Juliet

One of the great yachts of our time -- a time of superb yachts and yachtbuilding -- Juliet was designed in a collaboration between Ron Holland and Pieter Beeldsnijder, and built over a period of three years by the craftsmen of The Royal Huisman Shipyard of Holland. She is 143' overall, 29.5' in beam, 15' in draft, and carries 9,543 square feet of working sail in a ketch rig with Rondal spars and sail-handling systems. Juliet represented the best craftsmanship and technology in the world of sailing when she was launched for an American owner in 1993. All of this is made clear in this large-format book written by Jack Somer, and with color photographs by Peter Neumann -- a precise, poetic record of "the creation of a masterpiece", as the book's subtitle promises. The production values of this book, especially its design and the reproduction of more than 150 color photographs, entirely justify its high price. This is a superb record of a dream yacht.