutical industry is talking about the passion behind his latest entrepreneurial venture: to build and market a boat based on the Playmate 38, a very successful motorboat produced in the 1930s by the shipyard founded by Howard E Wheeler, one of Wes’ ancestors. Specifically, the boat in question is a modern reinterpretation of the legendary Pilar, the fishing boat bought in 1934 by Ernest Hemingway. The Pulitzer and Nobel Prize laureate was famously a great fishing enthusiast, and particularly active between Key West, the Bimini archipelago and Cuba.

A TRENDSETTER

Pilar was a particularly innovative boat. It is believed to have had the very first flybridge equipped with a wheelhouse and the first outriggers, features now standard on all such boats. Not only did Pilar outperform most of the peers, but in the 30 years the writer owned her, she survived four hurricanes, as much testimony to the solidity of build as to the courage and determination of her owner. Pilar was the first known boat capable of bringing a perfectly intact giant tuna to Bimini, thanks also to the fishing techniques introduced by the writer, which included the most rapid possible hoisting of fish on board, to stop predators eating the catch, a problem so tragically played out in Old Man and the Sea.

This story is from the January 2021 edition of Classic Boat.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the January 2021 edition of Classic Boat.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM CLASSIC BOATView All
Classic Boat

The Need For Speed

Saving lives at sea has always been bound to the speed of rescue, from the first rowing boats to the 60-knot, all-weather motorboats of today

time-read
8 mins  |
March 2021
ROW YOUR BOAT
Classic Boat

ROW YOUR BOAT

There has been a steady rise in recreational rowing over the past few years, and the choice can be bewildering. What’s the right boat for you?

time-read
8 mins  |
March 2021
Traditional Tool
Classic Boat

Traditional Tool

JOINER’S NAME STAMP

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2021
Classic misuse of a word
Classic Boat

Classic misuse of a word

Real classic ownership involves rot, rust and reward

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2021
Classic Boat

SCUD MISSILE

Herreshoff’s newly-restored Bar Harbor 31 Scud lit up the classic racing scene in the Med in 2020 with a double win at Cannes and Saint-Tropez

time-read
10 mins  |
March 2021
BOSUN'S BAG
Classic Boat

BOSUN'S BAG

PRACTICAL TIPS FOR THE TRADITIONAL BOATER

time-read
4 mins  |
March 2021
DOUG LEEN - Tugboat man
Classic Boat

DOUG LEEN - Tugboat man

Vietnam vet, park ranger, dentist, small-craft conservator and tugboat skipper.... meet Ranger Doug!

time-read
4 mins  |
March 2021
CHANCE TO SAVE AN Albert Strange yawl
Classic Boat

CHANCE TO SAVE AN Albert Strange yawl

Chances at Albert Strange ownership don’t come up often, and Sheila II is the quintessential Strange – and one with a great history, too

time-read
4 mins  |
March 2021
AFFORDABLE CLASSIC Salcombe Yawls
Classic Boat

AFFORDABLE CLASSIC Salcombe Yawls

A friend and I once decided that walking might make a change from sailing. So we set forth to walk from Branscombe to Bigbury, a 100-mile stretch of the south-west coastal path marked by knackering climbs and knee-wrenching descents.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2021
Cardiff, Wales - Save The Elena Maria Barbara!
Classic Boat

Cardiff, Wales - Save The Elena Maria Barbara!

A rare, 18th-century schooner replica, restored to the tune of around £1 million, could be abandoned if a buyer is not found soon.

time-read
2 mins  |
February 2021